Would you like to sit awhile and join me for a cup of tea? Rest a moment and think of all that there is to be grateful for at this time of the year. Health, home, family, friends and the beauty that surrounds our everyday life are meant to be cherished.
Thanksgiving starts the holiday season for many of us and is a wonderful day. It is a day that we allow ourselves little indulgences. Most homes are filled with the smells of delicious food coming from the kitchen. It is a gathering of family and friends to give thanks for our blessings of the past year. It’s a time of making and sharing memories with those who are close to us. It is also a time to reflect back and remember friends and relatives who we have lost. We also give thanks to the people who sacrifice so much for our safety and freedom.
The holiday season is a time of joy and celebration but it can be hectic and stressful. So join me in my parlor and relax for a few minutes.
Let’s share a cup of tea and cookies. We can reminisce about what has inspired us from the writings of fellow bloggers. How they have made us laugh, taught us a trick or two, and made us think with their thought provoking writings.
I have so much to be thankful for this year and I hope you do as well.
Back Road Journal 
Looks lovely
Thank you Gary.
Karen, what a lovely post! You know a cup of tea is so dear to me! You have a beautiful parlor – and a beautiful tea setting! We all have many, many blessings – much to be thankful for! Enjoy your day!
Thank you Phyllis for your nice compliment. There is so much to be thankful for. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
What a lovely parlor and tea set you have. I sooo enjoyed my little visit. I’m ever so grateful for your company in this little blogging world of ours:) Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Karen.
Hi Smidge, Thank you for such a lovely comment.I hope that your Thanksgiving is wonderful as well.
Hi Karen,
Here in Ireland, my wife and I have a sort of a tea routine set out to start the day. There is a division of labor. During the working week, she brings up the tray. At weekends, I do. On the tray is a pot of Bewley’s Clipper Gold tea, a tea strainer, two mugs, a jug of milk and a teaspoon. The clipper was the type of ship that Sir Thomas Bewley used to bring tea back to Ireland a couple of centuries ago and hence the name. We are pretty set in our tea ways. A fantastic way to start the day.
Have a happy Thanksgiving,
Conor
Hi Conor, I think your tea routine sounds so nice. There is so much history with the clipper ships sailing to New England as well.
Beautiful parlor Karen! I would love to sit and relax with a cup of tea right now. 🙂
Thank you Kristy. The parlor has so much history. That is the original color that we found when we were restoring a wall.
Thanks so much Karen! I really needed to sit down and have a cup of tea and relax a bit. I have been baking bread, pies and cookies since early this morning.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!
Hi Robin, We often get so busy that we forget to take a moment for ourselves. It sounds like you will have a wonderful Thanksgiving with all of your baked goods.
Tea would be nice- I’ll just pop over!!
Happy Thanksgiving
Jenny
Hi Jenny, I’d love to share a cup of tea and talk about our travel experiences. Enjoy Thanksgiving.
Where’s the velvet rope? I mean that in a good way! Have a great Thanksgiving.
Hi Greg, That’s a classic…you really made me laugh. I know that you and Katherine will have a wonderful Thanksgiving because of all the good things I know you are preparing. Enjoy!
How lovely that would be, joining you for a cup of tea! Happy Thanksgiving Karen 🙂
Hi Karista, Thank you for your nice comment. It would be lovely to share a cup of tea and share our love of food.
I’d love to join you for a cup of tea and no doubt a good chat, in your beautiful parlour (and I thought our house was old at 1830s, but it’s a mere baby!). Wishing you a happy thanksgiving
Hi Claire, We certainly could have a nice chat. I’d get out my French tea set for the occasion. I know what you mean about old…we lived in an 1904 home in Florida. It was the fourth house built in the city of Coral Gables and was on the historic register. It depends on where you live as to how old your house is…it’s all relative.
Oh a French tea set, how lovely 🙂
It sounds like you have lived in some iconic buildings! as you say it’s all relative, friends in Australia always marvelled at my old house 🙂
I’ll take you up on that offer – a cup of tea in a warm parlor with a warm friend is the perfect antidote to the howling storms – inside and out.
Happy Thanksgiving!
We are so close…just let me know when to heat the water. I’m happy that the weather will improve by tomorrow. Have a great Thanksgiving.
With all of the commotion within the next 2 days, an invite to tea is perfect! We’ll chat, reflect, and then ready ourselves for the final push. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Karen!
Hi John, A cup of tea with a blogging friend like you would be wonderful. Have a wonderful day.
Happy Thanksgiving..thank you for all you share..
Hi Monique, Thank you for your sweet comment.
I have that plate.. right here, with toast and marmite on it, i will bring it when i come for a cuppa because I would love to, we could talk about our travels and i LOVE tea! Now, let me think what shall I put on the plate to bring.. c
Hi Celi, You could bring any of the wonderful things from your kitchen and I would be soooo happy. We would have a great time…watching the wild turkeys and deer and roaming through our barn.
Great blog! This is my favorite holiday. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you for your compliment. I think so many people agree with you…a day of giving thanks with family and friends is wonderful.
I could almost vicariously have tea with you…I have a Blue Willow tea set and if those are some sort of ginger/molasses cookies (one of my favorites), you just set the day and time and I will set to tea with you.
Love the desk…I have always loved desks. One of my dream jobs would be to have a used bookstore that also showcased/sold antique desks.
