Auntie's Tea Gardens

My mother's family once lived at the vicarage in Upper Slaughter, when my grandfather, Rev Arthur Parr, was vicar. My mother married and moved away to Yorkshire, where we grew up, but as children, my sisters and I stayed once with our auntie and cousins in their pretty Cotswold stone cottage while our parents attended a wedding. It was our first time away from our home, and it was so lovely. The garden was full of vegetables and flowers, with a greenhouse, I think - so well tended. It was no surprise when later my auntie made a tea garden there. When I was expecting my first baby I visited again, this time with my husband, and we sat in that lovely garden with a traditional Cotswold tea and cakes made by local village ladies. I can almost smell the sweet peas.