Over My Teacup

OVER MY TEA CUP

by Charles J. Everett 

This homely can of painted tin 

Is casket precious in my eyes; 

Its withered fragrant leaves within, 

Beyond all costly gems I prize. 

For for those crumpled leaves of tea, 

The sunbeams of long summer days, 

The song of bird, the hum of bee, 

The cricket's evening hymn of praise, 

The gorgeous colors of sunrise, 

The joy that greets each new-born day; 

The glowing tints of sunset's skies, 

The calm that comes with evening grey; 

The chatter of contented toil, 

The merry laugh of childish glee, 

The tonic virtues of the soil, 

Were caught and gathered with the tea. 

Lifeless those withered leaves may seem, 

Locked fast in slumber deep as death, 

But soon the Kettle's boiling steam 

May rouse to life their fragrant breath. 

With sigh of deep content we breath 

The sweet mists rising lazily, 

With eager, parted lips receive taste of tea. 

For light and warmth and mood of men, 

Whate'er the plant hath heard or seen 

Or felt, while fixed in field or fen, 

And stored within its depths serene, 

Are now transmuted into thrills 

Of sense or feeling, echoes faint 

From peaceful perfumed tea-cladhills, 

From placid Orientals quaint. 

And fancies born in other lands, 

Which dormant lie in magic tea, 

Dream-castles fair not made with hands, 

By some mysterious alchemy 

Emerge from cloudland into sight, 

Transform the sombre working-world, 

The gloomy hours of day or night 

From leaden hue to tint of gold, 

Bring rest to wearied heart and brain, 

Kind nature's soul to us reveal, 

Enlarge the realm of Fancy's reign, 

Renew the power to see and feel 

The radiance of the rising sun, 

The sunset's glow, the moon's pale light, 

The promise of a day begun, 

The rest from toil that comes with night. 

And as I sip my cup of tea, 

Though not a friend may be in sight, 

I know that a brave company 

Is taking tea with me this night.

I baked my first ever loaf of bread on Sunday, and it turned out perfectly. In an oven, not a bread maker. It was a cross between a light rye and five seeds. It tasted delicious, and was super cheap. Today I tried to bake a light rye, but it just wouldn't rise. So I've baked a brick, instead. I'm not sure what I've done wrong, but as I'm determined to get the art down pat, I'll research into it and just keep practicing. I'm sad that my first ever attempt turned out to be a fluke though.

On the bright side, the orange and poppy seed muffins I cooked this afternoon were as light and as fluffy as one could ever hope for, and absolutely delicious. And as a lovely recommendation, my husband's Gran loved them and her sister invited me to come and live with HER and bake for her! So there you are, I'm not such a flop at this baking lark after all.

I wanted to post today, because I'm feeling rather discouraged about... well, everything. And I thought to myself, perhaps a good whinge would make me feel better. But then I realised I should probably leave that to a time when I can have a one on one with someone like my husband, or perhaps Mum. So instead, I've got something else in mind.

There's a series on tv that I really enjoy watching, called River Cottage. I was first introduced to the series through River Cottage Autumn (something that replays on tv an awful lot, they don't seem to show much else) and absolutely fell in love with it. Hugh's passion and drive for what he does, and teaches is inspiring to me.

Its all about living a self-sufficiently as possible. Growing your own food, and living off the land. Or sourcing locally made produce where you can't grow it or make it yourself. These are principles that I feel strongly about, and want to achieve.

There's another series on TV that I started to watch, thinking that it would be for Australia what River Cottage is for England. Because they're such vastly different countries, its a bit hard to connect I guess. So this other series is called the Gourmet Farmer. I was a little deterred at the gourmet part of the title but decided to give it a bash.

Its about a high flying foodie living in the city ditching his cushie job to go "dig in the dirt". In theory I agree with what he's setting out to achieve. But it seemed like he was playing... As though it was just a gimmick or something similar, and no real passion for what he was doing at all.  That, and it focuses highly on gourmet products, rather than good wholesome one's. So perhaps this show isn't for me after all.

I'm sure it'll achieve something, inspire some people to get up and look around at their lives and seriously consider making changes, but for me it was all a bit of a farce.

 Which leaves me back where I started. Absolutely adoring River Cottage and wishing there was something like it for Australians. If you know of anything please, please point me in the right direction!