August ~~ Teacup of the Month

My Teacup of the Month plan has been derailed for a while, but with thoughts turning to the beginning of school for many, I thought it might be fun to get back on track.

I won’t be returning to classes this fall, since graduating in December, but my thoughts are with those who are.  I have a niece who is working hard to graduate college within a year.  My oldest daughter, Sara, is also taking online courses while taking care of three children and waiting for the fourth to arrive.  Whew!

I need a cup of tea just thinking about it.  :^)

With the words, back-to-school, my thoughts turn to  reading and writing.  I’m still working on slogging through some G.R.R. Martin.  I’ve spoken before about how much I love to love his characters.  And love to hate his characters, too.  The man sure is a prolific writer.  I think that’s the main point that I would like to learn from reading his books — writing that much!  I hope to achieve that some day.

I am super excited to say that I have written my second novel.  I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo in July and knocked out over 50,000 words in twenty-two days!  It was a great experience and an amazing learning curve.  I’ll write more about that later.

Now, about this teacup.

It’s a mix-match from my odd assortment of cups gathered from here and there.  I love the little saucer with the apples on it.  I couldn’t resist throwing a little nostalgia into the photo setting.  Jacks from my childhood, a marble collection in an old canning jar, a crocheted doily that I tea-dyed, vintage books (the one on the top is an autobiography of Ben Franklin, published in 1910.  I just love finds like that.)  (Thanks to my daughter, Lyndsey, who, by the way, is opening an antique, vintage-eclectic-stuff-shop on the plains.)  WooHoo!  Very exciting development.

And of course, in the photo I’ve included an apple for the teacher.  :^)  It’s my virtual thank-you to all of the wonderful teachers out there, helping to shape and mold the minds of students.  You deserve much honor and praise.

My youngest daughter is beginning her second year of teaching.  Her class is fourth-grade and they will be doing plenty of creative writing with Aubrey.  It’s exciting to watch this new journey unfold.

I would also like to say that since graduation, two of my writer friends and I have formed a writing group.  We’re staying accountable to each other and the writing world by setting goals, checking in, and . . . writing!  :^)

Thanks so much for stopping in and sharing this cup of tea with me.  Please pause to leave a few words to let me know that you’ve taken a moment to stop by.  It is important to me and I do appreciate the time you’ve taken,  because I know that time is often our most valuable gift.

What thoughts come to you when you think of back-to-school?

Read Full Post »

April ~~ Teacup of the Month

Oh, my!  April has almost passed and I’m just getting this posted…and I’m actually procrastinating, even now with what I should be doing.  ;^)  I’m in the final week of my next-to-last semester in professional writing!  Soooo, I’m supposed to be writing!  ;^-  (I am!)  Actually, I tried something new and set up the photos with this post as a draft, then came back and wrote the content later, then scheduled a date to post it — and that didn’t happen.  Hmmm — first time for me and this tiny corner of technology, but I’ll figure it out next time!

April’s teacup is from one of my favorite sets.  My Great-Aunt Lois, my paternal grandmother’s youngest sister, hand-painted this porcelain cup, years ago for me at the request of my mother.  Beautiful dogwood flowers are the theme.  I love to see the dogwoods in the spring.  I usually keep an eye on one spot in the park where I know a dogwood lives.  This year I missed it.  (I’m missing a lot, but that’s okay, because what I’m doing sort of makes up for it.)  ;^)

Aunt Lois and my Uncle Bob lived in New Mexico where I was born and many of my relatives still live.  Now, Aunt Lois and Uncle Bob live less than an hour from me in Oklahoma.  I love to stop in for a visit.  There are always smiles and welcoming hugs.

Each cup in this set is painted just a little differently in pinks, violets, and greens.

Aunt Lois painted a tiny  scene underneath each cup.  Each one of these is different, too.  What a treasure.

I photographed it when my wisteria was blooming, brief, but spectacular.  ;^)

The tea is one of my favorites ~~ a naturally sweet and fruity herbal by Tazo called Passion.  It has hibiscus in it.  It makes a nice hot tea for something different and is really good iced, as well, since we’ve already gone into the 90s in Oklahoma this spring!!!

I hope that you can take a moment to pour a cup of tea, relax for a moment, and take in the beauty of the day.  Thank you for stopping by!

;^)

Read Full Post »

March ~~ Teacup of the Month

A bit o’ the Irish for you — a cheerful mix of white bone china, vintage plates, and my favorite mint tea ~~ all in a field of clover.

My favorite Irish lullaby ~~ as my grand-daughter Annabelle sings it to her little brother, Jude, and baby sister, Vivienne ~~ taught by her paternal grandmother:

O’er the seas and islands,

Many years ago,

My mother sang a song to me

A song so sweet and low ….

Tura Lura Lural

Tura Lura Lie

Tura Lura Lural

It’s the Irish Lullaby.

To you ~~ My favorite Irish Blessing:

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

And the rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

Happy March and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Read Full Post »

February ~~ Teacup of the Month

A Spot of Tea and a Valentine Wish for You, My Friend!

Come on in and settle into a comfy chair and let’s chat for a few minutes.

