3 minute read
Tea in the Garden
HOME and Cabin
Interior Designer Marie Bishop’s Outdoor Tea Room
I think there are two types of people in the world with regard to sleep habits: the early risers and the night owls. I don’t think you can be both, unless you belong to the handful of folks who need very little sleep.
I’m a member of the early risers, always have been. For me, there’s a sense of owning the day if you’re a witness to the morning light creeping into the sky. My birthday is in early September and 20 years ago, when I started my own business, I started a new birthday tradition. I live about 20 minutes from downtown St. John’s, and I decided I’d mark my day by having my own “sunrise ceremony” on Signal Hill. It was kind of symbolic, I guess: my day, my life, a new year, a new adventure. And since then I haven’t missed one. Of course, there is never any guarantee you will actually see the sun rise, and there have been more than a few birthdays when I looked out at the mystical blue-grey fog settled over the North Atlantic knowing that somewhere beyond it, the sun was rising. But there have been numerous spectacular ones as well.
During our warmer months, I watch the sunrise from the backyard. I’m such a huge fan of nonwinter that I don’t want to miss one waking moment of hearing the birds sing, being surrounded by greenery and enjoying temps above zero. So, from May to October, I have a habit of bringing my tea into the garden and watching the sky brighten over the tree line. The feeling of renewal that comes with watching the day come into being is a tonic.
I used to have a little sitting area set up, a small table and two chairs – not that anyone ever joined me, but I liked the visual. This year, with so much time on my hands during the big “lockdown,” I discovered that people actually built tea houses to have their tea ceremonies. Of course they did. It just never occurred to me that I should consider a tea house of my own, for my tea at sunrise tradition. Wouldn’t that be nice! A place where the chairs wouldn’t be wet after a heavy drizzle, where the mist of the early morning wouldn’t dampen my clothes.
When I casually mentioned this to Mr. B, he thought it was a great idea. He could build that – no problem – and wouldn’t that be a great Mother’s Day gift? Well, yeah! As my grandmother used to say, my husband “could put an ass in a cat”; in other words, he’s pretty handy. The only problem is, because he is handy and creative and artistic, he usually has a number of projects on the go, all at the same time. So, I knew I’d get a tea house, I just wasn’t sure when.
We drew up a simple plan and he started it right away, in early May... meanwhile, I secretly started hoping it would be finished by my birthday in early September. He used two palettes for the base; the windows were ones he’d had in storage over the past few years; and the roof was a sheet of plywood our neighbour was going to throw out. The only purchases were a few pieces of 2"x 2" and 2"x 4" and two quarts of exterior paint (Benjamin Moore #HC-133 Yorktowne Green and #2004-10 Deep Rose).
Well, I was very pleasantly surprised when this project was finished by the first week of July! I actually volunteered to paint it just to speed things along. (I’m not usually the one holding the paint brush...) And I freshened up some existing furniture to finish it off. I’ve discovered that spray paint for metal and wicker is my new best friend.
So, I’m down here just about every morning with tea in hand, sitting in the quietness, appreciating the sunrise and the wonderful surroundings of my very own tea house.
