Shadow Sunday - Leaf

  Autumn is in the air....

Autumn crept up on us slowly
We felt the lingering touch of summer start to fade
And the heat that had seeped into our skin 
Was beginning to dissipate 

I watched the leaves go from brilliant green 
To deep oranges and reds
They were beautiful despite the fact that they were dying
It broke my heart to watch the trees betray them...


Leaves - C. Leigh
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As always, thank you for your visit!

Hugs -    ~Michele

Linking:

Shadow Shot Sunday

RUBY PEAR RECIPES BOOK

Yesterday I posted a wonderful post

 about a friend's birthday tea.

If you missed it be sure to go see how nice it was!

Quite a few of you asked where you could find

 The Ruby Pear cookbook-

so I am providing that info now for you.

I so wish I would have thought of it when I did that post!

This wonderful cookbook is available on etsy here. 

It makes the best gift for friends and family

and makes an excellent hostess gift!

Tell them Dawn and Marina's friend

sent you! 

♥

~Michele

A Ruby Pear Tea Party

Earlier this summer I was thrilled and delighted

 that two dear tea society sisters of mine

held a belated birthday party tea

 for another of our society sisters, Karen.

I don't even know quite how to do this wonderful tea party justice!

Every single detail was amazing - and very special to us,

 as it was all about not only honoring our sweet birthday friend -

 but honoring a beloved tea house that closed in 2013.

*Please look for a link of my old blog post

about our last tea together there at the end of this post.

(It deserves revisiting, it was that special a place for teatime!)

You see, the hostesses Dawn and Marina

 were long-time regular customers to the Ruby Pear Tea House,

 and were very good friends with the owners.

A great deal of love went into preparing this tea

 for us to savor and enjoy!

(I am ashamed of myself for taking so long to post this!)

~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~

We were greeted at the door with a specialty

wine spritzer with raspberry

which was a perfect cool relief on a very hot June day.

They used only recipes from The Ruby Pear's keepsake book

(and gave us each one as a momento to keep as well!)

Oh, my word, the food was just heavenly!

Karen, the birthday gal gave us all Ruby Pears she bought

from the tea house before it closed a few years back.

Dawn had hers on the table as decor.

Dawn had these amazing and beautiful 

marzipan ruby pear cupcake toppers

specially made for this party.

When we get together for a tea party celebrating a birthday

we try to remember to use a birthday teacup.

We lost our original one. I think it was my fault. 

Mary D came through with another one, she's the best!

I took a few pics of our birthday girl but they didn't turn out.
She was given a sparkly tiara to wear, too!

♥ QUEEN TEA FOR A DAY ♥ 

(At parties what few photography skills I have get even worse.)

Isn't this the prettiest tea cosy?

Here is a pc of our wonderful hostesses in their cute

matching embroidered tea-themed aprons!

   DAWN                       MARINA     

            

Another favor we were given-

a cute little fridge magnet!

This post has gotten a bit long-

I still have all my tea-themed pics taken around

Dawn's unique and awesome home to share in

another post in the near future!

And if you want a little more reading on RP:

--------> Here is the link to my old post

 about our last tea at our beloved

 The Ruby Pear Tea House

 the day before it closed. 

BTW: Here is a pic of my ruby pear Karen gave me.

It always looks especially great in

 autumn and Christmas time.

As always, thank you for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Tea Time Tuesday   *   Bernideen's Tea Party   *   Mosaic Monday

Roses of Inspiration   *   Teacup Tuesday

We Won't Forget!

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Comments closed.

Neutral Autumn Inspiration

It is still very much summer here - is very hot!

I don't tend to decorate for autumm

 until the corn stalks turn.

Our leaves haven't even begun turning yet, either.

I am really not one to hurry and wish away my days,

 so I am still holding on to summer.

However, there is just SO much inspiration in blogland now!

I am wanting to just join in some of the fun...

~and appreciate you joining me~

as I ease into a little touch of autumn...

With a little touch here, and a little touch there...

]

With much more to follow

 once the earth around me changes its colors as well....

For me, just a little nudge towards the end of a season

~and the start of another new one~

satisfies me, for now.

I am liking the idea of cooler weather,

 but to know what follows autumn - inevitably?

No, thank you! 

I will be holding onto these warm 

shorts-n-teeshirt-wearin' days

 as long as I am able!

But it really won't be long now till the temps drop,

the leaves change color and the nights grow cool again.

I know the world keeps on turning.

And I know we must change with it

as the seasons turn and the days grow shorter...

