Tuesday Cuppa Tea, Valentine's Day, Emma Hearts

Happy Valentine's Day! I am joining several blog parties on this special day including Tuesday Cuppa Tea with Antiques And Teacups and Valentine's Day Tea with Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage. There is a list of others at the end of the post. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

I shared the milk free Spritz cookies a few blog posts ago and we are finishing the last today with tea. In case you missed the recipe, just click on the photo to go to the blog post with the recipe.

From the archives of Time Was Antiques, here is my favorite Valentine's Day tea mugs by Emma Bridgewater, England. The pattern of the top is Hearts and the bottom is Love & Kisses. I love her designs, and always visit...and buy...when we visit the UK and they are gone! I always say I'll save one, then forget, and then kick myself! I am especially fond of Emma Bridgewater because that was my grandmother's name!

I hope your Valnetine's Day is a wonderful feast of love! Here are 2 special Valentine's Day poems...one new and one an old favorite...about love.





Compatible Valentine On Valentine’s Day, I think about
The people who are dear,
How much they add to life’s delight
Whenever they are near.You’ve always been a total joy,
Such pleasant company,
I very much appreciate
Our compatibility!By Joanna Fuchs

 How Do I Love Thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being an ideal Grace. 
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. 

I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,--I love thee with the Breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!--and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death. 
Elizabeth Barret Browning

 

 

I would also like to remind you to visit Antiques And Teacups to enter their drawing for an Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee mug. Just click on the photo.

 Have a great Valentine's Day vising the wonderful 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

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

http://www.attitudeivlife.blogspot.com/p/afternoon-tea.html   Afternoon Tea

Letters Surface About Wallis Simpson And King Edward VIII

I wanted to share this video from CBS news that is tied to Madonna's new movie WE for Wallis and Edward, King Edward VIII and divorcee Wallis Simpson, whom he abdicated the throne of England to marry. The videa includes info about a new book with exerpts of letters the author recently found by Wallis to her ex husband. I found it very interesting and wanted to pass it on.

If Edward had not abdicared to marry Wallis, King George VI, father of Queen Elizabeth would not have been king and therefore no Prince William in the lineup down the road. England also may well have caved to Hitler, as Edward was a know Nazi sympathizer.

As Noel Coward said "There should be a statue of Wallis Simpson in every English village for saving the nation in time of war".

The video below starts with a commercial of course....sigh....

 

Dudson Jasperware Cheese Dome And Pitcher, Antique Valentines

Hi there! I hope your weekend is going well.  I am stoked because it's almost Valentine's Day, our anniversary and I had a great conversation with a customer who is a Dudson jasperware collector. Most people have heard of jasperware, but automatically think of Wedgwood when they do. But...other companies made it as well.


Jasperware is a matte finish stoneware that usually has a contrasting color applied decoration, often referred to as sprigged. The colors are varied from black to white and everything in between. Here is a typical piece of Wedgwood jasperware.

Other companies have made jasperware over it's 200 year history but are not as famous as Wedgwood. These include Adams,Copeland, Castleton and Dudson. I really like them all. But I recently had 2 pieces of Dudson jasperware that I sold to a Dudson collector. She has been collecting for 25 years and we had a great phone discussion about jasperware, Dudson and England. Dudson manufactured jasperware down through the 1960s. But the best made were the older Victorian pieces. Here are the pitcher and cheese dish or cheese dome the collector purchased. Note the lovely work on the applied design. Just as nice as Wedgwood.

the Jasperware category at Time Was Antiques is here:  JASPWEWARE

And this is really the fun part...and doesn't always happen. The collector sent me photos of how the items she purchased fit in with her current collection. 

Can you spot the pitcher and cheese dome on the shelf above the bottom shelf? A lovely collection and I loved seeing where my items will be living. So nice to send them off to a loving home!

Have a great weekend and enjoy Valentine's Day. You might want to visit Sandi on Monday for her Valentine's Day Tea.

And also join Antiques And Teacups on Tuesday for Tuesday Cuppa Tea:

Where there is a great drawing coming up:

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Queen Elizabeth Photo - First As Queen, Never Seen

I had to post this! This was the first photo taken after the Princess Elizabeth became queen at 25 after her father, King George VI's death in 1952. The sitting was commissioned by the queen from photographer Kenneth Clayton, a BBC photographer. He has just released some of the photo shoot in honour of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.  Wonderful photos and a letter from the Queen.
The article in The Mail Online can be seen at this link.

