Join me for a cup of tea ... part 5

Welcome to another Saturday tea. Thanks for joining me. Sorry that I was absent again last week, now that we are finishing up with my father-in-law's estate things should be back to normal soon ... whatever normal is!

This week I have a beautiful six-sided Rose Saucer on display.

I got this beautful pieces the summer of 2006. My father came to visit with my niece, Stephanie, shortly after George deployed the first time. We went shopping Natchitoches, LA a beautiful place for anyone who loves that small town charm (and happens to be where the movie Steel Magnolias was filmed). At a Christmas/resale store (that is open year-round ... Yeah!) we were exploring all the crevises and corners when I found this lonely little plate. The saleslady said she had found it when she was going through some boxes and thought she'd put it on the shelf to see if anyone wanted it. She had planned to throw it away but hadn't gotten around to it yet. I had to have it with such a sad story, so $2 later, I had added to my collection. How could I not!?! It didn't just have roses, but PINK roses ... It called to me!

Has anyone seen this pattern before? I woud love to find a cup, but hadn't had a chance to do extensive research.

Until our next visit ...

A Holiday Rose

We have so much to do to finish clearing my father-in-law's house before visiting Family them heading back home to Army Life this weekend, but I wanted to share this with you.

This post will be short and sweet, but it seemd so appropriate for Thanksgiving. This rose reminds me so much of Fall each time I see it I think of how beautiful life is regardless of whether it is cheery and bright or dark and sad. This rose, in all its beauty, was part of a floral arrangement for Dad's funeral. (It's actually a very deep golden yellow and vivid orange.) Beautiful yet sad. But I chose not to dwell on the sadness, but rather the celebration of his life, just as this rose lives on in ths photo, so does Dad live on in our hearts. I'm sure the holidays will be hard for us as well face them so close to losing him, but George and I are thankful we have each other.

Until our next visit ...

A Celebration of Life

This week I wanted to take time to celebrate the roses that my recently passed father-in-law brought into my life.


These are the roses on the bush in the back yard. It was planted by my husband's grandmother and cared for by his dad long after she passed away. I love the variations of pink against the yellow house. He had a yellow rose bush in the front of the house too. But I missed the blooms this year since we were at the hospital so much the past few months.



This was a beautiful painting of roses that we found when packing the house. I fell in love ith it the minute I saw it. George thinks it was something his grandmother had in her house, before she passed away. It was tucked back in a closet at the back of his dad's house.



When I was cleaning the kitchen and diningroom, George and I found a variety of beautiful glass serving pieces and such. It took me about 4 days just to go through those two rooms, but towards to end of it I found this single plate with a beautiful pink rose on it. I'm not sure what to do with it, but it will be a pretty serving plate or something.



Until our next visit ...

Join me for a cup of tea ... part 4

Welcome to another Saturday tea. Thanks for joining me. Sorry that I was absent last week. With my FIL's passing we had a lot to do in settling his estate and we are only just beginning, but for now, let's have tea.

This week's addition to my collection comes all the way from across the world, Afghanistan to be exact. On Dec. 4, 2006, George and I came home from shopping in Lake Charles and the post office had delivered the trunk George had mailed home with his extra stuff from his deployment. (He'd returned a few days prior.) As he unpacked it he said he had a surprise for me. I tore open the packaging to reveal this beautiful, tiny marble pitcher followed by six tiny cups and resting plate. Sure enough, my husband found me a tea set in Afghanistan. (Click on photo to see larger.)

He said, "You said you had a tea cup collection, so I got this for you. I didn't know you collected teacups."

Really, what did he think was on the glass shelves for the past few years!

What do you think? DO you have treasures from other places in the world? Please feel free to share.

Until our next visit ...

Seal of Approval ... Closing in on the finishline

The past three months I have spent a lot of time at the hospital while my father-in-law was sick. Try as I may, concentrating on homework was difficult, but stitching was something that I could drop at a moments notice or take with me when we went for tests in other parts of the hospital. I have a long list of unfinished projects and as soon as I verify it, I'll post so you can see just what I have on my plate.

