Tea Sets Traveled up the Alcan!

Our first official tea party in over a year!

 We love tea parties but our special tea pots and cups have been packed away.  Recently, they were hauled up the Alcan (Alaska-Canada Highway) for us by some friends who happened to have extra space on their trailer on the way back from Oregon.  These fragile cups were once in Alaska, but moved back to Oregon and now they are back up again!  My Grandma would never have guessed how many 1000's of miles her little cups would travel and how much joy they'd bring!

Wild edible blossoms of roses and chiming bells to the left...
Cheese, pepperoni and crackers to the right

 The girls planned the menu with things we had on hand, including wild edible plants!  They sent the boys off into the woods with their own little baggies of goodies.  As one of the children added, that boys just burp to much for proper tea parties.  We also had fresh fruit and trail mix.  This is the first tea party that we've ever had without a home baked treat.  Next time...

Three pots of tea: chai, peppermint, and peach

Our edible flower centerpiece

 My Grandma would've have been so proud to see her tea cups displayed on our table.  She passed away while I was pregnant with my first child.  I so badly wanted to introduce him to her. 

I loved her so much and look forward to seeing her again someday.  One of my most favorite memories of her is at Tea Time.  She carefully opened her china hutch and let me choose the tea cup I desired.  Ceremoniously we'd sit down to a cup of tea and small snack.  I almost always choose the above one in the picture.  It was my favorite and still is.  I don't really know any history about it but whenever I glimpse it's beauty I think of how beautiful my Grandma was, inside and out. 

She read the Psalms or a Proverbs to me in the morning whenever I spent the night. 

She introduced me to the ancient type writer, one hard to hit key at a time.

She taught me what an ironing board was.  I spotted it behind her bedroom door and asked her what it was.  She couldn't believe I didn't know!  I still remember her being shocked and laughing at the same time. 

She taught me how to use the sewing machine.  I remember making my first project with her; pot holders.

She was so classy and organized and clean.  She was punctual and efficient.  She loved being home and just spending time with me talking, walking, drawing faces, or enjoying a TV show.  She loved me and I loved her.

She bought me my first stick of deodorant and my first bra.  She had the time to teach me to properly care for my fingernails, brush my hair and so many other lessons of learning to grow up like a lady.

She always knew the right things to say and just how to laugh.  She remembered everybody's birthday and all the important life events and taught me to say "Thank-you" when someone gave me a compliment.

 The most violent thing I ever saw her do was through a tin can full of rocks at "those nasty squirrels."  She lived in a mobile home park and the squirrels would steal the bread from her precious birds that she fed daily.  I remember being shocked that my sweet Grandma had such an arm and with such vehemence! 

Yes, these tea cups bring back memories... as a good and worthy tea cup should.  This is why I love tea parties... they connect us with the yester years of along time ago and many generations of women who used to gather and reconnect over tea and visiting with no electronic gadgets in site.

Our littlest guest sitting in a high chair...

We couldn't understand why she wasn't drinking her tea until we realized she had no sugar cube!  As soon as we gave her one, why she wanted another and another, of course.  Her teaspoon is a plastic measuring spoon but she loved it.  Yes, even 2-year olds can begin to enjoy taking tea.  She had just awoken from a nap and we couldn't talk her into proper attire.... but the chubby legs were cute!

Our second born daughter...be wary the sweet smile, there's lots more under there...

 There's this certain smile in this daughter that reminds me so much of my older brother.  I can see his face in hers and this quaint little smile that says, I'm smiling but I'm thinking oh so much more!  I love it!

Our oldest daughter... be wary the serenely calm photo, usually there's lots of excitement

 Just a few seconds later we heard a gasp and she jumped, almost flipping her spoon and tea cup, thinking that it was already in the process of tipping.  Oh how we laughed and laughed.  This whole tea party was so much fun.  Sometimes we use uppity sort of English accents and pretend we are wealthy aristocrats.  My oldest daughter turned her uppity accent on and asked her sister next to her, So, how has the weather been at your place?  My other daughter said with a very snipty tone, "You know, the same as yours!"  And everyone burst out laughing

Our third born daughter, laid back, but full of mischievous surprises...

 She loves her big sisters and looks up to them, but all the while, will enjoy peppering them with her questions and demands.  It always amazes me how each of us has the capacity for equal amounts of sweetness, kindness, and humility as well as sourness, irritability, and pride.  It always boils down to a choice doesn't it?  Too bad we have to accept personal responsibility for our feelings and actions....

 

Mama, me, author always contemplating... but rarely quiet...

I'm looking forward to lots of tea parties with my lovely children, and yes, the boys too.  They always add a new dimension to our parties, specially with Daddy attending.  Thank-you for your inspiration Grandma!