Happy New Year 2011 and Welcome National Tea Month, Victoria, BC Tea Festival

Goodness...I haven't seen you since last year!!! And a Happy 2011 to you...now if I can only remember to write 2011 instead of 2010. I find it takes me a couple of weeks (or months) to really have that nailed.

I am looking forward to new experiences, new treasures, new friends, new places and new teas! Also for a few American Picker experiences but without the rust & oil smells. I'll take an antique fair or boot sale anytime...but come to think of it, they can be muddy, but...

To start the new year off right, the National Tea Council of the USA has declared January to be National Tea Month...every month is at our house, but let's get some more folks involved!!!!  I love the way the appreciation of tea has suddenly gone mainstream with the discoveries of all the health properties of tea. My grandmother (and every English Nan worth her salt) always knew that a cup of hot, sweet tea would cure anything! Or...Rosie Lee, if you are into cockney rhyming slang.


According to the website, tea is the second most popular beverage in the world, second only to water. Cool!  Americans drink 50 BILLION cups of tea each year, 40 BILLION cups which are served iced. That's a lot of tea!


So...we boil the kettle and share a cup of cheer, especially this month for National Tea Month. Huzzah!
National Tea Council/ Tea Association Of The USA

And to brew the perfect cup, a teapot by Royal Patrician, England in the pattern Aurora. The pottery closed in 2009, but I had a small stock of Royal Patrician items when we closed our bricks-and-mortar antique & tea items store to go exclusively online several years ago that were packed and stored so I still have some.
Royal Patrician Aurora teapot at Antiques And Teacups


The perfect cup of tea begins with freshly boiled water. Slosh boiling water around the pot to warm, and pour out. Add a spoon of tea for each cup and a "spoon for the pot", add the water and steep to the proper strength. Make sure you then pour the tea through a strainer to stop the tea getting any stronger, and then return to the warmed pot. Add a tea cozy to keep the tea warm and enjoy!


A heads up again for the Pacific Northwest folks...The Victoria Tea Festival in Victoria, BC Canada across the street from the Fairmont Empress Hotel in the Crystal Gardens is February 12-13th.  Tickets are discounted during January and are available on their website. We love going. We go by ferry and have a wonderful time as well as a great meal at our favorite Indian restaurant.


I have a slideshow from a previous tea festival on the left side of this blog.


Victoria Tea Festival Website

Snowmen at my house and 1913 New Years postcard

I realized I had these photos of the mantle which I will leave up with our decorations until Twelfth Night...January 5th in an English family tradition. I had a basically snowman theme this year.

The next snowman that hangs from a wire is from an old friend/artist Charlene Haasha who I have lost touch with. She made this in the 1980s and I just love him!

The next is a cross stitch I did about 10 years ago. The photo had to be taken from the side because of glass reflection so it isn't the best, but you get the idea!

And I'd like to share one of my favorite New Year antique postcards from Antiques And Teacups. It has another of my well loved vignettes. The lettering is all in metallic gold and is hard to read, but such a pretty, embossed postcard printed in Germany by Davidson Brothers and postally used in 1913 mailed from New Hampshire to Maine. So neat!

To see more of the postcard visit: New Year postcard
I hope you all have a wonderful New Year celebration. My husband and I lie in bed each New Year's Eve and pray about the year to come. We ask for the Lord's guidance and protection and thank Him that, as the old song goes "We know who holds the future...". We thank Him for His grace, mercy and provision and thank Him for family and friends. That includes you!


Happy New Year!

Teacup Thursday Bavarian Teacup Trio and New Year Postcard

Good morning! Party cloudy, 30 degrees and time for tea! Today for my Teacup Thursday choice I have another of my favorites...a retro Bavarian teacup trio or cup and saucer with matching plate I have at Antiques And Teacups. The Bavarian area had several outstanding potteries in the 1940-1970s that produced distinctive, modern designs and shapes. I love this one for the bold yet elegant mid century design. The set was made by a company with an obscure logo of crossed swords and initials PMK which I haven't been able to identify yet.


The modern design just seems to go with the New Year for me, somehow.
You can read more about it at this link: Bavarian modern teacup trio

And a Happy almost New Year to all! To go with the modern Bavarian teacup trio I want to share an early 1906 New Year postcard by Ullman Manufacturing. Antique and modern for a fun contrast! This card pre dates the divided backs and also has the distinction of being heavily glittered, of which much still remains. The card was mailed from Pennsylvania to Brooklyn, NY. Bet all the postal workers along the line enjoyed it!

