Amber's Gloriette

WHAT'S IN THE CUP?

2008-08-14T10:48:00.008+01:00

I am constantly being asked questions about tealeaf readings people have done themselves. Usually they find the answers they are looking for once we have approached their question from several different angles.

Like the chair we move around the room until it not only looks right but feels right in the space. I thought it may be interesting to blog an example of this process when working with the leaves.

In a recent reading a dog appeared very close to the handle, the area representing family and friends. It was halfway down the cup to the right of the handle. Even though the dog was right of the handle, meaning an event or experience in the future, the dog was jumping anticlockwise, indicating departure.

The dog is a complex symbol; seen as a loyal, trustworthy friend, hunter, warrior or Anubis- conductor of souls to the underworld or the dog at the feet of the fool in the tarot card- ready to embark on new territory, are just a few examples.

So we have a dog leaving in the future. Let’s liken the dog to the chair we move around the room, by keeping an image of a dog in the mind and then letting go of it. During your day as random thoughts pop up you will find the right space for the dog.

From, I don’t own a dog, to, am I taking somebody’s loyalty for granted or am I ready for that quantum leap, thoughts will flow. Eventually the dog, like the chair, will be in the right space and the answer will feel right.

The French have a saying ‘to be comfortable in one’s skin’ I think that is how it feels when we have faced the answer to our question even if it isn’t always the one we want to hear.

FAIRY TEATIME TALES are published by www.bookguild.co.uk

TEA AND SCENT

2008-08-10T11:26:00.009+01:00

Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world – Tein Yiheng

Jasmine, bergamot and rose are common flowers to be mixed with tea. Flavouring tea with flowers works well and the overall effect is as much in the combined scent as it is in the taste. All of these scents, including the delicate scent of tea, are known to give a sense of well-being and this too could be part of their popularity in tea blends.

Each scent has its own vibration, known as notes, as in musical notes. These vibrations appear to affect our frame of mind in much the same way as music can. They both have the ability to vibrate through our consciousness and change our mood.

It would appear that everything in the universe is a vibration. The eye sees colour vibration, the ear hears by vibration and now through the research work of scientist and perfume guru, Luca Turin, it appears that we smell by vibration. Our taste buds send messages to the brain by nerve impulses (vibration?)

If I loose my sense of smell, as I sometimes do in the hay fever season, I find it hard to cook, as I rely on my sense of smell more than my sense of taste. I can usually tell by smell exactly what is needed to bring out the best in the dish I am cooking.

In my herb garden I grow vervain in a sheltered spot that gets full sun. Vervain leaves make a delicious tisane. It has a fresh lemony scent and makes a lime yellow liquor when infused. It tastes exactly as it smells. It is a good after dinner drink as it possesses digestive and slight sedative qualities. It blends well with fennel seeds if a stronger digestive brew is necessary after a very rich meal.

I enjoy blending herbs to make infusions and I enjoy drinking flavoured teas. I’m not sure whether it is by vibration or ingestion that my sense of well-being is enhanced, a bit of both I would imagine. Just the word aroma sounds magical to me as it conjures up endless thoughts of past, present and future experiences. From far away lands to a freshly mown lawn outside the window, our imaginings can easily drift off on the vibration of a scent rising up from a cup of tea.

FAIRY TEATIME TALES are pubilshed by www.bookguild.co.uk

RUPERT MacTWEED

2008-07-24T17:09:00.012+01:00

Rupert MacTweed, seen here looking resplendent in his rugby shirt, is an artist’s assistant. He is a great inspiration to Pamela while she is working on the artwork for Fairy Teatime Tales. He finds things on walks that end up in the stories, feathers are his speciality. He found a beautiful pheasant’s feather on the very day this picture was in production, awaiting the feather to be added. Sticks are another of his great finds and important for wand illustrations.

I am sure Rupert is a magician as he seems to magically find what is needed to help the work progress. I know he is also saying thank you with these gifts, for the lovely long walks he is taken on. As you can see from his pictures he is the epitome of a gallant gentleman.

