tea time

'Cmon on down! The table is all set and your hostess is ready! I'm wearing one of my favorite aprons- one given to me last Christmas by Janette in Australia. pretty, sassy, and with a big practical pocket. I love big practical pockets.




E. brought a batch of banana bread with peanutbutter glaze. As you can see, i used colored leaves instead of flowers to dress the table. The colored leaves wee free in the backyard. You don't have to spend a bundle to get a good effect.



Here is one of the side tables I set up in the livingroom. My dining room seats 10 comfortably, and I was expecting 16. Late-comers wound up in the livingroom.






But I think things came together in there quite nicely as well. The lemon cake was a little dry, the applesauce/honey cake was a bit too moist, the cheese rollups went well, and the chocolate shortbreads with the coffee jelly vanished. And who doesn't love oatmeal cookies? Dried cranberries substitute quite nicely for raisins.

MJ was kind enough to snap a couple photos of me with the spread this time.

I enjoy these parties so much that I was even happy to wash the dishes afterwards. Wish I could translate that attitude to cat boxes or keeping the house tidy or . . . oh well. I'm grateful for what I got!

The hugs, the joy, the communion - tea with the girls is a kind of church.

Toward the end of the party, there was a knock at the door. Two husbands wee there to pick up wives. One was on the phone. I heard him say, "OK, I'm goin' in now!" The age-old uncertainty about women's magic is still alive. (Cronish cackle of glee.) "Eeeeheeeeheeeheee!"