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 30 June 2014

Tea Time with Florence




You never know what peace is until you walk on the shores or in the fields or along the winding red roads of Prince Edward Island in a summer twilight when the dew is falling and the old stars are peeping out and the sea keeps its mighty tryst with the little land it loves. You find your soul then. You realize that youth is not a vanished thing but something that dwells forever in the heart.~ L.M. Montgomery




Welcome to Tea Time Tuesday, friends, and Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian friends! 

"God keep our land glorious & free. O Canada we stand on guard for thee." ~ Excerpt from our National anthem

What a splendid weekend we have had! It was beautiful beach weather and that is exactly where Hubby and I were.


To feel the warm sand between my toes and breathe in the fresh salt air, is bliss! I feel completely alive and at peace when I'm out there. I hope your weekend was lovely too.



Speaking of loveliness, my roses are finally in bloom and I have arranged some in a little teapot for our tea today. Aren't they pretty? They are old-fashioned Theresa Bugnet roses and they smell so good; just like the wild roses that grow freely along our shores here on Prince Edward Island. 

I was hoping to set up a tea table out on the deck but after all the rain we've had, the mosquitoes would carry you away. So, again we will enjoy our tea indoors.

In celebration of Canada's birthday, July 1, my tea setting today will be in red and white, the colours of our flag.

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I am using my Skye McGhie Florence tea ware. I love toile and this pattern is a delight. 



Once again, it has an old-fashioned, romantic appeal. I am very much a romantic at heart and you will see glimpses of such throughout my home.

This pattern is simply charming, don't you think?



This set was a gift several years ago.


For our tea treat, I thought strawberries, cake, and cream would be in order for the holiday. 

Strawberries are the angels of the earth, innocent and sweet with green leafy wings reaching heavenward. ~ Terri Guillemets



And what better way to serve it than in my Skye McGhie Pierced Lace teacup and saucer.

Strange how a teapot can represent at the same time the comforts of solitude and the pleasures of company ~ Author Unknown

My Giveaway is still open to my Followers in Canada and the US and if you link up a tea to my tea party, with a link on your blog linking back to my party, you will receive two entries.


This is an antique Royal Albert Petit Point bone china teacup and a pretty embroidered fingertip towel. The teacup is in the Montrose shape and is adorned with a needlepoint motif.


If you are a Follower and you would like to win this lovely teacup and towel, simply leave a comment letting me know you are a Follower and you would like to enter the Giveaway. Entries close at 5:00 PM, Atlantic Time, Friday July 4. I will announce the winner next week, July 7th, on Tea Time Tuesday.

“All in all, it was a never-to-be-forgotten summer - one of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going - one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends and delightful doing, come as near to perfection as anything can come in this world.” ~ L.M. Montgomery- 'Anne's House of Dreams' 


I am delighted you have stopped by for tea today! Your presence always makes my tea party that much more special and I am happy to see all your tea things, whether you have shared them before or not. Please join me by linking up below.
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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://www.antiquesandteacups.info/
Tea in the Garden ~ http://blog.bernideens.com/
Share Your Cup Thursday~ http://jannolson.blogspot.com/
Home Sweet Home~ http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/


Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

Monday 23 June 2014

"Savour the Summer" Tea Party and GIVEAWAY.


"Then followed that beautiful season...Summer...
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood."~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Welcome dear friends to my "Savour the Summer" Tea Party!

Before I begin, I would like to apologise to Penny at Penny's Vintage Home and Debbie at Debbie-Dabble for not leaving comments on your posts. I have been having issues whenever I visit your lovely blogs and I wanted you to know that I do visit but my computer freezes up whenever I try to leave a comment. Hopefully my son will be able to fix the problem when he comes home in July.

Now on to the party....
I am delighted to have you come for tea today! After such a long cold winter, I am relishing this time of year. Every moment I am thankful for the lush green grass and trees, as well as flowers and the blue sky above. I know very soon Hubby and I will be making our way to one of our fabulous beaches. It all makes me want to celebrate. And so I shall, won't you join me?

