WISHING YOU ALL HAPPINESS IN A NEW YEAR

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

 I extend a big thank you

to everyone who follows

my blog.  And I hope

you all have a Merry

and Happy Christmas!

FRIENDLY VILLAGE TABLE SETTING

The beloved Friendly Village  

(Johnson Brothers)

always makes for a cozy table.  

I recently got 6 plates on ebay.

They were advertised as dinner but

 are actually 9 7/8" luncheon but I

 will live with them  A dinner plate

 is actually 10 1/2" and this happens

 a lot on ebay. (be forewarned)

I have had these glasses now for

over fifty years.

The room awaits

having some ladies

over for a tea luncheon.

It has been snowing lightly 

all day:

HEARTH ROOM DINING ROOM

 Since we moved to our retirement

cottage, we have not had a

dining room.  I love hospitality

so recently I have been thinking

of using our hearth room as a dining

 room which was it's original purpose.

  It is a little area attached to the kitchen

but with a fireplace.

We brought up the old reproduction

Duncan Phyfe table (the leaf is

out at this time). We put it in

 the center of room lining it up 

with the fireplace.

With winter upon us, I can

still have people over and with

the leaf inserted I can seat 8 here 

and 4-6  over to the right on a table

 in the kitchen).  It gets cold downstairs

 in the winter so this is better and

cozy next to the fireplace.

For fun I set the table with dishes 

which are mostly

Red English

Copeland Spode Tower.

I am going to have fun here because

in Colorado I always kept the dining

room table set with dishes.  Of course, 

people who came in asked who

are you having

for dinner?

The teapot and coffeepot

are English Mason's Vista.

I think I should have done

this when we moved into

this house going on

7 years ago!

So what I 

haven't 

mentioned is that now we have a sofa waiting in

the front hallway

that needs to be

taken down to

the basement.

SUNDAY CELEBRATION

 

CHRISTMAS DOWNSTAIRS IN THE TEA ROOM

 

It's always fun decorating

 downstairs

in the tea room. 

I have both English bone china Christmas

teacups and saucers and also 1950's

luster ones from Japan.

I just was blessed to give away some

cups and saucers and tea mugs to

several young ladies this week

because they are getting interested

in Afternoon Tea.  I just have more

than I need for sure so I was 

privileged to share.

The stockings I made from an

old quilt back in the 1970"s:

A SPECIAL LADY'S LINENS

 In 2019 a lovely, classy Christian lady

went to be with the Lord.  Her name 

was Marie Smith and I was the recipient

of a box of her old linens, crochet and

tablecloths.  I have wanted to make

some Christmas Stockings with some

of those pieces to send back as a

memory for her family. The base of

the stocking was a table cloth

sewn over white burlap 

and then doilies that belonged

 to her are sewn over the tablecloth.

(all are lined as well)

The long piece on the back

says "when this you

see remember me".

You know when it's time 

to get things done or

past time right?

Here are the other two

stockings:

The photos can be moved (except on

the back of the first one I made which

 is when I decided not to sew them

 directly

on the fabric anymore after that).

We loved Marie Smith and her husband

Pastor Frank W. Smith who married 

us "back in the day" in Des

Moines, Iowa - 1968.

So glad to get this in the

mail today!

HIGH TEA LADIES ARE HERE

 Saturday I had a High Tea for a

group of 9 ladies.  This was like

a supper with a pot of tea.  This

 would not be the darling Afternoon

 Tea finger foods but rather

hardy food the working class

would have normally been served

at the end of the day.

I took this photo of one of the

2 tables, the night before:

Of course, my High Tea was

more elaborate than bread,

cold ham, pickles and cheese but

you get the idea.

This was the 3rd time I had these

ladies this year but our earlier teas

were Afternoon Teas.  Learning the

difference by actually eating the foods

really was a lesson.

 

AFTERNOON TEA OR HIGH TEA

 

I came across this fun article

today and think it will help

you understand the difference

between Afternoon Tea and

the evening meal called "High

Tea":

Article to read

Do you see Dad over there

hanging up his coat?

DECORATING TIME #2

 Hello dear Friends!

Every year I look forward to

getting out my angel

collection.  I don't buy anymore

now as I have plenty.

They are certainly some

of my favorite decorations and

are predominately by Nicol Sayre.

At couple years back, I made the

Ephemera Nativity piece

below left.

What's not to love

about decorating

for Christmas?

More to come......

DECORATING TIME IS HERE

 I am sharing my new vintage quilt

I got at the Warson Woods Antique Mall

in St Louis last week.

I have been looking for a red and

white one for a while and I am happy.

I usually do all my indoor decorating

in one very long day but this year I did

it over a four day period taking more

time and not rushing.  I guess I am now

officially guilty of putting things in same

place as last time.

My tea cart out in the kitchen was

the perfect spot for my red

 transferware

tureen.

I love baking and enjoying special foods during this season although I have concerns about what is happening to my waistline for sure. What will you baking this year?

We always enjoy getting out the

nativity my husband's Mom gave us

years ago.  It is well over 100 years old.

I am sure you can relate to the fact that

every year I promise myself I will get

more done than I do.  I think I will have

time for more baking and

crafting but where does time go? 

I love curling up on the sofa in a nice 

warm robe and reading these lovely

English publications and Hoffman

Media specialty magazines.

I hope you have as much

 fun decorating

as I did...

More to come.....