Summer Tea ~ Dolls Or Chickens ?

 We've had the pleasure of 2 granddaughters staying with us for a few days. They love having tea parties and I told them they could be in charge of the next tea party. Their original plan was to have a chicken tea party. I was all for this because I have so many chicken-themed things we could use for the table-settings, and dishes & cups to go along with it. But no, they meant chickens as their guests at the tea party. Dress up the chickens, serve tea to the chickens.....

 ...I am all for interacting with my chickens, but my chickens are not so tame as to sit at the table or tolerate wearing clothes. ( maybe I should work on this for next year ? ) All I could envision beyond the first few moments of the chickens looking cute was chickens quickly resorting to being chickens by squawking , pooping, and scattering all the tea things as they flung themselves off the table to escape. Or us holding unhappy chickens throughout our tea. Fortunately the girls decided to invite their American Girl dolls instead.

 The girls decided on tuna fish , berries, and peppermint tea. While I thought they were setting the tea table I spied them trying to catch the goldfish in the small pond beside our large outdoor table. They were surprised to see me snap a picture of them ( maybe because they know they're supposed to only look at the fish, not hold them ? ).

 The girls insisted on flower adorned cups & teapot.

 This is one of my Rose Chintz by Gracie China teacups. It comes in sets of 4 and I have used these tea cups many times. They are lovely and also comfortable to hold and sip tea from. The granddaughters seem to appreciate them too, always a bonus !

 Happy girls, happy dolls, happy grandma & grandpa...

...and if the chickens were capable of comprehending what they escaped, they would be happy too !

Please join me in sharing tea time with the ladies listed below:

• Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage *
• Martha at Martha's favorites *
• Ruth at Antiques and teacups * 
• Bernideen's tea time Blog *



 

Royal Tara Shamrocks For St. Patrick's Day

It is already March, and the day we celebrate Saint Patrick by wearing green and celebrating all things Americans consider Irish. Shamrocks, celtic music , eating corned beef, Irish soda bread , and many imbibe in maybe a bit too much beer. Me, I just got out some shamrock china and cleaned my home. Don't you love this little sugar & creamer ?

You can see just how tiny they are sitting next to Samantha, an American Girl doll I rescued from a thrift store a few years ago. Samantha is sipping her tea from a wee shamrock teacup . I have her out as I get ready for a special time my husband & I will have soon when one of our granddaughters comes over to spend a few days with us as part of her birthday celebration. She'll be bringing her AG doll along and we'll set a table for tea for all of us.

The sugar & creamer were made in Ireland by Royal Tara .

The cup & saucer were made in England by Sandford.

I find the history of St. Patrick himself to be fascinating. He was not Irish, but a Roman born in Britain. I imagine most of you already know his story, but it was not until I had children of my own that I discovered this while we were researching him for a homeschooling project. The stories abut him vary depending on the source, but we do know he was a Christian missionary who's faith and ministry had a lasting effect on Ireland, and many places beyond. If you're interested in the amazing role the Irish played in history you might check out 'How The Irish Saved Civilization'. So Happy Saint Patrick's day to you !

Join in the tea-time festivities with Terri * , Martha * , Sandi * , Bernideen* ,Kathy * & Ruth* . Now that spring-time is here there is even more fun for tea in blog-land . Happy St. Patrick's Day to you !

Honey Of A Tea

We hosted a 'Make It With Honey ' potluck here with the local beekeeper's group, Lacamas Beekeepers. Since the table was already mostly set, and the sun / rain covering was up , 2 of my granddaughters decided to host their own tea the next day and invited my youngest sister to join us. Here is a close up of the sugar dish and creamer we used. ( Not the best picture of my sister below, but my granddaughters were so excited to have her here I needed to add her picture. Sorry sister. )

The teacups are from the Gracie China  Chintz Collection , made in China. There is a mint green teacup and saucer that also goes with this set, but I did not use it for our potluck, so it was not out for our granddaughters to set the table. I love these teacups. They claim to be dishwasher safe, but with the gold rims and edging on the handles I prefer to wash them by hand. I find I love washing my china, teacups, and crystal by hand , giving me even more time to appreciate my simple treasures.

