The half of me that is British is very British with my tea. At about 3 pm, its Tea Time. And what is rather amusing is that in England, 'Tea Time' in in fact dinner time. There's not normally tea to be had at Tea Time. For me, it's usually an Earl Grey caffeine boost to see me through the evening. I love my Peppermint tea in the morning for that refreshing wake up; especially with a drop of Peppermint Essential Oil.

I miss tea with my family. Siblings chatting over cups of tea. You know it's been a good natter when the sink is full of dirty mugs and, somehow the afternoon has escaped us. And it's such a mix of frivolous conversations intermixed with serious confessions, and/or revelations. It must be something in the Chinnery blood (my mother's side).

I remember visits to my Grandparents'. My dad (not being of Chinnery blood) would immediately get settled in the wooden chair by the table with a newspaper, while my mom, my grandma, and whichever various aunt was visiting would talk away til the sun went down. And then, there would be the 'time-to-leave' time. 20 minutes after that would be the 'yes-we-really-must-be-going-now' time. And then another 40 minutes after that would be 'wailing-children-we-must-leave-right-now!' time. All with cups of tea keeping the conversation going.

As an adult, now partaking in these tea times, I drift in between actively conversing to "wall-flowering" in the background. I sit in amusement as my aunt(s), uncle, cousin(s), mo