Tea Leaves

 My gran used to read tea leaves 

I’d forgotten that fact , but watching Portrait Artist Of The Year last night where Welsh actress Joanna Scanlan  talked about her grandmother and tea leaf reading , my memories were triggered of leaf tea clumps in china cups of a 1970 pensioner bungalow with Space 1999 on the tv and beans on cheap white toast on the coffee table covered by gingham 

Of course she couldn’t read “ the leaves”

But she always told a good story .

I learnt at an early age , to watch her read the room 

And to use humour to observe it and run with it 

She played to an audience

So do I 

And we both are good at what we do.

To my knowledge she never really go anything right

But who cares ? 

Right?

My gran with my mother circa 1942

My mother was 17

One of their first photos in wales 

They left Liverpool after their home was destroyed 

The photo was taken in Gwaenysgor 

The sister village to Trelawnyd