Getting ready for Christmas

I can't believe how quick Christmas has come this year.  Also this has been the warmest Christmas season I can remember in years.  (not counting the years we lived in Puerto Rico and some Southern states.

I finally got the tree up... yes it is artificial but at this point in my life it is what I prefer.  When we lived in Maine it would NOT have been appropriate since we could just go out in our woods and get one fresh!!!

 A very large majority of the ornaments on the tree are made by me or as part of various ornament swaps in which I have participated over the years.    This year I did some cute little wool ornaments that were freebie patterns from Trish Harriman at Attic Heirlooms in Damariscotta, Maine. 
 Two Snowmen, a star and a chickadee.  There are also close ups of some of the others I made over the past few years.

Here is one of my favorite Christmas tea cup sets with a few other Christmas  decor things.

  

And here is the centerpiece I remade using base of my Thanksgiving centerpiece I received from my daughter this year.  I liked the basket so am re using it for this.

This is a picture from the Ganong website

I usually do a bit of baking about this time of year so we can have cookies when folks drop in and of course for ourselves.  An absolute family favorite came about quite by accident awhile ago.  I may have talked about it here before, I don't know.

I made some sugar cookies and frosted them with my favorite frosting, cream cheese.  At that time I didn't have any "sprinkles" or other "decor" to pretty them up.  But then I remembered I had some really good candies we had purchased on a recent visit to Canada.  So I smashed it up and used it on top of the cookies.  Now that may not sound too good.... however...........  it is scrumptious.

The candy is called Chicken Bones and is produced by New Brunswick, Canada Candy Maker  GANONG.  The name "chicken bones" doesn't seem to fit these that well.  But they have been making them for 130 years so I guess the name doesn't matter..  Since we only get up to Canada once a year or so I finally had to break down and buy some mail order.  Now I do it fairly often.  MUST get my "fix"                                

So here is the details from the company website.......   GANONGs
and here is the site to learn all about the Chicken Bones....... .click here

Here is a picture of on of the bags of Chicken Bones I recently purchased.

 The next picture shows how I crushed up the pieces to make the topping.

 Here are the basic sugar cookies..............

 frosted with cream cheese frosting...........

 And then dipped, upside down in the topping......................

 And here is one batch...............

           They are beyond yummy.  I don't dare make them very often or I would be in trouble!

      Before I sign off today I want to wish all my followers and readers a very Merry Christmas.

 (Note: The postcards pictured today are from The Graphics Fairy whose link in is in my side bar)

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*

 

Off to the Sales!

 

Tea Cup Tuesday

 

Last weekend we went up to the Syracuse area to visit with our  daughter and husband.  While there I went to a craft fair where I was surprised to see a huge table full of tea items and nice vintage items.  And then off to the Syracuse Regional Market where we like to visit.  Didn't find much there but did find a couple tables full of teacups and such.  So all in all at least it was fun to see everything.  In my last blog I  showed you the sugar and creamer I did buy.

Here are the pictures of what I saw.

And here are the tables of items from the regional market

Lots and Lots of goodies.  I didn't buy much but it is always fun to see what is being offered.

Next week I will have a few Christmas things to share and maybe a picture of my little tree.  The shop is getting busy so my free time isn't as much as I would like.

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 very special sugar and creamer

 

Another week, another tea cup.  However, this week I am showing a sugar and creamer that would go well at your tea party.    I have been traveling a bit the past few days so didn't really get to do much with the blog this week but I wanted to share a wonderful little Royal Albert Set I found at the Regional Market up in Syracuse, New York.   

I already have a LOT of violet bone china items.  This will fit right in.

There was no name listed on the bottom of the items like there usually it but I don't think it matters since it is pretty obvious what the pattern is all about!

 So here it is.

And here is the mark.

I will be back next week with pictures of the other items I found at the flea market.

  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*

Tea Cup Tuesday

TEACUP TUESDAY 

I hope that all of you that celebrate Thanksgiving have "recuperated" from all the great food you consumed.

Here is the lovely centerpiece my daughter sent which graced our table for Thanksgiving.

This week I am showing a full Tea Set that I have for sale out in my shop.  I like it a lot because of the size and colors.

It was made in japan.  It included 8 cup and saucer sets, a sugar and a creamer as well as the teapot.  The cups are a bit smaller than normal but so pretty and they seem daintier than the usual size tea cup and saucer. I imagine it could be a "demi-tasse" set actually but would be nice to use for tea as well.

 

The mark is barely readable but it does say Made in Japan.

     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 quilted Pine Grove

 A Happy Thanksgiving wish to all my American friends.

