I've been watching re runs of Downton Abbey just lately
they have posh teacups, it all looks rather stately
I bet they don't let their brews go cold
but then they have servants to warm the pot so I'm sold

I wonder if it's Earl Grey that they sip
I'm thinking it's not Yorkshire bags in their pot from which they tip
Proper loose leaf, it's only the best for the family Crawley
with an added slice of cake and a quaint little doiley

It must be lovely to ring a bell and ask for tea
but I'm not sure that's really me
I'd be in the kitchen with Mrs Patmore
filling a big old fashioned kettle oh cor!!

So ssh it's starting now on ITV3
I'm excited again oh silly me
I've watched it all once before
Now where are we up to......oh series one episode four

I always make a brew and then leave it to go cold
I think it's because I'm getting bloomin old
I'm getting to the age when sometimes I don't get the gist
and I'm forever writing everything on a list

So my brew just sits there lonely and forlorn
I need to set a timer that sounds a big loud horn
My son will pass by and shout 'you know you have some tea here'
I think what he really wants to say is 'mum get ya arse in gear'

Maybe I should stand over it while it does it brew
Then I suppose the thing wouldn't stew
It's only three minutes that I have to wait
you wouldn't think I'd be in this state

I don't leave things to burn when I'm cooking 
that's because I'm always looking
So from now on I will stop for a moment being a busy bee
and stay to look after my bloody tea

I got my best tea set out for a very special day
Victory in Europe 75 years ago on 8th May
Well that's worth a cup of tea and a homemade cake
bunting hung in the garden with our hands we did make

​Even in Lockdown us Brits know how to party
decorations galore making everyone look so arty
A good bit of Yorkshire tea in my little teapot
I keep filling my cup up, I don't want to stop

I made fresh muffins to accompany my brew
just one, warm with chocolate chips, no not having two
The country raised their mugs, cups and glasses
and said a big thank you to the World War 2 masses

The heroes in the war who gave us today
it's tough now but nothing like back then, no way
I felt emotional listening to their stories and feeling their pain
but knowing seventy five years later it wasn't in vain

After a few weeks off from Rock choir we needed a quick get together before the new term. We opted for a visit to this lovely tearoom in Findern Derbyshire called Mad Hatters.

Now I have written post before which you can read here......
a-tea-party-with-the-mad-hatter.html and it was so nice to return again. I had a gluten free panini with tomato, mozzarella and pesto plus salad which was so tasty. A brew of course and a natter at the hatter with great company.

There is so much coming up within the Rock Choir world we had some organising to do and coaches to book for forthcoming events. You see we don't just turn up and sing, there is important events we take part in too so keep your eyes peeled for us, we are everywhere!!!

For now though we were just sipping tea and having a chat. It was so good to see everyone. We do keep in touch via various social media places but there is nothing like getting together and having a good old laugh. 

If you do feel a bit 'out of sorts' and although you may not feel like being sociable, just go for it. It does wonders for your mental health and well being. It is good to talk and of course drink loads of tea. Mad Hatters is the perfect place to do it as well. Friendly staff and tasty food.....what more do you need?

Thank you fro reading today, come back for more tomorrow for What to Buy Wednesday, but for now.......

Keep calm, drink tea and take care of yourselves.

Me? I'm sticking with my tea for a brew this week but my boys have had these little delights for Easter. Apart from the little mini chocolate eggs which are an added bonus there is a big chunk of chocolate stuck to a wooden spoon!!

What do we do with that I hear you say? Well you warm up a nice mug of milk and then you dip your big chocolate chunk in your milk and stir it around until it melts into a nice hot chocolate, brilliant eh? My eldest son loved this, in fact we have had to source some more as he thinks it's blooming magic.

Don't do what my youngest son did though, he thought 'oh I can't be bothered with the warming milk thing' so he just ate the chunky chocolate only to discover it was not the milky chocolate he prefers but more of a drinking type chocolate. His verdict was that it was probably best melted in the milk.

