I wish you could have been at our tea on Monday. You would have smiled and laughed and eaten your fill of the most delectable food and you would have left with a sense of contentment and joy.
There were hats of every size, shape and color. From berets to bonnets, classic elegance to whimsy and humor. The ladies of the club wore their hats with their personalities. These women are gardeners. They are used to making do with what they have and they have such delightful senses of humor. It is imperative to have a sense of humor when gardening for one never knows what will turn up in a garden – or on a garden hat!
Not everyone donned a hat. Instead they wore the gloves they were married in, their grandmother’s fox wrap, or their mother-in-law’s ring. Our tea was a time for touching the past for many. 
Members were asked to bring a cup, saucer and plate. It was fun to walk around and see the various settings, from one member’s husband’s great grandmother’s Haviland china, to Depression glass and pottery, every place setting had a story to tell – and a person to tell it.
We had tea sandwiches, scones (with jam and cream), tarts and cookies and even a few mice got in. I told you. Gardeners have a sense of humor.
Of course, we had tea! Several kinds of tea, provided by Serene Tea in Elmhurst, who gave a presentation on tea; the different kinds, medicinal values of tea, tea infusers, and just about anything else about tea.
This is my hat, with a few feathers and a flower. I couldn’t decide – so I went with both. I wore my mother’s gloves and scarf, and a flower pin that Jennifer gave me a few years ago. The hat was pink felt, but, shows up as lavender in the first picture. 
What a splendid hat. Now that does show real flair- yes, that’s certainly the word! It’s so important to keep on having fun, no matter what age we are, and your gardener’s club certainly has the right idea. I like the invitation to bring a cup, saucer and plate. I still have a few that belonged to my mother, and they are very precious, bringing back memories of ‘the ladies’ coming to afternoon tea. The food in your photos looks as delicious as the hats.
Thank you. It was fun to wear, and I’m not a hat person. I knew you would feel that way about having fun as we grow older. Someone mentioned that it was like playing dress up with their mother’s clothes as a child. It was such a clever idea to “bring your own” by one of the members. It cut down on paper products, which is important environmentally as well as budget-wise, and provided such a pretty setting and interesting conversation. How wonderful it is that you still have some of your mother’s dishes.
I love your hat!!!! I’m sure you looked quite sophisticated. I know you ladies do a lot of good work, but you have found a way to make it fun, not unlike the quilting bees that Laura Ingalls would have attended.
Thank you, Janet. There you are after all these years, still trying to make me sophisticated. I love you for it, my friend, and for comparing it to Laura and quilting bees. Women have always seemed to find a way to gather together in work and fun, haven’t they? (Do you see the little candy mouse sitting beside my cup, the brown and yellow one?)
I adore the mice cookies. So creative and cute. I wonder whether I could eat them. And, thank you for the peek at all the millinery. Hats are a real weakness of mine.
Aren’t they cute, Andra? They are actually candy; chocolate covered cherries with the stem for the tail and almond slivers for ears. One of our lovely members often sneaks them in, to the delight of us all. From your pictures, I imagine you looking smashing in a hat. You are welcome.
I just love teapots and china teacups, great photos! Was the lovely china place setting with the pink flowers yours? And your hat turned out beautiful – the flower with the feathers works well! It sounds like the even was lots of fun and having been to one I know the room was full of vibrant ladies… and delicious deserts!
typo: event (not ‘even’)
Me too, Janet. That lovely set is Bev’s. Isn’t it beautiful? I couldn’t resist taking a picture of it. It was fun, especially for someone like me who doesn’t wear hats. Describing these women as “vibrant ladies” is perfect. They are vibrant, indeed.
The hat with the red bow around it has a tea bag handing from it. I just love the creativity.
typo 2: desserts …haha
I didn’t even catch it, but, I’m glad you commented again because I didn’t say thank you. You might consider coming to the spring luncheon again. It will be at the new hospital and should be very nice.
That would be great it was a lot of fun last year!
What a wonderful occasion! I would think that you are not doing much gardening right now? So what a great time to get together and warm your spirits with friendship…and great desserts! Everything looked really tasty! Your hat was really lovely, Penny, and I’m just charmed to think that everyone really got behind wearing gloves, sentimental jewelry and into the festivities, feathers and all! What a fun time…and I wish I’d been there, too! Debra
It was! No, Debra, we are not gardening as yet and still have several months to go, but, we are always, always planning. I wish you could have been here as well. I think you would like this group and all that we do.
Delectable all: tea treats, mice, and hats!
Indeed, it was all that delectable, Karen.
Dear Penny,
These photographs so enhanced your story of the tea party. Beauty in cups and saucers, food and mice, and hats galore. Thanks for sharing all this with us. It reminds me of the high tea that is offered by a tea parlor in Stillwater, Minnesota.
Penny, I want to read the Laura Ingalls Wilder books but can’t make sense from the library web site of which is first, second, etc. If you have time and the inclination, would you in your response give me a reading list for them??? Thank you.
Peace.
Ah, Dee, I will have to find that tea parlor in Stillwater on one our trips up here. I thought of you as I crossed the Mississippi from WI into MN and saw the sign for Stillwater.
The first book you should read is Little House in the Big Woods. followed by Little House on the Prairie. Big Woods is that start of the Ingalls’ journey as they gross Lake Pepin, which is a wide expanse of the Mississippi. It is a fast and easy read. The books grow in vocabulary and subject matter as they go on, but, start with those two. Farmer Boy is about Almanzo Wilder and can be read out of turn, but, do read it as well.
The warmth of the occasion comes across so clearly, Penny
What a wonderful event. So glad you had a great time.
Thank you, Kate. I appreciate that. It was such a nice event for everyone there, I think, and a reminder that we all need to make our own best times.
What a lovely occasion! An example of what we snowbirds give up — hardly anyone would have their lovely memories with them here in their little winter home….life is full of compromises.
Life is, indeed, full of compromised, Sallie and we do trade off in what our memories our, but, that boat excursion you had with friends sure sounded like a good memory to me, if a bit different from those of us up north.
Hope you are seeing more clearly each day.
Dear Penny,
I am so glad that you shared our wonderful tea time on Monday on your blog. It was an absolutely delightful time. Seeing all the ladies dressed so elegantly reminded me of my youth when I so admired my mother and her sisters who dressed beautifully and always looked so chic.
Thank you for your leadership and taking our Club to new and interesting paths. You keep us growing with care much like the plants in the gardens we so love.
Marilyn
It was too wonderful not to share with all my blogging friends, Marilyn. Wasn’t it delightfull? I thought a bit of the same thing about my mom and aunts and the “club girls”. A scarf, a hat, a bit of jewelry makes all the difference, doesn’t it?
Thank you, dear friend, though I’m only following the examples of good friends like you. You’ve touched my heart with your words. It is so much fun seeing where each one of us leads this hearty group, isn’t it?
I’m envious. What fun! Hope you’re having a good time away!
I am, Danielle, and enjoying just a few quiet moments before Kezzie is up and the fun begins anew with her. The tea was so very pleasant and one of those times that makes you just smile and sigh and know it was good – very good.
I do like a nice teapot, Penny.
I could easily steal yours!
John
Something about a teapot that makes the brew even better, isn’t it, John. The one above isn’t mine, but, one of our member’s, but, I loved it so I just had to snap a picture. I love teapots.