Afternoon tea may bring visions of an English "high tea" to your mind, but afternoon tea also can be a break from spring gardening to enjoy a glass of iced tea and a blueberry muffin in a bluebonnet patch in your backyard.
Thanks to Amber of Follow the Yellow Brick Home for hosting It's a Spring Tea Party Blog Hop with 25 bloggers. I am excited to be part of this beauty-filled event.
See all of the links to the others who are sharing their visions of a Spring Tea Party at the end. You are certain to find some wonderful ideas for celebrating GLORIOUS SPRING at your house.
Welcome to everyone coming from one of my good blogging friends, Katie at Let's Add Sprinkles. Now, I consider all the bloggers on the Spring Tea Party good blogging friends, but Katie and I have a special blogging friendship. We co-hosted a weekly linky party with another good Texas blogging friend before Katie began hosting Keep in Touch. If you are missing The Scoop and Wow Us Wednesdays for connecting with others at linky parties, head over to Let's Add Sprinkles each Tuesday to join Katie's linky party.
In fact, several of my blogging friends on this Spring Tea Party Blog Hop co-host weekly linky parties and would love to have you join them each week. See a list of Linky Parties to join each week on my sidebar.
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Thank you for coming to read about an afternoon tea party here in Texas.
At my house, we are celebrating a favorite time of the year with iced tea and blueberry muffins in the patch of bluebonnets in our backyard.
Afternoon tea in the bluebonnets is a way to enjoy joie de vivre (exuberant joy of living) during an exuberant time of the year in Texas ... the time of bluebonnet blooming season.
A F T E R N O O N T E A
i n t h e B L U E B O N N E T S
Bluebonnet season is one of the highlights of the year for Texans and for travelers driving across our state when blankets of blue fill the roadsides, vacant lots, pastures, and hillsides. Seeing cars pulled over on an interstate so travelers can take photos is a common sight during bluebonnet blooming season. Please be careful!
Seeing bluebonnets growing in yards, gardens, and acreage of homeowners is another common sight. We cherish the little blue flowers that reseed themselves and come back year after year to announce Spring has arrived in Texas.
And, we add to the natural reseeding by sowing bluebonnet seeds bought from wildflower companies. We had a bumper crop of bluebonnets in our backyard this year due to abundant rain during the fall and winter months when bluebonnets sprout and form low-growing rosettes awaiting Spring to grow larger and to bloom. You can see peeks of bluebonnets around the tea table and on the hillside in the background.
Bluebonnets, our state flower, help us endure what we know is coming ... a long hot summer with drought conditions when the prairies go dormant, roadsides turn brown, and gardens languish. The little bluebonnet will have finished blooming and gone to seed for next year's crop long before the summer heat arrives.
While the little lupine is in its prime, we celebrate all things bluebonnet. Celebrating the little joys of everyday living helps create a happy life by recognizing and focusing on good things in our lives. Seeking and finding everyday joys help us endure the trials and tribulations that also come in life.
The setting for an afternoon tea does not have to be elaborate. Pull together a couple of folding chairs and a small table. Gather muffins, plates, napkins, tablecloth, mint, ... in a basket to transport outside.
The table can be rickety and need stabilizing on a hillside with old bricks under the legs.
A white with blue border silk and cotton tablecloth makes any table a festive tea table. Watch for vintage tablecloths from the 1940s and 1950s on eBay. A quick search showed several with bids below $20.
Taking breaks from work refreshes both the body and the spirit. Being outdoors is an added bonus because nature is known to reduce mental stress and to improve physical health.
Adding a sprig of mint to a glass of iced tea is an easy way to elevate a tea break from an ordinary daily experience to a special moment.
Serve blueberry muffins on a blue floral china plate and use cloth napkins to make the afternoon iced tea and muffin break even more special.
Enjoying iced tea among the blue bonnets can be impromptu, without planning required. Whatever baked goods you have on hand can turn a refreshing glass of tea into a Spring tea party. No baked goods? Make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to go with your iced tea ... outside amidst your flowers, celebrating a time of your life.
Celebrate the moments of life to turn those moments into a special time filled with je ne sais quoi (something hard to describe.)
Mother's Day is just around the corner. Be sure to read all the posts for It's a Spring Tea Party filled with beautiful ideas for setting a tea table that could also be a table to honor the moms in your life.
Celebrate the moments of life to turn those moments into a special time filled with je ne sais quoi (something hard to describe.)
French country is more than a decorating style;
French country is a way of life
where the ordinary is elevated to the extraordinary.
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Next up on the blog tour is Michelle at The Painted Hinge with more beautiful ideas for celebrating Spring with a Tea Party. P.S. Michelle hosts Farmhouse Friday linky party for farmhouse related posts.
Mother's Day is just around the corner. Be sure to read all the posts for It's a Spring Tea Party filled with beautiful ideas for setting a tea table that could also be a table to honor the moms in your life.
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You may also enjoy the following.
Pinterest Board, Round Up of Blog Tours
See this Group Board's description for how to join the board. Guidelines specify only to pin blog hop tours, not INDIVIDUAL home tours.
Beyond Bluebonnets is about other Spring wildflowers in Texas.
This may be the prettiest tea party picnic I've ever scene. The bluebonnets are particularly lovely this year. I adore your blue and white tablecloth.
ReplyDeleteLaura,
DeleteThank you. You know the saying, location, location, location? Isn't everything pretty in a bluebonnet patch?
Judith
Judith enjoying iced tea surrounded y blue bonnets in the magical area you created would be beautiful. I have never seen these beauties in nature so I would be happy.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your day
Cindy
Cindy,
DeleteOnce I saw my first bluebonnets, I was hooked on looking for their return each spring. I hope you can see these in nature one day.
