Yay – our Traveling Teacup is off for another round of tea and friendship with a lovely new M&T reader, Dolle! And even better, she gets to spend her visit with one of Dolle’s very special teacups! They’re quite the pair, and I can’t wait for you to read all about it. But first, let’s catch up with our teacup’s previous travels.
Back to the exciting beginning!
If you’re just joining us in our tea and friendship journey, check out this post for the exciting beginning of The Traveling Teacup. What started as a photo challenge in May of 2020 has turned into a multi-year tour of cities, countries, and charming hosts!
Our little teacup was named Rosie, then Tessa, then Tessa Rose by her hosts, and traveled pretty steadily for over a year.
(She still goes traveling whenever she gets an invitation, so if you’d like to have her visit, feel free to let me know in the comments below, via the contact page, or just send me an email to barbara@mantelandtable.com.)
Oh the places she’s been for tea and friendship!
Tessa Rose traveled to a new place every two weeks during that first year, so our map filled up! You can see her first 26 stops in this post, the last of year one.
The map for year two and onward is below, and here are all her stops since then:
- A gorgeous farm in Estacada OR, the home of brilliant blogger, table stylist, and entrepreneur Renae Frey.
- An exciting train ride to Santa Fe NM with the always fun and creative Albuquerque blogger, Jeanne Washburn.
- Amherst OH and the home of talented tea-loving Renaissance Woman and Mantel and Table reader, Valerie.
- A Stop in Ooltewah, TN over the Memorial Day Weekend to visit Lilly, a nursing professor and fellow tea lover.
- A lovely tour of Paducah KY with fabulous cook, writer, and food & lifestyle blogger Leslie Watkins.
- Montz LA for a visit with Tracie, who shared her beautiful home, even in extra rainy weather.
- Largo FL to share a great new Halloween tradition with M&T reader Corrine and her new husband.
- Historical St Mary’s City, MD as a guest of Tammy, lovely author of the White Lilac Farmhouse blog.
- Harrisburg, OR to bake some delicious scones with beautiful Melody at Two Mums Takeaway Tea Boxes.
- The amazing Montana ranch of entertainer extraordinaire, Alexis, a long-time M&T reader who’s become a great friend.
Next Stop for tea and friendship – Azle, TX!
So with that, TR is off to Azle, TX, a 1542 mile journey south and east. Rosie has visited the great state of Texas several times – the closest she’s been to Dolle was Dallas back at stop 17 – and she’s happy to be back!
Dolle has given us a wonderful account of their visit, so I’ll let her do most of the story telling. Here we go!
TR’s Arrival and an evening with the bunny in the curio cabinet
Thank goodness Tessa Rose had a guaranteed late arrival reservation here in North Texas since she arrived fairly late in the day. Tired from being packed in her traveling box, Tessa was eager to settle in for her visit and introduction to a new teacup the next morning.
Perched on a small cake stand and nestled in with my Mom’s teapot and a seasonal rabbit that loves the curio cabinet this time of year, Tessa drifted to sleep for much needed rest.
Meeting Dainty Rose, another beautiful teacup
Tessa’s introduction to Dainty Rose went exactly as planned. Dainty Rose (Royal Essex Bone China) has been a part of my life for nearly 25 years. Dainty arrived at a time of great trouble and many questions about the future. Some turbulence in life is expected. But sleepless nights had led to stressful days and clarity was elusive.
Then my sister with insight beyond her years (she is, after all, 10 years younger) gifted me Dainty Rose to be filled with tea sipped each evening before bedtime. Cups of tea in such a pretty teacup offered quiet insights to help sort out troubles and find the path forward.
Tessa Rose, from her many traveling adventures, was a gracious listener as Dainty Rose related stories of the many cups of tea and some tears over the years that had knitted such a close bond with me.
Tessa Rose shared that she had come to realize during her travels that kindness and grace in life are essential, and a beautiful teacup can provide valuable comfort, hope, and peace wherever she is. Tessa and Dainty became true sisters after their shared tales of the power of a teacup for casting off woes and finding inspiration.
Tea and friendship on the shelf
Being such friends now, Dainty invited Tessa to stay in the guest room with her. She had her own lovely space just above Dainty’s spot. I’m pretty sure the sister rose teacups talked late into the night.
The teacups go outdoors
The next day, the teacups decided to tour the grounds outside.
Don’t these two look like they’re whispering together? I love this beautiful picture, and if I were a children’s book writer, I’d totally use it as inspiration! 🙂
Texas bluebonnets in full bloom provided a stunning backdrop for shared stories of Tessa’s remarkable adventures.
Even the herb and radish bed took notice of the beautiful teacups perched on their edge, and listened in while laughter danced between the rose teacups.
A visit to the wildflower field
Time to share passed way too quickly for Tessa and Dainty. Before heading home, Tessa took a final peek at the calming wildflowers, telling Dainty she would love to visit again someday.
