Saturday, April 15, 2006

One Lump or Two?

So, a couple of weekends ago, I had the great privilege of going to Vancouver Island with a couple of ladies for Mandy's 21st birthday. We did something that I have wanted to do for a long time. We went to Tea at the Empress Hotel. This hotel opened in 1908, so picture an breathtaking buildling with ivy climbing up the walls.

There we were in the dining room, 6 girls attempting to be proper and drinking afternoon tea. There were cucumber sandwiches, truffles and my favourite - scones, jam, and curdled cream. Ahh, a little taste of heaven. For a minute I felt like I was in Britain. There was a man playing piano, we were elegantly drinking tea, and I looked out into the harbor to see the tall ships. I honestly felt like I was in a Jane Austen novel.

I was appointed "Tea Mum" which meant I had to serve the tea, sugar and cream. I wasn't too great at it, so I appointed Lavonne as the "Tea Mum Assistant". She did her job well. The lady who served us, said drinking tea was a very "cultured" thing for young ladies to do. She was impressed. All in all, it was a truly magnificent day. With my parents in Europe, I felt glad that I at least got a taste. And I remembered once more...I love Victoria, and I sure like those girls.






8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you all had such a lovely time. I re-enacted a tea party for Mandy @ my house to celebrate her birthday again w/ Katie. We did the whole tea & tea food thing & watched a little classic called "Pollyanna". It was no Empress but delightful none the less. Beautiful photos. You girls look so classy, different from our days of yore (aka - youth).

Kathryn Dechant said...

Love it. I especially love the keener pic of you serving the "lumps". I miss you! Today at Starbucks my cup had your fav "The Way I See It" on it and I missed you :(

Kristina said...

great photos.
my love for Victoria has once again come alive.
('keen' just has a whole new meaning after looking at that second picture.)
Sharelle, I'm so sincerely looking forward to our conversations in the very near future.
with love,
k.

Anonymous said...

3 Comments:
1. I am noticing a trend: blog posts beginning with, "a couple of weeks ago." You sure can't compete with the news statsion. "At six it's news, at seven it's history."
2. Interesting diction. You "love" Victoria and "like" those girls? (wink wink)
3. My favorite pics are the ones with the fountain.

Sharelle said...

i am thinking that "you shakes friend" is probably margaret, seeing as said person commented on my "diction".
i want to point out one simple thing.
your name was "you shakes friend"

Anonymous said...

That's what I get for trying to be clever. A load of sass.

Bonnie said...

I haven't had a decent cuppa since I left England...and it's been far too long.

the tapered pant said...

the keeeen-ness. II love it so much I just can't handle it. shiza. I need to get some Drewlo time. too bad i live in the fricking middle of nowhere...