The greeting is just a little hand written signature, From Rae, on the bottom right of the front! Amazing, huh? Something we take so for granted. When this was sent it was the hottest form of technology out there are probably received with oohs and ahhs and amazement! New Year Glitter postcard


Hope your plans are made for tomorrow...noisemakers & confetti at the ready...!  We are going out to dinner at our favorite wood fired restaurant...a splurge, but hey! It's New Year's Eve! Called Alder Wood Bistro and then a fairly quiet evening at home trying to keep the cat calm.


Have a wonderful day and finish up those leftovers!

Always a Teacup Day at Antiques and Teacups with a Shelley

Okay...I was going to wait until tomorrow, Teacup Thursday to add another teacup, but hey! At Antiques And Teacups there is always something I am currently enamored with. This is a Shelley China, England Wild Rose cup and saucer in the Stratford shape that was made between 1940 and 1966 when the pottery closed. I love the modern pink handle and lovely shape. Perfect for my Ty Phoo cuppa. We are presently working our way through a packet of dark chocolate and almond Sandies which are only available during the holidays and they are ADDICTIVE! We usually get a couple of extra packages & dole them out. Wish they were around all year...but maybe it's good they aren't!


It has been snowing on and off what we call corn snow...bits like small soft balls that have been formed this way as they fall into warmish air. It's in the 40s and expected to be the warmest day for several days...the next 2 days highs are in the low to mid 30s. But as long as the tea and cookies hold out...who cares!


A quote from a favorite book..The Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden, 1906 written and illustrated with water colours in Gowan Bank, Olton Warwickshire (not far from my husband's birthplace)

December 28th

Bright and clear, more heavy snow storms are reported from all parts of the country accompanied in some places by thunder and lightning. Skating has commenced in the fens

Tea Cup Tuesday Adderleys Spray No. 96 Teacup Trio

I love old china...have loads of it both in my home and in my shop. Receiving my English grandmother's teapot and tea cups at age 16 is what got me into antiques and  not too long after got me into the antiques and collectibles business. The are such practical, holdable works of art and joy!

This is a teacup trio or cup and saucer with matching plate that was made by Adderleys, England between 1906 and 1926. The pattern is Spray No. 96, and is rosettes of roses, pansies and forget me nots on molded bone china with gold trim. I just love the chintzy feel of the pattern. So feminine and pretty. I just know my tea will taste better in this!!! I can just picture an Edwardian tea party with the table set with this china and the ladies in their long dresses discussing their beaux and the current gossip over afternoon tea. Lovely!

I forgot! Goose Or Swan porcelain napking rings, Goose or Turkey and Camden Town

You know, I am really kicking myself because I forgot I had these last week. My blog friend Lady Estelle was doing a lovely series on the Twelve Days Of Christmas on her A Modern Day Victorian Lady and I meant to post a photo and forgot! These little guys are porcelain, hand painted and so cute. Sigh...better late than never, I guess. They can be seen at Antiques And Teacups.


On a sadder note about swans, the weather in England has been so unusually cold that the swans and geese are freezing into the ice and are unable to feed and are having to be chipped out an rescued. Many have starved to death. A sad fall out of unusual weather you don't think about.


During the Victorian era in England, a goose was much more affordable than a turkey, hence the Crachit's meagre Christmas dinner where Bob Crachit quips, making the best of it as he was wont to do, Now the only decision is whether to put the stuffing in the goose or the goose in the stuffing! And who can forget the prize turkey as big as the boy that the transformed Scrooge sends to the Crachit home in Camden Town. We've probably been right past their house...a favorite place for antiquing at the Camden Market, Camden Passage and the Horse Hospital. No, really! That's what it used to be.


Off for a cup of tea. Just what's needed on this damp afternoon. Cheers!

Christmas Mice cookies at Prim Rose Hill, antique postcard and Framed on PBS

I had to share these darling and imaginative Christmas Mice cookies I found on the blog Tea At Prim Rose Hill on the Dec. 24th post. I couldn't believe how cute they were! The recipe is there as well...as well as lots more wonderful recipes. I have become a follower...now we'll just see how many things I can make!


I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We are, with most everyone, eating left over turkey, sausage stuffing, sweet potato/apple/cranberry mix with all the other lovely things. After church yesterday we ate at our favorite local restaurant, Sunshine Cafe and then back home so my honey could continue with the English football (soccer) he loves.

I thought I'd share this comical antique embossed postcard from Antiques And Teacups  which made me smile. This card is a B. B. London card printed in Germany and posted in 1913 in Maryland. Rather an appropriate sentiment for the day after the day-after-Christmas sales!

It will be back to adding items to the shop today and rejoicing in the lingering Christmas season. The best time of the year as far as I'm concerned.