When Pamela and Rupert come home from their walks one of the fist things Pamela does is make a pot of tea. Working together over the years, Pamela and I have learned that we have a lot in common, a love of tea, a love of the country side and a great respect for the magical talents of Rupert MacTweed.

FAIRY TEATIME TALES are published by http://www.bookguild.co.uk/

ZEN OF TEA

2008-07-16T13:22:00.014+01:00

Last week I was invited to a Chinese Tea Ceremony. I went with my friend Jane Pettigrew. It was an enlightening experience. Although I enjoyed tasting such rare and special teas I won’t be writing about them here, as Jane has already written a very interesting blog about the teas and the ceremony on her blog ‘Jane’s Passport to Tea’. You can find her blog at http://www.worldteas.com/

I will focus more on the things that caught my attention during the ceremony. The first thing was the jade green table cloths. They were damask and embossed with cockerels. As I had just posted my ‘One chick’ blog, I was pleased with the synchronicity here and thrilled to be told that they were a symbol of bringing light from darkness. I had written something similar on my ‘One chick’ blog.

The introduction to the tea ceremony was ‘Every Day is a Good Day’. The purpose of the ceremony, to cultivate the calmness of the mind and experience the joy of life through
Chinese tea ceremony, music art and meditation.

The first thing the Priestess or Tea Master did was to light an incense stick and placed it on the tea table. This was a special Temple incense to help calm the mind. Then we were led into a meditation. We were asked not to speak through out the ceremony and while the tea was being prepared, we listened to peaceful, uplifting temple music.

On our table the tea set used for the ritual was decorated with peaches on the branch. Afterwards I was told that this was a symbol of a ‘Thousand Springs’ as peach trees and the fruit symbolise immortality. The peach is said to have brought enlightenment to the monk Lyn-Yun.

The temple music and the slow, gentle way the Priestess went about preparing the tea made it easy to stay in the moment and leave all the clutter of daily life behind. Each cup of tea tasted different, each cup of tea was delicious.

As the Priestess bent forward in her tea preparation, we could see three tiny bald marks on her head, made in a straight line.
As soon as the ceremony was over, one of the first questions I asked was the significance of these marks. The Priestess told me they were burned on to the novice’s head with hot incense when they took their vows. The marks stood for the three sacred promises they made when they entered into monastic life.

I found this most interesting and it made me think of all the mythologies and folklore where three is important. For Pythagoras and the Chinese mystics it is the perfect number. In folklore three pops up all the time. Turn a silver coin three times under a new moon, for good luck.
Three heroes need to go forward before the monster can be slain. Three Billy goats had to cross the bridge to rid it of the troll.
In Fairy tales, folk are granted three wishes and spells have to be repeated three times.

How different the Chinese tea ceremony was from our own tea ritual. Yet as I looked at all of the symbolism and thought of the similarities in their meanings in both of our cultures, the world seemed a much smaller place and people seemed to have much more in common.

FAIRY TEATIME TALES are published by www.bookguild.co.uk

FAIRY PLACES AND TEA FROM A THERMOS

2008-07-10T17:05:00.016+01:00

Two weeks ago on a sunny day I took pictures of some of my favourite fairy places in the Lune Valley. My children grew up here so it is rich with happy memories for our family. I am fortunate to still have friends living in the same homes they were living in at that time so going back is a bit of a delightful time warp. It still gives me inspiration and I am still in awe of the beauty of the area. It truly is a magical place.

I have heard of many fairy places around Great Britain, from famous fairy bridges to not- so-known fairy wells. Beetham in Cumbria has its own fairy steps cutting through Beetham fell. On the Isle of Man is a famous fairy bridge and there is also one on the Isle of Skye and on Dartmoor. Harmby in Yorkshire has a fairy well and I am sure there a quite a few in Derbyshire.

When we walk the dogs down to the river bank there are lots of places I feel are fairy places. These are the places that inspire Fairy Teatime Tales. There is Geoffrey’s bridge,
Wild Garlic Wood, the Fairy Tree, The Witches Tree, and Dingle Lane to name but a few.

