Fun Family Day!

I hope you had an enjoyable 4th of July.   For several years now we've  gone to our daughter-in-law's sister's house on the 4th.  They have a huge backyard with swings and a pool for the kids to enjoy.  This year, however, they were at Myrtle Beach, so I didn't think we'd be going, but they generously offered their property even though they were away.

It was a hot day [92 degrees], but there was lots of shade and an occasional breeze so it was pleasant. The cornhole boards Jerry made for Jeremy's birthday a few years ago were in use all day.

[Jeremy with his father-in-law on the left, and Lori on the right.]

[Ellie and Izzy]

[Jeremy and Landon]

The pool was in use all day too.

One of Ellie's birthday presents was a mermaid suit, so she's wearing it in the pic below.

[Landon, Ellie, their cousin Emma Kate, and Izzy]

[Ellie]

[Ellie and her cousins]

While we were celebrating the 4th in Warren, MI, Steve, Sharon and the girls were vacationing in Florida on the holiday.

Sweet great-granddaughter, Evie, was at home in Grand Ledge, MI



John, Tiffany and Evie just returned from vacationing at Hilton Head, South Carolina.



Grandson Brandon, Vanessa, and 'Charlie'.



I'm blessed!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 242nd Birthday, America!

And Happy 6th Birthday to our sweet little 'firecracker', Ellie!

~ First Birthday ~

~ Second Birthday ~

~ Third Birthday ~

~ Fourth Birthday ~

~ Fifth Birthday ~

~ Sixth Birthday ~

Her little cousins were looking on with anticipation.

Anna's House

Anna's House is a retro [1960's] restaurant, that until recently only had locations on the western side of the state.  There are now two on the westside of Detroit [still waiting for one east of Detroit]. With the tea trip behind us, my friend Linda and I finally got a date on the calendar to spend together.  She's always in Florida for her birthday [March], so it was time for a long overdue celebration.

She said I'd love Anna's House, so I drove to her side of town.  She was right - Anna's didn't disappoint.

~ Linda ~

The foyer and restaurant will take you down memory lane.  So many things reminded me of my mother's kitchen including the restaurant's interior colors of turquoise and white.

~ Two foyer pictures ~

Waiting area with numerous retro chairs.  Remember those metal porch chairs?

Look at all the teapots on display!

An assortment of toasters.

Our cute server.  I didn't take pictures of the food, but Linda ordered breakfast and I ordered a burger with olive/mayo dressing and sweet potato fries.  It was good.

Half of the restaurant is booths and the other half is counter/soda fountain.  So fun!

We made a day of it going hither, thither and yon on her side of town.  Say it isn't so!! Carson's Department Store [Carson Pirie Scott & Co.] is closing it's doors after being in business since 1854.  Another department store succumbs!

I didn't make any purchases, but Linda found a pair of shoes.  Things were pretty picked over, and the air-conditioning was off, so it wasn't conducive to shopping.  I felt sorry for the sales clerks who had to work in the heat.

Even though we were belatedly celebrating Linda's birthday she made sure I didn't go home empty handed.  Remember the Lena Liu Butterfly Teapot I blogged about in April [the one I put in a garage sale and moaned about it afterwards]?  Well Linda had one and gave it to me. I promised her this one wouldn't go in a garage sale.  ;-)

She also gave me some herbal tea she brought back from Mexico.

And a Susan Winget teapot rug.

It's been a long time since I've had a rug in front of my sink.  I used to have a braided rug there with matching ones in front of the refrigerator and stove, but once I got rid of my country décor they didn't look right.   Linda told me she purchased the teacup rug at Tuesday Morning, so as soon as I got home I went to the Tuesday Morning store near me and bought their last two.  I did a happy dance all the way home!

It was a fun day!

Life after the Southern Tea Trip

Being home five weeks while blogging about the tea trip, means a lot of activities took place that I didn't write about.  So now I'm catching up.  The first thing was to try to shed some pounds!  We all ate far more 'on the road' than we normally eat at home, and tea fare is not calorie friendly - especially ten days of it!

I went through the three cookbooks I purchased on the trip [Mary Mac's, Mrs. Wilkes' and Charleston Receipts] in search of some low calorie, healthy recipes.  

After reading up on beets and discovering how healthy they are, I bought some at the produce market and prepared them for the first time! There's more than one way to cook them, and I opted to roast them in the oven.  They were great in our salads, which have been high on my menus.

Okra was another new vegetable to prepare.  I roasted it in the oven as well because I read it won't turn slimy [as okra can do] when it's roasted.  I prepared it for Laura Hipp's Okra Soup, and it was all I could do to not eat it all right out of the oven.  We really liked the soup and it's on the menu for dinner again tonight.  I'll try to remember to take a picture.

Ladies Bible study was scheduled for June 12th, and I wanted to keep that menu lite as well. When four of us ladies traveled to Pennsylvania in 2016 I bought a beautiful Hammersley bone china strawberry basket at an antique store. I decided this was the perfect time to use it.  Fresh strawberries with angel food cake.

I served it with Coconut Almond Truffle black tea by Tealightful Tea.  

Lori gifted me with the tea on our recent trip, and I was anxious to try it.

Lite and yummy!

I wanted to use my china strawberry basket because shortly after we got home from the trip,  I was going through the listing of estate sales and looking at the accompanying photos, and I spotted another Hammersley berry basket in the Victorian Violets pattern.  Lori loves violets and she had a June birthday, so this basket was the perfect birthday gift [even though she says no gifts].  You don't see the china baskets often, so it was worth the pursuit.  My hubby and I were among the first group of people admitted into the house and I went right straight to the formal dining room and saw it sitting on a shelf.  It had Lori's name written on it, and it came home with me.  It was so much fun to surprise her with it!

The estate sale write-up said it was the home of a retired G.M. executive who had traveled the world.  There were lots of Russian items in the pictures including a large and small Lomonosov teapot, sugar and creamer in the Cobalt Net pattern.  I have a teacup in the pattern, but never thought I'd ever acquire the tea set.  While I was getting the berry basket, Jerry found the tea set and held onto it for me.  It didn't take much deliberating to decide it was coming home with me too.

It meant taking some things off a shelf in the living room to make room for it, but it now has a happy new home.

It looks lovely sitting next to the two trios from the Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia. I would call it my 'international' shelf, but most of the other china is from England, so the majority is international.

We came home with a feeling of 'mission accomplished', and declared it a productive day!