BLOGGER TEA

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Charlotte

I posted this on my blog a few days ago but since there is so much pink involved, I decided to link it to Pink Saturday. I appreciated all the nice comments I had last week on my pink hat. In this post I’m wearing it. Thanks again to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for hosting Pink Saturday each week.

The Blogger Tea Party last Saturday was such fun. A big thank you goes to Laura Ingalls Gunn of Decor to Adore for organizing it. Here’s a picture of Laura with the Queen of England. Laura has a wonderful make over story about the gorgeous dress she wore to the party. You can read all about it by clicking HERE.

Everyone was wondering if the queen was that petite. We were told that yes, the cut-out is life size.

I was pretty excited to learn I had won the hat contest and received a bag of lovely gifts from Laura.  I was further delighted when several of the bloggers said they thought I was about 20 years younger than I actually am when I told them my age. Maybe it was the hat. Perhaps I should wear it all the time. LOL

Of course many pictures were taken. Here are a few of them.

Here I am with Julie and Sherry.

Here’s the group minus Laura. She was taking the picture.

Everyone was taking pictures.

Opening gifts we exchanged was such fun. Liz didn't get to keep this teapot. Ceekay ended up with it.

Sherry was hoping no one would take her blue birds away from her.

This lovely British lady who owns the tea room stopped by to welcome us and give us a few pointers on British customs. Loved her accent.

 

Thanks to Laura and Liz for these lovely party favors.

Such a lovely place to shop.

I spied the tall mug on the top shelf. You can barely see it in the above picture, but here it is up close. Couldn’t resist buying it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little review of the tea party. It was the third one I’ve attended since I’ve been blogging. I think each one gets a little better.

Posted in Blog Parties, Party, Pink Saturday | 32 Comments

PINK PINK PINK

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Charlotte

If you live in the Phoenix area and you are a blogger, you no doubt know about the English tea going on this Saturday in Carefree. Laura Ingalls Gunn at Decor to Adore is leading this tea party. It’s an English tea party “dress up” affair and when I was trying to decide what to wear and what hat to wear, my thoughts went to this pink hat I’ve had since the 60’s. The only decoration on it at that time was a pink ribbon. Soooo I decided to jazz it up a bit for the tea party by adding flowers, tulle and even some butterflies. So where are the butterflies? You can see them in the next picture. (The hat stand my daughter bought for me several years ago. Love those little pink rose buds.)

While I’m at it I thought I would include my hat boxes. Do you get the idea I like pink?

I found hat boxes are a great place to store Christmas decorations. That’s what the bottom two contain. The top hat box came with a Pajama-gram. You can see through the box. That hat is even older than the one I’m wearing to the tea. My mom bought it for me when we lived in Colorado when I was 18 years old. Of course it’s pink. The box under that one is the original box that came with that hat. It has faded out a lot (so have I) since it was bought way back in 1954.

Next week I’m sure I’ll have pictures from the tea to share. Oh, this is going to be FUN! Be sure to visit dear Beverly who hosts Pink Saturday each week. Just click on the button on my sidebar to go there.

P.S. I posted a short video of the English Rose Tea Room on my other blog. If you’re interested, click HERE.

Posted in Blog Parties, Clothes, Pink Saturday | 38 Comments

Learning to Dance in the Rain Movie | Simple Truths

Posted on March 20, 2011 by Charlotte

I deleted the video because it starts automatically. It is worth watching though. You can click HERE to see it.

 

 

Posted in Videos | 1 Comment

IRISH BLESSINGS

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Charlotte

May the blessing of the rain be on you— the soft sweet rain. May it fall upon your spirit so that all the little flowers may spring up, and shed their sweetness on the air. May the blessing of the great rains be on you, may they beat upon your spirit and wash it fair and clean, and leave there many a shining pool where the blue of heaven shines, and sometimes a star.

May the good earth be soft under you when you rest upon it, and may it rest easy over you when, at the last, you lay out under it, And may it rest so lightly over you that your soul may be out from under it quickly, and up, and off, And be on its way to God.

Dear Lord, Give me a few friends who will love me for what I am, and keep ever burning before my vagrant steps the kindly light of hope… And though I come not within sight of the castle of my dreams, teach me to be thankful for life, and for time’s olden memories that are good and sweet. And may the evening’s twilight find me gentle still.

May your day be touched by a bit of Irish luck, brightened by a song in your heart, and warmed by the smiles of the people you love.

May the light of heaven shine on your grave.

Bless those minding cattle, And those minding sheep, And those fishing the sea While the rest of us sleep.

If God sends you down a stony path, may he give you strong shoes.

May the rains sweep gentle across your fields, May the sun warm the land, May every good seed you have planted bear fruit, And late summer find you standing in fields of plenty.

May the frost never afflict your spuds. May the leaves of your cabbage always be free from worms. May the crows never pick your haystack. If you inherit a donkey, may she be in foal.

May there always be work for your hands to do. May your purse always hold a coin or two. May the sun always shine on your windowpane. May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain. May the hand of a friend always be near you. May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

Wherever you go and whatever you do, May the luck of the Irish be there with you.

Wishing you always… Walls for the wind, A roof for the rain And tea beside the fire. Laughter to cheer you, Those you love near you, And all that your heart may desire,

May neighbours respect you, Trouble neglect you, The angels protect you, And heaven accept you.

