English Tea Party

I went to an English Tea Party the other night which was just fabulous! The volunteers of our Friends of the Library Shoppe were all invited to fellow FOL volunteer Sheila’s house to gather, chat, laugh and of course…drink tea.

What made the evening so much more wonderful was that Sheila is actually English. Before she came to the “states” (and found her husband while on holiday and stayed!), she was working around the corner from a little pub in Liverpool. At lunch time, a group of them would all go over to the pub and have something to eat and listen to a group of shaggy haired, young men in casual dress playing, and singing and laughing and chatting. After a while, she didn’t see them any more and just figured they moved on as bands do. She was quite shocked when she was watching Ed Sullivan one night and saw  them on the tele in matching suits!

Sheila scooted around the party in her  jazzy little apron, with tea cups and tea kettles and trays. I had some sort of warm grog which was sweetly perfect for a cold January evening. There was chatting in the kitchen, chatting in the dining area around the cucumber sandwiches and finger foods and chatting in the living room, next to a warm fire place. We talked book shop, we talked families, we talked tea. We also talked china and place settings. I love china. Delicate, patterned, shiny,  matching china…and Sheila had some beautiful pieces.

It was fun. That’s what its all about when you volunteer. Finding a connection in something that you enjoy and making and building relationships out of it. Friendships were formed and strengthened that night at a cozy English condo in the Midwest.

Now that we all know each other a little better, we may have to break out the Long Island Ice Teas…and try this party again…American Style!

 

Sneaking lunch~

I have a volunteer, our manager of our bookshop to be specific, who I dearly adore. It makes my day when I see him. He’s really given our bookshop and Friends of the Library a boost. Very dependable, very organized and very friendly.

My only concern is that I think he thinks I take a 4 hour lunch in my office. When he drops in anytime between the hours of 11 and 2, he always catches me having lunch. I’ve either just warmed up my meal, sat down at my desk to eat, am eating, just finished eating or washing my dishes at the kitchenette outside my office.

I’m a die hard brown bagger, but occassionally I grab something on the go, but I’ll always bring it to my desk to relax and refuel. It’s almost guaranteed that before that napkin hits my lap, they’ll be a rap tap tap on my door and in will come John.

My door is a glass door. Nice wood with very  large windows, so to give me and my chicken salad some privacy, I hung Russell Crowe and his Gladiator poster up on top and Pierre Garcon of the Indianapolis Colts on the bottom. I figured I’d let those two stand guard over my office long enough for me to savor my meal.

It took some convincing that I don’t take a 4 hour lunch to John, but that it was just a timing thing and after a year of practically seeing me eat at least 2-3 times a week, I know he knows it’s not so. It’s actually become a joke, he’ll even send me an email and at the end it will say “I hope you are enjoying your lunch”.

It’s no big deal~any day I’ll put my salad aside to talk with him, he’s a great guy and I appreciate what he does for us!