Victorian Tea Party

This event wasn't officially "Red Hats", but most of us are Red Hatters and/or Sew Blessed Quilters, so it seems appropriate to post the photos here.  And, we were all wearing hats, maybe not red hats, but hats non-the-less, so that works.

It was a cold and rainy day when we met at Barbara's Tea House in Rancho Cucamonga for our afternoon tea party . . .
 

Barbara's Tea House

When you first enter the house, you immediately feel like you've stepped into another world.  The inside of the house has been converted into lots of individual "tea party rooms", each elaborately decorated and very beautiful and unique.  The decor is changed for each season, and at this time of the year, it's Christmas everywhere.  At the foot of the stairs is this beautiful Nativity scene . . .

Each tea party room has it's own theme and decorations to match . . .

Our tea party was held in the "rose room" . . .

The table was so pretty

Check out all the decorations and the cute little tea pots everywhere

There are gorgeous hats hanging on the walls, and you can borrow one if you choose. 

Looking down our table from one end

And then from the other

Don't we all look wonderful?  Here's a closer look . . . .

Debbie and sister Carol

Barbara and Annie

Joy and Carol

Oma (you should definitely become a Red Hatter!)

Shame on me, I didn't get close-ups of the rest of the ladies . . . . any one have photos they can share?

They have every flavor of tea imaginable, and we had a tough time choosing.  We tried several different flavors throughout the afternoon, and did our best to look proper with our pinky up all the while trying to balance the cup and not spill.  

Lunch was served and was delicious . . . . First course was a yummy potato soup, followed by an amazing cranberry scone right out of the oven.  On the table were little pots of lemon curd, devonshire creme, and a berry jam to add to the scone.  Next was a little bowl of fresh fruit to cleanse our pallet.  We each got four wonderful little sandwiches - deviled egg, cucumber creme cheese, tomato basil, and the absolute best (in my opinion anyway), chicken cranberry.

And of course, there was dessert . . . . .

Delish!

Besides being beautifully decorated, many of the items in the house are for sale, and some of our ladies did a little shopping along the way.  Barbara found the perfect hat for her new journey as a Red Hatter . . . . .

Beautiful!

When our party was over, we took a few more minutes to pose for a few more pictures  . . . .

Thanks for a great afternoon of fun and friendship! 

Dicken's Holiday Celebration

Queen Annie always finds really different and original places for us to go.   Today she fired up her time machine and we traveled back to the Victorian era and toured a printing museum full of vintage printing presses.  What a fun and interesting place.

The museum was filled with old and amazing printing presses like these . . .

Many of the presses had operators standing by to not only explain how the press worked, but to actually allow us to print something on them . . .

We all had so much fun!!!

There were also "characters" wondering through the crowd and playing their parts . . .

This gal was left at the alter and commanded us all to break many hearts

These two gave us a lesson on how to pick pockets

And this fellow played the dulcimer for us

And this gentlemen gave us a lesson on electricity

One of the most interesting parts of the day was learning about the painstaking task of setting type back in the day, and seeing how the Gutenberg Bible was printed . . .

Pages from the Gutenberg Bible - before and after the illustrations were added

We could even have our names set in type that we can actually use to personalize items

We paused for lunch - an English Banger (sausage), gingerbread and hot apple cider - and later we were escorted into the auditorium to meet Mr. Charles Dickens himself, who told us his story of The Christmas Carol.

Waiting for the show to start

Mr. Charles Dickens

 He used various people from the audience to help with the telling of The Christmas Carol . . .

 We thoroughly enjoyed our day and we learned a lot too!

Thanks Queen Annie!

Merry Christmas 2012!

 

Operation Christmas Child Warehouse

Queen Tina and the ladies spent a very busy and inspiring afternoon helping to process shoe boxes at the Operation Christmas Child warehouse.

Queen Tina, Shelly, Debbie & Seema

Good job ladies.  Thanks for representing us, and thanks Shelly for the photo! Here's how Queen Tina described the day . . .

Operation Christmas Child Warehouse started on a crisp, sunny day. We, Seema, Shelley, Debbie & Tina, met at IHC. We left and dropped Debbie’s car in Brea at her friend Joe’s home and were off to Huntington Beach. After a pleasant drive, we arrived and were greeted warmly. The registration forms were turned in and we promptly viewed the video and received training for the warehouse tasks ahead. Shelley was helping at the toy hospital and helped keep the tables supplied with hard candies for the boxes. Seema was an inspector, Tina was a taper and Debbie wo-manned a scanner for tracking the boxes!

The pace was steady and not too overwhelming, and we enjoyed seeing what others put in the boxes. All the boxes for that particular night, we were told, were going to the Philippines. After working for about 2 hours, our group enjoyed cutie tangerines and pumpkin bread. It felt good to sit for a few minutes! Then back to work. It was very rewarding, seeing how many boxes AND how many volunteers there were, it is truly touching.

After our shift, we traveled back to Brea, where Debbie’s longtime family friend, Joe, joined us for dinner at Soup Plantation in Brea. The turkey soup, complete with a scoop of stuffing was excellent, along with all the other wonderful salads, breads, soups and desserts. I believe none of us left with any hunger left.

It was a great afternoon/evening and we all would recommend it as a wonderful outreach/service event!

Packing Shoe Boxes & Christmas Party

This was a really special afternoon.  We once again gathered at Carol's house to pack shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child.  We filled a total of 12 boxes, 6 for boys and 6 for girls between the ages of 10-14.  These boxes will be shipped to needy children in some distant country, and possibly will be the only gift that child has ever received in his or her entire life.  And along with the contents of the box, the child will also receive the salvation story and will learn about our wonderful savior, Jesus Christ.  So a very special afternoon indeed.  

Our events always seem to center around a meal, and this was no exception.  First we gathered around to bless our food . . .

And then we wasted no time digging in . . .

We filled our plates and headed into the dining room . . .

Cheers!

After lunch, we cleared the plates and then covered the table with all the goodies we had collected for our shoe boxes . . .

Looking down the table from one end

And then from the other.

Ready?  Let the box stuffing begin . . .

This was really fun!

The boxes were filled with school supplies, personal care items, toys and games, and for the boys - useful tools like hammers, screwdrivers, pliers and measuring tapes, and for the girls - sewing supplies like scissors, needles, thread, pins and tape measures. 

Our finished shoe boxes

Next it was time for a gift exchange for us . . .

Look at these beautiful packages

But first . . . . dessert . . .

Apple Dumplings and Ice Cream - Yum!

And . . . look at the cute cookie tins, filled with chocolate chip cookies, that Shelly and Annie brought each of us . . .

We are spoiled, for sure!

After our tummy's were stuffed again, it was time to play a game to exchange our gifts.

We each picked up the gift we had brought

And Bonnie read a "Left-Right" game

Every time she said the word "left", we passed our gift to the left, and every time she said "right", we passed our gift to the right.  It got pretty crazy for awhile, but finally, we each ended up with a gift that we got to keep . . .

We took turns opening our beautiful packages . . . . And here's what we each received . . .

Shelly

Joy

Annie

Debbie

Marie

Carol

Tina

Seema

Merry Christmas to us!

Standing - Tina, Shelly, Seema, Debbie, Carol, Marie   Sitting - Joy, Bonnie, Annie

What a fun day!  Can't wait to do this one again next year!