what do tea and windsurfers have in common?

We're a bit under the weather around here. Devin started it and I followed about 8 hours later. Just a scratchy case of the sniffles, but a bit miserable nonetheless. When I'm not feeling well the first thing I want is a cup of tea. I'm all for the healing properties of green tea and white tea and well as most herbal teas and all of their incarnations, but when I really need comforting there's only one thing that will do. A good cup of strong English tea. I've written about this English thing before When I really want to be coddled I want it with milk and sugar, just like my grandma made for me when I was kid. Later,if I have a cold, I usually switch to lemon and honey. I've gotten pretty good at making a cup of tea, but it still tends to be inconsistent. My grandmother, on the other hand, gets it just right every time. I guess 80 plus years of practice will do that to you. My mom is pretty good, too. She must have figured it was her duty as a good daughter in law.
Here are my grandma's guidelines for perfect tea: (although she gets it perfect even when it's just a mug and a teabag)
Put the kettle on.
Fill teapot with hot water and set aside.
When water is close to boiling, pour out the water.
Add tea. Loose is best. One teaspoon per cup, plus one for the pot.(I usually follow the same rule with bags if I'm using them)
When water is boiling (It has to be boiling,not just close), bring the pot to the kettle.This is the rule, I always remember. According to my grandma, the kettle cools too much on it's trip the teapot.
Steep to desired strength.
Of course, all the rules don't mean much when the steeping is left to concept as opposed to a set number, and it seems to be where I often go wrong and just miss the mark.Also, most of the tea rules in my family only surround it's brewing and not so much the drinking. My family is strictly working class bakers, so there's none of this pinky raising business.Although, my grandma does bake a mean empire cookieAnybody else have any good grandma tips?

Speaking of my grandma, I was getting summer clothes out of the attic and among them was this treasure:

Both my brother and I had a pretty strong recollection of this skirt and I've been badgering my grandma about it for a couple of years. Last spring, she found it for me. I'm pretty sure she's past her windsurfer print skirt days. Yes ,those are indeed bikini clad windsurfers.

The waist elastic needs to be replaced, but it's really comfy.Thankfully, I'm not past my windsurfer print skirt days just yet.