My roses still have not bloomed. It has been very cold and wet for about a week but I found a beautiful bouquet of peonies at the grocery store.

A vase can be a little garden, its contents gathered to please the eye. ~ Debra Prinzing - Victoria magazine

I love these fluffy, frilly, and fragrant flowers, don't you?


I usually serve sandwiches and sweets at my special tea parties, but today I have a dessert table.


Vintage silverware. The plates are Rose of England.



I have a new teacup which I have been saving for this tea party. It was a gift from my sweet hubby for our Anniversary last month. 
The colours are bright and sunny and perfect for a Summer tea. Hubby found it at Lori's "Time Worn Treasures and Antiques" here in Charlottetown; my favourite antique shop.


This is a vintage Royal Albert teacup called Shaftesbury.


It is one of the Festival Series teacups, made in the Gainsborough shape.



 The floral arrangement of what I believe are wildflowers is blue and pink on a soft buttery yellow. Both the front and the back of the cup are adorned with a bouquet and there is a smaller one inside the cup. The cup is footed and the handle has the little RA leaf design on the front of the handle instead of on the top.



The saucer is just as pretty with three bouquets on it. I really like the overall delicate sprigs of white leaves on the background.



All three of my teacups today are Royal Albert in the Gainsborough shape. They are all different patterns and I thought they brought a little interest to the tea table. 

Which teacup would you like to use?


Summer with its charming little cottage landscape and rimmed in a whisper soft pink.


Buckingham with its rich forest green and lovely pink roses and array of posies. 


Shaftesbury flaunting her lovely buttery yellow and posies. I love the little fingertip towel tucked under the cup. 

The soft yellow with blue and yellow posies is just so pretty. There are raised white dots and a yellow scalloped trim. Isn't it lovely? 



Our tea treats are strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese icing. Yes, they are pink cupcakes!


...and this scrumptious berry cake. I was wanting to add a little green to the top with some fresh mint but alas, I couldn't find any.

Perhaps you would prefer a Walkers shortbread cookie. Please help yourself.


The tea is Raspberry Lemon from the Prince Edward Island Preserve Company. It is ready and waiting in my beautiful soft pink New Country Roses teapot made by Royal Albert.

There is no need to have any special attitude while drinking except one of thankfulness. The nature of the tea itself is that of no-mind. ~ Pojong Sunim


Happiness is sharing tea with a friend.

I am expecting my Auntie P and Uncle Doug for tea today. They are coming to visit my mother and then they will come to visit Hubby and me. Just like summertime, I will savour every moment with them! 

"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting - a wayward sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson


Now, are you ready for my Giveaway? I am offering this lovely vintage Royal Albert Petit Point teacup with a needlepoint motif on it and accompanying it is a little fingertip towel.


I purchased the teacup and the fingertip towel at Time Worn Treasures and Antiques here in Charlottetown. I thought the sweetly embroidered fingertip towel went well with Petit Point.





The flowers remind me of a Spring garden. I like this teacup a lot because I find the pattern quite unique.


As some of you know, I have two of these teacups and a few other matching pieces that my hubby gifted me with for Valentines Day, and I decided to pick up a teacup for you too.






If you are a Follower or become a new Follower, you are eligible to enter this Giveaway. However, because of mailing costs, I am so sorry, but I can only offer this to those who live in Canada and the U.S. Be sure you let me know you are a Follower!

You do not have to join my tea party to enter the Giveaway, but if you are a Follower, an oldie or a newbie, and you do a post about your tea things, coffee things, or a tablescape, kindly link up and be sure to link back to this tea party on your blog. I will enter your name twice. I will announce the winner on Tea Time Tuesday July 7th.
I will keep this linky party open until this Saturday evening June 28th.