Picnicking on the river bank is one of the nicest things I remember from living so close to the river. A thermos flask of tea a must on days that sometimes turned cold by tea time.

Tea from a thermos can be very good if it is brewed correctly. I asked my friend and tea guru Jane Pettigrew http://www.janepettigrew.com/ for her advice and she kindly sent me these instructions on how to brew tea for a thermos flask.

When brewing tea to go into a thermos flask, it is important to separate the leaves from the tea liquor before pouring into the flask. So, it helps to use a teapot that has an infuser basket. Or you can use a re-usable infuser basket or a large paper filter that fits inside any type of teapot.

Brew the tea as normal as follows:

- Fill your kettle with freshly drawn cold water so that there is plenty of oxygen in the water to bring out the full flavour of the tea.
- Set the kettle to boil and meanwhile, choose a suitable teapot and loose leaf tea or tea bags (allowing 2.5-3 grams of loose leaf tea or 1-2 teabags to 190 ml of water).
- When the water is almost boiling, pour a little into the teapot, swill around and empty out.
- Measure the tea into the teapot. For black tea, pour the water onto the tea just as it is coming up to a rolling boil. For green and white tea, heat the water to approx 75-80 C and then switch off the kettle before pouring the water onto the tea. Or bring the water to the boil and allow to cool for 4-5 minutes before pouring onto the tea.
- Brew for the correct number of minutes, so set a timer to suit the tea you are brewing. (Large leafed black tea needs 3-5 minutes, small leafed black tea needs 2-3 minutes. Japanese green teas need 1-1.5 minutes, Chinese green teas need 3-4 minutes, white teas need 5-6 minutes).
- Heat the thermos flask with boiling water and then empty.
- When the tea's brewing time is up, lift out the infuser basket and pour the tea liquor into the flask. Or strain the tea through a tea strainer into the flask.- Put the lid on the thermos immediately and tighten carefully.
- Carry milk and sugar separately in the picnic bag

Sitting on the river bank sipping tea, with the sunlight dancing off the water is a wonderful way to pass the time and day dream of the land of Faerie. The sparks of sunlight suddenly become river sprites. A water vole scurrying through the grass along the edge of the river bank soon dons a green and yellow stripped blazer and wears a straw boater on its head and runs home with a story to tell.

FAIRY TEATIME TALES are published by http://www.bookguild.co.uk/

NEWS FROM PIXIE GREEN

2008-07-03T10:19:00.013+01:00

Very sad news from Pixie Green, only one of the eggs the broody hen was sitting on, hatched. It appears that the other eggs were unfertile. The mother is very protective of her precious hatch and keeps it hidden under her wing most of the time. It has been hard to get a photo of ‘One Chick,’ who is a French Wheaton Maran. At the moment we don’t know whether it’s a hen or a cockerel. This we will know in about six weeks’ time.

If ‘One Chick’ turns out to be a cockerel he will be given a very grand name. If it is a hen it will most likely keep the epithet of ‘One Chick.’ There is something in the strutting arrogance of a cockerel that demands a grand name. They are often named after kings or sometimes mythological cock gods. They are a symbol of good as they herald in the sun that banishes the darkness. They are often seen on church weather vanes as an enemy of evil. It is said that they will crow on the day of judgement in a fanfare that will waken the dead. There is an old country belief that if a cock crows on the doorstep it is a sign that there will be an arrival of a visitor.

We once had a Maran cockerel with a grand name I have since forgotten as my father called him ‘Jaws.’ He was the most vicious of creatures with enormous spurs and an ability to jump up very high. He attacked anybody who came near the hens or the nesting boxes. Collecting eggs was a hazardous job. Wellington boots offered no protection, as ‘Jaws’ jumped up way above them leaving shark tooth like gashes in the thigh of the unprotected egg collector. I truly believe that even wearing belly waders and gauntlets would have been useless against ‘Jaws’ attack.

