A Return Invitation to Meadow Brook Hall

The beginning of May I received a phone call from Meadow Brook Hall asking if I was available to speak to another group of ladies at a private tea on May 13th at 2:00 p.m.  I arrived at 1:00 p.m. yesterday to set-up.  

~ Meadow Brook Hall is a National Historic Landmark ~

~ The front entrance forecourt ~

~ Front door ~

Lauren greeted me in the Great Hall.   

I unloaded my things by the front door, and then parked my car.  As I was walking back to the mansion from the parking lot, I took two side view photos of Meadow Brook Hall. 

As you can see, the architectural style of the mansion is Tudor Revival.  Notice all the unique brick chimneys - there are 14 groupings of chimneys with a total of 39 individual stacks.

Photos are limited inside the mansion, but the Great Hall facing the fireplace is permissible. Tours with school children and adults were being conducted while I was there. 

The tea was held in Mrs. Wilson's Study. I didn't realize until after I got home and looked through my Meadow Brook guidebook that her study is also referred to as the Morning Room. I need to go on another tour so I know which room is which - no small task since there are 110 rooms in the mansion!

~ Visuals for my tea presentation ~

The Afternoon Tea table was set for eight ladies.

Nancy was the server for the tea.

I took a picture of the savories before the tea started.  The only thing missing on the plate was the quiche, which was still in the oven.

~ Menu Card ~

I prepared three teas for the ladies - Queen Catherine Black Tea to go with the Savories, and Earl Grey Green to go with the Desserts.

The teacups and broulee spoons were ready to serve the ladies Flaming Oolong Tea following their dessert.

Mr. Geoff Upward, Director of Meadow Brook Hall, welcomed the ladies, and shared a brief history of the mansion.

Nancy explained the menu. 

The ladies were scheduled to tour the mansion following the tea, so I did my presentation while they ate.  I had planned to give the same presentation that I gave last March at a Downton Abbey tea, which was the history of tea in England beginning with Catherine of Braganza up through the Downton Abbey time period of 1912 [when Season I began with the sinking of the Titanic]. No two audiences are the same, however, and while I did share some British tea history, these ladies were really enjoying the tea, and wanted to know more about tea itself, than its history, so I devoted more time to types of tea, water temperatures, etc. It was fun helping expand their tea knowledge.

~ The Dessert Plate ~

The tea ended at 3:15, and I packed up my things and headed for home.  Thank you, Lauren and Meadow Brook Hall donor and guests, for the privilege of sharing my passion for tea again at Meadow Brook Hall.

7th Annual Ladies' Spring Tea

Favors and programs sat on my dining room table ready to be transported to the banquet facility on Saturday morning, May 10th.

72 ladies signed-up to attend the Spring Tea at Sycamore Hills Golf Club this year, and 71 attended. My hubby and I arrived at the facility at 9:30 a.m. to get all the tables decorated before the tea began at 11:00 a.m.   Time was scarce, so I didn't get many tablescape photos.

Every table had a mirror as a centerpiece, and a black velvet necklace display holding a pearl necklace.  The theme was Rose Petals, Pearls, and Lace - very girly!

Small pink nylon bags filled with Hershey's chocolate kisses were the favors, and were at each place setting with a program.  

The room was filled with lovely ladies. 

Janet Wedell [right, below] gave a fabulous jewelry and scarf demonstration, and the ladies thoroughly enjoyed her.  She's an independent distributor for Premier Designs, a high fashion jewelry company.  Ladies had the opportunity to purchase jewelry and take it home with them after the tea, instead of placing an order.

~ Mother and Daughter - Sandy and Kimberly ~

~ Three Generations ~

~ My sweet daughter, Lori, and me ~

~ Lori and her daughter, Tiffany ~

My three tea-lovin' friends. Whenever I blog about a tea I've attended, I've usually gone with one or more of these ladies - Lori, Linda, and Sandy. 

The meal began tossed salad and rolls.

It was followed by Chicken Piccata, Potatoes Anna, and Green Beans Almondine.  The tea was a black tea, Sweet Royal Delight, flavored with chocolate, caramel and butterscotch from Afternoon to Remember Fine Tea and Gifts.  Dessert was vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce, and mini-gourmet cupcakes. [I forgot to take a picture of the dessert course.]

After the meal I gave a short devotion [see 5/11 Sunday Reflection post], then Janet gave her jewelry and scarf demonstration.

The tea concluded at 2:00 o'clock.  A good time was had by all!

Celebrating Mother's Day With My Family

My children and their families attend different churches, but on Mother's Day we all worshiped together. Four generations are pictured below.

[L-R:  Tiffany, Lori, Me, and my Mom]

~ Cousins Brianna and Tiffany ~

This was the weekend to "hang out" at Sycamore Hills Golf Club.  Saturday, May 10th was the Ladies' Spring Tea held there [tomorrow's post], and on Sunday our family returned for their special Mother's Day brunch.

 My mom and me waiting for our reservation to be called.

~ Lori and her son, Brandon ~

After we ate we went outside for more pictures.   I'm blessed with three wonderful children. Three of the happiest days of my life are when they were born. 

[L-R:  Jeremy, Lori, and Steve]

 Love being with them and their families!

