A little while back Sophia Stuart (and her virtual self teamgloria ) walked away from the fast lane……
which must explain why I found her/them, last week, at a small post shop in quiet, suburban Christchurch.
I was very surprised to see her there (that’s me in the window, not her), because we are awfully far away from her home in Los Angeles. But there she was, and she had obviously travelled very s l o w l y, possibly by sea, because her departure date was stamped November, and, even in our little backwater, it is already December ;). Because it is such a long way from over there, in the Northern Hemisphere, to here, however one travels, and because teamgloria ** is one of my best blogging friends, I thought it only polite to invite tg’s** who-she-is-in-real life-persona, Sophia, home for a spot of tea. So I scooped her up (she does say she is small) and home we went. Sophia is used to driving about in a perfectly silver Prius but our transportation, though silver, is more modest :)…. a tiny Echo aka motoka kiwikiwi.
Since I was not expecting guests, I had only a simple cup of tea (rooibos, it was) to offer, but I was sure Sophia wouldn’t mind. So, once home, I gathered up the tea-tray and
a favourite shawl (Sophia likes shawls) which, long, long ago, was loomed by the loving hands of gentle women in far Nepal,
and spread a small picnic tea for the two of us, in the late afternoon shade of the sweet-scented, summer roses.
Isn’t it a lovely setting for a cup of tea? Take a closer look and enjoy talking to Sophia as much as I did. I hope you can see her, though 🙂
If you think I am being a little too fanciful, (and I am, just a little), think deeply on the serendipity of this. In the morning, before I met Sophia at the post shop, I read this, about beauty and dreams and cloths, in my book of daily poetry: our encounter was, I think, meant to be……
He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
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How lovely!
Thank you. It was a lovely day 🙂
visit, read the article and thanks for posting your article is quite good and we hope that all our friends all success and thank you all, greetings Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year to you and yours. 🙂
Thank you and to you too.
How romantic and charming!
It was charming and the roses were so beautiful that day.
Yes, totally agree
It must have taken a lot of time to arrange the photos..?
Not really but my little dog kept getting in the way which was quite funny. He wanted to join in.
but you did have fun when arranging them?:)
Oh yes!
I have been away from blogging for a few days finalizing a work project. Coming by your place always set my mind at rest. You have a remarkable gift of hospitality. 🙂 Plus your photos belong in that magazine!
Aww…I am so glad you are back. You make my heart sing; its song is much nicer than the one that comes from my voice box 😉
I am hearing it over the cables – and it is joyous!!! 🙂
♫ ☼ ☼ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♫ ♪
What a lovely afternoon. I enjoyed it, you see, as a little bird in your rose bushes… the scent of the flowers almost made me delirious… the shawl felt so silky smooth under my feet… the colors in your china were soft and restful… I felt the warm sun on my back… a truly delightful experience. Thank you for the day-dream.
You were a welcome guest. Such good company with so many stories to tell 🙂
Lovely setting and the thought of you and tea and rose petals…I think we all would have liked to join in! I could bring my boys too…but I guess they would totally ruin this party…I wish you a peaceful and pleasant week.
I am sure the ‘boys’ would have been very well behaved 🙂
Wow, that piece of poetry brings back some memories! My first ‘serious’ boyfriend wrote that in a valentines card to me many moons ago. He claimed that he wrote it himself and I being a naïve 17 year old, believed him!!! 🙂
That story has me grinning from ear to ear. He must have been quite a guy a) to know the poem and b) to be bold enough to say he wrote it. Such style! Hope you still have the card 🙂
I do indeed still have the card – it has a picture of mystical dragons on it, not your typical valentines card! And he did have style – he turned up to my 18th birthday party, which was at home, in a tux – James Bond eat your heart out 🙂
Oh, those are memories to treasure…love it.
Lovely!
How a beautiful way to have a cup of tea in such a beautiful place!
Will joint you with my sketch kit!😃❤️
Oh , that would be lovely. You and your sketch book are welcome.