Saw a great PBS Masterpiece Contemporary last night called Framed about a disaster in the National Gallery sending a rather antisocial curator and the collection to rural Wales. I really enjoyed it...and no violence or profanity. How refreshing!!!!


Here's a link to an article on the PBS website about the program. If it's on in your area, don't miss it!
Framed on PBS


Have a great day. Rainy here, so what else is new???

Merry Christmas from Ruth at Antiques And Teacups!

A Joyous Christmas Wish

to you and your on this Christmas Eve and tomorrow

From our home to yours

Ruth

at Antiques And Teacups

Teacup Thursday Shelley China Maroon Snowflake cup and saucer

Shame on me....forgot it was Teacup Thursday!!   Not to worry...I have the perfect contribution.

This is a gorgeous Shelley China, England maroon, gold and white bone china teacup and saucer in the Lincoln shape at Antiques And Teacups. The lovely cup and saucer has a gold snowflake overlay pattern and would be perfect with your favorite cup of tea and a few Christmas cookies. 

Taking tea tastes so much better in a pretty cup or mug! This brings a holiday smile to your face! For more info, click the photo!

Sir Walter Scott Poem antique postcard and Christina Rosetti poem

Only 2 more days to go....Christmas is coming...the goose is getting fat...or at least my turkey breast roast is thawing in the fridge!


The antique Christmas postcard for today features a poem by Sir Walter Scott and...of course!...a vignette of a snow scene.

The poem says:

Heap on more wood

The wind is chill

But let it whistle

as it will

We'll keep our Christmas

Merry Still

The postcard is embossed, a B. B. London card printed in Germany and was posted in 1912 to Mr. & Mrs. Allan Richardson in East Kingston, New Hampshire.  

I think these antique postcards are pure joy and love to decorate with them. We don't have a tree in the house this year, owing to our 1 year old male kitten Tinker who is rambunctious and really a teenager and attacks anything that moves. But I have decorated Christmas trees in the past exclusively with antique postcards. When we had our bricks and mortar antique shop (which we closed in 2002 to go exclusively online at Time Was Antiques and Antiques And Teacups) I LOVED decorating for the holidays using various antique items. I did a tree in the front window with antique postcards and carte d visite photos that was featured in local papers for business Christmas decorating. That was so much fun! Did an artificial tree one year will all antique and vintage English horse brasses. Fun!!!

I came across one of my favorite Christmas poems which has also been made into a Christmas Carol with several variations. The poem was written by Christina Rosetti during the Victorian era and I still love it!

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him,
Give my heart.

In the Bleak Midwinter

Christina Rossetti (1872)

Have a wonderful day...don't get too stressed to forget to sit down with a cup of tea and remember the Reason for the Season!

Christmas Greetings Sincere Antique Postcard, Eggnog history and link, Dunoon Santa mug

Todays antique Christmas postcard  from Antiques And Teacups is another embossed German printed card from B. B. London. And guess what...another vignette!! I LOVE them! This has the coziest snowbound cottage by a river with holly surround and includes the verse

Greetings Sincere

May only

Happy Hours unite

To make your Christmas

Fair and Bright

The card wasn't mailed but was used as a Christmas greeting card to Springfield, Illinois. Sigh...so lovely! The date will be around 1910 by the design and marks.

And...an eggnog recipe from delightfulrepast.com that I found on one of my favorite blogs...Jane Austen Today because they focus on my favorite auther Jane Austen. The link, recipe and story is a great read. Thanks Janeites on the James and a Merry Christmas to you & keep up the good work...or blog as the case may be!

Here is a wonderful contemporary Dunoon, England mug with a jolly Santa Claus. The bone china mug is from last year's design by Richard Partis and is really cute. We love Dunoon mugs. For more info click the mug to see the listing at Antiques And Teacups.

Have a lovely and festive evening as the count to Christmas narrows. We watched Patrick Stewart's version of  Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol last night. I think it is one of the best versions. 

What else I think is fun is that Joel Grey is the Ghost of Christmas Past. And years ago when I was in my late teens and early 20s I was in the theater as part of the Harry Zevin theater company and did musical comedies. One of those was Stop The World I want To Get Off with Cyril Ritchard and Joel Grey played Everyman....I was an urchin.  Anyway, every time I see the movie I think about the suppers the cast had after the shows at Circle Star theater in San Carlos, Melodyland Theater in Anaheim and Carousel Theater in West Covina. That was just before I decided theater life wasn't for me & went off and finished my degrees in physical anthro...and then ended up in commercial loan banking, a kindergarten teacher and the musical director of a church with antique dealer loping along concurrently and then taking over when my husband retired. Life is amazing...and we have much to be thankful for!

