We also both drink tea. He drinks green tea, for the health benefits (antioxidants and all that jazz). I drink Earl Grey, to help get me moving in the (later) morning. And we both have loved this beautiful teapot, which we received as a wedding gift from one of my college friends.
It is a lovely Portmeirion pot in the Botanic Garden pattern (from 1972). I don't have any other pieces, but my, how I have loved that teapot. From the moment I saw it, I fell in love with it.
Beneath the delight, lurked horrid embarrassment. My friend had gotten married while I was living in England for several months. Originally, I was supposed to be her maid of honor. Alas, my 7 month stint in England/Europe stood in the way. I mailed her an absolutely horrendous wedding pillow (of course, that is how I remember it now - at the moment of purchase, it was something beautiful, purchased right in the middle of the Covent Garden craft mall). I'm pretty sure my gift to her was tossed long ago.
If my husband had his way, our teapot would have been thrown out by now. For ages, we both would boil our water in this teapot in the microwave and then pour it over our teabag. Then, one day, the lid was dropped (can't even remember who, but can guarantee it was in DeKalb and long before the two little guys were born).
I glued the lid back together. For a while, I persisted in removing the broken lid whenever I used the pot. However, one year for Christmas (again, in DeKalb), my husband purchased a stove-top whistling teapot. I did like the whistling version, but couldn't part with the botanical teapot, so it continued to sit on our counter.
After we moved to Indiana, I had both pots near the stove. Alas, shortly after YS was born, I put a batch of water on for tea and went off elsewhere in the house and forgot about it. By the time I returned to the kitchen, I was greeted with a pungent smell and my husband's gift (shhh!) went into the trash (really, he would have wanted it that way, anyway).
Since then, we boil our water in a regular Pyrex measuring cup. Boring, I know, but it certainly does the job just as well. Problem is, I still can't bear to part with the broken teapot. In fact, I have even spent a few evenings whiling away my time on e-bay searching for an exact replica to replace it. Even though I found one once, I didn't bid on it because I was sure my hubby would say, "doesn't the measuring cup work just as well?"
Now that I have taken these lovely photos of the teapot, perhaps it won't be so painful to throw it out. I doubt my friend, Anne, even knows how much I have cherished that gift! The sentimental value has been immense. It is amazing that I am willing to wash the darn thing when it gets dusty. I just have to have it out to look at because it brings me such comfort. Perhaps even more comfort than a hot cup of tea!
2 comments:
Maybe you can retire it and keep it somewhere that you can look at it????
It is a lovely pattern.
I'm with My Three Sons. Keep it as a 3-D piece of art.
I love your pictures, so artsy on the one with the broken lid. And I remember my parents had a whistling tea pot. How arcane! But a fun memory, nonetheless.
I'm standing with your hubby -- the four-cup Mr. Coffee coffemaker at 4:00 am. I have to write early in the am to get 'er done
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