When packing for Houston, I chose three projects, the Daisy tabletopper was one project, but the Army Seal that I have been working on for over 5 years was another. Both large projects, both high on my priority list.

When I started Oct. 23, this is where I was:



When I put it down and started fresh on a new project a week ago, this is where I was:



Really close to finishing, aren't I?

I first saw the pattern, summer 2002, when I was was in North Carolina completing my internship. (Yes, same one where I got my green and rose teaset.) I started the following fall. A few months into it, I was working on completing the outer circle and realized I'd miss counted and it didn't meet correctly and was too far off to "correct" with altered counting, so I started over. Trust me, I was MUCH more careful the second time.

I chose 22-count fabric and for those who don't know, that means 22 squares per inch ... yep, that's small. So it's taken me a while. I've just got a few letters and backstitching, which is my least favorite. I'll post pictures as I continue.

Until our next visit ...

Paisley Parade

I thought all week about what I would post, and thought that I would actually skip it this week, since we got the news of my FIL's rapid decline in health. But sitting in the hospital room in these last few days with him I needed something to remind me of the beauty in life. So this week's post is dedicated to him.

As I've said before my mother owns a quilting company, mostly patterns and supplies. When I was in college I used to travel with her to various shows. In a community such as crafts and quilting you meet others who live the gypsy life and see them throughout your travels. Most of them knew me as Veronica's daughter and I quickly became accepted as one of them, thought I cross stitched (gasp) rather than quilted. It wasn't that I didn't like to quilt, I did, I just needed to stay busy at all time and it was much easier to stuff a stitching project in my bag versus quilting.

On one of these trips our booth was across from Husqvarna-Viking who was introducing a new embroidery machine. All day long they made samples and at the end of the day either packed them up or if there werew multiples, threw extras away. They asked if I wanted one at the end of the conference and this is the first one I chose. They also gave me a "sister" sample. What do you think? Pretty huh!?!



The pink paisley matches my dinningroom, so I will have it matted and framed to hang in there, but I hadn't decided what to do with the other one. I'll let you know what I decide.

Until our next visit ...

Join me for a cup of tea ... part 3

Welcome to Saturday tea ... sorry I am late, I guess it'll be an afternoon tea this week. Please a enjoy a crumpet, scone or whatever treat you'd like as you join me in the sunroom and we continue to talk tea. Let me tell you about my third piece in my collection ...

Now where were we? Oh, yes, I had just gotten my first teaset in North Carolina ....

At the end of the summer I packaged everything up for the 19-plus hour trip back to Houston. There is the front seat of my purple Fort Ranger sat the carefully boxed tea set and the two original matching tea cup and saucers. I breathed a sigh of relief when I made it to my new college apartment and unpacked my "collection." I placed them on the only counter in that small efficiency apartment. I had my stepfather's gold fabric "college" couch, a day bed and no room for a kitchen table, but my collection was proudly displayed.

Following graduation in May 2003, I again packaged my treasures and headed off to my first "home." I was renting a beautiful four-bedroom house that my grandparents had bought to renovate and I promised to help when I moved in.

First things first, out came the collection. Now that I had room, I saved my pennies (literally) and bought a brass table with three glass shelves to display my growing collection. It was actually a towel rack for the bathroom, but it was all I could afford and it worked. Its the table which the teaset was on in last week's tea.

Helping my grandmother go through her "Christmas closet" that year, we found a pretty blue tea-for-one set that included the teapot that steeped on top of the tea cup and had a pretty dessert plate with it. She offered it to me, probably after seeing my humble collection when she visited.



So I took my newfound treasure home, thinking about all of Christmases I had helped her go through that closet and placed it on the counter. There it sat for nearly 8 months until my next adventure came ... marraige ... but more about the next peice at tea next week!

Until our next visit ...