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.

Monday, 13 September 2010

Tea Time Tuesday


Hello bloggerettes and Welcome to my 34th Tea Time Tuesday post!

I don't know about you, but I'm taking my time putting away my flip flops and packing away all my summer stuff. I want to hang on to Summer for as long as I can! The Fall season is so short and the forerunner to a long cold Winter here in the Maritimes.

While many of you are looking forward to cooler temperatures and brightly coloured leaves, I'm easing myself into the season. I want to savor the last few days of Summer.

I do love the look of the hydrangeas as they take on a blush of colour though and there is a crispness in the air. Alas, these are not mine!
Yes, Fall is coming whether I like it or not! But whether it is Summer, Winter, Spring, or Fall, it's a good time for a cup of tea!

Tea ...."As the centerpiece of a cherished ritual, it's a talisman against the chill of winter, a respite from the ho-hum routine of the day." ~ Sarah Engler


Today, I'm serving tea in two different rooms. The teapot sits on a little table in the corner of the living room while the teacups are out on the kitchen table.

A peachy-pink hydrangea wreath lends itself to this tea set. The sugar and creamer compliment the lacy cut-out topped teapot. All three pieces are by Skye McGhie. The teapot is Cream Lace and the sugar and creamer are Country Rose.


Love the soft hues of these. The peachy-pink is a lovely colour for easing into the Fall colours, don't you agree? Gold trim adorns the sugar and creamer. One cannot tell by the photos but there is gold outlining the roses too.
"One sip of this will bathe the drooping spirits in delight, beyond the bliss of dreams. " ~ Milton


Now how about a cup of Earl Grey tea? Fresh whipped cream and strawberry-applesauce accompany a lovely piece of Gingerbread cake which snuggles up to a couple of pretty teacups.

I am using both my Rose Bud and Rose Chintz teacups. This Rose Chintz is not my usual Johnson Bros. pattern but is produced by Gracie Bone China.



The green pin was a gift from a lady at our last church. I don't know much about this Rose Chintz pattern other than I like it. I found this teacup at Winners and the Rose Bud teacup made by Maxwell and Williams, I found at my favourite tea room. They are very similar in their patterns and both are made of china and trimmed with gold. The little demitasse silver spoon is a piece from my mother's silverware which was a cherished wedding gift from my grandparents. The pattern is Evening Star made by Oneida and my mother received it in 1950 on her wedding day. Only last night, she passed it on to me. I am beyond thrilled to have it in my possession!


Today I am serving home made Gingerbread cake with your tea. It is the perfect dessert for Fall, don't you think? I serve it several different ways; with apple sauce, lemon sauce, or vinegar sauce. The vinegar sauce is my grandmother's recipe and it is delicious but today I'm serving the gingerbread with strawberry-apple sauce and whipped cream.

The jam pot with the cut-out bottom is also Skye McGhie Cream Lace. It holds the strawberry-apple sauce.
Oh, look who showed up! This cute little bunny, which was a surprise gift from my sweet hubby, is inscribed with "Happiness is....Life filled with Love."

Let's talk about happiness today! What makes you happy? For me, it's many things....

The love of God and my family is of course at the top of my list.
I enjoy long walks along the beach or through the woods.
A beautiful sunset or sunrise. Springtime and Summertime. And yes, I love Christmas!
I love music, flowers and trees, and our little feathered friends. Yes, I love birdhouses too!
The cry of a newborn baby fills me with such joy and I love the sound of children laughing.
You all know about my love affair with teacups and teapots, and old silverware.
I love seeing lace adorning a table or on the window, gently blowing in the breeze.
I adore white distressed furniture and toile fabrics.
I love nostalgia and sitting with a cup of tea, listening to stories of yesteryear. My Daddy was a great storyteller.
I enjoy old movies and books; particularly the Bible....
Come to think of it, I love a lot of things; a lot of things make me happy!

I love to laugh and they say laughter is good medicine. I'm thankful for a mate who makes me laugh! He's been doing that for a long time now. He's a keeper, alright!


"A joyful heart is good medicine." ~ Proverbs 17:22

"Wisdom and understanding lead to happiness." ~ Proverbs 3:13


Happiness is sharing tea with a friend.


This has been another long post. I always set out to make my post as short and sweet as possible but I always seem to end up with a lengthy one. Sorry about that! I do hope you have enjoyed yourself and you will feel welcome to partake again soon. I so enjoy your company!

If you would like to participate in Tea Time Tuesday with me, please let me know in your comment. All you need to do is feature a teacup, teapot, or china used in a tea. You may also do coffee, chocolate, or iced tea. A scripture verse, poem, or tea quote would be most welcome. If you wish, you may use either Tea Time Tuesday button near the top of my sidebar in your post. 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 also joining the other tea hostesses today; Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays tea parties. Their links are those with the asterisks ** in front of their names.

The participants listed below are in the order in which they first started to participate.


PARTICIPANTS

Lorena~ http://rosechicfriends.blogspot.com/











Tea Cup Tuesday




Tea Pot and Tea Things Tuesday &
Wednesday Tea for Me and Thee



Miss Spencer's Tea Cup Thursday
** Donna & Miss Spenser~ http://missspensersblog.blogspot.com/



Lady Katherine Tea Parlor


Thank you for stopping by for tea and God bless you!


Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

Saturday, 11 September 2010

Spiritual Sundays


Hello everyone and welcome to Spiritual Sundays hosted by our lovely Charlotte and Ginger.

Isn't this cute? I took this picture from inside the house. I love gold finches and I sure enjoy watching them at the birdfeeder just outside the front window. They arrive about mid-April and leave around mid-September.


They are such pretty little birds and they are wonderful little entertainers! They are very nervous however and they take their time looking around to make sure all is well before helping themselves to the feast in the birdfeeder. There is always a chance that the neighbor's cat could be hiding under the bushes to grab a snack.
"Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." ~ 1 Peter 5:8
We can learn much from our little feathered friends! They have a built in God-given instinct which tells them when to come to the eastern coast of Canada and when it is time to leave for the South once more. They know instinctively where they can find nourishment and they nest pretty much in the same place back in our trees every year.

Like our little feathered friends, we too have a built in instinct or spirit from God which He speaks to and uses to guide us throughout our day. He knows what is best for us and He knows how to take care of us. Trusting God should come as natural to His children as the little birdies' instinct does. They don't think about where or when, they just know.

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. " ~ 1 Corinthians 2:12-13
Jesus said that we are much more important to our heavenly Father than even the birds of the air; for we are made in His image.
"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?" ~ Matthew 6:26

Do you have faith or trust issues? We would do well to become more like our little feathered friends and depend on our Creator who knows what is best for us!


September 11, 2001 is a day that we will never forget! To all who lost loved ones...the fire fighters, the police officers, the office workers, the government workers, the flight crews, the passengers, the mothers, the fathers, the sons and daughters, the brothers and sisters, the friends, the loved ones, the innocent bystanders, the innocent, our innocence....You are not forgotten....We Remember!


Thank you for stopping by today. Please join everyone at Spiritual Sundays to be refreshed and encouraged ~ http://bloggerspirit.blogspot.com/ The Lord bless you!


Sharing from my heart~ Sandi