Church Ladies' Spring Tea

The tea I've been working on for the past couple of weeks for the ladies at my church took place yesterday [Saturday, April 26th].  

My girlfriend and I went over on Thursday to set up, since I had to work at The Whitney on Friday.  You may recall me blogging about the teapot candy box favors my girlfriend and I filled and tied with a bow.

The theme was If Teacups Could Talk based on Emilie Barnes book of the same name published in 1994.  I thought several of the 54 ladies who attended would be familiar with the book, but to my surprise they weren't.  Do you have the book?  If not, are you familiar with it? It's a great book and available on Amazon.  Since its publication it has sold over 260,000 copies.  I highly recommend it for every tea lover's library.

~ Seating Chart ~

Arrival time was 12:00 noon and serving began at 12:30 p.m.  

The meal was catered by local Pamela's Catering.  Instead of having one individual ask the blessing, I printed out a blessing from Emilie's book and placed a copy at each place setting so we could all say it together.

I served two teas we serve at The Whitney - Peach Apricot black tea and Garden Blend [a herbal tea with hibiscus, cinnamon, ginger and peppermint].  It not only tastes good but it's a beautiful rose color.

Blueberry Scone with Mock Devonshire Cream

Top Tier:  Cucumber Sandwiches

Middle Tier:  Cranberry Chicken Salad Croissants

Bottom Tier:  Radish Open Faced Sandwiches

I never thought I'd like radish sandwiches, but these were really good.  The spread that held  them in place really added deliciousness.

Desserts were assorted and all were yummy.

After the meal, one of the ladies read a poem she wrote in keeping with the theme. 

Some of the ladies brought their favorite teacup and the story behind it to share.  Below is my sweet girlfriend, Lori, with her Sandy Clough Hope teacup.

Another friend shared her bridge or tennis snack set.

I told the ladies several things a teacup might say including, Fill Me With Memories.  I held up a Shamrock teacup that I used to host two St. Patrick's tea parties for my mom and her younger sister of Irish descent.  Those tea parties are a special memory for me now as both my mom and aunt have passed on.  

A good time was had by all and we dismissed around 1:45 p.m.  Our next tea will be a Christmas Tea on Saturday, December 6th and the ladies all seemed excited about that.  I hate to say it, but it'll be here before we know it!

After every tea party comes the clean-up.  It's when you wish you had a magic wand that would produce a fairy to wash up all the totes filled with dishware and tea equipage and carry them back down to the basement until the next tea.  But since I don't have a wand, my hubby unloaded his car Saturday afternoon and put everything in the garage where it will wait for us to get the job done (((big sigh))).

Happy Easter! He Is Risen!

It's been a busy weekend, but a very good one!   Hubby and I went to church this morning to worship our risen Lord.  After church we went out to dinner with Steve, Sharon, Brooke and Sharon's mom and dad [Steve is our middle child].  Our daughter and son-in-law went to the 9:00 a.m. service, so they didn't join us.  Jeremy and his family worshipped at their church in Zeeland, but will come to our side of the state for Mother's Day.

Only a few pictures were taken today.  The older I get, the less I like photos of myself, but it is what it is!

Brooke took this picture of the two of us.  Isn't she pretty!

Sharon, her mom [Sheena] and Brooke.  Steve was camera shy!

Even though they weren't able to celebrate Easter with us, I'm sharing photos of granddaughter Tiffany and family in Oceanside, CA, and Jeremy and Samantha in Zeeland, MI.

[Evie and Jules]  

Yesterday was The Whitney's Tea with the Easter Bunny.  Sixteen children attended with their parents and grandparents.  The Easter Bunny was phenomenal and the children loved her.

The tea was on the first floor, and the plan was to go outside for an Easter egg hunt after the children ate, but Mother Nature sent a drizzly rain so the hunt was moved up to the third floor.

Easter baskets I assembled were waiting in the wings to be given to the children.

Marshmallow Bunny Peeps were attached to the children's beverage glasses for a fun touch.

Twelve of the sixteen children posed for a group photo.  The other four children were either on the first or third floor.  It was a bit of a challenge to gather them together for a group photo.

I had my picture taken with the Easter Bunny too!

This week my focus will shift to the Ladies' Spring Tea at my church taking place next Saturday.  58 ladies have signed up to attend.  A busy week is ahead of me.  The theme is If Teacups Could Talk.  I will take photos to share.

In the meantime, have a great week!