My father came up with the answers. He used a metal dustbin lid as a shield and like a gallant knight he would fight off ‘Jaws’ while one or other of us collected the eggs. Over the years ‘Jaws has become a bit of a family legend. He was a large, handsome cockerel but as his story is told he grows in stature and attitude. He has been called a giant of a bird, magnificent, a regal specimen with diamond sharp spurs, a beak like an eagle’s and eyes like a hawk.

I hope that if ‘One Chick’ is a cockerel he will be less vicious than ‘Jaws’ but if he does become an aggressive king of the roust at least my brother will know how to handle him.
‘One Chick’ is already a bit of a legend, it being the only chick to hatch from a cluck of twelve. I’m sure it won’t be long before he is the inspiration for a fairytale character.

FAIRY TEATIME TALES are published by www.bookguild.co.uk

Video with Russell Grant

2008-06-19T11:15:00.001+01:00

Here is a link to a video of me on the Russell Grant Show with Patsy Palmer for anybody who is iterested in Tea leaf Reading.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yG-90S2i3Eg&feature=related

TEA TRAYS

2008-06-18T12:01:00.035+01:00

Today we live in a fast track, highly stressful world with an overload of information that has reached torture level for a lot of people with very little time to relax. Most of our modern health problems are stress-related, in fact the world of medicine is finding out more and more about stress and how it affects our physical health. Time-out is more important now then it ever has been but finding one minute to live in ‘the now’ almost impossible.

I find that setting a tea tray with the same thought and attention to detail associated with Chanoyu or Japanese tea ceremony is a good way to relax. Like preparing a room for a tea ceremony, the objects I put on my tea tray are very carefully considered. I begin by thinking about why I am setting the tea tray, as I am acting out a ritual and everything I place on the tray will have a profound effect on the energy I create.

Is my tray for the purpose of meditation or for a tealeaf reading? Is it to symbolise a celebration or for a healing bedside tonic? Is it a tray for me or to share with somebody?

I prefer to use wooden trays and the type of wood will set the mood along with the china, the linen and the flowers. Wood has its own special energy and I have collected several beautiful old wooden trays over the years and still look out for them for friends.

Oak is a symbol of strength and its energy is very sympathetic to the vibrations given off during a tealeaf reading.

Ash is associated with magic powers and healing; the druids used the tender spring ash leaves to make a cleansing tisane for general health. They believed ash wood absorbed sickness and made their decorated, healing wands of this wood. Ash wood seems to draw electrical energy towards itself, as it is known to attract lightning.

Beech is a wood for sad occasions. Beech trees are known to be good listeners. Country folk say that if you have a problem, sit under a beech tree with your back up against its trunk and share you problem with the tree and you will feel its support and wise council.

Honey-coloured fruit woods are perfect for a celebration tray and it is the perfect tray to set on a wet afternoon in front of the fire with a loved one.

I like to buy old wooden trays rather then new ones, even if they may need a little TLC to bring them back to their best. I am very aware that wood is very precious commodity and we need to use as little new wood as possible.

After I have decided on the tray I think about the flowers.

Cabana are the flowers chosen and arranged by the tea master to decorate the room for the tea ceremony. Each flower is chosen to help set the mood for the unique experience that each Chanoyu creates. The Victorians developed a whole language of flowers based on a rich folk lore of symbolism and omens. Country folk still say that it is unlucky to bring black thorn blossom into the house.

Roses have always been associated with love and, depending on their colour, different types of love. Red is for passion, pink for unconditional love and a yellow rose portrays the love of friendship.

Lilly of the Valley symbolises a return to happiness. The French call it Muguet and it is still given on the 1st of May as a symbol of love and happiness.

Natural oils contain the life force of the plant and their scents give off a vibration which perfumiers describe as notes that range from base notes to top notes. Three or more essences mixed together create a chord.

Colour is important as colour affects our mood. For example, yellow is uplifting, blue is cooling and lavender is calming.

When I choose the flowers for my tea tray I take into consideration the season, the symbolism, the scent and the colour. Whenever possible, I try and find flowers and herbs that are growing in my garden.

I have a collection of hand-made antique tray clothes. They were made at a time when life wasn’t quite so hectic, I’m sure each stitch was made with love to create such beautiful work. There was plenty of time for the embroiderer to calmly consider her life and the lives of those around her. I often use a white work tray cloth as it goes with any china I choose.

