One fine day

Haven't you been in raptures with the burst of pink cherry blossom lining the street this last week? Clouds of pink and the breeze carrying confetti.
A few days ago I  discovered a perfect spot for a cherry blossom tea party under an arbour of three trees whose branches filled the sky and we have some gorgeous photos to share with you very soon. It was gasp-makingly beautiful!

I thought I would dig out some of my favourite vintage cherry blossom finds.
This vintage tea set is by JG Meakin and is decorated with pink blossom and birds, mountains and bridges.

The design is called One Fine Day, after the aria from Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, which was set in Japan and written when the obsession with Japanese and Exoticism was at it's height. Have a listen, it's such a romantic pieces of music.

This influence is apparent in the design and dates from the 1950's, the curved cherry blossom branches sweep gracefully round the curve of the plates and saucers, and the oval sandwich plate and shape of the milk jug are so distinctive.

There are even two birds inside the cup and  swooping off the edge. Love a teacup with birds, don't you?

I've been filling pots and window boxes with these pretty violas, and they are the perfect size for popping on cupcakes!

This Cherry blossom watercolour is one of my favourite finds, found at a car boot fair a couple of years ago, it still has the date it was framed on the back- 1945 in a printing shop in Dartford.

Enjoy the blossom, our wedding present cherry tree is fading fast. In a few days all we'll have left is the pink petal snow.

Do you tweet?

The Golden Afternoon Tea Company has just joined the twitter tea party!

I'm Lula_loves_tea and at the moment am somewhat bamboozled by it (this is the girl who took years even to get an email address) so not quite sure what I'm doing or who to follow,

and what level of minutae is really appropriate!

Would love some vintage and tea loving fans.

Have already been most pleased to find the queen of quips, Dorothy Parker alive and biting on twitter!  I love this latest one;

'If I didn't care for fun and such, I'd probably amount to much.

But I shall stay the way I am, Because I do not give a damn.'

Ain't it the truth!

So if you are a regular twitterer, do pop over and add me or send me your link so I can follow you and we can twitter whilst we sip our tea. 

Chin-chin!

Tea o' Clock

So following on from Ingrid's question after this post, it set me pondering on what time is the correct and proper time to partake of a cup of tea, a cucmber sandwich and a slice of cake..

As the Golden Afternoon Tea Company prize ourselves on being proper in the most English of ways we had to find out,and donning our best Sherlock Holmes deerstalker hat and popping a musty pipe in between our pearlie whites we went off to investigate....

The 7th Duchess of Bedford, Anna Marie Stanhope is credited with inventing the ritual of Afternoon Tea in the early 19th century, 1841 to be precise, in order to avoid that 'sinking feeling' in the late afternoon!  The peckish Duchess summoned her butler to bring her tea and light refreshments to her boudoir and  soon was gathering all the other Duchesses and Marquises and Ladies to join her in a nibble, and la-dee -daa, the Afternoon Tea was born!

Etiquette suggests that tea should be served between 4 o'clock and 5, but I am really of the same opinion as the Mad Hatter who believes it's always tea time.

A bright idea came into Alice's head. `Is that the reason so many tea-things are put out here?' she asked.

`Yes, that's it,' said the Hatter with a sigh: `it's always tea-time, and we've no time to wash the things between whiles.'

And as Henry James put it:
'There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.'

Teacup Tuesday

Three teacups filled with Violas.

Sweet scented miniature pansies brightening up the day.