Thank you for coming to my tea party today. You are all so special to me and I appreciate your friendship so very much. Some of you have been joining me almost from the beginning and I want to say a special Thank you to you.

I hope you all have a beautiful day and the Lord bless you!

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. ~ Psalm 103:2

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://www.antiquesandteacups.info/
Tea in the Garden ~ http://blog.bernideens.com/
Share Your Cup Thursday~ http://jannolson.blogspot.com/
Home Sweet Home~ http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/


Sharing from my heart ~ Sandi

Monday 16 June 2014

Lilacs for Tea Time



"I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June." ~ L. M. Montgomery


Welcome to Tea Time, dear friends ~
The lilacs are in bloom! Some flowers have the most heavenly scent and lilacs are no exception.


I love using my Johnson Bros. Rose Chintz with these flowers. Lilacs and Rose Chintz together evoke such charm to any tea table. Both are old fashioned and remind me of days gone by.



"I am thinking of the lilac-trees,
that shook their purple plumes,
And when the sash was open,
Shed fragrance through the room." ~
Mrs. Anna S. Stephens "The Old Apple-Tree"





These fragrant blooms make a gorgeous centerpiece for tea. One of my favourite jugs for displaying lilacs is my Rose Chintz. The lilacs bring out the blue of the forget-me-nots.


Of course little Lavender, the turtle, has to come to tea.


I am enjoying a cup of Lady Grey on this rather dreary day.


Perhaps it is while drinking tea that I most of all enjoy the sense of leisure. ~ George Gissing

It has been raining off and on all weekend and taking pictures did not afford me very good lighting. But my cup of tea soothes and brightens my day.


Next week is my "Savour the Summer" Tea Party.


I will be offering a wonderful Giveaway to my Followers. Sorry, because of mailing costs, I have to limit the Giveaway to Canadian and American friends only. And remember, if you are a Follower, and you link your tea post to next week's party, your name will be entered twice. Hope to see you then.


Do you have a favourite teacup/teapot or coffee cup/coffee pot, that you would like to share with us today? I would love to see it and I'm sure others would too! A trip to a Tea Shop is always fun and if you have discovered a new tea we'd love to hear about that too.

If you wish, you may do coffee instead of tea or one of the following is acceptable too: Hot Apple Cider, Hot Chocolate, Lemonade, Iced Tea or iced coffee, or Punch in a lovely bowl.

And dear Penny at Penny's Vintage Home, I have not been able to post comments on your blog in ages and I feel so badly about that! My computer freezes whenever I go to your comments. I am waiting for my son to come home and hopefully he can fix my problem. I visit your blog every week and had no way of letting you know except to post it 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://www.antiquesandteacups.info/
Tea in the Garden ~ http://blog.bernideens.com/
Share Your Cup Thursday~ http://jannolson.blogspot.com/
Home Sweet Home~ http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/


Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

Thursday 12 June 2014

Rhubarb-Strawberry Crumble

"A house without love may be a castle, or a palace, but it is not a home; love is the life of a true home." ~ John Lubbock

Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a lovely week. This time of year we like to take advantage of the weather and the fresh produce available. For those of us who like rhubarb, we are using this wonderful red vegetable/fruit for many desserts.

I made a Rhubarb-strawberry crumble the other day and this is my recipe for it.


Grease a 8x8 inch pan. I always use coconut oil because of its health benefits.

Cut up 3 cups of rhubarb and 1 cup of strawberries and combine with 1/3 cup of brown sugar in the baking dish.



Crumble

2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup soft butter

Preheat oven. Cover bottom of baking dish with the fruit and sugar mixture.
Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together in a bowl. Cut butter into dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit and bake in a 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Yield: 6-8 servings


Serve warm, plain or with ice cream or whipped cream.


I hope you enjoy this wonderful treat. Wishing you all a lovely weekend.


Sharing with:

Share Your Cup~  http://jannolson.blogspot.com/

Home Sweet Home~ http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/

Sharing from my heart~ Sandi