Tea Cup Tuesday in the Backyard

Summer is on it's way. It is hot, and sticky here in N.C. , but that is o.k. We have been having a nice breeze on and off and surprise thunderstorms as well. One minute the sky is bright blue and five minutes later ominous clouds are moving in, the wind picks up and big fat drops of rain begin pelting down. So exciting. I love a good rainstorm!

Tea Cup Tuesday today! I am so excited to show you my newest find, it is not that old, but I am really enjoying having my tea in it. I went out antiquing last week with the sole purpose of finding some tea cups. I had a very enjoyable day poking around a tiny town called Selma, which is almost entirely antique stores.

I love this color of blue for a tea cup, and the gold filigree on the edges and sides are fabulous elegant touches. This is a "corset" shaped tea cup.

For today's tea I have baked a chocolate cupcake with Very Vanilla Frosting. It is gluten free by the way!

As you can see below, this is an English tea cup made by the well known company of Ansley. I am having difficulty in dating this one, even though it has a backstamp. It could be from the 1920-30's, but the cup doesn't look that old. I found a site that said after the 1960's that backstamps were mostly blue and sometimes black and pottery color. So I am stuck with probably a date in the 1930's

The beautiful plate.

The flowers inside the cup.

I have been totally enjoying my visits to all of you who post about your tea cups. Thank you so much for joining us! Martha and I are always eager to see what you are sharing. If you want to join us this week, please make your post first about your tea cup and then come back and sign up with Mr. Linky below. Just fill in the two blanks and then you will be added to the list.

Don't forget to visit Martha, she always has the most gorgeous china!

Hugs to you all,
Terri

French Friday-Hooray!

Today is another day to share with you something French.
I have been thinking about Paris all week and what I love so much about it.
I decided it was the walking around town that was so enjoyable. You never knew what you might come across next.

I miss the beautiful bouquets of flowers available at all the corner florists. I also saw some of the most incredible rose bushes ready to take home.
Walking down the narrow streets you would see all kinds of people and businesses.

This is one of my favorite cobblestone streets. It is early in the morning in this photo and no one is at the little cafe yet. But it will be filled with people very soon. On this street are two lovely tea rooms as well as a journal store that I bought some fab paper in.

There are an untold number of apartment buildings in Paris, some in great need of repair, some very modern, some really old, and some that are gorgeous. This one above is in the gorgeous category. I imagine myself living in one of these apartments overlooking the park below.

While out walking one afternoon we turned a corner and saw this beautiful old church. This is L'eglise Saint Severin.

Just Beautiful!

All the churches have incredible stained glass windows as well as totally gorgeous paintings.

It was a really special treat to visit this one.

Here is a small flea market we came upon on another day. Here they had about 20 stalls of all kinds of things...old books, old tools, old and newer jewelry, hats, scarves, nick nacs......

Furniture, teapots, coins, luggage, textiles (I drooled over!)......

ooooh La La!

They also had many stalls of fruits and veggies as well as cheese, olives, breads and desserts.

One way to save money in Paris is to buy food at these markets and make your own breakfast and lunch. Then you can save your money for fantastic restaurants at night!

We often came upon unusual vehicles

I can not imagine FedEx using this one in Raleigh : )

And of course, I must leave you today with another peek through a bakery window.
*Sigh*

These photos only show a little of what you might see walking the streets of Paris. Such a delightful city! Thank you for coming by today and sharing in my memories.
Tonight I will pick the winner of my little bundle of French findings. I showed a sneak preview in last weeks French Friday post.

Tonight I will have a photo along with the winners name. You can still enter by leaving a comment today if you haven't already.

Next week I will tell you about another giveaway along with a post about one of Marie Antoinette's homes

Hugs to you all!
Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday and a Surprise for me.

Today is Tea Cup Tuesday again....wow, is time flying by for all of you as well? What a gorgeous summer we are entering. There are so many wonderful things to see and do. Out on my walk this morning I couldn't help but be appreciative of the beautiful green colors all around me. Green is such a healing color. Stunning in the early morning sunshine.

The cup I am sharing today I bought last week while in Baltimore. (Yep, I was home for less than 48 hours and then needed to drive to Baltimore...). The best most enjoyable part of this quick trip was stopping by two antique shops. And this cup was waiting for me at one of them.

This cup was my surprise! It has an uncanny similarity to the cups that were on display at Versailles as having been used by Marie Antoinette herself! The reproductions that were available at the shoppe were very expensive, as in $200-500! I did not bring one of those home, although I really wished I could! Instead, waiting for me in this antique shop was this cup above, with the similar cup shape, and boughs of roses! I was delighted to find it.

