Tea Time Tuesday!

It's Tea Time Tuesday again over at Rose Chintz Cottage & Inspirations and Tea Cup Tuesday at Marthas Favorites.  Thanks once again to these lovely ladies for hostessing such delightful tea parties!

Where my dear "Mr. Magnolia" and I live in the Niagara Region, we are surrounded with lovely vineyards and quaint little villages, with only a half-hour drive to Niagara Falls or a one hour drive to Toronto.  As you can imagine, tourism is a big part of our local economy and as a result, we are very lucky to live within an easy drive of a number of really special tea rooms that cater to tourists and locals alike.

A couple of weeks ago, I visited one of those tea rooms with two very dear friends.  Located in Ridgeville, Ontario the Berry Patch is the sweetest little tea room you can imagine!  It's situated in a converted barn, with a little gift shop inside, and all the seating for the tea room is on the lovely deep verandah!

There are many teas to select from and each person is served their tea in an individual china tea pot with a unique china tea cup and saucer.  I chose a delicious Earl Grey Cream and found it to be an extremely smooth version of Earl Grey.  I had a lovely pink tea cup to drink it from.  Each tea drinker is also given their own little sieve to keep out the loose leaf tea.

They really do grow their own berries at The Berry Patch and my delicious scones came garnished with lovely plump fresh raspberries straight from the garden!

The gift shop has many lovely things to choose from and it was fun to browse.  Of course there were lots of tea related items, but also some lovely hand-made jewelry and other "girly" things that were lots of fun to check out!

My friends and I had a wonderful "tea date," enjoying the atmosphere and pretending for a moment that we were back in a more civilized time, with no troubles too great that a "spot of tea" couldn't cure them!  But we also had a true time of sharing and caring, something that is often done much more easily over a hot cup of tea or coffee.  It reminded me once again of just how valuable real friendships are - in this case, our friendships have endured well over twenty years, through incredible life changes, difficulties and joys.  I hope we're still drinking tea together when twenty more years have passed.

"Oil and perfume rejoice the heart; 

so does the sweetness of a friend's counsel 

that comes from the heart."

Proverbs 27:9

And just a little update on my dear "Tiger" - she is getting better every day!  It will be a long recovery time for her but we think she is doing quite well.  Thank-you to all for your prayers and positive thoughts!  She sends purrs back in your direction, and we send our many, many thanks for your kindness.