A Beautiful Reunion Tea...

Ladies of Stitches: l-r: Jan B., me, Laura I., Beverly R. and Pat Z.

Sunday couldn't have been lovelier or more fun. I hosted a tea with some of my favorite people from the days when I owned my needlework shop, Stitches. Handsome captured a photo of us, standing in front of my original shop sign, now mounted to the side wall of our compass barn.

My youngest sister, Jan was my first shop manager. Beverly (second from the right) was my second shop manager, and dear friend, Laura was my shop manager until the shop closed in the 1990s. Pat was a good customer, who became a better friend, and she's the one who actually worked with Laura, Beverly and our schedules to find a common date for us to all get together.

Laura, Beverly, Pat, and another shop friend who passed away, managed to get together once a year for their own stitching retreat. They've stayed in touch all these years. I'm so grateful to her for really making the day possible. Of course, Jan needed to be there as my first manager, too.

When Jan heard we were having a tea, she couldn't pass up wearing her fascinator on the weekend of the Royal Wedding in England. I loved it, and thought it looked perfect on her. I wish we'd all thought to wear a hat!

Our Tea Confections

Although it isn't shown here, there was, in fact, tea served. The lilacs started opening this weekend, and I managed to find enough blossoms to decorate the table. The aroma of lilacs filled the house.

Table Fare Detail

I went outside to the compass barn this morning and picked enough fresh rhubarb to make a "crisp". I added fresh strawberries, too. Nothing like "farm to table"!!

I served lemonade, garnished with fresh mint from my herb garden, and also put out pound cake slices that acted as a perfect platform for the ladies to test the jam and jellies I put out. There were able to taste test my Sweet Basil, Lavender, and Pomegranate Jellies, as well as Concord Grape Jam.

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

 

The strawberries were delicious even before there were dipped in Giardelli Milk Chocolate (with a tablespoon of coconut oil melted with the chocolate). Adding the coconut oil (or shortening) keeps the chocolate from getting crumbly and brittle. (Eat your heart out, Shari's Berries!! lol) After dipping them, I placed them on parchment over our marble board. 

Brynwood Project Totes

As a gift, I gave each of the ladies one of the project totes I'd made. Pat's daughter, Danni was going to join us, but another commitment kept her away. She was missed, but got a tote that I sent home with her mum.

 

(If you see a color/design that you'd like for yourself, just shoot a message to me. I have enough materials to make duplicates of any of them.)

 

Youngest and Oldest Sisters

 

Time really flew. I wore one of my old Stitches t-shirts, and the ladies loved it. They all arrived right around 1 pm. Bev is down in the Madison area. Jan is in the Fox Valley (the other side of the lake to the West of the farm), Laura drove down from a northern port town on Lake Michigan, Pat lives in my hometown, so they all came from various parts of the state. One of us looked at the clock, thinking it was mid-afternoon, only to find it was nearly 6 pm! Time flew as we caught up, shared stories and reminisced about the shop.

 

We wrapped up our visit, with promises to get together again in June. We'll see if we can coordinate dates that work for everyone again, and next time, we'll all bring projects to work on.

 

Before I'd let Jan leave, I had to try on her fascinator. It doesn't really coordinate with a t-shirt and jeans, but I thought it was cute. I reluctantly gave it back to her, and now I'm going to look for one for myself. You never know when you'll be invited to the Queen's for tea and sweets! Perhaps next time, we'll all plan to wear hats. Wouldn't that be fun?