Faith Family Friends

Celebrating the Joy of Living & Home Making ~

Baking, Cooking, Decorating, Tea Time, and taking Inspiration from those I love and the world around me...

A sharing of my heart and my home from a Christian perspective

...with a wee bit of whimsy added.

Monday 29 April 2013

Tea Time Tuesday



"Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." ~ Marcel Proust 



Welcome dear friends to my last Tea Time in the month of April ~ I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Do you like my green carnations? They smell as good as they look! They had so many lovely colours to choose from at the grocery store and I was tantalized by the peach, the pink, the white, and the green. I chose the green just for a change.

A couple of weeks ago when I visited Fabby, she had shared a pretty new teapot. And as always, Fabby had set a lovely table but on this particular day she had also shared her tea chest. It inspired me to share mine with you.



So today's tea is a little chintz I set up with the wonderful tea chest that I won in Bernideen's Giveaway a couple of years ago.


Some pretty teacups and a teapot are accompanied by the tea chest which holds a variety of tea. This chest keeps my tea fresh and handy at all times. The chest is a beautiful burgundy and on the lid is a lovely cameo. The interior is lined with a gold sateen with the Victorian Trading Co. emblem.



A Rose Chintz teacup by Gracie china.



Rose Bud teapot by Maxwell and Williams. Earl Grey is steeping.


"The very sight of a teapot puts a smile on the face of most people. One cannot help but think of more serene and genteel times. From a whimsical child's teapot to an elegant English Teapot, to collectible teapots that adorn some homes, they are a subtle reminder of all that is good in the world." ~ Barbara Roberts

Rose Bud teacup by Maxwell and Williams.


For our tea treat today I have some home made cornbread with some delectable New Brunswick maple syrup.


Mmm! I think Mountain Maples maple syrup is the very best. If you live in the Maritimes, I'm sure you will agree. Unless of course, you are enjoying it right in the sugar woods!


You may wonder why cornbread. Well, when I visited Millie a few weeks ago, she had made cornbread and I've been craving it ever since!



So, please help yourselves because I have plenty.


Thank you to both Fabby and Millie today for their inspiration, and to Bernideen for the lovely tea chest. I would also like to thank Kathy for her directions on how to apply the copyright symbol to my photos.



I know my photos are not exactly magazine worthy, however after the scraping ordeal some of our friends went through, I am applying this to my photos from now on. Like all of you, I go to a lot of work to get my post ready and I would not appreciate it being stolen.




Now I'm wondering what you have to share today. Have you been inspired by anyone or anything lately? 

"We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God..."~ Romans 8:28 {NLT Bible}

I would love for you to join me by simply sharing a favourite teacup/teapot or coffee cup and then create a post around it. Perhaps you have a special tablescape you would like to share with us or you have had the pleasure of visiting a Tea Room recently. We would all love to hear about it. Please find the Linky below and I would be very happy to come and visit you!

To be sure everyone has a visit, it would be nice if you visited the participant before and after your name. And please be sure to have a link back to this post so your visitors can find their way here.


I am joining the following parties as well~

A Return to Loveliness ~ http://www.adelightsomelife.com/
Tea Cup Tuesday~ http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/
Tea Cup Tuesday ~ http://www.marthasfavorites.com/
Tuesday Cuppa Tea~ http://antiquesandteacups.blogspot.com/
Friends Sharing Tea ~ http://bernideensteatimeblog.blogspot.com/
Homemaking Link Up ~ http://www.hopeineveryseason.com/
Share Your Cup Thursday~ http://jannolson.blogspot.com/
Cottage Style Linky Party~ http://lavendergardencottage.blogspot.com/
Home Sweet Home~ http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/


Sharing from my heart ~ Sandi

Wednesday 24 April 2013

HOME


"The ideal of happiness has always taken material form in the house, whether cottage or castle. It stands for permanence and separation from the world." ~ Simone De Beauvoir

Hello friends and welcome to my HOME!

Hope you're all having a wonderful week so far! This is my last HOME party in April, can you believe that! Next Wednesday is the first of May, imagine that.

This week I hosted another virtual tea party which I called a Fantasy Tea and I invited you and my little fairy friends to join me. You may check it out in my previous post if you wish.

There were flowers...


And teacups...



And fairies...



 And Lemon Tarts.


I made the Lemon tarts by first baking the tart shells and letting them cool. Then I filled them with a mixture of lemon pie filling and real whipped cream folded it.
Topped them off with some fruit and they made a lovely little nosh with our tea.

Now that I'm getting back on my feet, I hope to be able to share more recipes with you soon.


Last week you shared some wonderful and  creative posts. You make it difficult to choose only a few to feature.


Penny @ Penny's Vintage Home shared her newly painted brick exterior. There is nothing as fresh as white, is there! Isn't her front porch lovely?


 
Debbie @ Debbie-Dabble has been having fun at her home using spray paint to freshen things up for the Spring and Summer months. Aren't these ice cream colours pretty?



Kitty @ Kitty's Kozy Kitchen is always serving up something delicious in her kitchen. Last week she shared her recipe for a wonderful Hashbrown Quiche which she brought her hubby in bed. Isn't she a wonderful wife? I love quiche! Love the rooster too.