May the light of heaven shine on your grave. May the smile of God light you to glory.

God bless the corners of this house, And be the lintel blest, And bless the hearth and bless the board, And bless each place of rest, And bless each door that opens wide To stranger as to kin, And bless each crystal window pane That lets the starlight in, And bless the rooftree overhead And every sturdy wall. The peace of man, the peace of God, The peace of love on all.

I found these Irish blessings online and thought it would be good to share them this week for Spiritual Sundays. May God bless all of you abundantly. 

Posted in Spiritual Sundays | 29 Comments

PRAYER IN SCHOOL

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Charlotte

A few days ago I posted the Alma Mater song of the high school I went to back in the 50’s. As far as I know it is still the same today. I’m glad of that. I’m surprised “Thank the Lord above” has not been removed. The A.C.L.U. must not know about it. Along that same line, I read an article concerning a threat by the A.C.L.U. to sue a school in Rhode Island over a banner that has been hanging there for decades encouraging prayer. I am glad the school is going to fight this ridiculous threat. Here’s what the article said:

By Todd Starnes, Fox News Radio

A Rhode Island school district has decided that if it comes down to a fight – they are willing to fight the American Civil Liberties Union over a prayer banner hanging inside a public school. The Cranston School Committee voted 4-3 Monday to keep the banner at Cranston High School West even if it means a costly legal battle. The banner had been hanging in the high school for decades but last year, the Rhode Island chapter of the ACLU received a single complaint. The ACLU asked the district to remove the banner because it violated the First Amendment – and vowed to sue if it was not taken down. However, thousands of local residents rallied to the support the banner. More than 4,000 signed a petition asking the district to keep the prayer.

We need to pray for our schools, teachers and students more today than ever before. When I was a student so many years ago I would never have dreamed that we would have gotten so far away from what the founding fathers of this country intended.

Posted in Prayer, Thankful | 3 Comments

ALMA MATER

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Charlotte

In the halls of Lawton High School, Hearts are light and gay; How we yearn to reunite there, when we’re far away. Lift your voices, sing its praises, thank the Lord above; we will always be indebted, to the school we love.

I joined with other students over 50 years ago in high school to sing the above words. A former student has a blog just for that school. I go there every so often to see what is happening with former students. I’m amazed at how many of the ones in my class and even younger ones have passed away. It’s always sad to hear of a classmate being deceased. The reason I’m writing this though is to analyze the alma mater which is at the top of the sidebar on that blog.

Some observations. Gay has a totally different meaning now than it did when this song was written. I’m also wondering if it were being written today if the line “thank the Lord above” would be included. I hope so but I’m not sure it would be allowed. So sad.  I’m glad I went to school in the “good old days”.

Posted in Music | 5 Comments

INSPIRATION

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Charlotte

I was so inspired by a story Tim Hansel shared in his book Keep On Dancin’ that I want to share it here for Spiritual Sundays. Last week I shared a devotional from his book on my other blog, At Home in Arizona. Here is this week’s devotional.

I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. Acts 20:21

In the Los Angeles airport with my sons, Josh and Zac, I spotted Bob Wieland in a crowd of travelers. “C’mon guys,” I said, “here’s someone you have to meet.”

It’s not every day that you get to meet someone who’s waked across America — on his hands! In Vietnam Bob stepped on a hidden bomb that blew off both his legs. When Bob recovered from the accident he began training, lifting weights to strengthen his body. It took him 4.9 million “steps” to walk across America, swinging his body along on his hands, wearing thickly paddded gloves. He started at Knotts Berry Farm in California and almost four years later, he ended up at the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C.

Why did he do it? “To encourage those with legs to take the first step in faith to please God.”

You will find links to many inspirational posts by going to the Spiritual Sundays blog. You may want to share something there or just be inspired by reading what others have shared. Just click on the picture at the left and it will take you there.

Posted in Spiritual Sundays | 26 Comments

BLOGGER TEA PARTY

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Charlotte

IF YOU LIVE IN THE PHOENIX AREA AND YOU’RE A BLOGGER, HERE’S A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY FOR A FUN AFTERNOON.

Laura Ingalls Gunn has issued an open invitation to come celebrate at the Bloggers Tea. It will be held at the English Rose Tea Room in Carefree, Arizona. The owner, Joanne Gemmill, is authentically English.

To add a bit of fun there will be ~

A hat contest (Think English feathers, flowers and frippery)

Always a bridesmaid dress contest (And you thought you’d never wear it again!)

A white wedding elephant swap (Bring an item of décor that is nice, but perhaps had humble beginnings in a thrift store or is just something you have grown weary of. Wrap it as if it is the most lovely of wedding gifts.)

If you enjoy everything British Royal, go look at Laura’s blog. She has lots of gorgeous photos of palaces, etc. Here is the link to her blog: Decor to Ador.

Since there is a lot of pink in this post, I decided to share it on Pink Saturday. As I mentioned in the post, if you live in the Phoenix area, you might want to check this out more closely. Even if you don’t live close by, you will enjoy seeing the wonderful English Rose Tea Room site. Click HERE to go to Beverly’s blog for more Pink Saturday fun.

Posted in Party, Pink Saturday | 9 Comments