Lovely View ~ But I Wish We Could Go Home

Isn't this a lovely view outside the window in our room ? Can you see the church steeple ? Can you see Mt. Rainier ? The mountain appears to be floating above the city. We can also see Puget Sound from here and the tops of the trees in nearby parks. But this is not a fancy hotel or resort. It all started...

...here at home on Cedar Pond. Yes, that is a Medic One vehicle in our driveway and two handsome and kind men transporting one of our grandchildren to the E.R.They let me ride with them and our grandchild. What an exciting ride, sirens and all.

Grandchild brought friends and was given 2 new friends. You can see Belle Bear who rode with us to the hospital also has to receive oxygen, but just like grandchild,

she is doing much better now.We've been here several days and are a little tired of staying in this lovely hospital even though it is all new, all truly beautiful, and even has room service ! We are wanting to go home now please.Pretty PLEASE ?

UPDATE : My grandchild and I are home . We cannot say enough good things about the hospital (Mary Bridge Children's Hospital ) and the staff and are very thankful for everything they did for us. Yes, they are very kind and supportive of family staying with those hospitalized, and there were numerous people I met there who are volunteers. Self-sacrificing volunteers who spend a great deal of time with patients and their families. I think I will be writing more about this later...but now I am needed by grandchild. Time for meds !

Goldilocks Came For Tea

I am late for tea, very late for tea. Tea Time Tuesday has passed, but I have been so busy tending my sheep, sloshing through mud and torrential down-pourings of rain that I lost track of time. When I realized I was not going to get a featured tea cup or tea party posted Tuesday I asked the Bear family if I could photograph them as they shared tea with Goldilocks. Look at this pretty little tea set just the perfect size for Mr. & Mrs. Bear. I found it for sale on an Etsy site, the price was right, and the Bear family love the tea set I gave them as a gift. (The Bear family loves blue & white china almost as much as I do.) Mrs. Bear invited Goldilocks over for tea because she knows Goldilocks can help her out with the decorating and possible re-modeling of the Bear family's log home. The little log home is in a dreadful state, and Goldilocks' breaking of the tiny rocker is of no consequence when the whole cabin looks in need of repair. Baby Bear is still a little upset about his rocking chair though and tried to ignore Goldilocks to show her how he feels about it. The Bear family served tea in our sun-room because the light is wonderful there and they could appreciate the patter of raindrops on the sky-lights as they discussed their upcoming plans. I like the gold rims on the china. This little tea set has no markings of origin. Mrs. Bear and Goldilocks have become very good friends in spite of their first encounter. Goldilocks eventually returned to their home and apologized for entering uninvited , eating their food, and breaking baby Bear's rocker. She asked if there was anything she could do to show she was sincerely sorry. After much discussion over tea, the friendship has blossomed. Now Mrs. Bear and Goldilocks are set to work hard and repair and re-decorate the Bears' home. Hopefully I will be allowed to photograph the process, we'll see. Maybe a bribe of honey will help. I am linking with these ladies for tea Time Tuesday.Please visit their blogs and see what they have to show you, even if it is not Tuesday, they are worth it.

• Martha's Favorites*
• Artful Affirmations*
• Lady Katherine's Tea Parlor*
• The Silken Purse*
• Breath Of Fresh Air*
• Rose Chintz Cottage*

Remember to have fun with the things you have chosen to surround yourself , and take time to enjoy the people God has placed in your life. "Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy." I Timothy 6:17

