I Love Tea Cups

I Love Tea Cups

Sunday, July 31, 2016

It's the Little Things that Matter #9

Hello everyone,
Today is the last day of July.
Tomorrow we will start a brand new month.
I love getting up every morning and starting another day.
I haven't always been so positive about life, but
I am learning it is easier to live for the future 
than look back at the past. 
When I started this series about "It's the Little Things that Matter." 
I wanted to share with you little things to make you smile.
Or the little things that delight me every day.
 And little quotes and sayings to help me convey my message.

I have been working on these goals I mentioned in post#6.
One...I will try to nurture myself every day.
Two...Practice acceptance in my daily affairs.
Three...Live one day at a time.
I have been thinking about even more little things
to be thankful for...
Clothes that fit just right
Good food
A comfortable chair
and another thought is
Always help light the way for others.
Think of it not as your work
or even your purpose,
but as your destiny.
-Jane Almarie Lewis
  
Thank you for visiting
Joyously,
Betty
Linking to

Rustic and Refined for Dishing It and Dishing It
Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday
 The Dedicated House for Make it Pretty Monday 
Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home
Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday
Tuesday Cuppa at Antiques and Tea Cups
Bernideen's BTTCG Blog Party
Friends Sharing Tea at Bernideen's Tea Time Blog 
No Place Like Home at Rose Chintz Cottage 
The Scoop at Cedar Hill Farmhouse 
Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at our Home
A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday 
The Dedicated House for Before and After Wednesday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday 
Katherines Corner for Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life 
Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday
Thoughts of Home at Poofing the Pillows
The Essence of Home for  Show Your Style Thursday
Ms. Toody Goo Shoes for Best of the Weekend

Friday, July 29, 2016

July Garden Journal

Hello everyone,
Today we are going to take a walk around my garden.
Every month I photograph my garden. You 
will see that Summer is slowing moving in the direction of Fall.
The temperature is hot and dry, but we didn't break the record for today.
But, I think 110 degrees is hot enough. 
Yesterday we saw the patio and today we are going to walk out the
back door and over to the pergola area. I hope when it cools down a bit I plan to have a Fall tea time tablescape.  You might see a pumpkin or two. 
Now we are standing on the patio looking East. The black-eyed Susans are blooming, and I have been picking grapes since last week.  The grapes are against the fence.
As you can see, I have some gardening to do. Deadheading the Canna Lilies and Roses is the first thing on my to-do list.  I will be ordering some shade plants and bulbs to plant this Fall and, I hope to move some plants around under the plum tree. Hopefully, I will have a beautiful Spring display in the shaded area next year.   
A closer look at the garden decor and my cat-nip.

We have almost an acre of land in the city. Over the years (48) we have 
developed a delightful and restful place to spend our remaining years.
I planted a pot of impatiens.  The mums in the pots will be blooming in a few weeks and when the mums bloom that is the first sign of Fall.
Thanks for visiting today.
Joyously,
Betty 
Linking to 
Rustic and Refined for Dishing It and Dishing It
Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday
 The Dedicated House for Make it Pretty Monday 
Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home
Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday
Tuesday Cuppa at Antiques and Tea Cups
Bernideen's BTTCG Blog Party
Friends Sharing Tea at Bernideen's Tea Time Blog 
No Place Like Home at Rose Chintz Cottage 
The Scoop at Cedar Hill Farmhouse 
Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at our Home
A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday 
The Dedicated House for Before and After Wednesday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday 
Katherines Corner for Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life 
Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday
Thoughts of Home at Poofing the Pillows
The Essence of Home for  Show Your Style Thursday
Ms. Toody Goo Shoes for Best of the Weekend

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Summer Patio Tour


Hello everyone, 
Well, it's a Hot Summer day to be outside. Our patio is
ready to entertain company, but everybody is in the house.
Last week I bought a pot of nine succulents and a coleus.
The tea cups hold the plump green leaf plants and the colorful coleus found a spot sitting next to the angels in the fern grotto. 
Last summer I found a twin quilted bedspread to cover my OLD swing.
I collect pillows and last year I found a picture with embroidered flowers in a vase, I brought it home and made a patio pillow. I have my favorite pillows on
my Pinterest board. 
We have a swamp cooler, BIG television, and comfy chairs to have afternoon tea.
The French doors go into the master bedroom. Sometimes in the Spring and Fall
I will come outside and lay on the lounge and enjoy a good book or a nap.
I put the tea cups in a galvanized tray I found at Wal-Mart. 
The plants only need watering about once a week. 
I think my choice for the table centerpiece is perfect.
Sometimes I find the neighbor's cat resting on my lounge.
He knows a good thing. I even have some catnip growing
in the garden, he can rub against as he is hunting.

