Let's Have A Jane Austen Tea and Parlor Party!

Or maybe a weekend retreat?

This coming July will mark the 200th year of Jane Austen's Death. Jane Austen has brought so much wit, humor and just plain good reading to us, we are so thankful for her life!    So, why not consider throwing a Jane Austen Themed Tea and Parlor Party?  I am beginning to make plans for mine, which means gathering up items over time that might come into play.   

Tea cup and tier cookie platter on clearance aisle at Ross.  Tea pot from Amazon.

I love tea accessories.  I love to have tea parties, but must admit that I haven't them as often as I should.   I am always trying to find frugal ways to decorate and to have themed parties.  I am slowly building up my Jane Austen themed party items.  I go to discount stores and always scour  the clearance aisles,  and of course the thrift stores are always great places to find inexpensive items.  I do not want you to think that I spend extravagant amounts of money on these items.   I am really just a poor relation from "Cheapside".  ;-)  I want  to encourage you to be frugal too.  So, I will try to let you know where I get my items (extremely discounted) so you can check these places out as well.   If you are belong to a  one income family like mine, your bread winner will love you for this.  

Cake stand for my cookies, borrowed from my daughter in law, who said she bought it for $5!

After a delightful time of tea, it might be refreshing to have a few activities .    How about playing this wonderful card game:  Marrying Mr. Darcy?  This darling game came to me by way of my very sweet niece , Sarah.  Thank you Sarah, you can see it will be put to GOOD use!

Another activity could be some relaxing coloring time from the  Pride and Prejudice coloring book!

It is always so much fun to have an envelope making session for some good Jane Austen themed letter writing.  Be sure to take advantage of deep discounts at crafting stores when they put their scrapbooking paper half off or more.  Try to make it your motto "Never Pay Full Price"!  It could even turn into a letter writing social!  Have your like minded friends bring a stash of fun things to share, and perhaps making an entire afternoon of it.  Who knows....it might even morph into a Jane Austen weekend retreat!  Now that would be quite felicitous, would it not?  

What about you?  Do you have some ideas that you could share perhaps about  a Jane Austen themed party?

Write Letter,

Write often!

Lady Pamela

The Art Of Keeping Warm

The Art of Keeping Warm, Literary--ily Speaking!

The east coast, and possibly much of the country is under a storm warning...we may get up to 8 inches of snow.  I know, I know...you folks in the north and midwest are crying out at a mere 8 inches.   However, Richmond IS the gateway to the SOUTH!  It shouldn't be that cold here!  So it is time to break out the socks!  And not ANY socks will do... especially when these gorgeous Jane Austen quotation socks are available!

I had to grab my "Emma" from my 16 year old son's room.  Yes you heard that correctly, my 16 year old son is taking British literature and was assigned to read Emma last semester.  He was nearly finished with the book when we decided to watch the  1996 Gwyneth Paltrow movie together.  He absolutely loved it, and it cleared up some of the nuances  of language that he wasn't quite getting by reading.  Actually, I didn't know he laid hold of  my favorite edition....the edges are curled a bit, but that is a SMALL price to pay to have a 16 year old boy read Austen!  

The Jane Austen Quote on the sock reads:  "I declare after all there is no enjoyment like 

reading." Jane Austen  

I couldn't agree more!

Teavana White Chocolate Peppermint Tea (to die for, delicious!)

After taking this picture....I had to grab a mug and fill it to the brim to warm my hands.  That is the down side to living in a 100 year old Virginian farm house.  So grab your socks, hot beverage, a favorite Jane Austen Book and hunker down...that's the art of staying warm!

Stay warm!

Write Letters 

Write Often,

Lady Pamela

Tea With Jane...and Listing!

Listers Gotta List...Even Janeites!

How is everyone today?  I have my spot of tea...and as you can see I have already dribbled a few drops on this lovely book cover.  Don't you just love the "look" of this book?  It is a handy  quick reference to just about everything "Austen"!

It is particularly helpful in the listing of all her family members during  her lifetime.  I love to read her letters, and as she mentions names of her family, this is a great resource to have at my side to keep it all straight.

Actually it is an overall handy resource to have when reading her novels, or her biography.  It helps to keep all the facts compiled in a nice neat place.

Do you want to know...

What she wore?

What flowers grew in her garden?

What books she owned?

How she spent her day at Chawton?

And so many more!  I absolutely love this book!  

Have a lovely day,

Lady Pamela

The Traveling Tea Party

 Tea Parties that Travel...

It was time to load up the basket and pack up the tea items.  I also had delicate bone china tea cups and fragile glass wear that had to be carefully packed.  I haven't "done" a traveling tea party in quite some time but it was time to resurrect the practice.

Doilies, Pepperidge Farm cookies, Socialbles, Carter's water crackers, Bluelost berry scones, and so much more!

Since this tea party had a decidedly British theme...I selected my David Copperfield Tea Pot.  I received this tea pot from my daughter when she visited London.

If you are confused about this post, please see the last post, Tea Fit For A Queen  It will explain all about this wonderful tea to commemorate Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday.

I had to whip up some blueberry scones.  They were delicious! recipe

We got everything packed and then off we went to Jane's sweet apartment to set up the tea.

Thanks to Lady Anna I had most everything I needed to have a authentic British Tea Party!

I just love this sweet little tea cup and saucer that was included in my "Tea Party in a box".

More deliciousness!

