The End of May

Thought I'd check-in before May comes to an end.  I went for my second Shingles shot on Tuesday, and hearing that the second shot was worse than the first I was ready for whatever side effects might occur, but thankfully they weren't as bad as the first shot. That being said, most of Wednesday was spent resting with flu-like symptoms [aches, chills and feverish], but by Thursday everything was back to normal.  I'm grateful both shots behing me!

My granddaughter, Tiffany, sent me pictures of Evie's 7th birthday [May 23rd].  I knew they were taking her to Disneyland for her birthday so we sent spending money for the theme park, a Disney card game and kids candy for her and Jules.  I'm told she's really into Legos now, so she opted to spend her birthday money on those instead.  Good to know as Christmas will be here before we know it!

The older she gets the more she looks like Tiffany.

In 2007 I went on a London, England Tea Tour with nine other ladies [two of them were my close girlfriends Lori and Sandy].  One of the places we had Afternoon Tea was the Lanesborough Hotel.

It was a wonderful experience and we loved the china we were served on - Royal Worcester's Lavinia pattern.  

After we returned home, my girlfriend, Lori, found the teacup and saucer in an antique store in Ann Arbor when we were out shopping together.  She was so thrilled to find it and I was happy for her.

Fast forward 17 years... a lot of water has passed under the bridge since that trip and I had forgotten about that china until Mother's Day rolled around this year and I was given an E-bay gift card.  Out of the blue that china came to mind and I thought what a nice keepsake it would be to have a trio in the pattern the Lanesborough used.  I did a search on Ebay and they had the pattern, so that's how I spent my gift card.  Thanks, Jeremy!  It arrived in today's mail.

Next on my list is a trio from the Prince of Wales Hotel in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada to commemorate our 2006 trip for our 40th Wedding Anniversary.  They used Minton China in the Haddon Hall pattern.

Do you collect trios?

Today we say goodbye to May and tomorrow we'll welcome June - the halfway point in 2024.  How can that be already???

Have a "Meaningful" Memorial Day

While Memorial Day is the 'unofficial' start to summer [which means picnics and barbeques] it's also a solemn holiday mourning those who died while serving in the U.S. military - particularly for families of fallen soldiers.  It's a day of grief, honor, reverence, gratitude, and remembrance. 

One post said, "...Every hot dog, burger, beverage with family and friends, or spin around the lake is a debt purchased by others whose parents and/or wives never saw them again and whose kids only remembered them from pictures..."

My kids are scattered this Memorial Day [California, Florida and western Michigan] so there won't be any family gathering, but I will pause at some point in the day to reflect on the freedoms I enjoy because others courageously gave their lives for it.  I'll no longer say "Have a 'Happy' Memorial Day" instead I'll say, "Have a 'Meaningful' Memorial Day."

I wore my comfy, patriotic dress to work yesterday [along with a white short sleeve denim jean jacket], and to church this morning.  I thought for sure the tea guest count would be down at The Whitney with it being a holiday weekend - and it was a little - but we still served tea to 146 guests.  Tea is alive and well at the restaurant!

The Whitney posted the graphic below on their Facebook page, and I share it here:  "Angel Flight" is the call sign for carrying fallen heroes on board.  Their "salute" with flares looks like an angel with wings.  The Whitney's message to all patrons, "Enjoy the holiday and take some time to remember."

Special thanks to Angela at Tea With Friends blog for sharing the cute tea-themed coasters [pictured below] that she recently purchased.  I went to the Amazon website and purchased the six coasters for $9.99 plus tax and they arrived yesterday.  This set is for me, but I'll be ordering more for gifts.

I'll sign-off with this cute [and very true] graphic that will leave you smiling.

Technology and Birthdays

Last Tuesday we received a text from our daughter-in-law telling us our granddaughter Ellie's spring choir concert was going to be live streamed at 7:30 p.m.  She gave the link where we could purchase our tickets online and then receive an access code to watch the concert on my hubby's laptop.  Since they live in Zeeland [175 miles away] we don't get to attend concerts and sports events like we used to, so this live stream technology was most welcome.  It was the next best thing to being there.  Laptop screen shot below.

Thursday we took our son-in-law and daughter out to dinner to celebrate Dave's birthday. Since he's Italian we went to Da Francesco's [Yum!].  We wish many more birthdays to a great son-in-law!  Through a program on our daughter's smart phone, she was able to remove all the other people who were dining in the same room, so only Dave was visible.  Gotta love technology [at least some of the time for those of us who are seniors]!

Before we moved to Warren, we lived in the area where I grew up.  During that time we met a wonderful family at the church we attended.  Time [46 years] has brought many changes for them [and us]... their three children who were teenagers at the time, grew up, married and now have families of their own.  Jack and Janet moved to Texas and remained there for several years until Jack passed away. Ironically, their youngest daughter now lives less than three miles from us. Janet now lives with her and she celebrated her 90th birthday at a surprise party yesterday.  I couldn't attend because of work, but my hubby went to extend our greetings.  He said it was great seeing all their family again as well as other people from our previous church.

