William And Catherine's First Anniversary, Thursday Tea Things And Talk

Welcome to my meme Thursday Tea Things and Talk!  It is really amazing to me that Prince William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will celebrate their first anniversary on Sunday, April 29th. It just doesn't seem like it has been that long!

We remember their engagement in November of 2010...Prince William having given Catherine his mother's Sapphire and Diamond engagement ring....

 photo BBC archives

And then the wedding on April 29, 2011...a year ago! Amazing!

photo by Hugh Burnand 

So I want to raise my cup of tea to the anniversary of William and Kate in an English bone china mug below we still have a few of at Time Was Antiques made for the Royal Wedding. For more info, click on the photos.

Congratulations William and Catherine!

I am joining the following blogs today:

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

Teacup Thursday

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

Vintage Thingie Thursday

 Mrs. Olson ~  http://jannolson.blogspot.com/

Share Your Cup Thursday

 

 Have a wonderful day! Join the linky below if you'd like...I'd be honored!

Thursday Tea Things And Talk, Union Jack Mug, History of Stay Calm And Carry On

Hello and welcome to Thursday Tea Things And Talk, and I am joining Vintage Thingie Thursday with Coloradolady and Miss Spenser's Teacup Thursday. Today I have a Dunoon, England bone china mug that is the Union Jack, or flag of Great Britain that I have in the shop Time Was Antiques.

This is one of my favorites, but then I'm prejudiced! It's the perfect size for a good cuppa in the morning. Sometimes my honey has coffee in it, but it's usually tea. PG tips is my favorite morning cuppa at the moment, rather mundane but its starts the day well. Green in the mid morning and back to a nice strong English black blend for afternoon tea. Lovely!

The reason I chose this as my Thursday Tea Things post was because of this:

 I know we have all seen this poster, and variations of it in the last few years, but I came across a YouTube video about the refinding of the poster and it's renaissance as a culture icon in 1999 which I have added below.  The poster was one of 3 designs from World War II. My husband and I were really interested in the video. Now that's vintage! Here is the video:

This is the version I have on my sidebar!

And please remember Sandi's Tea On The Titanic on April 15th:

 

Have fun visiting the other blog parties and have a cuppa and Keep Calm and Carry On!

 

New Royal Wedding Mug Will & Kate and Wedgwood Jasperware Queen Elizabeth II box

We just received our new design of Prince William and Kate Middleton Royal Wedding mugs with the inscription and date for April 29, 2011 at Time Was Antiques.

To order or see more info for the mugs and our other Prince William items or other British Royal Memorabilia items at Time Was Antiques, click on the photos.


We have also just added a Wedgwood royal blue jasperware box made for the Silver Jubilee in 1977 of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Cool. For more info, click on the photos.

My love of British Royal commemoratives came from my English grandmother who gave me various items she had collected over the years from her growing up during the last years of the reign of Queen Victoria to the coronation of King George VI. I had a nylon lace handkerchief from the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth...who The King's Speech was about... in 1937 framed and it's hanging in my bedroom. I love it!


It's been quite rainy and windy the last several days. The last 2 days, our telephone and internet was spotty at best because of wind damage that took about 38 hours to repair. Had to do an order via cell phone, as my telephone and the contact to the websites was tenuous at best. It was so nice to get the phone call that all was restore last evening, just before we left for a banquet and fund raiser for the youth at our church, Sequim Community, raising funds for a week helping an orphanage in Mexico. A great meal and very successful silent and live auction. Those kids are great!


Have a great day, stay warm and enjoy a cup of tea with a friend.

Charles and Diana Royal Wedding and Birth Of Prince William mugs, Westminster Abbey

I just added several items of British Royal memorabilia to Time Was Antiques, one of the specialties of this website. I thought I would share a couple of mugs including one from the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981 and another from the birth of Prince William in 1982. These are an ironstone in blue transferware wedding mug from Adams, England and a ceramic mug with gold profiles and lettering by Kilncraft, England celebrating the birth of Prince William. These were both very popular at the time of the wedding or the birth. For more info, click on the photo.

The interest in the wedding of Charles & Diana has strengthened again with the announcement of the upcoming wedding of their son, Prince William to Kate Middleton in April. The wedding will be in Westminster Cathedral. Charles and Diana married at St. Paul's, but Prince William's grandparents, the then Princess Elizabeth married Philip there in 1947.  Princess Elizabeth was then crowned Queen Elizabeth II there in 1953.

Westminster Abbey was actually founded in the year 960...amazing! Many of the most important people in history are buried there. I remember a line from The King's Speech (you MUST see it if you haven't...Brilliant aside for the language in parts) Lionel Logue says as he walks up the nave something like "I can't get over the thought of walking on Shakespeare, Darwin and Turner!" A visit to the Abbey is one of the highlights of any one's visit to London. Not to mention the choir...but I'm a musician, so....


These are links to pages in the Westminster Abbey so you can read some of it's illustrious history, what has happened there and what is coming up. Today most of the Royal Family attended a celebration of the life of famous soprano Dame Joan Sutherland.


Westminster Abbey home page

Westminster Abbey History


Famous People And The Abbey


If you are going to follow the upcoming wedding, you'll be seeing a lot of Westminster Abbey!


I hope you had a great day and are looking forward to a great day tomorrow. We will be sunny here in Sequim so we will be out walking and enjoying the sunshine!

Downton Abbey, Edwardian Age jewelry and the Boer War

Downton Abbey concludes this coming Sunday on PBS for us and it has been a treat! This is Lady Mary, one of the main characters, a young woman caught in the strictures of the Edwardian rules of polite society.  The Edwardian Age was named after Queen Victoria's son Edward VII who came to the throne of England upon her death in 1901. The reign was marked by the upheaval of changes started by the Industrial Revolution, social unrest, coming war and changing fortunes.


The Edwardian age was the last period of Belle Epoque or the Beautiful Era before modernism and the art deco influences began to dominate.  Edwardian jewelry was feminine, light and beautifully made. I wanted to show you an Edwardian faceted rainbow crystals necklace at Time Was Antiques that I absolutely love because it is so representative of the period 1900-1920 when Downton Abbey is set.

You can read more about it at this link:
Edwardian Rainbow Crystal Necklace


The Edwardian Era was ushered in by the end of the Boer War fought in South Africa, begun during the reign of Queen Victoria and concluded in 1902 around the time of the coronation of King Edward VII. The mug below is a fabulous example of portraits of King Edward and Queen Alexandra who's descendants include Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William. The back is a rare dedication to the end of the war and a commendation of the brave fights and lofty goals of the war. I really love the graphics.

I love history and these artifacts really bring it to life and evoke the ages and occasions they were made to commemorate. Downton Abbey, although fictional, has been extremely accurate throughout to details and settings and I have loved it...it's a window on a past age.
For more information and photos of the mug at Time Was Antiques use this link:
Edward VII and Boer War commemorative mug


Remember to watch on Sunday night...I can hardly wait! Have a great day.