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! 

Miss Ava and Barbie

After I had Otto for the night on Saturday, it was Ava's turn to spend the night on Sunday. So, I went from baby boy to Barbie time! I still have my Barbie dolls and clothes from when I was little. I got my first Barbie in 1960...the blonde ponytail Barbie or as she is referred to in this little booklet below....
"Basic Barbie Doll Fashion Model Set". Look at the price!

Recently, Ava got the reproduction Barbie ~ Solo in the Spotlight. That's the cool black slinky dress that you often see. This doll really got Ava back into her Barbie dolls after taking a break with her American Girl Doll...Saige.

This is the reproduction Barbie and I think she's really pretty. I love her hair!

My original Barbie can be seen on the left here, standing next to Ava's. You can see some of her other dolls that were included in our play time. Playing  Barbie's with Ava goes on for hours! She loves to play Barbie and is so creative making up stories. It fascinates me and really tells you a lot about what is going on in that little head of hers!

My doll has the original Solo in the Spotlight outfit, but I no longer have the microphone. I do have all the other pieces. My poor Barbie could use a new hair style, but then, she has been around for a long time.You can see some of my outfits in my black Barbie suitcase below. My mom also made a lot of outfits for my doll. Have you ever tried to make Barbie clothes? VERY difficult. My mom not only made the outfits for me, she made matching ones for my sister's Barbie! My mother made so many doll clothes for me. I can remember her sewing in her room when we went to bed before Christmas. I never put it together that she was making doll clothes for years.

More of Ava's doll....

Below are some of the original outfits that I do have. I also have a vintage Ken. Maybe he'll appear in a blog post someday.

After playing in the house for the afternoon, we needed to go outside and get some fresh air! The garden and flowers also needed to be watered. Ava helped me and then she found a mud puddle. Why do kids love mud? Silly girl...she sure had fun!

Muddy feet for sure Miss Ava!

Look at that smile! I think Ava is ready for summer. She was so happy during her visit and we had a great time together. She is a chatty one and I love it. A few times she would ask me, "Am I talking too much?" I answered...."NEVER!"

I guess I should apologize to my girls Angie and Gina. I never really let them play with my vintage Barbie dolls and their clothes. Sometimes, I would sit with them and show them all the goodies. I think they did play with them when I was at work, but that's ok. I had so much fun mixing and matching my outfits and playing with Ava this weekend. I guess grandmas mellow out with their toys. I do have to admit I popped onto Ebay for a few additions for Barbie's vintage wardrobe. I love having a little girl in my life who loves to play with dolls! I am blessed. 

Summer Solstice

Summer Solstice...the longest day of sunshine and the shortest day of darkness...is here today and that means it is now summer! I have heard that this is a very special day for the fairies as can be seen in this delightful work of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite. I had a feeling something was up as some fairy things appeared around my home all day!

My Tasha Tudor friend, LaVonne, has always wanted to have a virtual Summer Solstice event and this was the year! She suggested we have a bonfire and make SMORES to celebrate. She did just that in Montana tonight. I had hoped to join in the fun and even gave Jimmy Father's Day money to buy a fire pit. He decided to go to his gold mine claim and cabin in Idaho, so no smores for me!

I did get to keep Otto overnight and that made the first day of summer very special for me. He was all ready for summer-dressed in his little summer shorts. He is so cute! He's cutting more teeth, so he had a few hard days this week. He needed to come to Grandma's for some special lovin'. I get to have Ava tomorrow night...I'm sure it will be a Barbie event.

To celebrate today, I bought Otto a stroller that I could keep here. I love to walk and thought this would be good for both of us. I put it together this afternoon and was all set. He wasn't too sure he liked it for awhile. He was getting tired.

So, how could Otto and I join in the Tasha Smores party? Well, we could at least have a snack! This is what we had and Otto was pretty excited to have a new cookie. We split one and he fed me half of mine. He laughs when he feeds you which is adorable.

