Tea with Crunchy Lemon Muffins

Today I thought I would share with you

my Hammersley tea set passed on to me

by my darling mother - she loved beautiful china

and I've inherited that trait!

I'm also

sharing

one of our family's favourite muffin recipes!

Crunchy Lemon Muffins

2 cups Self Raising flour

3/4 cup Sugar

75gms Butter

1 cup Milk

1 Egg

Grated rind of 1 large or 2 small Lemons

~~~~~~~~~

Topping

1/4 cup Lemon Juice

1/4 cup Sugar

Measure the flour and sugar into a bowl - toss to mix.

Melt the butter, add milk, egg and lemon rind and beat

well with a fork to combine.

Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and combine

until the dry ingredients have been lightly dampened

but not thoroughly mixed.

Divide mixture evenly between 12 medium muffin pans

and bake at 200 degrees C (390F) for 10 minutes.

Stir together the lemon juice and sugar, 

without dissolving the sugar, and drizzle over

the hot muffins when they come out of the oven.

Leave to stand in pans only a few minutes

and place on a rack.

for my special touch

I slit the top of each muffin

and add a generous spoonful of Lemon Curd.

enjoy!

I'm joining 

Judith for Mosaic Monday

Stephanie for Roses of Inspiration

Bernideen's Friends Sharing Tea

Sandi's tea Time Tuesday

Ruth's Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Thank you dear ladies for hosting

Take care and

be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane

Tea Cup Exchange Party!

I love tea cups and all that goes with the

gentle art of tea drinking... so I was delighted when

Stephanie of The Enchanting Rose

told us she was having another Tea Cup Exchange party!

This beautiful cornflower tea cup and saucer

arrived in a parcel from Stephanie - what a lovely surprise!

I didn't know Stephanie was my giving exchange partner

Thank you

dear Stephanie for your beautiful gifts

I was 'over the moon' with everything you sent me!

As you can see there were so many beautiful items

and all hand made by Stephanie!

A lavender sachet, the sweetest fridge magnet, 

and a set of pretty greeting cards!

   

My receiving partner for the swap was

Asia of Under a Creative Spell

I visited Asia's blog to find out what she liked

and learnt, she loves Shabby Chic

which is what I like too - she was the perfect partner for me!

I sent Asia a vintage tea cup, saucer and plate

I found in my local Hospice shop!

I fell in love with it and felt Asia would like it too!

It was made by Royal Albert and has the lovely name

American Beauty.

I popped a few extras in the parcel including

a rosy tea towel, a fragrant drawer sachet

an embroidered linen tray cloth and a French magazine

called Shabby Chic!

I was in such a hurry to wrap my parcel

and get it to the Post Office....

and I totally forgot to photograph everything

(that's the second time - it happened at the last swap too)!

Merci Asia for sending me copies of your photographs!

Thank you

dear Stephanie for hosting your Tea Cup Exchange Party

it was a huge success and I'm looking forward to

the next one later in the year!

I'm linking this post to

Stephanie at The Enchanting Rose

Sandi for Tea Time Tuesday

Ruth for Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Bernideen for Friends Sharing Tea

Take care and

be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane

Afternoon Teas...

 Hello dear friends

 It's hard to believe we are now in the

last week of November!

My dear mother had a great fondness

for fine china and she passed on many

lovely pieces to me

including this Hammersley tea set.

 

Hammersley & Co, Longton, Stoke on Trent, England.

 I really feel privileged to be the custodian

of this precious china and

I will be passing it on to my daughter one day!

Each piece is hand painted so beautifully

and the colors are still bright

after all these years.

I treat it with great care

and hand wash each piece in

Softly. 

 From the middle photo above you can see

how fine the china is by the gtranslucence

you can almost see through it.

Walnut and parsnip cake

which I served at one of our

embroidery group Tuesdays.

(let me know if you would like the recipe)

 Mauve, purple, lilac shades are not my color choice

