Tuesday Cuppa Tea, Easter Tea

Hello and and welcome to my tea themed meme, Tuesday Cuppa Tea! This week I am celebrating Easter...the most important time in the Christian calendar...

I put together an Easter afternoon tea on our tea table in the sunroom yesterday...we had a lovely sunny day, so I was able to photograph it...before the cupcakes were gone!!!

We had a big dining room and entertained a lot when we my husband was pastoring a Calvary Chapel, but after retiring with health problems...a heart condition and what we now know was the onset of Parkinson's Disease, we had to move from the 2 story mountain lakeside house we had inherited to a much smaller home where we are now...with  no dining room. Hence my beloved tea table....I's amazing what I can fit on it! LOL!

I have 3 teacups to tell you about in a bit...but there are also some Easter treats...colored candy Easter eggs, and even a few Hersheys Special Dark Chocolate eggs...in the purple foil. I can allow myself one a day without triggering an allergic attack...a few moments of pure joy!!!

With some cupcakes in Easter pastels from our local That Takes The Cake award winning bakery...and a few of my antique Easter cards and postcards....

The tea for the party is Republic Of Tea's English Breakfast tea...which says it's The Perfect Cuppa...and while it has a nice flavor, is no where strong enough for British tea tastes!

The first teacup is...what a surprise! A Shelley China cup and saucer in the Celandine pattern...

The teacup is in the Lincoln shape and was only made between 1963 and 1966 when the pottery closed....

If you follow this blog, you know how I LOVE Shelley! This teacup is pattern number 14013 with gold trim. The Celandine is part of the Ranuncula family, and is considered a weed by many, but is a popular wild flower in England.

The next of my teacups is by Victoria, a trade name of Cartwright & Edwards, England and dates to the 1930s...

The pattern is called Mandarin and is green transferware on white bone china with gold trim...

Mandarin is a version of the perennially favorite Peony pattern that was made popular in the late 17th and early 18th century by traders bringing back china from the far east...there are hundreds of variations on the pattern, and all are charming!

My last teacup for this tea party is by Royal Grafton and dates to the 1950s...

This is a cheery, sunny yellow with roses...doesn't the color just make you smile?

Oh dear....the last is out of focus...sigh...I am not the world's best photographer. So there are 3 lovely teacups for tea...

My tea table has 2 beloved ornaments as well...both gifts from folks in the congregation we served...a wonderful cross with the scripture:

Let your roots grow down

into Him,

And let your lives

be Built On Him

Colossians 2:7

And a lovely church bird house that I just love.....

Thanks so much for joining me! I hope that the Spirit of Christ will rise anew in your hearts this Easter as we celebrate this most Holy day! 

He is Risen!

Below is the list of some of the blog parties I will be part of and there is the linky for your tea related posts...please remember that it is SSSLLLOOOOOOWWWW but if you are patient...it's there! And I love to read your comments, and can find you to visit!

Mosaic Monday with Judith
 Tea Time Tuesday with Sandi 

A Return to Loveliness
 Tea Cup Tuesday 
 Friends Sharing Tea
 Share Your Cup Thursday

Roses Of Inspiration

An InLinkz Link-up

Tuesday Cuppa Tea, Port Townsend Victorian Heritage Days, Haviland Limoges Teacup

Hello and welcome to the first Tuesday Cuppa Tea of spring! I hope there are some signs of it where you are...

My teacup today is a Victorian era Limoges, France teacup...chosen in honor of the Victorian Heritage weekend...and the afternoon tea at The Consulate Inn...more about that later...

This wonderful teacup is the lovely eggshell porcelain I love about the best French Limoges manufacturers. The teacup and saucer was made in the 1870s by Haviland, GDA or Gerard, Dufraissiex and Abbot, France...I don't know the name of the pattern, but it is gorgeous! Haviland  in Limoges, France was established in the 1850s and was definitely the premier manufacturer of the Limoges region...

This close up shows the heavy burnished trim...actually 22 kt gold, the pretty rose sway design and the gold overlay borders. I have this in both regular and breakfast size.

The circular mark has the initials C. H. Field Haviland , for the son of the Haviland founder David Haviland. An incredible mid Victorian beauty!

For more info on the teacup at Antiques And Teacups click on the photos.

This week end was the annual Port Townsend, WA Victorian Heritage Festival. Port Townsend is about 30 miles from us and a favorite day out destination for us, and calls itself the Victorian Seaport Village as it is on Puget Sound. We went yesterday and had lunch at a seaside restaurant, walked around and generally just enjoyed the ambiance of this Victorian Heritage city with roots in the Gold Rush and lumber industry and then enjoyed afternoon tea at one of the Victorian era bed and breakfasts in town. 

