Saturday, March 31, 2012

Queen Elizabeth II visits Manchester And Crashes (sort of) a Wedding


Queen Elizabeth II continued her Diamond Jubilee visits to Manchester and Salford looking like spring in a pale pink outfit. She and Prince Philip visited the Cathedral, and the town hall where she was scheduled for a luncheon as well as other sites in the town. 

But whilst she was at the town hall, she stepped over to a wedding reception and greeted the flabbergasted and chuffer (Brit speak for tickled) bride and groom, John and Frances Canning, which was captured by the Daily Telegraph on video and posted with an interview with the bride and groom. The video is at the bottom, as I am not good at the html needed to insert it in the post

It seems that the couple already had the venue reserved for the date when the Queen's Diamond Jubilee visit was planned. Feeling that there would be little conflict, the wedding plans continued. When the groom heard she would be in town and lunching in the same building, the groom sent the Queen an invitation with a personal note telling her she was welcome to stop by if at a loose end. 

The invitation was declined with many thanks and best wishes from a lady in waiting, which is normal. BUT...on the day the Queen took them up on their kind invitation...and shocked them no end.

Quite fun!


Monday, March 26, 2012

Tuesday Is Tea Day, Antique Staffs Green Transfer Teacup Trio, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Irish Guards

Hi and welcome to a Tuesday post. I am joining Tuesday Cuppa Tea and the other wonderful blogs (among many others) that are listed at the bottom of the post.




In honor of St. Patrick's Day still...here is an antique Staffordshire teacup trio in a grass green transferware floral pattern. The set was made in the 1870-1890 and I think it's lovely! The set is unmarked, which was quite normal prior to 1891 when potteries were required by law to mark country of origin on their items.  I'd call it shamrock green!

Also on the subject of shamrocks, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and wife of Prince William visited the Royal Irish Guards on St. Patrick's Day to present shamrocks to the troops.


Apparently, as reported in an article about the visit, 3 guards fainted during the visit. You hear of girls fainting for the Prince, but the guards go down for Catherine!

The Irish Guards are one of 5 divisions of the Queen's Royal Brigade Of Guards, members of each regiment taking turns changing the guard at Buckingham Palace and other royal monuments like St. James Palace and others. The Guards are:
1) Coldstream Guards (have to put that regiment first as my husband was a Coldstream Guard and found the guard at Buck House)

2) Grenadier Guards

3) Welsh Guards

4)  Irish Guards

5) Scotch Guards

All of them are rigorously trained soldiers and all wear the bearskin hats they are so famous for when on duty at the Palace. You can only tell them apart then by their hat and collar insignias and from a distance by the placement of the buttons on their red tunics. At the bottom of the post, you will find a video of the Duchess of Cambridge's visit. It has to be there because I don't know enough HTML to put it in below this but before my list of blog parties. Sigh...oh to be more techie!  Sorry about the ad to start!

I will leave my posts about Queen Elizabeth's Royal visit to Manchester to a bit later in the week or this will be too long!


For more info on the teacup trio at Time Was Antiques, click on the photos.

 Here is the list of blog parties:




 
 
Ruth ~ http://antiquesandteacups.blogspot.com/
Tuesday Cuppa Tea
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
Celia ~ http://attitudeivlife.blogspot.com/  Afternoon Tea
What’s It Wednesday

Monday, March 12, 2012

Shelley Shamrock and Old Ireland Teacups, Antique St. Patrick's Day Postcards and Shamrock Napkin Ring

Hello and welcome to my post for the tea related blogs listed at the bottom, as well as a Wednesday vintage blog party.  


As it is close to St. Patrick's Day, I am sharing two very different Irish themed teacups from the archives of Time Was Antiques.




This is the Shelley China, England Shamrock pattern in the Bute shape that was made from 1908-1916. The shamrock was used on several different shapes but this was the first I could locate. They never were around for long, because a lot of folks collect the Shamrock pattern.




This is a Shelley cup and saucer in a landscape pattern called Old Ireland with a cottage that is also pretty neat. This one was made in the Cambridge shape and dates from 1940-1966 when the pottery closed. I always love the landscape patterns. You sip you cup of tea, look at the saucer and dream you were there....



And to go with it, and English EPNS silver plated napkin ring with a shamrock theme dating to the 1930s. Pretty cute! Irish or shamrock themed collectibles are so fun! On St. Patrick's Day, everyone's Irish!


The teacups and the postcards are from the archives of Time Was Antiques.

We have visited Ireland several times, and Dublin is always a favorite. This part of the post is for my husband, a Brit who loves Guinness Stout. Here is the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin where he took a tour...and got samples...I went shopping!



I left he and his buds here, and the ladies went to Grafton Street, the best shopping area in Dublin. We had a great time and ended up at Brown Thomas, one of the best department stores which also has a lovely lunch room where we had a smashing lunch!




Have a great day, a cup of tea and enjoy the blog parties I am in participating in below.


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 
Bernideen’s ~ http://bernideensteatimeblog.blogspot.com
Friends Sharing Tea Wednesday
Tea With Friends
Celia ~ http://attitudeivlife.blogspot.com/  Afternoon Tea
What’s It Wednesday

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Queen Elizabeth And Catherine in my Hometown!

I am so excited! On the first leg of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee tour, where she has been joined by Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge as well as Prince Philip, her first stop is my hometown Leicester!


The Queen & co arrived via British rail from St. Pancras, visited the cathedral, Montfort university and met waiting crowds.






all photos from the Daily Telegraph photo galleries photo gallery
I wish I had been there! Joining Pink Saturday with How Sweet The Sound!

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
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