This cup is from Marie's traveling case (above). And one of the cups they reproduced. There were several styles to choose from and this was the only one I could find an image for.

O.k.... maybe it is not that similar...but it is close enough for me. Lol!

*sigh*

I am in love with the colors and the flowers!

There are only a few little marks on the cup.

And these two gold lines plus an imprinted 1 and a three digit number beginning with 6.
I have been looking for information online as to how to figure out where or when a cup was made when it doesn't have a name or backstamp on it.

Below is a sample of things I brought home from Paris that I am giving away next French Friday. I haven't finished putting it together yet, so this is a little sneak preview.

I am thrilled that you stopped by for Tea Cup Tuesday. Martha at Martha's Favorites and I really enjoy hosting this day of ooogling other's gorgeous china! If you have a tea cup you would like to share with us, create your post and then sign up below by filling in the two blanks. We would love to come over and visit you as well.

Hugs,
Terri

French Friday-Paris Flea Market

Welcome once again to French Friday!!!
During my stay in Paris I visited the top three flea markets. The first one I have already shown you in a previous post. That one was marvelous, but pricey. The one I am showing you today was the last one I went to and it turned out to be my favorite. We traveled on the subway to Porte de Vanves, line 13 to the Puces de Vanves (Puces, meaning "fleas"). This market is not near as huge as the the one at Cligancourt (which has 2,500 stalls), and the prices were better to begin with and negotiating a lower price was more easily accomplished. It ended up not taking that long to get used to bargaining with someone who speaks French! I found the vendors friendly for the most part.

There were about 300 stalls (I am guessing here). I was so excited when I arrived to see so many items I hoped to find. There were post cards galore, sewing notions, lace, material, buttons, millinery.....

ribbons, buttons, gloves, shoes...

paper ephemera, books, boxes....

napkins, tablecloths

All kinds of china, glass, photos, dolls...

textiles

perfume bottles

Boxes of vintage fabric samples....

This was the best stall of all, all kinds of millinery, fabric, ribbons, buttons, boxes....I was so excited to see it all, until I saw that one card of buttons with the word "Paris" on it was 30 Euro!!! I didn't think I could bargain it down enough for me, but they were the most gorgeous button cards!

The back display case was full of labels for bottles and perfume. They were quite pricey as well. But I did manage to bring home a few.

What a lovely vintage dress form!

more and more goodies

One thing we noticed in Paris was that many people smoke. Especially the young people.

Little boxes to poke around in...

And, of course, across the street was a pastry shop! One can't help but slow down and drool over the magnificent creations in the windows!

So, I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my favorite flea market. When I go back to Paris I will make a beeline for this one again. I am home now, and absolutely thrilled that we were able to visit such a fascinating city. We miss the smell of buttery bread baking....all the flower stalls, and the cobble stone streets.

This week I begin my giveaway! I am putting together a little package of French ephemera, along with some vintage post cards, a little lace, and some bits and bobs. I will post a photo soon, but go ahead and leave a comment and you will be entered in. The giveaway will take place next Friday. So you have all week to comment.

Hugs,
Terri

Tea Cup Tuesday from Home!

Hello All.
I am home today and excited to share my new Marie Antoinette tea mugs with you. Why tea mugs you say? I did look and look for for a special tea cup to bring home. I ended up with these two that I bought at the Petite Trianon gift shop at Versailles. They are patterned after china of Marie's. They did have replicas that were tea cups, but they were 120 Euros and up.
So, I decided to bring these two lovely ones home.

I think they are adorable. They are new, of course, and made in France. I love the little delicate spray of flowers around the top. Next week I will be back with vintage cups to share with you. The books and postcards in the photo are vintage and from my trip to Paris. I did finally purchase a number of really nice things at some flea markets. This Friday I will be sharing about my favorite flea market and some of the treasures I found there.

I have also made some Blueberry muffins this morning to have with my tea. I drizzled a little lemon sugar frosting on them for extra yumness. These are gluten free muffins, and they are delicious!

I will also be starting my first giveaway for French Friday...so come by for a visit to see what I am gifting to some lucky winner!

Thank you all for your posts while I was away in Paris. I loved reading your comments! Our trip went very well and we truly enjoyed everyday there. We will miss the smell of buttery bread baking...cobblestone streets....old buildings....walking by the Seine....cafes....
Oh well, I will have to wait for French Fridays to relive it as I share more photos with you.

If you want to join us in Tea Cup Tuesday, all you need to do is fill in the two blanks below and we can come see you and your lovely china.
Martha and I love hosting this festivity. We so much enjoy visiting all of you. Make sure you stop by Martha's lovely blog as well.
Hugs to you all,
Terri