Birthday Gift - Blue and white dinnerware

 My niece and god-daughter is celebrating a birthday and I will be able to see this year!

There is a large box of wonderful stuff ready for her.  

She already knows what is inside so it's okay that it has been identified.

She has just moved into a new house and is working on getting the kids back to school and unpacking and setting up the house.  

I have had this Blue Nordic by Johnson Brothers dinnerware for several years but was not using it to it's full potential.  I want to downsize and when I found out she would love it, it was an easy choice.

I'm not sure she has the piece of furniture in the dining room yet. These good dishes will likely be in their place for Christmas dinner.

I am sure she will enjoy it!

The set includes enough of the pieces for 6 place settings.  The pieces are dinner plates, salad/dessert plates, cereal bowls, soup bowls, and teacup and saucer. They are a family of four so there is enough for one set of grandparents.

The extra pieces include the teapot, cream and sugar and a large serving platter.

I am super happy to have this set going to a good home.

I bought most of it at a thrift store.  I collected tea cups and saucers along the way.  I found the platter at a second hand store. 

I wanted her to have a surprise as well so I made her a linen tea towel and a pale green linen fabric.

My sister and I had a conversation about using linen for bath towels the other day and I managed to find her some linen/cotton fabric she will be trying out. I do have a couple linen tea towels.

This is a perfect color for my niece.  I had a piece just the right size.  Finished size 18 x 27 inches.  I added a hanging loop in one corner and made mitered corners.  On hindsight, maybe the loop should have gone in the middle.

During my visit this summer, she expressed wanting a special silver spoon for a lovely container.

She had a small spoon from Air Canada in the other dish and wanted another.  (Remember when airlines actually used real cultery with their in flight meals?) How things have changed but I digress.

I'm not sure what the chances are of finding another Air Canada spoon but this one is quite similar and can work as a stand in until the better one shows up.

Tied it onto the tea towel with the same twill tape.

Recent Snapshots

I bought a set of these small white heart tea cups a while back. In white they will fit into any tables cape I am creating.  My sister has the larger ones which were available from Steeped Tea.  I have included the orange one for October in my 2018 Nice Cuppa Tea Calendar.   I love them.

On my visit to Fabric Frenzy this year I purchased some wide lace with these Tea Pocket Coasters in mind. The are the creation of Stephanie at Enchanting Rose.  You can find the pattern in this post on her blog.

I found a few really nice embroidered pieces at the second hand store recently.  This one fits well on my small table on the balcony.

I found this pink Asian Lily at the community garden the other day.

After seeing my sister with fresh flowers on her table I am inclined to grow a pot of mixed cutting flowers next year so I can have some on my table too.

After participating in the family event recently where some meals were potluck I decided I should have picnic dishes to cut down on waste doing to the landfill.

Last week my sister hit the second hand stores and I found these.  Turquoise is certainly one of my summer colors.  A plate, bowl and glass were included. I have added the set of cutlery I used at work.  Now that I am retired, they can be pressed into service in a different way.

I recently bought myself a Contigo Water Bottle. I am sure the quality of the bottle will be excellent.  It is 24 oz which is perfect for me.  A little heavy to carry full of water but it really meant for the car.
I have had their Stainless Steel Travel Mug for quote a while with no spills.  We had a lot of them at the family event and had to manage which one belonged to who.

This is the photo shoot I planned for yesterday but it rained all day so it was done early this morning.

Tea with Raspberry Bavarian.  This is a recipe my Mom made often when I was a home.  She had a large raspberry patch so this time of year this dessert was on the menu.  Served in a small fluted glass dish with a chocolate wafer and set with silver teaspoon.

A frosted vase filled with roses.

I selected my pink Sadler teapot with Roses and Forget Me Nots which is 1937-47 vintage. The Colcough pink tea cup I found to go with it has pink roses and periwinkle blue Corn Flowers filled with Raspberry Tea.

 
Raspberry Bavarian

1.25 cup of raspberries
.25 cup of sugar
Cook these till berries break down.
1 envelope of gelatin softened in .25 cup of cold water. Set bowl over hot water to liquify.
Add to the raspberries and cool in the fridge to set gelatin. This will not be a very firm consistency.
2 egg whites beaten - add .25 c. of sugar
.75 c of cream beaten - add .25 c. of sugar
Mix egg whites and cream together. Then fold into the raspberries and refrigerate to set.




Sharing with the following:

Monday Mosaic 50 hosted by Maggie at Normandy Life.

Through my Lens 104 hosted by Mersad Donko

Tuesday Cuppa Tea hosted by Ruth

Bernideen`s Tea Time

Friday Hunt V1.3

C is for Coffee Spoons - I've been looking for some small silver plate spoons to use while I serve tea.  These can be used to stir tea in a tea cup, serve jam or jelly, or to add sugar to the tea. When I went through my Mom's collection I kept my baby spoons and one from on a trip my Mom and I took many years ago.  I had hoped to find several in a similar simple pattern and a recent trip to the thrift store delivered. 
The left one is made by 1847 Rogers Bros, the pattern is First Love, and it's a coffee/demi tasse spoon which is smaller than the tea spoon. The pattern was manufactured from 1937 to 1973 which makes the spoon at least 43 years old.  I got 11 of them so that will be enough for my needs. 
The centre one is by Oneida Community silver plate, pattern is Affection and the pattern was produced starting in 1960.
The right one is made by Viners of Sheffield - England, pattern is VS34, and not sure when it was made. 

My favorite is a glass tile I bought a thrift store.  I loved the image of doors and a tile floor. It's glass on ceramic I think.  There's no tag or any documentation so I'm at a loss.  It's shiny and really pretty.

Inside: It is very cold outside and I have been feeling under the weather. This is the corner on my sofa where I spent some time this weekend. With meds I should be feeling better soon.


Joining Friday Hunt V1.3 hosted by Teresa at Eden Hills

Mosaic Monday - Recent Buys

I attended the large Christmas Craft Sale in our city in recent days.  I was doing some Christmas shopping to get a few items crossed off my list.  Unfortunately, I did not even photograph the gifts I bought as they were prepared for delivery to arrive before Christmas. I did buy myself a few things.  The shelf in the top picture will replace a coat rack I use in my bedroom.  It will free up floor space which is a good thing.  The silver spoon pendant is something I've been looking for for some time and it was there.  I will have to find a chain to go with it.  The turquoise leather pouch replaces the one I carry in my purse as an organizer.  The zipper was broken on the other one and I wanted to safe guard the contents so a new one was in order.  The turquoise color was a bonus.  The white china tea bag holder and the Crooners Christmas CD were thrift store finds. 

Submitting to Mosaic Monday hosted by Judith at Lavender Cottage.