I have different china for the many different reasons I am laying my tea tray.

All of the handles of the cups, jugs and teapot should face the same way to create an aesthetic balance. I am very careful that the vase I choose for my flowers complements the china. I have a silver posy vase that was gift long ago from a very dear friend and I find I use this the most as it goes with almost everything.

Once my tray is set, the last but not the least important thing to do is to choose the tea I am going to brew. Within this ritual and preparation I have created a place of seclusion from the outside world that is in harmony with the universe, a place to be alone in or to enjoy with other company. FAIRY TEATIME TALES is published by http://www.bookguild.co.uk/

TEALEAF READING

2008-06-15T13:27:00.014+01:00

Albert Einstein said: We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
He also said: Imagination is more important than knowledge.

We have all experienced the frustration of not being able to recall the title of a book or a name and the expression ‘it’s on the tip of my tongue’, the harder we think about it the more elusive it becomes. Eventually we move on only to wake up around 3 am with the name or title so clear in the mind it feels etched there, only to forget it again by the morning. By clearing our minds of cluttered thoughts, we relax and allow new ideas to flow in.

The art of tealeaf reading depends on clearing the mind. The mind should be like a blank canvas waiting for inspiration. Preparing a cup for a tea leaf reading is a way of achieving this.

In my video on tealeaf reading I use teabags and explain a little about the geometric symbols they represent. The ritual preparation for each different geometric shape is part of the mind clearing process that helps us mentally step back from the mundane and embrace the mysterious. Symbols connect us to a world language, understood deep within the minds of all cultures. It’s a language of creative abundance.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9F11rPQ3Ez0&feature=related

Albert Einstein said: The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.

He also said: If you want your children to be bright read them fairy tales. If you want them to be brilliant then read them even more fairy tales.

FAIRY TEATIME TALES is published by http://www.bookguild.co.uk/

MY BUG IMP

2008-06-12T14:57:00.012+01:00

I have six grandchildren; the youngest one is nine months old and is the family ‘Bug Imp’
Her name is Mahala and she is at the humming stage of her vocal development. She hums when she eats um, um,um, she hums when she is concentrating, u…….mmm. She hums with great determination when she is trying to attract the attention of the long suffering cat, whose tail she pulls whenever it is within her reach. She is adorable and her impish smile melts all hearts.

Bug Imps are characters from ‘Fairy Teatime Tales’. They are fairyland entertainers and no Fairy Land wedding would take place without their presence. Fairyland weddings are organised by a famous gnome named Bog Bean, the wedding planner. Bug Imps hum tunes of happiness as they buzz about the flowers. Bog Bean knows them all by name and calls their names out tunefully to get them into full wedding or party buzz. Once they are in full buzz they can go on for hours, without even a sip of nectar.

Mahala is not quite as efficient a hummer as Fairy Land Bug Imps and needs lots of sips of liquid in between hums. At the moment she is teething and has added a new hum to her repertoire. It is the frustrated hum of sore gums. I have been giving her lots of chamomile tea which helps by soothing and calming her red gums. She likes the taste and so it is easy to get her to drink it. It seems to help her sleep better; aided by the scent from the lavender bag we place at the head of her bed.

This morning we experienced a new sound, not inspired by the Bug Imps but more in keeping with a forest goblin. It is a deep throated grunt that means we have failed to understand her needs. It is very efficient and comes with eye contact on her cup if it is a drink she is wanting or with a great push at her tray if she wishes to get out of her high chair, once her breakfast is over. A little chamomile tea later on should send those forest goblins packing!

FAIRY TEATIME TALES are published by http://www.bookguild.co.uk/

TEA AND EMOTIONAL WELLBEING

2008-06-09T11:01:00.018+01:00

When I read the daily information about food and health in my morning papers, it is always about the benefits towards physical health. One week the British blackcurrant was hailed as the wonder fruit. Its benefits to health are its being antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and anti-cholesterol. It protects cells and blood vessels and encourages collagen growth for younger looking skin. Another week in could be tomatoes or grapes. Most of these qualities also apply to black and green tea but tea has the added advantage of being a natural disinfectant of the mouth preventing gum disease and tooth decay.

