A Message from Ruth at Antiques And Teacups

Welcome to the blog of Antiques And Teacups! Let's share a cup of tea and talk about the things we love...like teacups, antiques, collectibles, visiting England, antiquing and learning about victoriana and quirky gadgets. Fun!

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Tuesday Cuppa Tea, December Things, A Bit About Me, Giveaway



Hello and welcome to another December edition of Tuesday Cuppa Tea! After another stormy week, often out of power, today brought cloudy skies instead of the 4 inches of rain, no wind instead of the gales and the sound of chainsaws removing downed trees and broken branches.  Hope it was better in your area! Wishing my Jewish friends Happy Hanukkah...and also..



And it is fast approaching!  This week my tea is a simple one with many thanks to Nora of Teacup Tales wonderful blog, because I won her drawing for holiday teas!!!!  I was so excited because I hadn't had any of Adagio Teas holiday flavors. It came today, so I decided to share that, and save my other post to next week!




Because I only received it today, I haven't had a chance to taste all the varieties, but started with a cup of their Chestnut flavor. The teas are all loose leaf black ties with natural flavors, and the Chestnut smelled wonderful! It makes a very nice cup, with only a small amount of sugar needed...but then I always take sugar, and much to the horror of all my English family...never take milk. I guess that's because I have always had a respiratory milk allergy, but....



Each of the 4 flavors come in a zip lock resealable pouch which is nice. The flavors are:


Candy Cane
Pumpkin Spice
Gingerbread
Chestnut

Isn't that a great selection? Thanks so much Nora! I know you have seen this cup before...a favorite of mine! A Dunoon, England mug designed by Richard Partis in a 3 mug series called Season's Greetings. He's a cheeky little chappie indeed!








We have had lovely and festive evenings watching favorite Christmas DVDs as the count to Christmas narrows, as soon as we were sure the power would stay on. We watched Patrick Stewart's version of  Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol last night. I think it is one of the best versions. 



What else I think is fun is that Joel Grey is the Ghost of Christmas Past. And years ago when I was in my late teens and early 20s I was in the professional theater as part of the Harry Zevin theater company and did musical comedies. One of those I did was The Roar Of The Greasepaint The Smell Of The Crowd ...(this is the original West End London cast record album cover)...



by Anthony Newly with Cyril Ritchard and Joel Grey who starred in the traveling company. Joel Grey played Cocky, a sort of Everyman, and Cyril Ritchard was Sir....I was an urchin....or, the chorus really.  



Anyway, every time I see the movie I think about the suppers the cast had after the shows at Theater-In-The-Round Circle Star theater in San Carlos...which was torn down for condos, Melodyland Theater in Anaheim with is now a church, and Carousel Theater in West Covina which I have no info on the fate of.   



Joel Grey was one of the best I played with as being just as happy with us chorus and smaller role actors as with the leads.  This is a publicity shot from the run:


That was just before I decided theater life wasn't for me as a life long career...had to many other interests, and went off and finished my degrees in physical anthropology...and then ended up in commercial loan banking, a kindergarten teacher, pastor's wife and the musical director of a church and as an antique dealer loping along concurrently and then antique dealer taking over when my husband retired because of health problems. Life is amazing...and we have much to be thankful for! And look what I found!





I have been surprised that a song from the show has been revived..."Feeling Good"...here is a youtube version of it sung by the composer, Anthony Newly, who also performed it first on the West End in London with Cyril Ritchard when the show debuted in the 1960s...I did it with the traveling company in 1966....I am sure you will recognize it from more recent revival versions...including Nina Simone, Michael Buble' and a lot more. I heard it recently as a sort of Musak on a cruise ship! Stopped me in my tracks!

The other interesting thing was that 2 then unknown but soon-to-be-famous people were in the cast with me...Nichelle Nichols who was soon to play Uhura on Star Trek...was an urchin with me....


And Richard Kiel who at 7'2" played...of course...Giant, and is probably best known for playing Jaws in a Bond movie...which I never saw...amazing trip down memory lane...


He was the sweetest, quietest most polite guy....met and worked with lots of other celebrities, but that's enough non tea related stuff!


There are so many wonderful Christmas bazaars and faires around, and I love to go to as many as I can, although I don't always buy anything. I did buy this small 3 foot by 3  foot quilted wall hanging this last weekend..it has a darling black capped chicadee design with hand printed squares with holly berries of beads. Perfect for a wall in the sunroom...isn't it cute?



So...that's it for a very mixed bag for a December!   


And...please click HERE to enter my quick draw Christmas Tea Giveaway...for US residents...drawing on Wednesday, Dec. 16th so maybe it can reach you for Christmas!

