'If my tea chats were ever overheard, I'd immediately be cancelled'
Nation’s teapots could tell some amazing stories
News that a listening device was allegedly found in a teapot given to British civil servants by Chinese spies had me thinking: what stories could our teapots tell?
Between the dozens I’ve had over the years, they’ve been there at every twist and turn of my life. A giant, steaming pot of loose leaf tea was always plonked in the centre of the table as I laughed for hours with
Mum, listened to Dad’s stories, gossiped with friends or cried over a loved one lost.
A day couldn’t start or end without it and the steel tea strainer was rarely dry. Mum always told me off for not leaving tea long enough to brew, even when I left home, married and had kids. “Valerie, you’ve enough water in this to serve all the street,” she’d scold.
Mum always told me to use a Steradent denture tablet to clean brown tea stains from the pot. As time rolled by, teabags nudged loose leaf out of teapots but the pot remained the centre not just of the table but the home. It’s like a beacon that signifies it’s time to stop, sit and chat. It’s the hot, comforting heart of family life.
These days, living on my own, I usually dunk and squeeze a teabag in a mug. But the white porcelain teapot from Sainsbury’s comes out whenever anyone visits. When my neighbour Beryl’s here, we chat about highly personal things over a cuppa because we no longer have our mums to confide in. If our tea chats were ever overheard, we’d immediately be cancelled.
Furious chimp launches bottle at girl filming him leaving her bleeding at zoo
Brand claims no laughing matter
The first time I heard Russell Brand’s name was when he and Jonathan Ross called actor Andrew Sachs, who played Manuel in Fawlty Towers, and left an obscene message about his granddaughter. I didn’t like Russell Brand then and I certainly don’t like him now he faces claims of disgusting attacks on women.
Russell Brand (PA)I don’t know if we lived in safer, simpler times when I was young or if manners and decency were more important back then. But I know, listening to those poor women’s stories, I am hugely grateful never to have met anyone like him if those claims are true.
Zoo visit in chair left me in spin
My trip to Chester Zoo started off brilliantly. I was chuffed to bits to see the elephants playing with sticks, a lioness dozing in the sun and the penguins flip-flopping around. I loved having a caramel latte outside, even though the nearby vultures unnerved me and reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock’s film The Birds.
But then I felt really sick in the wheelchair again, just like I did the first two times I ventured out in it. My friend wheeled me gently and I’d taken anti-sickness pills before the trip but it was no good. I won’t go into much detail but instead of enjoying the picnic, the plastic bag wrapping the sandwiches was used for something else entirely.
My friends must have been disappointed to cut the day short but knew by my green face that I had to go home, so they took me back to the car after barely two hours. My return might have to wait until I have a new knee. But I will definitely be back. Meanwhile, if anyone has any suggestions of how to prevent motion sickness in a wheelchair, answers on a postcard, please.
Angela is Ripp-roaring
Strictly is back and I see lots of faces of people I don’t know but I’ll grow to love. Poor Les Dennis. He seems a nice fella but clearly has no rhythm. I feel for Annabel Croft, who recently lost her husband. I hope she’ll do well because she needs to be surrounded in happiness.
Angela with pro KaiThen there’s Angela Rippon, who is paired with professional dancer Kai Widdrington. I’m younger than Angela but as I look forward to knee replacement surgery, I look at her gorgeous Tina Turner legs and I’m in awe.
Davina hosts a wonderful show
My Mum, Your Dad is the most wonderful thing I’ve seen on telly all year. I was hooked after 15 minutes of the first episode. Since then, I’ve laughed, cried and felt every emotion, from excitement at the thought of two nice people finding love to sadness for unrequited love. Davina McCall is the perfect host – she is smart, classy, warm and I can tell she really feels what other people feel. There’s a good reason she’s been a top TV presenter for so long, and I hope for a lot, lot longer to come.
Wife should tell West where to go…
That Kanye West bloke is still parading his poor, half-naked wife around. Why is she going along with his wacky, nudey fashion choices? My late husband Colin never told me what to wear, mainly because he had no idea about fashion.
He didn’t like shopping but if I dragged him along and tried on a couple of dresses, he’d say: “You look nice in that one.” So I’d say: “What’s the matter with the other one? Don’t you like it?” In the end, he’d pick up his paper and say he’d had enough of shopping.
Scientists plan to ‘de-extinct’ the Dodo and release it back into the wild
West and his wife Bianca (GC Images)I loved choosing Colin’s clothes because if I didn’t, he’d wear awful things like black socks with brown shoes. He always looked smart. And sometimes, when he came home from work tired, slackened his tie and undid his collar button, I would take one look at him and say: “I don’t half fancy you, babe.”
My favourite story this week is of the lady who ordered a £175 lobster in an Italian restaurant then set it free. What a lovely person. She even asked if dropping it into the sea would hurt it. I admire her compassion so much I’d have given her a cuddle if I’d been there.
Every time I see a newborn lamb with its long eyelashes and little cries, I vow never to eat lamb again. But whenever someone mentions mint sauce, well… let’s just say again I admire the lobster lady’s compassion.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
