Wildflower Tea dedicated to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart
(Sweet Pea sets the table)
We asked Mom (aka Nanny) to hostess. The setting at Mom and Dad’s right now is lush. Dad’s rose gardens are abloom and glorious, the wildflower patches my sister planted a couple of years ago are all blooming spectacularly, and the trees provided an idylic canopy. To top it all off, Grandpa tree is in full bloom. Grandpa tree, a catalpa, is a huge tree with an enchanting, twisted looking trunk on our property – must be over 100 years old, wouldn’t you say, Mom? Every spring, catalpa trees are covered with lush, white flowers that rain down in the breeze. Magical. Simply magical. I wish you could all see Grandpa tree in the spring. So, Mom was in charge of the magical setting and…the tea. 🙂
We asked my sister, Kim, to decorate for us. Aunt Kim has a creative, artistic eye with a talent for decorating. How perfect a job for her then! As you will see from the pictures, she does not disappoint. We had a beautiful table with flowing white tablecloth set out on the watermelon porch. Kim chose wildflowers and arranged them on the table for our tea. She had a little help from my boys! 🙂 How good Kim was to let Sparkly and Peanut set out dead, crunchy, brown leaves amidst our fresh, colorful wildflowers!
(Peanut brings me some wildflowers…my heart melts!)
Aunt Pam was asked to bring a treat to share and she wowed us with her delicious whole wheat banana bread made with…what else?…wildflower honey! It was delicious. Sweet Pea and I made cucumber sandwiches – they were a huge hit with Uncle Chris! And mom, in addition to making tea for us, offered brownies – a crowd pleaser any day of the week.
(My little wildflower, growing into such a lovely young lady)
We each chose something to wear for the tea with flowers on it – Sweet Pea chose her tulip dress ( a delightful gift made by a dear friend of mine for her girls, and then kindly passed on to us – thank you J.! ). Aunt Kim also gifted Sweet Pea with some vintage gloves picked up at a flea market – you can surely imagine how Sweet Pea welcomed this treasure of femininity!
We kept the Doodlebug indoors for the tea…there will be more wildflower teas for her in years to come. She enjoyed watching us through the door though.
My sister, Kim, with Sweet Pea.
Peanut has joined us and has decided the best spot for him to reach all the yummy-licious foods is on my lap. 🙂 My brother, Chris, is there on the far right…munching all the cucumber sandwiches. And, our dear Aunt Pam is there in her glorious hat with pink scarf (which Sweet Pea fell in love with).
Left to right: Aunt Pam (my mom’s younger sister), my Dad, and my Mom. My mom is going to have a heart attack when she sees that I have uploaded a picture here…but mom, these are important memories…of you, of all of us, of this delightful tea!
My adorable Sweet Pea with Aunt Pam. Everyone is so lovely and we have enjoyed such a lovely tea.
If the wildflowers are blooming in your neck of the woods, why not consider a wildflower tea? Throw a big white sheet over an outdoor table, or make do like we did – setting out two sawhorses and a big sheet of plywood (you couldn’t tell, could you?). Offer tea and a few treats and allow the wildflowers to set the atmosphere. If you don’t have any wildflowers blooming, consider picking up a few fresh flowers at the market…splurge a little. The memorial of the Immaculate Heart is coming up on June 20, this would be a lovely way of remembering Our Lady on her memorial. Set out a beautiful statue of Our Lady and consider making a family Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart. May your Wildflower Tea be lovely, fragrant, and full of blessings!
OK is that an open invite to your house on the 20th? – I am sure my boys would love a nice wildflower tea LOL – OK maybe not. If it was a nice airsoft tea maybe. I guess I have to get me one of those girls. Were do you get them? Target had all the pretty summer girl clothes out when we went but they were all out of girls.
Looks absolutely lovely, Jen. My girls would just love something like this…
I am LOLing at your first comment, Jen. I'm sure K. would love it if I could pick up a few sisters for her at Target. 😉
What a gorgeous day. And your sister — your Sweetpea looks so much like her! Thanks for the post; I'm sure my kids will all want a peek… as soon as I can drag them out of bed this morning!!
Beautiful beautiful post and pictures Jen. I have so much I want to comment on I will take up all your blog memory. I will have to email you later when Anna is asleep. Sweet Pea is just such an elegant and beautiful young lady – looks like someone out of a Jane Austen movie!
JOY comes to mind. MEMORIES are next. What a wonderful day all had! Sweet and precious gatherings are definitely ones such as this one. Don't you just LOVE teatime with multi generations present to enjoy it together? Good job!