These were available from Mum from the Brew's milkman on a little Easter offer but I did find them on Amazon in a pack of 5. There are quite a selection if you search 'drinking chocolate spoons' for example here:
www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=drinking+chocolate+spoons&ref=nb_sb_noss 

So I will leave that for you to try. If Mr T likes them then they are usually a big hit. I'm not a big fan of hot chocolate myself so I'll stick to my tea brew. 

I will catch you for more tomorrow with another What to Buy Wednesday but for now you take care.

Now I know I have reviewed some cold infusing teabags from Twinings before but Tetley do some too. I'm sure in the grand scale of this type of product that they are very similar and do the same job but Tetley have a range of different flavours.

I have tried the mint, lemon and cucumber flavour and have to say it really is nice, very refreshing with ice and I can see me drinking quite a bit of this when the weather gets warm. Well I might drink it anytime really because it is just so blooming nice. 

There is no caffeine, no sugar or artificial sweetener in this so it's free from rubbishy stuff and loads of calories. I think these are great to just pop in your bottle if you're on the go, they just make a change from plain water. So give them a little try and see what you think.

They are available from all major supermarkets, I got mine from Morrison's and come in these four tasty flavours:
Raspberry and Cranberry
Orange and Peach
Passion Fruit and Mango and 
Mint Lemon and Cucumber

My new summer drink I think and anything is good if it keeps you hydrated but there is nothing like a good glass of Tetley tea.

Thank you for reading today, I will be back tomorrow for What to Buy Wednesday but for now......

Take care.

Do you know I have just had a bit of a meltdown, all over nothing really and something that can me resolved. I didn't get mad or have a fight but my head just felt a bit overloaded. So what did I do? Just have a cup of tea and do you know, having a break and taking some time to just chill, well it did the job.

So my last gift tip for this coming Mothering Sunday is to go nowhere, take a bit of time to yourself. Treat yourself to some 'you' time. Send everyone else in the family out on a chore to just go and have a walk or fetch some milk then sit quietly with your favourite book or listening to some music and just chill. Even if it's just for twenty minutes or half an hour it will be so good for you. Who knows maybe the rest of the family will bring you a little treat back.

They may have been to a great florist shop down on a local park in Derby to buy a few flowers, that's my other gift tip, yes....two tip Tuesday. If you are local to the Derby area then pop to the craft village on Markeaton Park and see a florist called Suzy (oh that's me) and she will put together something lovely for your mum. Check out Suzy Blues Flowers Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/suzybluesflowers/

I do like to give myself a mention but I am there to help with anything you may need on a flowery theme and if you can't build yourself up then well thats just daft so buy flowers from me.....not at some supermarket!!! Remember a florist is a professional at what they do and they like a chat with their customers. I love getting to know my customers and I get to know what my regulars like, you don't get that at a big supermarket. 

So that ends my tip top tips for Mother's Day......have good one whatever you do and spread that love. My love and hugs go out to those whose mums are no longer with us.....take some time and treasure those memories xx

Take care peeps and join me again tomorrow for What to Buy Wednesday.

I am still searching for great gift ideas for Mother's Day which is approaching at the end of this month on 31st March. Obviously with it being Teapot Tuesday I am looking for pressies with a tea theme and I came across these personalised teapots.

The one pictured is World's Most Beau'tea'ful Mummy but you can have whatever you choose on your teapot. There are a fantastic selection of teapots, teacups and plates so you could grab a whole set for tea and cake. So many designs as well where you can just tailor your gift to your mum so I think this is perfect. What is better than drinking tea but then for your mum to reminded how loved she is?

I have found these teapots at www.gettingpersonal.co.uk and they provide any gifts that can be personalised so you could take a look at them for any occasion. I just caught sight of the teapots and I thought they would be perfect for my Teapot Tuesday. There is still time to order for Mother's Day so take a look here at the selection: 
​www.gettingpersonal.co.uk/search.htm?keywords=teapots

I will just have time to recommend one more 'tea themed' gift hint for your mums next Tuesday but for now take care.

