"Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine,
Love was born at Christmas
Star and Angels gave the sign." ~ Christina Rossettie
Hello my lovely friends and welcome to my last Christmas Tea before Christmas! I want to thank you all for your visits and lovely comments last week on my Sugarplum Fairy Tea.
I had such fun putting it together for you and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! If some of you happened to miss it, you may click here to visit the party.
We are going to have a White Christmas this year. We have had snowfall after snowfall here and the Island is covered in a soft fluffy white blanket.
We have so much snow that we couldn't get to the birdfeeder. So, we reached through the front window and brought it in that way. We filled it up and hung it back outside.
Shortly after, we were rewarded with more than a dozen or more of our little feathered friends; chickadees, juncos, and believe it or not, goldfinches! They are wearing their winter plummage but my goldfinches did stick around this year and now I will get to enjoy them all winter long. I consider this an early Christmas present for you all know how much I love my goldfinches!
Now, on to our tea. Today's tea is all about Angels. Angels played such an important part in the Christmas story.
"And the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favour with God.
And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.'" ~ Luke 1:30-31
An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and assured him that Mary was with Child which had been conceived by the Holy Spirit.
"Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins." ~ Matthew 1:20-21
They announced to the shepherds that their Saviour was born.
"And the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.'" ~ Luke 210-11
And when the life of Jesus was endangered by the hand of Herod, an angel appeared again to warn Joseph that he should take Jesus and Mary to Egypt where they would be safe.
"Now when they {the wise men} had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, 'Arise and take the Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.'" ~ Matthew 2:13
Although in the Bible it seems all the angels are masculine, the angels I have at my tea today are both male and female.
These are my little kissing angels that I've had for many years. They are cozied up under the cloche on a soft cloud with a bleached bottle brush tree. A pair of sweet angel wings decorate the outside of the cloche.
Please make yourself at home and keep me company, won't you?
My two teacups are in shades of a delightful soft pink adorned with lots of lovely gold.
The top one is made by Colclough and the bottom one is made by Windsor, both of England.
We are going to enjoy some Earl Grey today with some shortbread cookies and gingerbread balls with sprinkles. Since I'm nursing my back again, the shortbread is from the bakery and the gingerbread balls were made by a sweet friend.
This angel was a gift several years ago. Her gown and wings are lovely, aren't they?
My pink Ganz teapot holds the tea.
Although I am not serving tea in Christmas china, I hope you enjoy it. I was planning to gather some fresh greenery from our cedar but the snow is too deep to get to it.
This is one of my real little angels, my youngest grandson, Zachary. He loves Christmas too.
Thank you for visiting today. I am simply delighted when you come for tea. This time next week, Christmas will have come and gone for another year but I pray the spirit of Christmas will live on in your heart always.
I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year long.~ Charles Dickens
From my home to yours, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." ~ Luke 2:14
"Hark! the herald angels sing: Glory to the new-born King!
Joyful, all ye nations rise; Join the triumph of the skies;
With th'angelic hosts proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem."
Hark! the herald angels sing, "Glory to the new-born King." ~ Charles Wesley{1707-1788} Felix Mendelssohn {1809-1847}
It is the season of the greatest story and the greatest Gift ever given!
I am joining the following parties as well~
Tea Cup Tuesday~ http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/
Tea Cup Tuesday ~ http://www.marthasfavorites.com/
Pink Saturday~ http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Sharing from my heart~ Sandi