Peppermint and Roses Tea!

The females in my family recently gathered at my home for our 11th annual Christmas Tea.  Each year I choose a theme and decorate accordingly.  This year's theme was Peppermint and Roses.  Some years I get a little carried away with the decorating (like the year I made 7 gingerbread houses!)  This year I was a little more low-key.  I decorated with red table linens, adorned with peppermint-striped packages and pink flowers in candy cane vases. Each place setting had a napkin folded in a rose shape with a peppermint center.  It was pretty easy to put together and made for festive and colorful tables.

 

My nephew's fiancée made the wreath!

 As in year's past, I open my home for the tea, provide the tea, fresh-baked scones, homemade lemon curd and homemade strawberry jam.  Everyone else brings a savory or sweet, some bring both. We always have more food than we can eat and it's all great!

I made the sugar bowls from Oui yogurt jars! The roses were easy to make with felt.

My cousin and I started our tea gathering when we were attending a family funeral and lamenting that the only time we saw everyone was at a funeral.  So we gathered everyone together one December afternoon at a local tea room.  I don't think we realized then how special this tradition would become. We all block out the first Saturday after the Thanksgiving weekend on our calendars. My granddaughter spends the night before with me and assists with table setting and decorating. On the day of the tea she gets to play with her second cousins while the two young mothers catch up on each other's lives. My nephew's bride now joins us. Each year it seems I have to add another chair and I don't mind! This year's tea was special for many reasons. Our mothers are aging, with many of the ailments that go with that.  My mom has some dementia issues, which is heartbreaking to witness. Our beloved 93-year old Aunt Millie lost her only child a few months ago and subsequently has moved to an assisted living facility. To say she's devastated would be an understatement. We are all realizing how important it is to gather together, life changes so fast.

A big surprise this year was the arrival of my aunt from Missouri.  She is my Dad's half-sister and only 18 days younger than me! She moved back east when we were in junior high but she comes out to visit every 4-5 years. We managed to keep her visit a surprise and it was so fun to see everyone's reactions when they saw her!

It was especially gratifying to see how much Aunt Millie enjoyed the day. She's been so sad and this family gathering was just what she needed to perk her up. My four-week old great-nephew made his appearance so we now have many pictures to cherish of the newest and oldest members of our family.

I have the 2018 theme rumbling through my head and will start buying some decorating things as Christmas items go on sale. Hopefully, our tea party tradition continues on for many, many more years!

The End of an Era

We really don't understand, until we are much older, how people, events, a lifestyle, influence our future.  My Dad has always been an auto mechanic, engine builder and drag racer. From a very young age I've been following in his footsteps at the drag strip and at his shops.  Dad can be rather old-fashioned, even chauvinistic at times, so my knowledge of auto mechanics is limited, he didn't spend much time teaching me those things.  Instead, I was always tasked with the "girl" duties of bookkeeping and tending to office matters.  By the time I was in junior high I was doing much of the business' bookkeeping functions, turning over the books at the end of the month to the accountants' office. Is it any wonder that I became a CPA?

I love drag racing and rarely missed a race. We have traveled all over the country, our family vacations were spent at drag strips. Eventually, I was able to get my own race car, following in the family tradition. My son now drives, the third generation in our family to do so.

For the last almost-twenty years I have spent my Fridays at Dad's shop, doing his accounting work, ordering parts, cleaning cars, loading trailers, whatever it took to keep the race operation running smoothly. As he has aged and slowed down, so, too, has the business.  My all-day Fridays became an hour or so after my 5:30 a.m. Pilates class.  I loved my mornings at the shop, it was quiet and the smell of grease and oil are like the smells of comfort food to me.

Dad is now 84 and we recently sold the shop building. His last race car was sold a few months ago. Today I cleaned out the office, packing things away for storage and shredding. Dad's lifelong career is winding down.  My days of working in the shop are over. I'm finding the whole experience to be bittersweet.  The sale of the property has more than insured my parents' financial future but an era has ended for my family.

A Valentine's Themed Tea Party!

This is the 10th year that the ladies on my Dad's side of the family have gathered for a tea party.  The first two years we met at a local tea room.  They closed, so we have been gathering in my home since then. (A recap of prior years' tea can be found by clicking on  2014 or 2013). 

We used to meet right after Thanksgiving.  My granddaughters have been involved in the local production of the Nutcracker ballet the last few years.  Between rehearsals and performances the time to meet was becoming a problem.  The last two years we have gathered in January. As we are almost to February I thought it fitting that we do a Valentine's theme this year.

As we've done all along, I provide the setting, scones, lemon curd, strawberry jam and the tea.  Each guest brings either a savory, such as little sandwiches or salad, or a sweet treat.  We never lack for food and share the leftovers.

I bought flowers at our local flower mart and made small arrangements, mostly using my favorite vessel, mason jars. My husband helped me hang lights, which I decorated with pink heart-shaped doilies.

Using a tutorial found on Pinterest, the napkins were folded to look like roses.  I tucked in a rose leaf for an extra design element. A few rose petals sprinkled on the tables carried out the theme.

I added pink sanding sugar and rainbow sprinkles to the sugar bowl, giving the sugar a little extra sparkle.

We had 21 in attendance this year, ranging in age from 4 to 91. I had music softly playing in the background but it got so loud the music couldn't be heard. A lot of chatter going on!

My sister, who is an awesome photographer, and I both lament the fact that we got so busy visiting that we have very little pictures of the attendees.  We have plans to have a family friend be the official photographer next year.

I feel very blessed to be able to host this party.  What a wonderful tradition we have established!

I am linking to Inspire Me Tuesday.