~ Jeremy and his son, Landon ~

 Jeremy and Samantha

 Landon, Ellie, and Isabella 

 Steve and Sharon

 Brooke and Brianna 

One of my Mother's Day gifts is Afternoon Tea [the Princess Kate tea] at the Grand Floridian when I'm vacationing in Florida this summer.  I can hardly wait!

Love this tea-themed card I received too!  

Grateful to my hubby for coordinating such a nice day, and how special to celebrate Mother's Day with my daughter and two daughters-in-law, who are wonderful mothers to their children.  My 92 year old mother joined the celebration too.   What a great family day!

Sunday Reflection...

Yesterday was my church's 7th Annual Ladies' Spring Tea.  The theme was Rose Petals, Pearls and Lace.  Strands of pearls decorated every table. 

The devotion contained "Pearls of Wisdom" as the ladies were reminded that pearls are formed when a piece of grit, sand, or shell gets trapped inside an oyster.  The oyster protects itself from the irritation by secreting a lustrous liquid that surrounds the irritant until it eventually becomes a pearl.  What begins as a trial eventually becomes a valuable treasure.

[Internet Photo]

Difficult situations come into all of our lives.  It's how we respond to them that's important. If we give God our "gritty," unpleasant experiences, He will help us turn them into valuable treasures. 

Jeremiah 29:11 says:  "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." [NIV]

The devotion concluded with a short story called, "The Pearl Necklace."  The author is unknown.

A cheerful five year old girl with bouncy golden curls was waiting with her mother at the checkout counter, when she saw a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink box.

"Oh, Mommy, can I have them?  Please, Mommy, please!"

Quickly the mother looked at the back of the little box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's face.

"A dollar ninety-five.  That's almost $2.00.  If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you, and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself.  Your birthday is only a week away, and you might get a crisp new dollar bill from Grandma."

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her piggy bank and counted out 17 pennies.  After dinner, she did more than her share of chores, and then went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents.

On her birthday, Grandma did indeed give her a dollar bill, and at last she had enough money to buy the pearl necklace.

Jenny loved her pearls.  They made her feel dressed up and grown up.  She wore them everywhere - Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed.  The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath, because her Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Jenny had a very loving daddy, and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and go upstairs to read her a story.  One night when he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?"

"Oh yes, Daddy.  You know that I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

"Oh, Daddy, not my pearls.  But you can have Princess - the white horse from my collection.  The one with the pink tail.  Remember, Daddy?  The one you gave me.  She's my favorite."

"That's okay, honey.  Daddy loves you.  Good night."  And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?"

"Daddy, you know I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

"Oh Daddy, not my pearls.  But you can have my baby doll.  The brand new one I got for my birthday.  She is so beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."

"That's okay, sweetheart.  Sleep well.  Daddy loves you."  And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian-style.  As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"What is it, Jenny?  What's the matter?"

Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy.  And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace.  With a little quiver, she finally said, "Here, Daddy.  It's for you."

With tears welling up in his own eyes, Jenny's loving daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime-store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny.

He had them all the time.  He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her a genuine treasure.

What are you holding onto today?  Our Heavenly Father, the Pearl of Great Price, desires to bestow His finest blessings and treasures on us if we will relinquish everything to Him.

May God bless your week!

Mississippi Magazine

One of my lovely blog readers lives in Biloxi, Mississippi.   Awhile back she wrote and asked if I'd be interested in reading some back issues of Mississippi Magazine, a bimonthly publication by Downhome Publications, Inc., based in Jackson, Mississippi.  I told her I would, so she sent me 12 issues.

I'm enjoying them very much.  As a tea enthusiast, the first thing I did was to check the contents page of each issue to see if there were any tea articles, and indeed there were.  The May/June 2013 issue has a delightful section on Mother's Day Trays, with this thought to ponder: What better way to honor your mother than with a beautiful tray for afternoon tea in the den or living room... with antique or contemporary linens, a fine china tea pot, dessert plates, and cups and saucers that are just mom's style, a few simple homemade or purchased treats, and a small vase of mom's favorite flowers.  

A Breakfast Tray

January/February 2012 is a thick Wedding issue, and features a Tiffany's Bridal Tea, complete with menu and recipes.  

The July/August 2012 issue  features an article about Croquet and Afternoon Tea held at the Highlands Mallet Club.  Doesn't a game of croquet followed by Afternoon Tea sound fun?

The article provides a recipe for "Summertime Tea"

2 cups boiling water

1 cup sugar

2 large family-size tea bags

1 [12 oz.] can frozen lemonade, thawed

1 teaspoon almond extract

Garnishes:  orange, lemon or lime slices, and fresh mint

Directions:  In a saucepan, bring 2 cups water to boil.  Add sugar and stir until dissolved for simple syrup. Set aside.  Bring 2 additional cups of water to boil.  In a large pitcher, pour boiling water over tea bags and steep for 5 minutes.  Add 6 cups cold water, 2 cups simple syrup, lemonade, and almond flavoring.  Stir and serve over crushed ice with citrus slices and mint.  Yield: 1 gallon

There are more issues to read yet, but I wanted to share these three, particularly the issue featuring Mother's Day Trays.

Happy Mother's Day everyone, whether you're paying tribute to your mother or celebrating your own motherhood!