10th Teacup & Mug Exchange

Today is reveal day with Stephanie at The Enchanting Rose for her
10th Teacup & Mug Exchange!

Thank you so much Stephanie for organizing this fun event where many blogging friends are created through the exchange of a teacup or mug. There is so much work involved to make this happen, and I really appreciate all that you have done with pairing us up and keeping everyone happy and informed.

I didn't know who was sending my own teacup until the day it arrived all the way from ... the Yukon!! How exciting it was to see the address on the box when I picked it up! Jennifer was my partner here, and she blogs at My Cubby Crafts. I really hope you visit Jennifer's blog as she shares lots of interesting things happening in her life in the far north.  I've been enjoying reading back through her posts to get to know her better. 

The teacup Jennifer sent is just perfect for me. A lovely chocolate brown with a simple pattern on the side. I've been using it quite a bit! It's such a nice big teacup and the saucer is roomy enough for a cookie to sit on the side.  I have a couple of "Brown Betty" teapots, and this teacup looks great with them. Jennifer crocheted a couple of doilies for me as well. One is shown under the teacup below.

Don't you love the shape of the teacup & saucer!

... and this is the other doily ...

The blue and brown look so nice together :)

The card enclosed was made by Jennifer herself, and it's just so pretty! 

Tiny crocheted flowers, pretty lace and lovely distressed paper with birds on it.

 There were some chocolate fingers added, and they went so well with my Earl Grey tea!

yummy!

The tea came in this sweet foxy tin.

I've enjoyed everything that Jennifer packaged up for me. Thank you so much again Jennifer for your thoughtfulness and care in these beautiful gifts. It's really nice to have met Jennifer now through our blogs, and we seem to have a lot in common.

see the tiny fox paw print on the lid ;)

I received word that Kelly at Homespuns ' n Hayfields would be the person receiving a teacup from me. I have known Kelly through our blogs for a little while now. Here are a few collages of what I sent to Kelly.

I embroidered Kelly's blog name onto a piece of muslin set
in an embroidery hoop. I added some country flowers & buttons.

purchased tea towels with a cotton dishcloth I knit up

The tiny birdie creamer fit perfectly into a bunny box

the teacup fit perfectly inside this bright yellow gift box

I knit up a "coffee cozy" for take-out coffee/tea

Kelly collects Ironstone, and I saw this gorgeous pitcher when shopping for her teacup.
I scooped it up without a second thought ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Be sure to hop over to Stephanie's blog to see what other's are sharing today in this exchange.

Wendy

Cheers!

Tea in the Village

Today I had a very pleasant outing with two lovely ladies ... Margie from Tea in the Valley, and Judith from Lavender Cottage. We are all part of a group of Canadian gals who participate in a tea and card exchange throughout the year. This is now the second year for our group, and the second time I've had the pleasure of meeting both of these fun ladies. We met up in the Village of Markham, Ontario at The Old Curiosity Tea Shop for a Victorian tea. The tea house was a cozy place with lots of old-fashioned decor. 

... and we fit right in!! ha ha!

left to right ... Margie, Judith and me

Margie and Judith were sporting their new fascinators and looked wonderful. I was not so daring, but I noticed on the way into the tea house that they had "Fancy Hat Fridays" ... something to consider another time eh?

The tea was served in individual pots with pretty china tea cups. This was my tea cup, which I now forget the name of. We had a tiered tray of fancy sandwiches and then sweet desserts! I enjoyed a wonderful Earl Grey tea with ginger ... perfect for our blustery fall day today.

The three of us had such a good time chatting about all things bloggy and family related. We were hoping to have a few more people, but they were unable to attend. Maybe next time we get together we'll be able to fill all the seats at our table ;)

I snapped this photo as we were leaving (sorry it's a bit out of focus (phone!), I didn't notice till I got home). But you can see all the jars of loose tea you can purchase, and it seems quite a few people come in just to buy the tea. Maybe I should have brought home some of the delicious tea I had! I can easily pop back there sometime as it was a very quick 20 minute drive on the toll highway.

