Teacup Tales

Welcome back tea friends, Hope your summer continues to bring you warmth and enjoyment. One of my favorite summer time activities has always been traveling. I haven't traveled as much in recent years so this summer's three "short" trips have really ignited my passion for traveling. Even though my trips were not terribly far from home, I enjoyed relaxing and discovering some new tearooms which is always a delight. "Perhaps it is while drinking tea that I most enjoy the sense of leisure."                                                      ~George Gissing At the end of June, I found myself in Hillsboro, Oregon which is a suburb of Portland. My mom and I went to visit my brother who lives there. While on our trip, we had tea at the Tea's Me (clever name, huh?) tearoom for my birthday. Thank you  Steph  of Steph's Cup of Tea for the won...

Welcome Tea Friends and new readers,  Lately I've been doing a bit more entertaining than usual.  I enjoy the energy of parties. The warm summer weather lends itself to casual get togethers by our pool.   On Saturday I had two friends over for a casual lunch and a swim. Originally we were going to meet late morning and I planned to serve tea with some cookies and pastries, but the time changed to two o'clock so my menu had to change. Instead of hot tea, we drank iced tea and the table setting became a bit more laid back. The initial table setting included Royal Albert Blossom Time series teacups along with my featured teacup which sums up the gardening spirit of summer for me... Summer Glory by Shelley Cambridge Shape Pattern  13456 Blue, white and pink hydrangeas make up this chintz pattern on a pale pink background. The word " chintz " comes from the Sanskrit word "chitra" meaning bright or variegated.  It is my first an...

Hello Dear Tea Friends, I hope you had a fun 4th of July weekend. We hosted a dessert party with friends. Swimming and sweets were a good combination. It's such a fun holiday...no gifts- just good times, parades, fireworks and celebrating with others.  Last week I traveled to Portland, Oregon to visit my brother. I had many wonderful tea experiences there that I will share in future posts.  For now, it's all about the fabulous summer fruit-strawberries! It's hard pressed to find someone that doesn't like strawberries. Just the shape of a strawberry, the tiny seeds, smell and color is a joyful sight to see.   That is why this teacup on ebay caught my eye.  It's an English bone china produced by Hammersley and Co. which was part of the Spode Company. Hammersley was first manufactured in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent. The pattern is called Strawberry Ripe. In 1989 the trade name of Hammersley ceased and the factory was demolished. Anysley china boug...