Christmas Tea

As usual Santa brought lots of tea  – it’s nice when people know what you like – no toe socks or drudge gifts.  Hubby gave me a Kindle Fire and I’m loving it.

Nana has been enjoying playing tea party with my little granddaughter today.  This photo shows her washing up after our tea party.  Can’t wait to take her to her first tea room visit – maybe when she turns three in May.

Merry Christmas

May your Christmas be blessed with peace and happiness.

Madison Tea Room and Garden

What better way to enjoy a Christmas visit with a friend than at a lovely tea room that I’ve never visited before.  I set out Wednesday morning to drive to the historic district of Madison, GA and meet Angela (Tea With Friends) for our 11:30 tea time.

As soon as I drove into a parking space right in front, I knew this would be a lovely afternoon tea.  The outside was decorated for the Christmas season.

The inside was light and airy and packed with beautiful tea ware, Christmas floral arrangements and gift selections.

The tables with matching Christmas pattern china were lovely – they were set for a large party meeting in the back area of the tea room.  It was obvious that the proprietress, Kathi Russell, has been collecting wonderful tea cups for many years.

 

Angela and I ordered the Queen Victoria London Tea, which is a traditional English style afternoon tea.

The food was delicious with a selection of sandwiches, including chicken salad, cucumber, egg salad, turkey and a tasty mini quiche.  The scones were cranberry and the sweets included a selection of cakes (the lemon square was a favorite).  We were offered the house blend tea that was a fruity currant black tea.

There was an artful arrangement of gorgeous hats to try on and Kathi graciously offered to snap a photo of Angela and I in our finery.

We enjoyed a leisurely visit (we never felt rushed and knew we were welcome to sit as long as we wished), then we shopped for some nice tea items.  We both bought a copy of the book “Tea Celebrations” from Teatime Magazine.

Although this tea room is not close to where I live, it was worth the trip and I hope to visit again soon.

Thank you Kathi Russell – you really do provide a place to “relax and enjoy yourself in the art of civilized  pleasure and taking time for tea”. 

You can see more at Tea With Friends and Madison Tea Room and Garden.

Teatime Fleece Throw

Last time I was at a Jo-Ann craft store, I saw a display of fleece throws in many different patterns.  I was not looking for a throw, but luckily this one jumped out at me.

This comes as a kit with a patterned front panel and a solid coordinating color for the back.  I loved the pink and white stripes with a solid pink back.  The idea is to cut 7 inch strips around the outside of the two pieces and then tie them together to make a fringe.  I decided that this pattern was so cute that I’d sew the throw together and not lose any of the pattern (plus it would seem larger).

My kit looked like it had been dropped and had a slightly soiled area (plus a rip in the cardboard packaging), so I was able to negotiate a bargain price of $8.25 for this originally $32.99 kit.

Has anyone else noticed that these tea theme items always seem to pop up when you are shopping for someone else.  I’ve come across several great tea items while Christmas shopping.  

These lovely Christmas cards were purchased at Ross.  There are nine in each design.  If you check Amazon’s web site under Punch Studio you will find many other beautiful cards, notepads, etc. with teacups or teapots using Victorian ephemera designs.

I can’t believe that I’m not yet finished my Christmas shopping but, on the bright side – I may come across some more lovely bargain tea gifts for me. 

Sewing Seeds Christmas Party

My sewing group (the Sewing Seeds Quilting Bee) had their Christmas party last evening.  Of course the first thing we did once the six of us had assembled, was to dig in to a wonderful spread of finger foods and desserts.

There was such a large selection, it was hard to decide what to put on your plate first.

 

This is a sampling of the desserts.  There was also fruit, caramel popcorn and hot spiced and Tower of London teas.  My contribution was the cranberry scones with lemon curd and a pecan cheesecake pie.

We played a couple of fun Christmas word games and then we had our “stuff a mug” and drawn name gift exchange.

Emalynn had drawn my name earlier this year and boy does she know what I like.  She sewed me a lovely table topper with four matching napkins.  She even made the napkin rings decorated with greenery and little teapots and cups.

Couldn’t wait to use this set for a cozy tea for two.

My “stuff a mug” gift was from Joyce, who happens to be the first friend I made when we moved to this town many years ago. 

She included lots of goodies in this pretty Christmas mug.  I love the Clinique “chubby stick” lip balm that I’d never tried before and all the other items, including a cute bag that she sewed with a unique snap close opening.

This is one talented group of sewers.  There were gorgeous tote bags and casserole carriers and other great items. 

Well, the holiday season is in full swing now.  I have our church party tonight and a company party on Saturday.  Hope you are all enjoying your parties too.