Favored Tea Cups

"I'm late!  I'm late! I'm late for a very important date!  No time to say hello, goodbye.  I'm late!  I'm late!  I'm late!"  ( Sung by: The White Rabbit in "Alice In Wonderland")

I really wanted to be on time for Sandi's party at the Rose Chintz Cottage on Tuesday but too many things got in the way.  (There were so many meetings before and after school this week that I was just too tired to work on a post.  This is the first day this week that there isn't a meeting and I don't need to be at school early.)  She is celebrating the 5th Anniversary of her Tea Time Tuesday party and I wanted to join in on the fun.  The link below will bring you to the party and you can go, too! There are always so many lovely things to see at her parties!

The Spode teacup and teapot are part of a large set I have collected over the years that was begun for me by my wonderful stepmother and my father.  When my children were babies Mickey (that's what family and friends called her) divided her service for sixteen in half and gave my sister and I each a set for eight.  The following year, she gave us each a service for four as a Christmas gift.  Over the years, I have collected many more pieces and we enjoy them for two months of the year.  They are taken down and switched out with our everyday dishes and used for all meals from the last weekend of November to the last week of January.  They will be put away this weekend for another year.  I love using them!  And I hate putting them away.  Neither my Mickey nor my dad are with us anymore.  They both loved the holiday season and had many wonderful traditions that included cutting down their own tree, big tree trimming parties, baking and decorating delicious holiday cookies, and special Christmas morning breakfasts.  When I look at these dishes, I am reminded to count my blessings.  Mickey was such a gift to us and Dad was my favorite person from my earliest memories!  How blessed I am to have had them in my life!

The tea is Four Seasons Oolong from Teavana and it is delicious!

 I have a shelf in one of my glass cabinets that houses my collection of single pretty teacups.  When guests come to visit and share a cup of tea, I have them choose a cup from this cabinet.

Underneath the cups in the very back is a very special cup.  It is so well hidden that it can't even be seen in the close-up picture below.  It is hidden so that no one chooses that one!  It belongs to my very sentimental daughter, Victoria-Rose.

 I asked her one day which was her most favorite and she choose this one because,  "It looks just like my special baby blankie, Mama!"  That blanket is loved to being threadbare and worn out but was slept with for YEARS.  In her last year of high school, it was folded up and placed carefully in her hope chest.

 The next cup is my personal favorite on that shelf.  I love the color and the raised lacy design on the saucer and on the inside of the cup.  It makes me think of lace overlays on batiste dresses.  I love the color so much, that several rooms in my house are painted with shades of that celadon green.

This next picture shows my tea station in the kitchen of the kindergarten 'pod' of my school.  I make tea to share nearly everyday.  Some days are 'two pot days'!  The corn teapot is a vintage one given to me by a lovely volunteer who became my friend.  Some of the cups are gifts and many were found by me in various shops.  Many of my 'regulars' have chosen their preferred cup that they use all the time.  I love it!

 I chose to use the cabinets above to house luncheon dishes (for teacher work days) and extra cups/saucers and sugar/creamer sets for workshops and other meetings,  They also contain teas, honey, agave, etc.

Here the pot is ready with another delicious tea from Teavana:  Strawberry Pariso.

This cup and saucer is my favorite school set and was a gift from Grace, a former student.  It is 'Butterfly Meadow' from Lenox.  It holds a little more than most of the other cups and has a great handle for my fingers.  Grace chose the cup because she knows how much I love butterflies.  She is so sweet!

I adore the little ladybird beetle inside the cup!  It just makes me smile!

I hope that you have enjoyed this glimpse into my daily tea rituals and that you will visit Sandi at the Rose Chintz Cottage.  I will be back in a couple of days with another post of goodies made for Kelly's Hope Chest Shower Gift.

Edited to link to Bernideen's Friend's Sharing Tea weekly blog party.  Today she has a wonderful post about Beatrix Potter.  Click on the photo/link below to visit.

May your day be filled with blessings and fun!