Teacup Tales

"There is no glory in star or blossom till looked upon a loving eye;  There is no fragrance in April breezes till breathed with joy as they wander by." ~ William C. Bryant Hello Tea Friends, I thought this was a fitting poem as we end the month of April. It just seems like yesterday I put away the Easter decorations.  Today's theme is the lovely fruit- the orange. We were fortunate to move into a house with some established fruit trees with one of them being an orange tree. The tree wasn't well cared for, so for the first two years the oranges were extremely sour. With some pruning, removal of another tree and organic fertilizing, the tree now produces delicious and tasty Valencia oranges which are great for juicing. Our tree blossomed in March and still has one orange hanging quite high. The blossoms (shown in the photo) are extremely fragrant when in bloom. The whole side of the backyard is wonderfully scented. Well, now onto our featured teacup....

Welcome and thank you for stopping by.  (Sort of a strange combination in the title, right?) Please join me for tea in a vintage tulip teacup and carrot pineapple muffins. Tulips are my favorite flowers. I just love their shape and glossy color. Only one of my tulips bloomed this year. Five others sprouted but no flowers. Our crazy warm weather threw off tulip season for many. Even the local florists didn't have any tulips available for Easter. Hence no tulips in these photos. One day I was thinking that you hardly ever see tulip designs on teacups. Traditionally you see pansies and roses. Hmm wonder why this is? While tulips are enormously popular and grown in the Netherlands, perhaps they were not "exported" to England during the early to mid twentieth century which was a lucrative time for the bone china pottery industry. So I was on a quest to find an English teacup designed with tulips. After some online searching I found this beauty on ebay for...

Please join me for a Cherry Blossom Festival inspired tea. Each year Cherry Blossom Festivals take place throughout the world. In the United States the first festival took place in 1912 with the gift of 3,000 trees to Washington D.C. from the mayor of Tokyo. The gift along with subsequent annual celebrations has honored the friendship between the U.S. and Japan. Today is the final day of the National Cherry Blossom Festival.  Were you able to attend a local festival?  Unfortunately I wasn't so I decided to host this afternoon tea. Here's the tablescape.   It's a pretty hazy humid day so not ideal for photo taking. Where are you sun? Of course, cherry blossoms should be the centerpiece. We had an early bloom this year in February. No more blossom branches in our neighborhood nor at the Farmers' Market. The faux cherry blossom branches at JoAnns were disappointing; so I'm sharing these beautiful orchids from my cousin's garden. Their s...

I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend. As I began putting away the Easter decorations this morning, it occurred to me that we are beginning a long stretch without a significant holiday. It's time to simply enjoy and celebrate all that the season of spring has to offer.    Looking at the teacups I've inherited; a good portion are demitasse cups. Perhaps both of my great aunts were drawn to the cups' size. Demitasse  is French for half cup. These cups are designed to serve Turkish coffee or espresso (which mine never had). From a practical standpoint as a collector, they take up less space in my curio chest. There is something sweet and delicate about them. Today's featured teacup is a demitasse Crown Staffordshire from England in the Thousand Flowers pattern. The cup is trimmed with gold gilding and there is gold detail on the handle. I chose this teacup to feature because the large amount of flowers in the pattern certainly seems to show a s...