19 August 2010

The Tea Party


The Tea Party is over. The house no longer resounds to the shouts of kiddies playing or mummies chatting. The scones are eaten; tea and coffee pots emptied. Sigh.

What a lovely morning.


Did you get my invitation? Nigel No-Mates Holds a Pity Party? An open invitation to blog readers/bloggers within driving distance to come for Tea.

I have to admit that I was slightly nervous. I mean, I put out this completely random invitation, and most of the ladies had never met each other. Some of them, I had never met either! It was a chance to meet and make new friends, but you know how these things can sometimes go... awkward silences, stilted conversation, strangers with nothing in common...? But I needn't have worried.

Everyone was friendly, open and chatty. There were no awkward silences, as we sipped our tea (or coffee) and polished off platefuls of baked treats. At one point as we supped, there was a slight lull, revealing the sound of ...silence! The children were silent! No fighting, no crying. For a second we all held our collective breaths {what are they up to???} But no need. They were simply eating. Leaving us to tea-party in peace. Unbelievable.


There were seven of us sitting around my kitchen table. A mix of blog readers, friends (who read my blog), fellow bloggers - and a combination of all three.


There was LynieLoo, Lyns, Christina, Amanda, Nicola and Meg. Nine kids right there. Oh. And me with Scrag. {Scrag who liked to lick the cream off the lamingtons - and then kindly recycle them back to the plate. Thanks Scrag.} That's 10 pre-schoolers on a rainy day. It should have been mayhem.


And yet somehow it wasn't. Here we all are sitting down drinking tea and enjoying conversation, like ladies.


Ahhh yes, from time to time a little person would make an appearance at our elbow and we would pacify them with something from the table. Then they would scurry off to play cars, or trains, or dressups or... er... watch TV.  Yes, well. It was raining!


There were some brand new friendships hatched today. Bubble declared Chloe to be her new best friend. There are plans to hook up at coffee group together next week. That's great because Bubble is new in Auckland and was missing her friends from home. I am so glad that Bubble made a friend today. And her mummy made some too!

I tried to send them all home with baking, I really did. After all none of it was Gluten Free. Oh the joy of baking with real flour! But I still have leftovers, and that is not allowed. Can't torture poor Miss Fab with berry and white choc muffins. Or scones with jam and cream. I'll have to take some to the neighbours...

I am delighted with how my tea party turned out. I feel like I made some new friends today, the other girls made connections too. I thoroughly recommend a random tea party if you are feeling down, or lonely or are new in town. That's where this blogging business makes sense in the real world. It helps connect us together; it needn't be just online.

So if you are feeling a bit "Nigel No-Mates" like I was... I recommend a Tea Party. Throw out the invitation and see who comes - you might just be pleasantly surprised.

OR JUST CHECK OUT THIS GORGEOUS CLIP ON MEGS' BLOG {How to be Alone}


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20 comments:

Kathleen said...

What a lovely party you had! I wish I wasn't so very far away, and I would have been there in a flash :) Wonderful idea, and a perfect outcome. Nice work!

Anonymous said...

oh so fun!!!!
lovely spread Simone
you did good!

wish I could have been there
love and light

Lyn said...

Thank you Simone for a lovely morning! What a treat...don't think I will need to eat for quite a few hours after that spread! I agree it was great how well the kids got on, and the mums for that matter :-) For a bunch of ladies who didn't know each other it felt very 'easy and relaxed' - clearly you have a gift for hospitality!!

PS Thank you too for the bag of clothes. Currently fashion central on the lounge floor - a certain person is having a clothes crisis and loving every minute of the 'trying on' session...hehehe.

Gail said...

Coolness, a few of my fav. peeps in the room there! Can Amanda please let us know when she will be starting her blogging life again ;)x

Glad you all had a good time!

PaisleyJade said...

Sounds like you guys had such a good time. Post those left-overs up to me!

Widge said...

lammingtons!!!!!!YUMMO!!! gesh I totally would have made the trip if I knew you were serving those. pink ones are my fave :)
Looks so cool Simoney looks like heaps of fun. So good seeing Lyns and Bubble and rangi in your pics!! and sad at the same time!:(

Sarah (Chez Lee) said...

Gorgeous! Well done you! A fabulous and quite brave idea which sounds like the beginning of something special! There are quite a few bloggers in Welly I'd like to meet; perhaps I'll be brave and follow your lead!

Johnny said...

Oh I'm so pleased you had a lovely time. I tell you what I would have loved to have come and meet you, as I just love reading what you post and I feel we would have a lot in common. Thank you for your invite. Maybe it won't be the last time you host a bloggers morning tea and I'll be in a better position to make it over! Or better still I'll bake and host?

EcoMum said...

Thanks Simoney for making what started out as a crappy morning for me into a really lovely one! :) What a fab group of ladies and the food was gorgeous. Such a great idea, getting together for getting togethers sake.

Hehe, Gail I can't be bothered blogging, it's just so like me to start something with a hiss and a roar and then the enthusiasm petters out pretty quickly and I move on to something else. I'm still passionate about the environment tho :)

Christina said...

Thanks for a lovely morning. :) Was great to meet everyone and also to drink tea out of such a pretty tea cup!

Lyns said...

Thanks for a great morning Simone!! Nice to meet everyone and enjoy/relax with good conversation and yummy food. Lucy told her Daddy all about her new friends - made her very happy!
Ummm Widge, I don't normally share my fav pink lamingtons, but I guess I can make an exception
x

Weza said...

Fantastic stuff Simone, so glad it all worked out. Looks like it was a fun morning.

Anonymous said...

I'm very very jealous. And I might just do that. Looked like a lot of fun!!

Unknown said...

That is such an amazing idea! I just might have to try this, although my table would not look nearly as lovely as yours, I'm sure. I don't even have a teapot.

banban said...

What a great idea.... you really are a friendly little sausage aren't you! Looks like it was fun and what a yummy spread.

Dalia (Generation X Mom) said...

So nice! Wish I could be there ;) !

Joey Lynn Resciniti said...

That looks like so much fun! It's amazing that the kids were good for you too. That's a lot of little ones to keep happy all at the same time.

Kylie said...

What a gret idea - looks and sounds like you all had fun.

Dianne_momstuff said...

I am so glad to meet you. I read your comment on Jens page about helping others in the bogging community. Come and visit my blog http://mom-stuffcommunity.blogspot.com thanks Dianne

Holly Lefevre said...

I think this is a marvelous idea. What fun. Sometimes the best parties are one like these - last minute. I may have to try this!

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