Mugs and Moods.

I smile to myself as I reach out and take my chicken patterned mug from the shelf. We have just bought 3 new hens and its typical that my brain has become chicken filled to the point that my morning tea has to fit with our latest arrivals. Are you like me? Do you have ‘different mugs for different moods’ ? Ive realised lately that my choice of mug is very much based on how I’m feeling or how I would like to feel. I have a mug for sunny days or when I want to bring the sunshine into my life, a mug for when I want to feel more feminine, a mug for remembering who I am, mugs for helping me to remember whose tea is whose , a romantic mug…….gosh I never realised I drank so much tea, but I am from England so I guess it goes with the territory. Make yourself comfy and I will talk you through my mugs and moods, ill even make you a brew, what tea do you like by the way? I’m a yorkshire tea lover, but i’m sure i have some earl grey in the back of the cupboard if you would prefer.

The mugs above are my day to day set. They are strong, solid and a comforting shape to hold. For those of you who know the shop they were bought from ‘Joules’, individually, so it took a little while to get the set, but I love them. I use the yellow one on a sunny day, to carry the sunshine streaming into the kitchen up to my room. I also use it on rainy days to remind me of the sunny ones. The pink one I use occasionally for when I need a touch of femininity and I use the whole set for visitors. Im sure you can guess who gets which cup but it makes it easy to give the pink and yellow to the ladies and the blue and grey to the men. It just makes remembering whose is whose easy, if a little ‘stereotypical’.

The romantic mug! I pick this one when I’m feeling in a loving mood or thinking of love or in need of love. Nothing beats a love heart to make you feel a little romantic, and this mug does it for me. If you see me with this one you may well be in for a big hug as well as a cup of tea.

The pretty mug! This one is the same shape as the romantic mug. It came as a gift with my Country Living magazine and I love it. I think its probably in its 5th or 6th year which is pretty good going for me. I use it when I’m in my more girly moods, or just feeling the need for a little prettiness along with my tea. It certainly gives me a lift and I hope it lasts for many years to come as it really is my favourite.

A is for Alison! The mug I reach for when I want to remember who I am. Of course I don’t really need a mug to remember my name, I’m getting older but not that old!, it’s just that sometimes I like to think about my name and who ‘Alison’ is, so I go for this one. So often we are called by our other titles, Mum, Nonna, etc, but Alison…Who is she? Is she still there or has she lost herself along the way? I have a card in my phone case that tells me the meaning of my name:

ALISON derived from “Son of Alice” originally a boys name, hmmm I can be a bit tomboyish at times. ‘A strong and decisive lady’. Am I ? Yes I think I can be at times, but not so much at others. ‘She is romantically inclined’. am I? yes I definitely err on the side of romantacism. ‘Likes to build confidence in others’ I would like to think this is true but certainly something I would like to work on. So there we have it, some self reflection and a sense of self all restored with a cup of tea.

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Lastly, The Mum and Daughter mug! I bought this mug quite recently. It was advertised on Facebook but ordered from America and was a rather expensive purchase as I had forgotten to calculate the price of postage added to the mug before ordering. I do however love it and ordered one for my daughter Charlotte too. I choose this mug when I’m missing her and wonder if she is in London drinking tea out of hers at the same time. The likeness is pretty good of the two of us sat together and the sentiment I thought was rather lovely.

A certain person I know once said “I think we’ve got enough mugs love” but I beg to differ, I think there is always room for another.

So there we are, a little journey through my ‘mugs and moods’ and a whole lot of tea drunk. When its time for a cuppa, its time to sit and relax and take a bit of ‘time out’, what better way to do it than with a choice of mug that uplifts and enhances the whole experience.

Love Alison x

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