Tea Time Tuesday

"The heart, like the mind, has a memory. And in it are kept the most precious keepsakes." ~ H. W. Longfellow

Welcome dear friends to my first Tea Time Tuesday in December! The days are quickly passing and soon Christmas will be here but there is much to enjoy in the meantime.

Before I begin my tea today, I will share a few teacup ornaments hanging on the tree.

The first and second teacups came from Winners a few years ago.

This third teacup was a Christmas gift from my youngest son last year. He got it at The Cracker Barrel. He knows I love teacups and cardinals and it's also Illinois' state bird which is where my son  lives.

A very thoughtful gift!

Speaking of gifts; I consider special people in our lives as gifts too. Today would have been my beloved grandmother's birthday. What a wonderful lady she was! Every fond memory I have from my early childhood, she was a part of. 

I had written a post in her memory about four years ago and you may go here to read it if you wish.


Do you keep your greeting cards? This sweet Christmas card is one Granny sent to me when I was a little girl. It was probably the last card she ever sent me before she passed away.

It is vintage and adorned with a real feather and she signed it Love, Granny, Grampy, and Uncle Allan.



My Uncle Allan and Aunt Judy, who live in New Brunswick and Florida, visited over the weekend and I showed the card to them. I think my uncle was quite touched by it, especially  seeing his mother's own handwriting on it. He is more aware than ever of just how sentimental his niece is.

Grandparents play such an important part in the lives of their grandchildren. The love that was lavished upon me as a little girl by my Granny has always stayed with me and I know I'm a better person for having known her.

Are you ready for a cup of tea?

"One of the shining moments of my day is that when, having returned a little weary from an afternoon walk, I exchange boots for slippers, out-of-doors coat for easy, familiar, shabby jacket, and, in my deep, soft-elbowed chair, await the tea tray. How delicious is the soft penetrating odour which floats into my study, with the appearance of the teapot! What a glow does it bring after a walk in the chilly rain!" ~ George Gissing - "The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft" - 1903


I have set a little tea time out in front of my unfinished Christmas tree. I have been so busy this past week with getting my mother settled in her new home that the decorating has taken a back seat for a few more days. But I'll get there. Do you have yours finished yet?

This is a vintage creamer from Bavaria which I found in an antique shop.

Happiness is sharing tea with a friend.

The teacups are both adorned with little roses.

The first one is a nameless vintage Royal Albert. I love the brushed on gold trim and the tiny roses. It also has a very soft scalloping around the rims of both the cup and the saucer.

The other is one that I won several years ago from a porcelain artist blogger friend which she created herself.

We will enjoy some icebox cookies and some Holiday Chai tea.  The little Johnson Bros. plate is one my Aunt Judy gave me a few years ago.

Icebox cookies are so festive with their nuts and green and red cherries, don't you think?

"Christmas is forever, not for just one day,
for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away
like the bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.
The good you do to others is good you do yourself." ~ Norman Wesley Brooks - 1976, from "Let Every Day Be Christmas"

Next week I will be hosting my
"Celebrate the Season ~ Christmas Tea."

Every week until Christmas, I will share a Christmas tea setting accompanied by a different theme. I would love it if you could join me for any or all of them! You are not obligated to share a Christmas tea but since it t'is the season, it would be nice to take advantage of the lovely decorations and goodies this time of year.

Thank you for visiting today and if you have some tea or coffee things that you would like to share, please link up below and I will be happy to visit you.

 "The Lord bless you, and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine on you....;
And give you peace." ~ Numbers 6:24-26

I am joining these hostesses as well this week~

Kathy~ http://www.adelightsomelife.com/
Terri~ http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/
Martha~ http://marthasfavorites.blogspot.com/
Ruth~ http://www.antiquesandteacups.info/
Bernideen~ http://blog.bernideens.com/
What's It Wednesday~ http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/
Share Your Cup Thursday ~ http://jannolson.blogspot.com/
Home Sweet Home ~ http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/

Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

HOME

"Dear God,
Protect our going out and coming in; let us share the hospitality of this home with all who visit us, that those who enter here may know Your love and peace." ~ Author unknown

Hello my lovely friends and welcome to my HOME! I would like to wish all of my American friends a very Happy Thanksgiving and a Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish friends!

