I don’t exactly love tea, but I missed it on the weekend when Sue absconded to her sister’s in Toronto. Après lunch and dinner tea has become part of our cadence of living, so there was a bit of a void when Sue was gone and when my routine became a non-routine.
While it is within the realm of possibility that I can brew tea, I didn’t. Then, the problem became what to drink in its place, especially with that stabilizing routine temporarily lost. So next time, I will do it differently and make tea, but I will still be out my routine and rhythm and a little bit lost. Or not lost really but just a wee bit untethered.
When she got back home on Monday afternoon, we had tea at supper and watched tv during and after dinner, and it seemed right.
Sue brought back some photos from the collection that Heather inherited from their mother. This, below, is of Sue’s grandmother, Alice, and her mother, Pearl. It was early in the war when Sue’s dad was off the fight the Hun, and of he who was in the womb was destined to later become Sue's big brother.
I had hoped to recover grandmother’s shadowy face and instructed AI to do so as I had in a previous old photo that I posted some time ago. Unfortunately, AI just made new faces, so I discarded that attempt. I then tried to fix the face on my own, but it was beyond my ability, so I was only able to touch up the old photo in my usual ways.
Before I switch from my tablet to the computer to find the photo, I will add that Sue’s family lived with her grandparents until they passed on. Her dad kept adding to the house to make room for everyone as Sue and her three siblings began to fill the space, but for awhile, Sue and her two sisters slept in a little room that wasn’t much more than a narrow passageway
I had a farmhouse that would have been like that. A huge closet was Grandma's room. The open hallway upstairs was the boys' room and the two bedrooms upstairs were the parents and brother's room.
ReplyDeleteThe master bedroom downstairs when we purchased it ... was the sitting room.
It was an old farmhouse with some of the funniest additions on it I've ever seen. But I still loved it.
Is that the house behind them? They look bundled up for a cold wind.
ReplyDeleteThat was the house across the street.
DeleteHa ha, I think you missed Sue more than tea-time?
ReplyDeleteI think there was a Sue shaped gap in your life there for a couple of days. Or years, depending on how it felt.
ReplyDeleteCherish Sue my friend!
ReplyDeleteIt's sweet that you missed Sue and your routine so much. I don't think Larry misses me at all---he enjoys doing just as he likes when I'm gone. I have to admit, I am the same. I enjoy the peace, not having to constantly get things for him or cook big meals, having the bed to myself, etc. However, it is always wonderful when he gets back!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have the foggiest clue how to make tea, not being a tea drinker. I did enjoy my choice at the High Tea I recently went to. But generally I'm a coffee drinker. In the winter, I sometimes have decaf in the evening with my favorite Belgian Chocolate Toffee creamer. Fancy! My grandfather's house had much smaller rooms. One bathroom was microscopic. My other grandparents had one bathroom for 5 people; at one time the house was a boarding house too. They must have had some kind of schedule!
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a two bedroom house. Our bedroom was very large. Lucky. There were 4 of us sharing it.
ReplyDeleteGlad you have your routine and wife back into your comfort zone. I was surprised today to have an old church friend interviewing me while preparing my taxes...not to see him, but when he finished he asked me how my husband was. I've filed as a single person forever, and he used to know me at church...but he certainly had me mistaken for someone else. I just said, no husband, I'm just me myself. So my routines are not changing with the presence (or absense) of another person daily.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Sue is back. She must have been pleased with your work on this old photo. It's lovely!
ReplyDeleteIt's important to go away so that people are grateful and happy when you come back.
ReplyDeleteI have had a lot more failures with A.I. on faces than successes. My only success was trying to reduce the acne on a self conscious child in our selected Christmas photo. On the third or fourth attempt, I finally told the A.I. to slightly minimize the acne and it finally did so without putting in a new face. Even the affected child was impressed with the results.
ReplyDeleteYour reflection captures beautifully how the quiet rituals of daily life like sharing tea, anchor us
ReplyDeleteI like tea (and old photos), reminds me of my dear maternal grandparents, but I always forget about making tea. I believe it's a good appetite suppressant too (which is probably why I forget about it).
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful old picture!
ReplyDeleteGreat photo but i see what you mean when you try to uncover the face.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are back in routine! And I love it that you can restore those photos to that degree.
ReplyDeleteTea is always a part of our daily routine.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to get names on those old pictures for future generations.
We also have tea after lunch. Mark used to travel quite a bit so I was used to being alone in the house. Now, I feel a sort of panic, which surprises me. Things change. That is a good photo and I can see Sue in her mother.
ReplyDeleteLove the old photo. AI is very hit/miss. About all I can suggest is bumping up the shadows and reducing the brightness, which you may have tried already.
ReplyDeleteI get very forgetful when our routine is disrupted
ReplyDeleteDo you know that there has only ever been a handful of times when V hasn't been around and I have had to hold the routine - but every other weekend or so I am off to my parents and he gets to hold the fort - and yes, he does miss the annoying routines that I have instilled!
ReplyDeleteI just finished a cup of tea. The old pic is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI have a cup of tea in the evening. I do love that photo. Routine is important as we get older. Have a nice weekend.
ReplyDeleteYes!! My husband makes tea in the morning when I'm walking the dog and he makes me a thermos of tea to take with me to work. I love this! But when he's not home, I do not make tea. Ha!
ReplyDelete