Books and Shopping Show & Tell

I seem to be a bit behind with my posts so I decided to play catch-up with this one. The following are two books that I wanted to share with those of you who love Victoriana. The first is an amazingly beautiful and informational book.

"The Unspoken Language of Fans & Flowers" by Linda J. Hawkins is a beautiful book that shares the language of the fan through words and pictures. In addition, the meanings of flowers are also shared. The pictures are lovely and accompanied by quotes of famous authors. A cornucopia of recipes for a myriad of delicacies are included at the end of the book. I was able to read this book cover to cover in under an hour and was charmed not only by the gorgeous pictures but the references to days gone by regarding fans and flowers. If you love Victoriana you will enjoy this book:).

The next book was a gift from my mother. "From a Victorian Garden: Creating the Romance of a Bygone Age Right in Your Own Backyard" by Michael Wishan and Cristina Roig is amazing! I am only a few chapters into it so far but I can hardly put it down. Point Ellice House in Victoria, BC
is featured in the book which includes pictures, history, and family quotations from correspondence in the late 1800's. The role of gardening during the Victorian era is discussed as well as information about vegetable gardens, garden layouts, and hosting a garden tea party. This is not really a technical book but the information about the era and Point Ellice House is fascinating.
If you love the beauty of the Victorian era these books are a fun read:).
***********************************
While visiting family a few weeks ago I did some shopping. I know, I know, hard to believe-me...shopping but it's true-I visited and I shopped! Here are few of my fun finds:).

Vintage lace and a vintage iron candle stick with marble base...

silver tea pots, serving spoon, and basket...

vintage hats, ribbon, and lace gloves...

Victorian style books (what I like to refer to as 'eye candy' books)...

A lovely vase and salt and pepper shakers...

even the back is lovely...

antique photo and watercolor painting (these were real deals-the two pictures were $4.75!)

Thanks for sharing my shopping show & tell:).

Just to update everyone on my m-in-l and her fiancee:

M-in-l is now receiving PT and OT daily and progressing very well. Her fiancee is also receiving PT daily and doing very well.

Thanks again for all of your prayers. It has truly been a blessing:).

Sunday Wisdom

"Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!"

Psalm 4:1, NIV

Happy Fourth of July!

May your day be filled with family, friends, faith, and freedom!

Nature's Marvels

Yesterday I accompanied hubby on a work trip.

We got an early start.

The sun was rising over the water as we crossed the bridge.

Once on our way we had several places hubby had to go.

Have you noticed since you have started blogging that your camera goes everywhere with you and that everything is a potential photo-op?

This day was no different:).

Our first stop gave me opportunity to photograph some amazing flowers!

Shades of purples and lavenders...

floral puffs made up of delicate little flowers ...

fields of yellow flowers...

these Lollipop Daisies seemed to be posing for the pictures almost like they were smiling at the camera.

colors abound in this lovely grouping of flowers.

Where did I photograph such wonderful bouquets you ask?

Why the garden department at Lowes of course!

(funny what I found to do while hubby was working and I was wandering about-lol).

After stopping at Lowes we had to stop at this lovely lakeside area to deliver the items.

Sprays of petite yellow flowers framed the water's edge.

Across the lake pristine homes lined the embankment.

This busy bee was hard at work!

(hubby was also hard at work unloading while I enjoyed the wonderful views:).

Now that the work was done we stopped at Wendy's for lunch. This amazing little park was behind the restaurant.

What a lovely place to sit and enjoy lunch.

Turtles were enjoying an afternoon swim in the warm sunshine.

After a long, hard day of work for hubby and photograpghy for me (heehee) we returned home.

In a burst of bold color the sun descended on a day filled with nature's marvels.

Teahouse Extraordinaire!

Last week we had a girl's afternoon at a wonderful teahouse in Canton, Georgia called Sugarplums.

The beautiful 1849 Mansion was surrounded with gardens and trees.

A lovely walkway dappled by sunlight led to a lovely afternoon tea.

This sign greeted us as we approached the front door.

Even the birds had a teahouse of their own:).

A lovely gift shop, Holly Hocks, resides in one of the front rooms. It was filled with romantic shabby chic treasures

A sparkling chandelier hangs from the center of the room adding sparkle to all of the delightful items below.

We were seated in a room bedecked with blue flowers and peacocks. We all posed for pictures.

Grandma sat next to me:).

Ann lifts her tea cup to the camera:).

Hmmm...who is this behind the tea cup-must be mom:).

The table was filled with teapots and plates of delicacies.

The menu and the presentation was superb. We feasted on salad, scones with Devonshire cream and lemon curd, cucumber sandwiches, several open face sandwiches with creamy spreads, strawberries, deviled eggs, ham croissants, chicken salad sandwiches, pimento cheese sandwiches, and quiche. We each had our own pot of tea with varieties such as chocolate cream, almond cookie, and the classic English Breakfast tea.

Even the orchids were edible!

Each china teapot was patterned with flowers or birds.

If your preference is iced tea, pitchers filled with sweetened or unsweetened tea awaited in the hallway.

Oh, did I mention that there was still dessert to be served? Warm homemade blackberry cobbler with vanilla bean ice cream melting on top was served in beautiful crystal bowls.

I must say that this was one of the most delightful teahouses that I have visited. I highly recommend it if you are ever in the Canton area.

I give this tea house a '10 tea cup' rating!

BTW, thanks to all of you in blogland who have expressed concern and prayed for my mother-in-law and her fiancee. They continue to recover each day!

Thanks to you all for your kindness and support-the blogland sisterhood is truly a treasured group of ladies:).