Teacup Tuesday & A Winner!

Isn't this a lovely teacup? I thought it unusual to see a stag and a windmill together, but lovely. I found this teacup at The Salvation Army Store. There were many tags on the bottom of the cup and it appeared it had started out at the store quite pricey but had been marked down several times. The cup is obviously hand painted, but the gold paint on the handle is worn off in a few places and there is an oh- so -tiny chip on the rim. These two little chicks were brought inside to help show you the cup. Two little chicks fit into it comfortably. Look at the luster of the blue around the rim.

The other side of the teacup. There are no markings at all on the bottom of the cup.

One of the chicks snuggled way down into the cup and went to sleep.

Now for the winner of my teacup pincushion~ I wrote all your names on paper in as many squares as comments you left since I announced the give-away and placed the two little chicks on the paper to help me choose a winner .10 minutes later ( 12:10 a.m.) the chicks had chosen.We have a winner and she is..... ...Dolores! Dolores' blog is Moving Forward With Alzheimer's*and well worth reading, so check it out. Dolores, e-mail me your snail mail address and I will send you your new pincushion~ Please visit these ladies for a treat today and see all things tea! Terri*, Martha *,Lady Katherine*,Wanda Lee *, and Pam *.

REMEMBER !

"Now, we have inscribed a new memory alongside those others. It's a memory of tragedy and shock, of loss and mourning. But not only of loss and mourning. It's also a memory of bravery and self-sacrifice, and the love that lays down its life for a friend - even a friend whose name it never knew." President George W. Bush 12/11/01 "Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears a little while and then vanishes away." James 4:11 "O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And He shall wipe every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any crying, or pain; " I Corinthians 15:55-57 & Revelation 21:4

Remember, remember.

Sisters!

Two of my sisters treated me to dinner tonight in celebration of my birthday. I got my special birthday goblet tonight, one more sister will receive her goblet on her birthday just after Christmas when we will fly to Hawaii for a week together celebrating sisterhood. Our baby sister lives too far away to visit us often so our adventure together will be fun. Here we are with our baby sister, she is only a few days old in this picture. "A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost." Marion Garretty Again, the 4 of us in our front yard in Hawaii, many years ago. ( I am on the far left) "Children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power which no subsequent connections can supply..." Jane Austen Our last sister's get together 2 years ago, here we are posed in birth order starting with me (Left), the oldest AND the shortest, to the baby, the tallest! "You keep your past by having sisters. As you get older, they're the only ones who don't get bored if you talk about your memories." Deborah Moggach

Thank-you Sisters! I love you~

Summer Joys Through Children's Eyes

Summer at Alder Lake with two granddaughters keeps coming to mind as Autumn , my favorite season comes quickly, very quickly. "People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy." Anton Chekhov

This Granddaughter and one of her sisters camped with us early this summer and the memories of this joyous time keep coming back to me. This is one of the granddaughters playing on the Big Toy at the Alder Lake campground... my thankfulness for this time brings tears to me whenever I remember. This little girl has endless energy and joy for life. She is also as agile as a little monkey! "The world is as many times new as there are children in our lives." Robert Brault

"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about." Angela Schwindt

"The soul is healed by being with children." Fyodor Dostoevsky One of these times I might write a post telling how very true this quotation is, but later, when the telling is not so painful.

Being with children, whether you're related to them or not is a chance to be in a world with a fresh perspective. Children have a way of seeing things as they are and accepting them,all at the same time. Children are also practical and dreamy at the same time too. When I am with children I glimpse the hope and excitement of all life might give us and the down-to-earth realities of the restrictions of life. For a child the restrictions are bed times, chores, and the usual "don't s" childhood is full of. Children dream of so many more possibilities in spite of the "don't s" and are happy because of their dreams. "There are no seven wonders in the eyes of a child. There are seven million!" Walt Streightiff ...And don't forget, being with children is fun!

Grindley Tea Cup~ Tea Time Tuesday & A Give-Away!

This tea cup was in a batch of teacups I purchased from a garage sale. Our daughter-in-law Breezy said all the teacups came from a collection of teacups relatives purchased as they toured Europe. I am not sure if this is a teacup, a demitasse cup, or utilitarian and used for both.

Looks like a Canadian emblem to me, what do you think?Maybe made for a Canadian hotel?

