Advent Tea at Manresa

Last September while at the Tea and Tour of Cranbrook House and Gardens, I sat at a table with a lady named Rita, who is the Development Director at Manresa Jesuit Retreat House in Bloomfield Hills, MI.  She told me about their annual Advent Tea and invited me to attend. 

I used to pass the retreat center, which sits on 39 wooded acres, several times a week, but knew nothing about it.  At yesterday's tea I learned it's a Catholic facility, but is also used by other religious and educational groups.

The grounds are beautiful. 

While driving back to the retreat center we saw a deer looking curiously at us.  ;-)

~ The Retreat Center ~

The property was purchased in 1926, and Manresa will celebrate its 90th anniversary in 2016.

At 1:00 p.m. we gathered in a large room where Mary shared how God taught her the virtue of generosity.

Then the Director of Women's Programs at Manresa gave a devotional about God's Invitation: Our Response.

I especially liked the five-step spiritual exercise to take at the end of every  day.  It's good to review things that occur over 24-hours, and give God praise for His blessings, and seek His help in the areas that hindered our relationship with Him.

At 2:00 p.m. we went into the beautiful dining room for the tea.  The buffet table was filled with a variety of delicious treats, and we selected a tea bag of our choice.  Pump pots were filled with hot water.

[Above photo courtesy of Manresa photographer]

~ Lori and Me ~

Manresa had just been gifted with a huge collection of china teacups, and the teacup below was the one I used.

Lori and I were privileged to sit with two lovely young women - L: Jennifer and R: Charlotte. They met at a women's retreat at Manresa and became friends.  I love seeing young women who like tea, but even more, young women who dedicate themselves to following Christ.

~ The tea was very well attended. ~

~ Manresa was beautifully decorated for Christmas ~

~ Beautiful Christmas tree in the library ~

~ Chapel ~

Thank you so much for telling me about your Advent Tea, Rita.  It was a wonderful way to celebrate the Christmas Season.

China Cabinet Redo

Even with all the cabinets my hubby has built to display my dishes, there's never enough room for everything.  Last week while sorting and organizing totes in the basement, I decided to change the china in the family room cabinet.

Below are the chocolate pots, teapots and teacups that were in it.

What a job to remove and wrap everything to put in storage totes.  I labeled each piece, as well as the totes, so I'll be able to find things easily when needed.  I don't think I'll be making another change for quite a while! ;-)

I decided to display my pink and red transferware, and some of my pink Depression glass. My collection of Depression glass was a fair size, and when my mother moved into assisted living she gave me all of hers, increasing the size considerably. Below is what would fit on my dining room table, and that's not all of it.  It was hard to decide what to put in the china cabinet and what to put back into storage.

I'm still tweaking the china cabinet, but this is the outcome so far.

These kinds of projects make me realize how much "stuff" I have, and that I should never buy another dish for the rest of my life, but... I probably will!  ;-)

My transferware is Johnson Brothers Old Britain Castles.  I have service for eight.

~ Dinner Plate ~

~ Salad Plate ~

Teacup and Saucer and Teapot [Creamer and Sugar is in the china cabinet].

Today I'm joining Rose Chintz Cottage for No Place Like Home

Antiques and Teacups for Tuesday Cuppa Tea

and 

Bernideen's Tea Time Blog for Bernideen's Tea Time Cottage and Garden Blog Party

Sunday Reflection...

The title of today's sermon was "Are You Ready for Christmas?"  Not the date December 25th on the Gregorian calendar with all the busyness surrounding it, but the Advent of Christ.

At the beginning of creation God prepared for Christmas... the angels prepared for Christmas... Mary and Joseph prepared for Christmas... the shepherds and wisemen prepared their hearts for worship that first Christmas, but the world at large was unprepared for Christ's arrival.

The world needed a Savior more than 2,000 years ago, and mankind still needs a Savior in 2015.  

"Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." 
Hebrews 9:28 [NIV]

I want to be one of those who are prepared and waiting for his glorious second coming!

May God bless your week!

Christmas Teapots - Part III

I must say, this series led to a bigger project than I anticipated, but it was fun going through totes and seeing treasures I had forgotten about.  

