Faith Family Friends

Celebrating the Joy of Living & Home Making ~

Baking, Cooking, Decorating, Tea Time, and taking Inspiration from those I love and the world around me...

A sharing of my heart and my home from a Christian perspective

...with a wee bit of whimsy added.

Thursday, 9 February 2012

To Have and to Hold



Hello bloggerettes. I love a good Love Story, don't you? 
Today I am joining Betty Jean's romantic To Have and To Hold Love Story Linky Party Marathon at Shabby Tea Party. Thank you Betty Jean for hosting.

Some of you may have read my Love Story before but I thought I would share it once again and what a better time to share it than on the anniversary of our very first date, February 9th.

Love is when you look into someone's eyes and see everything you need.


Let's go back a few years to a time when record hops were still the place to go on a Saturday afternoon.

Picture if you will, a shy young man sporting a Beatle haircut and an even shyer young lady with long hair and bangs, wearing a mini skirt, fishnet stockings, and high boots. Yes, I liked to dress in the latest fashion and I still do!

He was painfully shy but when he finally got up the nerve to ask me to dance, it was love at first sight! We were both seventeen.

He asked me to dance three weeks in a row and then that third Saturday after the record hop, he followed my friends and me into the restaurant where we always went for a bite to eat before the long walk home. Not much wonder we were all so fit and trim!  We danced all afternoon and then walked three miles home afterwards.

He sat on the far side of the restaurant all by himself and then he got up and put some money into the jukebox. He played three of my favourite songs! Coincidence? I don't think so!
One of those songs was my absolute favourite, "Words" by the Bee Gees. He didn't know it was my favourite, it just happened to be his too! 

My friends talked me into joining him at his table, where he and I sat and talked before he walked me the three miles home. Halfway home, he took me by the hand, and 'it was magic!'
And the rest as they say, is history!

Love isn't love until you give it away. ~ Michael W. Smith

A month after our first dance, we went on our first date. 




These pictures were taken on our first date. Before meeting at Eatons department store, he had gone to Zellers to get his picture taken. Do you remember those photo cubicles? He asked me to get mine taken too, which I did.
Isn't he adorable? He's even cuter today; lucky me!

A month after our first date, he asked me to "go steady."
Four years later, in spite of the objections of some family members, we got married. Thankfully, after some time, those family members realized we were meant for each other and accepted our marriage.

"...For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God." ~ Ruth 1:16


"Words" by the way, is our song.

Three children and five grandchildren later, we are still sweethearts and we cannot imagine life without each other. 

Come May, we will be celebrating our 40th Anniversary.


What's our secret? We spend time together, we pray together, and we laugh a lot. We are best friends and always have been.
We are very thankful for what we have and we feel we are very blessed! 


Love is something you can't describe like the look of a rose, the smell of the rain, or the feeling of forever. ~




Above the refrigerator, I have a little vignette which has a sign hanging on it that reads, "The family that prays together, stays together." That's us. You could say we're a match made in heaven!


Happy Valentines Day!

Monday, 6 February 2012

Tea Time Tuesday

Teapot is on, the cups are waiting,
Favourite chairs anticipating,
No matter what I have to do,
My friend, there's always time for you. ~ Author unknown


 


Hello ladies and welcome to my first Tea Time in February.

I hope you are all making plans to join me next week, February 13th for my Valentines Day Tea. You are all invited to join me.
I look forward to seeing all your pink, red, and heart inspired tea things. 


Maybe you would like to prepare something special for the occasion and share the recipe. 

Do you like pretty things? I do and I enjoy looking for  beauty in the little things in my life.  

I'm one of those gals who likes to stop and smell the roses.



I enjoy watching a butterfly flutter by and I love listening to the birdies sing! I love fireflies and moonlit nights and gentle lacy-edged waves lapping on the shore.


"Live your life while you have it. Life is a splendid gift - there is nothing small about it." ~ Florence Nightingale


Today's tea is a share of some of the little things that bring me pleasure;  like roses, pretty teacups, birdhouses, and books.




Tea books in particular, I enjoy, like this one I won from Linda @ Friendship Tea.



"The Twelve Teas of Friendship" is a delightful hard covered book by Emilie Barnes with beautiful artwork by Susan Rios. It includes a collection of twelve themed teas, wonderful recipes, and facts about tea and friendship. I am enjoying it so much!

Thank you Linda. If you haven't met Linda then please do pay her a visit. She always has something interesting to share about tea and other subjects.



I love this vintage teacup by Royal Albert which is now out of production. I found it in a thrift shop last summer. It is Old English Rose and it has a lovely shape and handle.





The lovely plate beneath the teacup is Limoges, a gift from my Aunt Judy.


The darling birdhouse was a Christmas gift from my youngest son.





It is important to surround yourself with lovely things that bring you pleasure.



Happiness is sharing tea with a friend.



In the winter time I often get a hankering for comfort food and this Old Fashioned Rice Pudding hits the spot.




When my dad moved the family to Prince Edward Island, we lived at a lovely Christian lady's home while we were getting settled. She was a fabulous cook and my brother and I could hardly wait for meal times.
One dessert became a favourite of mine; her Old Fashioned Rice Pudding upon which she used to pour a hot Brown Sugar Sauce.

When I got married I decided to make it the same way.  



A creamy Rice Pudding made with plump raisins and dried cranberries, cinnamon and nutmeg, served in a pretty bowl with  Brown Sugar Sauce poured over it. Yum! And there are no calories. Ha!


On a cold winter's day, a hot cup of tea and a bowl full of pudding are just the thing. Curl up with a good book or magazine in front of the fire and enjoy a few minutes of respite.  

"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth,
for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the
fire: it is the time for home." ~ Edith Sitwell




Savour each little moment.



"This the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it." ~ Psalm 118:24 

Do you have a favourite teacup/teapot or mug you would like to share? I would love to see it! If you wish, you may do coffee instead of tea or the following is acceptable too: hot apple cider, hot chocolate, lemonade, iced tea/coffee, punch. No alcoholic beverages please.
The TTT button on my sidebar is available for you to use in your post or place on your sidebar if you wish. A poem, tea quote, or scripture verse would be more than welcome! 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~

Simply Sweet and L.A.C.E.
Victoria - A Return to Loveliness
Table Top Tuesday
Tea Cup Tuesday
Tea Cup Tuesday
Tea Party Tuesday
Tuesday Cuppa Tea
Friends Sharing Tea
Tea Cup Thursday
Home Sweet Home


Sharing from my heart~ Sandi