Tea & Honey ~The Little Honey Escapade

The Little family's fireplace mantle is adorned with their usual Christmas decorations minus the Christmas stockings which are not hung until Christmas Eve. The Little family are enjoying their visit with the Bear family. Doesn't this appear to be a lovely, tranquil visit with dear friends? What the Little family do not know is that the Bear family knows it is hard to come by enough honey to satisfy a bear, and they love the Little's so much they decided to gift the Little family with honey enough for themselves and their guests, the Bear family. This would require some daring and courageous actions on their ( Bear's ) part. Papa Bear knows that the home he resides in is headed by a BEE-KEEPER* . Papa Bear counts himself very blessed to live in a miniature log cabin that sits in the very living room of the Bee-Keeper, and this Bee-Keeper has his cupboards full of the most delicious honey a bear could ever want for. Unlike a real bear though, Papa Bear is a Teddy Bear . He cannot just go push over a hive ( thankfully for the Bee-Keeper! ) and take his fill of honey. Papa Bear has to plan very carefully just how he will acquire his supply of the nectar of the bees. When Papa B. thinks the Bee-Keeper is asleep, he and his family make their way to the counter top just below the target cupboard. They climb atop the microwave just below the cupboard and Papa B. swings his furry paw into it and hangs on.Mama Bear and Baby Bear yell encouragement and offer further assistance, which Papa accepts gladly. Papa directs Mama and Baby to get behind the jar of honey and push it towards him so he can grab it and..wait, oh no,the Bee-Keepers' wife has spotted them. Gosh darn it. That lady never sleeps. What is she doing up at this hour? Now they're gonna get it.No honey for them or the Little's, they'll just be put in a drawer for who knows how long... WHAT? The Bee-Keepers' wife surprised them. She lifted the Bear family and the jar of honey out of the cupboard and placed them into the Littles' home. Imagine that. They heard her say "Merry Christmas" as she left them and their prize jar of honey there just in time for the party. Baby Bear and Tommy Little are amazed to see so much honey. Mmmmm, it smells so delicious and they want to scoop up handfuls ( paws full ) of it but Mama Bear and Mrs. Little tell them "NO! Not yet". Papa Bear and Mr. Little are happily discussing theology and just what the Bible has to say about bears as they sip their tea laced with the brandy ( only for special occasions you know ) Mr. Little had set aside especially for this occasion. You can see in this picture that Papa Bear is a bit too big to sit in any of the Little's chairs, so he finds a comfy corner out of the way to sit on the floor. He brings his own mug made of hollowed-out logs for beverages. Mrs. Little and Mrs. Bear are happily discussing the upcoming Christmas festivities and recipes for their Christmas cookie baking day on Wednesday.Mrs. Little has the cookie cutters out, and as the bread for the evening meal has just come out of the oven they will begin serving dinner to the rest of the family before they begin their party games. Mrs. Little is wrapping yet another Christmas gift while she chatters away with Mrs. Bear. Baby Bear and Tommy Little are frustrated. They cannot eat any honey, the desserts are off limits until after dinner, what are they to do? Grandpa Little is playing with Tommy's little sister...the kitten wants to play only with Tommy's rooster pull- toy. What can he and Baby Bear do? EXPLORE ! They climb the shelves in the china cupboard and find so many tea cups to peek into. They climb into this pretty teacup*, but it is too deep for Tommy. Baby Bear helps Tommy out . They go looking into other teacups. Baby Bear discovers this Flying Goose* teacup. He likes the way the lights shine through it and this teacup reminds him of the geese he sees flying overhead through the skylight in the BEE-KEEPERS' sun-room. Tommy Little finds he is able to get in and out of this teacup* easily and the wood-land scene looks just like Cedar Pond, right outside his window. He also likes the blue rim and the golden glow from this teacup that filters down into the bottom shelf of the china cupboard he lives in. After exploring all the china in the hutch Baby Bear and Tommy Little return to the bottom shelf of the china hutch hoping it is time to eat, but alas, it is not.Baby Bear and Tommy Little sigh and shake with anticipation as they wait for their parents to begin serving up treats, "Please, can we get this Christmas party started?" For more Tea-Time Tuesday and All Things Tea Blogs, please check out these ladies~

• Martha's Favorites *
• Artful Affirmations *
• Breath Of Fresh Air *
• Lady Katherine *
• Silken Purse *
• Rose Chintz Cottage *

Tea-Time Tuesday & The Bears Are Invited!

It is Tea-cup Tuesday, or All Things Tea ! To see other lovely teacups, tea parties , and wonderful tea times click onto these ladies' names : Terri *, Martha *, Lady Katherine*,and Wanda*, after you have joined the teddy bears and my granddaughters for tea! Please stay, we like company for tea. I am using my favorite china. I know, I have shown it before on my blog, but it is my favorite and we are using it today. "Blue Danube was inspired by designs from the Chinese Yuan Dynasty period ( 1260-1368 A.D. )...The original design has been in production for more than 200 years." Blue Danube @ Dinnerware Depot I have enough Blue Danube to host a dinner for at least 6 , with a few extra plates and lots of serving dishes. Today one of my Blue Danube pitchers holds flowers for our tea party. "Created in 1951, Blue Danube is an exquisite pattern, underglazed on translucent porcelain. Blue Danube is under glazed and fired at temperatures in excess of 2000 degrees, making each piece highly chip resistant..." Blue Danube @ Dinnerware Depot. The little teddy bears are having tea in their log tea set underneath the bouquet of flowers in my pitcher.

Tea today is served with fruit and Oslo Kringle *. Just click onto the asterisk to get the very easy, but delicious recipe for this dessert.

The Granddaughters requested hot cocoa in their tea pot yet again. Sigh...oh all right, hot cocoa it is. Just for them you know, and the little bears. It has been a long time since a granddaughter has taken them out for tea, a whole year you know. I guess a treat is well deserved after such a long time stuck in the doll house.Besides, hot cocoa is so reviving, especially for little girls and bears!

Let's not forget to scrape up every bit of frosting, we need our strength to play with each other and the bears.

Yummy!

The bears and their guest, Little Brownilocks, agree ~ hot cocoa and Oslo Kringle with LOTS of icing are YUMMY! What are you having for tea today?

...and a Tea Party Broke Out....