I tried to find out about this cup and saucer on-line. After many, many hours on-line ( goodness, how did I manage to spend THAT much time on-line looking for tea cup info?) I discovered Grindley seems to have made hotel ware for countless numbers of businesses. The emblem on my cup and saucer did not show up anywhere on-line. The markings on the bottom of the cup and saucer are well documented though and are pretty clear in their meaning. This cup and saucer were made by Grindley Hotelware Co. LTD of England, 9/66. September of 1966. The word 'vitrified' means:" ceramics having the surface made shiny and non-porous.." which would be a very good thing for any hotel ware. I placed this cup and saucer on the table for the boys to drink their tea from at the Alice in Wonderland Tea Party. Sturdy, durable, and not feminine. Above, our oldest Grandson in between 2 of his cousin's cousins.( say what?)

Give Away!

This teacup and saucer pincushion can be yours! I will enter all names of anyone commenting on my blog, as many times as you comment your name will be entered. I ( or most likely one of my chickens) will randomly select the name of the winner next Monday night at midnight in time to announce it on Tea Time Tuesday. The pincushion will be sent out promptly the day after the drawing. The pincushion itself is made of my Jacob sheep wool. I have been told this is especially good for quilting needles and sell a lot of these at bazaars for just this purpose~ Please visit the ladies hosting these Tea Tuesdays and be sure and leave a comment. They love comments! Pam*,Martha*, Lady Katherine*, Terri*, & Wanda Lee*.

Chicken Bath !

It is that time of year again, time to prepare my chickens for the Puyallup Fair. I entered 4 of my bantams in the open poultry show. My white Bantam Frizzled Cochins need baths to be their very best sparkling white. This is Mrs. White. She and her rooster are getting baths today. I have a a bucket filled with warm water in which I swished around some pet / animal bluing shampoo that is gentle enough to not strip the natural oils of her shiny feathers, but will clean them. The bluing helps rid her feathers of any yellowing , I want her sparkling white! I rub shampoo in carefully and check all her feathers, rubbing more shampoo into any stubborn stains or yellowing. I also worked on her feathered feet, gently removing clumps of dirt stuck in the feathers between her toes.After I am satisfied she is as clean as I can get her I will place her into the next bucket of warm water for rinsing. Surprisingly, once chickens are gently placed in warm water they relax completely and are very easy to handle. They seem to enjoy being washed, and why not? A massage in warm soapy water sounds pretty good to me too!

A final rinse into a big tub of clean warm water and we're almost done.

I spread out her wing feathers and make sure they are clean and well rinsed. Look at these beautiful feathers, they remind me of angel wings. Mrs. White is now bundled into a big warm towel and I pat her dry, then wrap her up again in the towel and place her in a clean crate filled with fresh cedar shavings. I kept the crates with the drying chickens in the house over night so the chickens would not get chilled. I covered the crates with towels so they were dark inside, helping the chickens stay calm.

I brought the crates outside and let the sunshine warm Mr. & Mrs. White. The poultry show is next week, but you should bathe your chickens a few days before the show. I will change the shavings in their crate every day to keep them very clean.

She might not win anything at all, but as far as I'm concerned, she is a winner and a prize all by herself! Later on I will bathe my 2 little Bantam Barred Cochins. Wish us well at the fair. Better yet, visit them at the Puyallup Fair. It starts next week.

Our Un-Birthday Tea Party

Two of our granddaughters suggested we have an 'Alice In Wonderland Tea Party' ,

and so we did.The Cheshire cat greeted guests.

Guests included our daughter, our niece, their children,niece's nephews, sis-in-law Joanne.

Doll's table-setting for tea.

Granddaughter KN ( far left) made all the little girls' hats.

Our daughter models her Cheshire Cat hat.

Daughter A.Joy serving tea, lots of tea.

Niece Jenny at the end of the tea table.

The children running quickly from place to place following the clues to find the treasure I had hidden. The clues were written on playing cards, very appropriate for an Alice in Wonderland tea party.

I painted an old croquet set Flamingo Pink. Had I more than a week to prepare this tea party I would probably have added feathers to the croquet mallets in some way. We had a very good time. A lot of peanut butter and jam sandwiches, peppermint tea, cupcakes, chips , fruit, and candy were consumed. Games were played. Treasure discovered, and memories to last a long time were made. Thank-you Lord for these special times with my family,thank-you for the ability to provide times like these. Thank-you Lord, for everything~

I joined in with Wanda Lee* for her 'Wednesday Tea for You And Me', click onto her name to join others for tea today~and remember, you ARE blessed.