Irish Tea Room

My dear friend Crystal is a world traveller -

 I mean, this gal has been everywhere!

At this moment she happens to be visiting Ireland.

She knows I am proudly of Irish descent, 

and she knows how much I love tea.

So, when she was in Galway yesterday 

she emailed me this cute pic!

Teacups hanging in the window, wicker chair, lace curtains,
pink gerbera daisies, Olde Gaelic lettering on sign -
is this charming or what?


~~~~~*~~~~~

I ♥ the rusty old blackboard sign
(with its 5 exclaimation points!)


I think they feel strongly about this!


True gentlemen are manly enough
 to visit teahouse with their ladies.

Thanks for the smiles, Crystal.

Have fun there! Ireland is so amazing!

~~~~~*~~~~~

As always, thank you for your visit today!

Hugs,

~Michele

Note Cards - September

It's time for Vee's Note Card Party!

Simply pick four of your favvie fotos and join in the fun!

Here's what I have to share this month:

As always, thank you for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Also linking to:

HOME  *  TIPS

Tea Society Luncheon at Dawn's

Oh, I just had the BEST weekend with some of my favvie

gal pal tea sisters!

Dawn assured us she WASN'T GOING TO FUSS AT ALL,

 as she works from home and was actually

lunching with us in between work necessities...

....but if this is her version of NOT fussing,

well........how about if I just let the pictures tell the story!?

For starters she made a wonderful cold Cream of Strawberry Soup!

She used her gorgeous china pattern with leaves and berries.

This is the perfect china for an autumn transitional luncheon!

And look at her gorgeous old fashioned biscuit wrap-

it matches her china perfectly in colouring!

Next came not one, not two, but THREE different quiches:

Ham and Cheese

Broccoli and Mushroom

Sage Sausage with Cranberry

(They each were amazing and so delicious!)

There was a delicious salad with three dressings to choose from.

Here it is shown with Raspberry Vinagrette. YUM.

Isn't her above little china teapot sugar packet holder adorable????

And I absolutely adored her sweet birdie salt and pepper shakers!!!

Her dessert was sinfully good:

angel food cake  with a decadent creamy

 sweet chocolate toffee crunch to DIE FOR!

(She's been making this since her daughters were young.)

We asked her what it is called.

I imagined it called "Heavenly Fluff" or some such.

But, oh no, nope, no such thing!

She said her girls always simply called it "GOOP!"

(A true "A rose would smell as sweet if not a rose called" example.)

We all laughed and laughed!


Addendum from an email from Dawn:



This wonderful and simple recipe is from a dear friend of mine
 whose mother always made for her birthday when she was young.  


I used:

1(16 oz.) container Cool Whip 
1 ( 8 oz) package of Hershey's HEATH English Toffee Bits (found in the
baking aisle at my grocery store)
1 Angel Food cake (pre-made from my grocer's bakery aisle)

Allow cool whip to thaw until you can stir it without much frozen. 
Stir in the package of Heath.  

Refrigerate mixture until you are ready to serve.

Slice Angel Food Cake and top with the GOOP.
 Add fresh fruit as garnish (OPTIONAL)


Love & Prayers,

Dawn 

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

Now, we gals chat for hours when we get together since

it is so rare, being from different states.

I spent the night at Marina's house and then the next day

we went to a tea house, which will be on another post.

After the day was done and after most of the ladies left

we couldn't wait to just relax and unwind and visit

while sitting in some of the neatest furniture ever made.

I just had to share her antique goose neck handled tea themed rocker

she found years ago down south!

I should have taken this pic from an angle to show the goose.

I shall next time!

My pictures were all taken in low light,

 not much I could do about it

but wanted to share a most divine event with you!

The last time I had these tea society friends was in spring for 

Dawn's Birthday Tea here.

And last Christmas I went there for

this group's Progressive Christmas Tea Parties here. 

THANK YOU, MISS DAWN, FOR A TRULY WONDERFUL LUNCHEON!

As always, thank you for your visit

 to Finch Rest!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Tea Time Tuesday 

Teacup Tuesday - Martha  *  Teacup Tuesday - Terri 

A Return to Loveliness  *  Friends Sharing Tea 

Tablescape Thur

Remember 9/11

We shall never forget.

To our lost

To our lonely

To our citizens

To our brave

To our fighters

To our country...

WE SHALL NEVER FORGET....

Because remembering is honoring!

Garden Breakfast Tea with Niece

It is still summertime weather here

and the garden roses are still in bloom.

 The sun is still keeping our days quite warm.
so we are not treating days as autumn quite yet.

My niece spent the night with us this weekend

(her Momma/my sis went and had some birthday fun
 with friends on Friday.)

I am so blessed my sweet niece
 still wants to spend time with her Aunt Shell!

(Her early teen sisters claim to have more
 friend-oriented things to do these days.)


They grow from "itty bitty" to "too busy" too fast, don't they?!?

So it was breakfast time for said visiting niece, 

and of course if you are a regular reader of this blog
you already know what she wanted:

She always wants a lovely English soft boiled eggs in a cup

with blueberry tea and buttered toast.

We also added blueberry lemon bread - my fav.

As I was fixing things to eat in the kitchen she was busy 
putting this beautiful tea time tablescape together.