What do you give a 90 year-old for a present?  Technology to the rescue again!  I Googled 'gift suggestions for a 90 year-old female' on my desktop computer and an immediate idea popped up.  A soft, fleece blanket with 90th birthday greetings printed on it and a pair of pink comfy slippers.  

~ My hubby and Janet ~

May begins 'Birthday Season' for our family.  Great-granddaughter Evie turns 7 on May 23rd, and there's three more family birthdays in June.  Lots of reasons to celebrate!

The only way I can include tea in this post is to say it's loved and enjoyed at The Whitney where 211 guests were served tea yesterday.   While I'm thankful tea is thriving there, I'm also thankful today is a day of rest!  ;-)

Mother's Day

After a busy work day at The Whitney [159 tea guests] last Saturday, I was pleasantly surprised to pull into my driveway and see beautiful geraniums on the front porch.  My daughter came over during the day and planted them in the planters for my Mother's Day gift.

I was spoiled by lots of loving kindness and thoughtfulness on Mother's Day - cards, some of which contained money and gift cards, candy, and a delicious dinner after church.  The best gift was being able to worship together at church with my three children, their spouses, and four of my grandchildren.

We took pictures after church. L-R: daughter-in-law, Samantha, daughter, Lori, me [the short one] and daughter-in-law, Sharon.

Jeremy and family came from Zeeland and spent the night at our house Saturday.

[L-R:  Landon, Ellie, Samantha, Izzy and Jeremy]

Samantha liked the planters in front of our church but they were barely visible in their family photo above, so a better look is provided below.   One of the young mom's at our church is a master gardener and she maintains all the outdoor plants.

Lori coordinated the dinner after church at Ike's American/Lebanese Restaurant.  It was the first time most of our family had eaten there, but the service was great and food delicious.  We all had our choice of ordering off the menu or going to the buffet.  Steve said it will be our destination for Mother's Day 2025.   Landon and Brooke were missing from the table family photo because they were at the buffet.  Lori and my hubby were there, but I couldn't get them in the photo.

I ordered Chicken Marsala and it came with a delicious lemon/lentil soup.  I Googled the soup when I got home and found a recipe that sounds just like what I had, so it's what's for dinner tonight.

A photo outside the restaurant with my three blessings!  It was a wonderful Mother's Day!

2024 Orchard Ridge Ladies' Spring Tea

Our church ladies' Spring Tea is now history.  A good time was had by all on Saturday, and lasting memories were made. 

Below are some behind the scenes kitchen shots.  I was glad to be able to use my silverplated teapots.  I put Harney & Son's Paris blend black tea in the silver pots and Harney & Son's Peach Fruit herbal tea in the white ceramic pots.

Our caterer, Francine [in black] from Pamela's catering and server Pauline.  The food was delicious!

Favor to coordinate with the shoe theme - Shoes With Godly Footsteps

~ They also got a bookmark with the poem Footprints ~

~ All set up and ready for ladies to arrive ~

We began with scones and mock Devonshire Cream 

Then sandwiches/savories:  Chicken Salad Mini Croissants, Cucumber Sandwiches, and Ham & Cheese Wraps

Desserts: Chocolate Mousse Cake, Strawberry Cheesecake and Marzipan Lemon Cake Rounds

~ My sweet neighbor, Lorraine ~

56 ladies signed up to attend.  My dear friend, Lori [fourth from right] was my right hand in executing this tea.  She was always willing to help whenever and wherever she could, and she took a lot of the photos I'm sharing in this post as well as my hubby.

 

After the tea meal the program about shoes began.  It was a very fun program to present.  What woman doesn't like shoes?  

When the program was over we packed everything up and brought it home to be washed and put away until the next tea - which will probably be in the fall.  One other person was of immeasurable help in executing this tea and that was my hubby.  He carried up several heavy totes of tea equipage from the basement and loaded them in his car to transport to the church, then unloaded them once we got there.  He helped set-up the tables at the church for the tea  [along with Lori's husband and another man] and take them back down when the tea was over.  And then repeat the process of loading the totes back into his car for the ride home and putting them back in their proper place.   Thank you is a such a small word to express a heart full of gratitude.

Ladies' Spring Tea Set-up

My hubby and I hauled all my tea equipage to the church yesterday to set-up for the Ladies' Spring Tea that will be held tomorrow, May 4th.  Jerry repacked the car a couple times trying to get everything to fit.  The photo below wasn't the final packing.  In the end it was jam-packed, but he got everything in.

My girlfriend, Lori, and her husband, plus one other lady from church met us there and the set-up began.  Many hands make light work so we accomplished the task in a short time.  56 ladies signed-up which equated to seven tables of eight seats.

Today's a work day for me at The Whitney so this is a short post.  More pictures tomorrow at the tea.