"OH MY, CHAI "

Sipping tea from the royal pedigree of ' Royal Albert " china is  indeed  a memorable  pleasure. What better way to spend "Remembrance Day", than, to talk with my mother, a veteran and war bride, who travelled to Canada, April 27th,1945, with two Battleships flanking both sides of her sailing vessel.

I'm particularly excited about this vintage Royal Albert cup and saucer, since I'm reading Melynda Jarratt's book, " War Brides"... the history of over 45,000 British and European women, who left their homeland and families  behind, in favour of a new life in post war, Canada.

      Ms. Jarratt is the leading authority on the history of War Brides of the Second World War. She  has  appeared and written extensively on this subject for  radio, television  and the internet media. Melynda also runs an authoritative website on the history of Canadian War Brides. You can review her other books at ( www.goodreads.com)
               

               I don't normally use sugar in my tea, but,who can resist one or two lumps of
                                    german rock sugar to ...  sweeten the pleasure of reading 

" Lovelace'( above) is such a pretty pattern ... Romantically feminine and floral, are only a few ways  that I can think of,  to express the beauty of this Royal Albert tea set. 

Historically,  Royal Albert retains a history, that stretches over 100 years, to a small pottery business established  by Thomas Wild( 1896 ) at Longton, one of the six towns that made up Stoke-on-Kent.
 " The Potteries" in England.

' Lovelace" is an enchanting  name for this lovely tableware, which was created in five different colours, brown, blue, pink, green and black ...  It is the ' brown' Lovelace, that seems to possess a timeless popularity which was inspired by the English country gardens and England's national flower, the ' Rose".

You have probably quessed, that the china was, named after Prince Albert,
who later became  King George VI( 1936) ... Ultimately, every time you drink from a Royal Albert cup, it is like having tea with royalty
( Ha ha). Check out :(www. Royal Albert China.com) for an informative review of it's origin.  Ruth W. has found an alternative for the origin of name Prince Albert, so I am eagerly  awaiting her confirmation of information so that we can solve this mystery... We're super sleuths on the paths of origin ( Ha Ha) How exciting !!!!

This little pot, would probably not be found in any royal  tea rooms ... It would  rather, be located on the kitchen table, ' downstairs' in the castle.  I do however, love my little Brown Betty, which seems to keep the tea warmer than most other teapots. She( above) has a  royal spot in my heart.

Today I'm enjoying a chai tea, which is actually black tea, steeped in milk and flavoured with wonderful spices. Can you smell the aromatic fragrance of the  tea yet?

Chai is an intoxicating blend of star anise, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, peppercorns and  cardamon pods, that you can buy or make yourself. I purchased this special blend at our local  tea shop. It is  especially  nice to drink on a cool Autumn day.

Just incase we have a few spills, I am using this pretty tea towel that I found at our local  Flea Market...  Don't you just love crocheted edges and hand embroidered pieces. These little beauties seem to be harder and harder to find, so for the extravagant price of one dollar, I snapped it up, as a treasure for myself and mother to share. One might be surprised, at how many old stories evolve from a handmade item, during teatime.

I'm so glad that you stopped over for a ' Remembrance Day " chatter .... I hope you enjoyed the  chai tea!!!

 May I encourage you, to continue our teatime chat with older family members and war veterans, in efforts to learn of life sacrifices and achievements during times of war.

" LEST WE FORGET "

 Today I am joining; Rose Chintz Cottage,  Martha's Favorites, Tuesday Cuppa Tea and Bernideen's Teatime Blog