IT'S A HOLLYHOCK YEAR IN OLD COLORADO CITY

I just wanted to share this little cottage near my store where the Hollyhocks are abundant this year:

And on a corner near the stop sign:

WELCOME TO "TEA IN THE GARDEN"

I wondered if rain would be a problem today as another day of rain is expected here.  I am so glad it was just overcast but not raining yet.  The rain has been breaking my delphiniums off this week. 

Can I pour you a cup of Mountain Huckleberry Tea?

This morning I was feeling a little melancholy as I thought about the lady who used to live behind me as I would have been taking this bouquet to her today.  Ilona went to be with Jesus this spring at age 93.  I believe she is looking down from above today and knows this would have been for her!

I have a fondness for these vintage Sadler teapots:

I also love vintage linens.

I am excited to see the first of the Queen's Anne's Lace begin to bloom - my favorite "weed"!

A FLOWER FAIRY TEA for "Tea In The Garden"

Good morning and I hope your July is going along wonderfully.  Today it is overcast and humid almost on the edge of misty rain.  I really didn't want to go inside so here we are for A Flower Fairy "Tea In The Garden":

There is time to just relax for a bit surrounded 

by the things we love.

As you can see the clematis is starting to bloom.  This is one of the few I didn't over prune a few years back:

I see my table cloths don't exactly match well today but that's alright......as I noticed some of the English do this type of thing. 

 I visited an English Tea Room in Texas once and the colors were all coming at one another in sort of a "CHINTZ" fashion.  The overall effect was lovely.

 I was impressed with the Bumbleberry Pie Traybake made by Marie on the English Kitchen Blog:  

 I thought it would be fun to make some Bumbleberry Buttermilk Scones too as they seemed perfect for a Flower Fairy Tea!  The ones on top have English Clotted Cream so please help yourself and pour yourself a cup of tea:

Bernideen's Bumbleberry and Buttermilk Scones:

You will need: 2 1/4 cups sifted flour, 1 Tb baking powder, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 Tsp salt, 6 Tbs cold, chopped unsalted butter, 1/4 cup each chopped strawberries, , blackberries and raspberries, and 1/4 cup blueberries, 1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and cover baking sheet with parchment.

1.  Sift all dry ingredients.

2.  Cut in cold butter with two knives or a kneading cutter.

3.  Stir in buttermilk until dough begins to form and add fruits.

4.  Roll out dough about 3/4" thick onto a floured cloth and cut with a medium size 2 1/2" round scone cutter - Bake for about 12-14 minutes.  I got 18 scones out of this!

5.  Serve with lemon curd, clotted cream, devonshire cream or jam!

Quite a few years back I had china made for my store and that's what these Flower Fairy pieces represent.  I no longer private label china.  The photo is of Cicely Barker who was the originator of Flower Fairies and you can read about her.  She never intended her fairies to have ethereal powers but rather just found joy in the "make believe".

A ROSE THEME for "Tea In The Garden"

 This summer one side of my garden is 6 years old. I dug the left side out in 2008.   The right side is 5 years old and the middle where the sides join is 4 years old.  This is the fullest it has ever been and I am happy for that.  You know the fuller it is - the more it holds moisture in the ground.

  I am also seeing my rose bushes coming up after pruning off all the dead this spring.  There was a lot of dead but soon they will bloom. I have made some classic mistakes over pruning my clematis in the past but the one I left alone has really taken off with blooms.  Don't I sound silly.

  So many bloggers have glorious gardens and I have just a little one where I am learning by my mistakes but I do love it!  So I am celebrating my garden today!  For a working

woman it is just the right size.

 I have brought a bunch of teacups outside with a rose theme just so you could pick the one one you would like to use!  I have also baked some special Blueberry Muffins.  The muffins are hiding under a shoo fly cover I recently found.  Please help yourself and you can bake your own too.

  The recipe is HERE at the Food Librarian site.  They are easy to make. 

Those of you who are familiar with my blog know how I love vintage linens.  The table topper is just what was left from a bedspread out of which I made pillows.

What a lovely summer we are now having.

I hope your week is delightful.

STRAWBERRY "TEA IN THE GARDEN"

Good Monday morning and what a lovely morning it is as the sun rises up in my backyard garden.  I don't have a big garden but the one I have I just love looking out at from my kitchen window.  It brings me joy!  Today we are having some strawberry tea in the garden.

Welcome to Tea In The Garden! 

 Have a seat here at the picnic table and we can chat a bit.

I am not sure how I got this fascination for these fun doilies.  I seem to be drawn to them like a magnet.  I have shared my little cottage Japanese teapot before.

I am sharing with you a couple of denim tote bags I sewed yesterday afternoon for my shop.  This one has an old crochet potholder basket on the front. (actually to hold the potholders) 

And the other has part of an old yoyo

 piece on it and I have many more to do.

 I have some strawberry tea for you so please pour a cup and enjoy using this little strawberry spoon!  I hope you like the linens I have chosen and of course they have embroidered strawberries.

The tea is from The Metropolitan Tea

Company and tastes delicious.