Lovely October Birthday Tea

Ah, Autumn, how I love thee!

 This past Saturday we had a perfect autumn day 

 so I headed outdoors for a perfect little tea for one.

I grabbed a few essentials and went out to my garden room

to enjoy a quiet and leisurely tea time.

Sipping and reading and bird watching was the order of the day!

This past weekend was also my birthday, so

I thought I would celebrate in style and use the beautiful

Royal Albert teacup set that my sweet blogging friend

Margie from Tea in the Valley gifted me a few years ago.

I surrounded myself on this quickly put-together tea time 

with gifts from wonderful and caring friends.

First thing I did was to clip a few lovely blossoms from the

 limelight hydrangeas in front of our house.

They are beginning to turn, and are just so Autumn-y!

(Thank YOU, Heavenly Father for the beautiful gift of these flowers!)

I placed them in a Lenox china vessel my women's club friend Melinda

gave me as a hostess gift when visiting a few years ago.

It's the perfect size for hydrangea and peony cuttings.

I placed an antique glass frog that fits perfectly on the bottom

 to keep those floppy blooms in place.

My dear friend Kitty from Kitty's Kozy Kitchen 

made me the beautiful crocheted doily.

The bird-themed napkin is from my tea society friend Karen.

She collects the most gorgeous paper napkins.

Needless to say I spent some time thinking

 about each of these precious ladies,

 and what a true blessing their friendship is to me.

And the REAL star of the tea show:

My neighbor Tiffany and her sweet daughter made us 

a huge box of wonderful Polish pastries called Kolachi.

They were so good, and made a wonderful teatime snack!

The little cake plate came from a great thrift find of my older sister.

A couple of years ago she texted me because she had found

 a set of 8 signed and dated hand gilt-painted beauties

 at a secondhand place near where she lives for a GREAT price,

 and asked if I wanted to buy them?

My answer was an emphatic and resounding "YES, PLEASE!"

They are in perfect condition, and are over 70 years old!

After my tea I walked around the gardens and took this pic-

which is just so perfect for October!

Funny, we never planted these Japanese Lanterns - nature did.

We have had them for about 5 years now.

They are waning, but still so awesome looking.

And on the subject of flowers and such -

 my daughter divided her Purple Aster

 and gave me a beautiful nice sized plant!

October's Party

by G. Cooper

October gave a party

The leaves by hundreds came.

The chestnuts, oaks and maples,

And leaves of every name.

The sunshine spread a carpet,

And everything was grand,

Miss Weather lead the dancing,

Professor Wind, the band.

As always, thank you for your visit.

Please stay well.

Hugs,

~Michele

Linking:

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First Day of Home School!

 OK. I know, I know. I used to be all about

 afternoon tea parties and table-scapes and decor.

I still am all about those things....of course...but there is no way

 I can let her very first week of school go by without sharing

ALL THE CUTENESS!

 I mean, that is what a Grandma DOES, right?????!!???

Just look at that look of anticipation and pride on her face!

Her little top has apples and sunflowers on it.

She is showing off her Princess Pink Poppy Pencil Pal

that her auntie gave her to celebrate her first day of school!

You may recall that she is a big time pink fan, ha ha. 

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

My daughter worked all summer long preparing her

homeschooling lesson plans for little girl.

I think they were both very excited to begin

 this new chapter in their lives.

(This pic says so much about how she felt getting started!)

Together they fixed up a big corner of their crafting area of their basement to make into a perfect schoolroom.

There is a globe, and a clock to learn time, a magnifying glass,

and books and crafts and toys and paper

 and all things needed to help her learn!

And yes, there is even a pink dinosaur bones figurine!

She is on kindergarten and first grade level lessons

 (she just turned 4)

so she should be well and ready for grade school

if and when the world ever heals from Covid.

♥

She will have a test on Fridays reviewing all

she learned in that week -

 and yesterday she passed her tests with perfect scores.

I am proud of them both!

For all those homeschooling their children (or others')

wishing you all the success and luck!

Saying a prayer for all the teachers!

You are all truly amazing!!!!!

TEACHERS

by Kevin W. Huff

Teachers paint their minds and guide their thoughts

Share their achievements and advise their faults

Inspire a love of knowledge and truth

As you light the path which leads our youth

For our future brightens with each lesson you teach

Each smile you lengthen, each goal you reach

For the dawn of each poet, each philosopher and king

Begins with teachers, and the wisdom they bring.

[all graphic images -Google]

As always, thanks for your visit!

Hugs!

~Michele

Sharing:

Pink Saturday

It Is Still Summer! (Outdoor Luncheon)

 

Before summer is just a pleasant memory and our worlds become filled with pumpkins and cinnamon and apples and leaves...

I wanted to share a recent summertime outdoor afternoon tea luncheon I hosted for my daughters and my sweet grand daughter.

 

 

I kept it simple so I had more time to be with them. 

My heart was full of joy!

           I picked some daisies that were blooming in my garden

       and placed in an old crystal vase for our centerpiece.

 

 

I used my Laura Ashley "Lidia" pattern for our dishes,

 and since it was hot we had iced tea in my pink depression

 water glasses, and the cups and saucers for the soup.

I simply grilled up some cheese sandwiches.

 My homemade vegetable beef soup

 I made the night before and just had to heat up. 

For extra yummy toasted cheese sammies

add cream cheese in with your normal cheese.

I made homemade real vanilla bean custard the night before

 and just added a few blueberries on top just prior to serving. 

 

It was a big hit with everyone - especially this little cutie!

 

After our long chatty lunch we sat in the Zen Room

         and Grandpa was able to finish his work in time

 to have a nice visit with them, too.

 (He's been working from home since first week of March.)

Those two get pretty goofy sometimes,

 always thinking up fun things to do!

(Such as zipping up the grand girl in a folding camp chair canvas bag!)

And walking around the backyard with her

with her squealing with delight. 

Goofs, I tell ya!

Love that face he's giving me!!

I can hear what he is thinking:

"This is a perfectly normal thing to be doing, Shell!"

"Hey, Aga! You look just like Mickey Mouse!"

Just around the corner Autumn will set in 

and our hummers will be gone for another year....

It's hot out today, though, and it's not ready to end just yet!

We are hanging onto it as long as we are able!

I hope you all enjoy these last glorious weeks of summer.

As always thank you for your visit.

♥

~Michele

Linking:

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Pink Saturday

The Traveling Teacup

Oh, how I have looked forward to this new friend's visit!

Welcome Tessa Rose, a lovely teacup

 that has been a very busy traveler!

This pretty teacup belongs to our sweet host

Barbara from the blog Mantle and Table.

If you've never visited her blog

 you are truly missing out.

It is filled with so much beauty!

I am sincerely honored that her lovely teacup visited me.

♥

Tessa Rose is a "morphed" name given to this pretty teacup.

She's been Tessa, and Rosie - so I put the two together.

She has arrived from a wonderful visit with Julie 

at the blog My Wee Abode. 

Because of her travels TR was a wee bit tired,

 so she politely asked that we simply share a

 pleasant cool respite...

away from crowds and worries-

to just have a quiet and peaceful visit.

So we spent some time in my shady "Zen Room,"

(my DIY backyard-facing covered patio.)

It is my very own special oasis for tea time,

reading, praying and bird watching.

And I LOVE when friends visit here with me!

Even in the unbearable summer heat

I do enjoy my tea hot at tea time. 

Truth be told it wasn't even necessary 

to use my pretty tea cozy though!

(It just wanted to be part of the action.)

Tessa Rose kept me in good company as our tea was steeping 

and I picked some pink hydrangeas from the garden for us.

What a blessing they bloomed just in time for her visit.

She said floral teacups feel right at home near gardens, 

and sitting upon antique white wicker

 feels "just right," to her, too.

I only left a few blooms on the branches.

