Sylvia's Simple Shots

We had an April snow storm on Saturday.

 It started about mid afternoon and  went into the late evening.

Heavy wet snow and you can see the wind was blowing pretty hard as well.

The sun on Sunday melted a lot of it but there was still some around this morning.

It will provide nice slow drink for the earth so that is a good thing.

Check out these beauties!  I found these at the thrift store a couple of weeks ago.   These were sold in Teavana stores.  A teapot and 4 cups and saucers. 

Teavana Yellow Bone China Tea Cups & Saucers - Noble Poppy with Gold Trim.  The set sold for over $100 which explains why I never purchased it.

I was thrilled to find these in perfect condition for under $10.  I have paired them with my French Cobalt Blue glass plates and gold tea spoons.  Perfect!

I have finally culled my frame collection down to what I need.  

I found this beauty during the process.  This was painted by my aunt many years ago.  

Beautiful watercolor and I have missed enjoying it because it was in a box and I did not even remember having it.

It has been framed and put up to be enjoyed.

 

 

Here's my latest choice for snacks.

Yummy yogurt with no sugar added and in just the right size!

Blueberry and Banana.

Perfect when I want a bit of sweetness after my meal.

 

I still make greeting cards and during a conversation with my sister we talked about these new embossing folders by Stampin Up. 

The one she wanted was on clearance so we should order right away or she may miss it.

I chose to purchase a couple of them for myself. 

Loving the 3D Painted Texture one.  I have already used it.

Will try out the scripty one tomorrow. I have too much cardmaking tools as it is but I broke down and bought a couple more.

The challenge at Flickr Macro Mondays this week was pairs.  Here I have photographed a pair of yellow earrings. They look maybe '50s or '60s style.  You can check out what I submitted on my Photostream (SMDPics)

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #126 and with 

Mersad who hosts Through my Lens #284.
 

Have a great week!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

Spring is here!

The birds are pairing up, preparing nests and getting ready to have nestlings.  

I hope this pair selects this nest so I can observe them raising their family.

I can see it from my living room window.  

Here's hoping!

I finished this book on the weekend.  The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks. I can always count on this author for a good read.

The Best of Me tells the story of Dawson and Amanda, two former high school sweethearts who find themselves reunited after 20 years apart, when they return to their small town for the funeral of a beloved friend.

They have both experienced challenges in life and now in their mid forties are asking the "what if" questions. 

I enjoyed the book and as usual there is a surprise ending! 

Easter spent home alone again this year!  This is getting old.  I get it as we are in our third wave of COVID pandemic and the numbers are rising like crazy due to the variants of concern.

I made corn flour pancakes with egg and cheese.  I treated myself to a Earl Grey tea - which I may be sorry for later.  It's early in the day.  I served it in a newest bone china tea cup by Teavana.

I was lucky to find 2 of the Noble Poppy Yellow Bone China Tea Cups at the thrift store on Tuesday.  Works really well with my French Cobalt blue dishware.

 

I have some new to me art for my walls.  This is a painting by my aunt.  You can find her art here.

She was clearing out some old paintings and put the word out.  This is the one I selected. 

It is hanging in my front hall.

I colored some eggs for Easter.  

I used Nick Bantock acrylic ink in Prussian Blue, Damson Purple and Chrome Yellow.  I filled small glass holders with color and placed the egg in it. I put a glass plated on top to keep them submerged.

I put them on a metal grid plate to dry.

I placed them on a small saucer to photograph them in my studio.

Flickr Macro Mondays' challenge was Trash this week.

This was a very interesting challenge.  In the photo on the left I have a pear sticker, onion skins and a lemon which I squeezed to make Lemon Vinaigrette.

You can check my Flickr photostream (SMDPics) to check out the shot I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #125 and Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #283.

Welcome to my Kitchen

We had fellowship again with our group - Welcome to my Kitchen. 

Our hostess provided a wonderful array of goodies.

Tea served in Royal Albert Mug.  This set of mugs is part of the 100 year anniversary launched in 2006 and updated in 2016.

I love large mugs and bone china is always so nice.

Snacks included home made bread toast with Apricot and Raspberry jam.

Fresh fruit including strawberries, pineapple, melon, and grapes.

Lemon loaf with real lemon zest in it.

Yogurt in a variety of flavors.

There was tea biscuits and small muffins.

Devotions was on Psalm 136 which reminds us that we are always loved.

We had a really good time and raised a few dollars for missions.

Our numbers were down this month to 13.  Every one had a good time.

Turquoise and Red China Mug

I started with this set of dishes this morning.

The salad plate is by IKEA and features a large white flower outline with a few hits of red petals. 

I paired it with a Cashmere red and white fine bone china mug by Maxwell and Williams which features very similar lines as the plate.

I chose Battenburg lace doilies and a turquoise napkin on a linen tablecloth.

This was breakfast.  I had a whole wheat pancake left over from the other day.
I added a fried egg and some veggies. Mushroom, garlic, red onion and a bit of old white cheddar cheese.  When I use my cast iron fry pan I have to make sure I don`t set the heat too high.  This time the veggies worked out really delicious.  I hope I can duplicate it again next time.








I added a red rose in a small white ceramic vase to repeat the red.  Would be nice to have real flowers in that size but not going to happen.




The tea this morning was Rooibos Cinnamon Chai by David`s Tea. A gift from my niece for my birthday last month.

It was good with a bit of honey and some cream.

