My Lovely New Tea Set!!! (Yes- it needs 3 exclamation points)

My husband is the best gift buyer in the world. In the past he has bought me a puppy for Valentine's Day (my dear Chelsea), an iMac (where my writing career began) for our 10th wedding anniversary, and the well known and coveted Accumulator for this year's birthday.

This last weekend we went over the border to South Africa with a sick friend and when we came back he bought me this lovely tea set. I make a pot of tea every morning for breakfast and I am very fussy about the pot I use. Size, shape and colour all play a large role. This teapot has now become my favourite by a very wide margin. It is so jolly and green; what else does one need? I'm already a big fan of enamelware of all kinds, so this is like enamelware with whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles, and a cherry on top.

My favourite bits are the little girls and their ever changing dresses and hair styles. The girls on the tray, the sugar bowl, the milk jug, and the teapot are all different. It makes me think of Giant Teenager No.1 who is now free from school hairstyle dictates, and is changing her hair almost daily. Yesterday when we came home from South Africa, she had changed to a wild crop of short maphondo on the top of her head with the bottom shaved nearly bare with three stripes on each side and all dyed maroon.

My second favourite thing about the tea set are the giraffes. I'm a currently considering starting a petition to remove the buffalo (ugly) from the Big Five and have the elegant and beautiful giraffe take its place. I'm still working on the wording for the petition because I'd also like to see how the under-rated warthog might find a place in that illustrious grouping. Big Six perhaps? Big Six is so much tidier with its symmetry of three-letter-word butted up against three-letter-word. Anyway, like I said, I'm still considering the wording, but the point is I like giraffes and I very much like the giraffes I will be having my morning tea with for now on.

Though I didn't know it at the time, this tea set is made by a very lovely South African group called Lumela Afrika. According to their website they do all sorts of wonderful things.

Lumela Afrika, established in 1995 is a job creation project focusing on the employment of single mothers and men from the local townships of Sharpville, Sebokeng and Orange Farm. Each brightly painted piece is hand drawn and painted, making each product unique in its own right.Lumela, however is not just about bright, fun products - it is essentially about empowerment and upliftment. Proceeds from the sale of Lumela products go towards supporting children’s homes for abandoned and abused children as well as aids orphans.

**************************************************

And here, having nothing at all to do with tea sets or gifts, except that I found this photo in my camera when I was downloading the tea set pics, are the cats busy at their day job.