Tea and Crumpets

Yes, it was another weekend of Tea and Crumpets and Tennis. However, no creating. Hmmmm, will get some of that done this week. As you know, I have one last Alphabet ATC to finish and will have it as a "completion" goal by next weekend! I am looking for the perfect image and I have another Z word. My dear friend Patty told me yesterday that the German word for Gypsy is also a Z word! I am leaning toward the "The Gypsy Heart" theme..... Patty, can you give me the German for that one?

Speaking of Patty. Patty has a very beautiful blog, Magpie's Nest, which was one of the first blogs I found right after I had started my blog. So since September-October 2008, I have been crusin' her blog and she mine. She is the one who got me started with my PaperWhimsy group and the Hilda Quotes - and then she kind of dropped out of that. I have been inspired by her creations even to the point of printing them off and putting them in an "inspiration" journal. When I hit a blank wall -- yes, I look at her creations to get me started again, and it works.

The fun thing about this story is that we live in the same area and took a class together a number of years ago on beeswaxing. I certainly was not blogging at that time and I am not sure if she was or not. My gut tells me no she wasn't. But then our paths never crossed again, or if they did, we didn't know it - funny since we frequent the same stamp store, Angela's Happy Stamper and before Angela's - we both frequented another store Artfully Scribed. So, you know, it had to be Kismet that we meet again in blogland and not in person. We were in Angela's once not long ago and passed by each other and didn't realize it. How did I know - someone walked back in the store and said, "I ran into Patty in the parking lot." Well, this just wasn't going to work.

As it is in blog land - we all get to know each other on a personal level of just reading what each other writes. We then email each other and get to share more of our stories. Patty and I made a date to meet for tea at a lovely tea house, Aylesbury Tea Room, in Leesburg, Virginia. We started tea at 1:00pm, we ate, we drank tea, we ate, we drank tea and chatted until 3:00pm when we decided to take in some antique stores in Leesburg. What an absolutely lovely day it was and we parted around 5:15 to head our separate ways.

I did not take photos of the tea service since we were both so excited to be able to sit and chat like long lost friends. We exchanged lovely gifts. I will show you the beautiful creations she gave me later this week - I am just so excited to have some Patty Originals. So I will share a few of our antiquing finds in our travels. Yes, we both bought and enjoyed shopping together. I loved this pillow and lamp.

And last but not least - this "crazed duck" who also had a "crazed mother duck" too...... Check the one eye - crazed if I have ever seen crazed...... nope, passed this baby by...

And then in closing, always, always, stop to smell the roses, real or otherwise! Yes, my little ones, all in a day's travels among the Honeysuckles!