“What did the world do before tea? How did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea.”

WELCOME TO MARY’S TEA COTTAGE!

Hello! I’m so glad you stopped by for a visit. The kettle is on and you’re just in time for tea!

I should tell you that I love roses. I have many, but would like to have many more, if only there was more room. I suppose I could have my husband remove some grass, or cut a path along the walkway. Just imagine walking to the front door escorted by several rose trees on either side!

Of course, I love other flowers as well. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever met a flower I didn’t like. Well, maybe a bottlebrush. Those aren’t particularly pretty to me. There might be one or two others, but very few. Most flowers and flowering shrubs and trees are beauties to behold, whether in my yard or in someone else’s. I can’t have them all here, so I enjoy seeing what other people have planted in their yards as I walk through the neighborhood, or drive through adjacent neighborhoods.


A view from the entrance door looking toward the driveway. This rose is a double delight, one of my favorites. Complimenting the rose bush is a beautiful geranium. The rose basks in the sun, while the geranium, only inches away, stays cool in the filtered shade of the porch.


Once inside, I hope you enjoy the fragrance of fresh baked scones, brownies, and the aroma of a freshly brewed pot of tea! If you can stay for even a few moments, I’m sure you will leave refreshed. If you haven’t experienced sipping tea from a china teacup, you’re in for a treat. So welcome to my internet tea room…relax and sit awhile.

The sweet, soft pink potted mini rose was a hostess gift from a “Rose Petal”, one of the ladies in my tea club, aptly named “The Rose Petal Tea Society”. We meet once a month in one of our homes, or we sometimes go out to tea. For June, we "took tea" at my house.

Two of our "rose petals" smiling for you!

For this tea, we had a mid-morning brunch, as we anticipated very warm weather. I'd say 96 was pretty warm! So the menu was crepes filled with cream cheese and topped with a mixed berry sauce, crustless quiche, ham and cheese pastries, crab cakes, and fruit ka-bobs of strawberries and pineapple. I also served faux-mosas. That's a mimosa using sparkling cider rather than champagne. We all are "tea-totallers" LOL!

My favorite menu is chicken curry sandwiches on mini croissants, cut in quarters, dilly cucumber and cream cheese with chives on white sandwich bread, mini quiche, ham and cream cheese rolled up in a flour tortilla and sliced into rounds, strawberries and grapes for garnish, and dessert of sugar free vanilla pudding, topped with cool whip and a cherry or blackberry. I prepare many other sandwiches, savories and desserts as well, but these are the favorites. The most popular tea is Ginger Peach - so nice!

A bouquet of roses grace the table set for visiting friends when I had a smaller tea on Monday. The menu was a little challenging, as two of the guests were little girls. Does anyone know how finicky little girls can be about their food?

This beautiful lavender rose bush is a set against the fence in our backyard. The fragrance is sweet and when mixed with a yellow rose from the front yard, it makes a gentle yet elegant statement.

This frame came with the roses attached – perfect to frame the three beautiful ladies in my life – my daughter-in-“love'” and my two granddaughters. My daughter-in-love is a fabulous scrap booker, and has been published in scrapbooking magazines. She makes “scrappy” cards for me on Mother’s Day and my birthday, and a calendar for Christmas every year. I treasure each and every one that she makes.




The geranium on the deck greets me and my morning cup of tea. It’s not a rose, and there’s no fragrance, but it’s beautiful just the same. I think it's my second favorite. They are easy to grow, come in several colors, and look beautiful from hanging pots.



Since this is a tea “cottage”, I will be posting more pictures of my favorite cottage finds and re-dos inside my home, as well as outside. After 35 years in the same house, I have finally discovered that my love of white painted furniture, an English garden, floral fabrics and curvy furniture is what is known at Cottage style decorating! It’s been such a long journey, but I can finally see over the mountain that the decorating road is leading somewhere! I also want to share some of my thrift store finds. What a privilege to be part of recycling and rebirthing goblets or napkins, once loved by someone’s grandmother. Not only do I save money, but to know that I will continue that love and give a home to a beautiful and usable item makes me feel very good. I am much more comfortable shopping in a thrift store manned by sweet and friendly volunteers than fighting my way through a mall store. The atmosphere in a thrift or consignment store is pleasant and unrushed. If I buy something that doesn’t really work out like I thought it would, I haven’t lost part of my retirement account in purchasing it, so it’s not a great financial loss to give it back to the same thrift store. And an added bonus, to me anyway, is that many of the treasures I find were made in America!

Til the next post, take care, and take time to smell those roses!

Mary