While we were heading out the door, we noticed a display of pretty jewelry which was made from bits of broken china. I didn't get a photo of the whole display, but I got talking to the tea shop owner, and she said they were made by a woman in Kingston. When the tea shop owner first saw the jewelry, she quickly struck a deal with the artist and has these pieces for sale in the tea shop now. The tea shop sends the artist bits of broken china to make more jewelry, and you can even send your own broken china to the artist to be made into something special. I love that! Makes me want to "accidentally" break a tea cup! I really liked the unique pieces and one of them came home with me ....

It reminds me of some of my own blue & white china.

Well I'm glad to finally have something to share with you all ... I haven't been blogging much and I have only been visiting others very sporadically. I never know from one week to the next when I will have time to post and visit, so thank you for stopping by even though I'm a bit unpredictable these days. Stuff happens, right? Our weather has suddenly turned cold and we've gone from wearing shorts last weekend, to needing a winter coat today! Furnace has been turned on for the first time this fall, and it probably won't be shut of till next May ... back to the short white days soon!

Have a great weekend folks!

Wendy

Thrifting ... Canadian Finds

Another week and we're into April already, and I'm still waiting for the weather to improve just a bit to drag out the patio furniture.  The snow is all but gone from this area near Lake Ontario now, but my yard isn't all that inviting yet ... and it's just not warm enough to sit out there comfortably ...

 

Inside, the house plants are doing fairly well.  I don't normally have a lot of house plants, but I'm glad they've been around this winter.  I'm really pleased with my little green shamrock.  I asked at our local nursery what's the best thing for a shamrock since mine is surviving, but it's not thriving.  She told me they like bright light, but not direct sunlight, liquid plant fertilizer, cool temperatures and to water it by placing it in a pot of water and let the plant draw up what it needs.  I was already providing everything but the bottom watering system, and within a week my little shamrock had filled out really well.  The centre of the plant was very sparse, but now there are lots of new leaves filling in that area.

 

 

 

This week I decided to drop into our thrift store for a little browsing again.  There've been a couple of things I've been looking for.  One being a small night table for my daughter's bedroom when she comes home from university town (she took most of her bedroom furniture with her).  I was happy to find a perfect little table and will show it once I get it cleaned up a bit.

 

Since I was already in the thrift store, I of course toured around to see what else I could spy.  I found this big beauty of a tea pot right away ...

 

 

My parents had this exact tea pot when I was growing up.  I think it must've got broken not long before they moved their house (maybe it got broken during the move, I don't know).  It's nothing fancy, and the only writing on the bottom is "Canada", but it's just so familiar to me, that I picked it up off the shelf with a sort of reverence.  It could easily have been their very own tea pot, and I really, really like it.  More and more I'm noticing that I have a lot of brown in my décor.  I keep picking up brown dishes and now another brown tea pot.  I also have to admit that I officially do have a tea pot collection.  But I swear, this is where it's going to stop.  I don't have many ... four brown tea pots and one stainless steel, but I don't have the desire to have any more than that (and I honestly use them all).

 

Now this little mug is only a couple of inches high, and it has a little story.  My mother's grandfather was a potter, and his family also owned a tile company in Hamilton.  They made clay tiles and even supplied a famous house in Hamilton (Dundurn Castle) with sewer tiles.  I have a couple of pieces made by my great grandfather which are very special to me.  I believe my mother grew up with a fondness for pottery because of her close association with her grandfather. 

 

This little mug was made by a company called "Blue Mountain Pottery" from Collingwood.  There used to be a potter's store in Dundas where I lived when I was very young called "Dundas Pottery".  My mother, being very fond of pottery, used to take us kids into the store and we were allowed to choose something from the "seconds" shelf (pieces that had small imperfections and were cheaper), and they carried Blue Mountain pottery.  This is the mug that I chose many years ago.  Not much good for anything, but it was cute.  Blue Mountain Pottery is apparently now defunct, but you see this stuff everywhere here.  Because it's so common, I've always thought it was kind of tacky looking.  But in clearing out my parents' home, I came across a couple of nice pieces that I brought home with me ... a vase and another mug.

 

"BMP" Blue Mountain Pottery

I notice that the thrift store is under the impression this stuff is a collector's item, and maybe it is, so they price it a little higher than the other china.  Anyway, I found this stylish little jug in the thrift store which I will use as a bud vase ...