I have a plan to put candles all over the patio and take photos at night.
We have small solar lights placed in plants around the patio and lights hanging from the front of the patio and across our kitchen. At night it looks like far off city lights shining at night. So beautiful to see.
I hope you enjoyed my patio tour.
I hope I have given you some inspiration 
for decorating your outdoor space.
Please pin this mosaic.

Joyously,
Betty 
Linking to
Rustic and Refined for Dishing It and Dishing It
Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday
 The Dedicated House for Make it Pretty Monday 
Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home
Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday
Tuesday Cuppa at Antiques and Tea Cups
Bernideen's BTTCG Blog Party
Friends Sharing Tea at Bernideen's Tea Time Blog 
No Place Like Home at Rose Chintz Cottage 
The Scoop at Cedar Hill Farmhouse 
Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at our Home
A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday 
The Dedicated House for Before and After Wednesday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday 
Katherines Corner for Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life 
Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday
Thoughts of Home at Poofing the Pillows
The Essence of Home for  Show Your Style Thursday
Ms. Toody Goo Shoes for Best of the Weekend
How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday~Anything Goes


Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Wednesday is Puzzle Day #9

 Wednesday is Puzzle Day

Enjoy





Click to Mix and Solve



Thank you for visiting
Joyously,
Betty 

Sunday, July 24, 2016

It's the Little Things that Matter #8


Hello everyone,
I am so grateful today because I have a little potting shed to play in.
I hung a little clothesline across the potting shed to hang my garden gloves.
The other day I bought eight succulents to plant in tea cups.
I will share the patio table centerpiece soon.
I love coleus plants. And this little coleus will be planted
in a terra cotta pot and be right at home in the Fern Grotto.
Little watering cans to decorate the bench of my little potting shed.
He who plants a garden plants happiness.
CHINESE PROVERB
Thank you for visiting today.
Joyously,
Betty 
Rustic and Refined for Dishing It and Dishing It
Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday
 The Dedicated House for Make it Pretty Monday 
Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home
Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday
Tuesday Cuppa at Antiques and Tea Cups
Bernideen's BTTCG Blog Party
Friends Sharing Tea at Bernideen's Tea Time Blog 
No Place Like Home at Rose Chintz Cottage 
The Scoop at Cedar Hill Farmhouse 
Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at our Home
A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday 
The Dedicated House for Before and After Wednesday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday 
Katherines Corner for Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life 
Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday
Thoughts of Home at Poofing the Pillows
The Essence of Home for  Show Your Style Thursday
Ms. Toody Goo Shoes for Best of the Weekend
How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday~Anything Goes

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Tea for Me


Hello everyone,
I've been away this week on a little trip to 
South Lake Tahoe. It has been hot here at home so we decided 
to celebrate our 56th Wedding Anniversary early.
We will be married 56 years on July 17, 2016.
The weather at 6000 feet was 84 degrees compared to
our 106 degrees here at home.
I came home and unpacked and was ready for a cup
of tea. Just for me.

My hydrangeas are fading, but still, doing well under
the umbrella. 
The tea cups and saucers are Delft

Spode dinner plate, unmarked dessert plate, and two delft tea cups and saucers.
My great-grandmother's sterling silverware. 
Fortebraccio Blue and White pottery vase with faded pink hydrangea
blooms. 
I hope you enjoyed my tea for me today.
I hope you all have a wonderful week.
Joyously,
Betty 
Linking to:
Rustic and Refined for Dishing It and Dishing It
Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday
 The Dedicated House for Make it Pretty Monday 
Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home
Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday
Tuesday Cuppa at Antiques and Tea Cups
Bernideen's BTTCG Blog Party
Friends Sharing Tea at Bernideen's Tea Time Blog 
No Place Like Home at Rose Chintz Cottage 
The Scoop at Cedar Hill Farmhouse 
Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at our Home
A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday 
The Dedicated House for Before and After Wednesday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday 
Katherines Corner for Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life 
Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday
Thoughts of Home at Poofing the Pillows
The Essence of Home for  Show Your Style Thursday
Ms. Toody Goo Shoes for Best of the Weekend
How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday~Anything Goes

