Tea with Albert

Well, I had a lovely day out on Thursday at a luncheon with the gorgeous name of 'Diamonds in the Dust" for Women in Agriculture (ie farmer's wives). There were some wonderful speakers and a great lunch but more importantly a diamond worth $1000 to be won!! Out of the 110 ladies who attended I got down to the last 8!! How exciting but unfortunately I didn't win though there was one happy lady going home with her prize.




I've decided to make a little tea tray for myself to sit and relax with while I zip around blogland for all the usual tea parties.

I have been taking some photos of my collection of Royal Albert china to share with you later and I think this lovely pale green cup and saucer would have to be my favourite. It is just so dainty.

I have these gorgeous doyleys that are a perfect match for my tray setting. Once again I found these in our old farm house - they just needed a good soak and an iron and they came up beautifully.

I have used my sugar sticks again!! I find these really useful for tray settings as they don't take up as much room as a sugar bowl (also I sometimes don't have one to match!! LOL).

Can I tempt you with a small cupcake?? They are very low calorie...in fact they are fake but super cute, don't you agree??

More and more pink roses...just what a girl like me needs.

I was so surprised how the flowers on the cup are the perfect match for the doyley.

A sweet rose scented candle does wonders for the soul.






































Aren't these colours delicious - my new beach house is in very different colours to those I have at the farm house - I have been snapping away I hope to bring you some snaps soon.

This is a cute little saucer I bought years ago from a 2nd hand store - sadly it doesn't have a cup but I can only imagine how pretty it would have been complete.

Black tea or do you take milk??

I hope you have enjoyed joining me for an afternoon cup of tea,

Suzy

I'm joining-

TuesdayTeaforTwo@ThePlumedPen

TeacupTesday@Martha'sFavorites

TeaTimeTuesday@RoseChintzCottage

TeaCupTuesday@artfulafirmations

TeaPot&TeaThings@Breathoffreshair

TabletopTuesday@AStrollThruLife

TablescapeThursday@BetweenNapsonthePorch

ShowOffYourCottageMonday@TheHouseoftheRoses

Pink and green delight!!

Last weekend while we were at the beach house I had been admiring the bunches of Lilliums for sale everywhere I went but when I went to buy myself a bunch to bring home to the farm house they had all been sold - I was really sad as I also wanted some for DNo 2 who had been having a few sleepless nights with her little 3 month old daughter so I had to settle for these pretty carnations. They are really lovely colours and seemed to fit right into my tablescape for this week - funny how that happens.

I had found these cute little plates for $1.85 each. I loved the spots around the edge and thought they would fit into my house really well!! The trouble was there was only three - so I am on the look out for some more.

I started my table with this pretty pink and green cloth from my collection I have for the gift shop displays which I thought had the colours of the dots on it. I used a green charger (I tried white but it seemed to disappear into the cloth) and topped the plate with a couple of pink and green florals then finished with some depression glass.

This gorgeous plate has some matching cups and was found in our old farm house (they were originally used by my in-laws). I would love to have a whole setting of this but I don't think that would ever happen as it is very old.

I have used these saucers fom my Royal Albert collection as a little plate to sit under the depression glass bowls.

Pink and green coloured glass - wow, what a great combination.

Layers and layers of fabulous fun colours.

Party favours all wrapped in pink and green.

How delicious are these colours???

Mis-matched cups and saucers - my mum would have a fit!!! I think as long as the colours tone then it's ok!!

There's a tiny bit of sunshine coming through my back door to make this table sparkle.

You can see I have used my large dining table but have just set it for two. I started with a plain white cloth then added my fun check one to define the area I wanted. To make a bit of a barrier I placed a couple of my pretty scarves around the base of the jug holding the flowers - they were the perfect match.

The pink water bottle I had for the baby shower I had for DNo 2 earlier in the year - they just needed a couple of green tumblers to complete the look.

I am off to a ladies luncheon tomorrow - someone is going to win a diamond there - hope it's me!!

Have a lovely week,

Suzy

The winner of my giveaway is Melanie of Lucky7Design so if you please email me with your postal address I will pop your prize in the mail.

I'm joining TablescapeThursday@BetweenNapsonthePorch

MosaicMonday@LittleRedHouse

Kitchen display

I have been busy decorating my beach house and have lots of empty spaces - we have just purchased the basic furniture and will slowly get things just as we want them (really I mean afford them!) but this will take time - unless I win our lotto jackpot tonight!!!

In my kitchen I have the usual empty space above the fridge alcove - what do you put in  there?? It is quite high and I am not, so cookery books were out of the question. Canisters would be good but as yet I haven't found the 'right' ones so I had a big empty box. So just the other day I was visiting my son's partner at work and in her shop they had some gorgeous displays. True to form I had my trusty camera in my bag so with her permission I took a few shots to share and thought to myself  'I can do that!' Well, I have and this is my latest decorating effort - I will share with you the ones I copied first and then show how mine turned out.

These bottles had all been collected form thrift stores and spray painted then grouped together - I thought they looked fabulous so I started my search for different sized bottles and vases. Most of the ones I purchased were only 50c - $2.00 so they didn't cost me very much.  I also found some interesting vases in our old farm house - the source of many of my treasures!!

As you can see I had a very odd looking collection of bits and pieces. Everything was given a good wash and left in the winter sun to dry before being painted.

I poured red paint into this glass decanter and also into the stopper - I thought that might make it look a little different to the others.  I was a bit worried about the blue swirls in this little vase but it has turned out to be one of my favourite pieces!!

Work in progress!! I had to spread them all out so I could get between them as it takes a few light coats of paints to cover them. I was worried that they were all going to look the same because I could only get one red spray paint but as they all had different colours and surfaces they looked different when finished.

