Tea on Tuesday- Flower Power!

I am showing up for  late afternoon tea today.....this morning, I put my Lady Grey tea with Beekman 1802 creamed lemon honey in a "new" thrifted mug, only to pick it up from the counter, and have the handle part company with the mug! Hot tea, a dollar's worth of honey (it's good and worth every penny!) and the mug hit the floor!

In this before photo, it almost looks like you can spot a section where this handle might have been mended- but I looked it over, felt the handle, and had not see anything.What might appear  to be  a repaired seam in the photo was just glue from the masking tape price tag.  Where it came apart was not where you would have thought looking at the pic. Who knows- now handle-less, the mug may end up as a pencil holder, or broken up for a mosaic, or just dumped in the trash.

After having a restless night's sleep, and having early morning tea on the floor, instead of in my stomach, the day was off to a very rocky start.............

Anyway, since flowers are in bloom, (June is bustin' out all o-o-o-over.....all over the meadows and the hills....!) I thought I would share a few of my teacups that portray some of my favorite flowers- pansies,  violets, and thistle.

I was hoping to have a challenge photo that might be used for some artsy  endeavor, like was beautifully done in last week's Tea on Tuesday post.
I'm not sure any of these are worthy of any form of artistic rendering - but feel free to use one, if the mood strikes you !!!

                                               

                                                    ..........blooming teacups...........

                                
                                    ( below may be a chocolate pot, but works for tea also)
                            Orphan pieces come together to celebrate the violet

I will leave you with a definition of "afternoon tea"  from:

 Everyman's Encyclopaedia of Etiquette

What to Do

What to Say

What to Write What to Wear

A Book of Manners for Everyday Use

          by Emily Holt, 1920

"The afternoon tea, or ceremonious "at home", has for some years enjoyed a popularity that shows no sign of waning. Indeed, it has almost done away with the once almost universal evening reception. Such teas are given throughout the winter season to introduce young ladies to society, to honor special guests, to give a young married couple an opportunity to meet their friends, and to enable a hostess in a single afternoon successfully to entertain the whole list of her visiting acquaintances. They are the least expensive and the least exacting functions in the list of social diversions and, considering the many good purposes they serve, the most useful and satisfactory."

I am off to enjoy my afternoon tea...........................

Tea on Tuesday- Up to the Challenge !!!!

This morning's tea is in a mug (sorry), not suitable for a photo session!!! Not unlike myself this early in the morning.....!!!

                      But, look at the honey in my tea!!!

I ordered this from the lovely folks at Beekman 1802 , Josh and Brent, and Maria who runs their shop, from upstate Sharon Springs, NY. I placed the order on this past Friday afternoon - it went out in the mail the SAME DAY!! I had it in my mailbox in rural VA on the following Monday morning!!

How is that for service in today's world??? Personal (they call and/or email to answer any questions!), and fast !!!! And, Josh put together my order(according to the back of the little enclosed card)- good job!!! I know how particular Brent can be!!! And being that particular, with attention to detail, is what makes their business  a success- not to mention the quality of their products!!! Thank you, Josh, Brent and Maria!!!!!! (I also ordered something else, but will save that for another day's post!)

It took 648 Beekman bees 1 year to make this 9 oz. jar of honey- hard workers!

                 
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A couple of blog posts ago, I put forth a challenge- to create an artsy rendition of a photo of mine.

The idea was the brainchild, of sorts, of Tracey Fletcher King, a watercolorist from across the pond.

She mentioned the photo might make a beautiful painting, and I ran with the idea, and posed a small "challenge" of sorts- giving anyone who wanted to, permission to use this  photo and their imagination to come up with their own interpretation.

I am ashamed to say, I did NOT get around to sketching my own photo !!! And, sadly, there were not many up to the challenge- this time around!!! But, you and I, and maybe even Tracey again, will have another chance next Tuesday!

But, Tracey was definitely up to this challenge- and she did a WONDER-FULL job!!!!

                                                        Here is my original photo:

photo by Pat McNally

Here is that same peony and vintage peony teacup as seen thru the eyes of Tracey!!!
Whimsical and bright- I LOVE it!!! Thank you for the idea, Tracey - and THANK YOU for "playing!!!!!!!Please visit her blog, Tea and Sympathy, to see more of her wonder-full artwork!!!!

  art by Tracey Fletcher King

Tea on a Rainy Tuesday

I am going to take a hint from Patty's post of last week, and have a floral theme.

Our wild violets are blooming now, and they are a favorite of mine.

When we lived in the suburbs, in our first house, I would walk to the park, and bring home wild violets and transplant them in a heart shaped garden on my front lawn.


Seemed like a good idea, at the time. But as prolific as these little flowers are, each year, they would spread and spread, growing outside the confines of the little stone heart.

The lawn was my husband's pride and joy, and anything that was NOT a blade of grass, was strictly forbidden to grown in his lawn. I must say, that has been a battle, that he has consistently lost over the years!!!

Now that we live in the country, within wide expanses of green- it just gets his goat, to see little wildflowers popping up between the blades of grass, but that's life in the country!!!

He does get his jollies tho, from eradicating unwanted flowers and "non grass" from the hay fields- and that is necessary- wild things will take over a hay field, crowding out what you need to grow.

But, I digress.......back to the violets.

As tiny as they are, their resilience is admirable. Bugs, feet, tires, or flooding will not stop these little purple and white warriors from prevailing!!


Since violets are a favorite, I was thrilled to find a violet theme tea pot and cup in the thrift shop trash. Actually, its shape looks more like a chocolate pot.....but who cares!!

The finial was broken off, and the teacup was an orphan, with no saucer. Found a matching saucer (thanks, Nathalie), and glued the knob back on, and as a pair,  they are good to go!

My tea this morning is one of the French ones (thanks, Teresa!) The Vert a la Menthe- green mint, made by Dammann Freres. I make mint tea with fresh mints from my garden, this French tea is as good! Those French....!!!LOL

 

I have another violet cup and saucer. Altho the thrift shop pair are run of the mill, made in Japan, this cup and saucer below are Royal Tuscan fine bone china, made in England, Woodland Violet pattern. Despite the other's lack of "pedigree",I love them both equally !!

woodland white violets

                                      


                                            unknown woodland whites

                          Mayapple season is also a sure sign of spring............

While my husband may be unable to discern the differences in the "sea" of green, you can spot the white violets (upper right in photo), and the purple dead nettle (upper left), above the mayapple.

I am going to keep an eye out for the flowers on the mayapple, I always seem to miss that!!
The dead nettle makes a beautiful photo op in open fields, altho the flowers are tiny, when in profusion, they form a beautiful layer of purple over the green field.

The dead nettle (also called red henbit, I think) and the mayapple, are medicinal, but not ones I would attempt, or recommend, to use. Dead nettle can be used as a tea. Both have laxative properties, but the mayapple for the most part is poisonous. So, look but don't touch!!!LOL


Thanks for joining us for tea - please drop by Kimmie and Patty for a list of tea drinkers.