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Crumpets and Tea

And Probably Some Croquet

What - When - Where - Who - Why - Croquet - Privacy Policy

 

What:

  • Crumpets and Tea (and coffee!) are served. Join your fellow civilized-human-beings for a late-afternoon chat.

  • No RSVP; no door charge. Contact me if you feel like giving us a heads-up anyway, or if you want to know if it's OK to use Crumpets and Tea as a venue to showcase your skills in baking ginger cookies.

  • 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 tend to get eaten far faster than the crumpets do.

  • Bring a friend or two!

  • We have a grand piano available. If you play, then please bring some tea-appropriate music. No disco. No country-western. You get my drift.

  • This civilized tea party is usually preceded by an equally civilized round of croquet beforehand. See below for details.

  • Under the influence of the second pot of tea, guests sometimes feel inclined to talk politics and/or religion. This is permitted at Crumpets and Tea! It's forbidden only at the Baja LasVegastan Independence Day Celebration.

When:

  • Always on the Third Sunday of the month. 

    • Tea is served at 4 PM. Tea time, by Jove! 

  • Arrive whenever you like, at or after 3 PM. 

    • We'll ease you out between 6 PM and 7 PM. 

    • Monday is a work/school day for so many of us, eh?

  • We're likely to be dark one or two months each year. Stuff comes up, you know?

    • We'll announce such darknesses in advance, as soon as we can, both on this webpage and in the newsletters which announce this tea party.

    • It wouldn't hurt to re-check this webpage around noon on Third Sunday.

  • Here's the schedule for upcoming months:

    • Sunday, May 19, 2013 -- we're on.
    • Sunday, June 16, 2013 -- we're on.

Where:

  • At our home far-south Orange County.  Here is how to get here.

  • Tragically, Metrolink's schedule on Sunday afternoons does not provide adequate service to those who seek to avoid the sometimes-heavy traffic on the 5 freeway.

Who:

  • Your host (who greatly enjoys playing croquet, and drinking coffee): HMFIC Jim-Bob the Third, the Benevolent Dictator of Baja LasVegastan. 
  • 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, who needs no further introduction.

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 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.
  • We play under Benevolent Dictatorship of Baja LasVegastan rules. Don't worry; the Benevolent Dictator will explain them to you as we start.
  • The Benevolent Dictator plays 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 PM, when the follow-on tea party formally begins, feel free. If the first round of play finishes before 4 PM, 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:

    • 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 PM -- for tea but not for croquet -- will inquire about your garb. What a conversation starter!

    • You might want to bring a hat.

      • That mid-afternoon sun can get intense, even in winter. If you didn't bring a hat, then you can borrow one of ours. 

      • Warning: Some of our hats are, um ...,  more fashionable/flattering than others.

Privacy policy:

  • Visual and/or audio recording devices are prohibited, both during croquet and during the follow-on tea party.
  • This is especially true if:
    • a borrowed hat is within the field of view during croquet; and/or
    • the conversation during the tea party turns to politics and/or religion, as so often happens (especially later in the afternoon, after the second pot of tea has been brewed).
  • Please contact me in advance if you need to be excused from this general prohibition.
  • Cell phones are OK, even those with good cameras and/or microphones. We ask only that you step away from the party -- and out onto the front porch -- before you remove your cell phone from your pocket or purse.

 

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