"AUTUMN LEAVES"

"The  falling  leaves drift by my window...The Autumn leaves of red and gold." Do you remember  Nat King Cole, singing this beautiful song.... Well, today, I am smitten by it's lyrics and music.

( Hum Hum )

It's midday and the sun seems to have that dusty glow of crimson breath mingling with a soft veil of sunlight .

While gazing through the window, I'm reminded of that age old ritual of taking midday tea. Won't you join me?

I hope I'm not too late to join Sandi's  Autumn Teatime  Celebrations. I'm akin to Alice's, White rabbit, who's late , who's late  for a most enjoyable date.

 However I don't look quite that bad( Ha Ha) ..Yes, I admit to getting up late, leaving on my pyjamas and eating cupcakes for breakfast... It's such a relaxing day !!!

I've even chosen a trio of  lovely vintage transfer ware , a setting for three, so you see I was expecting company.

Oh dear, there are only two cupcakes left( Hee Hee) ... I  do love to share though ... They're scrumptious little cakes that mother bought at the local market.,, bit  sized cuties, with an abundant amount of icing...Scrumptious !!!!

The teasets were purchased in British Columbia, Canada, ten years ago in a Langley antique shop appropriately called Victoria's. She carried  a lot of old world china and furniture that always sparked my imagination. I was alway meandering through her store and could have easily become a fixture.   This vintage set , Royal Staffordshire, created by A.J. Wilkinson Ltd., dazzled me with it's odd, or should I say unusual rectangular plate shapes.

I found very little actual information on the company except that it was a pottery or pot bank at Newport in Burslem, England, owned by the Shorter family. A sprawling complex of bottle ovens, kilns and production shops, that  employed 400 manual workers and produced earthenware. In 1885 Arthur  A.Wilkinson took over introducing gold lustreware on graniteware to America. In 1896, he took over the Royal Staffordshire Pottery in Burslem, which carries the illustrious Stafforshire legacy of fine pottery and china.

My acquired settings, included four  cups,saucers and sandwich plates with the traditional rural scenes that were so popular in the late eighteen hundreds.

Each china piece displays it own vivid depiction of  life on the farm, complete with a hay wagon. The  scenes and  plate shapes are quite beautifully formed with deep indentations for holding, a generous amount of  tea sandwiches  and dainties.  I seldom buy china in the brown tones, but these were of such exquisite form that I dubbed them " Mine ", at twenty-five dollars  for a twelve piece set. ..A very good deal, indeed !!!! 

The sturdy little cups endear the simple life and daily routines of  milking cows and  collecting eggs  in a rather  medieval drawing that warms the heart and transport you ," way over yonder" to another time and place. However , I would say that life was much harder and busier in those idealistic scenes, than we could ever imagine. We're such romantics !!!!

My favourite is the saucer, with it's charming  homestead scene . The traditional rakes, shovels and sickles are so cleverly laced around the rim, with herbs, vines and fruits, which definitely  enhance the beauty of this wonderful old china.  In essence, the dishes are storytellers, time travellers that awaken our minds to an ancient memory somewhere in time.

I do love transfer ware and wonder ... IF, these teacups could talk, what stories they would tell !!!

Here's a close-up of the saucer. I wouldn't mind a lovely old house  with a babbling brook, stepping stones and a few cows... On second thought, I do have an old 125 year old house. Maybe we'll forget about the cows and skipping over the stones to walk 5 miles miles to the market. 

Thankfully, in this day and age, we can put our work aside for awhile, to enjoy  the pleasantries of an  Autumn Tea Time with Friends.

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We can enjoy the season with it's musty scents and  artful colours that are drench in the cool, autumn rain.  Fall invigorates me .... even makes me tingle. Maybe that's why, I  seem to drink more tea during the Fall season.

I'm  saying good-bye to my garden, but secretly revelling, in the yellow, green and golds that filter though my mind, as the the seasonal " Gallardia" springs forth . The garden colours seem to refresh  my tea cup with a sense of life's cycle and  the journey ahead. 

For me, it is new life, as my sixth grandchild and fifth grandson will be born. YES ....  Autumn vibrates with a glorious ' sleep' for the garden and a new awakening for my heart. 

What does Autumn mean to you?

TODAY ... I celebrate and share  the Autumn of my life with friends...young and old teatottlers, who can sleep in and wear their pyjamas till noon...maybe later!!!

  Thanks for sharing a few sips with me . Have a Happy and relaxing tea today.

"The autumn Leaves drift by my window

The autumn leaves of red and gold."

Sung By: Nat King Cole

Lyrics: Johnny Mercer

Music: Joseph Kosmo

1960's

Today I am sharing teatime with:

Sandi at: Rose Chintz Cottage... /Tea Time Tuesday/www.sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.ca

Ruth at: Tuesday Cuppa Tea/ www.antiques&teacups.blogspot.ca

Kathy at : A Delightsome Life//blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com

Terri at: Tea Cup Tuesday/www.artfulaffirmations.blogspot.ca

Bernideen At: Tea in the Garden/www.bernideenstimeblog.blogspot.ca