 

 

The glaze used on this pottery is always the same.  Apparently, the original potters developed this glaze as it reminded them of the colours in Blue Mountain.  Surprisingly, there are some Blue Mountain pottery pieces at the Royal Ontario Museum in the Canadian display with a write up about the pottery.  So now, without even trying, I have a collection of Blue Mountain pottery too.  I don't see myself expanding this collection as it really only holds sentimental interest to me ... I still feel it's sort of tacky.

 

 

I also found a nice wicker basket, and I have a problem with letting these nice baskets remain on the shelf ...

 

 

... and it came in handy for carrying all the stuff home with me that day (in the rain).  Now it's holding my latest knitting project.

 

 

The project is only in the planning stages.  I'm not sure if I'll even finish it (or frankly, start it!), and usually I don't like to say "I'm going to make [this]" because I feel rotten if I don't complete it.  I'm going to attempt to make a man's vest for my dad.  I'm already off to a bad start.  The pattern is old, from the 60s, and it calls for "double knit" yarn(?).  I tried a swatch with "worsted" weight, and have already gone down five needle sizes and knitted five swatches trying to get the gauge right.  The swatch is still too large and I'm quickly getting discouraged.  I'm at a size 2 needle now, but I am not going to knit worsted on these teeny tiny needles.  So no promises.  I might try it with a lighter weight yarn, but I've already bought two skeins of yarn to experiment with, and really don't want to waste money on a third.  Sometimes I still hate knitting.

 

Well, that's it for me.  I hope you've all had a nice weekend.  Happy Mother's Day to my British friends!!  We "celebrate" ours in May. 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Wendy



  

Hoping for more of this soon!

 

 

 

 

 

Grandma's Teacup

Quite a few years ago now, my mother decided she was going to pass down a good portion of her teacups to my sisters and I.  She always had a story about where her dishes came from, and for the most part, I remembered what she told me.  "This bowl was used for shiny red apples on Christmas morning" ... "This vase was made by my mother's friend who used to work for Wedgewood in England" ... little snippets of family history, that really doesn't matter much, except to family.

Mom told me that teacups were a popular gift for young women.  They were inexpensive, pretty and a useful gift.  They were often given for birthdays and wedding showers in her circle of friends.  The day she showed me her teacups, they were lined up on the kitchen counter.  She wanted us to choose the teacups we would like to have.  I picked up this little teacup, "Gingham Rose" by Paragon to have a closer look.  I don't really remember anyone using this teacup.  The one I really wanted had been broken just a little while previous by two rambunctious dogs who took the moment when tea cups were sitting on a tippy little Indian table to go at each other, and the table was bumped, teacups flew up and crashed down (admittedly my dog caused the disaster).  It was a dark green teal with gold trim, and I always remember my dad drinking from that cup ... well, no longer :( 

Mom saw me admiring this teacup, and she told "My father gave this teacup to my mother as an anniversary gift one year".  A simple gift and a simple story.  I never met my grandfather.  He died of a heart attack long before I was born, before my parents even married. 

But from what my mother told me of him, I think we might have been friends.  He was a "bit of a naturalist" in the way he cared for animals.  He or his two sons would find wounded animals, bring them back to the farm and raise them.  The farm at one time had a pet crow and a pet great horned owl "Solomon".  He would take in any stray dog that needed a new home.  And my grandfather loved to read.

My grandfather was a market gardener and raised a variety of crops to sell at market on his small ten-acre plot of land.  Money was always tight, and my mother grew up during the Depression and a world war.  They lived on credit during the winter months, and paid up once the crops came in.  So when Mom told me this teacup was his gift to his wife one year, it touched my heart. 

This is the one that came home with me.  When I looked up "traditional anniversary gifts" on the internet, I find that china is the traditional gift to give for the 20th anniversary.  My grandparents, James & Violet were married in 1923 in Hamilton, Ontario. 

So Happy Anniversary to anyone celebrating their 20th today!

... and thank you for stopping by ;)

Wendy

Linking up with:

Tea Party Tuesday

We were facing another gloomy morning this morning, so I decided that my Tea Party Tuesday baking should be something in the comfort food line.  I thought a nice carrot loaf would be in order. 

 

I'd not made this particular loaf before, and as I was making it I thought there should probably be some liquid in there and wondered if maybe the recipe was missing an ingredient.