Judith
Thanks for the shout out. I love that you have blue bonnets in your yard. Your table and chair set is darling and I love the table cloth.Your tea party is fabulous.
ReplyDeleteThis is so pretty Judith! I love the blue bonnets and how you set your afternoon tea table. It is a perfect atmosphere. I would love to sit and visit with you there!
ReplyDeleteJudith, you always elevate the ordinary to extraordinary with your posts and beautiful lifestyle. Your table is lovely and I'd love to sit out there and chat with you. If those drivers-by saw your bluebonnet setting, they'd forego the side of the road pictures for sure and set up there. I would!
ReplyDeleteWhat a pretty table in such a pretty little spot! Bluebonnet time is the perfect time to set up a tea party in the garden!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful spot to enjoy tea amongst the bluebonnets! I love the blue and white linens! Beautiful!!!
ReplyDeletethank you so much for sharing the Texas culture about Bluebonnets. We lived in San Antonio for a few years, and it's so true. Spring Bluebonnet time is the highlight of the year. Your hillside table and chair is the perfect shady spot for an afternoon break. I'm like you, a fresh sprig of mint makes iced tea a little treat each day. I've loved all your beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteI never imagined a setting so beautiful and in the middle of all those bluebonnets no less! Absolutely gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteJudith, this is absolutely lovely! I love the elegant simplicity! Happy to be joining you for the tea party hop this week. Blessings, Cecilia @My Thrift Store Addiction
ReplyDeleteThere is just something so enchanting about an afternoon tea among the bluebonnets! What a lovely setting and a beautiful table!
ReplyDeleteJudith, what beautiful and magical spot to enjoy a glass of tea. You have created a painting, a serene scene that makes one dream away. The linens and bluebonnets are gorgeous...
ReplyDeleteHappy Mother's Day to you... It was fun joining you on this fun and inspiring "Spring Tea Blog Hop"..
Janet
Rosemary & Thyme
Judith, I absolutely love that you have bluebonnets in your garden. They are so pretty and I'm so proud that they are our state flower. The blue~trimmed tablecloth is one I'd buy in a heartbeat. The garden chairs and the blue basket add such a nostalgic feel to your garden tea setting. Blueberries and bluebonnets with mint iced tea make for a lovely afternoon tea. Thanks for mentioning Happiness is Homemade in your link party list.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteVery Attractive Article and very awesome.
It really helped me ton. Please to be continued and posts like these.
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I have always wanted to see Texas Bluebonnets in person. I absolutely adored seeing these gorgeous flowers in your yard.
ReplyDeleteTexas bluebonnets are the sweetest of all flowers, and I love how the theme for your tea party features them. This post is so lovely, Judith!
ReplyDeleteIced tea and Bluebonnets, how much better could it get. Love it all.
ReplyDeleteI cannot get over the beauty of that tablecloth - you know I love blue and white. And then you added the checked napkin to the basket. Oh, what beautiful styling.
ReplyDeleteJudith I always enjoy your post over on IG and I loved visiting your beautiful blog today! Your bluebonnets are stunning! We don't have those in Colorado!Thanks for sharing your lovely French Country style...I find myself being pulled more in more in that direction when decorating!
ReplyDeleteWow, Judith those bluebonnets are stunning! I love your outdoor garden area. It looks so peaceful and relaxing. You seriously have the prettiest French Country style. Every detail is inspirational. Hugs and happy Mother's Day, CoCo
ReplyDeleteWell Judith this might just be my favorite post of yours yet, and there are many of your posts I just love. I agree wholeheartedly with all of the sentiments you shared. Without celebrating the little joys of everyday life is so important! Of course all of your photos are so beautiful, each magical shot is magazine worthy. I love the bluebonnets and all of the blue you used to pull your simple yet elegant French country garden tea together. French country, like English cottage style truly is a way of life that can be enjoyed anywhere with a little imagination, an appreciation of beautiful things and an extra dose of flowers on the side!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for joining the hop and sharing the bluebonnets with us!
Thank you so much
Oh wow, this is beyond perfect! I love the casual mood and the natural setting. Your blue themed tablescape blends perfectly with the surrounding blue bonnets. It looks like this tea setting is meant to be there - does that make sense?
ReplyDeleteYour post is the perfect presentation of Spring time bluebonnets in Texas! A tea party surrounded by bluebonnets is pure bliss!
ReplyDeleteMarilyn (in Dallas)
Marilyn,
DeleteThank you. I think bluebonnets are what I love most about living in Texas and look forward to bluebonnet season every year.
Judith
Judith, This is such a lovely post. As a fellow Texan, I really love all of the bluebonnets, and your photos capture a feeling of relaxation and pure delight. I'm so glad I popped over from Amber's TFT party. :) -Crissy @ First Day of Home
ReplyDeleteHi Judith! You're so kind to leave a comment on my blog, too. I'm in the Houston area. It's fun to reconnect again! I think we both were on the Texas fall home tour. I hope to collaborate again soon. Happy Mother's Day! -Crissy @ First Day of Home
ReplyDeleteI wish we had bluebonnets growing in our ditches; how wonderful! We call these lupines, and I've planted some in my gardens through the years, but they've never survived:( I love the relaxing, beautiful setting you created, Judith; especially that vintage tablecloth!
ReplyDeleteLovely as always, Judith! Be sure to drop in at Homestyle Gathering tomorrow! ;-)
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful! The blue bonnets are lovely. I'm going to check to see if they will grow in my area. Would love to plant a patch!
ReplyDeleteI love EVERYTHING about this post. Have a great week.
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