Afternoon Tea

Afternoon Tea. Are these two of your most favorite words in the English language as they are mine? When I think "afternoon tea", I am not imagining a tea cup filled with hot water sporting a soggy teabag. No, l am picturing a beautifully set table with crisply ironed table linens, hotel silver flatware placed next to vintage Limoges plates edged in gold, delicate china cups and saucers, and, the epitome of tea time, a three-tiered serving piece loaded with mouthwatering tidbits and flanked by a tea-cozy-covered teapot. I know of which I speak. For more than 25 years I have searched out tea rooms to experience. I have also held many afternoon teas at my past residences including the wildly popular Chocolate Lovers' Tea at our former bed and breakfast, The Oakhurst Inn.

Whenever I travel, I scout the area for tea rooms or hotels which offer this "step back in time" event. I have a son who lives in Los Angeles and he always indulges my goal of attending as many afternoon teas at as many different venues as we can pack in during each trip. Some of my favorites have closed over the years, or changed so dramatically that they have fallen off of my "favorites" list. While that can be disconcerting, it also forces me to look in wider circles and to investigate tea service at hotels. This has lead me to, hands down, the best, most wonderful afternoon tea ever - at the Peninsula in Beverly Hills, California. This is not an inexpensive tea, as you might guess. I came to try this hotel tea through a serendipitous encounter on my flight to California in 2010. I had already mapped out the various tea rooms/hotels I was planning to visit and, while the Peninsula was on my list, I had decided it was too expensive. A fellow passenger sitting next to me asked what my plans were for this visit. I told him and also expressed my disappointment that the Peninsula was too expensive to be on my final tea list. The woman sitting directly behind me on the plane heard the conversation, leaned forward to put her hand on my arm, and said, "You must go! It is worth every penny." I am forever grateful for her advice. My son and I went there for tea then and have gone on every trip I have made to LA since.

What makes tea at The Peninsula so very special? You sit in their "living room" for tea. It is a huge room off the entrance foyer, filled with lovely, traditionally styled but comfortable overstuffed chairs and long sofas with coffee tables lavishly set for tea. Pale green damask place mats and napkins are enhanced with matching plates, cups and saucers painted specifically for this tea time. A harpist plays softly and beautifully in the background. The food is presented on the requisite tiered server and it is outstandingly delicious. ( I especially recommend the curried chicken with the champagne reduction sauce). Each person gets to choose their own tea flavor but the tastiest is caramel pear. Jewel-toned brocade tea cozies cover your teapot, keeping your tea piping hot and you never have to pour your own. The staff members who takes care of you are amazingly attentive but never obtrusive. (If you are especially fortunate, you will be served by Ramon and Justin) They make you feel like a queen (instead of a bumpkin from the midwest). What more could you want? A posh and elegant setting, fabulous food, staff who deliver top notch service and a relaxing afternoon spent visiting with your son over unending cups of delectable tea. Life is good! (A big thank you to Amber Cope of Resnexus who encouraged me to write about tea)

 

Water line woes

It's a bad sign when the water line coming into your basement from the street always has damp concrete and sand around it - and the pipe is galvanized.  You hope and pray it is just condensation, but you are wrong.  You will have to put a new water line in from your house to the shut off in the boulevard - if you are lucky.  If not, you will need to replace the line all the way out to the center of the street which, in your case, also happens to be a highway so the paving is much thicker, the excavation more involved and street repair following the new water line hook up much more expensive.  But, it needs to be done so you forge ahead.  Your side yard gets dug up, a new water line gets put in to the shut off and, then, heaven smiles on you.  The pipe from the shut off into the middle of the street/highway has already been replaced by someone before you. Oh glorious day!!  You have just saved about $4000.  Never mind that you are still going to pay $5,000 for what you did have done, you feel like you have just won the lottery! A very bright spot in a long, stressful project - and, you have a brand new water line to boot.  Hooray for amazing water pressure and no more damp spots in the basement.

Dumpster Fun!

Rules of dumpster use.  Yes, there are rules for use of this construction staple.  Of course, our rules may not be the same as everyone else's but they served us well - mostly.  The first rule (only if you are trying to save money - which we were): stockpile your debris so you don't waste time renting the dumpster for weeks as you tear things out.  This way you get to move everything twice - once to the stockpile and then from that pile to the dumpster.  Second: get a dumpster with sides so high you have to stand on a stool to be able to toss anything into it.  Third: throw lath into the dumpster randomly so that eventually you have to climb into the dumpster to re-distribute it in order to utilize every available inch of space for the tons of debris you are having hauled away. Fourth: hand carry everything in buckets from the second floor, down the stairs and through numerous doors to the dumpster.  Don't place your dumpster below a window or have a chute into the dumpster made until you are nearly done with debris removal.  Fifth: over fill your dumpster by heaping the contents and trying to keep it inside the dumpster by covering the entire mess with carpet pieces.  This way, the dumpster weighs almost too much for the truck to pick up, the rental service doesn't want to loan you another one and you pay considerably more than the rental agreement specified.  Six:  make sure when you are dumping buckets of dusty, dirty plaster into the dumpster that you are not wearing a dust mask or safety glasses and that you dump the bucket against the wind so you get coated with a fine, filthy powder.  If you are lucky, you will get plenty in your hair as well.  A nice finishing touch to a delightful job.  Now that you have been informed of the proper process for dumpster use, go ahead and start that demolition project!  I'm right behind you - NOT!