Pink Flowers

The lovely color pink fills my life with beauty.

I find it as a gift from God in my garden....

...or on one of my favorite teacups.

   

                   

On special collection pieces..............

(Even sometimes on a favorite sweet little nieces.)

Yes. Pink indeed makes me happy.

Do you feel the same about pink?

We are so lucky to have all these pretty colors

to please our senses.

What color/s make you happiest?

You love the roses - so do I.

 I wish the sky would rain down roses,

 as they rain f

rom off the shaken bush.

 Why will it not?

Then all the valley would be pink and white

And soft to tread on.

 They would fall as light as feathers,

 smelling sweet: and it would be

As sleeping and yet waking, all at once.

                             ~George Eliot

AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU FOR YOUR VISIT!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Pink Saturday  *  Return to Loveliness  *  Mosaic Monday

A Giverny - Monet Garden Tea

Oh, how do I describe this incredible tea party luncheon

 my dear friend Sharyn and her lovely Aunt Pat put together

at Sharyn's lovely home?

They really put together the ultimate summertime tea theme!

I was so blesssed and delighted to be invited

 to this amazing Monet-themed tea party!

Sharyn and her Aunt often take world-travel vacations together.

They toured England and France in very early spring,

 and one of their favorite spots they visited was 

The Monet House & Gardens.

Each guest at the table had a mini "Monet" painting

made by Sharyn and Pat in style!

The entire theme of their tea was gardens/ponds/flowers.....

The tablescape was made to look just like a pond -
the tablecloth was "water" and she made lily pads
with cute colorful frogs on them!

They even had relaxing summertime pond sounds
 piped in - frogs and crickets and water.

The entire tea was such a mood!

Just look at these adorable froggie chocolates, too!

Her chandelier was even decorated

 to match the mood of the pond!

Oh, the FOOD - my, oh my!

What a cute way to serve French Fries with catsup - in a glass!

Can you see a bit of her gorgeous colorful floral 
Wedgewood china pattern?

Isn't it just perfect for a garden/pond themed tea?

And filled-to-the-brim tiered trays of savory & sweet delights!

Can you even believe all this incredible food?

But that's not all! 

We were given a fascinating lesson on Monet's Home and Gardens!

They shared their slide show and their books with us

in a totally professional presentation!

Here's beautiful Sharyn in her old-fashioned maid's outfit

telling us about a specific flower.

Just looking at the picture she took of those flowers
certainly looks like Monet, doesn't it?

Here's her pretty Auntie Pat,
 dressed as a maid as well

sharing a book they bought on Claude Monet's art.

(These two gals are way more like sisters.)

This is a huge paper pop-out rendition of the gardens
that was sitting on the buffet table behind us during tea.

Please don't duplicate it or pin it, as I do not have
permission from the original artist to share it
other than admiring it on Sharyn's buffet table.

We were sent home with a lovely bag of themed favors!

Even the gems on the bracelet with the little frog
look like a soft Monet painting!

My fast picture taking while at the party
does no justice to this special day.


I keep the little mini canvas painting made for me 
right here on my work table in my office.

And I think of this special treat-of-a-day
 every time I look at it!

Thank you, Sharyn!
(and Pat!)

And thank all of you for your visit today!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Tea Time Tuesday   *  Tea in the Garden   *  Tea Cup Tuesday 

Tablescape Thursday  *  Centerpiece Wednesday  *  Share Your Cup

Fabulously Creative

Colorful Entertaining Items - Finch Rest Emporium

Do you have anything you would like to sell? 

You needn't even have an Etsy, dot com or Ebay store to do it!

Just go over and visit the weekly linky party

 at the blog How Sweet the Sound 

 and join in the fun at Beverly's "Blog Shop!"

4 embroidered white napkins with red Shasta Daisy nap rings

It's a fun way to share your wares -

 and it gives you or your store or collectibles some exposure

 where the right people hook up with the right stuff

 and all is well....avoiding overpriced retail and imported wares!

There's nothing better than supporting the business
of artisans who hand-make or collect wonderful items!

And in Blog Shop these are fellow bloggers, so
shopping or selling there - how is THAT a bad plan?

♥

Set of 2 bright red tea towels with embroidered flowers

My theme today is Colorful Entertaining items-

I do so hope you pop in my shop and check it out!

I have a ton of new things I am listing as this crazy life allows time-wise.

And there is no one I would rather shop my wares

 than blog readers. 

Seriously.

Pretty Red Poppy plate

4 bright floral napkins

Set of 2 green glass goblets

Two sets of 2 of these available

So hop on over to Blog Shop if you want to sell something

or if you want to take a look at some GREAT items for sale!

(You will be very glad you did!)

SAY NO TO BIG BOX RETAIL SHOPPING!

STAY OUT OF THE STORES 
WHEN SHOPPING FOR GIFTS!

SAY NO TO HAVING TO HAVE
 A GARAGE SALE
(Well kinda, anyway, haha.)

As always, thank you for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Christmas in July Garden Tea

Merry and Happy Christmas in July to you!

Our niece stayed overnight last night - always such a pleasure.

The weather has been so perfect - temps, blue skies, nice breezes.....

that we decided to set up a pretty holiday tea table

 in the garden and have ourselves a lovely garden tea to celebrate!

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

I grew up in a summer vacation lake town so celebrating

Christmas in July is a big deal....so many families that live together

in the summertime never see one another in winter....so it is a time

that many folks decorate their cottages and/or boats

and give out cards and gifts.

Years ago when I managed a clothing store up there

I talked Corporate in California into understanding how important it is in that area.....

And they allowed me to play Christmas music

and have special holiday signage with sales.

I did well at that store.  : - D

Good times.

We picked a pretty and shady spot under two trees

with pretty dappled light.

I've had three teas this week so had extra yummies leftover,

which made it super easy to do it this time.

Scones with clotted cream, lemon curd and ligonberry jam, yum.

We brewed blueberry tea for her, and I had coffee this time around,

I really needed a strong jolt after this non-stop week!

We had iced water in the goblets but hadn't filled them when I took this shot.

After teatime we played some games

 in our covered porch in the background.

She learned Rummy, we played Skip Bo

 (a family favorite for nearly 20 years), and also

Spot It and Banana Grams......all good for our brains.

If  you are looking for good fun easy brain games

these are three of our very favorites.

(This pic is the way my game looks, it's "old school.")

Look what she did with the letters of that game

and took this picture for the blog!

 I simply dolled it up Christmasy with PicMonkey.

I think she and I are both feeling quite festive today!

I wish for days like this to  never end.....

but I know right around the corner

 is the time

she won't want to do this with her Aunt Shell anymore.

But until then  I shall savor every moment with my

 sweet, pretty, fun and helpful teatime niece, Reagan.

Love that dimple!

July 25th, 2014

As always, thanks for your visit!

Merry "Christmas in July" to you and yours!

♥

~Michele