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long story, short: Freud would totally agree… 🙂 wonderful post, as usually! friendly thoughts from Toulouse, France, “old Europe”! cheers and my very best, Mélanie
Thanks for your friendly thoughts from old Europe 🙂
Lovely post Gallivanta, and I simply love that poem, one of my favourite Yeats…
Thanks Valerie. I read it for the first time, properly, only a few days ago, and I can’t stop thinking about how lovely it is.
I’m just a wee bit jealous. In my mind, I am sitting there having tea and flipping idly through your magazine, rather than plugging in my car and letting it run for 15 minutes so that I can bear the cold of the seats. Ahem! 🙂 Very, very lovely is that mind and imagination – keep just a bit of the wonder, will you?
😦 such chill……assuredly there is a warm place here for you, if only in my imagination. Of course, if you were here in reality you would not be entirely idle. I would have to set you to work composing beautiful poems about my roses 🙂
Now, THAT is a job description!!! WOW!!! I’ll take it. Do you have a health plan??? 🙂
No health plan required because you would be relaxed and so healthy doing exactly what your heart requires of you.
You know, you’re so right. Imagine the benefits to your overall health, doing something always pleasant and invigorating. The cost savings for our governments would be unbelievable!
Exactly! Perhaps we all have something to learn from Bhutan’s attempt to measure itself against a Gross National Happiness Index.
🙂
so very, very moved.
truly.
and it was indeed a delicious tea……..
I enjoyed your company tremendously. So glad you could be here.
I love the beautiful shaw
Imagine it round your shoulders 🙂 It feels beautiful.
Lovely post. I thought of the Yeats poem this weekend too, and posted the last line in a comment at The Haiku Foundation. For me the meaning was about how we share feedback as writers with one another.
Could you give me the link to your comment? I would love to read your interpretation.
I simply mentioned Yeats, quoted the last line, and gave the title of his poem. This was as a part of the recent “Haiku Maven” question and answer. Here’s the link to the foundation.
http://thehaikufoundation.org
Many new videos too . . . and free haiku books to read in their library on-line.
Ellen
Oh thank you. I have found the Haiku Maven and your comment. An interesting situation being discussed. Also loved seeing the word “chapbook”. I didn’t know it was still in use.
As always, a pleasant experience to drop by your site. Thank you.
Good to see you 🙂
I wanted to share some awards with you, please take your pick!
http://utesmile.wordpress.com/2013/12/09/a-brand-new-award-and-many-more-%E2%99%A5/
Thank you Ute 🙂
What a beautiful way to spend an afternoon 🙂
Delightful 🙂
Your tea for so p e r f e c t – proper cups, a shawl AND creamy roses. Very Team Gloria. I love your interpretation of Yeats’s poem. 😉
You could have joined us too and ,perhaps, you and I could have sampled cronuts 🙂
imagine that we all *did* get to have tea together – wouldn’t that be just glorious?
🙂
It would but it would have to be high tea with chandeliers.
chandeliers, yes.
scones, sadly not anymore 😉
There would be other delicacies suitable for a high tea. At this time of the year our berry stalls are laden with the most gorgeous fruit. Am about to buy some cherries.
*sighs_happily* we adore cherries.
I will make sure I buy an extra box for you.
That would be super nice. Who knows maybe one day. 😉
lov-er-leee!
🙂
Perfect setting for a cup of tea! I’m in love with your photo gallery from this post! Lucky Sophia 🙂
Just wish I had real people and real tea. But dreams are good and I know you work hard at achieving yours for you and your family.
🙂 xx
who-we-are-in-RL and our good self felt indeed very blessed – thank you Gallivanta!
(and lovely to meet you too, in a virtual sense, mmmarzipan)
mmmarzipan hosts some delightful gatherings and prepares the most delicious goodies. I would love to go to one of her afternoon teas.
I think I interpreted it the same way you do…”I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”
Serious poetry analysis has always scared me because sometimes I can’t see what the ‘experts’ see, but ,in my older age, I have decided to just make up my own mind and never mind if it’s not the standard interpretation.
