Like Mitch, I had no idea that this type of plate existed, and I do love them. I also love the glass teapot - where did you find that? I use my teapot every day and should probably have another one. Are there more to the set or do you have just the rose cup and saucer/plate and the orchid cup and saucer/plate. I was wondering what other flowers the other cups might have on them. I especially like the orchid set . Lars P.S. I used to have tea parties on a regular basis when I first went to university, and I served tea from a Bavarian porcelain teapot with matching tea cups. I also had sugar cubes and sterling silver tongs for the sugar cubes. Anyone who picked up sugar cubes with his fingers did not get invited back! I had to buy little cakes at a deli, since of course I could not cook in my room, but did have an electric kettle for the tea. Here is a link that might be useful: Tea Etiquette Faux Pas This post was edited by publickman on Fri, May 31, 13 at 17:35

Red Rose tea isn't Canadian anymore, it is owned by Lipton. I didn't like it when they changed the packaging from the green and white box with the red rose to an orange coloured box. Even though I drink it still, somehow it doesn't taste the same as the old Red Rose Tea. While I was drinking my tea earlier I was thinking about mugs. When I was a child mugs were used for cocoa, coffee and shaving cream. LOL As far as dunking donuts in tea I have never done that but I used to love cookies dunked in tea and the best of all was hot toast with peanut butter dunked in my tea. I can't have anything with peanuts anymore so I really miss that. LOL Moni, my Aunt in North Bay used to have a koffeeklatsch with all the neighbour ladies. I loved it whenever I visited there.Sometimes they were more elaborate than any of the high teas I have been to. My Mom always had the ladies over for tea in our house. LOL Lori, you made me laugh because my Mom held her pinky finger up but she didn't do that until she had Alzheimers. I used to get a big kick out of it and I would ask her if she was having "tea with the Queen" LOLOL In many British families "Tea" can be a meal just like lunch is and it can be a hearty meal at that. Grandma used to say "come for your tea" which translated meant "come for lunch" Sometimes it was the heartiest meal of the day. Tea is not just a beverage, it is social gathering with friends and family. Anne

I’m assuming you are in the humid part of Texas rather than the dry if you had trouble with PdJ opening. I have both PdJ and EdL here in hot, steamy North Alabama. I’m very fond of both roses, but unfortunately in my climate, EdL isn’t much better than PdJ about balling. Neither can handle our rain and high humidity early in the season and virtually all their blooms are ruined until things really heat up. Once it’s consistently hot, the balling usually stops on both. Not this year, though. We’ve been in the mid 90’s, but have had what the local news is calling oppressive humidity levels even for us (at times as high as 98%) and a lot of short, but strong pop up showers for several weeks in a row. Many of my teas that tend to ball are still doing so this late in the season…I don’t think any amount of heat can help a baller overcome 98% humidity. I had one bloom finally open on EdL last weekend, but none that haven’t rotted on PdJ yet. Both will blackspot some here, too…but almost all roses do. My EdL is younger than my PdJ, but so far has a prettier growth habit…rounded rather than upright. I haven’t grown the others mentioned so no idea how those handle humid heat (but WOW Jeri’s pictures of Lady Roberts sure make me want to try that one!). If you’re okay with a rose that starts out with apricot tones and fades to yellow, both Lady Hillingdon and Crepuscule handle my climate very well. Crepuscule will spot some, but better resistance than PdJ, EdL or LH for me. Or if you’re okay with a rose that starts out yellow and ages to pink, Mrs Dudley Cross and Marie Van Houtte are good here (MDC is more yellow and has better bs resistance than MvH). EdL’s only bloom to actually open so far this year (7/15/17): EdL blooms quit balling in early June last year and it bloomed beautifully for the most part after that. Here’s EdL on 7/15/16: PdJ on 7/17/16, but sadly no picture worthy blooms yet this year: Crepuscule usually isn't overly apricot in our heat: Lady Hillingdon has been blooming since April this year with only a ruined bloom here and there

I drink coffee during the day and tea time is right after dinner, after the dishes are done. Before our cat died in August he would share tea time with me. He would sit in the middle of the family room floor and wait for me to finish the dishes. When I put the kettle on to boil he would move a little closer and watch. I would get out my 2 cookies (Peek Freans Lifestyle Cranberry Crunch) make my tea (Sleepytime Vanilla) and go and sit in "our" big comfy chair. He would wait for me to open my book, climb on my lap and we would have teatime and reading time together. I miss our time.