Snow is gone & Olympic Theatre Arts play in Sequim

The snow fell...about 12 to 15 inches of the white stuff in a totally unpredicted snow fall. But it was beautiful!  This is about 3 miles away at a farm visible from the road. We headed out to a Parkinson's Disease meeting in Port Angeles 12 miles away and turned back.

This was Friday at the Railroad Bridge Park Trestle on the Olympic Discovery Trail here in Sequim. The sun was out and some of the snow was beginning to melt as the temperature rose. The crunching of tires subsided...a sound I really hadn't heard since moving out of the mountains 7 years ago. Just slushy now. 

 And then on Saturday we went to the Sequim Lavender Grower's Association Holiday sale at Carrie Blake Park in Sequim to find ducks ice skating on the pond. How fun is that! Today...sunny and nearly all the snow has melted. The temperature got up into the 40s so that little storm is gone. BUT...it's a La Nina year, so...apparently we have much to come. It was nice watching it snow with a cup of tea, but it reminded us why we moved out of the mountains!  Hope it's gorgeous where you are!


We went to a performance of the Olympic Theatre Arts today of The Thwarting Of Baron Bollingrew, a holiday play with knights in shining armor, a talking magpie and a fierce dragon confronted by an animal loving knight. Quite fun. The play will run until mid  December.  OTA Theatre Arts. 

I hope you are able to attend a local church or theater performance in your town. A lot of work but a lot of seasonal joy and merriment. We love programs available and see all we can.

Just a reminder...we are having our Cyber Monday 15% off sale until Nov. 30th at Antiques And Teacups with special shipping upgrades for our non US customers.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! May this day be filled with an awareness of blessing unasked for and a time to count our blessings!
Ruth
Antiques And Teacups
http://www.antiquesandteacups.com

Three-Year-Old Boy Finds $4M Pendant in England

What a cutie...and what a find! This 3 year old boy found a 16th century gold pendant.

Read the BBC news story here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-11776113 

Made my day reading about it...but would have liked to find it myself...not that I have a metal detector, or....

We are hoping the roads clear from our blizzard, as temperatures are now almost up to the freezing point...notice I said up to... we are actually approaching 30 degrees, the warmest in 4 days. The weather service has defined the storm as an Inside Slider meaning it slid down the Inside Passage from Alaska and then curved eastward with the jet stream as it headed across Washington state. Our kids in Utah are getting it in Utah at the moment & it is still packing a punch!

So...hopefully can get to the post office to mail orders today and pick up a few things for Thanksgiving.

Have a great day, stay warm and drive defensively...party time is approaching & the roads get crazier. My sympathies for anyone who has far to go for the holiday!

We have a 15% off coupon at Antiques And Teacups until Nov. 30th for the Thanksgiving madness. Use coupon code GIVETHANX on orders over $75.00. Cheers!

Toad In The Hole for tea, English tradition from my childhood

As I prepared dinner last night talking to a friend on the phone I mentioned I was making Toad In The Hole.....dead silence. "You are making WHAT?"  So I figured I'd better explain.

A dish from my childhood for English nursery tea with a funny name, Toad in the Hole is nothing more that Yorkshire pudding cooked with embedded bangers which are sausages to Yanks. The dish has become a fortnightly (2 weeks) favorite for my husband and myself with our hoarded English bangers we can occasionally find at a QFC market or buy at Central Market in Poulsbo, WA coming home from Seattle.

Yorkshire pudding is traditionally served with roast beef, preferably...but no healthily...cooked in the fat in the pan at the end of the roasting time.  Yorkshire pudding becomes popovers when cooked in smaller portions, but it's delicious how ever you cook it. So...here is a recipe I have adapeted to feed the 2 of us from my grandmother's recipe omitting most of the eggs & fat. This can be used for supper with salad and vegetables and can be legitimately served at tea....meat tea or high tea or as a great breakfast dish. It was traditionally a children's dish, hence the fun name.

Toad In The Hole for 2
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees or 400 degrees if convection oven is used. Lightly grease a heavy pie plate...I use a Corning Ware one I treasure.

Break up 1 sausage...preferably an 4-6 inch long English banger but any mild sausage will work...after rmoving the casing...and space around bottom of the pan. You can also use link sausages or kielbasa slices if desired.  Place into pre heated oven for 5 minutes.

In small bowl beat 1 egg and 1 egg white until well blended. Add 1/2 cup milk and beat in. Add a dash of salt and 1/2 cup sifted flour in portions, beating well until well mixed with no lumps.

After the 5 mins, remove the pan with sausage and add the batter all atonce and return the pan to the oven, baking 15 minutes.

Turn down the oven after the 115 minutes to 350 degrees or 325 if convection without opening the door for 15 minutes longer. Remove, cut and serve. If desired serve with butter or margarine and pepper (my favorite).

