Sunday, March 4, 2012

Tuesday Cuppa Tea Shelley Daffodil Time, 3 Royal Ladies Out For Tea on St. David's Day

Hi there. I am joining Tuesday Cuppa Tea with Antiques And Teacups and we are sharing a meme at the bottom of the post at least I hope it will work!




My teacup is a Shelley, England cup and saucer in the pattern Daffodil Time. That really speaks spring, doesn't it? The shape is the late Cambridge and it was made from 1940-1966. I just love their landscape designs!   For more info on the teacup at Time Was Antiques, click on the photos.

I chose the daffodil design because last Thursday was St. David's Day which is the national day in Wales with their symbol of daffodils. On Thursday, Queen Elizabeth II, Camilla Duchess of Cornwall and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge went to one of my favorite places in London for tea and to dedicate a new tea room at Fortnum and Mason's on Picadilly.  Because of the day they were presented with bouquets of daffodils, jonquils and narcissus.


This was the first public engagement of the 3 ladies together. The occasion was the unveiling of a plaque that will hang on Fortnum and Mason's commemorating the revitalization of the area of Picadilly and the renaming of the Fortnum, & Mason tea salon as the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon.


Fortnum & Mason for tea is always a must do for us. We stocked their wonderful tea blends when we had our actual antique shop and tea items business before going exclusively online. The company has been owned by the Weston family for over 300 years. My husband is a Weston, but pretty distant relatives of the tea part of the family. Sigh...

Fortnum & Masons has also always been famous for 200 years for thei fabulous hampers that can be stocked to order with wonderful treats and were de rigeur for any type of a picnic, outing or travel. The royal ladies were each given a hamper with individually chosen goodies for the visit, many drawn form the new line of Diamond Jubilee limited edition food items  F&M created for the Queen's special year.



Catherine sampled tea and of course, the chocolates! She admitted to the tea sommelier that she needs to improve when dealing with tea leaves instead of tea bags.
 


Fortnum & Mason's is one of the several fab food halls in London that we go to every visit. Not only to pick up treats and have tea or find take away if we are staying in a flat, but just to marvel at the artistry of retailing like art and just to see what's there. The others are Harrods, and on a lesser scale the Marks and Sparks (Marks and Spencer's) as well. The photos here are from various visits.










 This was a display of Emma Bridgewater ironstone...a contemporary English potter I love!



 This is Burleigh Asiatic Pheasants, a famous English made pattern of transferware.

And of course, we always have tea. The tower was from a trad tea and the other is a smoked salmon plate with scones and clotted cream my husband had on one visit and I forgot to photo my Coronation Chicken with scones and clotted cream for dessert!



So have a wonderful day visiting the fab blog parties and have a cuppa! Darjeeling, please....The Tuesday Cuppa Tea meme sign up is at the 
bottom.


Ruth ~ http://antiquesandteacups.blogspot.com/
Tuesday Cuppa Tea
Monday Marketplace
Terri~  http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday
Trisha~  http://sweetology101.blogspot.com/ 
Tea Party Tuesday
Teatime Tuesday
Kathy~  http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com/
Victoria - A Return to Loveliness
Martha~  http://www.marthasfavorites.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday 
Tuesday Cuppa Tea
Friends Sharing Tea Wednesday
Tea With Friends
What’s It Wednesday

9 comments:

Judith @ Lavender Cottage said...

How I would love to shop here!
Judith

Donna Heber said...

Beautiful post! Your Shelley teacup and saucer in the Daffodil time pattern is perfect for spring!

Johanna Gehrlein said...

Hi Ruth,
Fortnum & Masons is really the heaven for tea drinker. I would love to browse through that store. Thanks for sharing.
Best greetings, Johanna

Sandi@ Rose Chintz Cottage said...

Ruth, you have posted a very interesting and yummy tea today. I love the Burleigh pattern and oh my, the food looks divine! Thanks for sharing.

Blessings,
Sandi

Anonymous said...

A lovely place and lots of goodies. Aren't you lucky. I love your pretty tea cup and saucer. Happy Tea Day!
Pat

Zinnia said...

What an incredibly beautiful cup! Have a great Tuesday! Zinnia

CEO Lisa Anne - L.A said...

Everything looks so lovely. Beautiful post! Have a wonderful evening.

Lisa

highheeledlife said...

Oh my friend, this is absolutely a must add to my list ... it all looks so divine... I would love to shop and tea there!!! xo HHL

Jenny Woolf said...

Thank you for following my blog, and I am thrilled to find yours and see your lovely pictures of Fortnum and Mason! I often pass it and often look in. And I ALWAYS look in the windows because they have quite inspired displays.
Their tins of biscuits make wonderful gifts I find because after you have eaten the biscuits you are left with the beautiful tin.

The daffodil cup is pretty. The early daffodils are out in England now.

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