Wait! Save Some Fitz and Floyd For Me!

One of the local television consumer affairs reporters 

had a story on local thrift stores and shopping

for holiday decorations.

She visited my favorite thrift store where she found several Fitz and Floyd

holiday decorations. She talked about buying them at the thrift store and then selling them on Ebay.

If you've spent anytime around the neighborhood here at Twisty Lane

you know I LOVE Fitz and Floyd.

To buy F&N and sell it on Ebay -- a thousand times NO!

So, a friend and I went over to The Guild to see if there was any F&F left.
I had to save it from the dreaded consumer reporter.

The holiday decorations had been picked over, but there -- under a layer of stuff 

was this Santa and I grabbed him --
clutching him to my chest as I made a dash through the china!

He is from the Winter Holiday series by F&F 

and he'll be on the center of my dining room table after Thanksgiving.

As I was dashing through the china,
the store closing in 15 minutes announcement was made.
This lovely Royal Stafford Fuschia teacup caught my attention
and I grabbed it.
When I got home, I found out why the price was so good --
the saucer had been broken and repaired.

That's okay.

It's a lovely cup.

Fine bone china that is very thin.

It feels wonderful in the hand.

Isn't it pretty with Stash Pomegranate Raspberry Tea?!

Look at the bubbles.

A very dear friend told me years and years ago,

that when you pour bubbles with your tea,

drinking them quickly will bring good fortune!

YeeHaw!

With cooler weather and low humidity,

I've been walking into the Village and having breakfast.

I've been doing some unofficial tea tasting having

The Republic of Tea Pomegranate Green Tea with my meal.

I carry an extra tea bag from home -- the Stash Pomegranate Raspberry Green Tea.

They are both good.

The Stash Tea seems naturally more sweet than the Republic of Tea.

Wishing you well, much joy and a wonderful cup of tea!

A big thank you to these tea party hosts:

Tea Time Tuesday
Friends Sharing Tea
Teacup Tuesday

Tuesday Cup'a Tea

Tea Talk

Wish List

Have you made your wish list?
I think it's past time to make my Christmas Wish List.
 I thought I'd take you along with me!

We are walking into my village and visiting the British Isles shop.

Walking in the door and looking to the left we find Holly and Ivy by Portmeirion.

It is on sale. 

Oh, my! 

Off to my right is what I came to see...

Bridgewater!

I have the kitty mug on my wish list!

More Bridgewater.

The JOY mugs and platter are really fun.

Decisions, decisions!

More decisions!

I really like the kitty tea for one.
(Yep, that's me in the mirror.)

If I can't find tea things for my list there's always owls and reindeer!

Thanks to our tea party hostesses.

These are just a few of the tea parties in the Land of Blog.

Teapot and Tea Things Tuesday

Tea Time Tuesday

Teacup Tuesday

Tea Party Tuesday

Tuesday Tea For Two

Wishing YOU well and a wonderful cup of tea! 

Let's Go Shopping!

Let's go shopping for Halloween decorations!

I'm lucky enough to have a close friend who is as crazy about Halloween as I am.

We went into our Village to a shop called Blue Leaf

and found all these wonderful Halloween decorations. 

Did we come home with some?

You bet! 

And, lots of pictures!

A big thank you to Mary for being our hostess for

Mosaic Monday.

Wishing YOU well and a wonderful week.

To my Canadian friends, Happy Thanksgiving!

(It's raining today!!!!! YeeHaw! Not enough to break the drought, but I'll take what I can get!)

Virtual Shopping

I had no plans to go on another virtual shopping trip.

When the Old Durham Road catalog arrived in the mail I was going to file it directly in recycling.

Then I saw this...

The first of the royal wedding china for Will and Kate.

Opening the catalog led to finding several lovely tea sets.

One is the nautical looking Captain's Tea Service.

The East India Tea Company was chartered by Queen Elizabeth in 1600 and the ship's captain tea service would have looked much like this lovely blue and white. 

Then there is the beautiful and regal looking set that makes up the Royal Collection-

The Queen Victoria Range.

This official range of china commemorates the golden age of Queen Victoria (1819-1901) from the Royal Collection. The design takes its inspiration from English bone china commissioned by Queen Victoria for the Great Exhibition of 1851, and features her signature. 

I'm linking to multiple memes this week.

We have a house full of family visiting Mr. Dragon and I needed to make life a little easier!

Besides, I wanted to stop by and at least wave!