We served yummy chicken salad on croissants  along with assorted sweets, and cucumber slices on crackers (garlic herb cream cheese with parsley spread).  The  white tea we served was Teavanna's  Pineapple, Raspberry Luau.  It was delicious!

We tried  to carry out the Union Jack theme colors of red, white and blue.  I asked everyone including myself to dress accordingly.  Thankfully,I had 3 red hats!  We also donned red, white and blue feathered boas... and why not?  It was a lovely time.  I believe we "did  up" a proper British Birthday Tea for Queen Elizabeth II, she would have been proud to have been there herself.   Thank you again, Lady Anna, for the amazing food and supplies to make it happen!

Write Letters,

Write Often,

Lady Pamela

Tea Fit For A Queen!

Tea Party In A Box!

Look what arrived in my absence !!!  A charming parcel from the ROYAL MAIL!

It  arrived while I was in the Blue Ridge Mountains...working as a camp counselor for teens!  What a lovely time I had...more about that later at my blog:  Lost Art Revived.

Oh my!  A quick glimpse, and yes,  it is from Lady Anna M of Herefortshire , UK and the blogger of Billetdoux & Little Mercuires  but I was not truly prepared for what awaited me !

I have been summoned to tea with the QUEEN!  Yes, this is a  "tea party in a box" to commemorate Queen Elizabeth's  II 90th birthday!  This is sheer delight!

The invitation is beautiful and befitting for a Queen's birthday...

and very British!  :-)  A tea towel from Buckingham Palace...another delicate towel, with splendid design...  Union Jacks everywhere, biscuits (cookies)....Oh it so reminds me of my visit to Buckingham Palace   a few years back!

Here is a tour of the contents of my "tea party in a box".  It was all wrapped so elegantly and fetchingly done.   I begin with the tea for two.

Look at this darling shortbread cookie. with a nutella sample.  LOVE <3

What could this darling be?

Ahh...yes.  Cubed sugar for our tea...of course!

To balance the sweet, we must have some savory on the menu!

And if all of this wasn't enough...the party box also included a delightful bunting to hang on the table, as pictured above.  

I believe this is ALL that was in this very small box...how did it all fit?  Is she a magician?  Again, it was and is  all loveliness!

Have I had my tea party yet?  No .  I am beginning to make my preparations, securing the location, considering who to invite...oh it will be grand.  And of course, that will be another post!  

Thank you from the depths of my heart, Lady Anna.  What a thrill to receive one of your "Tea Party in a Box" parcels.  It all arrived in perfect condition, and will be enjoyed thoroughly!

Let's Go British!

Send parcels across the pond!

And of course, 

Write Letters,

Write Often,

Lady Pamela

Jane Austen Flip Book, for Lady Alyssa

Jane Austen Flip Book?  Why Yes!

I wanted to try making a few flip books on the Austen Theme,  Lady Alyssa spoiled me with her crocheted  letter pouch and I wanted to reciprocate with something special.

Here the flip book is opened. This is a piece of pink card stock paper that is cut and then folded into thirds.  I made it the dimensions of my journal cards that serve as the "pages".  They are taped into place using strips of washi tape.  I also have a Jane Austen Quote tag card taped in.

Hi, dear friend!  This, as you see is a journal card.

The goodies...  The page that has the polkadot bag with the feather, is also on a journal card.

This is the "Tea Time" page...

And the letter.

I used one of these cello bags to hold the letter, it worked out nicely.  So that is the flip book with a few Jane Austen touches.  I enjoyed putting it together so much that I plan on making a few more!

If you make some, send me a picture, and I will happily post it here to share with others!

Write letters,

Write Often!

Lady Pamela

Jane Austen Letter Writing Society Pen Friend Meet Up!

Do You Love A Good Tea Room?

We were DETERMINED to find a tea room that would take a last minute reservation.  The local tea room in my community was booked.  The prospects were bleak...but a quick call to The Eclectic Cottage Tea Room, netted results.  And that is just what two members of the Jane Austen Letter Writing Society needed at this Pen Friend meet up!

Each table had a different decor.  If we sat at this table, perhaps we would have typed up a letter or two while waiting for the high tea.

Perhaps this table is reserved for the "Red Hat Society" tea .  

Oh, bring it on.  I love fru fru....the more the better.  I also just love pink.

The tea fare was rather nice.   We had a nice chat as we enjoyed the delicacies.

We had an on looker....Audrey thought it was breakfast time....

It was a delightful pen friend meet up.  Sheryl is from Massachusetts,  and I live in central Virginia, so this does not happen often.  But if the distance didn't exist then perhaps we would have never been  pen friends all these years.  What about you?  Have you ever had a pen friend meet up?

Write Letters

Write Often!

Lady Pamela

Tea With Jane...And A New Book...

Tea Time With Jane Austen

Today I had tea with  Jane... literally!  How did she know that I had out my beautiful pink Adderly Lawley England tea cup and saucer?  She matched perfectly!

She looked at the fare and approved.

I had a "new" book at my side while sipping on my tea by the title, Jane by Jean Gould.  I've had this one my shelf for quite some time and just have never taken the time to read it.  It is a juvenile biography of Miss Jane Austen, from her childhood on.  When reading the book, it is quickly quite evident that the author had done her research!

And my!  I happen to own a "first edition"!

The illustrations are lovely.

Have you read any good Jane Austen books lately?  My tea time was lovely, I hope yours was as  well.  Now off to write a letter.  

Clinking my tea cup to you,

Lady Pamela