COTTAGE TEAPOTS FOR SPRING and "Friends Sharing Tea"

Good morning and I hope your week is going splendid.  It is spring break here in town so the children are all happy!  I am sharing my little tea time setting:

I now have 3 Japanese cottage teapots that I have acquired at flea markets and I just adore their whimsical style.  The one below left is the largest but really not that big.  I know there are English ones that were made like these but they are much more expensive.

We are at least glad to have

 spring on the calendar here.  

So please come sit here by the window.  There isn't much of a view as we are still brown - winter brown.  

Do pour yourself a cup of tea and we shall have a chat.  I know you are anxious for springtime like I am.

Yesterday I made an arrangement in this egg I found for $4.00.  I remember these from my childhood in the 1950's.  Grandmothers always seemed to have them.

THE VIOLETS WILL BE THE FIRST TO APPEAR

As we anxiously await spring, I am remembering that one of the first things to appear will be the violets.  

A year ago I found this violet and lilac Bavarian chocolate pot for $6.00.  It had no lid but I gave that matter some thought and ordered a lid that worked.  It has hand painting on it which is wonderful to see

in our age of decals.  I am also sharing two English Violet Cups and Saucers and some violet vintage linens.

It is still somewhat cold weather in Colorado this morning and perfect for hot chocolate so we can use our teacups for that today. So today it will be "Friends Sharing Tea" or hot chocolate!  You might remember this little arrangement I did several years back in an old Victorian coffee pot with a broken spout.

As you can see, this tea cart has sides that can be raised up and lock to create a table.  It is very handy.  Once I failed to make sure the lock was secure and of course - a broken saucer was the result.

I love everything about violets 

and I am sure you do too!

MINT RAISIN BLARNEY SCONES

We can all celebrate Saint Patrick's Day and I especially love the many recipes available.  Of course scones are always on the menu at our house and I have been playing with recipes again.  I did several modifications to this recipe this morning. 

 It was lovely and warm out so I was watering my yard.  Within one hour the temperature dropped it had started snowing like crazy!  I have set up a little table for us to enjoy some time together:

I purchased this little child's tea set years ago in Wyoming and of course I shared the cottage teapot several times recently as I am not tired of seeing it.

I purchased my doll in the 1980's in Toronto, Canada. I may have shared this before so I apologize but I am thinking of it as I see this doll.  My friend had taken me to a house to see the antiques that were for sale by a friend.  I purchased several things including this doll.  She lived in an elegant farm house that was decorated and I was so impressed however she had spent all her money on the decorating and there was no toilet paper in her bathroom but she had a clever note: "please use these paper napkins for toilet paper".  We of course got a laugh!

 My grandmother embroidered the topper and napkins as a wedding gift for me nearly 46 years ago.

Here is what you will need for the scones:

1/2 stick of soft butter, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and 1 Tb mint extract, 2 3/4 cups of cake flour, 2 1/2 Tsp baking powder, 1/2 cup yellow raisins and 1/4 cup black raisins, 1 cup of buttermilk.  You will need a shamrock cookie cutter and I used a floured cloth for rolling the dough and a knit cover on my rolling pin.  Both of these get laundered afterwards.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line your baking sheet with parchment paper.  I put wax paper on my table to put them on to cool when baked.

In a medium bowl combine the butter and sugar and vanilla and

 mint extract and beat through with mixer.

In larger bowl, mix flour and baking powder together and fold in raisins.  Now alternately mix the butter mixture above and the buttermilk into this and stir well with a spatula until a nice dough forms.  Roll the dough out onto the floured cloth and cut with shamrock cutter.  I sprinkled some green sugar bits on top for fun  or you could just brush with sugar and a little cream.  Bake 18 minutes.  Makes about 20 scones.  Clotted cream would add a nice touch here!

PENNY PHILLIPS MADE ME GO CUCKOO

I just couldn't resist a great title for this post because several weeks ago Penny showed us what she did with 4 broken cuckoo clocks when she turned them into shabby chic creations.  I commented to her on her blog that I knew I would just have to find one and I went lots of places without seeing any at all.

  Finally, I saw two at an indoor flea market in a booth and I made an offer on the larger one.  It is from Germany and came home with us.  As you can see it has a new paint job:

It took me a while to understand a

cuckoo clock and how it works and

in the process I have learned more 

because this is actually a Cuckoo

Whippoorwill Clock.  That means it

has 2 different birds that comes out

and sound different.

I have to admit that I love Penny's last name because my Grandfather was a Phillips and so that was my Mother's maiden name!  When I was a child there were lots of Phillips kinfolk  and great cousins in the panhandle of Florida where both of my grandparents came from.

WATCHING THE BIRDS for "Friends Sharing Tea"

Like many of you, I enjoy feeding the birds and watching them come and go to the bird feeder.  Some of you will remember my absolute surprise and shock when a really big bird landed on my bird feeder last September.  It was an owl.  I have never seen one again.

I would love to see that again but I'm not holding my breath.  I am enjoying a "Watch The Birds" tea time this morning and I have a little tea vignette set up with my Blue Birds Teapot.

  So grab a tea cup and pour yourself a cup of hot tea.  Do you take cream or sugar or both? 

I took these photos this morning - winter brown is here right now!

My hubby and I enjoy teasing each other about having a bird feeder as we declare we are now like all the "old people" we used to make fun of who feed the birds:

I love the little topper below that I recently found for just a few dollars.  It has an appliqued padded blue teapot on each of the 4 corners.  I have folded under one side to fit the buffet.

Hope your week is peachy: