More Tea and Simple Abundance

A collage of last Friday evening at AntiquiTeas, Londonderry, NH

All this summer, on the first Friday of the month, Trudie is hosting a light-hearted and thought-provocative evening of tea, discussion and craft activity. Inspired by Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Simple Abundance, Trudie’s Living Six Graces workshops focus on downshifting from the fast pace of day-to-day life. Sipping tea out of real china, seated in the feminine surroundings of one of AntiquiTeas’ tea rooms (there are 3!), it is easy to slow down and be present in the moment.

“Creating Your Toy Box” was the topic last Friday evening. One lady brought hers — it’s a repurposed old-fashioned hat box — and shared her 64-pack of new Crayolas with another participant who fondly recalled from childhood the heady scent of a new box of crayons. I have more than enough interests to fill my own toy box at any one time. (Too many, in fact.) But if you’re scratching your head and wondering what is a grown woman doing talking about making a toy box, I just want to share something I learned from Dr. Christiane Northrup. She advises that by remembering the things that we loved to do when we were ten or eleven years old, we can shed light on our true passions.  And isn’t passion where life sings and time evaporates?

When I was a kid, I absolutely loved making doll house rooms on my book shelf. A clear plastic box with snap closure became a fish tank when filled with blue tissue paper. Jewelry boxes were transformed into tables and sofas. Bottle caps functioned as dishware. My family of troll dolls sported many outfits (sleeveless–their arms were very short!), cut out of colorful pieces of felt and sewn by hand.

So I was pretty excited about the clothespin doll activity last Friday night! My little garden fairy is the one in vintage lace with a rosebud hat, sitting amongst the pink impatiens, in the photo above. We both skipped to the photo opp!

If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll join us in August.