I’m getting into the proper spirit of KindaSquare today by reminiscing.
Last October, Jeff Brown and Donald Van de Werken invited us to the first annual Sweet Tea Festival held in Poplarville, Mississippi, on the town green. Food and drink experts, local artists, craftspeople and musicians came together to celebrate one of the South’s favourite refreshments.
A lady kindly allowed me to take a picture of her flowery tea hat, a perfect match with her dress. We had not booked for the traditional high tea, but when people learned I was from England, they brought us some samples so I would feel at home.
I ought by rights to have been drinking tea that weekend, but being addicted to coffee, I got some of that instead. I won’t claim that the sweet tea guardians frowned on my choice, but it is very suspicious that I spilt most of the coffee over my favourite dress. Several people offered help. Afraid it would stain, I rinsed my dress out in a nearby cafe, then wore it wet. On an October day in Darwen, that would make for a miserable experience, but in Poplarville’s midday sun, it was dry in no time at all and no harm was done.
To top off numerous acts of kindness over the two day event, Jeff and Donald posted back some walking shoes I had foolishly left behind.
I’ll leave you with one more picture from around the same time: gifts from the garden of another kind Mississippian, Jesse Yancy.
Susan Rushton 
I always thought Americans were really big on coffee and drank it more than anything else – somehow I can’t imagine them drinking tea. The flowery hat looks lovely, and your story just shows there are some kind people in the world 🙂
Americans are often surprised that I don’t drink tea. I used to. I think it came from when I worked at a place that had a vending machine that dispensed horrible powdery tea.
Well done for focusing on the kindnesses that Becky really wanted us to think about. Must do the same myself sometime!
I have so many kindnesses to celebrate but I don’t usually take pictures (let alone square ones).
😉
Happy memories of kind folk, just what we all need this month 😀
At one time I would have winced at ‘kinda’, being too much of a purist. How things change!
Language never stops evolving 🙂
Love that hat and the story about saving your dress. Talk about laundry to go! 😉
Needs must! 🙂
Like you, I don’t drink tea but love my coffee so I would have asked for the addictive drink too. The hat is absolutely gorgeous – almost edible. Sounds like a fun time was had by all.
It was. Coffee has a way of gifting a headache to anyone who neglects it.
For the record: I am a tea drinker who does not like the taste of coffee. At all. 😉 Lovely, lovely stories of kindness. Much needed, let me tell you, in this country right now, which has become such an unkind place. Fingers crossed for better times ahead.
Fingers and toes crossed.
Sweet. I like Southern Sweet Tea, but I prefer coffee, also.
Sweet tea is quite different to how we drink tea here. When we had a friend over to visit, one of my biggest worries would how we would get her morning sweet tea with ice cubes on our journey. The English can be very mean with ice cubes.
My dad said he quit drinking beer when he was in England during WW II because the English served beer warm, and he couldn’t deal with warm beer. Ice wasn’t easy to come by when we lived in Spain. I’ve aways drank iced tea without ice. I guess I simply drink tea when I drink tea. I prefer coffee, as I mentioned.
Acts of kindness mean so much especially during this time. Nice story. Love the arrangement in your first image!
They do. It’s a lovely experience to look back on.
I agree with everyone who says that stories about kindness have never been more needed. Kindness from the garden is about the best, and topped off with the garden on the hat — well, kindness with a flourish! Lovely!
I like your term ‘garden on a hat’ – very much so!
Nice hat! And good to know that Mississippi is such a kind place 🙂 🙂
I have found it very much so.
Oh what a beautiful hat! Reminds of Easter and spring!
I loved it too. There was a tea hat competition going on and this must surely have been a top contender.