 

But after 50 minutes of baking, all was well, and it turned out great with a nice crisp top, and the insides are soft.  I added raisins because I like raisins in a nice spice loaf (and also because I didn't have any walnuts to add).

 

 

CARROT LOAF

 

1/2 cup cooking oil

2 eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup finely grated carrots

 

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp ginger

1/2 cup walnuts

 

Beat oil, eggs and sugar together until blended.  Stir in carrots.

 

In another bowl mix all remaining ingredients to combine.  Pour into carrot batter.  Stir only to moisten.  Turn into greased 9 x 5 x 3" loaf pan.  Bake in 350'F oven for about 1 hour, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to stand for 10 minutes before removing from pan to cool on rack.

 

Enjoy!

 

Linking up with Chantille-Fleur and

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Wendy

 

 

Thrifting and Thank You

I was having rather a difficult day on Friday, nothing of which would be easy to write about here.  Suffice it to say, all I could think of was "here we go again!".  Life's challenges lately have been just that ... challenging :]

The day started off fairly well, however, as I decided to take a walk up to my local thrift store.  I haven't been there in ages, and although my family sighs a collective sigh of relief when I come home with no tell-tale bags from that store, I was missing my little wanders through the aisles.  I found a few nice things and was very selective about what I picked up ...

 

 A beautiful almond biscuit tin from Italy.  Last summer we took a family trip to Italy, and when I saw this tin, I couldn't resist it ... beautiful artwork, lovely shape, and the colours are so soft and pretty.  It's had some wear, but that makes it even more special because someone loved it before me too.  It'll be perfect for sewing notions.

 

Pretty mountain scene along one side ....

 

 

Beautiful woman looking very imperious on the other ...

 

 

I also picked up this little lidded brown pot (on the right).  I've always had a thing for brown and white stoneware.  It stems from the large pickle crocks my mom used.  Very solid, heavy pieces of crockery that were used for pickles in summer and mincemeat at Christmas.  My little "tea" pot is also reminiscent of the crocks.  For a long time, I wouldn't look twice at this style, but lately I've been drawn to it again, and the little pot is rather cute ... and perhaps a perfect spot to stash a couple of cookies before my kids eat them all ;)

 

 

Having said that, it made sense to pick up this two-cup tea pot ... again in brown.  I've had my eyes peeled for a nice-sized pot to make two cups of tea for me during the day.  Most of the pots I've come across are fairly cheap looking and ugly.  I do have a nice large insulated stainless steel mug with a lid which I use regularly, and I can make good tea right in the mug and it stays hot for over an hour.  But sometimes I want to use the nice pottery mugs I have, but don't like making tea in the pottery mugs.  So this small pot fits the bill perfectly, and I've used it numerous times already ... love it!

 

 

So all in all, some nice finds at the thrift store, and I was pleased that I didn't bring anything home that I didn't absolutely love ... don't you find that sometimes you just can't decide whether to pick something up or not?  Invariably I regret having brought too much home, and although it's inexpensive, it still takes up space, which is at a premium at my house. 

 

But the "icing" on the cupcake came when the mail was delivered later that afternoon, and I received my surprise prize from the lovely Hazel at Cupcakery!!!  Hazel, this little package couldn't have come on a better day :)  It really gave me something to smile at, and your little note was so funny.  I have never received anything from Ireland either, and it just made me feel very special to receive these lovely cookbooks from you ...

 

 

For those of you who follow Hazel's blog, you'll know that Hazel has a wicked sweet tooth and loves to bake ... especially cakes.  These two books do not disappoint!!   There are beautiful photos through both books of all the amazing (and rich!) cakes.  I mean just look at that cupcake on the cover!  The ingredients are surprisingly straightforward, and most ingredients you'd have in your cupboard already.  I can't wait to try out the recipes, and my family has chosen their favourites for me to try too. 

 

Not only did Hazel send the books, but she also added these adorable little cupcake boxes ...

 

 

I use this same idea to give cookies as gifts, so these little boxes will certainly come in useful ... and they're just so gosh darned cute!

 

So a HUGE thank you Hazel, for the lovely surprise from overseas, you really made my day better!

 





 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Wendy

 

 

PS ... and this makes up my 4 Happy Things from 52 Weeks of Happy