Who’s the dude in the painting? Ancestor? ~~Bliss
Hi Bliss, We definitely have so much in common. And yes you have a good eye, they are ginger molasses cookies. Would you believe that I saw the exact desk in a chateau in the Loire area of france. I don’t know who the sea captain is…I just felt he would be at home in our 1730’s house.
Karen, I would love to have a cup of tea with you. In fact, I think that’s an effort to make when we are in Maine. Have a most wonderful turkey day.
Hi Lulu, We will definitely make the effect to share a cup of tea when we are both in Maine. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Ahh those photos look so inviting! Great post–an important reminder of appreciating all the things we must not take for granted*
Thank you for your lovely compliment. Have a wonderful day.
Karen I do have so much to be thankful for this holiday season! I am thankful for your beautiful blog this holiday season I think I have you linked on my blog roll under “Food For The Soul” but your blog is so much more than that! Thanks for being a part of my blog world! 🙂
Hi Karen, Thank you so much for such a lovely compliment. My fellow bloggers add so much to each day.
Thank you Karen for the cookies and Tea. They were delicious though I enjoyed your company even more. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. 🙂
happy thanksgiving Karen – may the day be filled with all you hold dear 🙂
I’d LOVE to join you for a cup of tea! We could talk food and blogging…and Italy! *sigh* what fun we would have! Happy Thanksgiving!
It would be fun to talk about Italy, food and blogging. Have a great day Ann.
Wonderful parlor Karen..a cup of tea with you would be a true treat
A very Happy Thanksgiving to you, Karen. It’s nice to take time out during all the “busy-ness” of the season and think of all our blessings. And if it includes cookies–so much the better!
🙂
Thank you. Have a wonderful day Sue.
What a beautiful post. It´s good to take a step back and count our blessings. And yes please, no milk but a slice of lemon in mine please!
Thank you Tanya. You drink your tea just like I do…it must be with lemon.
What a beautiful room – I really fancy a cup of tea now! X
Thank you Laura, We enjoy that there is so much history with our home. When I sit in that room I wonder about the lives of the people who lived here in the 1700’s.
I would like to have a cup of tea , dear Karen with you, 🙂 and with these blue tea set…
Thank you, Happy Thanksgiving Day, with my love, nia
Thank you Nia, I will think of you as I have my next cup of tea.
Happy thanksgiving Karen to you and your family!
I’m having my Greek mountain tea just now and imagine I’m in that room!
Hi Eri, Thank you. I’ll have Earl Gray while you have your Greek mountain tea. Have a wonderful day as well.
A beautiful sentiment and parlor, Karen! Amongst all of the many things I am thankful for, I am thankful to have met so many wonderful people who share such wonderful things and have added so much to my life…and you and your blog are one of those! Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Hi Betsy, Thank you for your very nice compliment. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Yes, thanks! What a nice invitation… and I do love ginger cookies! Mmmm… (grin) Thankful for *you*!
Thank you Rachel and have a wonderful day.
It would be my pleasure to join you for a cup of tea! I will toast to you today as I have mine and wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Thank you Linda. Enjoy your family on this special day.
Happy Thanksgiving Karen – I hope you have a wonderful day. Great way to start it with a wonderful cup of tea, that’s for sure!
That tea set is beautiful – and the parlor is lovely too. Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi Kyle, Thank you for your compliment.
What a peaceful and beautifully written post! I would gladly join you for a cup of tea and some cookies while we recap all of our thanks!
Hello Joanne, Thank you for your lovely compliment. It would be nice to recap what we are thankful for over a cup of tea.
What a beautiful post! I love tea and I LOVE your parlour – I can imagine sitting sharing a good cuppa with you and discussing all the wonders of thankfulness the last year has brought.
Have a super weekend and Thanksgiving Karen.
🙂 Mandy
Hi Mandy, Thank you so much for your compliment. I would enjoy sharing a cup of tea with you. There is so much to be thankful for.
Beautiful post, Karen. I would love to join you for a cup of tea 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi Sissi, Thank you for your compliment.
love your site! I found you via Five Euro Food! You had me at tea parlor. What a lovely home.
~Melissa
Welcome Melissa and thank you for your compliment.
I would love to join you in your beautiful room for a cup of tea, but as an alternative, I will make and sip a cup of tea with a cookie and think about you in your lovely room. Cheers.
Thank you Teresa. I’ll think of you with my next cup of tea.
A wonderful room – does the fireplace work? As for the paint color -Did you have modern paint matched to some original that you found during renovations? have you looked into the “milk paint” that you can get these days? Was the tile around the FP original? so many questions…and now I must go put on the kettle!
Hi Carol, Thank you for your compliment. Yes…a lot of questions but I’ll be happy to answer them since I know you are working on your masters in interior design. The color is original to the room. We found the paint on a gunstock beam when we removed a wall. The beam is inside the chimney cabinet to the left of the chimney. The paint is indeed milk paint as that is what would have been used at the time. The tiles are not real. That is all painted. It is so real looking that everyone has to touch the “grout” before they believe us. I found the tiles in England but they were over a $1000 each. I made copies and had the artist that did the murals in the dining room paint the “tile” surround.
trompe l’oeil!!
very excellent solution to the tile! $1000/ea is just out-of-hand!
thanks for the details! Old houses are like interesting mystery novels that you have to unravel!
Yes, the artist was great and we definitely saved money. We discovered so many interesting things about the house during the three year restoration.