I put my baby down and picked up the house and thought I heard something outside. Hummmm, a fairy wand was sitting on the little table outside and it was glowing.

I checked the fairy garden under the blueberry plants and it looked like a new lantern had been added! Oh, those fairies were up to something, I just knew it.!

I turned all the lights off and noticed a glow from the new lantern! I think there's going to be a party tonight!

Just checked the little guy and I see that the Midsummer Night's fairies had been in there. I'm sure they kissed his sweet little cheeks or sang him a lullaby.

Nighty night! Happy Summer days ahead for you and yours.

Tea Time Thursday #38 and Dear Ann's Birthday

Last Saturday, I took my dear friend Ann to Myrtle's Tea House in Ridgefield WA. I missed Ann's retirement tea last month, as I was sick. Unfortunately, Ann's company hasn't let her retire yet! She is such a good worker that her bank is having a difficult time finding a replacement. She did give them a final date...July 11th. I hope it really happens. Ann is such a wonderful person and she has been working so long. It is time for her to have some time to enjoy retirement. Ann has been taking care of her brother who has been fighting cancer and some other heath issues.

I love to go to Myrtles. The owner Elizabeth is very sweet and works hard to make her tea shoppe such a wonderful place for tea lovers to enjoy. She has added this arch with flowers in the front-very nice.

As always, the entrance is filled with lots of goodies for the ladies! The giant teddy in the corner was a gift to her from her son when he was in the service. So sweet.

Ann and I were seated at this little table in the Bon Bon room. I was so excited to see Ann, I never did take pictures of our lovely tea plate! Sometimes that happens when you go to tea.

This is my dear friend Ann on the left. Doesn't she look happy? That's Elizabeth on the right. We all love Elizabeth and have followed her to this location when she lost her lease at her former location. It was quite a blow with little time to come up with a new location, but she did it!

You may remember I lost a friend who was one of our tea buddies....Joan. Ann was so good to spend time with Joan when she was so sick with cancer too, so giving of her time. Ann broke the sad news to Elizabeth with a beautiful arrangement of flowers that Joan would have adored. Oh, yes, very touching. Ann had these two lovely roses for me and for Jim as a thank you for praying for her during the difficult days with Joan. How sweet is that? I was so touched and what a neat way to honor Joan.

I am trying to get back on track with my Tea Time Thursdays. I want to share a very beautiful little demitasse cup and saucer that was given to me by our dear Canadian friends Ed and Yoka. They sent it to me with a note that this belonged to a lovely lady in Holland. Ed and Yoka know I love tea things and they wanted me to have it as I would take care of it. Oh yes, dear friends, I will cherish it forever.
Ed and Yoka are from the Netherlands but now live in Powell River BC. They are the most darling couple and full of life and faith. We used to visit them every year, but it's been a long time now since we have been together. I miss them~a lot!

I found a bit of information about the cup and saucer today. It is French and was made in the 1970's, It's very much like limoges and has a very romantic scene of a lovely couple on the cup and in the center of the saucer. It is a treasure and I am honored to have it. Thank you Ed and Yoka!

I did a few errands this afternoon and stopped by the produce stand to see what was new. Local cherries and blueberries! The Hood strawberries are done...sigh. Can you see the metal teapot and cup and saucer on the little table? Yes, another gift from a friend. My SIL's mom Kathy, or Grandma Kathy as she is called, gave it to me for Christmas.

It was such a nice afternoon when I returned, so I just sat outside and have my treat. I found this book at a thrift store today. I have looked at this book many times in quilt and fabric stores, but it was a bit out of my budget. I was soooo happy to find it at a bargain price. It has some cute small projects to make which is always fun for me.

The clouds are rolling in this evening and we are to get a bit of rain. It's so nice out tonight, with a gentle breeze drifting in and out of my front room. This is what I like about summer. Time for a bit of iced tea! It's also my brother John's birthday...Happy Birthday John.