About That Gorgeous Tea Cup

The Tea Duckie Tea infuser, available here, is a product that's appeared in numerous catalogs due to its popularity. We've received many questions over the years about the tea cup. No, we don't sell those, but maybe we should. It is still available from other retailers. The pattern name is Old Country Rose. It's manufactured by Royal Albert. The one in the picture is one of a set that my grandmother passed on to me several years ago shortly after my grandpa passed and she moved into assisted living. I got the cup and saucer in the picture, along with the rest of the pieces to make a full service for 8. I keep them all lovingly tucked away in padded storage boxes and bring them out on special occasions, just like she did.

So, while I've got your attention, I'll tell you a little about her. She's been gone almost 6 months now. She was a month shy of her 105th birthday when she fell during her daily walk around the courtyard of the assisted living facility where she was both the oldest, and most spry, of the residents. She survived the fall and for two weeks beyond that but it was great trauma at her age. Up until that point she had been very healthy and still enjoyed visits from family and a very large circle of friends. She played bridge, followed Cardinals baseball, and remembered everything. She was amazing. And she left me many, many non-material gifts, along with my beautiful china.

I thought I'd be writing about gardening today. It's late spring after all! But the weather here is cold, windy and far too wet. And I woke up thinking about my grandma, and also about a nice hot cup of tea, so here we are.

I think that tonight, since I won't be weeding my flower beds or planting any of the plants I bought last week while the sun was out, I'll unpack a few Old Country Rose plates and find a place to display them. I sure do miss my grandma.