I'd like to thank the hostesses of the following memes:

Mosaic Monday, Teapot and Tea Things Tuesday, 

Tea Time Tuesday,  and Teacup Tuesday!

Wishing you well and a JOY filled week.

I Just Can't Help Myself!

The catalogs keep coming in and I keep looking!

I found these fun tea things in the Acorn Catalog.

It is fun to let the fingers do the walking and then send the catalog on to recycling! 

The  red pot with the polka dots (I love polka dots) is a tea tower.

Dismantled, the tower becomes an 8 oz. teapot, creamer, sugar bowl, and 4 oz mug with saucer.

Stacked, it's 10" tall.

The lavender tea set is white ceramic hand-painted with delicate sprays of lavender.

Edges and rims are scalloped.

It is a 10 piece set that includes teapot, two cups with saucers, cream and sugar, and tray with handles.

I thought the cups with the dogs were fun and it's always good to Keep Calm and Carry On!

A book, a comfortable chair, a free hour or two, and your own pot of tea.

The ceramic pot is embellished with books, titles, and the names of famous authors.

It is 6 inches high and holds 18oz of tea.

I think this one may have to go on my wish list!

Finally, to continue to celebrate January and Hot Tea Month,

Christopher Hitchens has written an article published at Slate on how to make the perfect cup of tea.

There are many wonderful tea parties in the blogging world.

Teacup Tuesday (thank you to Martha and Teri), Tea Time Tuesday and

Teapot and Tea Things Tuesday are just three of them.

Wishing you well and a delicious cup of tea.

I Thought Shopping Season Was Over

But the catalogs are still arriving!

Since I haven't done a "join me while my fingers do the walking through the catalogs"

post in a long time,

I thought I'd do one for this weekend.

Enjoy the window shopping!

I'm a big Star Wars fan (especially the first three).

Yoda pancakes would be fun!

This is from Williams-Sonoma Winter 2011.

It's the bright white sale at Crate and Barrel.

The bright colors of the pillows (above and below) would certainly

take the blah out of winter.

The rug is fun, too.

I thought the Max dinnerware at Crate and Barrel was great.

I liked that you can mix the patterned stoneware with the solid Delilah porcelain plates.

Fun!

It was the Pottery Barn catalog that had me salivating.

I could show each and every page,

but I'm going to stick with the pillows.

These are called Cafe pillow covers. 

They are designed after antique curiosity engravings. 

Each reverses to a light shade of the same fabric (rugged linen/cotton).

I love the butterflies and there is also a bird and a flower.

They are going on my wish list!

Do you know about the Isabella catalog?

They say they have gifts for reawakening the spirit.

I keep looking at Lovey the Lavender Lamb.

Lovey has a lavender/flaxseed insert that is removable. 

Pop Lovey into the microwave for 30 seconds 

and then snuggle with him releasing the fragrance of lavender. 

Sounds good to me.

How about a sleeping pig from Isabella?

Isn't he cute?

There is wonderful story that goes with him:

"When the pig was domesticated in China, owning one was considered to be an indication of a common man's prosperity and good fortune. If you were lucky enough to have a pig, you simply took very good care of it, and that meant it slept in the home. Quite simply, if you were wealthy enough to have a pig living in your house, life was pretty secure and happy. In fact, the Chinese symbol for "home" is a combination of the symbol for "pig" with the symbol for "roof" over it. (If there is a pig under the roof, it is a home of happiness, a "home sweet home.")"

The tradition continues with porcelain sleeping pigs placed in homes 

to bring happiness and good fortune.

I hope you enjoyed letting my fingers do the walking through the catalogs!

***

We have family visiting on and off the next several weeks.

My posting may be on and off, too.

I'll try to stop by and wave!

Wishing all of you well and a JOY filled weekend!

Tea Tuesday

It's that time of year when the post box is full of catalogs.

I let my fingers do the walking through one of my favorites:

Victorian Trading Company

and found some wonderful tea goodies that I thought I'd share with you.

(All of the images are from the Victorian Trading Company.)

A little something for Christmas.

December Scrapbook Porcelain

I may have to order these.

I love to read, love books and having literary quotes about tea

sounds like a lot of fun!

Novel Teas - Quotes About Tea

The teapot cookie cutters made me smile!

Teapot Cookie Cutters

I first found the Victorian Trading Company in Victoria Magazine 

many, many years ago.