I am delighted you have stopped by today and blessed me with your presence. I really do appreciate all of you, my bloggy friends.


Before I actually begin this week's party, I must share with you from a very thankful heart that God has just answered a very big prayer request concerning my mother this morning.

It is a very long story and I cannot go into specifics but it took a miracle for this to happen. And it took two years for this prayer to be answered. God is so good!

One thing I have learned well over the years is that prayer really does change things and we should never give up hope!

This week for my tea party, I shared a little bit of Christmas for my tea. The teapot was a gift from my son and DIL last year and the Spode mugs, I found out in Vancouver last Christmas for half price. They are a set of four.

My little tree is one that I set in a mercury glass hurricane candle lamp and decorated with mini lights inside the lamp and on the tree. I thought it looked pretty cute and gives off a soft glow.

As promised, I will share the recipe for the Cranberry Squares I served for tea this week.

Most of you probably have your own Cranberry Sauce recipe but this is mine which I also used in the square recipe.

Cranberry Sauce
4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups water
pinch of salt

Bring water, sugar, and salt to a boil and boil 5 minutes. Add cranberries and cook until the skins pop. About 7-10 minutes.

Remove from heat and add 1/3 cup of orange juice. You could add a bit of orange peel too.
Cool and refrigerate.

Cranberry Squares
Mix together:
1-1/2 cups rolled oats
1-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
Cut in 3/4 cup of softened butter and mix altogether until crumbly.

Press 2/3 of the oat mixture into a greased 9 inch square pan. Top with 1 cup of the cranberry sauce and then sprinkle the rest of the crumbs over the cranberry layer. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool completely and cut into squares.

Here are some wonderful features from last week~

Ruth @ Antiques and Teacups shared a charming teapot made by Staffordshire. It is adorned with transferware scenes from the famous poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "The Courtship of Miles Standish." Isn't it lovely!

Diane @ An Extraordinary Day shared her fabulous sweater stocking tutorial. Hers was also the most viewed post.

We have a tie for the second highest viewed posts:

Debbie @ A Debbie-Dabble Christmas shared the wonderful Christmas department in a Wegman's grocery store. What fun!

And Poppy @ With a Dash of Color shared her fabulous French Country bathroom. Just beautiful!

Dianne @ Shabby Gals shared her gorgeous 1933 chest of drawers which she transformed into a thing of beauty. It even has a jewelery box built into the top of the chest; quite unique!

Coming up, I will be hosting a "HOME for the Holidays" Party beginning December 11 until the 22 of December.

You are invited to share all your Christmas and holiday decorations, baking/cooking, tablescapes, etc. Anything and everything which makes your HOME a beautiful place to be during the holidays. I hope you will plan to join me.
I know there are lots of parties coming up in Blogland and I always say, 'The more, the merrier!' 

This is my button should you wish to use it.

Thank you dear friends for welcoming us into your homes every week and thank you for visiting me today. Have a wonderful holiday this week.

"Lord, this humble house we'd keep

Sweet with play and calm with sleep.
Help us so that we may give
Beauty to the lives we live.
Let Thy beauty and Thy grace
Shine upon our dwelling place." ~ Edgar A. Guest

As a courtesy, please link back to me so that your visitors may find their way here to visit with all my lovely participants.

I am joining the following parties as well~

What's It Wednesday~ http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/
Home and Garden Thursday ~ http://www.adelightsomelife.com/
Share Your Cup Thursday~ http://jannolson.blogspot.com/
Home Sweet Home~ http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/

Sharing from my heart~ Sandi