Royal Kent Teacup and Cottage Book for Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Hello and welcome to Tuesday Cuppa Tea! So glad you've come to visit! Pull up a chair and enjoy a cup of tea and a scone. I am joining the blogs listed ar the bottom of the post. If you would like to link up...the linky is there too!

Okay you floral folks...what kind of flowers are on this pretty Royal Kent, England bone china cup and saucer? I can't decide if they are some sort of wild rose, but the leaves are not notched. If not, any suggestions? The pattern isn't named, and I couldn't find the name. The teacup was made in the 1960s and is such an elegant design. I found it at an estate sale recently and loved it! For more info on the teacup at Antiques And Teacups, click on the photos.


We have had an interesting week...everything from deliciously warm to downpours and hail. And I know SOME of you are thinking...well, it's the Pacific Northwest, isn't it??? Yeah, I know, but it's been strange! On the more unmanageable days I dug out some books I got at a book sale recently. This is one of my favorites. The book is called Cottage, English Country Style by Elizabeth Hilliard with photographs by John Miller, a hardback published in 1994 by Bullfinch Press, New York

The cover/dust jacket is glossy and difficult to photograph with a lighted lamp on the table.

Besides the lovely color photos there is a great commentary which I enjoyed. I do love good books, don't you? Perfect for an afternoon break with that cuppa and a good book in a comfortable chair.


I hope you enjoy the blogs below...they'd love to meet you too!

Common Ground ~ http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com

Monday Marketplace

Terri~  http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday

Trisha~  http://sweetology101.blogspot.com/ 
Tea Party Tuesday

Sandi  ~  http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com

Teatime Tuesday

Kathy~  http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com
Victoria - A Return to Loveliness

Martha~  http://www.marthasfavorites.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday 

Ruth  ~ http://timewasantiquesfamily.blogspot.com

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Angela  http://teawithfriends.blogspot.com/

Tea With Friends

Miss Kathy ~ http://thewritersreverie.blogspot.com/

Celia ~ http://attitudeivlife.blogspot.com/  Afternoon Tea

Wanda Lee ~ http://theplumedpen.blogspot.com/

 Tuesday Teatime 

Bernideen’s ~ http://bernideensteatimeblog.blogspot.com/

Friends Sharing Tea Wednesday

Ivy And Elephants ~http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/

What’s It Wednesday

Here's the linky to link with Tuesday Cuppa Tea!

First Anniversary for the Duke And Duchess of Cambridge, William and Catherine

I am joining...albeit a bit late...Pink Saturday with How Sweet the Sound.

Do you remember when Prince William and Catherine were engaged in Nov. 2010? Engagement and wedding mugs available at Antiques And Teacups.

Then the wedding on April 29, 2011

And their first anniversary is Sunday, April 26th. So I got out the Ahmad Royal Wedding Tea my family sent me from England for the Royal Wedding and have been having it the last few days in honour of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Happy Anniversary!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Tuesday Cuppa Tea Happy Birthday Shakespeare!

Welcome to Tuesday Cuppa Tea!  I am joining the other blogs listed at the bottom of the post. The linky is there too, so you can join in!

Please join me in wishing William Shakespeare Happy 448th Birthday on April 23!  Amazing! The most read, memorized, published and produced playwright in history! Now that's someone to celebrate! There are yearly celebrations with parades, special presentations and picnics, but this year will be bigger as it joins with Festival 2012 which has been joined with Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Here is a website with all the festivities:
Shakespeare's birthday celebration 2012

In honour of Shakespeare's birthday I have a Shakespeare's Country blue ironstone transferware cup and saucer by Ridgway, England from the 1950s.

The design includes Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried and his swwetheart Anne Hathaway's cottage which is just a bit along the river Avon in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

That is quintessential Stratford. We have to pass through Stratford each time we go to the various family homes in the Midlands. Stratford is at the top of the Cotswolds. We could go the motorway route, but it is too stressy  for us as well as missing all the gorgeous villages on the way up from London. Yes...it takes a lot longer, but we usually make the trip in 2-3 days using only A and B roads and avoiding the motorways, stopping at favorite places, like Lower Slaughter. 

The one thing that we don't like, is the A422, I think, has to go through the center of Stratford and crosses a humpback bridge that is a real bottleneck. We try to avoid going through on weekends when Stratford is packed.

