Friday, March 12, 2010

Gracious Lady Tiggy-Winkle



"Then Mrs. Tiggy-winkle made tea --
a cup for herself and a cup for Lucie.
They sat before the fire on a bench
and looked sideways at one another.

Mrs. Tiggy-winkle's hand, holding the tea-cup, was very very brown,
 and very very wrinkly with the soap-suds; and all through her gown
 and her cap, there were hair-pins sticking wrong end out; so that
 Lucie didn't like to sit too near her."
 Beatrix Potter, The tale of Mrs.Tiggy-Winkle
 * * *
Can't a lady be gracious with soap suds on her hands and hair-pins sticking wrong end out?  I propose that she can.  Gracious hospitality is being favorable, kind, benevolent, merciful, disposed to forgive offenses, and to impart unmerited blessings (dictionary).  Even in mundane circumstances, a woman who is not reluctant to be a generous hostess can exemplify all that is a gracious lady.  It's a heart thing!  Simple kindness generates qualities of royalty in its best sense.
Do you agree or disagree?

12 comments:

  1. I so agree! hospitality is a gift we are to share!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I definitely agree and I think Tiggy-Winkle is fabulous :0)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree!! I like the little video of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle that my toddlers used to see...

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree with the statement and think you exemplify those qualities in your life!

    ReplyDelete
  5. The very best hostess I ever saw was a woman who served refreshments atop her laundry basket. I thought that I would have died of embarrassment and made my guests feel ill at ease, but not this gal. She had a wonderful time and put everyone at ease. So I agree!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks! Sometimes I wonder if I can be a lady when I am sitting here sipping my tea and my robe and slippers and not looking to put together.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I agree, too! Sometimes it's easy to wait until everything is perfect and then when I have shared hospitality I realize again that my home and even what I wear is not the central focus - the people are the most important!
    ~Adrienne~

    ReplyDelete
  8. I definitely agree! Wonderful blog, happy to find you, I popped over from 'The T-Cozy.' Funny, too, we were just talking about Tiggy Winkle over dinner with friends last night. I had never heard of her before so this was fun reading.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for commenting on my blog post. I am always happy to hear from blog readers. Your words encourage and inspire me. I am glad you stopped by to share conversation, recipes, ideas, and thoughts on creating a welcoming home.