In my opinion the most important advantage tea has over all of the other super foods is that tea is the only one that has proven psychological benefits. So much so that during the second world war a minister for tea was appointed because it was thought that the British
would not be able to survive the emotional trauma of the blitz and keep a brave heart without the nations life stay a ‘nice cup of tea’.

Tea is known to give contentment to the mind and is always associated with relaxing and time out. I don’t think blackcurrants for instance would work in the same way if it became part of the vernacular to say ‘why don’t you sit down and I’ll make you a nice cup of blackcurrant juice.’ Tea refreshes and revives the mind before the physical effects of the brew are felt as just the thought of a ‘nice cup of tea’ and all of the ritual that goes with it creates an instant sense of well being on the imbiber. Tea is associated with childhood and family and is present in many of our favorite children’s stories, depicting the symbolic ‘safe space’, the nursery tea times where adventures could start from and where weary travellers could return to.

When I was a child growing up, just after the Second World War, most children drank milky tea at least once a day at tea time. My bothers and I also drank milky tea with our breakfast. Fizzy drinks were rare, my grandmother did make ginger beer and elderflower cordial but we drank these on hot days and not very often. In turn I gave my own children tea as they were growing up and rarely bought them fizzy drinks. I truly believe in the calming influence of tea. When I was in the girl guides we were taught to give hot tea to somebody in shock. And I remember vividly, the marvelous taste and comfort of that first cup of tea that arrives after all the hard work and drama of giving birth.

The definition in the dictionary for ‘nice’ is “pleasing to the mind and senses.” For me a ‘nice cup of tea’ and one minute in ‘the now’ puts me firmly back in ‘the rhythm of life’ So for me tea is more than a super food it is a way for my mind to help my body stay well.

FAIRY TEATIME TALES is published by http://www.bookguild.co.uk/

PIXIE GREEN

2008-06-09T10:10:00.017+01:00

In the ‘Fairy Teatime Tales’ stories, a lot of activity takes place at Pixie Green. Monsieur Taupe, a very distinguished mole who arrived from France via my Hollyhocks, was transported there by fairy dust and made it his home. Since then badly behaved spiders have been sent there along with a very bad mannered fairy land cockerel belonging to Fairy Hawthorn. Monsieur Taupe met his bride there and a beautiful Fairy Queen landed in the paddock one silvery pink morning, on the back of a unicorn.

Pixie Green is a real place. My brother and sister-in-law live there along with the hens and a cat named Nelson who helps to keep down the rabbit population. At the moment one of the broody hens is sitting on a clutch of eggs that are expected to hatch in about a week’s time. They are a mixed clutch of eggs, some are French Wheaton Maran and some are Araucana, the Chilean breed that lay lavender blue eggs (Monsieur Taupe’s favourite). Bee orchids grow in the paddock, where the hens run free, along with a selection of apple and pear trees.

My sister-in-law is a chef and my brother enjoys cooking on the barbeque. I am also a cook and we all get together whenever possible with our busy lives, to cook and share ideas about food. At the moment my nephew and his Japanese wife are staying at Pixie Green so we are really enjoying the cooking infusion with a Japanese influence. Black tea for smoking chicken and green tea cake are just a few of the recipes we have been enjoying of late.

One of the things we are lucky to have in abundance is hedgerow fare. We all take part in gathering sloes to make sloe jelly and elderflowers to make champagne and to dry for tisane. Hawthorn and apple jelly is a favourite of mine. Dried hawthorn berries also make a good tisane as do their very young green leaves when they first open.

Blackthorn and hawthorn are said to be fairy trees and must be treated with great respect. I always leave a little something for the fairies, as my grandmother taught me to do. A little grain is always well received, even if the pigeons usually find it first!

