Teacup Tales

  Today's featured teacup is "Serena" from Royal Albert. The Serena pattern was produced from 1945-1977. The earlier teacups featured flowers similar to Old Country Roses in a larger scale than the ones featured on my teacup. Inside the teacup there was a rim of gold designs similar to the circular design on the saucer (see below). The cup shape is Avon. I am a huge fan of teacups with interior designs.  The photos do not do this beautiful teacup justice. The colors are bright and stunning along with the intricate floral designs. It truly stands out in size and design! Back stamp Teatime is not complete without a good book and quality tea. Vacationland was an enjoyable read with a touch of mystery, strong characters and the desirable setting of the coast of Maine. I have been drinking "Breakfast in Paris" by STASH tea more and more in the morning. It is a crisp black tea with  bergamot oil and lavender which softens the bergamot in my opinion. I"m not a fan...

  Happy New Year! I can't think of a time when I was so looking forward to a year ending. 2020 was a challenge in so many ways that no one could have predicted. It's my hope that the vaccine b rings some normalcy to all of our lives in 2021. My heart goes out to all who have lost loved ones due to COVID or are suffering themselves. I truly understand that my post and this blog are pretty insignificant in terms of what others are experiencing.  Since March, like many of you, my home became my workplace. I had to create an area that was functional and one where my work materials didn't intrude into every room. It was important to me to do this to maintain balance. I am fortunate to have such a space. I've never considered myself a homebody until now. I love to travel, visit friends, go to tearooms and antique shopping adventures, but this time period allowed me to learn a bit more about myself and discover  that I'm actually content being at home. Good tea and a great...

Hello Tea Friends, It's hard to believe that February is almost over! This month flew by for me and I'm sorry I didn't get to post more. Two weeks ago I met a longtime friend for tea and she gifted me two of her late aunt's Shelley teacups. Her aunt was first generation Italian American and hosted tea parties. None of the other relatives wanted her eclectic set of English bone china teacups, so my friend generously gave me the two Shelleys and she kept the rest of the collection. Both of the teacups have been used which is unusual for Shelleys, and I'm certainly glad. I'm actually going to use this teacup for my weekend tea time.  What a treat to drink from a Shelley!  It will also be a beautiful addition to my tea party cups. I hope this teacup creates more tales in its new home.   Let me introduce you to... Shelley ~ Forget Me Not Pattern #0442 Warwick Cup Shape Similar to the Dainty Shape-but fewer pronounced c urves Person...

Hello Tea Friends, I want to share with you a new tea I discovered at the San Francisco Tea Festival...Honey Black Oolong by Esteemed Tea Collective I'm always eager to try new tea types, as I mainly drink different varieties of black tea. The label describes this Taiwanese tea as,"sweet natural honey aroma coupled with mellow spices that warms and invigorates the body and soul. Perfect for a cold winter morning or as an afternoon pick me-up." The sachets are filled with whole tea leaves. (All packaging is recyclable.) Esteemed Collective is now selling this oolong tea as loose leaf. After I finished my first cup, I really noticed how smooth the tea tasted. There was absolutely no bitterness. Also, I like that it can be re-steeped about three times. I think this a perfect tea for devout black tea lovers to try. Every type of tea has health benefits. Oolong is also known to aid in digestion and stimulate brain activity. Esteemed Tea Collectiv...

Come join me as we celebrate the end of autumn with a new tea and trio. Today's featured teacup is a Shelley from the Cairo line. This trio is new to me, but it certainly isn't new by any means. It is one of my oldest teacup sets with production dates from 1910-1921. It's almost officially an antique. I purchased this trio on Ruby Lane, an online antique marketplace, for the amazing price of ten dollars. The seller did indicate it had flecks of factory dirt in the glaze. For those of you who follow me, you know that I adore Shelley teacups. The flecks of dirt didn't deter me from buying the trio. Shelley produced a variety of teacup shapes. The teacup is in the Norman style and was named after one of Percy Shelley's sons. This teacup was used for Bestware and Seconds from 1915-1924. I was surprised to see how visible the flecks of dirt are on the dish. Look closely, can you see the flecks? The Cairo line features an art deco design in green, ...

Happy New Year! Happy Winter Time! Hello Tea Friends, I hope this finds you well and refreshed. While I certainly enjoyed my share of holiday teas this season, I was pleasantly surprised to experience some tropical tastes yesterday during tea time. I wanted to start the new year by going to afternoon tea at a local tearoom. Our first course was ambrosia salad served in a teacup. This took me back to my childhood as ambrosia was a fun sweet treat.  The dusting of cinnamon on the salad was wonderful and a fun, interesting start to our tea time. I selected a flavored black tea: Pina Colada. I really enjoyed its smoothness and the cute cottage teapot. The rest of our afternoon tea was the standard wonderfulness and boy was I full at the end. I even had to bring some of the sweets home. Before the holidays, I ordered two bags of "Coconut" from adagio teas along with a favorite blend of theirs ~ Pumpkin Spice. I really enjoy the mild sweet...

Hello Tea Friends, There are so many wonderful things about autumn!  One of them being pumpkins! (The pumpkin display to the left is from a local quilt show I attended at a garden nursery.) I love decorating with pumpkins and of course cooking with them. They seem to embody the "taste" of autumn. This year I decided I needed to bring the taste of pumpkin to my actual tea. While ordering more masala chai from adagio tea, I decided to try their pumpkin spice tea after reading positive online reviews. I don't know if I actually taste pumpkin, but there is a sweetness similar to one found in rooibis. It makes for a nice autumn tea and will complement many spiced baked treats. (Sorry for the rather blah photos.) Last week I baked chocolate chip pumpkin bread using a recipe I found on Pinterest. My family liked it, but I felt it was just "okay." The chocolate overshadowed the pumpkin taste in my opinion. So this weekend, I baked my tried and t...

"I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished and the pomegranates budded."                           ~Song of Solomon 6:11 When we moved into our home six years ago, I was so happy to learn that the pretty tree with the poppy colored flower buds was indeed a pomegranate tree.   Last Thursday, I took this photo as I planned for a pomegranate post. This year's tree had the most pomegranates on it and the fruits formed early. Usually I pick them in November, but seems to get earlier each year.   Sometime during the night on Friday, half of the tree fell over from being too top heavy with fruit. I was so surprised to wake up and see this. I cut the pomegranates from the fallen branches and hope they will be ripe enough to eat. This is partly my fault. We should have trimmed the tree last spring. I'm just hoping the remainder of the tree w...

"Love planted a rose, and the world turned sweet." ~Katherine Lee Bates Hello Tea Friends, Last week we had a bit of a warm spell which my roses, flowers and budding vegetables gladly welcomed. The yellow "Mellow Yellow" rose tree became so top heavy that I really had to cut it back as it was almost ready to fall over. So alas, no photos of those pretty roses- just miniature pink ones. Since the sun is shining and not too hot, please join me in the backyard for a rose tea. I have been so excited to share my first teacup trio! While on a recent trip, I found this "Orleans Rose" trio. It's in wonderful condition with most of the gold trim intact. I've been looking for (an affordable) trio for quite a while. The almost three dimensional paintings of the roses is quite lovely. This is my first Royal Standard teaware in my collection. It was produced circa 1950's. Have a slice of cherry cobbler fr...