The One and Only Tea Room: Tea, muffins and champagne served at all hours

[BoccaDellaNativita]

Well folks, here we are!

We were on the brink of filling the old thread so I thought we'd better start a new one now. There was a rumour that we were going to be evicted from our old premises, but we managed right at the last minute to get an extension on the lease. So it's business as usual. We're still in our charming old tea room, overlooking our beautiful garden complete with ha-ha and duck pond. And Mellors the gardener.

Please come and join us for a celebratory drink.

I also imagined that Mellors has his retinue installed in his shed, providing round the clock catering and mending. But I think we should avoid any discussion of Mellors' underpants, for fear that it will all get a bit unseemly and the tea room windows wil start to steam up.

Must now go and brush up my irregular French verbs, in readiness for the Cannes trip. Must also steer clear of the Christmas chocolates, as I imagine even the most Mary Poppins-ish au pair in Cannes will be sporting one of these.

Good grief! Hadn't even thought of that. Not if I steered clear of festive chocolates from now until July... I wonder if the yellow-polka-dot-burka look might have caught on by then. Or it may be an awful summer and I can keep the duffle coat on.

Reindeersnake - Well, as my temporary employer you would be quite entitled to impose a dress code and so, if you insisted on a burka or sensible Norland-style uniform for my duty hours, I would not be too devastated! I read recently that duffle coats are now officially cool again. I froze in the park today and would have been glad of one - I rather fancy one in red.

Good morning all and happy Boxing Day!
We had a lovely Christmas yesterday, with a ginormous turkey and an even more ginormous cheesecake for dessert - Spekulaas crust, mixed berry coulis on top... anyone wants some?

We normally celebrate on Christmas Eve, but had to delay until Christmas Day (which is normally given over to loafing lazily and eating enormous amounts), so today is our loafing day. There are fantastic amounts of snow outside!! This is the most snow this area has had in 20 years. There is a pristine down blanket of white on our little lawn - I am almost tempted to go out and throw myself down to make a snow angel... but as it's rather cold... I think I'll pass
Any of that lovely bubbly around?

What you need, JM, is Bocca's nice cool duffle coat. I'm sure that there is a bottle of bubbly somewhere here .... I'll swap a glass for a nice slice of (very exotic-sounding) cheese cake. (Even though providing the bubbly has never been anything to do with me.)

While thinking of providing things ... There. That sounds nice and full. And with the exchange rate, it's probably worth more than pounds anyway.

Mmmm, love the sound of cheesecake with a speculoos base.

Do you agree that the red duffle coat is cool? I doubt I'll ever buy one and I would be worried that I'd look like the dwarf in Don't Look Now. . Besides, I feel a duffle coat is a little informal to wear with a fascinator.

Sadly true about the relative value of the pound and the euro. I notice that even Santa delivers his coins as Euros now!

In the tea room you are tall and junoesque, Bocca. (Unless you would prefer to be willowy?) Just as JM can continue to wear her check shirts wear anything she likes.

Perhaps we should have a Winter Walk where we all wear duffle coats and fascinators? (I'm sure there is a coat rack somewhere by the door where we could find the requisit apparel. (apparell?)

Well, when I was a child up I always hoped I was going to grow up to be tall, bony and ethereal. An elegant racehorse, if you like. I actually grew into more of a Shetland pony. Hence I will be portayed in Tea Room: The Movie not by Meryl Streep but by the incomparable Dame Judi Dench, which is by no means A Bad Thing.

A winter walk would be lovely to blow away the cobwebs but we may be about to become the latest to succumb to the lurgy. BabyBocca has just vomited all over Signor Bocca and his new Christmas shirt, so the washing machine is in overdrive and I'm making no firm plans for tomorrow.

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To answer reindeer's question: my favourite item of clothing is jeans. Without a doubt. Although at the moment they don't exactly highlight any good features - my bum has shrunk considerably since I had Jackbaby, and my legs are decidedly chicken-y, and so they are a bit lot baggy. Other than that I usually wear boots (have a favourite pair of burgundy cowboy boots, the shaft is suede with lavender and green flowers, or my brown wedge-heeled boots) and some kind of long-sleeved shirt and my favourite flowered vest on top.
That's pretty much me: jeans, boots, some kind of shirt. Not checked, though.
I have pics on my profile if you need a better mental picture but they're from the summer so clothing obviously a bit different

Thanks, reindeersnake.

Now, casting The Room: The Movie. As we are both (ahem) mature ladies and Dame Judi Dench has been booked to play me, who does that leave? We don't want some flibbertygibbet who lacks the experience and gravitas necessary. Helen Mirren? Kristen Scott Thomas? Julie Walters? Meryl Streep herself?

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I hope BabyBocca just ate too much... there really seems to be a lot of ick going around.

Hmmm... would have to know what you look like, reindeer, to imagine who would play you in the tearoom movie.

I picture Daniel Craig as Mellors, though...

And I picture christmastea as a young adorable women, sort of along the lines of Reese Witherspoon, or Kate Hudson...

Bocca, I can see Dame Judi as you - love her!!

Thanks, jacksmama.

We don't have a dryer (on grounds of lack of space in the kitchen, although I like to dress up the environmental benefits) so the house will be festooned with damp laundry like something out of Dickens.

Mellors will be played by Daniel Craig. I shall insist on it. And will appoint myself as script consultant, so as to guarantee at least one scene in which Mellors spills organic plant food down his shirt and so has to remove it. The farmer from whom we buy the tea room's many sacks of wholesome flour, on the other hand, will be played by George Clooney. The real one, not the cardboard cut-out.

Excellent!
Do we have a part for Helen Mirren?

I thought Helen Mirren might be a possibility for Reindeersnake, but I'm waiting to hear what Reindeersnake thinks about that!

I thought that could work, too... so reindeer, what do you think?

I see myself like this Kind friends have that I look a bit like this. Which is, obviously, not bad, or, sadly, true. I will demand that the screen writer adds in some flashbacks, so that the young me can look like this The one on the right, obviously.

Actually, that is how I see Tea. I suppose we coud reduce costs by sharing the actress.

Amazing! I actually fell asleep for a little while before clicking on 'post' (ladies of our - ahem - age need little nap) and yet it fits perfectly. The Room, The Movie was meant to be!

Reindeersnake - That's uncanny. I was going to suggest Emma Thompson but thought the list was already too long and I didn't want to inhibit your choices. I recently saw Celia Imrie in the flesh and she is rather splendid.

As for your last suggestion, I think we should now all apply plenty of eyeliner and red lipstick and strut our stuff to this.

Why didn't this link work? I thought I'd done it by the book.

Dh thinks RC looks a bit like this although in recent days this has been more familiar.

JacksMama has not cast herself yet. I am pondering (or possibly napping).

What about Sandrine Kiberlain?

Wow - reindeer... I am
Errrmmm... this woman (I donn't know who she is) is extremely gorgeous. I'll gladly let her be me for the movie!!
(In fact, I would let her be me in RL... )

Too funny about Blondie - I can see Tea like that!!

Definite feeling of post-Christmas anticlimax here. Am longing to throw out Christmas decorations and bring in charmingly mismatched bowls of hyacinths and vases of hazel catkins. Sorry JM!

Only activity seems to be in Mellors' shed. Shouldn't he be out chopping wood for the tea room fire?