Is it Really SPRING??

 The calendar says today is the first day of Spring.... however we are forecast to get snow so will have to be patient a bit longer.  We have been lucky here this year, up to now most of the big nor'easters have missed us.  But last year at this time we had a HUGE snowstorm which dropped more than two feet of snow in one day.................  hope that was just a one time thing.  we shall just have to wait and see I suppose...........    So on to happier things and some tea!

One of my collecting "weaknesses" has always been cottages......  I love them and have quite a few.  Maybe I will feature them all here someday.  BUT for today's Tea Cup Tuesday post I am just going to feature a Cottage theme.

I made my usual favorite, Earl Gray, and  got some pretty little cupcakes from the bakery.

This teacup and saucer are from Royal Albert.... always a favorite of mine.

I love the details of the cottages on this set.

And here is the mark.  There is no name included.

     The teapot is from Arthur Wood and Son and features a pretty little thatched roof cottage.

 And here is the  little plate I chose to hold the cupcakes.  It is also Royal Albert and is called Minuet.   So delicate looking.

Thanks for joining me  today and I hope you will visit the other Tea Time blogs as well.

I have joined with the following Tea Cup Tuesday Tea Parties.

  Hope you will visit them too.

Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage *

Bernideen's Tea-time Blog *
Ruth's Antiques  Teacups *

I will be back in a few days
to show you the quilt I finally finished.  And maybe another project or two.

2nd full week of April

For this tea cup Tuesday I am sharing pictures of some tea cups and saucers that I saw at a Flea Market some time ago.  Because I can't buy every single cup and saucer I find I do at least like to take pictures to remember them by.

The cups and saucers for this week are ones I found all at one table.  

 This first set is a hand painted beauty.  It's mark says that it is from Occupied Japan.  If you want to know more about occupied Japan and what it means check out these sites.
  http://www.occupiedjapan.net/
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Japan

Another interesting cup and saucer set is this one.  It is apparently one from Avon collectibles.  Unfortunately according to the mark on the bottom it is not useable for drinking tea, just for putting on a shelf and looking at it.

Here is a nice Royal Albert cup and saucer.  RA will always be my favorite bone china maker!  This one must have been older... it doesn't have the name of the pattern on it.  I think it is awfully pretty!

And finally here is a little, probably demitasse type, cup.  It was made in Japan.  

I have never seen the mark before. But the cup is very pretty.  I tried to find out about this type of china but never did.  Maybe someone else out there knows something about it.

Thanks for joining me for tea today and hope you visit all the other Tea Time blogs as well.

I have joined with the following Tea Cup Tuesday Tea Parties.

Hope you will visit them too.

Some may not be there from week to week but be sure to check.

Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage *

 Martha at Martha's Favorites *

Bernideen's Tea-time Blog *
Ruth's Antiques and Teacups *

A Springtime Tea

 The Calendar says it is spring.  But there are still some flurries in the forecast.  Each time the season changes it seems hard for it to take full control. So patience is necessary.  Meanwhile though the yard is beginning to look like it needs mowing.  That is a GOOD sign.

The following is a springtime tea I set up last year.  I decided I should share it again because I really liked it and I know many of you probably haven't seen it.   

The tea set itself is a pretty glass set of teapot, sugar and creamer. 

 This teapot is special because it includes the infuser for the loose tea...............................

I decided to use the pretty little hand painted Nippon plate for my sweets. 

And this Colclough hand painted cup and saucer.

 

 And finally, here is closeup my garden journal.  I like to fill it up to refer back to each year.

Thanks for joining me for tea today and hope you visit all the other Tea Time blogs as well.

I have joined with the following Tea Cup Tuesday Tea Parties.

Hope you will visit them too.

Some may not be there from week to week but be sure to check.

Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage *

 Martha at Martha's Favorites *

Bernideen's Tea-time Blog *
Ruth's Antiques and Teacups *

Spring is Here... and we are getting April showers a few days early.    As I drive around town I am enjoying seeing daffodils everywhere.  AND everywhere I look I see Forsythia in full bloom.
In addition I have noticed some of the flowering trees are doing their thing.  Down the road a bit are some VERY pretty Tulip (Magnolia) Trees.  It feels like they are a little early. But I am enjoying seeing them.

This week I am showing your a little Japanese Tea Cup and saucer I found at a local flea market a while ago.   I though it was very pretty.  Not my usual style so didn't buy it.  But you KNOW I had to take a couple of pictures just to show you of course.

I thought they were very pretty.

  Also here are a couple of pictures of things I saw when we when to a flea market a couple of weeks ago. (On one of those lovely March Days we get occasionally.)

The temperatures are beginning their subtle climb so hope we can back there again in another week or so.


I still didn't get to do ANY sewing this week as life continued to get in the way.  I  hope to get back to it in April. (wow that is just a few  days away!)  But by then the patterns for my block of the month quilt will be available. And I hope to get going on them.

I am joining with the following Tea Parties and blog parties.

  These may not be available every week so check to be sure.