usually, but I have grown to love these.

I still remember my mother's

elegant afternoon tea parties

with her dear chatty friends.

Today I'm joining

Mary  for Mosaic Monday

and the following tea parties

Ruth for Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Sandi for Tea Time Tuesday
Terri for Tea Cup Tuesday
Kathe for You're Gonna Love it Tuesday 

Bernideen for Friends Sharing Tea

Nula, Rosie and Becca from here

Thank you dear friends for being here

WELCOME

to my new followers it's lovely to meet you.

 Merci à bientôt
be kind to one another!

 

♥ Shane ♥

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Embroidery Tea....

Hello dear friends!

I've blogged about embroidery days before.
Our small group meets fortnightly
and this time our venue was
Mary's apartment on harbour side.
Some of you might recognise her lovely pink glass teapot
with the Chinese flower tea I posted about here

We each had a different tea cup, saucer and plate.
There is nothing quite like sipping tea
from a fine bone china cup
I'm sure you would agree!

This was my cup
with the most beautifully painted pattern
of a Spring garden.
The flowers are pink and white aubretia, bluebells
and yellow primroses in a rock garden.

I forgot to photograph the maker's stamp underneath
so I can't tell you the name or the company...
I searched Mr Google but didn't find an image
of this particular one -
can someone please tell me what it is?

Today I'm joining these tea parties
Ruth at Tuesday Cuppa Tea 
Terri at Tea Cup Tuesday
Bernideen at Friends Sharing Tea
Sandi at Tea Time Tuesday
Kathy at A Return to Loveliness

If you're into "tea, pretty china and yummy baking"
please click on the links to visit these
these blogs - why not join in
with your post on anything to do with tea!

A very yummy chocolate slice topped with toasted coconut!


Thank you dear friends
for visiting and leaving your sweet comments!

WELCOME
to my new followers - thank you for being here.


Merci à bientôt
take care of one another!
 

♥ Shane ♥

Treasured family memories...

Hello dear friends

it's tea time again and today I'm showing

you a coffee set which my mother

passed on to me.

This is an Art Deco set made by Royal Doulton

around 1920-1930

The pattern is called 'Honesty'

and each piece is decorated with a pattern

of Honesty seed pods in red, yellow and green

with a gold edging.

A lovely Autumn inspired design.

The set contains six demitasse cups and saucers

used for espresso coffee.

I remember my parents using it when

they had friends over for lunch or dinner.

When not in use it was stored carefully away

in the china cabinet.

 

It is one of my most treasured possessions

because of the precious family memories it

holds for me.

Today I'm joining these parties

Teacup Tuesday 

A Return to Loveliness

Martha's favorites 

Friends Sharing Tea 

Tea Time Tuesday
Tuesday Cuppa Tea
Feathered Nest Friday

Please pop over to these parties for a look see!

My two sweet friends who joined me for coffee today! 

 My very talented friend DORTHE of
DEN LILLE LADE
made this exquisite collage.
The image of a beautiful lady surrounded by
vintage laces, fabrics and notions-
is her
 Giveaway
I'm sure you would all like to win it so
please visit her beautiful blog to enter.

  ~~~~~~

 

Thank you for your visits and comments
WELCOME

 to my new followers
it's lovely to meet you!

À bientôt

and be kind to one another

Shane ♥

Chinese Flower Tea

Every second Tuesday is our group's

Embroidery day.

It's a small group - just four of us now.

These photos are from one such day about a year

or so ago at Mary's.

The Chinese flowers before

they are added to the tea pot.

It is fascinating to watch the flower unfold.

Changing little by little to become an
amazing work of art!

It has a delicate taste - much like a soft green tea.

I love tea parties so today I'm joining

the following parties

Terri ~ Teacup Tuesday

Kathy ~ A Return to Loveliness

Martha ~ Teacup Tuesday

Bernideen ~ Friends Sharing Tea

Sandi ~ Tea Time Tuesday

  

Thank you for your visits and comments
WELCOME

 to my new followers
it's lovely to meet you!

À bientôt 

and be kind to one another

Shane ♥