This is the Queen's Head pub in Stratford where we have stopped for lunch.

This is the Royal Shakespeare Theater in Stratford which is a wonderful year round venue. We have seen Judi Dench and other famous actors at work here. The tour is fun too!

I thought this sign was fun, and certainly shows you the options. All the major Shakespeare sites are quite walkable.

Above is a favorite...Harvard House, the founder of Harvard University who emigrated to escape religious prosecution.

Just outside Stratford is the Bancroft Boat Basin on The Avon River where several canals cross the river. We love canals, and often stop here with a picnic lunch before heading through Stratford.

Here is Shakespeare's grave and monument in Holy Trinity Church.

And here is a decorative Leonardo teapot we have in the shop that is so cute! For more on the cup and saucer or teapot at Antiques And Teacups, click on the photos.

So... I raise a cup of Ty-Phoo...a Midlands tea, to William Shakespeare! Happy Birthday!

My honey's favorite...but then he's a midlands guy! Roots for Aston Villa!

Have a great day visiting the other blogs, and enjoy a cuppa tea for Will!

Common Ground ~ http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com

Monday Marketplace

Terri~  http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday

Trisha~  http://sweetology101.blogspot.com/ 
Tea Party Tuesday

Sandi  ~  http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com

Teatime Tuesday

Kathy~  http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com
Victoria - A Return to Loveliness

Martha~  http://www.marthasfavorites.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday 

Ruth  ~ http://timewasantiquesfamily.blogspot.com

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Bernideen’s ~ http://bernideensteatimeblog.blogspot.com/

Friends Sharing Tea Wednesday

Angela  http://teawithfriends.blogspot.com/

Tea With Friends

Miss Kathy ~ http://thewritersreverie.blogspot.com/

Celia ~ http://attitudeivlife.blogspot.com/  Afternoon Tea

Wanda Lee ~ http://theplumedpen.blogspot.ca Tuesday Teatime 

Ivy And Elephants ~http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/

What’s It Wednesday

Ruth ~ http://timewasantiquesfamily.blogspot.com/

Thursday Tea Things And Talk

Miss Spenser ~ http://missspensersblog.blogspot.com/

Teacup Thursday

Coloradolady  ~ http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/

Vintage Thingie Thursday

Teacup Thursday, Primroses Art Deco Teacup,Pink Tulips and Purple Crocus

Hello and welcome to a post that includes things for Thursday Tea Things And Talk with Time Was Antiques,  Teacup Thursday with Miss Spenser, Vintage Thingie Thursday with coloradolady and Pink Saturday with How Sweet The Sound.

The teacup today is one I have shared before, but I love it so thought it could bear repeating. The design is a spring one of yellow primroses with art deco design trees and a cobbled garden path. I just love the art deco design! The bone china teacup is, of course, from the 1930s and was made by Sampson Smith. So cute! Click the photos for more info at Antiques And Teacups. 

I know our area, the Pacific Northwest,  is behind most of the country. Our tulips are just coming in, as you can see here, and the crocuses are still blooming. The azaleas aren't any more than buds, and many areas of the country they have all finished already! But we love our color here...late as it is...and I just wanted to share some of our joy!

Tuesday Cuppa Tea, Royal Albert Old English Rose, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

Hello my lovelies and welcome to Tuesday Cuppa Tea! I am joining the other blogs in the list at the end of the post.

About a month ago we were driving a back road back into town and saw a sign for a moving sale and decided to stop. A woman was moving to Seattle to begin medical school and was selling items she didn't want to move with. I saw these dishes across the room and they were sold! I love Royal Albert, and this is a vintage (1930-1940's) Royal Albert Crown China patterned teacup trio or cup and saucer with matching plate called Old English Rose.  This is my favorite of 2 versions of the pattern, because of the wide sponged gold trim. The other has only a narrow sponged band. It is really gorgeous, isn't it? Perfect for a cuppa tea! Foe more info on the Royal Albert Old English Rose china at Antiques And Teacups, click on the photos.

For a bit of a change, I have a book report! I have just finished reading Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson.  I thought it utterly charming. The first novel by this author who is, thankfully, working on another.


