It's a Birthday Celebration!!!

and Welcome to my Tea Party!!! Please do come in, I am so glad you are here!

August is a month of BIRTHDAYS in my family! First, we have my Grandmother (the black & white photo), Elizabeth (but she went by "Betty" or Grammy...I prefer Grammy!), then there's your local red.neck - mwaa (peeking out the side) - and my oldest Niece, Elizabeth, front and center!! (I have 3 nieces, but Elizabeth was MY Birthday present just like I was my GRANDMOTHER'S Birthday present!) Lovin' It!

I decided to fore-go the overalls and muddin' boots and don my party pretties in honor of your arrival!
Oh, okay - I'm in my camo jammies and you've busted me (you know me so well!!!), but I AM so honored to have you here! Please, take a seat - let's chat the afternoon away...

share some laughter, hug through tears, swap some good stories and memories - just celebrate life!

It was so fun to pull out all of the "good stuff" to have tea with you! Even the chandelier got to join in the fun! Did you know that just about EVERY piece on our tea table has a story?

How about a cup of tea for you as I tell my stories?

Would you like some lemon with your tea? Maybe some cream and/or sugar?

The tea pot that I have out for you is ACTUALLY a chocolate pot (hey, I'm a red.neck, did you REALLY expect an actual tea pot?) that my Great-Grandmother Ella (my youngest Niece is named after her!) got as a wedding gift in 1906! And, yep - the little cup and saucer are a part of that set! And your tea spoon? It was part of my Grandmother's (is it okay with you if I refer to her as Grammy?) silver set - and the sugar spoon was her baby spoon! Her name "Betty" is engraved on the handle with the year 1922 engraved on the back side...she would whack me with her wooden spoon if she knew I just told you that...

Don't be afraid to use the linens! Would you like to wear one of the sparkles? It would look so gorgeous with your outfit! These lovelies were actually a garage sale find that Grammy u-turned for! I mean, really...you can't just pass by a garage sale, you have to U-turn as many times as necessary to find the good junk spots (one of the various life lessons taught by Grammy... I will have to pass that along to Miss Elizabeth...)! I thought she had found the greatest sale in the world when she handed them over to me!

Would you like a piece of cake?

Now...this cake has a couple of stories baked into it - isn't that the best tasting?

Story number One...
My Mother (pictured above with my Grandmother looking over her!) made it for me to share with you today! She had too...she's a big believer in letting the local fire department rest for the evening...I tend to be a pyro in the kitchen (can you say "kitchen reno number 3?") as well as forgetting some of the ingredients. Aren't we lucky to have her cooking for us? What a tasty treat!

Why Pineapple Upside-Down cake you ask? Well...here's story number two! It's my fav-o-rite!!! I have requested it for years! I'm not sure if it was Grammy's favorite too, but she made me one each and every year (now my mother caters to my insane consumption of pineapple sugar!), then ate it right along with me! And - each and every year I tried to "sweet" talk her out of the gorgeous pink depression glass cake plate! Our last birthday together (this is not a bad thing, she is now fishin' her way through the crystal clear lakes in Heaven along with my Grandfather (aka: the old goat - yes, there is a goat at our tea party too...did you see him?) she handed me the cake on the plate and said, "Happy Birthday"! I love LOVE this cake plate! I will have to show you the next time you come to visit what it looks like WITHOUT the cake! I'll have my Mom make us a cake on a different plate...

I hope that you like pineapple-upside-down cake as much as I do!!! And the dessert plate? Nope, it doesn't match the chocolate pot, but it was my Grandmother's china - which mixes right in perfectly with my collection of...well.......pretty much anything I find pretty!

Your presence at my Birthday Celebration today is such a gift to me! Now, it's YOUR turn to don the tea party/story-tellin' hat - duct tape and all!

Do you share your birthday with family members? What is your favorite birthday story? My favorite story spans about 36 years...oh wait!!! 29 years (and I'm sticking to that like duct tape).

Thank You sew much for coming!!! I am enjoying exchanging stories with you over a cup of tea...

Comin' to you LIVE from a single-wide...hee-hee

:-) robelyn