Life With Tea Things

Now that summer has fully arrived, I naturally enjoy having more space and air. Even with hot days, early mornings and late evenings are pleasant outdoors. In fact we are still having late lunches on the lawn under the trees. Soft and light colors are where I'm at too, so I went casting around for that this week.

No doubt I am missing the days of teas on the lawn with my girls who are spread far and wide across the country now. I always miss them of course, but so much time spent under the trees reminds me of  all the delightful days of Granny Camp when they were small. 

We are finally going to have visitors again in small groups, and plan to entertain mostly on the patios and lawn. But even if we weren't, I am ready for dressing up the table with some pretty linens and dishes! 

I'm more into lemonade than tea, but we have always broken all the tea rules anyway!

And I've noticed that for some reason the visits last longer outdoors under the canopy at a garden party.

I have also been recently inspired by Rachel Ashwell's video posts on Instagram. She is currently living in a small English cottage and doing frequent broadcasts from there. While she is cloistered like the rest of us, she has been giving an interesting history of the evolution of her businesses and places she has lived.

Everything she does herself is so beautiful, but she has also started to include video tours of the homes of friends! And these homes, like that of Christina Strutt of Cabbages and Roses, while they are off the chart large, old, and fabulous places, they are also very unique and amazingly livable. Full of art, antiques, and collections, and quite unlike a lot of the trendy looks that appeal today.

These tours, which include a scrumptious English village antiques shop, have even made me relax more about living with my own large collections and very casual lifestyle, because they are unstaged and feel so spontaneous and approachable. So check out her Instagram if you haven't already. (I know that I am often late to the party!)

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this small tribute to life with tea things. Even if it's just for one or two!

So glad you stopped by!

I hope you find some beauty in your days this week.

Jacqueline

Flowers and Fairytales

Summer arrives early in Albuquerque. By June first the softness of spring is all but gone. Only the hardiest of blooms survive unprotected in the heat. Ninety-nine degrees today.

It's nice to see roses bloom in the garden, but unless they are cut soon after blooming they shrivel in the sun at these temperatures. And since I have posted so many roses lately, I'm featuring flowers in pink from the florist this time.

My favorite hue of pink is found in the palest shades. I used to have a good supply of cheery floral tea and luncheon plates with pinks, but now mostly traffic in the occasional stray pattern. It will be nice to get back to garden parties! Maybe for just one or two guests.

Peonies are uncommon to grow in our zone (7), and are crazy expensive to buy. Trader Joes sometimes has them at a great price when they first come into season. At Whole Foods this week they were five for fifteen dollars. Not TOO bad. But still....

There were vibrant pink sweet peas from the garden this year. Bunches and bunches. But I never did get any shots of them. They dried to the loveliest shade of lavender blue.

I enjoy all dried flower petals as they wane, only tossing them when it finally makes good sense to do. (That's the sad part about most cut flowers.)

But Gladiolas live up well to their nickname. Glads! I could never have enough! I'll bet it's a good time to be in the flower business the way it is to be in the nursery business right now. Anyway, I hope so.

I am also sharing a snippet from an article titled "Flowers and Fairytales" by Allison Toepperwein: single mom, blogger, motivational speaker, and Parkinsons fighter, among other laudable things.

She says: "Life is about writing your own unique fairy tale, not that of make believe. It's about savoring every moment, including the ones you wish to turn the page on. In order to live a fulfilled life, you must take those paragraphs and chapters and grow. You must continue to write and hope it's filled with adventure and insight."

Who knows how long these days will last? The ones we are anxious to turn the page on. For now they are what we have. As for savoring, fulfilling, growing. That part is up to us.

But I have to admit. Some days I do lay my head on the pillow at night and say to myself (sometimes out loud), "You couldn't make this stuff up!" 

Thank you so much for your visits! It's wonderful to have a word from you. I am so sorry to say that my stats still are showing that many of you have tried to leave me a message that never posts. So thanks to you in Illinois, Kentucky, Virginia, Idaho, N.Y., Washington, Switzerland, Poland and wherever else you are in the world. I appreciate you too! 

Happy days ahead to you!

Jacqueline

Another June

Well here we are at June. It feels like a long time coming, and certainly like no other. Just when it felt like an easing of trouble we find ourselves in crisis again. 

I have no words of wisdom to offer, but only a small island of peace. The daily moments I spend under the trees, with a few birds flitting about, now feel essential as food and water to me.

In all the sadness and fear, for today, I find a focus of calm. I seek a little beauty. 

I am so fortunate that, for today, trouble is not on my street. My heart breaks for those who are not so blessed.

(Illustrations are from Nature Notes, by Edith Holden.)

Peace to you,

Jacqueline