It seems only correct that they have the book -

Victoria: The Essential Tea Companion.

Victoria: The Essential Tea Companion

I think this set was my favorite.

Oh, Santa!!!!!

Pretty Bird

*A little tea trivia for you:

In early eighteenth century Britain, tea was served in coffeehouses, which were restricted to men only. If women wanted tea from these locations, they had to have a man purchase the tea for them.

Teacup Tuesday is hosted by Martha and Terri.

Be sure to stop by and see the tea cups on parade!

*Keenum is from China and is known as the "burgundy of teas." 

It is full-bodied with a light taste.

* From 365 Things Every Tea Lover Should Know

Wishing you well, a JOY filled week, and a great cup of tea!

Do You Remember?

Do you remember these from Christmas past?

The tin harmonic top hums as it spins.

Raggedy Ann and Andy with their button eyes
and embroidered heart mouths.

The silver tinsel tree that looks like
the aluminum trees you knew and loved
complete with a color wheel light!

The gumdrop tree.
(I still have my Mother's tree.)

Santa Light Pin
Pull on the string and his nose lights up!

All these wonderful, nostalgic goodies from Vermont Country Store.

***

It has been several Mondays since I last did any mulling. I guess Rocky's death and THE grandson's visit *threw me for a loop* (as Granny would have said). So, I'm back today. Mulling a little about nostalgia and words. Did you pick a word for last year? I've visited many blogs this last week, and many were busy picking their word for 2010. My word for 2009 was LISTEN. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be. LISTEN -- to the earth, to my heart, to the universe, to those I love, to those I don't love ... a real lesson this last year in listening. So, I'm thinking about the word for 2010 and I've made a list. Here are a few in no particular order -

• comfort, change, abundance
• renew, rejoice, energize, fresh
• balance, wisdom, stimulate, stretch, transform
• start, discover, explore, teach, test, relax
• seek, practice, transform, dream, reach,
• boost, imagination, intuition, visualize, communication
• adventure, challenge, heal, revitalize

What do you think? I tried very hard to come up with words (except for dream) that were a little different. I have favorites -- adventure, boost and seek. I have a few more months before I make a decision.

That's enough mulling for today. Have a wonderful week.

Joy to You!

Lazy Day

It's a lazy day here at Twisty Lane. Mr. Dragon is off to fight with the taxing authority about our house taxes (not so lazy for him). I'm going through a stack of magazines and catalogs that seem to be cloning themselves. I can't just throw them out. There might be something I can use in collage or, heaven help us, I might help the economy by ordering something! I thought I'd share with you what caught my eye before these head out to recycling.

From the L.L. Bean Home Casual Furnishings Catalog

I love these little songbird decoys.
We all know how much I love birds!

Classic Adirondack Chairs from L.L. Bean in great colors.

I loved the wool hooked throw pillows.
Remember, we lived on Galveston Island for 13 years.
Guess the water still calls to me.

The Williams-Sonoma summer catalog also arrived.
I always check out their catalog to look at the recipes.

They had a jalapeno pepper roaster.
That brings back memories of living in New Mexico
and roasting Hatch green chili.
Yummmmmmm

I love the Provence linens.

A recipe with some of my favorite things: asparagus and goat cheese!

I love the wreaths.
Each year I look and awwwwwww over them.

Color again!
Le Creuset Cookware
I think I like the Lemongrass the best.
But the Azure Blue isn't bad or ......

How about a square wreath or a market bag?

That's it!
A little eye candy for the day.

Shopping (Part 2)

We did visit the Livestock Show one more time and finished up the window shopping adventure. Remember the candy store? Well, we didn't go back, but we did find a shop that sold fudge. We bought 4 different kinds: Chocolate Pecan, Chocolate Mint, Peanut Butter and Maple Pecan. Sorry, no pictures. We ate it all!

Mr. Dragon couldn't pass up a photo of the eagle and friends.

How about some cowgirl bling? A belt or two?

More belts and the handbags with the dog faces were adorable.

Closeup of a handbag. There were no bags with cats.
I'm thinking cowpokes think cats are only good for ratting.
They are missing something.

Jackets were lovely.

Think these were my favorites.

I've felt like this more than once!
I'll have one of those to go, please!

Love the *unattended children will be given an espresso and a free puppy*!!!

It wouldn't be a livestock show without saddles.

Just in case you needed a reminder that you're in Texas.

We are already looking forward to next year!