But First Tea .......

                                                   Tea (n.) a hug in a cup.... do you agree?

What is it about Tea? Very British I know... something I've been asking myself, strange I know, but why is it that its what we turn to in a crisis? its what we crave when we go on holiday, And we love to enjoy in all situations.
 Over the last couple of years its even become trendy to go for afternoonTea,

 Something which I must admit is up there on one of my favourite things to do.  Seeing as I class myself a self confessed 'Tea-Aholic', well actually I think we just have a good relationship, its been in my life for a whole 48 years, yes i drunk tea from a bottle as a baby eeeek!
 And I remember peeping round the sofa and asking my Grandad, "cuppa tea La La" (my nick name for my Grandad as he used to sing to me... la la la 🎶 ) so you see for me Tea is part of me, and most definitely will be for ever.
Since joining the lovely Instagram community Its something that has stood out for me, you see I thought I was a tad strange not getting on the 'prosecco' band wagon, don't get me wrong I don't mind the odd glass of Red, But for me its gotta be Tea.

 Well.. Wow was I amazed when I found that there are more 'Me's' out there, its not an oldie thing, we are all ages, and not, too strange, then when we started discussing Tea, Yes there are discussions, and they are interesting honest! I realised .....Its our comfort blanket, our 'thing' we turn to, whether we're feeling low, sad, want to cheer someone up, or simply a reason to get together, Tea is always a common theme.
 Maybe it started earlier, correct me if i'm wrong, but I think it started in the war, when morale was very low and Britain needed something to depend on, something to soothe them, make them feel at home, cosy and comforting, what better than Tea, served in a lovely china cup and saucer, of course with homemade cake or at least a biscuit. so although times were hard, we struggled, we had hope and tradition to see us through to better times ahead.

For me Tea has been always made fresh with leaves, and in a teapot, No bags for me, well apart from when I take my flask of hot water out with me, yes we have a flask, and its fabulous, so our trusted tea can come anywhere we go.
Even Miss Darcy is partial to the odd cuppa, she does have hers slightly milky, but she loves to join me in some tea and a Pup Cake on an outing to a tea room, she  even tried some poochie tea, woof n brew, at a dog day last year, and try as they might, she wasn't having any of it, gotta be the real mccoy for us...

 You see making the perfect cuppa is a skill, which a lot of people don't seem to have, not that I'm fussy or anything? well ...maybe a little!
For me its gotta be What I call 'Builders Tea', for those who are not familiar with this, and , dare I say, maybe Coffee drinkers, its brewed for as long as possible, and with just a 'tad' of milk, which is a very small amount to simply brown the tea.. whereas most people I know seem to like there tea looking rather creamy, Who am I to judge? we're all different right?
And then there are those who prefer to drink Herbal teas....well on some occasion I may drink the odd berry tea or even a chocolate tea, but these times are very few and far between, give me good ole english, strong as possible any day!
So come on me fellow Tea Lovers, how do you drink yours? And what does Tea mean to you?