Not much beats 4 o'clock and afternoon tea. A quintessential English pastime that is really still quite new; it was only brought into fashion by the Duchess of Bedford in the 1840s who always felt a bit peckish around 4pm. We don't change into our long gowns, hats and gloves, as she and her friends used to do, for tea time but I do enjoy Lapsang Souchong and L is partial to English Breakfast. The Duchess would have bread and butter followed by cake and it was the Earl of Sandwich who thought to put two pieces of bread together with a filling in between - hence a 'sandwich'. Although I am partial to a cucumber sandwich every now again in the summer, a delicious tea time snack such as a piece of freshly cut bread (or toast) with butter and honey is (at the moment) my preferred treat.

Our cupboard is currently hosting a little collection of honeys. These two were bought from a French supermarket. One is from lavender flowers in Provence. Both are delicious and creamy... the pot on the right is finished now. It didn't take long!
And from the From Field and Flower honey stall in Borough Market, London we have these two raw honeys. The company sells English honey too, we just happen to have picked Italian ones. At the stall it is possible to taste from each of the honey jars, which we spent quite a while doing, starting with the mildest flavoured one first and going along the row. We picked three we loved the taste of and promptly devoured the pot of Heather honey, leaving these two: Apricot and Linden Tree. Can't wait to open them as they are deeeelicious!
Eating the honey made me think of a photograph I took of a bee with full looking pollen baskets on it's hind legs. The bee was busy visiting the flowers in the garden I created in a previous house. Here he is pictured with a climbing pink rose called New Dawn - an absolutely fabulous rose. I think I was having a cup of tea in the garden at the time!
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