Join me tomorrow in the mean time for What to Buy Wednesday. 

I thought I would start to share a few ideas for Mother's Day coming up at the end of this month. There are many afternoon tea sessions going on now at most tea rooms and restaurants and they are a great treat for any occasion really. 

The Old Bell in Derby are offering a very tasty menu here with lots of tea to choose from, in fact nine different varieties including the classic English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Green Tea, Assam, Rooibos and fruit tea too. I think I could quite easily knock myself out with all those flavours, talk about afternoon tea, I would be there all evening as well.

The menu looks yummy two with a fabulous choice of sandwiches, scones and other sweet treats. It's making my taste buds go bonkers just reading the menu and it's silly o'clock in the morning. My porridge in a couple of hours is going to seem slightly disappointing I can tell you. 

All this for the very reasonable price of £16.50 and with added Prosecco it's only £22.50 which I think is not bad at all. Now I have had some very boozy nights at The Old Bell in my younger days so this place has been a bit of a blur in the past but my goodness you are in for a real treat as you will take afternoon tea in their Campion room which is very nice. This hotel is one of Derby's oldest buildings steeped in history (more interesting than my nights out) so it is worth a visit. 

You could combine your afternoon tea with a shopping trip as there are lots of shops in the area to visit and I cannot think of anything more perfect than a lot of tea, sandwiches and cakes waiting for me after a bit of retail therapy. You can book online or treat your special someone to a gift voucher, all the details are here on The Old Bell Hotel's website: 
bellhotelderby.co.uk/afternoon-tea/

Thank you for reading today and I will continue to find you nice tea themed ideas leading up to Mother's Day so watch this space. Join me again tomorrow for What to Buy Wednesday but for now.........

Take care.

Always been partial to Marc Bolan and T Rex but this is TEA Rex, a very different way to brew tea. It's an infusion revolution apparently here, now that's a T Rex song if ever I heard it but I'm torn here people, I'm torn!!

As soon as I had a try with this product I had already made my mind up that it wasn't going to work and it was a load of rubbish. Then the infusion happened and I actually changed my mind. These sachets look as if they belong in a stir fry not my brew so that was my first issue and everyone knows how I feel about fruity tea. 

These little packets are filled with fruity goodness and roots, there is vitamin C and no artificial rubbish in them. They are suitable for anyone on a vegan diet and are caffeine free too so a health drink you could say. My big huge problem though......is it tea?

I popped the contents of the sachet into the little filter which neatly sits on your chosen mug and I then poured hot water in as instructed. The flavours then flowed out. It didn't look like tea but then we are dealing with the fruity variety and it rarely looks like a mug of PG eh? After brewing I discarded the filter and had a taste, thinking this is going to taste like dishwater, not that I drink a lot of dishwater. It didn't taste of anything awful, in fact it was lovely.

Yes a fruity tea drink that I actually really liked. It did taste genuinely very natural which is what it is all about. I tasted the Rhubarb Redcurrant flavour which includes:
Diced Rhubarb Stalks 43.5%
Grated Root Ginger 25%
Mashed Redcurrants 17.5%
Sliced Whole Lemon 14%

There are other flavours too such as Tumeric Black Pepper and Lemon Ginger Tumeric. I still don't class it as tea though as it doesn't seem to include any tea which is my dispute. If you do like a warm fruity brew though and with natural ingredients then this is totally for you. You can infuse as a cold drink to so I imagine these drinks would be quite refreshing on a warm day.

So there you go, I totally thought I would hate it but ended up quite liking it so never judge a brew by it's cover, always grab a taste just in case. If you would like to know more about Tea Rex then pop to their website at 
www.tearex.co.uk

Thank you for reading today, I will be back tomorrow for What to Buy Wednesday but for now......

Take care.