A Tipping Teapot

Like many of my friends here in England and in the US, I have been quite a fan of the series, Downton Abbey, the fictionalized upstairs-downstairs period and costume production, which is set around the time of the First World War. I was quite excited when the American Women of Surrey's English Experience group arranged for a tour of Highclere Castle, home to the Carnarvon family and the estate chosen as the film location for Downton Abbey. I booked this trip with the AWS ages ago. 

Okay, and then life intervened. You know, best laid plans and all . . . The idea was that dear hubby would collect dear son from school on that afternoon, as I couldn't be absolutely sure if I would get back early enough from our all-day excursion, which was going to include another stop, lunch, and lots of touring. Well, as seems to always happen when I have something planned, dear hubby was told he was going to Spain on a business/science trip. On top of that, when I pre-booked the tour, I didn't realize that my son  would be starting his GCSE exams, which would require being dropped off by 8 a.m. and collected after his exam around 11 a.m. How was I going to manage that while I was strolling the grounds of Highclere.

In the end, my role of Mom to Teen and Resident Taxi Driver took precedence, and someone else went in my place, ate the lunch I ordered, saw all the wonders that I was meant to see, and had my afternoon tea.

Me not happy :-(

To try to cheer up myself, I decided to go to the Epsom Downs Racecourse -- no, not to blow all my money on a pony out of frustration -- but to attend their quarterly Antiques Market. I must admit that I was pretty underwhelmed by much on offer. A lot of the bits and pieces looked like the discarded costume jewelry heaped in my old jewelry box -- except that my stuff was in better shape!

But there were some lovely things on offer, too. For example, I found three silver items with which I'm pretty pleased:

1) Art deco stainless steel butter/jam knives for tea (in their original box)

2) Art deco silver teaspoons for tea (in a box, but perhaps, not the original)

3) James Deakin & Sons Victorian silver tipping teapot with stand and oil lamp

The spoons and knives will come in very handy when I host my Wednesday stamping and scrapbooking gatherings. The little knives are perfect for paté and spreads, and the teaspoons are the quaint and elegant touch I need for serving tea and cappuccinos.

The silver Victorian tipping teapot was something I didn't need but found fascinating. In fact, the first time I saw a tipping teapot was while watching Downton Abbey! I loved the fact that it sits ontop of a small oil lamp flame, which works wonderfully to keep the tea warm while not corrupting the flavor of the tea. I also love the way the pot gently tips and pours into the tea cup. So sweet!

This may not the best example of a tipping teapot; it was quite tarnished in places, and Niall and I are still trying to polish up the stubborn black. But, as I quietly vacillated about purchasing the item, holding it in my hands and thinking, the vendor kept lowering the price by £5 pounds a pop. The original price was £65, and I eventually snagged it for £30. 

The day's shopping therapy did help to put my mind right, but I still would have preferred to have gone to Highclere. *sigh* However, I wouldn't have my tipping teapot! Also, since I picked up Branduff in mid-afternoon, we were able to have a lovely late lunch at the Rubbing House at the Epsom Downs Racecourse -- http://www.rubbinghouse.com/home.html. It has outstanding food (and the best souvla in the county!!), and it was enjoyable to spend some time with my fast-growing young man.