Saturday 23 April 2016

A-Z Challenge - T is for.....

Hello again!

Today we take a little break as we enjoy:


Tea-time:
noun - the time in the afternoon when tea is traditionally served, often accompanied by a slice of cake 

But (in the UK) there are numerous variations of tea-time depending on time period and social class. For example:

afternoon tea - a break during the late afternoon during which tea was served with a light meal (cucumber sandwiches and/or scones for example)

tea time - the evening meal of the the working classes. The upper classes would have lunch (or luncheon) at midday followed by dinner or supper in the evening. The working classes would have dinner at midday followed by tea time in the evening.

Nowadays we tend to use lunch for our midday meal and dinner for our evening meal as that is the type of lifestyle we have grown accustomed to. There is little time to stop for a cooked meal at midday.


There are so many tea-time related charts and kits available but I have narrowed my selection down to:

Afternoon Tea by DMC

Tempting Teas by Tempted Tangles

Afternoon Tea by Randal Spangler (HAED)


My personal Ts include:
Toby - my wonderful handsome boy
Toronto - our honeymoon destination. This was the first (and only) time I have flown and I hated it! But I have wonderful memories of Toronto, the CN Tower, Niagara Falls and hubby's distant relations who we met whilst there. Nor will I ever forget looking out of the plane window when we took off at 9pm and slowly watching the lights fade into the distance.


And my finished T piece is:

A Taste of Tuscany by Rico designs (magazine charts)

I stitched these almost two years ago as they really took my fancy. They were lovely and easy to stitch but so effective. When you compare the size of the cat to the door and table though, that's a BIG cat, don't you think?!


Being Sunday tomorrow, you have another day off from A-Zing before the final week begins. Enjoy your break!
Rachel x

10 comments:

Justine said...

Ooh, tea! I'm not a tea snob but I love a good cuppa, strong with plenty of milk. The Afternoon Tea is a really pretty design.
I didn't realise the dinner/tea was a class-based distinction! In Lancashire where I'm from, we would have dinner and tea even if dinner was only a sandwich. Hubby is from Liverpool, working class as I am, but has lunch and dinner. I have now switched to avoid confusion!

Linda said...

I love your finished piece Rachel. The frame and mats are perfect. I wish I could find frames around here like that.

Linda

Heather said...

It's his kitty fantasy to be as big as people ;) Or it's from his point of view :D Great designs I'm not a tea fan myself but love the charts. Especially the Spangler one :)

Brigitte said...

Tea-Time, what a wonderful word. When I hear "afternoon tea" I think of a steamy hot cup of strong tea preferably Assam, and some fresh scones or cake. Just makes my mouth water :))
Very nice charts you found. And Taste of Tuscany is a great piece.

Preeti said...

Your cat stitching is great!! I don't drink tea, most Indians don't drink black tea, it is always with milk at any time and sometimes the evening tea is accompanied with spicy snacks.
My honeymoon was also my first time plane travel. I was not 100% comfortable. Even now I have few issues but still I mostly fly considering the long distance travels which usually takes 24 hrs by train as my hometown is in central north and we have settled in southern part because of work. I travel less so that's ok. Only when flight connectivity is not there I need to travel by train.



Tiffstitch said...

Nice one. :) That is a big cat, must be German Shephard sized, but very cute patterns and great stitching. I grew up a few hours from Toronto and glad to hear you enjoyed your trip!

Mii Stitch said...

Lovely stitching & framing on Taste of Tuscany. Very sweet designs!

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Yay, I'm working class! We have tea at teatime, regardless of what it is, usually something cooked as we mostly have sandwiches at dinner time.
Maybe it's a black panther?

Unknown said...

I am really enjoying your A-Z. Thank your for explaining Tea Time - that is something we really do not have in the U.S.

Katie said...

I'm not a tea person. At one of the local retreats I attended we got to have a tea time. I joined in and enjoyed the desserts and teas but not something I would drink all the time. Boy my hubby LOVES it though. I don't enjoy flying at all either. I would much rather be on the ground haha. Love your cats quartet. I agree. He's a big cat. Maybe he's secretly a black panther haha.