Garden Tea Party

I had a garden tea party in my backyard yesterday.  There were twenty two ladies present.  Two women couldn't make it.  One had to cancel because she was experiencing back pain.  My cousin, Darlene, couldn't come because she just began chemotherapy treatments for a very recent lung cancer diagnosis.  I'm so very sorry, Darlene, and you were sorely missed.  Aunt Yvonne wanted to see you. 

On Friday I cleaned house and Mike cleaned the yard and windows.

Saturday was reserved for my baking.  The weather was a little on the warm side this time of year for having the oven on all day.  Our neighbor from across the street, Richard, came over while I was busy baking.  He and Mike sat in the kitchen, keeping me company for a little over three hours.  They two sat at the kitchen table and watched me go over my recipes and mix up one batch after another of this or that, all the while Mike kept trying to sneak or beg for samples.  We had Richard busting up.  Whenever he wants to get his kicks he just wanders over to our place to see what we're up to.  Which is usually his form of entertainment.  ha ha

I made chocolate chip scones, plain scones, Russian tea-cakes, coconut chews, mini lemon tarts, mini strawberry glace pies, chicken filling and lastly, egg salad filling. 

Thanks to Richard, I ended up making one more thing.  He remarked, "You know what you need, Lisa?"  I said, "What is that, Richard?"  He said, "You need something green."  I asked, "You mean for St. Patrick's Day?"  He said, "Yeah!"

I knew that there were some egg whites in a container in the frig and thought a good plan of action was to make some kind of meringue shell (green) filled goodie and settled on Divine Lime Pies.  So I made that, too, and I think it was one of the more popular things.  Everyone loved them.  So thank you, Richard.    

I don't usually get to spend all day cooking like this, so it was a fun treat for me.  Although, next time, I'm definitely going to spread things out and freeze some cookies and scones ahead of time.  It's just that I've been busy working and haven't had any time to do anything ahead of time.  I hardly even ever have time to cook dinner for the two of us after working all day.  Most days we just eat what is in the house or run to Raleys to grab something.  A cooked tri-tip, a salad from the deli, things like that and call it dinner.

I went through my vintage linens, washed and ironed them and got everything ready.  Just because something might be a little tattered or stained, I don't get rid of it.  A little hole can be repaired and a small stain here or there doesn't bother me.  If it did, I could always sew a pretty repair patch on it to cover it up and give it some character.

I didn't get as many pictures as I'd hoped to.  I was busy and also forgot.  One thing I'm mad at myself for is not getting Shilah making the tea and Angelina making the little labels for the teapots.  Darn it!  Thank you for making the raspberry scones, helping to make the tea and getting all of that ready and for assembling the sandwiches, Shilah!  Thank you, Angelina for your help!  Thank you for your help making the egg sandwiches and for making the cookie balls, Pam!  Thank you for making the cucumber sandwiches, Jan!  Thank you for making the Tiramisu, Oana!  Thank you for making the little desserts, Tipti!

And a thank you for my little hostess gifts, to Auntie Helen for the teapot and cozy and Barbara for the teacup and tea bags!  So sweet of you both to think of me that way.  Hope I didn't leave anyone out.  If I did: Thank you!!  And thank you to everyone that showed up and I hope you all had a good time.  Who knows, we might have another one next year.  What a delightful way to welcome spring.  Gives us an excuse to do some spring cleaning and get the yard ready for summer.

Purchased potted flowers for table decor and I dressed up the pots with taped on paper scraps.

Uncle Richard hung around and sat here for a time observing all of the ladies.

My clothesline is adorned with various pink fabrics and some bunting to dress it up.

The back porch tea room, seating for eight.

See our heart on the wall?  That's a new item for our shop and you can find it here.  We can do these in pretty much any size, with or without the metal ring heart.

The table is ready, time to eat!

Angelina trying to decide what to go for first.

So many goodies.  Shilah brought some raspberry chocolate scones.

A friend brought some chocolate goodies.  There was enough food leftover so that everyone got to take home a small plate filled with goodies.

Shilah and Melinda, friends since high school.

Jen and her sweet little baby girl.  Shilah and Jen have been friends for many years, too.