Edenbrooke Book Club Tea Party

Tea Parties and book clubs (I belong to three) ... are two of my favorite things, and clearly I can not get enough of either ... Tea parties I have held ...

Jane Austen Birthday Tea for the Jane Austen Society of Utah

Witches Tea Party

Mad Hatter's out of doors Tea Party

Downton Abbey Tea Party and Geneva Heights Eighth Ward Reunion

Private Tea to celebrate Price William's Wedding with my friend Stacy (No Prince William did not actually marry Stacy, but I'm not sure she would have minded if he had.

Grandchildren's Tea Party

... and a few misc assorted, non themed tea parties ...

 So for this tea party, our first to arrive is our own glamorous Shanna, our book club leader.  

She was later joined by Ginny and Lori ... yes our book club is very intimate in size, and two other regular attendees, sadly had conflicts. Missed you Lindsey and Alison!

 Above is our tea table, and to the right is out toast station, including marmalade, clotted cream and lemon curd ... yum.

Eating cold toast, Brit style is just different ... but delicious with the accouterments.

Of course cucumbers sandwiches are a must for any tea menu.  I have always made them with just butter and cucumber, with maybe a tiny slice of red onion, like the ones I was served at a tea house in Brighton, UK ...

This time, however, I found a recipe on line for Lemon Dill Cucumber Sandwiches, that I am in love with.  You can find the recipe here.

We read Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson, and we all loved it, except for Lori, who had to read it a second time to fall in love with it ... so really how much could she have disliked it, if she read it again?  Yes, this book is very Austenish ... which I love, her next book, which three of us have already read, Blackmoore is definitely written by Donaldson as a Bronte soul sister ...

 .. and during the discussion of the book, if a question arises ... the total wealth of human knowledge is just one pink ipad away!!

You all come back now, hear?

Laurie's Frenchy Decor!

 One of the very nicest things about being an antique dealer is meeting kindred spirits ... Laurie has been a long time customer at the mall, I have always liked her, and love the things she buys.  Isn't this just the prettiest dresser ever??!!

Laurie has even become a dealer at Treasures Antiques ...  Our common friend Patti has been telling me forever what a marvel Laurie's house is ... so I was head over heals when she invited me to lunch!!

Its so fun to see things she has bought from me over the years ...

 She bought this sweet doll at the flea.o.logy at Olson's Garden Shoppe in January.  She used to sit in my parlor ... its so fun to see her new home.

 She bought this sweet French kidney shaped desk from me last year.

 She bought this dresser as a rather mundane piece and gave it all this personality.  (Please ignore the lady in the mirror, oops).

 and this French typography table is another of her purchases from my booth!

 ... and the food was just as lovely as the decor ... thanks for the delightful lunch and conversation.  What a talented lady.

The Miraculous Stair Case in Santa Fe New Mexico

I had an amazing time in Texas, in fact I think I might have come home an honorary Texan ... With a two day trip home, we decided to stop in Santa Fe, New Mexico to see the miraculous stair case.  The stair case is found at the Loretto Chapel there, and is part of the first Gothic church built west of the Mississippi River. 

Here is my husband in front of the chapel, which was built for a small Catholic boarding school in the 1870's.  The chapel was based on a plan by a French architect, but though it had a charming choir loft, the plans had omitted a stair case to reach it ...

 Several years after the chapel was built, and after having had several local carpenters come by to see if they could solve the problem, the staircase remained a dream.

Then the sisters had a special prayer event, where they prayed to St. Joseph, patron saint of carpenters, not being Catholic, I don't recall what they called this period of prayers, but it was several days long, and toward the end a carpenter stopped by, with his donkey, and offered to build a staircase.  He worked on the the stair case for three months, and then packed up and left without asking for payment, or even reimbursement for materials.

Over the years, many builders and architects have looked at the stair case, and have been unable to understand its construction.  It appears to lack any support structure, and yet it stood daily use for over a hundred years.

The wood was also unusual.  Experts in wood grain have studied it, and have found that it is closest in grain to a pine found in Alaska ... but its not a match.  

 The chapel has other lovely, antique features, and we enjoyed our time there.

 The stained glass windows were beautiful.

 But it was the miraculous stair case that left us in awe ...

It was so fun to see it in person, after having heard about it for years.  What a lovely way to break up our long trip home.