Wild Plum Tea Room

Our daughters sent us to TN for a two night stay for our 38th anniversary. We leisurely spent our time. One of the places we visited was a lovely tea room:  "The Wild Plum Tea Room" in Gatlinburg. 

The welcoming sign.

Here is me on a bench outside the entrance.

A part of the lovely garden at the side.

Another view of the garden.

The menu for the day.

A view of the outdoor seating.

A charming table inside.

Another outside decor, a large vendor cart.

My husband was so sweet to visit here with me. Here he is with our menus.

He ordered the salad of the day. It was a scrumptious pea salad with a taste of horse radish. Of course, I helped him eat it. I will need to search for the recipe as I did not purchase a cookbook.

My plum tea was so refreshing and relaxing. I had several cups! His was served cold.

I chose the cheddar chablis soup. So good.

We gave in and tried a dessert. This was  peaches with a sauce. pound cake on the bottom, ice cream in the middle and whipped topping. Mmmmmm.

Mine was an amaretto bread pudding. You can also see husbands glass of iced plum tea.

A part of the serving area across the aisle from us.

Dishes for sale.  I resisted a purchase.

One of the hostesses said it was an Austrian tea room and invited me to go upstairs where there was more seating.  They were hosting a bridal shower up there the next day.

I hope you have enjoyed visiting The Wild Plum Tea Room with me today. If you are ever in the area look it up.

I am sharing with Lady Katherine today @ Lady Katherine Tea Time Tuesday.

Dew of Heaven

How do I begin this. Words escape me to describe the blessings of waking up and in prayer having the dew of heaven soak into my soul from God. It is wonderful to be led by still waters in a green pasture as Psalm 23 states. It continues on, He restores my soul, anoints my head with oil, prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies. That lets me know that even when things are not always right in our world we can still be blessed by God, pampered, fed spiritually and listen to the rippling brook of His presence and be calmed and assured.

"You are my hiding place,

You always fill my heart with songs of deliverance;

Whenever I am afraid,

I will trust in You.

Let the weak say, 

"I am strong in the strength of the Lord!"

Words by Michael Ledner

What a wonderful way to start the day.

First Time Ever Surprise

This morning I woke up to a First Time Ever Surprise! I walked into the bathroom and to the left is my bathtub. This is what I saw:

He was on my bathmat and had left a trail. I have never known of a place that a mouse could not escape. But evidently a tub with slanted sides is one of them too slippery to climb.

My mat is not that old, a pretty one with positive sayings. But when I looked again, behold he had nibbled on the side. That mean little creature.  Evidently he read some of the sayings but this one did not help him get out so he started chewing trying to remove it.

Tea Time with a New Tea Pot

I am finally getting to share my new teapot that is a Mother's Day gift from Lori, Julie and Clay.

First a clearing and rearranging of the kitchen. Then a hunt for a good tea menu. The cupboards are far from bare but it is the end of the month...before payday......mnnnnn.

Well I always have some kind of tea bags on hand. So I chose a regular decaf tea and selected a "chocolate mint" tea leaf  to float on the top of my tea . These are growing in a planter outside. I purchased a plant in early spring and nearly killed it waiting to plant it outside. But alas it did come back to life and is starting to spread.

Next, a slice of whole grain bread with butter and strawberry jam. Then a poached egg and some corn meal mush like my dad used to make us for breakfast.

Now for the setting with my new tea pot.

This setting includes my teapot which is a pottery piece from a lady's fair that included entrepreneurs of various trades. I have also included a Thomas Kinkade tea mug that "lights up" when filled with hot water.

I used my country cannisters and some small mingtree ironstone bowls given to me by my sister in law

 several years ago. The place mat is a pretty tea setting picture that came from K-mart.

I enhanced the color a bit here to catch the pretty blue of the teapot.

What a fun start to a Saturday morning. Tuesday I hope to link to Lady Katherine's Tea.

Second Post of the Day

I am full of rejoicing to be home from work. Traveled down the road home to praise songs playing loudly on a CD. At work the guys pushed to get one final semi truck unloaded with me tagging each piece at our newly leased warehouse. Whoooo! am I glad to be home!

Played with the dogs, Fatz and Charlie. Lori had them in the house for a few minutes. Oh and I need to share a funny note: when I left home after lunch today, I walked out to my car, Charlie started barking at me like I was a stranger walking into the yard. Then I noticed Fatz in the smaller dog house (that is not his regular) and then Charlie walks in with him. It is raining. Fatz proceeds to leave and go to his own dog house. Charlie follows him. Poor Fatz. I feel for him. I know what it feels like to just want to be by yourself. Charlie just can't seem to leave Fatz's side.  ;o)