On politics and science
There's only one hero for me
His praise we should be roaring
The man who thought of pouring
The first boiling water onto tea
I like a nice cup of tea in the morning
For to start the day you see
And at half past eleven
Well my idea of heaven
Is a nice cup of tea
I like a nice cup of tea with me dinner
And a nice cup of tea with me tea
And when it's time for bed
There's a lot to be said
For a nice cup of tea.
How much is that doggy in the window (sorry how much is a cup of tea?)
Of course it all depends where you have it. But we aren't talking about restaurants or cafes here but Chez Nous.
A few years ago we got a smart meter to check our energy usage. I'm not sure whether it's a good thing or not. It can be quite frightening seeing the costs mount up and, of course, that is going to become significantly worse over the next six months. It also leads to an obsessive interest in turning things off and pointing out how much a shower costs.
So I noticed yesterday that a boil up of the kettle cost 3p. Add to that a tea bag and a dash of milk and I guess a cup of tea chez nous will cost approx 8p. Get two cups from one tea bag and it will be under that. So why am I prattling on about the cost of tea?
Well actually I've absolutely no idea apart from the fact that we had a pot whilst out yesterday. Did one of my favourite Sunday afternoon strolls. That involves parking on a free area at the back of the University of East Anglia grounds, walking round the UEA lake and calling in at the cafe/refectory at the Sainsbury Centre.
I always feel strangely at home in this cafe place. That's possibly because it is inhabited by some interesting people. Being a dullard myself, I am always intrigued by interesting people. They exude interestingness (a made up word I will admit).
Have you ever asked yourself why it's always a nice cup of tea? You never ask people if they would like "a nice cup of coffee" but the word nice is always associated with tea as the above lyric shows.
Who was the first man to pour water onto tea? Well it was a cove by the name of Emperor Shen Nung of China. Legend states that a tea leaf fell into water being boiled by the Emperor and he found the taste refreshing. In fact he found it nice. Japanese Buddhist scholars visited China and brought tea seeds back to Japan where it became an integral part of ceremonies.
It was the Portuguese who brought tea to Europe and the Dutch who saw the commercial potential. Tea soon became a luxury drink, only affordable to the rich. As for us Brits. Well we didn't take to tea drinking until Charles II married the Portuguese princess and tea lover Catherine of Braganza. The Brits took to drinking tea in her honour and have been drinking it ever since.
The idea of afternoon tea was first mooted by Anna Russell, Duchess of Bedford, who often fancied a snack in the afternoon (don't we all) and realised that cake and/or sandwiches and a pot of tea was ideal.
And did you know that high tea prices in the 18th century saw the commodity being smuggled into the country with more coming in illegally than legally?
As for the tea bag. Well that was introduced by New York merchant Thomas Sullivan. It was in fact an accident. He sent samples of tea to his customers in silk bags and they assumed that both the tea and bag should be put into the pot. They found it worked well and it's been in bags ever since.
And of course let's not forget the Boston Tea Party which wasn't a party at all and which indirectly led to Donald Trump not becoming Prime Minister of the UK!
But going back to tea bags. If you have a cup of tea at the UEA cafe/refectory you get tea leaves and a strainer to put them through. Not a bag in sight. Makes it feel a tad posh.
Also in the Nice Cup of Tea lyrics above note the use of the word
dinner to denote the meal at lunchtime and tea for the meal late afternoon/early evening.
Now this is a contentious point. Being brought up in Norfolk I always referred to dinner as the middle of the day thing and tea after that. In other parts of the country dinner is lunch and tea is dinner (if you know what I mean).
* * *
Today's photographs are not surprisingly from our walk around the UEA. I have taken so many photos of the area in the past. We always seem to go there when the sun is shining and the sky is a bright blue. It leads to some interesting shadows and reflections. So apologies if you have seen some of these before but to me they are a record of a particular day.
I was going to make a joke here about the picture of the Mammoth and my other threequarters but I abhor violence, so won't say anything.
And before I go, a little bit about the Nice Cup of Tea song which I'm sure most of you will be humming by now.
And there's something quite unusual about that song. It was written by A. P. Herbert (lyrics) and Henry Sullivan (music). A. P. Herbert was actually Sir Alan Patrick Herbert (1890-1971) who was an MP for over 15 years. The song was first recorded by Binnie Hale in 1937 and has also been recorded by Gracie Fields and Joe Loss and His Orchestra and a few others as well. Herbert, as well as being an MP was a humourist, novelist, playwright and law reformer. He was MP for Oxford University.
As for Binnie Hale. Beatrice "Binnie" Hale (1899-1984) was an actress, singer and dancer and a star of musical theatre in London in the 1920s and 1930s.. She also played a principal boy in many pantomimes. I must admit I had never heard of her until yesterday.
And I'm a tangled up puppet
All hangin' in your strings.
I'm a butterfly in a spider's web
Fluttering my wings.
And the more that I keep dancin'
And spinning 'round in knots
The more I see what used to be
And the less of you I've got.