Tea Time Thursday #46~Books, Bees and Mint

Jim and I sit outside most mornings when we have out coffee and lately I have been watching the bees go crazy in my mint. I let most of my herbs flower, just for the bees. I have let the mint take over one area too where nothing else really likes to grow. I love to brush by the bushes and smell the mint.

This is an illustration by Wayne Anderson of the mint fairy in a book called THE MAGIC CIRCUS.
He is a British illustrator who does a lot of children's books. I love his work and need to explore his art.

I love that she has one foot on a lovely bee.

Look closely and you will see a bee on the mint flower. I tried to get a bee or two in each photo. My daisies are done in the front yard, but a few are still flowering in the back with the mint.

I have a pumpkin plant that has gone crazy and is growing up into the mint. It would be fun to get a couple pumpkins.

I spy a pumpkin under the rose bush! I will have to watch it. Maybe the fairies will protect it!

I picked ups some fun books a few weeks ago at an Estate sale. I was excited as I found some that I didn't own. The lady was a tea person as you can tell.

Years ago I read all of Jan Karon's Mitford books and just loved them all. I was sad when I had read all the books in the series. I not a strong reader but I so enjoyed them. If you have read her books, you know they are always talking about food, so she put out this cookbook. I have checked it out from the library but at $2 I decided to take it home. It's a lovely book and filled with great recipes...very enjoyable.

I decided to share her recipe from the book for CYNTHIA'S HEAVENLY TEA.....

3 Lipton family-size teabags, tags removed
2 sprigs fresh mint leaves, plus mint sprigs for garnish
1 cup granulated sugar
1 (6 oz can) frozen lemonade, thawed
2 (11 1/2 oz) cans apricot nectar
6 tsp almond extract

Place the teabags and the mint in a pottery or glass pitcher and pour in 2 cups of cold water. Bring a kettle with 3 cups water to a rolling boil. Pour the boiling water over the teabags and cover the pitcher with a small plate. Steep for 10 to 15 minutes, then remove the teabags and the mint leaves. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Stir in the lemonade, apricot nector, almond extract, and 3 more cups of cold water. Serve over ice and garnish with a fresh mint sprig.

Makes about 10 cups

There's still a bit of summer left to enjoy some ice tea and use your fresh mint leaves from your herb garden. I don't have Lipton tea in my house, so would probably just use a nice black tea.

Happy Tea Time Thursday!

First Friday Tasha Tudor Book Review~Betty Crocker's Kitchen Gardens

As I have been planning and planting all week long, I thought it would be fun to share this little book with you for my First Friday Tasha Tudor Book Review. The official title is BETTY CROCKER'S KITCHEN GARDENS. It was written by Mary Mason Campbell who was a real person who loved to garden and she lived in a farmhouse in New Hampshire. She was a member of the Massachusetts Horticulture Society, the Herb Society of America and the Audubon Society of NH. The book gives some recipes and most of them are her own. She loved gardening and cooking with herbs.
The book is 170 pages of information for planting and growing herbs and vegetables. She gives you a great deal of information about herbs, including detailed garden plans drawn out for planting your herbs. Tahsa illustrated the book.

The book was first published by Universal Publishing and Distributing Corp in 1971. I have two copies of the book. I like the green copy which is smaller than the paper back with a lovely photo cover. It was published under license from the General Mills company, owned by the Betty Crocker trademark.

Some of the illustrations are in black and white and some are in color...all very charming.

Both lady's gardens were used for the drawings in the book. Don't you love the innocent smiles on the these faces of these children? It makes me think of summer.

I hope to finish up my yard and garden planting tomorrow. I will have to post some pictures.  The weather has ben just beautiful here in Oregon.

First Friday Tasha Tudor Book Review....Rosemary for Remembrance

Under a blanket of snow today, I am taking the time to write my February  First Friday TASHA TUDOR book review. I am sorry that I missed my January review.  ROSEMARY FOR REMEMBRANCE is a sweet book for keeping a record of your friend's and family's birthdays and anniversaries and such. Each month is sweetly illustrated by Tasha and the illustrations are just charming. This book was published in 1981 New York: Philomel Books. If you are lucky, your book will come with a pasteboard jacket that slips on to protect the book.

Don't you just love the February page? It so cute and perfect for Valentine's Day. This time period is one of my favorites for Tasha's work. Her work is very detailed with lots to explore on each page.
There's a note inside on the first few pages that states that Tasha drew the flowers from living plants growing in her garden. It gives a detailed list of all the flowers used on each month's page.

Each month has a dated list for you to fill in....if you dare write in your book! I just can't.

So while I was doing some investigating on the book, I ran into some interesting information on the rosemary plant. I love rosemary in my garden. Right now, mine is under a lot of snow and I do hope it survives. I lost two plants a few years ago when we had a cold and snowy winter. Rosemary is an woody, evergreen perennial herb native to the Mediterranean area. It has a lovely smell and is actually a member of the mint family. It flowers white, pink, purple or blue. Mine flowers blue. It's Latin name means "dew of the sea". This is not a picture of my plant...I wish! It does grow well here in Oregon. I am actually training my into a tree. It is a decorative plant as well as an herb used for cooking and medical uses. They say it helps with your memory.

So, I'm sure you have heard the phrase "rosemary for remembrance"other than the title of Tasha's book.
In Shakespeare's play HAMLET, Ophelia actually says,"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray, love remember".

So rosemary is often used in funerals or memorial services...tucked in little lapel pins and such. Very sweet. I will always look at my rosemary differently now.

I did just want to mention that the Tudor Family has reissued Tasha's Valentine Countdown Calendar. I have a copy of one that was published by her Jenny Wren Company. It's very sweet. Valentine's Day is coming! Check our the Tasha Tudor and Family website for lots of items.