This is my finished product - after arranging them on the shelf I have decided I need to paint a few more taller pieces to put in the back. It's hard to believe these are all painted with the same colour paint, don't you think?

 I have started collecting more interesting shaped bottles and jars to paint to use as props in my sister's gift shop.

Happy Monday,

Suzy

It's not too late to join my giveaway -I'll announce the winner on Wednesday.

  I'm joining MetamorphosisMonday@BetweenNapsonthePorch

MosaicMonday@LittleRedHouse

MakeItForMonday@CottageInstincts

ShowOffyourCottage@TheHouseintheRoses

TabletopTuesday@AStrollThruLife

TwoormoreTuesday@TheGypsy'sCorner
Show&Tell@MyRomanticHome
TransformationThursday@TheShabbyChicCottage
TreasuresandtrinketsThursday@MyCottageCharm

Sunday morning breakfast

Finally after a couple of months getting our beach house organised for us to just go and relax in Mr FH and I were able to start to be holiday-makers last weekend. Trust me I have really enjoyed getting furniture and decorating but now is the time to sit back and enjoy. Last Sunday morning the weather was great so we decided to go to a great little cafe called MOKA - isn't that a great name? - for breakfast.

 How cool is this?  Can you see the refection in the glass??

Could I tempt you with a hot chocolate?

Or how about a steaming flat white? You can see in the background Mr FH is checking the footy results in the paper!!

 Yummy, yummy bacon and eggs with tomato on the side...one of my favourite meals.

This is the view looking out the door from where we were seated......doesn't look much like winter does it?

 I wish I could say that they were our bikes but no we arrived another way..

I wish I could say that we came on one of these too but no.. we came in our trusty farm ute (a small truck) as we had furniture to move.  Never mind I can dream. 

Have a lovely weekend,

Suzy

PS Don't forget to enter my giveaway!!

 

I'm joining Foodie Friday with this post.

Tablescape Thursday and a giveaway!!

Today is a special day - Susan has her 100th Tablescape Thursday anniversary and I also have my 100th post anniversay. For anyone who has never been to Tablescape Thursday it is just unbelievable - the talent of some people is just amazing. Please stop by if your have some spare time and check them out.

My table this week is just a little group of memories I have put together. 

I started with this lovely glass dome (cloche?) that my mum was looking for a home for - it doesn't have a base but it fits my lovely silver tray but today I have sat it on a pretty white shawl I had for my children when they were babies.

I had these lovely old books (obviously well read!) by Beatrix Potter. They are looking a little tatty but these were a favourite with my children.

These cute shoes were worn by both my girls and I just love them!! I love the gorgeous daisies and the little bit of lace on the top - just beautiful!

This tarnished silver teething ring was also used by my children. Yesterday I spent the afternoon with DNo 2 and she was amazed at some of the treasures I had kept from her childhood. She was able to take some of the clothes she had worn and is now going to use them for her little girl - how special is that  xxx

This beautiful key is one of my most treasured possessions - SNo 1 was out and about on the farm with his dad when he was about 3 years old (he is now 24) and he found this key and brought it home for me. It has sat on the window sill above the kitchen sink for all those years and I look at it every day and it reminds me what a gorgeous son he is.

This is my baby brooch - sadly it has lost it's stone - it was a pretty purple amethyst but to me it is still really beautiful.

 I can't wait until my little granddaughter fits into these cute shoes!! She is like a little doll to my daughter - so much fun.

As a today is my 100th post I am having a giveaway!! For everyone who is a follower and makes a comment on this post I will put you in the draw for a pack of my home made cards. They will be similar to these but as I haven't made them yet I couldn't take a snap of them!! I will leave the competition open for a few days and will let you know early next week who is the lucky winner!!

Have a great weekend,

Suzy

I am joining Susan@BetweenNapsonthePorch 
WhiteWednesday@FadedCharm

Tuesday's table displays and a giveway!

This week has been a really busy one so I thought I would share some of the photos of my displays I did at my sister's shop a couple of weeks ago. I just love playing around with all the gorgeous giftware she has. If you look very carefully you can see some tea cups and also teapots so I hope I can still join all the usual tea parties around blogland!!

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Don't you just love this hen and rooster??  I would also like to take this fire box down to my beach house.. maybe I can talk Mr FH into buying this for me!!

I really love these rubber boots - my daughter has a pair and they are leopard skin print- how flash would they be??

Look at this outdoor setting - I have a balcony at my new house - maybe I could get this. Do you see a pattern happening here??  I just want everything!! Looks like I'll have to keep working for a while yet.LOL

There is a cute cup, saucer and plate sitting under this table so I can join the party.  Yay

Isn't it funny how colours change...this cloth was really green and mauve and as we had very little mauve or purple giftware I wasn't sure what to use but I feel the blue striped china looks really great with the lime green.

Isn't this blue floral outdoor thermometer just gorgeous. What is it about blue and white china???

Heres my old wire bed making another appearance - this time with yellow and black. I'm loving those black and white cushions too.........um maybe I could have them too!

I hope you have enjoyed your little look around the gift shop with me. 

This is my 99th post so my next post is very special - it has been a long time coming and at times I have thought of giving it all away but now I have reached this milestone I'm having a giveaway for my followers. Be sure to check back to see what's on offer. Have a lovely Tuesday.

Suzy

I'm joining the following parties around town....

 
TuesdayTeaforTwo@ThePlumedPen
TeacupTesday@Martha'sFavorites
TeaTimeTuesday@RoseChintzCottage
TeaCupTuesday@artfulafirmations
TeaPot&TeaThings@Breathoffreshair
TabletopTuesday@AStrollThruLife
TablescapeThursday@BetweenNapsonthePorch