Rose Chintz Cottage

Monday, 30 March 2015

A Little Easter Tea

At Easter time the flowers bloom
The skies are bright and blue
The world's as joyous as can be
So is my thought of you. ~ Author unknown

Hello dear friends and welcome to my Easter Tea Time!

Don't you just love daffodils! There are no flowers blooming here yet because there are still mountains of snow on the ground, but in the barns new babies are being born.

Wee lambs and calves are making their way into the world. Our gold finches' feathers are beginning to change into a bright yellow once again. Soon all the song birds will be back and building their nests to lay their eggs in.

Spring would not be spring without bird songs." ~
Francis M. Chapman

All of these wonders point to the sign that Spring is here; a sign of hope. A sign of rebirth.

I have set my tea table with some bunnies and the little bird's nest my son found for me.

Pretty teacups, made by Royal Albert, grace the table today. Both are Old English Rose in different shapes.

The daintiness and yet elegance of a china teacup focuses one to be gentle, to think warmly and to feel close. ~ Carol and Malcolm Cohen

Tea is steeping in my Royal Albert New Country Roses teapot.

It is still quite cool here so we continue to enjoy a lot of comfort food.

The tea sandwiches are cream cheese with peach chutney on whole wheat bread and chicken salad on white bread.

The pretty daffodils which always make an appearance around Easter, are in support of cancer research.

Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward.~ Henry Ford

As a teenager, while I was waiting to get into nursing school, I did light housekeeping and babysat for a family who owned both a body shop and a service station.

To my great astonishment, one of my duties was to cook dinner for the family as well as the men who worked in the body shop and those who worked at the service station. There were a lot of mouths to feed and up until then, the only cooking I had ever done was in Home Ec at school.

Needless to say, it was a bit overwhelming in the beginning but the challenge of it all helped prepare me for bigger things which would come down the road.

One of the first things I learned to bake was this simple pudding. Some of you may remember it as Sudden Pudding but it is also called Baked Caramel Pudding. Have any of you lovely ladies ever made it? It is a cake like pudding with raisins in its own sauce and it is scrumptious!

It is served warm with ice cream or whipped cream and today, whipped cream is on the menu.

My hubby really enjoyed all these treats when he got home from work.

My tea is David's Tea Salted Caramel and it is delicious! Would you like a cup?

I am so happy you could join me today! I pray your Easter will be a time to reflect upon the true meaning of this Holiday. Thank you for visiting and a Blessed & Happy Easter to you all!

My life, my love, I give to Thee,
Thou Lamb of God who died for me;
Oh, may I ever faithful be,
My Savior and my God! ~ Hudson

Courtesy of the Internet

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. ~ John 3:16

I am joining the following parties as well~

A Return to Loveliness
Tuesday Cuppa Tea
Friends Sharing Tea
Tea Cup Tuesday
Share Your Cup Thursday
Home Sweet Home

An InLinkz Link-up

Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

Monday, 23 March 2015

Tea Time and Confession Time

There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea. ~ Bernard-Paul Heroux

Welcome Spring and welcome friends to Tea Time Tuesday!

Spring has arrived but it is disguised as winter here on PEI. I know it's only a matter of time and the snow will be gone, the grass will be green and the birds will be singing once again. Something to look forward to for sure after this long winter fraught with record breaking snowfalls and blizzards.

A beautiful bouquet can perk things up.

Mine will be a different tea time today as I have been laid up all weekend with a bad hip and haven't been able to put a proper tea together.

I hope you will indulge me as I showcase some of my tea wares..... while I make a confession.

Maxwell and Williams - Rose Bud

Yes, I have a confession to make and I hope I am not ostracized by all my tea friends after my revelation.

Taking a deep breath here....

I am just now getting hooked on Downton Abbey.

"Pardon me, I must have read you wrong! How can that be? It's been on for five seasons!"

I am without a doubt, the only one in Blogland, especially among my dear tea friends, who hasn't been seduced by this popular British series.

Aynsley & Royal Albert - Veronica

To be honest with you, I have tried to watch it on several occasions after the raving reviews you have all given the series. But it simply didn't appeal to me.

Then one evening I made up my mind to watch one full episode. Unfortunately, that was the episode where poor Anna was assaulted and, needless to say, I was turned off but good after watching that.

Well, the feeling of being an oddity for not watching this most beloved series when everyone else seemed smitten by it, haunted me. And I came to the conclusion that the problem lies with me. So I talked myself into watching at least three episodes in a row, even if I was bored to tears.

Rose of England

As I was pondering this decision, I thought perhaps I would enjoy it more if I had someone to watch it with me. But who could I rope into watching it?

My dear sweet husband who didn't much care for British TV was the Guinea pig.

So in January, we both sat down to watch it. I had warned him ahead of time that he probably wouldn't like the show and I would understand if he didn't want to watch it again.

Isobel and Violet at tea - Courtesy of the Internet

To my surprise, I rather enjoyed it although it was difficult trying to catch on to all of the characters. There were so many! I must admit, I have grown quite fond of Isobel's character. She is a lady with a very big heart or so she appears in the fifth season.

Even more of a surprise, I think my hubby enjoyed the show more than I did!

Royal Albert - Blossom Time

And so we continued to watch it until the end of the fifth season. Now like everyone else, we're hooked on it!

So, what with nursing my sore hip and not able to get around much, how did I spend my weekend? We rented Season 1 of Downton Abbey, of course.

Matthew and Lady Mary - Courtesy of the Internet

Good thing Hubby and I were already hooked on the show and wanted to watch it from its genesis because once we saw one rather shocking scene in the first episode, that would have most certainly put the kibosh on watching any more of it.

Royal Albert- Lavender Rose

The flow of tea from the spout is important. When purchasing a teapot, check to make sure that the top of the spout is level with the top of the pot. More oval shaped spouts are less likely to drip than rounded ones. ~ Learn-About-Tea.com

Anyway, now you know! The cat is out of the bag, so to speak! I am after all, like all of you, hooked, and looking forward to the sixth season of this most entertaining series filled with history, rich characters, wonderful costumes, and tea scenes.

And what about you? Did you embrace the show right away or like me, did it take you a little while? Do you have a favourite character?

*sigh* There now, I feel better having confided in you my little secret!

In the meantime, Hubby and I will watch all of the episodes on DVD until we are caught up with the rest of you.

Next week is the last week in March and it will be leading up to Easter, one of the most important holidays on the Christian calendar. Hopefully, I will be up to hosting an Easter Tea and I do hope you can join me for that. Have a lovely day everyone!