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.

Tuesday 30 March 2010

Tea Time Tuesday

Hello friends and welcome to my 10th Tea Time Tuesday post!


I would love to have you participate in Tea Time with me! All you need to do is share a favourite teacup or tea pot. A scripture verse or short story would also be most welcome and appreciated. You may use either one of my Tea Time buttons at the top of my sidebar if you like.


It is my desire to bring a little food for thought along with sharing a favourite teacup or tea pot. I would like Tea Time Tuesday to be a blessing and an encouragement to you. So please make yourself comfortable and allow me to be your hostess.

This is a week of Easter celebrations for a lot of us and so I thought I would share one of my most prized tea sets; my beloved Rose Chintz. It is the perfect china for Spring and Easter dinner.
Rose Chintz is a pattern which was produced by Johnson Brothers in England. They started their company somewhere around 1882. This particular pattern was produced between the years of 1930-2003 and is one of the most popular transferware patterns ever produced by Johnson Bros. This busy rose design incorporates large roses mixed with pretty wild flowers. There are reproductions around now but they do not bear the stamp with the green mark on the back such as the originals do.


I acquired most of my Rose Chintz from my Auntie Phyllis who received her set as a wedding gift. Over the years she and her first husband had added to the set so that she had acquired quite a few pieces.
I love it because I fancy its romantic rose design. It is like sitting in a rose garden when a table is set with Rose Chintz before you.
It also reminds me of my beloved Auntie P. Whenever I look at it, it whisks me back to when I was a little girl visiting my Auntie who always served her meals on these pretty dishes.
These are two demi-tasses she gave me.


When I grew up, I wanted to collect this lovely china myself but alas, by that time, it was very difficult to get them.
Then one day, I happened to find some pieces on eBay which simply thrilled me to pieces and my auntie generously supplied me with many of her own pieces after she moved into her condo. Would you care for a cup of tea? I love the flowers on the inside of the teacup too! A little dessert too would be nice with your tea. This is called Cool Fruit Delight which I usually make at Easter time. It is basically a concoction of fruit mixed with sour cream and marshmallows on a graham wafer crumb crust. It's just right following a big turkey dinner!


Of course, no tea or Easter would be complete without chocolate! Lindt and Hersheys is my favourite!
Before I introduce you to my participants today, I would like to share this short story with you...

This past Saturday, my hubby and I spent the day with our 8 year old grandson Cameron. My hubby had driven over to pick him up and brought him back here to our home.
When Cameron first walked into our home, he had on his jacket and his head was covered by one of those knitted hats with the braids hanging down. They seem to be quite popular these days. He looked so cute! I was so happy to see him but at the same time I was startled at how much he resembled his father, our oldest son Jeff, at that age! Cameron is quiet in nature like his father as well; a very nice young man!

Many of our family traits are passed down from one generation to another. It's uncanny sometimes how alike a child and his parent can be! When I saw how much Cameron resembled his father in his looks and temperament, it made me wonder how much I resembled my heavenly Father.

The Bible tells us that we are made in His image. I wonder, do I resemble Him by my actions, my words, and my deeds? Can people see Jesus in me? Do I live my life in such a way that I leave a sweet fragrance behind wherever I go? I hope so! My desire is to be a blessing. I hope yours is too.

"And whatever you do in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." - Colossians 3:17

Thank you for stopping by today. Please let me know in your comment if you wish to participate in Tea Time Tuesday and I will happily add your link to my post.

Have a lovely day dear friends and I pray you have a beautiful and blessed Easter. The Lord bless you and your family!


Participants are listed in the order in which they started participating.



Participants

Martha~ http://marthasfavorites.blogspot.com/




Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

Monday 29 March 2010

Tomorrow is Tea Time Tuesday!


Hello bloggy friends! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Hubby and I spent Saturday with our 8 year old grandson Cameron. He is such a cute little guy! When we asked him about school and what his favourite subject was; he said RECESS! He cracks me up!

Tomorrow is Tea Time Tuesday and I'm looking forward to having you for tea. Those of you who would like to link up with me, please let me know in a comment. Those of you who haven't participated before, I welcome you too. All you need to do is share a favourite teacup, tea pot, or some china. A scripture verse or short story would be most welcome too.

Do you like the little sheep graphic above? You can go here http://bannerhaus.blogspot.com/ to visit Holly where she has a great selection to choose from; and they're free!

I hope you all have a beautiful Spring day and I'll see you tomorrow. God bless you!


Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

Saturday 27 March 2010

Spiritual Sundays

Every once in a while I come across a devotional that is so simple in its writing, yet has a profound message in it. Such is the case with what I'm about to share with you.


Signature Scent

You can't see it, hear it, or touch it, but scent is powerful. The smell of things like crayons, petunias, and colognes evoke memories that transport me to the past and bring to mind people and places I might not otherwise recall.

