(Lucky) Tea on Tuesday

On this rainy, thundering Tuesday, I am looking over my cache of teas, trying to decide which to have.

My daughter just came back from spending her birthday with our cousin, and brought me several boxes of Twinings and Celestial Seasons teas! Woohoo!! Our cousin lives near a tea outlet - wouldn't I love that!!!





I was trying to think of an interesting theme for today's tea, so I thought LUCK might be it, since we just passed thru Friday the 13th, traditionally considered an unlucky day and number!

Altho I am not a particularly superstitious person, I don't consider my self lucky as far as getting a winning lottery ticket goes!!! Altho my husband always plays the same numbers - just in case!!LOL

I am lucky in my family, lucky to have the husband and kids that I do, and lucky to be relatively healthy.

       Since it was Friday the 13th when Katie was in NJ, I now consider that a lucky day!!!

              I won an apron that day, from Arrow Sewing Cabinets! I can't wait to receive that!!!

     Katie got me a new supply of tea (if the world ends anytime soon, I will NOT run out of tea!)                                                 


                                              AND, she saw a BEAR!!!

Actually, she saw a mama bear and her 3 cubs!! Altho we live in bear country in Va, the bears stay up in the forest. At my cousin's in NJ, they wander thru the back yard, on a regular basis!




She was viewing them from the screened in porch - and mama bear was taking her cubs safely in the opposite direction!


Keeping with the theme of luck, yesterday I was gathering my collection of vintage horseshoes together for a photo on my tumblr

I save most of the shoes from my own horses - great garden ornaments, barn wall decorations, etc. Some even end up in my Etsy shop! Horseshoes are supposed to bring luck .

When hung over a doorway, or on the wall, they should be hung open side up - to catch the luck! Whenever I find an old horseshoe in the thrift store, I buy it, and then save it til my farrier comes, so he can tell me the history.
You wouldn't think there could be a history behind a simple metal horseshoe - but there always is!

While in NJ, my daughter got some body art - some lucky horseshoes on her foot..............

                         It's very pretty, but I prefer the actual horseshoe, not inked on my body!!!





In case you're interested (if you're not, just skip over to the end!LOL) I'll tell you a little of what I know about these vintage shoes.
*Left row top to bottom are mule shoes. The very old rusty one in the middle left, is a working mule shoe- he was probably pulling heavy loads or a plow. Notice they are more elongated than a traditional horse shoe.


*Center row, starting from the top - vintage metal stirrups, one a child's.
Oxen shoe - a great find-in two pieces for their split hoof- saw one in a museum shortly after I found this in the thrift store!Until then, I wasn't sure what I had!
2nd from the bottom, center row, is a handmade Finnish shoe, sold as a good luck charm, and souvenir - never worn.
Center row, thin shoe on bottom, is a lightweight racehorse shoe.


*Row on right -very vintage  heavy top shoe, is hand hewn for a working horse, the silver one below it is from one of my horses, the two circular ones below that are corrective bar shoes, made to help support the heel. I found both of those in a field at different times, neither are old.
 I had a previous farrier bend the pieces on the back of the bottom bar shoe, so I can have a photo or a mirror put in it.

That ends today's "lesson" on luck and horseshoes!!!

Enjoy your tea, and be sure to drop in on Patty and Kimmie for a list of other tea lovers! Feel free to join us any time!!!

12 comments:

  1. I Loved reading all about horseshoes and you can be sure I'll go back again at least once more before the day is over. Rain and thunder here too, that has been our week. And Oh, how I enjoyed those bear pics, that is how I like to see them, in a photo. Lennie

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  2. Oh wow! Bears! My daughter's "lucky number" is 13. I love that she goes against superstition!

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  3. How impressive that you got all that tea to choose from. Your daughter is very thoughtful. And speaking of your daughter, she seems to get her share of adventures with the mother bear and three cubs. A nice treat and wonderful surprising addition to today's tea post.

    And the luck seems to be in the horseshoes. I'm totally impressed with these and the story each one tells. I really like the oxen one and the Finnish one. What a fun filled Tea Tuesday post. Have a super day.

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  4. Bears?! (oh my!) We have deer all of time but bears?! that would be fun albeit scary.

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  5. So much to enjoy in your luck post Pat
    We were hoping to see some bears on our road less traveled way home from VA Tech on the Blueridge Parkway..no bears...but a wild turkey and way too close...but lucky encounter with two deer!
    Brilliant pics!
    Love your horseshoes too...just picked up some cute little ones at the hardware store in Floyd...not vintage like yours!
    Happy Bday to your dear girl!
    oxo

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  6. I drink lots of Twinings tea round here...and Celestial. I am of the opinion you cannot have too much tea. What a sweet daughter. :)

    The bear family looks happy as they scamper along...I'm glad they stay in the outskirts. Yikes. That could get really interesting.

    I love horseshoes. I would like to find a cross made of ten or so. One of these days maybe.

    Happy tday to you. I've visited several times lately and blogger has not cooperated when I tried to comment. I thought your Thrift store finds were wonderful! That post prompted me to make a visit to one near me, and I found some wonderful finds, too...didn't take the time to blog them though.

    oxo

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  7. Oh my! so much going on in your post today. Where to start~okay, lucky you receiving oodles of tea and an apron (which I don't wear, but clearly you are excited about it so so am I). Bears! and what a huge mama, whoa. That is some moment. Gave me goose bumps. Finally, I love tattoos so I really enjoyed seeing your daughters art. Nicely done.
    Happy T on T
    Peace~
    Dawn

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  8. I enjoyed the horseshoe lesson. We have an old horseshoe that looks a lot like the one in your right hand side row at the top. It has those nobby parts that stick up at the top ends and in the middle of the bottom too. I love it because it's RUSTY :)

    I played an e-mail chain last week that has to do with the number 11 and how this year is 2011 and there are lots of days with 11 in them. (like 01/11/11; 01/01/11; 11/01/11; 11/11/11 all lucky days to the Chinese ... It's called moneybags. Anyway, I did the email and in two days I won two drawings - and I never win anything!!

    Fun :)

    Happy tea day! Kimmie

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  9. Oh great post :) Awesome pic of the bears, she's a big one by the look! Your DD knows just what to get you :) I love the horseshoes, quite a selection--used to play horseshoes. A couple of my girls have small horse tattoos! Number 13 is a good one :)

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  10. Lucky daughter to get to see real live bears,lovely photos of them and I enjoyed the horseshoe lesson and seeing your wonderful collection.

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  11. Interesting post! Never even gave it a thought that horse shoes would have changed/improved or even been different. Shows what a city girl I am! lol!! And the bears - egads and cool all at the same time!!

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  12. What a great post on luck. I love the horse shoe collect and your letting us know what they were all used for. Thanks for sharing the things that mean so much to you. Debbie

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