I had a bit of raspberry compote which I made earlier which is berries, a bit of sugar and some regular gelatin.  It will be Bavarian but I did not have whipping cream so I will have go shopping to complete the recipe.

I just poured regular cream and served it in this small glass dessert dish.  I bought a couple of these recently and I am very happy with them.  Helps me keep portions on the small side.
I added a Simple Pleasures Cranberry Citrus cookie.  Was great with my second cup of tea.


Sharing with
Bernideen`s Tea Time - Avonlea

Tuesday Cuppa of Tea - hosted by Ruth

Tea Cup Thank You

I printed the photo onto 4x6 photo paper.  I trimmed it to 3.75 x 5 inches.  I selected a warm light pink card and adhered the photo to the front.

I stamped my greeting from the Stampin Up Simply Sketch set with Always Artichoke ink onto Pretty in Pink card stock.  I then punched the greeting with the SU Artisan punch aligning the greeting in the top half.  I trimmed the bottom half so that I had a straight edge to place it along the bottom edge of the photo.

Sharing with the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Summer Blog Hop.

I made this card for a friend who lent me this tea cup, saucer and matching bowl for my 2018 Nice Cuppa photo tea calendar.  It is marked Luxford Fine Bone China made in England.  I was not able to find the name of the pattern.

Search for a Pink Tea Cup

This is a long post with a lot of pink. Proceed if you are intrigued I promise it has a happy ending.
Here we go!

I was gifted this pink tea pot by my aunt in July 2016 who had been given it by a relative years before from a vintage shop.
It is vintage, the maker is Sadler, it is a lamp shape pink teapot with pink roses & periwinkle Forget-Me-Nots with gold trim and my research suggested it is 75 years old.  I did include it in my 2017 Tea Time Calendar with a Regency White tea cup and saucer by Johnson Brothers.
The quest was on to find a tea cup that matched the teapot well.  Based on my internet research Sadler did not make tea cups so how to find a match on this pattern?

The cup should at least have pink roses blue flowers and gold trim I thought to myself.

I thought the teapot was a warm pink until I bought this tea cup and discovered it was not really warm at all as this set has a warm white base.

This set has ROSE BOUQUET 22 KT gold border MADE IN ENGLAND F on the bottom. I have not identified a maker.  I have no sense of age on this one.

Having decided a white or pink background would be better I continued my search.

This tea cup & saucer set had white and gold so it was getting closer to what I needed but no roses or pink or blue.

This is a bone china golden wedding anniversary set by Sutherland HM made in England.   I expect that this one is more recent in age.

It was not as good as it could be so I kept my out at thrift shops in hopes of find a better one. I started carrying a photo of the tea pot in hopes of being able to better match it.

This one had a white background, pink roses and gold trim but no blue so we are getting closer.

This one is bone china by Ridgway Potteries made in England. It has Royal Vale and pattern "N" 8138 on the bottom.  I found one reference that suggested a date in the mid 1960s.

This one would work but I kept my eyes peeled.  Most everyone I speak to regularly knows I'm looking for a cup to match this teapot.  There are many eyes at work.

My aunt gave me this one for Christmas this year and I was thrilled.  It has a pink background that matches well with the teapot, gold trim, pink roses and this wonderful scallop edge but still still no blue flowers.

It is marked Queen Anne Bone China England.  The 'Queen Anne' trade name introduced around 1950 was used until the closure of the Edensor Works in 1966. 

Then this one arrived!  Pink background, pink roses, gold trim and blue bachelor buttons.

This one is marked Bone China Colcough F 4 Made in England.  The mark is reasonably rare but the one place was still researching the mark.  Really no idea how old it is but it's a match which is what counts.

Here's the teapot and tea cup and saucer together.  I think it's a great match and it will make it into my 2018 Tea Time Calendar which I will start shooting soon.

Thanks for reading my long post.  It has a happy ending.  Check out my blog give away on my feature post. 

Sharing at
 Tuesday Cuppa Tea hosted by Ruth.
Bernideen`s Tea Time  

2016 Hot Tea Month - Blog Give Away

Did you know that January is the Hot Tea Month? Yes, according to the Tea Association of Canada it is confirmed.
Enjoy a cup today!

I am working on a collection of tea related photos. (Keep an eye out here for those later this year.) This prompted me get started right away. I set up a navy blue place mat on white table cloth with a bone china teacup and saucer set which repeats the blue.  I set up a clear glass plate topped with goodies.  I made Roobois with Tulis - Lemon Tree tea in my clear tea pot.  This was part of a herbal tea gift set from Tea Desire.  It smells and tastes great!!!

Here's a few excerpts from a Times article.
Real tea is derived from a particular plant (Camellia sinensis) and includes only four varieties: green, black, white, and oolong. Anything else (like herbal “tea”) is an infusion of a different plant and isn’t technically tea.
But what real tea lacks in variety, it makes up for with some serious health benefits. Researchers attribute tea’s health properties to polyphenols (a type of antioxidant) and phytochemicals. Though most studies have focused on the better-known green and black teas, white and oolong also bring benefits to the table.  You can view the full text here.

My favorite loose tea is Roobois Chai.  I've purchased some from nearly every tea company around. The Tazo Joy tea is my favorite Christmas tea.

What is your favorite tea?  Leave me a comment.

At the end of the month I will choose 2 people to receive one of my 4x6 Up Close photo calendars.