The lengths I’ll go to for a decent cuppa

I’m a Brit and therefore I drink tea. Lots of it. Not just any old tea. My favourite is Yorkshire Gold, although I’ll settle for plain Yorkshire if the gold isn’t available. Failing that, any English tea will do.

Recently, with all of the lockdown restrictions, I’ve had to find ever more creative ways to get it. Like so many Brits living here in Israel, I’ve been faced with a desperate shortage of my beloved hot drink (it must be drunk hot with a dash of milk). No longer am I able to pop over to the old country to stock up on this delicacy. Coronavirus has all but robbed me of this pleasure. Instead, I’m having to beg, borrow and steal tea bags in order to satisfy my longing. You’ve no idea the lengths I’ll go to to procure those little square bags containing the key to my beloved liquid golden joy.

My main ploy is to trawl Facebook to see if any local Brits might still have a few bags going spare. If I manage to spot some poor unsuspecting person, I carefully plan and plot my moves, while trying not to give away my real intention, which is, of course, to get my hands on as many as their treasured tea bags as possible.

My husband, also a tea lover, hasn’t resorted to such unabashedly shameful behaviour. Instead, he’s resorted to drinking Israeli tea. He’s respectful of my prized stash, however and wouldn’t dream of helping himself to any of my precious hoard. Occasionally, I might treat him to the ‘second mug’ as I’ve learned the knack of how to make a good English teabag stretch to 2 (or even 3) mugs.

At present I still have a fairly healthy stock which helps me to sleep easy at night. I know it won’t take me through to the end of this whole virus nightmare, but I take it one day at a time and never allow panic to set in. So far I’ve managed to dodge the dreaded Israeli teabag, but beware! Although I may seem like a friendly old British bird, it’s your tea I’m after!