I found the luncheon plates and mugs that match the Royal Albert "Ruby Celebration" teapot.

I love my "Cup of Christmas Tea" tea set.  I only have two teacups.  You don't see them often in antique stores, and they're pricey on e-bay at this time of the year.  A few years back when I coordinated a Christmas tea for the ladies of my church, one lady set a complete table for 8 with the china. It was beautiful.  I have one luncheon plate, a hurricane lamp, set of 4 napkin rings, teapot ornament, tin of tea, and, of course, the book.

~ Fitz and Floyd Nutcracker teapot ~

I did a Nutcracker tea a few years back for two girlfriends.  You can read about it here. My son and daughter-in-law gave me the teapot pictured below, four nutcracker luncheon plates, and coordinating place mats for Christmas that year.

 ~ Lenox Holiday Tartan Teapot ~

~ My Christmas china by Sango.  The pattern is "Noel". ~

~ Pfaltzgraff [6 cup] "Winterbury" Teapot ~

The lid on the teapot below says "Christmas is God's Gift of Love".  I bought it because it goes perfectly with the legend of the candy cane.  I have the book that I've read to my grandchildren on Christmas Eve.

~ Teapot and Teacup by Dayspring ~

I especially like the saucer to this teacup.  Written on both the teapot and the saucer is Romans 15:13 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace..."  [NIV]

The inexpensive teapot below was from Walmart several years ago.  I bought several for floral arrangement centerpieces for a Christmas dinner I coordinated at church.  While I don't use it to pour tea, it's festive to display at Christmas time.



I don't really collect single Christmas teacups, but I've accumulated four of them.  The teacup on the right was made by Blue Bird in Canada.  A pattern isn't given.  The one on the left is by Royal Albert and is called, "Yuletide".

~ The teacup below is by Regency [England] but has no pattern name on the cup. ~

And last, but not least, an English teacup with matching sugar and creamer by Royal Tuscan in the "Noel" pattern.

This concludes my Christmas teapot [and teacup] series.  I hope you've enjoyed it.  Now I need to get busy and host some tea parties using the china.  Ideas are swirling in my mind!

2015 Outdoor Christmas Decorations

I don't post a lot pictures of my hubby because that's his preference, but today I grabbed my camera for a few shots.  It was clear, sunny, and 46 degrees in Michigan, perfect for putting up our outside decorations.

~ Making bows for coach light wreaths ~

~ Hanging the lights and wreath around the front window ~

~ Attaching lights to the red maple tree ~

 ~ When the sun went down the results were very Christmassy. ~

I haven't forgotten about my Christmas teapot series.  More pictures will be up tomorrow.  I went to the basement this morning to get some teapots for the series, and ended up staying down there almost all day sorting through totes. Unfinished basements are like attics - catch all's - so today I worked at getting organized.

Whimsical Teapots

I love English bone china teapots, but I also enjoy collecting, inexpensive, seasonal, ceramic teapots. I refer to them as whimsical teapots.

I have the plates and mugs to go with the snowman tea set.  My mother had the matching cookie jar, which is now mine.

Sandy Clough Christmas Teapots

In 2004 I was a Sandy Clough tea lady - an independent distributor for Sandy's products sold at home parties.  Sandy is first and foremost an artist and author, but for a brief time she designed china for tea parties.

One of the loveliest items in my kit was a red tartan plaid tea set called "Merry Christmas," and I have service for ten.  I blogged about a tea party I hosted using the china here.

Some of Sandy's china was sold by Harvest House before she started her own business, and below is the teapot and teacups illustrated on the book cover, The 12 Teas of Christmas.

There was probably a cream and sugar to accompany the teapot, as well as luncheon plates, but I've never been able to find them.   I was happy to find two teacups and saucers and the teapot.

The same picture on the book cover was made into Christmas cards, which I sent to family and friends a few years back.

Do you have any of Sandy Clough's Christmas china?

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Today I'm joining: 
Antiques and Teacups for Tuesday Cuppa Tea
Bernideen's Tea Time Blog for Bernideen's Tea Time Cottage and Garden Blog Party