Whimsical ...........but why?

I have been asked several times ......... why are you tying tea cups to a tree? Until now .... I really didn't have an answer. Then last night, my friend Debbie gave me the answer.

She was looking at the tree and noticed a cup. "It reminds me of a cup that maybe my grandmother had". And then, I knew why I was tying tea cups to a tree.

So this morning, I dug in a back cupboard and pulled out a 75-year-old cup. My grandparents got these dishes soon after they were married. The dishes were a premium for buying feed. Nice wide 24 kt band of gold around the edge and pretty painted violets inside the cups and bowls.

When Gran moved in with my mother, we were cleaning out her home. No one wanted the dishes. The dishes had been stored and were very dirty. But I couldn't let them go.

I remembered all the fried chicken dinners that Gran would make on Sundays. No one fried chicken like Gran did. Maybe it was the lard ...... maybe the freshly dressed chicken. But the Colonel should have taken lessons from Gran!!! Then there would be the homemade noodles smothered in chicken gravy. Maybe a slice of ham and lots of vegetables.

Then there would be the desserts. Gran was an incredible baker. The BEST chocolate cake in the world. But my favorite was a yellow cake with a butter, egg and pecan filling. It was a refrigerated cake because of its filling. Its the reason I have hens..... cuz ya can't make that cake without really fresh farm eggs!!!!

In fact, she helped support the family in the depth of the Depression by selling eggs, butter, dressed chickens and the most wonderful cakes around. Later .... Gran decorated cakes. This was in the early 50's when Wilton didn't make "Big Bird" cake pans. She would make doll cakes, guitar cakes, piano cakes, train cakes.......... they would be our birthday presents and they were soooooo good.

But back to Sunday dinner....... all those goodies were served on the plates with the pretty painted violets. I couldn't let them go in the garbage.

So today ...... I tied one of Gran's cups to the tree. That's why I did the tree. I found the reason. To evoke memories of Sunday meals gone by........

Maybe you had fancy cups like these on Sunday or maybe like Gran's cups, they came with a bag of feed. But maybe you will look at a cup ...... and smile ..... remember.