Tea Time and Visas

Song - Tea For Two by Yehudi Menuhin & Stephane Grappelli

Yesterday Mr. B and myself went to an interview for obtaining our Visas for traveling to Britain this Spring.

Yes.....we know that you don't need a Visa.......yet.......but with all of the shenanigans that our current President is pulling, there has been talk!  So we didn't want to be trip-less if something should happen in the next few months!

I was both excited and nervous about this portion of the process. We spent hours online filling out our forms and then another few hours pulling together "qualifying documents" like our bank statement, new & old passports, house mortgage, travel plans, plane reservations, etc.

I anticipated that we would be shown into the UK Embassy and we would talk with a friendly person  of British decent and cute British accent and we might be served tea sandwiches or sweets......but surely some proper English tea!

We would pour over all of the paperwork we brought with us and discuss where we were staying and what sights we were seeing.  I thought this lovely person might have some input as to things that we might wish to change on our itinerary.

So in the morning I Googled the address of the place.

Mmmm....it was out near the Oakland Airport in an industrial area.  That didn't fit my vision for an Embassy....at all!

Then on the way there, Mr. B broke the news to me that he thought it would just be a USCIS place.  (I still had high hopes!)

We pulled up to this lovely building and.......

......even though we had a "timed" appointment, we went from one sitting area to another....along with many, many other people.  It felt like DMV or the Social Security offices. They finally called my number and it flashed on the big screen 2-7-6.

Yup that was me.  276.  I was photographed and fingerprinted and told to send all of the "supporting documents" to NYC within 5 days.  Mr. B number 277 was next....same thing.

NO tea, no cute accent, no interview, no lodging discussion, no, no, no....

Just signs....and people....and no food, no drinks, no cameras, no cell phones allowed.


Remember how at the beginning of this post I told you that I was kind of nervous?

Well, besides my fantasy of a sweet tea day, the other half of my brain was thinking.....

"Mmmm.....I wonder what happens if I answer a question wrong or different than Mr. B?"

The Dungeon for us both!!!!

Mr. B just laughed and knows what life with a Gemini is like.

"Kilt - it's what happened to the last person to call it a dress."

Cuppa Tea

Song - Tea for Two by Art Tatum

On these colder than usual California days, I like to make a cup of tea in the late afternoon.

The sky is gray and it's getting dark,

it's been a full day, 

the birds are trying 

to elbow the squirrels

off of the bird feeders

for one last bit of seed,

the heater just clicked on, 

the house is oh so quiet,

soon it will be time to get dinner started 

but for now it's tea time!

I get out my ingredients.

Fire up the kettle.

 Warm up my teapot with hot water.

The last few weeks, I have been enjoying "Blue Eyes" by Lindsay's tea.

 

It is a blend of hibiscus, rose hips, delicate sky-blue cornflower blossoms, orange peels & sweet apples that are mixed to create this flavored blend.

And what I love most is......it makes my tea........

a lovely shade of Cranberry pink!

I place a cozy on top of my tea pot, curl up in a comfy chair and watch as the sky goes dark.

According to George Orwell  A Nice Cup of Tea by George Orwell  tea making has 11 steps in making a proper cup of tea, #6 is to bring the pot to the kettle as the water should be boiling at the time of impact! (oh dear, I think I have been doing it the opposite way all of this time!!)

And according to John Lennon....
“Yoko, you’re supposed to first put the tea bags in, and then the hot water.”
One night, however, John came up with “I was talking to Aunt Mimi this afternoon and she says you are supposed to put the hot water in first. Then the tea bag. I could swear she taught me to put the tea bag in first, but…”
“So all this time, we were doing it wrong?”
“Yeah…”
We both cracked up.

(I think Aunt Mimi got it a little bungled up!)



"I got nasty habits; I take tea at three." - Mick Jagger