Our local couple who live the Victorian era year round: This is from a newspaper article a couple of years ago that was featured in our local Peninsula Daily News about a couple who lecture on Victorian clothing...but they wear them all the time! Here is the link to the article:

A perfect fit for Victorian lovers

The festival featured all sorts of lectures, a Steampunk Ball, Victorian Pub Crawl with "Shanghai Tunnels" (???),  Insider Historic Building Tours, lectures on the city's maritime heritage, fashion shows and afternoon teas at several of the bed and breakfasts around town, crafts, historical walking tours and all manner of things that celebrate the town's Victorian heritage. 

Here was the schedule for Friday:

• Uptown Walking Tour 2:00pm
  Meet at the Rothschild House Museum (museum admission also included)
• Historical Museums noon-4pm
  The Commanding Officer's Quarters, Jefferson Museum of Art and History, Art Deco Lighting Museum, and Rothschild House are open.Details...
• Sea Shanty Sing-along 7-8pm
  Hastings Building (Corner of Taylor and Water Streets)
• Victorian Pub Crawl 8-10pm
  Leave from Hastings Building (Corner of Taylor and Water Streets)

For Saturday:

General Admission includes all lectures plus admission to the Exhibition Hall.Shaded items below are not part of the general pass.

Time	Events
	Cotton Building	Legion Hall	Other Locales
10:00	Director's Manly Welcome	Expo Hall opens	Steamboat Exhibit: Point Hudson (all day - Marina)
11:00	Strait History: Joanne Pickering
12:00	Sextant & Celestial Navigation: Tom Weiner	Victorian Bicycles: Jack Stebben
1:00	Rigging & Lightering: Brion Toss	Military Cutlass Class: Embassy Arms	1pm Victorian Tea Reservations Required
2:00	Toot Sweet: Clarinet Quartet
3:00	Victorian Corsets: Shape of the 19th C: Cherries Jubilee		3pm Victorian Tea Reservations Required
4:00	Cancelled - Sorry Gatling Gun		Fashion Show First Presbyterian Church
7:00	Victorian Ball - Legion Hall
9:00	Contra Dance - Legion Hall

And for Sunday:

• Up and Downtown Buildings Tour11:00am
  Tour leaves from the Rothschild House, Taylor and Franklin Sts.
• JCHS Walking Tour Downtown 12:00pm
  Starts at Jefferson Art & History Museum (540 Water St)
• Uptown Landmarks Buildings Tour1:00pm
  Tour leaves from the Old Consulate Inn, 313 Walker St
• Insiders' Historical Buildings Tour - Uptown1:00pm
  Tour leaves from the Bishop Victorian Hotel, 714 Washington St

Yeah, too bad...the Gatling Gun demonstration was cancelled...but the teas weren't!

We attended a Victorian Afternoon Tea, as it was billed at the Consulate Inn. 

You were assigned to one of several that participated in the tea event when you purchased your ticket. We were assigned to The Old Consulate Inn and had 12 at the dining room table and had a 4 course meal with tea.

Some of the ladies came in costume from different eras. We had sisters in 1850s bustle outfits, a woman in an 1890s outfit and 2 ladies in 1910 dress. I had a long dress with a lace collar/jabot and antique painted brooch...not exactly period, but... So here are some of the photos from the tea.

The table was set with a complete Limoges set for 12 including bone dishes...crescent side plates....the first course above was baked apple with brandies raisins and pecans...we were all so busy talking, I forgot to take photos of the sandwich course...rats! They were...

Seafood Salad in Puff Pastry

Cream Cheese And Olive on White Bread

Cucumber, Sprouts and Dill on Wheat Bread

Only remembered half way through the scones, cream and jam....

The sweet course....English toffee, lemon glazed cakes and shortbread...

We had a wonderful time and left stuffed!!!!  My DH didn't mind that he was the only male with 11 ladies...and he is certainly capable of holding his own. And as soon as he opens his mouth and the British accent is evident...well!

Some of the lovely furnishings...

Damask wall paper, Limoges game plates and original to the hoouse German hand painted Piano Babies...and the piece d' resistance to me...the parlor chandelier...of Venetian glass...used to be gas but was converted in the 1920s...ordered especially apparently, to coordinate with the original grape patterned stained glass parlor window...gorgeous!

Below is the list of some of the blog parties I will be part of and there is the linky for your tea related posts...please remember that it is SSSLLLOOOOOOWWWW but if you are patient...it's there! And I love to read your comments, and can find you to visit!

Mosaic Monday with Judith
 Tea Time Tuesday with Sandi 

A Return to Loveliness
 Tea Cup Tuesday
 Tea Cup Tuesday 
 Friends Sharing Tea
 Share Your Cup Thursday

Roses Of Inspiration

An InLinkz Link-up