Christmas Greetings 1908 antique postcard & A Christmas cross stitch I did

This is another wonderful antique Christmas postcard. This embossed card has a snowy Norman church vignette with holly borders and mas posted in 1908 in Buffalo, New York. 

The vignette reminds me of one of our favorite villages in the Cotswolds, Snowshill where we almost got stuck during an April snowstorm a few years ago. We had spent a week in the Cotswolds antiquing and woke our last morning at the cottage we had rented to 6 inches of snow! We were used to driving in the snow, living at 5,000 feet at that time, and realized the rental car had city tires. We were on our way to family. We were in such a hurry to get on the road, I left my favorite pair of jeans in the dresser drawer and didn't remember for a month! Too late...Sigh...

I wanted to post a photo of several Christmas themed cross stitch pictures I have done over the years. This was done in 1976 and has an old fashioned Christmas theme with some gold filaments and french knots. It didn't photograph well through the glass, because of the reflections of the dining room windows opposite. But I thought I'd try. I have several other designs I will share over the next few days as well. They live in the closet over the summer and only come out for the season!


The Christmas rush is slowing down at Antiques And Teacups...sent what may be the last shipment off we can guaranteed to get there by Christmas in the US. Time for a breather. Am drinking a cup of vanilla white tea and had a dark chocolate and almond florentine while my honey was watching Manchester United play on the Fox Soccer Channel with our cat Tinker on his lap. Ah...home comforts!


Have a great day and rememebr to share with those in need in your communities. Found a link to a giving website managed by the Huffington Post called The Cause Store which may give you some extra ideas.

Merry Christmas antique postcard & Martin Gulliver polka dot eggcup

Merry Christmas

My wish

is just a cordial

one, kind and true

That Christmas be

A happy day for you

  My antique postcard for today from Antiques And Teacups was mailed in 1935 and what a great art deco design...very different from the earlier postcards we have shared. They are such a window on the times! This postcard was sent to Rev. Woodward in Manchester, Conn from Florida...obviously a snowbird!  You can see more info on the card at: art deco 1930s lavender Christmas postcard

I love the way the English do things...guess that's because I was raised that way...and have been a big fan of boiled eggs in eggcups having been raised on "eggies & soldiers", or soft boiled eggs served in an eggcup accompanied by toast cut into narrow strips that fit into the top of the egg to dip into the yolk which you finish before eating the white. So...I loved this unusal modern English set of a tall eggcup and small under plate. The plate won't work for the soldiers, but it will be great for drips.

The eggcup and matching plate set are by English designer Martin Gulliver in primary color polka dots. LOVE it! Here's to breakfast with style! You can read more about it here:

Martin Gulliver polka dot eggcup

It's quite windy here today but fairly clear...no rain until later today. Well...off to the post office with some orders after me egg 'n soldiers! Have a great day!

A Happy Christmas 1910 antique postcard Poinsettias and gold & Bavarian 3 tier holiday server

Our antique postcard feature of the day from Antiques And Teacups is a wonderful embossed card with poinsettias and a gold metallic band with the greeting To Wish Yo A Happy Christmas. The postcard was mailed in Hopkins, Michigan with a Grand Rapids postmark in 1910 and was printed in Germany.

Again, from a simpler time...no street address, just the name and city. How fun is that! The greeting is still the English version A Happy Christmas but that was about to change with the growing popularity of Merry Christmas.  Such a pretty design!


For more info, or other Christmas postcards, visit:
Antique Poinsettia postcard at Antiques And Teacups

And a perfect server for your gingerbread men and snickerdoodles, here is a great 3 tier Christmas design server made between 1946-1975 by Christian Seltmann, Bavaria Germany in a great holly pattern. The design is a pretty and it is so functional. I love things that can be taken apart for off season storage. It makes it so much easier!


You can see more about the 3 tier server on Antiques And Teacups at this link:
Seltmann Bavaria Holly 3 tier server


Enjoy your day...hope you aren't someone with disrupted holiday plans with the various weather issues out there. We are dry and sunny today in Sequim, Washington although 35 degrees at the moment. Now have to figure what to make for dinner with some leftover chicken....but there is always some dark chocolate peppermint bark left, so life is good!!! 

