Birds & Blooms Morning Tea

"I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it is always June."
                                                                                                                                    ~L.M. Montgomery

Happy June Tea Friends!
The month of June has always been a favorite of mine. The start of summer, my birthday and anniversary, and our annual family camping trip all take place during this remarkable month. 
While we don't have the warm weather quite yet, I still enjoy sitting outside on the weekends with my tea even if there is a bit of cold in the air. The singing of neighborhood birds has been symphonic these last couple of weeks. They inspired my post this week along with a special teacup.

Please join me for a Birds and Blooms Morning Tea in the garden.

When we moved into our house almost five years ago, many bird houses hung from the fences that were left by the previous owners. It piqued my interest in bird decor and of course identifying the local birds. 

Today's featured teacup is a red Ridgway Windsor transferware that I purchased on ebay. I have enjoyed seeing fellow bloggers' transferware collections and decided I would like to collect one for myself. It's nice to break out of my usual teacup style.

 I like the saucer's scalloped edges and the floral design.

 This is a pretty backstamp. After some research I believe Ridgway produced this pattern in the 1950s.

 The mythical crane is not the focus of the teacup, but expertly painted into the scene. (I like the extra paint dots above its head.)

Ridgway merged with Booths and Colclough China Company in the 1940s and later became part of Royal Doulton in the 1960s.
If you want to learn more about Ridgway's history, this article has some interesting facts. The history of English potteries reads like a soap opera. 

Let's have some palmier cookies and a white tea called Chinese Snow Leopard. I will review this tea in a future post.

 Fun bird teapot from Home Goods.

The tiled birdhouse is from a garden store in Carmel, California and the pink bird is an after Easter purchase at World Market. Blooms are pink miniature roses from the garden and leftover mums from a bouquet.

I was recently at my mom's house and "acquired" some doilies made by my aunt in Ireland. The handiwork is just amazing! I can't believe how small the holes are in the lace work. 

This small doily looks nice under a saucer. Now I just need to use them and not save them in the linen closet for a special occasion.

As always I appreciate your company at tea. I hope you enjoy your own tea time this week as well. I leave you with some backyard bird chirping via the video below. (I hope you are able to play it.)

                                                           ~Nora

Join me at the following parties:

Pink Saturday

Antiques and Teacups

Rose Chintz Cottage

Friends Sharing Tea