Without doubt, Tessa is always welcome. The rose sisters agreed sharing their experiences was a grand slice of life. They marveled how fortunate they are to provide comfort, hope and inspiration to all who cross their paths.
Such are the wishes for all teacups and people.
Tessa jumped in her travel box for her journey home, content that kindness and joy had been both shared and found.
Thank you Dolle for all the tea and friendship!
Oh my – what a beautiful story, and beautiful photos too! Thank you so much Dolle, for hosting our teacup and sharing such a wonderful time with us! Tell Dainty we all say Hi, and hope we can meet again someday.
Teacup Shopping
If you love teacups as much as I do and want to start or add to your collection, Click HERE for the Shopping Page. Then scroll down and click on the picture of the teacup.
This post includes affiliate links for your shopping convenience. If you click on a link and end up buying anything from that site, I get a small commission with no extra cost to you. It’s a Win-Win, and helps cover the cost of publishing Mantel and Table. (You can read the whole disclosure policy here.) Thanks so much for shopping with me!
And remember, a portion of anything you buy from MANTELandTABLE.com goes to Habitat for Humanity and Proud Ground. With our purchases, we get to help people build homes for their own mantels and tables!
Pin the Tea and Friendship post for later
I would love to show Tessa Rose around Faulkner County Arkansas , especially our beautiful mountains. There are so many amazing things to share it would be impossible to list them all.
All the travels have been awesome so far & I would Iove to have the opportunity to share in Tessa’s travels.
Hi Marsha! I’d love to have Tessa Rose visit you! Faulkner County sounds fabulous! I’ll send you an email in the next couple days with the details. Thanks so much – I’m so exctied to see what you two get up to! More soon –
B.
Please send infirma
Hi Barbara! This is such a fun series and the pictures and stories are always amazing. If Tessa Rose has time in her busy itinerary we would love to have her over here. I saw that she has already been to the Bay Area in Northern CA, and it might not be as exciting as some of the other amazing destinations, but we would do our best to entertain her. Lmk if we can be added to the list. Have a fabulous day- MaryJo
Oh yaay – that would be wonderful if you wanted to host our Traveling Teacup! I’ll send you an email with the details and we can take it from there. It’s really been so much fun, and I’m sure she’ll have a fabulous time with you revisiting NorCal! Watch your InBox! 😊🍵
These are such beautiful photos, especially those taken outdoors! What a great adventure!
Aren’t those lovely pictures? It’s so fun to see a the differet places our teacup gets to go, and this was a beautiful stop. I’d love to sit out in that flower field myself! 😊🌷 Take care down there!
What an absolutely charming idea to send a tea cup on a cross country adventure. I really enjoyed seeing that lovely cup in so many beautiful settings. Because I harvested my first radishes today, grown in a container out on my deck, the tea cup out in the radish fields gave me quite a smile today. Fun post!
Hi Pattie! We’ve been having so much fun with our little Traveling Teacup! 😊 How cool that you can harvest your own food from the deck! It’s great what you can grow in small spaces. Thanks so much for stopping by – hope you have a wonderful week!
Tessa had a great adventure with Dainty.
The flowers are beautiful.
Hi Cindy! Aren’t those lovely? Makes me want to go sit out in a field all afternoon and drink tea! 🤣 Thanks so much for stopping by – it’s always great to see you!
How fun to see Tessa out on the road again and with a friend. How fun!
It IS so fun – you hosts always treat her to such a wonderful time, and I love the addition of a friend during her visit with Dolle! 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping over and saying hi! 💛
Tessa Rose and her dainty new friend seem very well suited for one another. What a lovely and fun visit she must have had!
I think it is AWESOME “she” is still traveling so much. Bless you, dear friend, for continuing this fun. It is so unique and sweet and lovely.
Hugs.
Have a wonderful weekend!!!!
Hi Michele! Isn’t it fun? I’m still in awe that her travels have lasted so long. It’s not as busy as when you had her, but she’s been out a couple times this year, and it’s always such a blast to see her adventures! So sweet of you to pop over. I hope you’re enjoying your spring over there! 💗
Another great adventure and new friendship! Such a fun series Barbara, I know you’ve enjoyed meeting so many new friends and visiting their spaces!
Hi Jenna! I really have, and it’s so much fun to share the trips with you all! 😊 Thanks for following along, my friend, and Happy Mother’s Day!
Barbara, I am so glad that Tessa, aka Rosie, aka TR, is continuing her travels – this is just so much fun! It was a long trip but well worth it – Dolle and Dainty were fabulous hosts! Dolle’s pictures are beautiful and the bluebonnets and wildflowers are gorgeous. Those two teacups look wonderful together and thank you and Dolle for sharing another great adventure!
Hi Kim! Those two teacups really do look like great friends, don’t they? It’s just so much fun to see all the different adventures with different hosts. I’ll never forget the snowstorm that hit while you had her! I’m so glad you got to the post office and back through everything! 💗 Thanks as always for sharing the journey! Happy Friday and weekend my friend!