Donn Zver Pottery

In 2012, I attended a special event which celebrated Donn Zver's 40th anniversary as a potter. To thank his customers for their patronage, Donn Zver hosted a complimentary "Royal Tea" at his Cafe Troy in Troy, Ontario.

Donn Zver (right) wearing the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal that was awarded to him on June 24, 2012 in recognition of his outstanding charitable work and contributions to the arts. You can learn more about Donn Zver's accomplishments here.
  

The buffet of sandwiches and sweets.

Cafe Troy serves locally-raised food and has been awarded a Certificate of Excellence by Trip Advisor.

 A "Royal Tea" wouldn't be complete without empire cookies!

Queen Elizabeth II would have approved of the guests' pretty tea hats!

The Cafe has gorgeous stained glass windows. You can view the stained glass design in more detail here.

Tea is served from Donn Zver's stoneware teapots.

I love Don Zver's beautiful pottery, but always thought that the pricey pieces were beyond my reach...until this past summer. 

I was driving home and passed a house which had several boxes sitting by the curb. My curiosity was piqued so I turned my car around and went back to check out the boxes. I recognized the Donn Zver pattern immediately and couldn't believe that the pieces--all in excellent condition--were being thrown away!

These Game of Thrones-style goblets came home with me...

...as well as these beautiful tankard mugs in my favourite colour: PURPLE!

The Donn Zver backstamp

The tankard mug is twice the size of a standard bone china teacup and perfect for drinking copious amounts of tea during the cold winter.

If you like pottery, come out for a daytrip to rural Southern Ontario and visit the Donn Zver Pottery Studio and Cafe Troy.

I'm joining the following parties this week:

Tea Time Tuesday

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

  Friends Sharing Tea
Mosaic Monday

Women are Persons!

October 18th is Persons Day in Canada. This annual celebration commemorates the historic ruling made by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of Great Britain (the highest court appeal at that time) on October 18, 1929 which declared that women are "persons" under Canadian law and qualify to become members of the Canadian Senate. 

This milestone victory for Canadian women's rights was led by Emily G. Murphy, Nellie McClung, Irene Parlby, Henrietta Muir Edwards, and Louise McKinney who became known as the Famous Five.

The Women are Persons! Monument in Olympic Plaza, Calgary, Alberta (photo taken in 2012)

The bronze statues of the Famous Five were erected to commemorate their historic win of the "Persons" case. Nellie McClung (left) shows Irene Parlby (right) the newspaper headlines announcing the court's decision in favour of the Famous Five. Not pictured: Emily G. Murphy

The Women are Persons! Monument in Olympic Plaza, Calgary, Alberta (photo taken in 2012)

Henrietta Muir Edwards (left) and Louise McKinney (right) celebrate with a tea party (my kind of gals!)! The bronze cups and and saucers were a nod to the "pink teas" held by suffragists so that they could get together and plan their campaign for female equality without getting disrupted by the opposition.

The Women are Persons! Monument in Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario (photo taken in 2015)

Emily G. Murphy (left) invites the Ottawa tourists to take a seat and join the Famous Five. I would definitely join them for a cup of tea!

As a tribute to the Famous Five's pink teas, I am sharing some of the pink teawares in my collection. The Fiestaware pink teapot was an online purchase from a few years back.

This teacup once belonged to a friend of a woman that I met at work. I never actually met the friend (who was downsizing her collection) so I was touched that she gifted me such a beautiful teacup!

I love the soft pink shade and and pretty yellow flowers.

I think that the Colclough backstamp is from the late 1940s.

Let's raise our teacups to the Famous Five for championing the rights of Canadian women!

The following 6-minute video presents a nice summary about the "Persons" Case (first 2 minutes) and the Famous Five (last 4 minutes).