Current Happenings

Today I begin reclaiming my living room.  Up until now it has been the storage place for all The Whitney Easter baskets for this Saturday's Tea With the Easter Bunny, favors for the April 26th ladies' spring tea at my church and favors for The Whitney's Generation Tea on May 9th. The Easter basket project of 10 morphed to 20.  I will be taking them to the restaurant today and will happily cross them off my 'to do' list.

Last Saturday was our Easter Egg Hunt at church.  I couldn't attend since it was a work day for me, but my hubby went to help out.  We set a record with over 1,300 kids and parents [the previous record was 900].  My daughter-in-law, who is the Children's Ministry Director, said it was overwhelming with people everywhere, but she was thankful for its outreach to the community.

Our daughter, Lori, in one of the egg fields. 10,000 eggs were filled with candy for the children.  Mother Nature provided perfect weather.

Being the history lover that I am, a week ago I made an appointment to go to Detroit's Main Public Library to access information about David Whitney, Jr.  It was a productive visit and I will go again next month when all my tea commitments are done.

The city commissioned Cass Gilbert in 1912 to construct a three-floor library [thanks to Andrew Carnegie's donation of money] in the early Italian Renaissance style.  Although construction began in 1912, it didn't open until March 1921 due to construction delays from WWI.  The phrase "Knowledge is Power" is carved into the marble above the main Woodward Avenue entrance.  Located in Detroit's Cultural Center, the library is considered a gem in the city.  I discovered they will be doing an Art & Architecture Tour of the building next month and I'm hoping I can go.

The day I went, the Woodward Avenue entrance was closed and I had to enter at Cass Avenue [a newer wing added to the library in 1963].

Directly across the street from the Public Library is the Detroit Institute of Arts [another one of the city's gems].  I had to park behind the DIA so it was a good bit of walking making my knees protest.

Inside the Burton Historical Collection area of the library [where the Whitney information is held] library visitors are required to put their belongings in a locker and use only a pencil for writing.  Cell phone photos were allowed and I got a couple of good photos of Mr. Whitney.

A newspaper article about the bust sculpture of Mr. Whitney which is now housed in the David Whitney Building in downtown Detroit.   I took a photo of it when I visited in 2023.

A Detroit News article stated for years the David Whitney mansion was one of Detroit's showplaces.  The family moved into the mansion in 1894 and streams of carriages arrived for receptions, musicales and teas. Given Mr. Whitney's British heritage and Mrs. Whitney's Canadian ancestry, I knew tea was a vital part of their private and social lifestyle.

On another subject, our son, Jeremy, and his wife, Samantha, just returned yesterday from a week's vacation in Hawaii and shared these beautiful photos with us.  

As we approach Good Friday and Easter Sunday, may it be a time of reflection and remembrance of God's great love for us and the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross for our redemption and eternal life for all who believe.  Wishing you God's blessings at this sacred and meaningful time of the year.

I'm Back!

It's been awhile since I've posted.  Life is busy.  Yesterday after church we drove to East Lansing to take our granddaughter, Isabella, and her college roommate, Grace, out to lunch. We let Izzy pick the restaurant and she chose P.F. Chang's.  Good choice, Izzy!

School is winding down for them with only three weeks left.  In the fall she'll be a Junior.  It doesn't seem possible.

Jerry and I ordered Sesame Chicken and the girls each ordered something different.  To go with my Sesame Chicken I ordered a pot of Sweet Ginger Peach black tea [by Revolution] and it was SO good.

Late this morning my girlfriend, Lori, came over and we filled the teapot candy boxes and tied them closed with a bow.  I forgot to take pictures until after she left, but here they are in the boxes ready to transport to the ladies church tea on April 26th.  

My hubby gave us a jump start on the project last week by assembling the teapots for us.

After Lori left, I started working on children's Easter baskets for The Whitney's Tea With the Easter Bunny on April 19th.  As of right now, I only have to make 10 baskets. 

I have to wrap them in cellophane yet, but I think they turned out cute and will make the kids happy.

Great granddaughter, Juliette, turned six on April 3rd.  Since she's in California we didn't get to celebrate with her, but our daughter flew out to be with them and took our gift and sent pictures to us.

Since Lori was flying she didn't have a lot of space for presents.  So we gave her a card with money.  The card said she was "the cherry on top of ice cream" so I also got her a bag of Michigan cherry gummies.   It's been almost two years since she's seen us, so I pasted a photo of Jerry and me on the inside of her card to help her remember who we are.  We're looking forward to them coming to Michigan this summer for a visit.

Our daughter, Lori, with her two granddaughters. 

John, Tiffany, Juliette and Evie

And as Scarlett O'Hara said, "tomorrow is another day!"