Hope you will visit them too.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME 

 Martha at Martha's Favorites *

Bernideen's Tea-time Blog *
Ruth's Antiques  Teacups *

Share your cup  Thursday*

Spring

 

Spring is HERE and even though the weather folks were calling for a big snowstorm to welcome the season we were thankful it didn't materialize.  A drive around town yesterday let me see all the daffodils that are blooming in various sunny spots.  And the trees are budding.  Our grass has greened up so much it won't be long before we hear the sounds of lawnmowers.

Since it is Spring I decided I needed to find my prettiest spring like teacup and saucer to share with you today.  I love this pretty little tea cup and it definitely reminds me of spring.

 

I didn't get to do ANY sewing this week as life got in the way.  I imagine I probably won't be able to again until April.  But by then the new blocks for my block of the month quilt will be available.

I am joining with the following Tea Parties and blog parties.

  These may not be available every week so check to be sure.

Hope you will visit them too.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME 

 Martha at Martha's Favorites *

Bernideen's Tea-time Blog *
Ruth's Antiques  Teacups *

Share your cup  Thursday*

50 years and counting

We made it to 50 years............  who would have thought back in 1966 when we were married.  2016 seemed an eternity away. But this past week our 50th Anniversary arrived!!!

Our daughter sent us a fun and special package this year.  It is filled with all things golden.... It was fun to look through it and find what she had found out and about that was GOLD.  And she added three little framed pictures of us from our wedding, all those years ago.  What a special daughter we have!

For this weeks post I am showing a very special (to me) picture.  On Christmas Eve in 1965 Bill gave me a Christmas Present that included a box with two coffee mugs, symbolic of our first date.  AND nestled in that box was an engagement ring.  Needless to say I was quite speechless for a while after.  Of course my family was all there too....  wondering at first what was going on since they didn't see the ring right away.  50 years later only 1 of the pair of mugs remains intact but here it is... in a place of honor on one of my kitchen display shelves. But today I nestled it in the Anniversary Box.

Because my husband's mother was Canadian we got a LOT of bone china teacups and saucers as wedding gifts.  And that is how my collection (obsession really) came about and now of course my collection is way larger than I ever thought it would be.  The first cup and saucer I opened was the Royal Albert Silver Birches pattern. I remember it well.  Unfortunately I no longer have it, probably lost in one of our many moves.  But I did love it and it began my love of Royal Albert.  I found this picture on the internet in  case you don't know the pattern.

 Normally we don't do a whole lot for "gifts" for each other for our anniversary since Christmas is  so close by and we generally get what we want then but this year we decided it was time for a new car... so we started out looking a week or so ago and on Tuesday of last week we brought it home! That is definitely quite an anniversary gift by our standards.   It has all the whistles and bells that make it interesting to drive.  I am not sure I will ever learn them all but it is fun!  So car hunting and celebrating our anniversary were last week's adventure.

I am joining with the following Tea Parties and blog parties.

  These may not be available every week so check to be sure.

Hope you will visit them too.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME 

 Martha at Martha's Favorites *

Bernideen's Tea-time Blog *
Ruth's Antiques  Teacups *

Share your cup  Thursday*

A pretty teacup and an adventure on a COLD winters Day

 I am starting today's post with some pictures of a cup and saucer set that seem quite appropriate for January.  The set is called "Winter" and is made by Duchess China.  It is so pretty and I think it definitely lives up to its name.

When writing my post, as I often do, I decided to do a bit of a search on line to learn more about the company called Duchess China.  CLICK HERE for an interesting website that tells a bit about it and its history and then there is a link to the actual modern day website for Duchess China.

 To change the subject quite a bit, I wanted  to share an "excellent adventure" my husband and I had this past week. We went to a nearby town in search of record players, the vintage, windup kind.  We were pretty sure the guy we had met had a "few."  WELL..................  He had way more than a few..........

I wish now I had taken some pictures of the whole floors full (there were three floors) but I didn't.  I did take a few pictures of individual ones. I will show them in a bit.

The building was old, and if someone had the money to restore it, it would be amazing.  Mostly now it is so full of the record players you could barely see the beauty that was hidden.  There had to be 50 or so very vintage and antique record players  on each floor.  And interspersed were boxes full of old vinyl records.

It was very cold.... inside and out but that didn't stop us.  I did however wish I had had the forethought to bring myself some hot tea in a thermos to ease the cold.

Here are pictures of a few of the older  Edison Brand players........

 He also had a record player that I liked but he seemed reluctant to talk about selling it.  So I didn't take a picture.  But the discussion will just be tabled for another day.  I just imagine sitting in my living room and listening to old records playing on it....  Who knows............

The drive home was pleasant as the car heated up and we began to thaw out..............

  I hope you enjoyed our little adventure.  There are amazing treasures out there if you just ask around.  And it was a fun and rather different way to spend a very cold winter day.
I hope you will all visit me again next week.  You just never know what I will be showing.  Or talking about.

I am joining with the following Tea Parties and blog parties.

  These may not be available every week so check to be sure.

Hope you will visit them too.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME 

 Martha at Martha's Favorites *

Bernideen's Tea-time Blog *
Ruth's Antiques  Teacups *

Share your cup  Thursday*