❤ January 17th, 2012 ❤
Well, it's raining here now ... the morning snow has mostly melted, and now it's just a dark, drizzly afternoon. Yes, the weather is lousy, but I've decided to just romance the whole thing and pretend I'm living somewhere in England ... Winters are wet and chilly there, yes?
Weather aside, it's easy to pretend such a thing with the beautiful cup and saucer set shown above. This was a very thoughtful and generous gift from my friend Emma from Norway. She and her children picked this set out for me and had it sent to me for my birthday - and it did indeed arrive on my birthday! (As I said to Emma, it's always fun to receive packages, but never moreso then on one's birthday!)
And isn't it just lovely? The cup is just the right size and delicate shape (reminiscent of my Gram's Irish china, the cups I drank tea from as a child) and the wide saucer plate allows for a sizable snack. Which is just what I did - I allowed myself a sizable snack. ;)
And my snack today (besides the Earl Grey tea), is some lavender-scented shortbread from Dancing Deer, a Boston-based cookie company. We send our non-local relatives gift packages from this company at Christmas, and we have always been thrilled with their service. And of course, the cookies are delicious! (They make brownies, too.) You can find them at Whole Foods - I recommend the molasses clove cookies, especially.
Now, I have to show you a couple of things before I wrap up ... one, is the "new" secretary we now have in our dining room. This is where I keep my new teacup set - along with some other special items:
This handsome piece of furniture (and I'm not sure it's actually a "secretary," maybe its called something else) belonged to Bill's grandmother, and it's long been residing in our basement storage. (For shame, I know!) But with our new dining room coming together we finally have a place for it. It looks especially nice with our dark dining table, and I just love how it looks set against all that yellow!
And something else really quick - here's the pile of books that are thoroughly distracting me from what I should be reading:
Most of these are Christmas and birthday gifts, but one is from the library and one I've owned for years. (You can probably tell which one that is - the one with the creased binding!) All are tempting reads on a quiet winter's day ... and links will be found under "Mama's Reading" - a sidebar list I'll get up soon.
I also must point out the glowing angel candle in the righthand corner. My parents gave her to me for my birthday - she turns herself on when it gets dark, and then shuts off again after five hours. I find her light so soothing!
Well, my friends, I hope you've all had a nice Tuesday but I must be off. (I bet you knew I was going to say that, didn't you? ;)) My tea break is over and next on my agenda is ... starting the dishwasher, popping a lasagna in the oven, and then jumping into a nice hot shower - I have a new soap to try out!
So have a great night, everyone ... I'll see you again soon!
❤
My mother has that same secretary. I just love it. I believe it was her grandmother's. When I was small, I loved opening the desk and looking in all the tiny drawers and cubbies. There was usually Juicy Fruit in there. :)
Jennifer
Posted by: Jennifer | January 22, 2012 at 04:45 PM
Hi Dawn,
What a lovely cozy post! Everything you shared with us was so nice to read...and to look at. I hope you'll share what you think of the book "Where Woman Cook - Celebrate". I have been wanting to read that too and would love to hear what you think.
Love,
Mary
Posted by: Mary | January 20, 2012 at 07:11 PM
The first part of this post made me laugh so much - I live in England and it's very grey and wet out there today!! I love your blog by the way, but am appalling at remembering to leave notes. Sorry! Hannah
Posted by: Hannah | January 18, 2012 at 06:58 AM
Hi Dawn
Yip - it is wet and rainy here in England today! Although we have had a great run of 4 clear days - but lots of frost! we live in Lancashire where Downton Abby is set! I LOVE that series and wouldn't miss one episode. We are slightly ahead here - waiting for season 3 to come out now.
Lovely tea today! Such a pretty cup and saucer.
Posted by: Shirley Ann | January 18, 2012 at 04:32 AM
Oh my. That is such a lovely tea set. I hope you enjoy MANY cuppas and sizable snacks with it.
We love Dancing Deer here too :) There's a local shop that sells yummy specialty treats and Dancing Deer is there in force. yum.
Lemon cookies and Irish tea for me today. Probably tomorrow too. lol
Posted by: Penny | January 17, 2012 at 10:38 PM
What a lovely tea. Unfortunately our schedule around here has change, so Tuesday's aren't going to work for me anymore. Shame, because I did so love the sound of "Tuesday Afternoon Tea". So now I'm moving our weekly tea time to Wednesday. I'll have to think up some clever name for it. I'll try to post and link on Wednesday afternoons.
Posted by: Kimberly Lottman | January 17, 2012 at 09:08 PM
I thought the secretary looked familiar, so I looked over in the corner, and sure enough, we have one that looks exactly the same (ours belonged to my husband's grandmother as well!).
I find myself doing something similar on chilly, rainy days--we get them infrequently here, as winter is our dry season, so on such days I have fun making a high tea for dinner and using the teaset from my husband's (other) grandmother.
Posted by: Helena | January 17, 2012 at 08:56 PM
That is a beautiful piece, whatever it's called! And I love the angel candle, how cleaver! We had a wonderful day at home today. My kids even found some Christmas presents that hadn't been played to death and played nicely and quietly all afternoon. Now that is heaven!
You can see my teatime here...
http://lingeringlife.blogspot.com/2012/01/tuesday-at-home.html
Now I'm off! Downton Abbey calls!
Blessings!!!
Posted by: Kristie | January 17, 2012 at 08:27 PM
My mom has that exact same cabinet... it was her grandparent's! And she is a tea lover. I'd love to get her a set like that to hold the cup and a snack :)
Posted by: Melissa R | January 17, 2012 at 07:12 PM
I have a china cupboard in my kitchen and I have several tea cups and saucers from my grandmothers and other relatives in it. I love yours- what a beautiful family heirloom piece! Your angel is lovely. I have a few tea light holders I light every evening and it really decreases the evening stress for me.
Posted by: Helene | January 17, 2012 at 06:29 PM
Love your secretary, I have one just like it and it is filled with treasures as well.
Posted by: Arlene Grimm | January 17, 2012 at 05:57 PM
Hi Dawn,
What a lovely tea time you had today. I made an apple snack cake today that would go perfect with tea. I posted the recipe on my blog.
Enjoy,
Elizabeth
Posted by: Elizabeth Quigley | January 17, 2012 at 05:37 PM