" THE SCENT OF ROSES "

" There should be beds of Roses.

banks of Roses, bowers of Roses,

hedges of Roses, edgings of Roses,

pillars of Roses, arches of Roses,

fountains of Roses, baskets of Roses,

vistas and alleys of Roses."

It's so delightful to participate in the " Tea Time Tuesday " Birthday festivities with Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage ... especially since the theme is " Roses " ... How excited I am to share three of my childhood teatime treasures with you today.... beginning with my beautiful " Black Beauty " teapot and coffee pot from Germany( above).

I've been collecting this particular set since early childhood .It has a black matte finish with a single hand painted pink rose contrasted with gleaming gold trims. Perhaps rose painted teapots should be filled with rose tea.

Oh yes..Let's make a pot of Garden Fairy Rose tea ... but sh-h-h-h don't tell the fairies that I'm sharing their recipe with you ... So .... how do Garden fairies make rose tea ?

It's easy .... A freshly made tea of dried rose petals is a pleasant cooling drink on warm summer days.... All you have to do is collect petals to be dried before the blossom unfolds.Use 2 heaping teaspoons per cup of boiling water and sip away on your day dreams !!!

I have included some rose pictures that I snapped at the Samurai Gardens in Japan ... Hubby and I took five hundred plus photos of roses... Can You imagine !!!! ha ha .. I quess we love roses.

..This is the teacup and saucer that spurred my love of collecting teacups ... brought all the way from Scotland . It belonged to my grandmother Susanna Mitchell, and was passed onto my mother as a wedding gift when she travelled to Canada as a War Bride. A few delicate pieces were damaged and broken on the overseas journey in the convoy ship ... but I feel thankful that five cups and saucers, a large cream and sugar and eight dainty side dishes survived ... I call them my five graces.. after my eighty year old mother, "Grace, who serviced in both the British and Canadian Airforce during the second world war.

It's a precocious little number that demands attention ... because of the bold contrast of the red,white and black . If china could talk ... oh my goodness what stories it would tell me ( ha ha) . I love it !

The markings are small and I'm supposing that it's called " Old Royal" as you can see there is not alot of information on the back.

The pottery is a very fine, light porcelain that is delightful to touch and drink from.

Here I am sneaking in another gorgeous old world rose from the Samurai Gardens in Japan. This delicate blossom possessed such an intoxicating scent that I couldn't stop inhaling ... It was truly euphoric !!!!
Another pretty cup that I bought on ebay is this old chintz pattern, Rosalynde made by James Kent Ltd, in England.,circa 1920+. It bears my namesake , only an older medieval spelling. The name, Rosalynde, Roslin, Roslind, means " surrounded by roses ". I do believe it is the perfect pattern for the " Rose Chintz Cottage" Birthday party... Don't You !!!

See how prettily the cup sits within the fluted saucer, just like a nosegay of flowers on the table.
Chintz is a highly collectible item, most often purchased by dedicated collectors. The pieces are usually marked on the bottom with the manufacturer and pattern names.

One set is marked with the number one and the other a number seven ... I'm not sure what these marking symbolize ... possibly the run or colour code.

The cup and sauces vary in shape, size and design. You can see that one is a little bigger than the other... Which one do you like best?

I'm a bit of a curious cat and started to wondered why we all have this widespread fascination with 'roses' !!!! ... So I read up on it with Carl G. Jung's book " Man and His Symbols ". According to the learned doctor, the circle created by the roses petals is symbolic of " Self " .

No doubt you have noticed the variety of abstract circle figures in Zen paintings and abstract mandalas that appear in a lot of European artworks ... A splendid example are the rose windows of cathedrals. ... The Roses are apparently representations of the " Self" of man transposed onto a cosmic plane .... Hmmmm .... those are pretty deep rose petals ...Today, I think I'll stick to simple gardening .( Ha Ha)

My last little beauty is a Royal Albert cup and saucer .. again, there is no name on the bottom. Due to her dramatic appearance... I called this tea set" The Diva".

She's a hoity toity little lady that I'd love to sip from, after the opera... perhaps 'Der Rosenkavalier' ( The Rose bearer or Cavalier of the Rose ). I think that the saucer is prettier than the cup with all the outer frilling ...Tra-La-La-La-La ...It really does have a musical edge!!!

There are hundreds of tea sipping songs that come to mind... My Wild Irish Rose, The Last Rose of Summer, Paper Roses, Rose Marie, I Never Promised you a Rose Garden, to name a few... So what tune do you hum or sing while brewing your morning tea?

Lately , I've busy mixing and creating new teatime adventures .... and noticed that, teas composed of garden grown herbs and flowers are gaining popularity . Notably, they soothe without sedating and refresh without the nerve jangling effects of drinks with caffeine.

A little experimental brewing and sipping in life is always fun . Can you imagine a special blend or two of your own making. How fabulous would your own teatime brew be !!!! ....

2012 has brought the explorer out in me . I have a a huge desire to move in new directions and that includes making my own tea ( Ha Ha) Would you care to join me ?

Goodness enough partying Ladies ... It's time for me to read your blogs, I can hardly wait ... Sandi, Thank You for sharing your enlightening visions of "Tea Time Tuesday " Anniversary with us all ... " She who must have beautiful roses in her garden must have beautiful roses in her heart"... Big Hugs to you.

I leave you now with a few rose facts to ponder .... Did you know that no two roses smell exactly alike... Did you know that roses love garlic ... Did you know that Cleopatra entertained Anthony in knee- deep roses ... Did you know that one hundred and fifty people can be seated under the world's largest rose tree, sipping their tea .

Did you know that I'm wishing you all a " ROSY day !!!!