Two of our granddaughters were over a week ago for a couple of nights. While I was upstairs doing some housework a tea party broke out in the living room. My husbands' childhood friend and buddy, his Teddy bear was invited, see? (above) I went upstairs leaving behind my normal looking living room and came back downstairs to find the girls had been busy, look at the table setting here. They added mint leaves to the water in the teapot. I think the stuffed animals had a good time at the tea party, it has been a long time since they were out of the guest bedroom. Actually, I don't think my husband's teddy bear has been invited to any kind of party or event in a few decades!

Here are the granddaughters, can you tell which one doesn't like her picture taken?

But these two posed very nicely for me!

"The tea party is surely one of the first steps into the art of social entertaining. How many among us did not set out cups and saucers and dump heaping spoonfuls of sugar into weak, lukewarm tea as children? Sisters and favorite dolls were the usual guests..." Rosanne M. Cure

Miss Marple's At It Again!

My friend Kathleen crocheted me 5, yes FIVE little bears using some of my hand-spun Jacob Sheep wool. Do you see 5 bears here? I had a lot of work to get done today and as I was breezing through the house I spotted a ribbon on the dining room floor. It is the ribbon laying aside the bowl of bears. What the...? There is a white bear missing. No one home but me and...hey! MISS MARPLE!!!!! I looked everywhere for the bear but could not find it. I looked under all the furniture , in baskets of wool and yarn and no little bear. I did find some other things Miss Marple has hidden away. I found one of my felted balls and the big plastic spider under our bed. She carried the ball upstairs!I also found a missing sock she had hidden too, and a lot of dust bunnies. No bear. So later on this evening I decided to sweep and dust mop and lo, there it was! It was wrapped in the folds of a tablecloth , and although I had looked there, it must have been folded away very well but the little stinker Miss Marple had obviously come back for her prey and uncovered it for there was a little white leg sticking out as a give-away. I propped it up here in the spot I found it for you to see. Then as I was putting away the dust mop... ....Miss Marple was back, in a flash! I snapped her picture and rescued the only slightly damaged bear.So~ my yarn, my wee little sheep, wool felted balls, plastic bugs and teddy bears are not safe with her around. But neither is vermin, so I'll keep her.

Besides, I love her.

Me And My Teddy Bear

~~~"Me and my teddy bear, have no worries, have no cares, me and my teddy bear just play and play all day." remembered childhood song, author ?~~~ Miss Marple resting after a particularly rambunctious play time with her friend Baby Bear.~~~~~~ This is Baby Bear. Baby Bear belongs to our oldest son and his daughters. I made Baby Bear and Momma and Daddy Bear as Christmas gifts to our son almost 30 years ago. As you can see, Baby Bear is in need of a little surgery. He was sent to me to repair and send back to our son and his 4 daughters. The daughters love Baby Bear and sleep with him...actually, they compete for the right to sleep with him (hence,his injury) since there are 4 of them and only 1 Baby Bear. ~~~Baby Bear was placed on my workroom table to await surgery and I kept finding him on the floor in various parts of the house. What was going on ? Poor Baby Bear was in NO condition to be playing , he had serious neck injuries! Well. I performed the delicate surgery, Baby Bear was left to recover until returned to the home where he is much loved.~~~

~~~Ahh....so here is Baby Bears' buddy, partner in mischief, party friend...Miss Marple ! MISS MARPLE, bring back Baby Bear ! He needs rest and recovery. Miss Marple, I said bring him back ! Hey, Miss Marple, where are you going with Baby Bear ? ~~~Do you see Baby Bear under the table ? Do you see the white blobs on either side of Baby Bear ? Those are the little bear snatching paws of Miss Marple.~~~ ~~~Look at those Baby Bear crazy eyes Miss Marple has. She is just nuts about little Baby Bear. "In a world where everyone seems to be larger and louder than yourself, it is very comforting to have a small , quiet companion." Peter Gray

~~~Miss Marple takes baby Bear up to her napping place.( The one she uses when not napping on the table ) First they wrestle for awhile. ~~~

~~~OUCH ! Poor Baby Bear. Careful Miss Marple, Baby Bear just had surgery !~~~

~~~Oh no, Miss Marple is ripping off Baby Bear's ribbon. The ribbon is Baby Bear's bandage , applied after surgery. Miss Marple..CAREFUL ! Baby Bear is still recovering. ~~~

~~~Miss Marple does not appear to be too happy with me. I guess it is nap time for Miss Marple and baby Bear.Whatever does she see in Baby Bear ?~~~

~~~"Anyone who has looked a teddy bear in the face will recognize the friendly twinkle in his knowing look." Harold Nadolny ~~~

~~~It is hard to visualize the toys you had 50 years ago-all save bear. He's as clear as if he were sitting on the desk in front of you, and of course, he probably is !"Pam Brown~~~ ~~~A teddy bear is your childhood wrapped up in faded yellow fur, and as such , he commands affection long after he is outgrown." Pam Brown