Spring Tea Party

I am happy to be a guest blogger for Tea on Tuesday with Pam@Everydayliving and Mary @Homeiswheretheboatis. Tea on Tuesday takes place on the third Tuesday of each month.At the end of this post you will find images and links to their beautiful posts.

"The spirit of the tea beverage is one of peace, comfort, and refinement." Arthur Gray

 My spring garden is bursting with blooms and signs of spring. The air is redolent with the fragrance of Confederate Jasmine and it is a gorgeous spring day. The birdsong is delightful. It is the kind of day you dream of during the dead of winter.Join me for tea, relax and enjoy the beautiful day.

The morning sun is shining on the new growth on the trees and the contrast of shades of green is beautiful. I've gathered some comfortable pillows from my guest room for the chairs.

Join me for tea and some treats from my favorite store, Trader Joe's.

This brass tray borrowed from a friend unifies the tea set and brings out the gold in the china. Lomonosov china is hand decorated and embellished with 22 carat gold. It is made in Russia by the Imperial Lomonosov Porcelain Factory. 

I fell in love with this pattern after my daughter-in-law selected it for her wedding china. My daughter discovered this set at an estate sale recently and I am so glad I have a tea set myself now.

Trader Joe's has a good variety of scones, meringues, macaroons, and cheese straws which are perfect for teatime.

It is so nice to freeze them and pull them out when you need them.

I am passionate about blue and white and I love different patterns and textures. The  Spode Blue Italian Hexagonal vase holding the pink tulips has the iconic Blue Countryside design with an Imari Oriental floral border.  The tablecloth is a toile fabric. The toile fabric is actually a drapery panel I made years ago for my guest room. Sometimes you have to improvise! Toile fabric originated in France and in the late 18th century toile de Jouy was the official choice for clothing and interiors. The pattern depicts a scene usually a landscape that involves figures. 

The chinoiserie ginger jars are from China. Chinoiserie has definitive Chinese patterns like fish, Asian architecture and flowers. I've had these since the 80's. 

Spode's Blue Italian is one of the most important designs in British ceramic history and celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2016.

"APRIL HATH PUT A SPIRIT OF YOUTH IN EVERYTHING."William Shakespeare

It has been fun to share tea from my garden with you.  
Recently, my garden club enjoyed tea together at a local shop called, The Kind Hearted Woman. I thought you would enjoy seeing the delicious food we shared.

Scones with a delicious mock Devonshire Cream and various tea sandwiches were served on tiered trays.

Lemon cakes, cake pops, and pizzelles were delicious! I wish I had all the recipes.

View Mary and Pam's posts below by clicking on the links below the pictures.

Mary ~ Home Is Where the Boat Is

Pam ~ Everyday Living

Thank you, Mary and Pam, for inviting me as a guest blogger today for Tea On Tuesday! I had a great time.

Living Thankfully, ☕️🌸☕️🌸☕️

Celebrating Valentine's Day

Welcome to a  pretend Valentine celebration. It has been a long time since I have posted. There are times you just need a rest and the time to regroup. I've set the table for eight  today to celebrate Valentine's Day. It would make a perfect Galentine table with red and white with gold accents and a little pink. One of these days I am going to have a real Galentine party. The camellias  in my centerpiece all came from my garden and it was a thrill for me to create arrangements from my garden. We had a hard freeze forecast and my bushes were full of blooms and many buds. So I was inspired to cut my blooms and do an arrangement.

I started collecting milk glass  a few years back and it has been fun to collect. My sweet daughter-in-law gave me the compote the large arrangement is in and one of the small vases. Her mother gave me the other one. Would you believe my daughter- in-law was incredibly sweet to bring the pieces she gave me in a suitcase and her mother did the same thing. That was a gift of love!

Mirrored tiles serve as a table runner and assorted hearts are scattered along with votive candleholders on the tiles. 

Candlelight is always a plus that adds ambiance. I'm glad the old etiquette rules about not lighting candles during the daytime has become outdated. I like the reflection the mirrored tile runner adds and it seems I always use it for my Valentine tables.

The pink camellia is named Pink Debutant and the white ones are White by the Gate and  White Alba Plena. The red blooms are Professor Sargent. Fatsia seed pods add an unique texture and was fun to discover in my garden as I cut camellias.  It was very cold when I was cutting and I had to get gloves and bundle up. I don't often get this much energy but knew it would be a shame not to enjoy my flowers indoors too.

The plate stack consists of a gold charger, red dinner plate,cream plates with a wide gold border and lastly a salad plate with a smaller golden border. Ruby red goblets add more festivity with gold flatware and white napkins with a red border. 

The varigated pink and white flower is called La Peppermint. 

"YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD TO SET ANOTHER GOAL OR DREAM A NEW DREAM." C.S. LEWIS

I was sorry I failed to do a close up of the velvet stuffed heart. There are also two other glass ones with etching that I failed to photograph closely. It seems like I am always fighting the waning light to photograph in a hurry and forget to do close ups of the accessories.

Here is a picture of one of the large hearts used in another Valentine post.

I am looking forward to a real Valentine celebration with my husband next week. I will remove all the plates but two. What are your plans? 

Again, I apologize for my blogging absence. I have had a few health issues.  Wishing you a lovely Valentine's Day. 

Blessings, Bonnie♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️