A cool 20 degrees at the moment here in Sequim, WA with still about 8 inches of snow and roads that will freeze ever harder tonight. Sounds like a good day tomorrow to work on adding items to Antiques And Teacups...if the internet connection stays good. It's been on and off all day. Hope it is nice where you are, and you are preparing for a thankful day on Thursday. Will post a special blog discount for the weekend.
Cheers!

Abraham Lincoln'e Thanksgiving Proclamation 1863

Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863
By the President of the United States of America.
A Proclamation.
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere in the theatre of the military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at seas and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also , with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, comment to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or su fferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of the Eighty-eighth.
By the President: Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward,
Secretary of State 

May you have a special day. We have so much to be thankful for, even in these difficult times.
Ruth 

Irish Belleek Lotus Cream Jug Luster Creamer Delicate

When Irish eyes are smilin'...and this will make them smile! I love Irish Belleek. Made in Ireland since 1857, Belleek has a style all it's own and has become instantly recognizable. The delicacy of the pattern modeling and quality is lovely. I specialize in English china, but I really appreciate the workmanship of Beleek.

I love to put pretty items on my tea table and remembered this pretty Lotus pattern creamer. Perfect for the cream, and an elegant accent to the table. Matched with a teacup with some pale yellow in the floral pattern....lovely and elegant!
Antiques And Teacups has lots of teacups and also lots of cream and sugars. I love varying patterns and creating table collages of different patterns for a tablescape that can be thematic...like all florals...or seasonal...like the fall colors I have been favoring lately to go with the harvest room and table decorations I have at the moment...although that will change this next weekend after Thanksgiving.  So explore new table combos of beloved and beautiful things!

Off to local holiday fairs & bazaars today and then a wedding...with a threat of snow. Should be fun & seasonal! Lots going on in every neighbor hood, so enjoy the offerings and embrace the season of holidays and joy!

Prince William And Kate Middleton Officially Engaged

Prince William and Kate Middleton have officially announced their engagement today, Nov. 16, 2010. Will gave his long time girlfriend the sapphire and diamond engagement that his father Prince Charles gave his mother Princess Diana. You can see the announcement at The Royal Channel at YouTube at this link: Will & Kate

The engagement has been long expected. The wedding is planned for spring or summer of 2011 and the couple will live in Northern Wales where the Prince is serving with the Royal Air Force.  Congratulations!!!

Antique German Berry Ornament Blown Mercury Glass

This Victorian hand made mouth blown Christmas ornament is the most delicate thing! The berry mercury glass ornament was made in Lauscha Germany around 1980-1890 and is as light as a soap bubble. 

The ornament probably was used on a feather tree and has obviously cherished by the generations as few of these still surviv. I absolutely love it and the skill and care that went into making it. Just incredible! The molten glass was delicately blown into a mold, the ornament was silvered inside with mercury and then the gold wash was added to the exterior. They were truly family made with the husband doing the blowing, the wife doing the silvering and exterior painting and the children adding the caps. The longevity of the German Christmas markets proves how profitable the delicate ornaments were to the families and how they have always been recognized as true artists.
For more info and photos of the ornament at Antiques And Teacups, click here:
Blown Glass Victorian mercury Christmas ornament

We went to a concert last night by the Peninsula Men's Gospel Singers and it was super! The group of men from their 30s to their 80s do a great job. They have excellent technique (I'm a former choir director) and love their skill, obvious enjoyment and dedication. They just don't sing they minister! A wonderful evening. You can learn more at their website : Peninsula Men's Gospel Singers

A bit cloudy today on the Olympic Peninsula but lots of Christmas Holiday bazaars to visit which I dearly love. Christmas is my favorite time of the year so I'm looking forward to it! Get out and about and see what the talented folks in your area have to offer. Lots more than you'd realize, I bet! Have a great day!

Necklace Signed Harry Iskin Red Rhinestone Flower Gold Filled

I love vintage costume jewelry and was so excited when I found this at an estate sale recently. This is a signed Harry Iskin gold filled rhinestone necklace that was made between 1930-1953. How so sure? That was the time the company was in business..it closed in 1953. Cool!

The necklace is beautifully made. The back is marked gold filled which denotes a higher quality than gold plated. The necklace has a flower shaped center with hand set red marquis shaped rhinestones and a center of a clear brilliant cut rhinestone. The necklace would be a stunning accent for a holiday outfit in red, black or white or green. Very dressy!

You can see more photos and descriptions at Antiques And Teacups using this clickable link:
Necklace Signed Harry Iskin Red Rhinestone Flower Gold Filled
After deluging rain on Monday...when we had to travel 1 1/2 hours to Seattle for a doctor appt, it has been gorgeous and sunny since then...perfect crisp & sunny fall weather. Hope it's as nice where you are!