Tea Time

Before JoEllen went home in January, we found a day to squeeze in our Christmas Tea outing.  It had been kind of a whirlwind Christmas.  Nathan had been home from Malaysia,  Mom and Dad were still struggling along, flu hit my house, and we were running out of days for us girls to get together.  We were down to the last weekend Jo had at home…and then it snowed!  We debated about cancelling but decided to persevere!  I’m so glad we did.  Even though I felt very tired, it was a needed time for “us girls!”  We were headed toward the foothills and the drive was a bit tricky, but we made it safely.  The snow was really very beautiful.  We went to the Briarwood Inn which was still decorated for Christmas, also very beautiful!  The quiet Christmas that passed me by was about to be enjoyed!

Doesn’t it look inviting, even in the snow? 

I dropped my Mom and JoEllen off at the front door.  I wish I had grabbed my camera and taken a photo of Jo holding Mom’s arm and carefully helping her across the snowy path!  It was a precious sight, Jo carefully helping Mom aone of those moments of the heart!  Robin and I met up in the parking lot and by the time we got inside, Mom and Jo had been helped to this cozy table by the fireplace, the gentlemen had removed their coats and they were settled in!

I remember once before we went to and had a man serve us.  Somehow it was not quite the same.  But the gentlemen here at the Briarwoood reminded me of the servants on Downton Abbey…very attentive and thoughtful, but we still got to “pour out!”  Our pots of tea were kept hot and the tea savories were brought out without any lag of time.  We just sat back and enjoyed.

The snow continued to fall out side and it was so picturesque.

I think Wally and I had celebrated an anniversary at the Briarwood Inn a few years back.  I also think I would like to do it again.  It has that old charm and elegance!  For a snowy day, there were quite few ladies out for high tea, but I think we were about the last to leave.  We enjoyed just wandering around and looking at the decorations…and taking pictures!

    

I saw this little saying and it sums up the way I always feel when my Mom and sisters and I get together for tea.  It’s a good way to end this post. 

  “By drinking tea, whatever is hidden in your heart comes out.”

A Determined Segue

Is it really February 9?  Will it really be Valentine’s Day this week?  Where did January go?  Here’s where I’m at…just feeling recovered from the holidays,  still thinking about getting my New Year resolutions together,  I have unwritten thank you notes from Christmas and I might have missed a few January birthdays in our family!!  My train has been derailed!  Then I think about  my poor neglected blog. Yikes!  Better late than never, I am trying to get the train steaming down the track again!  I’m kind of embarrassed to just start blogging again like I’ve been doing it all along.  I thought, what I need is a good segue from my last post and the next one.  But I looked up the word segue and I miss out there too.  It means “any smooth, uninterrupted transition from one thing to another.”  That gave me a good laugh! 

I guess the title of this post should be determination…firmness of purpose; resoluteness!  I love the synonyms…willpower, strength of character, single-mindedness,purposefulness, intentness!  Those things also help me with my 2014 resolutions!  Since I am already over a month behind, I better get moving!