 Revealed for the first time in 60 years: First pictures of Elizabeth as Queen unveiled among family portraits taken after the death of her father King George

Happy 200th Birthday Charles Dickens, Teacup Thursday, Win Trip To Downton Abbey

Today, Feb. 7th is the 200th anniversary of Charles Dicken's birth, and has been a day of celebration all over the world. I am late posting about this because of the Queen's Ascension Day yesterday which took precedence! I am joining Teacup Thursday with Miss Spenser and Vintage Thingie Thursday with Coloradolady as well.

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla participated in a service at Westminster Abbey in London, England today honouring one of the most famous novelists of all time. A wreath was laid on the novelist's tomb in Poets' Corner. Prince Charles and Camilla then visited the Dicken's House Museum in London.

As part of the commemorative day, Dicken's novels are being read allowed in public places in nations all over the world, plays are staged and many TV reruns of plays are in progress or will be over the next few months. Many leading actors from Dicken's productions were at the Abbey for the service.

So I have chosen a Rosina, England teacup that was made in the 1950s to be sold at The Old Curiosity Shop in London, famed for the novel of the same name by Dickens.

I have had all sorts of pieces in the pattern. I just love it. And this is not the only Dicken's china there is:

A Lancaster & Sandland, England cheese dish from the 1920-1930s with Oliver Twist saying Oliver Twist Asks For More.

 A Sam Weller character jug from The Pickwick Papers by SylvaCeramics.

A Lancaster dish from the 1930s in purple luster that says Sairey Gamp Entertains Betsy Prig from Martin Chuzzlewitt.

Another rendering of Sairey Gamp from Martin Chuzzlewitt by New Hall pottery also from the 1930s.

And Mr. Pecksniff from Martin Chuzzlewitt also by New Hall in the 1930s. All of these and more are available at Time Was Antiques. Just click on the photos.

Charles Dickens had a dramatic effect not only as a writer but as a crusader for improved conditions in England, and laterally of the world. His depictions of poverty, child labor, child crime, the workhouse and the social ills of his time were a voice for change and improvement. He lives on as a writer of incredible depth, humor and pathos...the supreme storyteller...and as a man ahead of his time in working for those who were often preyed upon in English society.

Happy Birthday Sir! 

And for Downton Abbey fans...PBS has just announced the Masterpiece Classic Sweepstakes. Win a trip a personal VIP tour of Highclere Castle, the real Downton Abbey and afternoon tea wth Lady Caenarvon! The trip is Sept. 17-22, 2012! Airfare, transfers, Hotels stays...the lot! Also Leeds Castle. To enter daily, here is the link:

PBS Masterpiece Classic Sweepstakes Downton Abbey 

Ascension Day Message From Queen Elizabeth II, Tuesday Cuppa Tea

 There were gun salutes in London and Edinburgh to mark the 60th year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II today.


Queen Elizabeth gave a statement of thanks to her well wishers on Feb. 6th, her Ascension Day.

Today, as I mark 60 years as your Queen, I am writing to thank you for the wonderful support and encouragement that you have given to me and Prince Philip over these years and to tell you how deeply moved we have been to receive so many kind messages about the Diamond Jubilee.

In this special year, as I dedicate myself anew to your service, I hope we will all be reminded of the power of togetherness and the convening strength of family, friendship and good neighbourliness, examples of which I have been fortunate to see throughout my reign and which my family and I look forward to seeing in many forms as we travel throughout the United Kingdom and the wider Commonwealth.

I hope also that this Jubilee year will be a time to give thanks for the great advances that have been made since 1952 and to look forward to the future with clear head and warm heart as we join together in our celebrations.

I send my sincere good wishes to you all.

ELIZABETH R.

Taken from The British Monarchy website

And a special Diamond Jubilee website has been launched with information on the special activities for the Diamond Jubilee Year...or rather half year, because of the Olympics in London and enviorons in July.

Diamond Jubilee website 

Among the tributes, Prince Charles is spearheading a program of planting forests and protecting others in several areas of Britain called Jubilee Woods.

Prince William also launched the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge to protect and add to playing fields in the UK. 


Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge

I haven't forgotten it's Tuesday...time for Tuesday Cuppa Tea with Antiques And Teacups.

This is an ironstone coronation mug from Johnson Brothers, England. The design was one of those from a group of approved designs for the coronation so you will see it by other makers as well. I think it is a very attractive design with great colorful graphics! Available at Time Was Antiques.

I am joining the other tea related blog parties. Have a great day and God Save the Queen!

 

Ruth ~ http://antiquesandteacups.blogspot.com/
Tuesday Cuppa Tea

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

http://www.attitudeivlife.blogspot.com/p/afternoon-tea.html   Afternoon Tea