I enjoyed setting up this little vignette for my February Teacup of the Month.
The pink teacup is another favorite (and I made sure it was a TEACUP this time, not a MUG, for my friend, J., who shall remain nameless ;^) )

A TeaCUP ~~ Not a Tea MUG! ;^) haha

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and I’m having fun planning what little tokens of love I’ll send to my grandbabies. (Romance doesn’t really fit into my life at this juncture.) I know I’ve told you before ~~ I have a sign in my kitchen that says, “Forget love … I’d rather fall in chocolate.” And I would. ;^) Except I love love love my family and my friends. ;^)

This pink rose teacup is a gift to my daughter, Aubrey, actually ~~ from one of our dear, mutual friends. I’m the lucky one who gets to keep it in my china hutch. ;^)

The saucer is a vintage find that my antiquing, junque-ing, artist/daughter tracked down. ;^)

So, pink and red and fluff and sweetness ~~ yay for them! ;^) I’m not IN a romance (fine and dandy,) but I’m INto romantic stuff. Stuff being the key-word. ;^) I love pink. I love roses. I love cherubs. I love tea. Oh, you know that already. And this tea is a gem. It is Rose Tea by Sandy Clough. My daughter went to a home-party some time back and bought it for me, along with Chocolate tea! I don’t believe that it is available any longer. I hope I can find a replacement, because this one is soooo good. Mmmm ~~ a nice black tea with a hint of rose petals.

ROSE tea! I need to find more!

Now, a word or two about February birthdays ~~ today is my brother, Richard’s birthday. Happy Birthday to him! In two weeks, it’s my brother, Tim’s birthday. Happy Birthday to him! In a week after that, it is my parent’s 57th anniversary! Wowee! Talk about a record-breaking romance! They win the prize. ;^) Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad, and thank you for the visible proof that true love does exist. ;^)

Happy Birthday to you, too, if you have a February celebration coming up!

I hope that you have a Happy Valentine’s Day ~~ or if you prefer to be grouchy about it ~~ well ~~ enjoy that, too. ;^) (May I recommend a spot of rose tea and a vat of chocolate?!) ;^D

Thank you so very much for stopping by. Please say “hello” and tell me what you think about Valentine’s Day. Or Chocolate. Or Romance. Or NOT romance.

;^)

Hugs,
Miss Cynthia

Read Full Post »

January ~~ Teacup of the Month

Sometimes the simple things bring the most joy.  This is what I have in mind, while bringing a new feature to my blog.  As you may guess, I have quite a gathering of teacups and teapots at my house.  And the tea is always overflowing.  ;^D

So, I thought that featuring a teacup of the month might be fun.  I’ll also showcase one of my favorite teas at the same time.

I had such a good time creating this still life photo.  I selected a new cup that I received for Christmas and took it to my mother’s to photograph it with some of her cardinal collection.  (If you think my teacup collection is large, you should see her cardinal collection.  Vast does not begin to describe it.)

So ~~ here you see a vintage photo of cardinals and some of the other fun items with my “I ♥ Grandma” cup that my grand-daughter, Annabelle, gave me for Christmas.  Annabelle is eight years old and she selected this cup at her school’s Christmas store.  She’s so thoughtful and sweet.  I love that she thought of me and chose this gift by herself.  She even wrapped it and was so excited to give it to me that she couldn’t wait until Christmas for me to open it.  ;^)

I   ♥  you, too, Annabelle.   ;^)   (She and her brother and sister are my sweeties.) ♥ ♥ ♥

I also thought this would be a fun theme for the first “Teacup of the Month,” because the predominant color is red, which reminds me of garnet, which is the birthstone of January, which is my mother’s birth month.   ;^)  (Whew!)  (Sometimes my mind really does take the rabbit trails — or in this case, the cardinal trails.)  ;^)

I found this description on the American Gem Society website:

Garnet

“Garnet, the birthstone for January,  signifies eternal friendship and trust and is the perfect gift for a friend.  Garnet, derived from the word granatum, means seed, and is called so because of the gemstone’s resemblance to a pomegranate seed.  References to the gemstone dates back to 3100 B.C., when the Egyptians used garnets as inlays jewelry.  Garnet is the name of a group of minerals that comes in a rainbow of colors, from the deep red of the pyrope garnet to the vibrant green of tsavorites.”

Well — that is just perfect.   ;^)  Sowing seeds of friendship ~~ that just makes me happy.  ;^)

The tea in the cup is almost garnet in color, too.  It is Celestial Seasoning’s Black Cherry Berry.  (I promise — they don’t pay me.)  (But they really should.)  ;^)  Black Cherry Berry is an herbal tea and one of Annabelle’s favorites when we have tea-parties.  (I like it when I want something a little sweet and fruity and need to avoid the temptation of sugar or other heavy sweets.  It’s a nice dessert.)   ;^)

There we have it.  Miss Cynthia’s Spot of TranquiliTEA’s first Teacup of the Month!  Happy Birthday, Mother, and to you, if you have a January birthday.  ;^D

May many seeds of friendship scatter your way.

Thank you very much for stopping by and sharing this cup of tea with me.  I can hardly wait to stage the February cup.  Hmmmm ….

Read Full Post »