It was nothing fancy.  You simply found yourself hungry around 3 o'clock.  You hadn't had lunch--breakfast had been a long morning affair, keeping you full for quite some time--but you still didn't feel like a proper meal.  No, it was too close to dinner time for that.  A little something still would be desirable, a small treat to hold you over until dinner.

You coax yourself up from your perch on the patio, laying your reading aside with the promise of something to nibble on as you finish that next chapter.  You rummage through the kitchen cupboard, finding nothing to inspire you--the sun dried tomatoes and canned marinated artichokes feel too much like an evening appetizer, the whole wheat crackers less than inviting.  You turn to your refrigerator.  Surely there is something there, between your drawers full of vegetables and your fruit neatly stacked on shelves.  Some quick pickles perhaps?  And they your eyes land on it: a cherry empanada from your favorite bakery.  How could you have forgotten it?

A plan quickly forms in your mind and your heart skips a beat at this unexpected pleasure: afternoon tea on your patio.  You heat hot water for your tea, deciding on an earthy hojicha, a roasted green tea, to balance out the sweetness of your pastry.  You plate your little snack and let your tea steep in your favorite mica teapot.  You take your afternoon tea things on a tray to the patio. 

As you let your tea finish steeping, you return to your book, feeling not unlike Bilbo Baggins enjoying the comforts of your very own Bag End.  You ease back in your chair, ready to enjoy your impromptu tea and the rest of your novel.  The emapanada is sweet.  The tea is strong.  The afternoon is perfect.