I hope you have a joy filled week preparing for Christmas, and are filled with thankfulness for what we have, not what we don't! We are so blessed! May this be a season of your sharing love, hope, peace and joy!



Below is the list of some of the blog parties I will be part of and there is the linky for your tea related posts...please remember that it is SSSLLLOOOOOOWWWW but if you are patient...it's there! And I love to read your comments, and can find you to visit!



21 comments:

  1. Dear Ruth:
    Now that was an amazing bit of information about your exciting past. I found that all fascinating. I am glad you won the Give Away too! It's fun to get surprises. I enjoyed seeing that pretty Robin mug and hope you have a lovely week!

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  2. Congratulations on winning Nora's giveaway, Ruth! The Adagio tea samples sound delicious! It was fun reading about your past careers. I remember watching Joel Gray on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Thank you for hosting and enjoy the third week of Advent!

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  3. Hi Ruth,
    Congrats on winning Nora's giveaway, how fun! Adorable robin cup and I like your wall hanging you bought.
    Have a wonderful week and thanks so much for hosting!
    Gina

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  4. What a fascinating life you have had - and still do!!!Loved reading every word!!

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  5. What a lovely giveaway, please enter me!

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  6. Enjoyed reading your post and please enter me in your giveaway.

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  7. I enjoyed reading about your days in theater, Ruth! How exciting that must've been at the time. I was in plays in high school, but didn't pursue that in college.
    congrats on your win from Nora! I love Adagio teas and am sipping Irish Breakfast tea right now. Thanks so much for hosting and enjoy your week.

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  8. Good morning Ruth,
    Wow! What an exciting past you had! Lots of good memories I'm sure. I love the Chickadee wall hanging; such darling little birds! The Dunoon English Robin mug is adorable! I love those little birds too. You won a lovely assortment of teas as well. Great win! Thanks for sharing with us all you have accomplished in your life. I found it most interesting and we all feel we know you better. Have a beautiful day and thank you for hosting.

    Christmas blessings,
    Sandi

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  9. Hello, wow you had an exciting past. Wonderful memories. Congrats on winning the tea sampler. The teas sound great. I love your cute mug with the Robin. Happy Monday, enjoy your new week!

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  10. Goodness Ruth, you've lived a life wearing many hats and obviously with happy memories. I was gifted a couple of Adagio teas for Christmas and find the brand very nice for flavour and smoothness. Oh yes, I also received a box of the Candy Cane Lane and see why you like it so much!

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  11. Hi Ruth,
    Oh my! I am so impresssed that you were once an actress and we do have a lot in commom with our love of teacups and I was also a kindergarten teacher (I felt like I was a bit of an actress at times with the kiddies). Your teas from Nora look lovely and what a beautiful birdie mug. Happy Cuppa Tea Day! Thank you for sharing. Karen

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  12. Hi Ruth. What an interesting post! You have had a fun filled life and many adventures. Your English Robin teacup is one of my favourites. I wish you a wonderfully blessed Christmas season. Pam

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  13. Love the bird cup, Ruth! Hope I get a chance to win your lovely giveaway...Christine

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  14. WONDERFULL ,greeting from Belgium

    http://louisette.eklablog.com / Mons my city
    http://retriever-louisettesblogs.blogspot.com

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  15. Hello Ruth, what an interesting story you tell of your theatrical past! How fun! Life is long, and you end up experiencing things you may have never imagined.
    Your birdie cup is very sweet. And all that new tea...Yay for you! What a generous giveaway.
    Wishing you better weather and cozy nights,
    Terri

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  16. Ruth your tea mug is beautiful. I once saw A Christmas Carol preformed live at the historic Asolo Theater in Sarasota, FL. It was fantastic. Thanks for bringing back that fun memory.

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  17. Wow Ruth! What interesting life experiences you have had!! And now you get to try some exciting new tea blends...congrats. I will admit that I was most excited when I saw that you met the original Uhura...so cool!

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  18. The Dunoon tea mug is so nice. I will have to look them up!

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  19. Your multiple careers have taken you down such interesting paths. I enjoyed reading about them. I was slow getting to your blog party this week. Thank you for hosting it. Wishing you and your hubby a very joy-filled Christmas!

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  20. Ruth, how fun to read a bit more about you! Thank you for hosting. Have a safe holiday season. This year has simply flown!

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  21. Oh my goodness, I'm so late to this wonderful post. I'm glad the teas arrived safely and you're enjoying the chestnut one. I loved reading about your theatrical career. My mouth just about fell open when I saw the photo of The Circle Star Theater. I grew up in San Carlos and have so many fond memories of concerts and plays there. Enjoy the season!

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Thanks for visiting and we love to hear from you! We read every comment. If my husband's health permits, I love to visit andreply. Have a wonderful day and a cuppa tea always at hand! :)

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