A visit to East Tennessee and the Wild Plum Tea Room
There is nothing like a getaway to East Tennessee ...Gatlinburg...home of the Wild Plum Tea Room, which is tucked within the beauty of the Arts and Crafts trail.
This calls for girlie-girl attire...and ...of course... a girlie-girl hat....
I am not quite sure how the young people today manage to take their photo in the mirror without showing the camera/phone... I will remain a novice until someone offers a tutorial.
So here we are... and I begin immediately pointing out things we need to make...ummm...things husband needs to make... Like this sign, made from grapevine. I can just see one that reads Rose Water Cottage hanging on our fence above the cottage garden.
For, here at the cottage, there is always a tea party just waiting to happen.
Dear Sister-in-Law Bonnie had blessed us with a beribboned bakery box full of the most delicious, homemade, white chocolate raspberry scones you could ever imagine...they melted in our mouths as we sipped our beloved Earl Grey Creme tea.
Here, fellow Susan Branch girlfriends, you'll find our Emma Bridgewater tea pot, everyone fell in love with as we celebrated Valentine's Day...and the Johnson Bros. Rose Chintz china, that Sue is always including in her posts, has become our favorite, as well.
Back to the Wild Plum...
I just fell in love with this adorable "garden lady" scarecrow. I think the birds must leave her garden alone, not because they are scared, mind you, but because she is so delightfully amusing, they can't bear to hurt her feelings...
This darling teacup birdfeeder, caught my eye...
We enter, and find the guestbook on the tea cart, surrounded by sweetness...
...it is worth a trip to the tiny restroom up the stairs and under the eaves, just to see the beautiful painted floors...
...and the clever tricks for hiding toilet tissue...
But, my dear sisterfriends...it is the food that draws us back to this lovely tea room, tucked away in the hills of East Tennessee...
...'Neath beautiful trees and surrounded by flowers and ivy and moss-covered carts...
...where the sweetness of tea pot wind chimes cause a pause...
in the busy-ness that is life....
and inspires us to return to our own little worlds...our own little private tea rooms...with ideas aplenty...
Husband has completed the walkway to our front porch. Is it not the most cottage-y cottage path you could ever imagine in your dreams??
And after a cleansing shower, I feel as if I am transported across the ocean to a beautiful England...where rain ensures the most beautiful landscapes.
Happy thoughts and hopes of inspiring you in your own little cottage-y cottage tea room,
Christie