As you can see, my granddaughters love their tea-parties.

The granddaughters are getting very creative with tea-parties too.For this tea party they also invited their American Girl dolls. The dolls had their own china teacups. The doll set of china was used by this granddaughter's own mommy , our daughter, many years ago.

Tea was poured for Julie, Kanani, and Samantha. Freshly picked from our gardens berries were served. (A few un-ripe grapes were picked too.)

The girls allowed me to take and post their picture.
 

Here is a better picture of the quilt I won from the Lacamas sewing group a few years ago. The theme of the local Lacamas Community Fair was Bee Happy. Honeybees were used throughout the quilt and I thought this quilt was the perfect back-drop  for our Make It With Honey potluck. When I have time I will post the food, recipes, and summary of this lovely time on my husband's beekeeping blog *. This past year has been very busy for him, and yes, he is tending his bees well, already harvested a lot of honey, but with the passing of his parents this year, and other responsibilities, he has not had time to keep his blog current. Lord willing ,time will come for that. For now I hope you enjoyed our honey of a tea !

"Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." Proverbs 16::24

 

I am linking up with these ladies for Tea-Time Tuesday :

 

Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage *

Bernideen at Bernideen's Tea time Blog *

Martha at Martha's Favorites *

 



Tea With Her Dolls~Treasured Times

 I have had the pleasure of this granddaughters' company these past few days. She & I baked oatmeal cookies today,then she set the coffee table for tea & cookies with her dolls.

 Samantha and Cecile ( American Girl dolls) sharing tea with my granddaughter. The dolls have very tiny tea cups.

 My granddaughter chose this lovely little teapot adorned with hummingbirds and flowers.(Thanks Barb !) It is full of hot mint tea.

 Samantha and Cecile wore identical dresses to tea.

 The teacup my granddaughter is using is Rosina bone china, made in England. I found it in a thrift shop.

This is a tiny teacup with gold edging.

" The friendships we treasure most dearly are the ones in which we feel, "Wow, how did I deserve this?" Emilie Barnes

Click on the links below for more celebrations of all things tea.

• Rose Chintz Cottage *
• Artful Affirmations*
• Martha's Favorites*
• Bernideen's Tea Time Blog *
• Antiques & Teacups *
• A Delightsome Life * 

Where Does The Time Go & How Can I Get More ?

I am not sure how I am unable to do all the things I think I need to do.Maybe all the things I think I NEED to do are not really needed, or needful...I love making the felted wool balls out of the fleece of my sheep, and I especially love needle-felting designs of whatever strikes my fancy on them.But is this needful ?

I have been making doll clothes for our 6 granddaughters' American Girl Dolls for their ( granddaughters) birthdays, but is this needful? ( It is fun )

Ice storm damage clean-up is an on-going task, and we have had a lot of help from family...(2 grandchildren helping above)

...granddaughter...

...grandson...

...and friends. Yes, this is needful.Cleaning up after the storm will take at least all of this year, and needs to be done so we can plant our gardens and tend our animals well.

Tending my sheep and watching over them as they lamb is needful, without doubt.(Valkyrie with her new-born ram lamb)

Of course there are all the regular , every day, mundane, but very needful things like preparing meals, cleaning up after meals, washing up, dusting, vacuuming, cleaning the bathrooms,changing the bedsheets,feeding the animals, cleaning up after the animals. Then I need to spin, & weave the wool my sheep produce, goodness... so many demands on my time.It seems there is so little time, yet there has always been only 24 hours in a day, every day, and I don't think there will ever be any more hours added, so that does not change. I have so many more things I love to add to my days, blogging,gardening, talking to family & friends, playing with my dogs, sitting on the porch with my husband as we watch the birds & new lambs and discuss our thoughts.I am always amazed anyone can be bored when I and so many others I know cannot find the time to invest in all that interests them. Guess it is all a matter of perspective, and my perspective better get a bit smaller so I can fit it all in. This big, wide, beautiful, amazing world has too much to take in, but I want to take in as much as I can, and hopefully give a little bit back too.Anyone have any ideas on ways to add hours to the day?