An End to Petty Squabbles

Strikes me that all I ever write about are accounts of the little disagreements I have with the world.

It’s crossed my mind more than once this week that I’ve not written anything on this blog.

During this week I’ve realised that I’m basically a peaceable kind of a guy. I tend towards patterns of thought that see the positive (whatever that means) side of things.

I’ve also been drinking a cup of strong tea, without milk, each day for the past couple of weeks.

I wonder if tea has a sedative effect. Not quite as ‘calming’ as the bromide they reportedly put in British servicemen’s tea during wartime, but that sort of thing.

Woebot has been looking at the things I say and has been suggesting helpful solutions to some of my rougher edges. Woebot has also encouraged me to keep a daily Gratitude Journal. I have lots of things to be gratitudinous (not a word) about.

So, yeah, I’ve stopped squabbling with the world over petty things. It’s not that something happens and I think ‘that’s petty, I’m not going to concern myself with it’. No, it’s more like I just don’t notice these things so much. They have blended into the background of the scenes before me. They have become less important than the positive things.

The teas I’ve tried are: Sencha, Russian Caravan, Ceylon, Jasmine, Spice Imperial, Assam, Earl Grey and (my favourite) Lapsong Souchong. Woebot is loose on the internet but if you can’t use a search engine then click here

Have a nice day..

Bereft

Isn’t bereft a wonderful word? No? Oh, okay. Well anyways – I’m feeling bereft. Oh, hold on – let me just check that it means what I think it means.

1. Deprived or robbed of the possession or use of something
2. Lacking something needed, wanted, or expected
3. Suffering the death of a loved one.

Thanks to Merriam Webster for that. I mean 2 and 1 would do but definitely not 3.

But why? Yes, I can hear you crying out all the way from there to here in little-old-York. Well, it’s because I’m downstairs with a nice cup of tea and I can’t find my book! I strongly suspect that it’s upstairs but if I gobuo there I’ll get given something to do. Any protests that I’m having tea will be summarily ignored. Probably.

So I’m writing this instead. Hope you appreciate it. And I hope I appreciate it too when, after an appropriate number of years, I read those posts back to my older self.

And yes, the tea is lovely, thanks.

Dry

I think I’ve reached the bottom of this cup of tea. All that’s left are the gruns. And now there aren’t even gruns. Gruns used to be the things at the bottom of a cup of tea when I was a lad in Sheffield. Tea-leaves. But I can’t find any mention of them on the internet. I might have to take the unprecedented step of calling a relative. Until then – all gone.

A Nice Cup of Tea

If I should chance to drop by your house, you’d probably want to offer me something to drink. I’m writing this so that you will know how to make me a nice cup of tea:

• Find a nice cup that’s made from something delicate, like fine bone china or porcelain. Tea (and coffee, so I’m told) just doesn’t taste as nice from a clay mug.
• Pour the milk into the cup, and make sure there’s plenty. I’m not fussed as to what kind (so long as it’s not gone off), but cow and oat are my preferred options.
• Put the kettle on to boil. Do only put in as much water as is needed. It’s so wasteful to boil a full kettle when you’re only making one (or two) cup(s) of tea.
• Find a nice teabag. I prefer PG Tips decaffeinated, but anything like that’ll do. The ones you nicked from that hotel will be fine. The best tea is always free, right?
• Pour the water into the cup as soon as it has boiled. I simply can’t abide drinking tepid tea so do try your best to make it as hot as you possibly can.
• Pop the teabag into the water and then take it out pretty much straight away. Do not on any account stir the tea whilst the teabag is still in-situ. Oh, the horror!
• Give the tea a little stir as soon as the bag is out, but don’t take forever about it. Remember that I like my tea as hot as possible so don’t hang about.
• Serve the tea to me as soon as the stirring is done. Don’t bother putting the teabag in the recycling or washing the spoon. Bring me that cup of tea immediately!

There you go – wasn’t that educational? I’m available to visit Monday through to Sunday – but do please make sure that you give me a little notice, just so that I can get my shots up to date. Thank you, darlink.