Antique Christmas postcard of the day at Antiques And Teacups Victorian Celery Vase

Time for our daily antique Christmas postcard at Antiques And Teacups. The card today is another B. B. London German printed postcard that was mailed in 1914. The embossed Christmas card has a lovely verse to go with the depiction of a cozy fireside chair. For more info visit:
Postcard Christmas Greetings Hearth Chair Poem 1914

The poem reads:

Christmas Greeting

and remember

When you've nothing

more to do

There's a chair before

the Fireside

And a Welcome warm

for You

     And thinking about Victorian Christmas dinners----which I was earlier this morning---I want to share a mid Victorian flint glass celery vase. The Victorians were famous for having a separate server for everything, and that includes the humble celery. Celery was cut and served in a celery vase with ice or if not available cold water to keep it crisp and fresh. The EAPG or Early American Pattern Glass celery vase in the Loop or O'Hara pattern and Tulip shape would have matched the other glass at the table and although humble, the celery vase was a well made piece of flint crystal. How fun!

     Today, many are used for actual vases and make great decorative accents! Considering this one dates to 1850-1870 it's had a great life and isn't done yet! LOVE those Victorians!

   

To find out more visit:

Victorian EAPG Flint Glass Celery Vase Loop Ohara Tulip Shape

     Today is going to be sort of a kick back day...my honey is watching non stop English football matches (soccer to Yanks) and I think I'll do some baking. I also want to finish the Christmas cards that need to go to England...I'm a bit late, but they will be there on time. Wind and rain today, and a Christmas party with friends to look forward to this evening. Hope your day is as filled with seasonal activity and warmth (literal and figurative)!

Antique Christmas postcard of the day at Antiques And Teacups

Well life hit back yesterday and busted my daily schedule to pieces yeaterday, so I didn't get back to post my daily antique postcard. Sigh...but it was serendipitous as well, so that's all right. Met new friends over tea and got a candy cane from Santa! What more can one ask for during the holiday season!!!

I think this is such an elegant Christmas postcard with the English greeting A Happy Christmas. The embossed postcard has silver metallic, a snow scene vignette...I love vignettes...it's why I love the Aesthetic Movement Victorian items as well. The postcard is another B.B. London design printed in Germany where the best were made at that time and was postally mailed in 1914 in Wilton, Maine. LOVE it!!!

Amazing to think the world was small enough that it was written in pencil and just addressed to Mrs. Raymond Moody, Wilton, Maine and that was enough. Probably everyone in town knew everyone else.  We lived for a number of years in a small mountain community of 1700 during the winter and pretty well knew everyone in town. Sort of like that...but no longer the case for most of the country.
To see the postcard at Antiques And Teacups click here:


Happy Christmas Embossed Postcard Best Wishes Snow Ivy


Off to do a bit of last minute Christmas shopping, and maybe a bit of antiquing as well...you never know! Have a wonderful day, enjoy the serendipitous happenings in your day and stop to enjoy the glitter of the Christmas decorations...who knows...Santa may hand YOU a candy cane!

Happy Birthday Jane Austen, The Boston Tea Party & Teacup Thursday!!

 

       Happy birthday to Jane Austen...235 years old today! One of my all-time favorite authors! I have a large omnibus volume of all of her novels and reread it once a year.  The recent crop of novels that have been dramatized on film or TV have been wonderful...I remember my husband seeing the first televised version of Pride and Prejudice in a B&B as we traveled. He had mildly scoffed at my love for the novels but was very impressed by the story and characters and has willingly seen all the versions...including all the remakes & repeats on PBS. We loved the recent Lost In Austen series as well.


This Birthday blog party was started on the Jane Austen For Today blog and please visit there for more great participating blogs and for more info on the life and works of the birthday girl!

   
   Today is the anniversary also of the famous Boston Tea Party...The Boston Tea Party was a protest by colonists in Boston, a town in the British colony of Massachusetts, against the British government and the East India Company that controlled all the tea coming into the colonies. And we all know how important tea can be!  On December 16, 1773, after officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor.  A date and act that has indeed acquired a life of it's own.   


   But I always think...what a waste of tea...was it assam? Darjeeling? Lapsang souchong?.....

   For Teacup Thursday today, I chose a pretty Queen's China by Rosina English bone china cup and saucer in the Christmas Rose pattern,  which is a bit different than the usual red and green we traditionally think of as Christmas designs.  
    The Christmas Rose is actually not a rose but a member of the Ranuncula family called Hellebore but do resemble many wild roses. The Christmas Rose blooms in the winter, hence the association with Christmas and are used in England much more than here in the USA for seasonal decorations. Very pretty. 
You can find out  more about the Christmas Rose cup and saucer at Antiques And Teacups here:
Christmas Rose Cup And Saucer


   I'll be back a bit later today with my Christmas postcard for the day! See you soon!