Tea Party in a Tent

I've been taking a walk down memory lane recently, buying Poppet books that I remember reading as a child. It's funny the ones that you remember. There was one in particular I really wanted to find, all I had to go on was a memory of a little girl having a tea party in a bush at the bottom of the garden. The image had stayed with me all these years, and finally after quite a bit of google searching I found the book.

It was called Sally's Secret, and the illustrations are beautiful. It's about a little girl who makes houses in all sorts of places, and one day makes a house in the middle of a bush and has a tea party in it. Our second-hand copy arrived a few days ago. We've been reading it a couple of times every day and I can still see why I loved it so much when I was little. Poppet has been as enamoured with it as I was/am, and it inspired us to have an old-fashioned style tea party in an old-fashioned style tent.

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I made a simple A-frame tent using bamboo sticks stuck into the ground tied together with twine, and a large sheet secured with clothes pegs. It wasn't the sturdiest tent in the world and was a bit vulnerable to the wind but it managed to stay up for the day.

It looked charming once it was up and was the perfect setting for an old-fashioned style tea party complete with homemade lemonade, china cups and saucers and ham sandwiches, all served on Poppet's tea set ('her best rose-patterned teaset, with all the handles still on it'). Very Famous Five. Poppet also insisted they both wear 'pretty dresses'. Yeah sure the dresses are pretty but they dyed everything in my laundry pink so they are not my favourite just now! Thanks Aunty Anna.

I left the serving of the tea party entirely up to Poppet. She loved being in charge. My tea cup was kept topped up with lemonade at all times but she ate both the jammie dodgers for her lunch which I should have anticipated happening.

It was a beautiful tea party. One day I would love to recreate the actual tea party from the book - 'some plums and tiny biscuits with pink and white icing, and some real milk and lump sugar for the tea set.' But I don't know if that is for my benefit or for the girls!

Also if anyone knows what this book is, please let me know! It had a little girl in it who I think was called Anna who had no friends and wrote letters that she posted.

Poppet: 2yrs 6 mos
Little: 9 mos