Next is to fill a vase of daisies!

Prior to Tessa's visit I picked some zukes

 from our vegetable garden and baked some

zucchini bread for our teatime visit.

I have baked a LOT of zucchini bread

 in the last two weeks.

Our garden is yielding 4-5 large zukes

 every other day.

I think I will be baking much more!

(I put my own zucchini bread recipe at end of this post.)

Try it and let me know if you think it is the best, too!

After our teatime and garden visit

she asked to go inside and hear me play piano for her.

I told her my piano was made the same year I was born.

I guess that makes us both very old classics. 

She told me that her owner Barbara

plays and sings quite beautifully. ♫ 

Tessa had a request for me to play "Tea for Two."

As she was my guest, I had to oblige her.

♫ ♪ ♫

We both giggled when I played her "Chopsticks"

on my grand daughter's wee toy piano.

We both agreed it was painfully out of tune!

The day Tessa Rose was here I received some happy mail

from a dear tea society sister-friend from the South;

a beautiful and thoughtfully hand-made card with flowers.

That sweet visiting teacup approved whole-heartedly!

(As did I!)

Isn't getting happy mail so meaningful and special

 during these difficult and lonely times?

As we were on the subject of flowers,

TR mentioned she really admired my most recent painting,

the one with all the colorful flowers.

I told her that I appreciated her flattery,

but I am only a beginner painter and still just learning.

If you have an iPhone and don't have the WATERLOGUE app

you are really missing out.

Look what IT can do:

I showed Tessa Rose my cute little light purple

antique bottle from the Grand Union Tea Company.

It's the perfect size for a single cut Hydrangea bloom.

And the perfect bottle for a teacup to sit near.

I haven't figured out what may have originally been

in the bottle though - possibly a tea elixir of sorts?

Here is a little history about Grand Union.

(credit: Old Main Artifacts)

So as our wonderful day together was coming to an end

we went out back one last time

 to water the hydrangea and daisies-

 so they continue to bless us with beautiful blooms

 a little while longer!

Tessa liked the deep shadow she made

 towards the end of the day

just before the sun went down.

We were relieved once the day ended,

 as it finally cooled off a bit.

I adore you, sweet and beautiful little teacup.

Thank you so much for your visit.

I hope your next trip

 to visit Linda in Gladstone, Oregon

 is a safe one!

Don't forget to visit our host Mantle and Table

to read about all the other visits of this little teacup!

Her blog is chalk full of beauty:

tablescapes, floral arrangements,

tea-scapes, and even has a shop of beautiful items.

♥

Michele's Zucchini Bread

(Makes two large loaves)

3 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. clove

3 eggs (room temp performs better)

1 cup vegetable oil

2 1/4 cups sugar

3 tsp. vanilla

1 cup chopped walnuts

4 cups grated zucchini

1.) Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl with a whisk or sifter, set aside.

2.) Grate one clean medium zucchini, skins ON

 to get approx 4 cups of shredded zucchini.

3.) Place on sieve / colander with a fine screen over a bowl

 so it can drip/ drain while you do the next steps.

4.) Prepare your pans - two loaf pans or one loaf pan and

mini loaves or muffins. 

I use Pam spray but oil/butter and a sprinkling of flour

will work just as well.

5.) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

6.) Mix eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla in a mixer on medium till well incorporated. 

7.) Now mash your zuke gratings into the sieve (or squeeze by handfuls)

till you get most of the water out. Set aside.

8.) Now SLOWLY on lowest speed of mixer - or by hand - add the

flour dry ingredients little by little and gently moisten. Do NOT

over mix!

Once you have it all mixed, hand fold the zucchini and the nuts in.

Mix gently but well. Spoon half mixture into one loaf pan, then the other.

Bake loaves on middle rack - approx. 45-60 mins depending on your oven.

I have found muffins and mini loaves to bake much faster -

so check around 30 minutes.

Done when a toothpick comes out clean.

Thank you for coming to visit, too!

Hugs,

Michele

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