Monday, July 11, 2016

Banana Bread and Tea


Hello everyone,

Hope you had an enjoyable weekend. I had a delightful one.
I'm going to take a friend some banana bread, but before
I give it away I wanted to taste it. I made three
small loafs of banana bread. I eat one, took a
photograph of one and wrapped one for delivery.
Awile back  at the thrift store I found a
cookbook by GladysTaber.  Called the Stillmeadow Cook Book.
Susan Branch is a fan of Gladys Taber and I can
understand why. Reading the recipes turns back the
clock to my early days of cooking as a young bride
and new mother. The cookbook was first published
in 1965. I was married on July 17, 1960, at the age
of 19. Raising three children in the 60s cooking
was a real job. Without fast food restaurants
 to catch a quick meal and a break from cooking that
I would have enjoyed. Cooking was a chore. Three meals a day,
packing school lunches and sweetheart's lunch for work
I put some long hours in the kitchen every day.
So here is a nice and simple delicious Banana Bread recipe.
 I hope you enjoy.
*************************************************************



Old Hundred Banana Bread
Ingredients
  • 3 bananas
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 3/4 flour
  • 1 tsp soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 3 eggs
Instructions
Blend mashed bananas, sugar and eggs, and shortening. Add nuts. Sift dry ingredients and add to dry ingredients and add to mixture. Mix swiftly,  pour in pan. Bake 
The bananas should not be green, just yellow, flecked with brown at the tip.



I couldn't help stopping for afternoon tea to taste the Banana Bread with 
a little bit of cream cheese slathered on a slice of bread. 

Lomonosov Blue and White Cobalt tea set

I am a little late for the fourth of July with my red, white and blue,
but my roses are blooming again and 'Ingrid Bergman' was begging to
be picked. She is a beautiful and fragrant rose. I wrapped the
bread in a box set I found at Wal-Mart in the baking section. I have
two boxes left. The twine is from Wal-Mart too.
Thank you for visiting.
Joyously,
Betty 
Linking to:
Rustic and Refined for Dishing It and Dishing It
Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday
 The Dedicated House for Make it Pretty Monday 
Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home
Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday
Tuesday Cuppa at Antiques and Tea Cups
Bernideen's BTTCG Blog Party
Friends Sharing Tea at Bernideen's Tea Time Blog 
No Place Like Home at Rose Chintz Cottage 
The Scoop at Cedar Hill Farmhouse 
Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at our Home
A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday 
The Dedicated House for Before and After Wednesday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday 
Katherines Corner for Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life 
Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday
Thoughts of Home at Poofing the Pillows
The Essence of Home for  Show Your Style Thursday
Ms. Toody Goo Shoes for Best of the Weekend
How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday~Anything Goes

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

It's the Little Things that Matter #7

 
Hello everyone,
I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July weekend holiday. 
We celebrated the 4th on the Bluffs at a friend's home overlooking 
the Sundial Bridge. The fireworks were beautiful and 
the weather was perfect for this time of the year.
I have a couple of posts in progress  I
will post them in  a few days.
Today I'm so grateful for the Little Things.
I love grapes. My dad grew grapes and every summer
I would sit around watching television eating the sweet
and delicious grapes.  
I was reading that several grape phytonutrients are now 
believed to play a role in longevity. Since my last birthday
I'm all over longevity. LOL. 
The pomegranate tree has a good crop of fruit this year.
I squeeze the pomegranates and have juice all year long.
Pomegranates juice pack a mighty punch in safeguarding 
our health. Pomegranates contain a unique and powerful
antioxidant called punicalagin. Research has shown the most
 abundant antioxidant provides protection against 
heart disease, cancer, and cognitive impairment.
Heart disease runs in my family and sometimes 
I think I have some cognitive impairment. LOL..
The juice also makes the most beautiful ruby red jelly.
"Of all human activities, apart from the procreation of
children, gardening is the most optimistic and hopeful.
The gardener is by definition one who plans for
and believes and trusts in a future, whether in the
short or the longer term."
SUSAN HILL
from Through the Garden Gate
Joyously,
Betty
Linking to
Rustic and Refined for Dishing It and Dishing It
Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday
 The Dedicated House for Make it Pretty Monday 
Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home
Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday
Tuesday Cuppa at Antiques and Tea Cups
Bernideen's BTTCG Blog Party
Friends Sharing Tea at Bernideen's Tea Time Blog 
No Place Like Home at Rose Chintz Cottage 
The Scoop at Cedar Hill Farmhouse 
Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at our Home
A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday 
The Dedicated House for Before and After Wednesday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday 
Katherines Corner for Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life 
Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday
Thoughts of Home at Poofing the Pillows
The Essence of Home for  Show Your Style Thursday
How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday~Anything Goes

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