Crumpets and Tea
And Probably Some Croquet
What
- When - Where - Who
- Why -
Croquet
What:
-
Crumpets and Tea are served on a mid-month Sunday in the San Clemente home of
Tom Streeter. Includes the patio when the weather is nice. Join your fellow
civilized-human-beings for a late-afternoon chat.
-
No door charge. No RSVP.
Arrive when you like.
-
We
have a grand piano available. If you play, please bring some
tea-appropriate music. No disco. No country-western. You get my drift.
-
We offer scones
as well as crumpets. Who knew that there were so many
scotiaphiles in Southern
California?
-
Aye, me sainted
grandmother was, indeed, born in the auld country, in
Lasswade, just south of Edinburgh.
-
Aye,
the scones get eaten far faster than the crumpets do.
-
Bring
a friend or two!
-
This civilized tea party
is usually preceded by an equally civilized round of croquet
beforehand. See below for details.
When:
-
Always from 4:00 PM to
6:00 PM. Tea time, by Jove, just as God commanded unto the
Church of England in 4004 BC. See
Lev. 3:16.
-
Usually on the afternoon of each month's Third Sunday.
-
One or two months each year, we have to reschedule.
Conflict with The Opera, you know.
Or it's the same weekend as The Big Party on First Saturday.
-
Heck,
we might even be dark some months.
-
We'll
announce such things well in advance, both on this webpage and in the
newsletters which announce this tea party.
-
Here's the schedule for
upcoming months:
Where:
Who:
Your hostess (who does all of the work, and
who still likes to play tea party
just as much as she did when she was a four-year-old): The Goddess Kristine.
Why:
Eliza Doolittle sang it
best in Without You in
My Fair Lady:
There'll be spring every
year without you.
England still will be
here without you.
There'll be fruit on the tree, and a shore by the sea.
There'll be crumpets and tea without
you.
I can do without you.
Croquet:
Play
begins at 3:00 PM on the large common lawn behind our home. All mallets,
wickets, stakes, and balls are provided.
We
play four individuals and/or teams. We need at least three guests to start:
-
I
play whilst The Goddess Kristine puts the final touches on the tea, crumpets,
scones, doilies, and so on.
-
Stragglers will be added to already-playing individuals/teams.
Bad
weather?
-
We
and our guests step inside, and start sipping tea a bit early.
-
Please click here,
maybe about noon on The Day Of The Event, for a reasonably reliable
weather forecast.
Play
continues for as long as the players feel like it. If you prefer to continue to play after 4:00 PM, when the follow-on tea formally begins, feel free. If the first
round finishes before 4:00, then we might well fire up the tea pot a little
early.
Genteel dispute
as to who beat whom at croquet is
expected at the follow-on tea. Genteel dispute, I say.
Dress code:
-
You might want to bring
a hat.
-
That mid-afternoon sun can get intense, even in winter. If you didn't bring a hat, you can borrow one of ours.
-
Warning:
Some of our hats are, um ..., more fashionable/flattering than
others.
-
No, you are not expected
to wear All White, and your host and hostess generally do not do so.
-
However, we
welcome all civilized people for croquet, including Those Who Choose To Make A
Statement By Wearing All White.
-
Perhaps guests who arrive at 4:00 PM -- for tea but not for croquet -- will
inquire about your garb. What a conversation starter!
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