Tea Time Thursday # 39~Summer Rain and WIlhelmina's Peter Rabbit Tea

"Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby." Langston Hughes

I had my bedroom window open and the pouring rain woke me up early this morning! Oh, summer rain! I took this picture out my back door a bit ago. You can't really see the pouring rain, but trust me, it is wet outside! I have a few tea time friends who are having virtual tea parties today and I had thought it would be fun to have a little garden tea party...I don't think Mother Nature thought that was a good idea! So for my Tea Time Thursday today, I have decided to do a blog post about my friend Wilhelmina and the Peter Rabbit tea she had at her home in Vermont for some of us last month.

Hi Wilhelmina! I miss you! She lives in North Bennington VT, which is very far from my Oregon!
I met her in person seven years ago when I went back for my first Tasha Tudor Gathering. She has been inviting me to come and visit for years, so LaVonne and I wanted to travel to her part of Vermont when we were back east. It only took us 7 years to finally get to go to her home!

She wanted to have a Peter Rabbit tea party for us!  I am always ready for a tea party and I adore anything that has to do with Peter Rabbit!

She lives in a beautiful big home that was built in the 1830's! Being from the west, the old homes back east just boggle my mind! It is just unreal to me. Wilhelmina is a romantic and has little forget me nots and violets in her grass. She told her hubby not to mow it before we arrived so the flowers would be blooming! So cute.

This is marble! There's marble everywhere around her home and in her backyard! I couldn't believe it.
Steps are made of marble like we use concrete stepping stones-unreal.

She had all her Peter Rabbit goodies out and the dining room was like a Peter Rabbit gift shoppe! I loved it ALL. She has a wonderful collection.

A peek into another room. I do wish I had taken more pictures. I guess I have a reason to return!

Wilhelmina is a dolly person, like most of our Tasha Friends. Just a little look at her dollhouses in a narrow hallway.

A tea table was set up for some of her other dolls...all Peter Rabbit, of course! Lucky dolls who live in this lovely home! Notice the table cloth too.

Annabelle of Oregon and Annabelle of Montana found a little corner to have tea too! They were delighted to have a bit of time to talk and catch up since their last visit in Oregon last January.

I loved the little embroidery piece Wilhelmina made and she had the silhouette of Tasha out that LaVonne made for all of us one Valentine's Day. We all cherish our's. You will always see mine in my tea room. I framed it and love it.

When we first arrived at Wilhelmina's home, we were so hungry. I think we spoiled her tea a bit, as she decided to fix us some lunch and we had some of the tea goodies. This is her dining room with LaVonne, Kristen and laughing Melinda! This was the afternoon after my makeup tour at Tasha's home, so the time schedule really got all mixed up. She went to a lot of work to make yummy scones, cakes, cookies and even a cold potato soup. I am so sorry I didn't get good pictures of her efforts to show off her cooking skills! She has so many cute Peter Rabbit dishes too and oh how fun it was to see them all. I think we must have used everything she owned!

I believe you MUST have treats when you have a special tea! I love party favors. These are some of the things I put together back at my home before I left on my trip. I had made little Peter Rabbit tea wallets at my last quilting retreat. I also found some other goodies for my friends and the dollies!

Goodies for the little ladies!

I wanted to make Wilhelmina a tea cozy as a thank you. I used a panel fabric for the outside and lined it with an overall little Peter Rabbit print. I just love to make tea cozies.

Wilhelmina is quite a reader and loves books. This was a new book for her and I would love to own this one! I have never seen it. She also loves to garden.

Before we left, we all had to visit her wonderful pet rabbit....Flora. Such a cute little bunny. It made me miss our bunnies from years ago.

So on this rainy summer day, I have had fun remembering such a lovely tea time in Vermont and a lovely friend who gave us such a gift of her time and talents. Thank you dear friend!