And I will be waiting for it.

With a sweater on,  a smile on my face-

and a nice steaming pot of tea in my hand.

~~~~~*~~~~~

As always, thank you for visiting!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Share Your Cup   *   Home and Garden   *   Share Your Style

Favorite Things   

Hodgepodge Wednesday

WELCOME SEPTEMBER!

Wow - I cannot even believe it is here.

Where did summer go?

Well, it is STILL summer weather, in high 80s today

quite hot and very humid.

Right now it is storming - all sorts of thunder.

I just love a good storm and we need the rain.

~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

I am joining the fun at the linky blog party at 

From This Side of the Pond's

HODGEPODGE WEDNESDAY

She writes the questions,

we supply the answers!

1. What's on your September calendar? Anything fun?

Well, September 20th is our wedding anniversary.  We aren't

planning anything extravagant this year due to just having our youngest daughter married this past weekend - but we'll surely do something romantic. We WERE considering going to Mackinac Island, Michigan and staying at The Grand Hotel (the one in the movie Someplace in Time) but it doesn't appear as though my foot will be mended enough for all the walking that trip would entail. 

The 6th is my little sister's birthday, the 10th is my brother in law's birthday, the 25th is my older sister's birthday and the 30th is my nephew's birthday. (The one who just moved to Arizona for college, his first birthday away from home.)

It's also my brother-in-law's wedding anniversary too -  so lots of special days in this month for our combined familes!

I am also excited to be signed up for her annual teacup exchange this month that Stephanie at the blog The Enchanting Rose is hosting.  I am trying to figure out which teacup I am going to send. I am having fun thinking about it! 

2. You might be described as a natural born.... 

PEACE KEEPER. I grew up with one older sister, one younger sister, one older brother and one younger brother - I am a middle kid - plus am a Libra....so it's all about balance, firm fair justice and peace with me. 

3. September is National Courtesy Month...what one act of courtesy would you most like to see more of in your home, town, or the world at large?

I would love to see better table manners. And this starts by first leaving all cell phones out of hands while dining together! I think it is very sad...and the parents seem to be as equally bad as the teens these days messing with their phones while dining. :- (

4. Eager beaver, chicken out, clam up, or let the cat out of the bag...of the phrases listed, which one have you related to most recently?

I've been such an "eager beaver" all summer because of my daughter's wedding. Now I am switching to be a a little bit of a "chicken out" because I have a lot of new doctors' appointments trying to get back on a healthy track.

5. What's your movie theatre snack protocol? Do you chow down on snacks during the previews or wait until the movie begins? Do you buy snacks or refuse to pay those kind of prices? What's the last movie you saw in a theatre? How many thumbs up would you give it?

a.) I grew up in a large family so we never really did the snack thing if we had the special treat of going to the movies, so nothing is my usual. BUT in my adulthood I love to get popcorn - but my oh my isn't it expensive? Well I belong to this movie club (frequent flier kind of deal) where one may see a first rate new movie and get a free popcorn for only $5 on Tuesdays. So I tend to do that more often than not nowdays. And half of it is gone by the time the movie starts, sad to state, haha. I always bring in a bottle of water, as I am not a soda pop drinker for the most part.

b.) The last movie we saw was either The Age of Adeline at the discount theatre, or The Fantastic Four in a first-tun theatre. Both were great, esp Adeline, loved it - just checked though, it's not showing anymore which means it should be available (or soon) would be at Red Box or Amazon Instant downloadable flicks. 

6. Henry Ford is quoted as saying, "Nobody can think straight who does not work. Idleness warps the mind." Agree or disagree? Why?


Oh, I completely agree with this - have said something similar quite often regarding someone I know and how it is do to the idleness that creates the problems imagined as real. Can't say more, just that I truly believe this to be the case.

7. What's the last job you completed or task you performed where you had to 'work like a dog' until it was finished?

Got basement a bit more organized, and the outdoor patio room; survived wedding planning, and have been getting to physical therapy 3 x a week for quite a while.



8. Insert your own random thought/s here:

I hope you all have been eyeing the beautiful full moon! This past weekend was a "Super Moon - on Katie's wedding night!

Here is a little bit of info on Super Moons

and the upcoming eclipse this month!

I saw a beautiful huge rainbow this morning

 while in a car and we managed to get a photo!

It's not a great one but it was so huge and

so colorful in real life!

(Taken from phone by husband while driving

while raining through the windshield.)

As always, thank you for your visit!

♥

~Michele