Continuing on with the "showing off" of my recent quilt projects. This quilt is called Pine Grove.  It is sitting on a table in my living room that will hold a small Christmas tree that I put up AFTER Thanksgiving.  Prior to that and afterwards it will hold this bouquet and the table will hold some family pictures which I won't show now.

 This quilt project was from the Connecting Threads website and is called Pine Grove.
 Here is a link to the site if you want the pattern.  They don't have the actual kits anymore.

                                                                 Click here for

                                   Pattern for Pine Grove

 This quilt will now put me in mind of Maine.... the Pine Tree State..... where we lived for many years before moving south to Pennsylvania.     The scent of pine trees will always be a special memory.

 
 Because it was a kit and because there was fabric left over I decided to make the back using those leftovers.  Because they were left overs things may look a bit "wonky" but I will love the way they turned out.  And I didn't have to buy any more fabric.  I am doing this more and more with my quilts.  Using fabrics from my stash or from a kits that I already possess.  I just don't like going out and buying new fabric when I have plenty available here.

The fall leaves are just about all down.  After my husband removed a very large amount again this past weekend he said he is DONE!  The other leaves get to live here until the first mwoing in the spring I suppose.     It is now time to start getting ready for Thanksgiving AND to start thinking about Christmas decorating.  

      BUT NOT YET...............  I personally like to wait until AFTER Thankgiving.

             I am joining Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage for her special new blog party...............

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

             Be sure to join me there.  There are MANY wonderful posts to see..............

Thankful for the Tea Party Hostesses!

                 This is a repeat of a post I made about three years ago but it is contains important things I                                                                           I wanted to say!

As we get close to our Thanksgiving I want to say a huge thank you to the ladies who serve as hostesses for the various Tea Party events on line.  I know I wouldn't be here without them.
And for my followers who join me each week to see what I have found to show, Thanks to you all! Your kind comments make it even better!  And to the participants of the other tea parties.  What inspiration and fun are to be found!  Love it all!

I went out into my antique shop and started looking for things to display that would look like Thanksgiving.  No turkeys to be found but here are a few things that will look nice on the table I think.  The book I have shown " Autumn Accents" is one my own.  It is by Thimbleberries, designer of many great quilting fabrics.

The cute chicken casserole from Japan could be used to hold gravy, or a small serving of some vegetables.

For dessert, pie would look great on these dishes.  I am going to show the mark but have no real idea what it says.  If you know please let me know in the comments.  It is obviously some sort of gold.  And the set is made in the USA.

Also made in the USA is the large gold creamer.  I didn't get a close up picture of it but if you look closely in the overall picture you can see it.

And finally, we must have a cup and saucer so I selected this one from Royal Vale pottery.  It has a lovely yellow flower and nice fall colors.

I want to wish all my USA tea cup followers a Happy Thanksgiving.  And to those from other countries that don't celebrate the day please know I am thankful for all of you.

                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.

Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage *

 Martha at Martha's Favorites *

Bernideen's Tea-time Blog *
Ruth's Antiques  Teacups *
A Return to Loveliness *

A return to Tea Cup Tuesday

 Because I have gotten away from Tea Cup Tuesday visits due to the illness I had and life in general I thought I would get back to it by reviewing some of my early posts.  Many of you new folks wouldn't have seen them anyway.

I first discovered Tea Cup Tuesday in August of 2010...  a bit over 5 years ago.  And I kept with it pretty well since one thing I have is a LOT of teacups!!!!!

I have noticed that some of the old Teacup Tuesday posters have changed things a bit and I imagine I shall as well............... but........ for my first one back........  here it is.
Today I am going to go back to that very first blog entry....

I have collected tea cups for the 49 plus years of my marriage (50 in Jan.) due to the fact that my husband's family is Canadian and bone china is often what they give for wedding presents.... at least they did back in those days.

 I have pretty much been collecting ever since...............
Having an antique shop helps too because it gives me a chance to upgrade my tea cups fairly often. I don't have to feel guilty because I can always say I am buying them for my shop.  But.....  they may visit in my house for awhile.

Today I am going to show you one  of my favorites and probably one of the first I got. It is called silver birches by Royal Albert.  I love birch trees so it especially nice. We actually have a couple in our side yard in this house.  The first picture is the cup straight up, then on its side and finally one showing you the bottom.

I do love Royal Albert tea cups.  Probably my MOST favorite maker.  

I hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane.  I shall attempt to get back here every Tuesday from now on..............

Join me again next week.  I already know what tea cups I am going to show you!

And check in on Friday to see what I have been doing in the Quilt World!

Here are the tea parties I will be joining this week. There are only two this week but I hope you will visit them too. There are lots of links to more things. I will also be adding this post to Sandi's new party...........    NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Ruth's Antiques  Teacups * 

 Martha at Martha's Favorites *