My sister-in-law makes cakes that are truly delicious and worth the risk of a few extra inches on the waist line. They are made with Pixie Green eggs and the best organic ingredients. I often ask her to make me something special when I am inviting friends to my Gloriette for tea. No wonder the fairies like to be invited!!

FAIRY TEATIME TALES is published by http://www.bookguild.co.uk/

Introducing myself

2008-06-06T11:03:00.002+01:00

Welcome to Amber’s Gloriette, my summer house in the garden where I write.
Gloriette is a French word meaning ‘little glory’. It is a building in a garden, usually a summerhouse that is built with respect for its surroundings.

I collect embroidered antique linens and china and use them to create relaxed but elegant settings for the ritual of tea time. I am a Tasseologist, and here is where I often read the tealeaves of friends who I have invited to tea. My grandmother taught me to read the tealeaves when I was young and made me aware of many other old rural customs.

In my twenties I became interested in the language of symbols and it has become a life long interest, along with the study of ritual and lateral thinking. Our sixth sense is now something that science has begun to recognize and emotional intelligence is one of the words they use for it. I believe we all are gifted with this sixth sense and we can all learn to us it. I teach the art of Tasseology as an introduction into the language of symbols and emotional intelligence.

Tasseology is based on interpreting universal symbols and as it is an ancient and intuitive art, it helps us to develop our individual creativity and find a balance between what we know consciously and feel subconsciously. Universal symbols are part of our subliminal makeup and we are influenced by them every day. Each time we look at a logo a form of lateral thinking takes place and we know intuitively rather than intellectually what life style or corporate endeavour that logo represents.

Zen Buddhists believe that tea is the perfect aid to meditation as it evokes wakeful tranquillity that aids the path to enlightenment. I believe that the calm open energy the ritual of tea drinking creates helps us to collate subconscious information that can give us clarity and direction on our journey through life. I find a tea break invaluable when I am writing and I often go back to my desk with fresh ideas after a relaxing cuppa.

It was over a relaxing cuppa in my Gloriette that I had the idea of taking tea with a fairy and calling her Fairy Bergamot, as I was enjoying a cup of Earl Grey tea at the time. In flower lore and aromatherapy, bergamot is know as a sociable scent and is said to create a happy atmosphere. It seemed to me that a bergamot fairy would make a perfect hostess and be comfortable in any company. I wanted to write a series of tales that would promote creativity as well as instilling a respect for the environment, encouraging the protection and enjoyment of Mother Nature’s many gifts and wonders. So ‘Fairy Teatime Tales’ was born and now every Thursday I have tea with Fairy Bergamot and her many fairyland friends.

In the language of symbols the tortoise represents the universe, as the upper half of its shell is half curved like the heavens and the lower flat part is like the earth. Romany gypsies are still versed in living side by side with nature. They can find wild food from the hedgerows and only take what they need. They know how to conserve food without the use of man-made appliances. Dockie, my gypsy tortoise seemed a perfect choice of character to be part of ‘Fairy Teatime Tales’. He is an artist with a passion for Assam tea. He has a very fragile ego which makes him very sensitive and sometimes difficult but loveable. He can be stubborn but shows great strength of character when he overcomes bad habits.

As with Fairy Bergamot and Dockie, all of the characters in ‘Fairy Teatime Tales’ came about either out of real life stories or from influence of nature's own scents and messages.
With a little imagination and the wonderful skill of my illustrator, Pamela Harden, the Land of Fairy has become a very real place.

Fairy Tales nourish us whether we are young or old. Stories shared with parent and child are the building blocks of a child’s future and influence the character of a future generation when they become part of the cultural life of that generation. The ‘Fairy Information’ at the end of each story in ‘Fairy Teatime Tales’ helps children to understand and to be empowered with the knowledge that their efforts to help our ailing planet can make a difference.

I have written the stories in letter form as this creates a forum for interaction between the adult reader and the child audience. This format also encourages new stories to develop naturally from the root story. With the inner significance of each story the child’s creative individuality is encouraged to develop. In the cosy setting of teatime, feelings are given a safe space to be expressed.

FAIRY TEATIME TALES is published by http://www.bookguild.co.uk/