Tea Time Thursday #22 and Tea Cup Exchange!

A few weeks ago I joined my sweet blogger friend Stephanie at  The Enchanting Rose for  her tea cup exchange. I received a box from Kat White in California but waited until today to open it. I am known for being able to wait on packages, but it was pretty hard knowing a tea cup was living inside the box!!!
I carefully opened the box as you can see.

I opened her beautiful handmade card and found a pack of seeds! I love the card and the colors are just perfect!

And what was hiding in the cute little paper owl??? Candy~Yummy! I was good and only ate one.

And then I found two kinds of green tea and the anticipation was building!

I carefully lifted the teacup box out of the shipping box and took all the bubble wrap off....oh what could be inside?

Be still my heart! A beautiful flower cup and saucer, just so perfect for summer and for me! Thank you so very much Cat! I adore it and will cherish it forever. Sooooo pretty.

I went outside to water as it's been pretty dry here. This is my herb garden on the side of my backyard. This is my view every morning when I have my coffee.

I love this book that a friend gave me years ago and I decided to pick an herb bouquet from my garden.
I was reading my book and found out the meanings for some of my herbs.

Tarragon-stamina
Mint-virtue
Sage-wisdom
Lavender-devotions

Then I brewed a cup of my loose tea as I was wanting some vanilla. It's been too warm for hot tea, but it just sounded good and it was!

Isn't this just such a pretty teacup? I love these exchanges. We are linking up on Stephanie's blog tomorrow, so it will be really fun to see what others have to share. I know I will love them all.

Many thanks again to Stephanie for organizing the exchange and to Kat for my lovely teacup.

Remembering Tasha~Tasha Tudor Day!

 

Those of us who love Tasha Tudor remember her on her birthday...August 28th and so it has become known as Tasha Tudor Day. Our internet group has enjoyed Tasha's love of herbs and so we have been calling this year " The Year of the Herb". Some of us have been growing herbs and sharing our gardening stories. It's fun to have a theme each year to focus on.

My love for Tasha came through her books which I discovered when my girls were young. I still love her art work and adore her books. I never tire of reading them or just looking at the charming art work. I have collected many but still have some special ones on my wish list!

So the other day I decided I wanted to have an outside tea using my Carlton Ware teapots and  china and try to put together a tea time menu using herbs and vegetables from our garden. It was fun to find some yummy recipes that  were different from my usual tea time treats. This was more of a savory tea than a sweet cream tea.

 

Of course I invited Jim to join me for tea.....and look who he brought with him!

Tasha Tudor Day Tea Time Menu~

❖ Watermelon, blueberry and feta cheese salad with balsamic vinegar
❖ Tomato, basil and mozzarella cheese salad
❖ Cheese and Italian herb scones
❖ Ham, spinach and garlic mustard sandwich
❖ Avocado, goat cheese, mint and dill sandwich with cucumbers (my favorite)
❖ Blackberry and raspberry cobbler
❖ Red Lavender Tea

I wasn't sure I would like the lavender tea, but it was made with Rooibos tea, which I love, so I gave it a try. It was wonderful! Jim and I both really likes it.

I had a lovely afternoon sitting in my backyard, having tea and sharing Tasha stories with Jimmy. It was a great way to celebrate Tasha's life and to remember her. I have been her fan for many years and have met great friends. I always miss my Tasha friends on days like this.

This was a little treat I found at the  thrift store just in time for Tasha Tudor Day! A great little "Tasha" wooden chair for my dolls....a 99 cent bargain.

Every year I send my Tasha friends a cookie cutter that has something to do with our theme for the year. Here's a peak at my gifts this year. I couldn't find any "herb" cookie cutters, so I sent  bees, bee hives, snails and dragon flies with lavender tea candles and a sprig of lavender from my garden.

So, if you're a Tasha Tudor fan, how did you celebrate today? I know you had fun remembering Tasha!

Happy Birthday Tasha

Teacup Thursday #62

Summer Solstice! Wow...I can't believe it's time for the days to begin to get shorter once again. I'm glad today is long as I sure needed it to get everything done on my TO DO list. It was a lovely day here in Oregon to welcome summer. Jim and I ate outside and then I decided how I would display my teacups for Miss Spenser's Teacup Thursday. I haven't been very good about blogging lately and never even got to read most of my tea friends posts last week, so promise to do better this week.

I have been posting new items on my Etsy site and put some cup and saucer in my Tea Time section. Jim found quite a few at an Estate sale for me and I decided to part with some too. I still had the teacups sitting on the table on in my house, so I thought I would pick five and one on each stepping stone. This is next to my herb garden that I just planted. I just thought it would be fun.

If you want to look at them closer or see the company names, you can pop over to my Etsy site. The button for my Lady Linda Lou shoppe is on the right hand side of my blog.

I purchased some herb spoon markers from a fellow Oregon Etsy seller in Eugene Oregon. Her name is Aemi and her Etsy shoppe name is AEMIAMORE. She's very sweet and will let you pick your herb names. I just love them. You can get a little peek at them here. The day was slipping away when I took these pictures, so it's a bit dark. I was trying to take advantage of the longest day of the years!

I see that my squirrel buddy has left a peanut in my herb garden! We were watching the squirrel and the
Blue Jays tonight. The poor squirrel does all the work and then the Jays dig them up and have a feast.
I hope the weather holds for awhile now...it's been wet and a bit chilly this past week. I'll close with some photos of some of my plants in the front yard. I love flowers! Enjoy....

Well, it's now dark outside and I find my thoughts drifting to Shakespeare's play.... our daughter Angie had a leading part in it long ago so I always think of her on this night.

Don't you wish you had a bed like this to fall sleep in, especially on a night as tonight? Sweet dreams!