Luanne @ Totally Done By Me shared her lovely Spring Tea. She not only set a beautiful table but her tea treats were amazing too. I love a tea party as you all know.

DSC04218
 
Gina @ Victorian Wanna Be went all out  decorating for the Anniversary of the Titanic tragedy. Being Victorian at heart, she used her special china and vignettes to create a sense of grandeaur in her home for the occasion. 
 
 
 
Carmen @ Country Blessings shared this jug of pretty tulips with a view of the stone house  as she related the story of a little girl named Alice.
 
 
 
And whose post received the most clicks?
 
Bernideen @ Bernideen's Tea Time Blog received the most clicks on her lovely post. Congratulations, Bernideen!
 
 
HOME is where your story begins.
 
 
Thank you dear friends for visiting today. If you have something HOME related, I would love to have you link up with me. Recipes, DIYs, Home decor, favourite dishes, tea parties, tablescapes, renos, anything and everything which is HOME related is welcome. I would love to see the newest member of the family as well; be it a little bundle of joy or a fur baby.
 
Please be sure to visit someone else. It would be nice to visit the link before and after your own. That way way everyone has a visitor.
 
 
As a courtesy, please link back to me so that your visitors may find their way here. Thank you.


Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

Monday 22 April 2013

A Bit of Fantasy for Tea Time Tuesday



"When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you." ~
Leigh Harline and Ned Washington for Walt Disney's 1940 adaptation of "Pinocchio"


Welcome to another Tea Time, my lovely friends~



With Spring transforming the world around us into a fairyland of new growth and delightful surprises each day, I am feeling in a bit of a playful mood. So please come in and join me as we take tea with the fairies.


While I was laid up the past several months, I did a lot of reading and one of the books I re-read was the old classic, Frances Hodgson Burnett's, The Secret Garden. 


It is probably one of the reasons why I felt inspired to do this tea today; something fun and fanciful.


"To play is to yield oneself to a kind of magic." ~ Hugo Rahner



This little fairy is serving us Swiss cheese. Isn't she adorable! 

Breena is here. I think most of you are acquainted with this little fairy dressed in pink.



My fairy teapot is holding a lovely raspberry and apple tea.



"Would you like an adventure now, or shall we have our tea first?" ~ Peter Pan

Colclough teacup made in England.


Roslyn Moss Rose made in England. 


My Grace Violets teacup. 

"All you need is Faith, Trust, and a little bit of Pixie Dust." ~ Tinkerbell

Oops, I think this little fairy has slipped off into dreamland.

I am serving Lemon tarts on my 'new to me' plate.


Can you see the birdies? We will pretend they are the robins in "The Secret Garden."

"Nothing in the world is quite as adorably lovely as a robin when he shows off and they are nearly always doing it." ~ Frances Hodgson Burnett - "The Secret Garden"



This is my little robin who hangs in the kitchen window. I always enjoy seeing his friends, the first robins of springtime, hopping about our yard.

There is a lovely rose in the center of the plate. 


This lovely vintage plate is Birbeck Rose made in England by George Jones & Sons. I would dearly love to find the matching teacup!


"Where you tend a rose my lad, a thistle cannot grow." ~ Frances Hodgson Burnett - "The Secret Garden"


The good thing about having a pot of lemon pie filling is you can use it in many different ways.
These lemon tarts are a scrumptious mixture of lemon pie filling with whipped cream folded in. That is real whipped cream, not Cool Whip! 



Any one would enjoy nibbling on one of these, including the fairies.

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." ~ George Bernard Shaw



My little lavender turtle came out of his shell today and he, like the fairies, is admiring the pink tulips which grace the table. 


"When the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies." ~ J.M. Barrie - "Peter Pan"

Fairies like to play in the flowers. I think we all become like children and fairies in a garden, don't you think? A garden is simply magical!



"Love and friendship are the best sweetners of tea." ~ Author unknown


Old lace and linen. The lace trimmed hanky is very old and was given to me by a good friend years ago. The lace edged tablecloth is also a gift from a friend.







Several of the pieces you see today I found at Lori's antique shop, "Time Worn Treasures and Antiques," in Charlottetown. She has a blog which you can check out here.

"It is a happy talent to know how to play." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I hope you have enjoyed my wee bit of Fantasy Tea today. If you have something tea related, a favourite teacup or teapot please join me by linking up below. You may also share a coffee mug or a tablescape if you wish. I would be happy to come and visit you.

Have a beautiful day filled with joy and maybe look for a wee bit of magic in the little things!



"This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it." ~ Psalm 118:24


To be sure everyone has a visit, it would be nice if you visited the participant before and after your name.

As a courtesy, please link back to me so that your visitors may find their way here to visit with all my lovely participants.

Bernideen and Ruth are both on a Spring break so I am joining these parties this week ~


Amaze Me Monday
A Return to Loveliness
Tea Cup Tuesday
Tea Cup Tuesday
Homemaking Link up
Pearls and Lace Thursday
Share Your Cup Thursday
Cottage Style Linky Party
Home Sweet Home



Sharing from my heart~ Sandi