If our tea cups could talk,

   they’d have a story to tell...​

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My sweet grandmother Rose was born in Nova Scotia. Canadians tend to enjoy their tea as a way to take a little time-out to sit, relax, and simply be. I was a little girl around 5 years old when my Nana Rose first introduced me to the “Art of Taking Tea”. I was always enamored by her vast array of gorgeous gold rimmed floral bone china teacups from England that she displayed on shelves in her dining room. My favorite memory and experience having tea with her was always when she allowed me to choose one of her coveted collection to enjoy my cup of tea. Choosing the perfect cup could be quite challenging as a child, so she would inevitably say, “How about this one?” Each time she made me a hot cup of Red Rose tea, I felt special.

 

For years my Nana would carry on the art of taking tea in one of her beautiful bone china teacups. My siblings and I carry treasured memories of sitting with our grandmother and chatting over tea in a fancy cup! Upon my grandmother’s passing, my sisters and I inherited her entire collection of those cherished teacups allowing us decades later to continue the tea tradition with our own children, nieces, nephews, and now grandchildren. 

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My sweet Nana Rose’s teacups have yet another story to tell...

 

Going back to my husband Matt’s first deployment overseas with the Army in 2005-2006, friends and neighbors frequently stopped by for a cup of tea while checking in on me and our four young children. I loved having the opportunity to dig out some of those beautiful old teacups. We would sit for hours chatting over countless cups of tea. My British friend, Alison, would offer to entertain us by reading the leftover leaves in our teacups and the laughter indeed perfect medicine for the soul.

 

One day back in 2009 when my dear friends Alison and Sharon and I were sitting around my table thinking about  a way to help my husband Matt raise money for a 9k run to support wounded veterans at Home Base in Boston, we came up with an idea. The three of us decided we would host a tea party on the front lawn and call it a “Tea for the Troops”.  Having honed our tea making skills over time, we were excited and set out on our mission to create a casual tea party as a way to raise funds for the casualties of war. 

 

We designed a handmade flier to announce the event and made several copies and tied each one with a yellow ribbon. The children went around hand delivering our invitations as we shared the invite with others by word of mouth. Together we came up with a few ways to raise some money at the tea party.  We collected a variety of items from local shops to make gift baskets for a raffle. Sharon’s very talented artistic daughter Maggie hand painted and framed a beautiful patriotic themed scene to raffle. My neighbor Lisa, also artistically gifted, had donated a few handmade pieces of jewelry and an assorted  watercolor illustrations of teacups. Alison offered to read tea leaves for a small fee and fun. In addition, she had planted colorful flowers in tiny clay pots as items to sell. I passed on many of grandmother’s priceless teacups to our guests as a thank you for coming, their kind donations, and as a little keepsake.

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When the guest arrived, they were greeted by the big golden yellow London teapot from Alison and a tiny sign that read “Donations”. We placed another note saying  “Thank you for joining us” and a little book for all to sign. Small café tables and chairs from around my house along with all my wicker furniture had been set up for places to sit while our guests were served tea. We carried my old farm table outdoors and served a selection of savories and sweets along with Maggie’s decadent chocolate covered strawberries. Floral quilts were used as the tablecloths and vases of fresh flowers use to spruce up the tables. Though we may be biased, we felt our tea party looked lovely and inviting.

 

At the end of the afternoon, Alison had the honor of counting all the offerings placed inside our golden teapot. Surpassing all of our expectations , we had raised over $1,000 hosting what would become the 1st Annual Tea for the Troops.