Some celebrities have fragrances named after them. Fans can identify with an actress or singer by dabbing on the scent bearing her name. Along those lines, Ladies Home Journal published a quiz to help readers determine the perfect fragrance for them. The idea is that every woman, to be memorable, should have a specific scent associated with her.

The idea of a signature scent is not new. God introduced it as part of worship. In the tabernacle, a certain scent was to be associated with the Lord {Ex. 30:34-35}. The people were forbidden to use this fragrance for anything but worship {v.37-38}.

This idea continues under the new covenant, but with a stunning difference. Instead of using incense to make people think of Him, God uses Christians as His "signature scent" to the world {2 Cor. 2: 14-15}. The fact that God identifies Himself with us in such a powerful way is a truly humbling thought, and causes me to ask, "What do people think of God as a result of being around me?" - Julie Ackerman Link


When we've been alone with Jesus,
There's a difference others know;
And to them it's like a fragrance
That we leave where'er we go. - Hess


A LIFE LIVED FOR GOD IS A PLEASING AROMA


Thank you for stopping by today. Please take some time to visit Charlotte and Ginger and all the participants at Spiritual Sundays. Just click on the link to visit these wonderful folks and be encouraged. http://bloggerspirit.blogspot.com/
I pray each of us will leave a pleasing aroma and be a blessing for Him!

Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

Pink Saturday

Welcome to Pink Saturday pink bloggerettes! Today I have a candy dish, shaped like a flower, to share with you. It's starts off with the dish being empty........A sweet little bunny with pink eyes, pink ears, a pink nose, and a pink ribbon tied around his sweet little neck sits in the center. He is waiting patiently!
Then you fill it with pink Hershey's kisses. I guess you all know by now that I LOVE Hershey's kisses! But I especially like the ones wrapped in pink foil! Why? Because I'm a pinkie, of course!Hershey's chocolate kisses wrapped in pink foil always taste better, don't you think?Then there are my crystal candle sticks with what else, pink candles. Well, one is cream coloured!Sprinkle in some Easter eggs, hydrangea blooms, and a little birdie, and voila! a Springtime centerpiece! But let's go with all pink, shall we? These candle sticks were all gifts....the small one was from our Bible study group, the mid-sized one was from my son for my birthday, and the third was from moi! They are amazing when the light hits them, refracting into all the colours of the rainbow! Now that you have had your fill of pink here, please go see Beverly and her parade of pinkies. Just click on the link http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/ or the Pink Saturday button on my sidebar. Have a beautiful pink Spring weekend everybody!

Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

Friday 26 March 2010

"Show and Tell Friday" ~ Craft Day

Good afternoon everyone! Today I am joining Cindy for Show and Tell Friday.

I have a little Spring-time craft to share with you.

First of all, let me say that I love little clay pots because you can do so much with them! I started off with a plain clay pot. I spray painted it white and glued in a piece of florist foam. Then I dabbed on aqua paint with some scrunched-up Glad wrap. I let that dry and then dabbed on pink paint with scrunched-up Glad wrap. I let it dry and then went over it with dabs of white paint, using again, scrunched-up Glad wrap. This gives the pot an antiqued look.Then I glued in Spanish moss to look like a bird's nest.Next, I glued in flowers and tied on a sheer ribbon. Lastly, I glued in three little eggs. This is what it looks like with a little birdie in my livingroom.




I also did a rose pot; again spray painting the pot white. Glued in Spanish moss, leaves, and a rose.I glued on some lace, and here it is in the bathroom.
It's easy and cute for Spring-time decor. Have a lovely day everyone. Be sure to check out all the other participants at Cindy's. Click on the link to go there. http://romantichome.blogspot.com/



Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

Thursday 25 March 2010

I Have Made A Decision....


Good morning bloggy friends~

How are you all doing? It's a nice sunny but breezy day here on the Island. We awoke to a light dusting of snow on the ground but it won't stay long now. I believe the farmers call any snow we get from now on, "Farmers' fertilizer." Fertilizer or not, I'm happy that Spring is here and in April, the songbirds will be back!



For several months now, I have been doing some pondering about what to do about awards and tags. Some of you may be aware that I have three blogs and I try to keep them up to date as best I can.

I thought about keeping all my awards in another blog as some of you do, but I am pressed for time and the time I do have, I would like to spend writing and visiting your blogs.

So, I have made a decision not to accept any more awards or tags. I hope you understand and will not be offended by my decision. I do value your friendship most of all!

Those of you who have blessed me with awards in the past, I thank you for your thoughtfulness and I feel very honoured that you have passed these awards on to me!

At the bottom of my blog are all of the awards along with the names and links of those from whom I received them. I even made a couple myself at one time to give away. I will leave them on to acknowledge all the generous folks who have given an award to me.

There is a lot of love in blogland which is evident by the number of awards below. Thank you again to each one of you and the Lord bless you for your generosity. I pray you all have a beautiful day.

Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

Tuesday 23 March 2010

Tea Time Tuesday


Good morning my sweet friends and welcome to my 9th Tea Time Tuesday!
Spring has finally arrived and I'm enjoying tea on a more Spring-like note. Soft and delicate colours would describe what I'm going for today. Please come in and have a seat while I pour you a cup of tea.

Some of you may have seen this teacup before on one of my Pink Saturday posts, and I apologize if you have, but it is one of my favourites. It just says Springtime to me!

This teacup was a gift to me when I was a new bride and it is a Shelley teacup. It is fine bone china and made in England.
 I have a Martha Stewart lace runner underneath it all. I love the delicate Springtime colours of pink and aqua/robins egg blue, don't you? The pretty edge and the tiny blooms on the inside of the cup all make for a very sweet teacup.I have my tiered tray filled with delicate hydrangea petals instead of sweets because I love the way it lends a Springtime feel to the tea. Nestled up to the tiered tray is my little White Victorian Cottage tea pot. I have several pieces of this pattern and I love the cut-out bottom.
 
Now, please make yourself comfortable and I will share this little excerpt from "Tea Time with God."

"Keep a place in life for beauty," says English preacher Leslie Weatherhead. "He who keeps a little place in his life for beauty will find that it does something for him and in him, and that something is a process that goes on when the beauty is no longer before his eyes and ears, like a seed growing secretly in the dark. God, by a secret ministry, can turn the sight of a snowflake into hope and the sight of the dawn into courage.

Beauty feeds our souls like food nourishes our bodies. We sometimes need to be reminded to slow down enough to find beauty in those things we hurry by each day. Let's take time for beauty. Make a date with yourself to stroll through an art gallery, visit a beautiful church, or linger in a park or garden.

If there is not time then remember the beautiful places captured in memories- moments of sheer joy, or a mental "snapshot" of a majestic, snow-capped mountain, or moonlit night."


Let God use the beauty He created to awaken in you the desire for more of Him.

"One thing I have desired of the Lord, that I will seek .... to behold the beauty of the Lord." Psalm 27:4 {NKJV}


Take time to stop and smell the roses!


If you wish to participate in Tea Time Tuesday with me, please let me know in your comment and I will add your link to my post.
All participants are listed in the order in which they began participating.




Participants:



Carolyn~ http://warrengrovegarden.blogspot.com/


 
Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

Monday 22 March 2010

Happy Birthday Joanna, A Prayer Request, and Tea Time Tuesday Reminder.

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all enjoyed a beautiful weekend! We had a lovely weekend with warm temperatures and sunshine; perfect for the first of Spring!
Today is my beautiful DIL's birthday! Joanna is married to my oldest son and they have three sweet little boys. They have just bought themselves a new house and are in the middle of renovations which they are doing mostly themselves! I hope she gets to enjoy some cake today!

Here she is with my son. Don't they make a handsome couple?Joanna with her boys; three of my little grandsons. Happy Birthday Joanna!

Today, I also have a prayer request! Renee is a blogger friend of mine who is suffering with uterine cancer and she is scheduled for surgery tomorrow. Please pray for her that all will go well. Click on the link to let her know you are thinking about her and lifting her up in prayer. http://myautumnyears.blogspot.com/ The Lord bless you, Renee!

Believe it or not, tomorrow is Tea Time Tuesday once again and I hope you will all stop by for tea. Those of you who would like to participate, please let me know in a comment and I will happily add your link to my post. I would love to see your favourite teacups and tea pots. A short story or scripture verse would be lovely too.

Hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless you.

Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

Saturday 20 March 2010

Spiritual Sundays


Hello and Happy Spring everyone~ Welcome to Spiritual Sundays with Charlotte and Ginger. Please click on the link to visit these two lovely ladies and all the other participants. http://bloggerspirit.blogspot.com/

Springtime has arrived and I am so thankful that the winter is over. We have warm weather and blue skies to look forward to. I love this time of year because the earth is awakening from its long winter slumber. The robins are singing, the Canada Geese are honking their way back, and the little songbirds are on their way back too. What is sweeter than waking up to the sound of the birds singing outside your window? Except for the cry of a newborn baby, I think it's one of the sweetest sounds in the world!

Today, I am thankful for many things; my wonderful family, good friends, and God's glorious creation around us! I am thankful for life! Most of all, I'm thankful for Jesus and His love! I am rich in the things that are important and I am blessed!

Do you have to be rich to bring a ray of sunshine into some one's life? Not at all! Sometimes money is involved in making a meaningful change, but it's the person who signs the check and his desire to do something good that is behind it.

No matter how much or how little we have, we can each do something to make someone else's life richer. Perhaps we have some time that we can invest in making a lonely person feel loved and appreciated. Which brings me to my thought for the day....

Don't think about the things you can get. Think about the things you can give.

"The desire of a man is his kindess." ~ Proverbs 19:22

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and the coming week is filled with many blessings.

Sharing from my heart~ Sandi