The story involves an English army Major who served in India and lost his wife forging a wonderful relationship with an Oxford raised shopkeeper of Pakistani descent who is a widow. The relationship, born of a common love for books,  flowers despite prejudice, interfering and grasping relatives and a shyness on the Major's side and a social climbing son set in a small English village. A wonderful book! I just loved it!


I am joining the following blogs...hope you visit them and enjoy a warming cuppa tea with a friend or loved one!

Common Ground ~ http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com

Monday Marketplace

Terri~  http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday

Trisha~  http://sweetology101.blogspot.com/ 
Tea Party Tuesday

Sandi  ~  http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com

Teatime Tuesday

Kathy~  http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com
Victoria - A Return to Loveliness

Martha~  http://www.marthasfavorites.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday 

Ruth  ~ http://timewasantiquesfamily.blogspot.com

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Bernideen’s ~ http://bernideensteatimeblog.blogspot.com/

Friends Sharing Tea Wednesday

Angela  http://teawithfriends.blogspot.com/

Tea With Friends

Miss Kathy ~ http://thewritersreverie.blogspot.com/

Celia ~ http://attitudeivlife.blogspot.com/  Afternoon Tea

Wanda ~ http://theplumedpen.blogspot.ca Tuesday Teatime 

Ivy And Elephants ~http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/

What’s It Wednesday

Pink Saturday and Tea On The Titanic

The above photo is the last taken of the Titanic as she sailed from Cobh or Queenstown, Ireland in 1912 by Father S. M. Browne. Photo from source listed below.


I am joining Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday for Saturday April 14th, and Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage for Tea On The Titanic  on Sunday April 15th.

I looked to find a teacup dating to the Edwardian era, during the time that the Titanic was launched and sank and remembered this lovely Adderley, England floral chintz I shared a year ago.

Although this is the correct for 1912, the famous White Star Titanic sailed with custom designed china for first class passengers from the Royal Crown Derby pottery in England which have been reissued for the centennial.

Click on the teacup or teapot to go to the Royal Crown Derby press release about the reissue and what is available, or click this link: Royal Crown Derby Titanic China


Here is a link to the Royal Crown Derby blog with some interesting memorabilia of the original china order: Royal Crown Derby Blog


The teacup is 41 pounds sterling. Pricey. But for the White Star Line and Titanic, it was only the best.  There are so many wonderful blog posts around this week about Titanic, that have so many wonderful things. I thought I would just add a few personal things.

When we go to England on an antiquing trip, rather than fly we take a leisurely 13-16 day spring transatlantic cruise which ends us up in England, our ultimate destination via other ports. This was taken from the Brilliance Of The Seas when we docked at Cobh which is now a part of Cork, Ireland the main part of which is about 20 miles away. The town is part of the Titanic story, because it was the last port Titanic touched before heading out and ultimately colliding with the iceberg. The ship had left her birthplace, Belfast just a few days earlier.  Many of the 3rd class immigrant passengers had gotten on here. We were fascinated by the remnants of those days still found in thew picturesque little town.

This is the White Star Line headquarters in Cobh (pronounced Cove) about 4 blocks from where our ship was moored. The building is now a pub...notably named The Titanic...with some cases of memorabilia.

The little town hasn't changed much.

This is the Kennedy Park near the White Star offices, where many would have waited to board.


Cobh was called Queenstown when Titanic sailed from here in 1912, and the town has put together an interpretive and interactive exhibit called The Queenstown Experience that was wonderful. Thousands of Irish immigrants passed out of this port to try to find new lives during the potato famines and clearances. The exhibit, which is full of artifacts, life size recreations of onboard ship experiences and videos, newsreels and personal photo and memorabilia collections was a wonderful and poignant experience about how hard life was for many of the people passing through here.

The room where passengers waited to board is now an area of shops and a tea shop you enter after exiting the exhibit, one of the displays is seen here, and a link to there website is at the bottom of the post.

On the Quay is a statue dedicated to a woman and her children, Mary Smith who emigrated to America on the Titanic.  There is also a Titanic memorial to those who lost their lives in the disaster.

For some fabulous further interesting websites related to the Titanic disaster, here are:

The Titanic Trail – Guided Walking Tour of Cobh

The Queenstown Story

Titanic centennial: Museums, events, dinners