Wedding Anniversary Queen Elizabeth and Philip, Diamond Jubilee Teacup, Thanksgiving

It is torrential rain interspersed with sunshine here in the Pacific Northwest.Forecast to be a drier and warmer than usual winter...it has been exactly the opposite so far...go figure!

Thanksgiving is this week, and we are looking forward to the official national day to be thankful for the many blessings we have. I don't want it to be only one day of the year, but I want my life to be lived in the attitude of thankfulness to God for His blessings!

 November 20, 1947 Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip of Greece, in....as royal weddings go...a small and cost conscious post war ceremony.  They had their 67th wedding anniversary just a few days ago....

The young couple...when they were engaged, and below...just a few weeks ago...a couple aging together....

I love this photo!..My teacup today is one of the few made for the wedding by Paragon, England. And it was another simple post war idea...another previously made design was reused with the addition of the wedding bell border added. Very simple...

The bottom bears the Royal warrants of Queen ElizabethII's mother Queen Elizabeth...wife of King George VI...and her grandmother...wife of King George V...Queen Mary.  Pretty and simple. Robin's Egg blue was said to be the bride's favorite color at the time.

Wedgwood did a fancy and huge mug for their 25th anniversary in 1972 by designer Richard Guyatt which is quite spectacular. The trim is platinum and the mug is gorgeous!

They are very hard to find! I loved this one!

 

I don't have a more current wedding cup and saucer or mug, but I do have a Diamond Jubilee cup and saucer made for the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II ascending to the throne. I love the smiling portrait on that...

Isn't that lovely? I think it's a great image of a wonderful woman who has shouldered a tremendous job and done it with integrity and grace. Her image is surmounted with the crown and surrounded by the rose for England, the thistle for Scotland, daffodils for Wales and the shamrock for Ireland.

The teacup and saucer is bone china, made by Heirloom, England, one of the new small potteries to emerge since the last major consolidation and closing of potteries in the early 1990s. May they long survive and continue to make pottery in the UK!

Thanksgiving is one of the times I get out the old issues of Victoria magazine...this is the September/October 2008 issue, and I fell in love with this natural material wreath...

 I hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends, and don't forget to share...or at least think about...the many blessings we take so for granted. We are indeed a people truly blessed...don't let the negative get in the way of our appreciation for our many blessings! God is good!

 I am joining these lovely blog parties....

Tuesday Cuppa Tea with Ruth 

Tea Cup Tuesday with Martha

Tea Time Tuesday with Sandi 

                                     Tea in the Garden with Bernideen 

Thursday Tea Things And Talk, Shelley Rose And Red Daisy, Tea Delectables For All Seasons Book

Good morning and welcome to my meme Thursday Tea Things And Talk. I am joining the other lovely blog parties listed at the bottom of the post.

I dearly love this Shelley, England pattern called Rose And Red Daisy. It is so evocative of lazy days in the garden with tea in hand and a book. The shape is called Dainty. Shelley made about 50 different shapes, but this has has the longest appeal to people with it's feminine and elegant ruffle effect. So pretty! The pattern was made from the 1907, but this teacup was made between 1940 and 1966 when the pottery closed. Shelley china, which is bone china...yes, actually with a content of bones...is extremely light, delicate and yet strong. Lovely! Available at Time Was Antiques. Just click on the photos.

I like to bring out this vintage tea book on a seasonal basis because it is so clever! The book is by artist and tea enthusiast Maryjo Koch, published in 1995, and is called Delectables For All Seasons.  The book is a compendium of delightful and fanciful drawings, tea lore and recipes all illustrated with her wonderful drawings! There is a companion book for coffee, but...not for me!

"Tea, Heav'ns delight, and Nature's truest wealth, 

that pleasing physic, and pledge of health:

The stateman's councellor, the virgin's love, 

the Muse's nectar, the drink of love."

A Poem Upon Tea, Peter Antoine Motteux 1712

 Tea is actually in the Camellia family and in China is believed to have a mystical, and royal heritage that was pronounced by the first emperor to taste it as a Golden Elixir, Divine in origin. Who am I to argue????

 Chinese proverb: "Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one"

As always, each season has a fanciful teapot. The one for spring is made up of violets and primroses with a twig handle a tea leaf spout  and is surrounded by a blue ribbon that says: 

"To see a hillside white with dogwood bloom is to know a particular ecstasy of beauty,

But to walk the gray winter woods and find the buds which will ressurrect that beauty in another spring is to partake of continuity."

Hal Borland, The New York Times Nov. 28, 1948

Have a wonderful day! We are mostly sunny and actually feeling like spring! We are driving to our neighboring town Port Angeles, WA to see the Holland America ship Oosterdam come to town on it's way to the Alaska season. It has come from Hawaii. We only get about 2 of the big cruise ships a year, so this is always fun.

Enjoy the blog parties listed below, and I'd be honored if you would like to join the meme for Thursday Tea Things And Talk!

Miss Spenser ~ http://missspensersblog.blogspot.com/

Teacup Thursday

Coloradolady  ~ http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/

Vintage Thingie Thursday

 

Thursday Tea Things And Talk, Shelley Teacup, Queen Elizabeth In York, Maundy Thursday

Welcome to Thursday Tea Things and Talk. I am joining Teacup Thursday with Miss Spenser and Vintage Thingie Thursday with Coloradolady. Today I want to share several things. It is Maundy Thursday, the day in the Christian calendar that commemorates the Last Supper.

 In honor of the color of Queen Elizabeth's hat in the photo below, I have a Shelley teacup with an aqua feather design. 

The pattern is called Serenity and was made by Shelley between 1940-1966 when the pottery closed and has platinum trim. The shape is Gainsborough, which is a favorite shape. So elegant!

Maundy Thursday has been traditionally celebrated in the UK by royalty giving our Maundy Money to deserving poor. This year Queen Elizabeth II was in York with Prince Philip and Princess Beatrice (she of the pretzel hat at her cousin Prince William's royal wedding to Kate Middleton almost a year ago) for the ceremony. The visit was also part of Queen Elizabeth;s Diamond Jubilee trips around the UK.

Beatrice, who is the daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson is 5th in line for the throne.

In the royal Maundy money tradition dates to medieval times and originally had the monarch or a representative washing the feet of the poor. King George V changed the custom to the current one of the reigning monarch presenting red leather bags (or cases) of money to worthy elderly recipients...one male and female for every year of the monarch's life, so this year there were 86 men and 86 women. Normally the ceremony is done in London, but as Queen Elizabeth was in York on her Diamond Jubilee visit it was done there.

York minster from a 2005 visit

Below is a link to a video of giving the Maundy money and other photos of the York visit from the Daily Mail. Click on the Daily Mail name to go to the article and video or click this link to the video:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2125538/The-Queen-Bea-Royals-hand-money-pensioners-York-mark-Maundy-Thursday.html

I hope your preparations for Easter are going well. I want to also wish our Jewish friends a Pesach Shalom.

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

Common Ground ~ http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com

Monday Marketplace

Terri~  http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday

Trisha~  http://sweetology101.blogspot.com/ 
Tea Party Tuesday

Sandi  ~  http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com

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

Angela  http://teawithfriends.blogspot.com/

Tea With Friends

Miss Kathy http://thewritersreverie.blogspot.com

Celia ~ http://attitudeivlife.blogspot.com/  Afternoon Tea

Ivy And Elephants ~http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/

What’s It Wednesday