Live the Pooh way

Tea for Two

I love this painting on Pinterest and I've since seen in in Bramble's Team Room with another of the same collection. Tea is fab shared with a friend or friends. Even of the four legged variety! I set out on a Tea Room blog four posts ago but I do have a tendency to divulge more than intended. My teenage daughter regularly says, "TMI Mum!" to me whilst rolling her eyes.
Therefore, due to my digressing, I have a few more little gems of places to share with you. These places are Tea Rooms where you book in advance, so you know they're good!
I'd heard of this little tea room a long time before I actually visited and thought it was a fab idea to turn part of your house into a tea room where people ate, drank and crafted. I finally visited when I was picking my daughter up from a party there. The welcome I received was amazing. I was given a tray with Earl Grey and a piece of cake tout de suite! My friends and I gradually became regulars and loved this gem of a place with its busily covered walls, focussing on Alice in Wonderland and Harry spotter. My cousin's initial reaction was similar to mine, as she stood at the door, head back in awe of just everything! We were like, "You can sit down now. We're all thirsty!"

We would have afternoon tea and loads of different drinks. I always went for the strong coffees but there were so many teas to choose from. We'd tend to have a Mum's table and a Daughter's table and the girls loved all the cordial and hot chocolates with marshmallows! There would be special crafting events held here and we loved the aromatherapy sachet making session.
This later broadened out to our local community centre where we had a Book Club, that I've already covered and a Craft Club. The crafting was amazing and a few of us came with our daughters to these lovely evenings. My friend's would laugh at me because I was always shattered when I got there after work. Plus, I wanted to chat whilst drinking my coffee. This meant, I was always the last to finish any product made. I'd sip coffee and chat for a hour, walking over to the crafting table to look for more material. I wasn't really. I was doing what I'd caught many of the kids in my class doing over the years. I was being distracted. Pretending to look busy. I'd learnt from the best! Then, in the last half hour, fuelled on by three cups of very strong coffee, I'd pull up the rear and speedily complete whatever it was I'd pretended to know that I was making!
On these occasions there'd sometimes be handmade crafts and gifts for sale. I loved them all but the two I remember the most are the Apothecary. This was the lovely lady we made the lavender organza bags with and her products were amazing.

The other stall was full of gorgeous handmade bags, purses, key chains and so on and were very good quality. I love the bright patterns and the brilliant quotes.

When I think of my sewing days at school, learning, then teaching, I remember loving sewing all the different stitches onto material and making purses. When I was teaching, I loved preparing all the binge and different coloured cotton. In my mind, we'd all sit sewing happily mastering our running and cross stitches, whilst soft music played in the background. Quite a few of my lessons were based on those rose tinted glasses from a creative 80s schooling. In reality, my TA and I made two rows of children wondering why their cotton had come off their needle again! We did love making pictures onto the squared binca. Normally houses as squares and rectangles are easier! We stretched to windmills also!

Actually, while I found the above memory on Pinterest, I found a more apt adult project I would now probably do sitting in my stock room over break time, thinking about that massive pile of paperwork! Only joking!

This is now a travelling tea room that will bring everything to you! You provide the venue and the tea room comes to you. There is a wonderful tent with a mural of Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter. Or if you are having a small gathering at your home, ring and have their amazing cheese board delivered. This goes down well with a bottle of red!

Another gorgeous Tea room I have visited is The Twisted Teapot in Barnsley. We were amazed when we walked in and were greeted by a magical little room. And a row of glasses of Prosecco! Again, lots of Wows and Goshes from us all as we walked to our tables, taking in the fantastic surroundings. We'd gone for my birthday and were taking up three tables. I felt sorry for the two quiet ladies who had been placed in the middle of us. We aren't know for our quietness. The starters were lovely and once I'd drank the Prosecco, the variety of fascinators on display were out!
The afternoon tea board was full of all sorts of wonderful things but I left the cavier sorry. On to the wardrobe into Narnia. I thought this was such a wonderful idea. The door took you into Narnia where you could lean on the lamppost and have a selfie with the snowy background for effect. Or you could, like us, wear a fake fur coat and open the wardrobe door in a "I'm coming up, so you'd better get this party started", Shirley Bassey fashion. Yet again, I felt those two poor women sitting in the middle of us! The wardrobe also takes you to the toilet but I prefer the Narnia version!
The Twisted Teapot should be remembered for its marvellous, imaginative decor. Especially, the Beauty and the Beast feel to it and the open books on the walls. The big Happily Ever After book and selfie frame are lovely too. It also needs to be remembered for its desserts. My goodness. The Bailey's Mousse is something else! One of my friend's did not want hers. Hey? Safe to say, that did not go home in one of the doggy bags!

I have been back to the Twisted Teapot with  lovely friend Vic and we put on our fascinator and had a fab time again. I had gone on and on about how marvellous this place was and she had to agree.

We were so pleased, I was fathing about getting a tip for the two ladies and then talking about how lovely it was, that I nearly went without paying!
We have also been to the gorgeous Potteries tea room at Swinton. Again, I had heard such wonderful things about this so I was so excited to go. We went for my friend's little girl's birthday and it was marvellous. She ordered a Unicorn platter to share, we ordered a Beauty and the Beast and her mum ordered the original. It is lovely and homely inside and we loved it straight away.
We could not get over the variety of platters and loved everything we had. We were very impressed with the finishing touches of everything. The table next to us were having a baby shower and their platters were great!

We have visited Audrey's Tea Room at Darfield a few times but not had the official afternoon tea yet. We have had lovely tea and cake though! When it opened, my friend who knows me well, texted me a picture of the book wallpaper in the loos! I had to visit here! When we did visit, we loved the atmosphere and the book wallpaper, of course! We loved the ornaments for sale and the hanging bicycle on the ceiling. All very quaint!

On my last visit, I had Redbush tea and it was lovely. Aptly served in a red teapot! There is something so satisfying about block colour teapots, especially red ones. So plaesing and aesthetic to the eye. Thought I'd best throw a large word in here and there!

They sell handmade cake stands and meant to get one but forgot! Lots of tables had Reserved signs for Afternoon tea so we said we would definitely have it. My friend had the Creme Egg cake which looked mighty fine and was very thematic for the time of year! The cream tea was gorgeous that I had!

We love the Pantry Tea Rooms at Elsecar that I've already talked about but when we visited last time, we spotted a little tea room above it. We were so surprised! Where had that been hiding all this time? The Parlour Tea Rooms was nestled snugly in between the new Artist studio and the tea rooms underneath. We noticed that you went up some steps to get to the door. Two ladies rang a bell and a waitress dressed in Victorian garb answered and let them in. There were ladies in the window enjoying afternoon tea. I need to get in Marple mode and find out more about this gorgeously secret place!