There’s nothing better than a cup of earl grey tea in a real china cup and saucer. There are those visitors that you know must have their cup of builder’s tea in a huge mug. Then there’s those special guests that expect Gran’s finest tea set and fancy fattening cakes on a multi-tiered cake stand and don’t spare the calories!

But nowadays we find all manner of items lurking within a pretty matching cup and saucer. The craze for putting candle wax in the cup, dipping said cup in glitter then deliberately pairing it with a non-matching saucer has taken off..I love it.

More recently when ordering desserts I have been served with creme brulee, yes you’ve guessed it in a tea cup, with the smallest shortbread in history with two strawberry pieces thrown in for luck. Yummy, pretty but nevertheless strange.

Tea cups are for tea…tea leaves left trailing around the surface to be read and one’s destiny revealed.