I like your attitude. When it comes to poetry, I also sometimes can’t see what the experts see.
Indeed, and it’s a shame to let fear of the ‘correct’ interpretation spoil our enjoyment of wonderful poetic words.
Perfect post for a cold Sunday morning here in the great white north! I enjoyed your interpretation of Yeats poem as much as the poem itself…on a more pedestrian level your slide show function is very clever.
I am sure you would sometimes rather have white rose petals falling than white snow flakes 🙂 Glad you like the slide show. They are fun. I think you will find a slide show function in your media settings.
Beautiful! I’m sure Sophia liked the stylish tea assembly as much as you liked her company! The white roses in your garden are gorgeous! They remind me of my grandparents’ gardens, both had these huge bushes of white roses. I still remember the fragrance in the air 🙂
The roses are just wonderful at the moment and the fragrance is divine. I open the doors to the garden and the scent of the roses wafts in to the house. It’s glorious. And my little dog loves to go out and lie on the rose petals under the roses. He thought at first that I put the shawl out for him too 🙂 Your grandparents’ gardens must have been lovely.
we *did* have the most delicious time!
Well! What an amazing post! I love how fanciful and sly it is and, yes, you got a LOT from that tea and magazine! And I don’t understand Yeats either but I love reading him anyway!
Glad you enjoyed the ‘flights of fancy” 😉 I wonder if you managed to link to the site of the Dhaka weavers with their beautiful textiles. Apparently, one can host tea parties in the US to raise funds for the weavers. Glad you can join me in loving Yeats without full understanding. For me, poetry is often about the feeling and the sound rather than the meaning.
Our forecast is snow and freezing rain, and your post made for wonderful smiles and conjured more dreams. Inspiring and lovely–thank you.
Thank you. Glad to offer a little warmth and sunshine to your freezing cold winter.
It sounds so wonderful, the cup of tea in your rose petalled garden in the sunshine. All beautifully calm and beautiful. One day I shall join you, have to make shure I meet you in the postoffice… and I love a cup of roibos tea especially when it is presented so beautifullly with roses on the tray. As I need to slow my pace too ( I am a bit stressed out by things at the moment) this is the perfect thing for me. Already reading this beautiful post makes me calm and happy, thank you so much!
The post office is a good place to meet 🙂 Our little local post shop is always full of interest and I like going there. The owner is always helpful. I posted your bookmark from there, by the way. I am sorry you are stressed; sending more calm, happy thoughts your way.
Such a lovely setting. It is so inviting and enjoy the tea with or without talking to Sophia. I would invite Jack and Zoe 🙂
Jack tried to invite himself. It’s a wonder his tail or ears aren’t in the photos. He was very curious. Zoe didn’t show up which is very unusual. She usually loves to check on what I am doing in the garden.
Beautiful. What a lovely afternoon with a friend!
And there was beautiful music, too, which I have finally managed to place on my sidebar. Do listen if you have a moment.
One of my favourite poems too
It’s beautiful, isn’t it? 🙂
Ha! But what was she like? I want all the gossip ;p
😀 😀 Oh adorable, I am sure! But we didn’t have long because she had another appointment across the ditch http://teamgloria.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/screen-shot-2013-12-06-at-10-55-49-pm.png I wonder if she giggled (quietly) at Harper’s Bazaar telling their readers that she had given her high octane existence ‘the flick’. The flick? How very Australian is that 🙂
I can’t barely flick my hair!
Oh dear 😦 , yes, life gets like that sometimes. Hold on to your dreams…the renovation will be done and it will be beautiful.
*chuckling*
I was very discreet, was I not?
We knew you would be 😉
🙂
I’m sure Sophie must have felt very welcomed with a tea party amidst the roses. Yeats is a favourite poet of mine and I have long loved the piece you quote.
I am just getting to know poetry, including Yeats. I find some poetry, like this piece, breathtakingly beautiful, even if I don’t fully understand it. But then does anyone? Perhaps not even the writer sometimes.