I'm joining the following parties this week:

Tea Time Tuesday

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

  Friends Sharing Tea
Tea Cup Tuesday
Mosaic Monday

Teacup Exchange: Family Ties

Last month, I participated in The Enchanting Rose's 7th teacup exchange. Major props go out to our awesome hostess, Stephanie, for the tremendous work that she put into organizing this season's exchange which has grown to 150 participants! Thank you for allowing me join all the fun, Stephanie!

I sent a teacup to the lovely Michele from The Finch Rest who sent me this pretty thank you card. You can view the package that I sent Michele by visiting her blog.

I was delighted to receive this wonderful package from Kelly, a fellow Ontario resident who also happens to be Stephanie's aunt!

 

I love all things purple so I was thrilled to receive this beautiful teacup decorated with pretty violets.

 

The Royal Albert "Purple Violets" teacup is the perfect addition to my mostly pink teacup collection!

The delicious "Very Berry" herbal tea is perfect for sipping in the late afternoon/evening.

The tea towel that Kelly sent me is super special because it was crafted by Kelly's mom--Stephanie's Grandma Betty! What a great honour to be gifted a handiwork of the woman who instilled the love of crafting and sewing in Stephanie. Moreover, we wouldn't have these fun teacup exchanges if Stephanie hadn't started her blog in honour of Grandma Betty. Thank you for the wonderful gifts, Kelly!

The four teacups that I've received from the teacup exchanges. 

Each teacup is beautiful and unique--just like their senders!

Special shout-outs to my swap partners from the last three exchanges:
Sandra, Nicole, Sarah, Nancy, and Lynn!

I'll always be grateful to Stephanie for connecting me to such lovely ladies.

Please visit The Enchanting Rose to see the other fun teacup exchanges!

The Enchanting Rose's Teacup Exchange #7 Reveal

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

 

I have limited autumn-themed decor so I was delighted to receive this adorable pumpkin teapot from a friend a few years ago.

The beautifully sculpted ceramic teapot was made by Kaldun & Bogle.
The cute leaf napkin underneath the teapot was recently gifted to me by a new blogger friend.

This Royal Grafton teacup was another thrift store find years ago.

The teacup had been repurposed by the previous owner into a candle!

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends!

I'm joining the following parties this week:

Tea Time Tuesday

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

  Friends Sharing Tea
Tea Cup Tuesday
Mosaic Monday

The Ones that Got Away

Have you seen the funny Winners commercial airing on TV this year?

I can totally relate to the shopper's remorse! Oftentimes, my shopping indecisiveness becomes another buyer's gain who will snatch the tea set while I'm still debating (Do I really need it? Where will I store it?) over the purchase...

Many a teawares have gotten away from me because I put them back on the shelf. A recent example of my failure to follow Karen's Cottage and Castle mantra, "Get it or regret it!" occurred a few weeks ago at a church rummage sale where tea sets were on sale for only $2! I was "thinking" about a couple of Aynsley teacups which quickly got snagged by other shoppers. D'OH!

I did bring home one tea set: a mismatched Royal Albert teacup and snack plate.

The snack plate's Royal Albert design is called "Memory Lane" and is decorated with blue and purple flowers.

The teacup's Royal Albert's "Brigadoon" pattern features thistles--the national flower of Scotland. I thought that the teacup and plate's blue flowers blended beautifully together.

I also tried to exercise some restraint when David's Teas released their fall teas collection last month. Because I have a sweet tooth and love the combo of chocolate and peanut butter, I had to sample the new Peanut Butter Cup herbal tea.

 

Interestingly, it's completely peanut-free. The main ingredients are: almonds, chocolate, and cocoa. The delicious scent of chocolate and peanut better reminded me more of a Butterfinger than Reese's Peanut Butter Cups though...

This nutty dessert tea was definitely a sweet treat!

The Peanut Butter Cup tea is also delicious with milk!

What's the strangest tea that you've ever tried?

I'm joining the following parties this week:

Tea Time Tuesday

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

  Tea in the Garden
Tea Cup Tuesday
Mosaic Monday