She has such great taste. Didn't she do a great job?

She chose a pretty light blue antique Austrian teaset.

This is one of my most delicate sets I own.

I have 6 teacups and saucers

6 little plates, the teapot -

and matching large sugar and creamer to this set.

We didn't bother getting most of it out

 since our table was so tiny.

We just used what we needed.

She even brought out my china toast holder.

Too bad I didn't realize it and had already cut
our toast into triangles. Oh well, still looked nice
and made us feel like such fine noble ladies using it!

Please note her pinky finger position in this close up.

I have a suspicion she was so focused on holding that
cup that she kinda forgot to give her typical grin/smile!


You can catch a glimpse of the blueberry bread
sitting on a white wicker table to the left -
we ran out of room and had to grab an extra little table!

After breakfast she watered the gardens - 
she's always so helpful when she visits!


We still have flowers but won't be long now
till they're gone.

(I know I keep saying that, haha.)

Our Knock-out Roses have doubled in bush volume size this summer-
I think I finally may be getting the hang of rose care!

As always, thank you for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Tea Time Tuesday

Teacup Tuesday Martha and  Teacup Tuesday Terri

Return to Loveliness    Tea in the Garden

Tablescape Thursday

The Aviary Guest Bedroom Tour

I have made a few changes in one of the guest rooms

and thought this a good time to share.

The iron headboards are fairly new.

I bought this hand painted Nest wood wall art

and the 2 bird bed pillows

 from Etsy quite a while ago.

The wall lamps and quilted shams are old PB.

The wooden cross is from Israel -

 a lovely house warming gift from my in-laws.

~~~~~*~~~~~

The large metal antique French cherub lamp

 is a recent auction win. 

The duvet covers and bed skirts are RL

 from his nautical collection some years back.

The wall colour is SW's "Khaki."

The wicker chair & pad is P1I.

                               

This is just a simple bird-themed room,

 minimalistic in design and cozy to the soul.

(And waiting for you to come visit and fill our home with your friendship!)

All the wall art and pillows have birds on them -

 thus the reason we named this room "The Aviary."

 Yes, I name rooms and homes -

 I think I should like need to own a B and B!

It houses my mother's antique commode

 and my Aunt's chippy antique child's rocking chair-

 with her delightful needlepoint bottom.

She gave this to me the same year

as my daughter was born-

the daughter for whom she was named.

♥

Eventually, of course, it is intended for her

but for now resides happily here with us.

I recently upgraded the blinds in here -

 these are 2" Hunter Douglas room darkening

 wooden shade blinds that lift and pull

 versus using a pulley system.

 I also dropped the crazy money upgraded

 to also have the wooden valance.

 I used to have plain linen drapes/curtains

hanging  from a white wooden rod in here

 but I am liking this simplicity for now.

 It's not fussy. 

That can be a good thing sometimes.

(Apologies for sharing this awful hazy. grainy photo- I just couldn't get a good pic!)

My "Faith" metal sign is a gift from my tea sister-friend MD

and my lovely collection of Jane Austin novels

 is a cherished Christmas gift from my wonderful husband.

As always, thank you so much for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

HOME  *  Home and Garden  *  Open House Party  *  Treasure Hunt 

Share Your Cup  * SG Tidbits  *  Feathered Nest * Sat. Show Off

Summer's End / Dessert Tea

Wow, now where exactly did summer go?

Although it certainly still remains very hot & humid summer weather!

Now that September is nearly upon us,
it is time to bid a fond farewell to August.

Summer season is officially on its way out and 

becoming just another fond memory.

My DH has lately heard me complaining enough about this heat -

 and also how I refuse to do any fall decorating

 until it starts to FEEL like autumn...............

So he surprised me with this

sweet "transitional summer's end" flower bouquet.

I just ♥ sunflowers - they have just cheered me so!

~~~~~*~~~~~

I found this awesome

 French mustard jar thrifting yesterday!

I tucked a few silverplated old teaspoons inside.

The other day I had a couple friends over

 for a relaxed, casual last minute dessert tea.

It was much too hot to host it outside.

I decided to make those happy sunflowers

 the theme of the table.

We used my fun whimsical little sunflower plates.

For convenience and time-constraints

 I purchased most of the sweets -

 making having this tea about as easy as it gets:


Raspberry macarons
Fruit Tartes
Blueberry cheesecake bites
Zucchini bread
Chocolate cupcakes

So, you see?

 Last minute teas can take less than an hour to prepare

 and means so much to a friend or two!

It tells her that you care for her company.

It reminds her you are never too busy to 

keep from nurturing your friendship.

So don't hesitate to plan one of your own easy teas soon!

And please do enjoy the rest of your summertime while it lasts!

"Summer's End"

~~~by Nancy Hughes~~~

No flowers to plant,
No garden to tend,
As summertime lazily
Comes to an end.

It's time to sit back
and deliciously savor
The beauty of the season
and the fruits of our labor.

Farewell to summer;
for autumn make way,
With this last celebration
We call Labor Day.

As always, thank you for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Seasonal Sundays  *  Tea Time Tuesday  *  Make It Pretty

Return to Loveliness  *  Centerpiece Wednesday  * Simple & Sweet