Two Happy Teacups Kathy Heck / Roberta Adam Owners - The Talking Teacup, Ltd. What do we have to be thankful for this Holiday season….The Talking Teacup of course! In just a few short weeks we have met so many wonderful new customers and friends.  Our Open House on Nov. 1st was much more of a success than we ever anticipated.  That morning, as we were putting the final touches on the tea room, we said; "Do you think anyone will come?"  Well, boy did they ever!  You all just kept coming, like the line from a movie "Build it and they will come".  Over 300 old and new friends turned out that day.   All our cuts, sore muscles, plastering, painting, tiling, cutting, etc. faded away as our dream finally become a reality. Our Holiday Blessing is from all of you.   Thank you so much for your enthusiasm, encouragement and support.   We're thrilled to be part of the fabric of such a wonderful community!   Tea Talk A word about Tea Did you know that tea makes a wonderfully inexpensive beauty treatment?    Here's one idea: To refresh your skin, add a handful of rose petals to a pot of black tea.   Let the roses and tea steep for about 15 minutes, then strain the tea and roses and store the liquid in the refrigerator. Later, splash the rose - scented tea on your face for an instant pick-me-up!  You'll come out smelling like roses and tingling like a crisp cup of tea! This, as well as additional tea related beauty products, can be purchased at The Talking Teacup Gift Shoppe.       Our Teacup Girl Has a Name! We're happy to announce the winner of our "Name our Teacup Girl" contest!   From the 318 entries submitted, 11 people suggested the name chosen for our Teacup Girl. Each of those 11 entries was placed into a Teapot and the winning name was then drawn.   So who is our lucky, creative winner and what's our Teacup Girl's new name.   Well, congratulations go to Bob Brunnet of Lansdale for being our winner!   The name for our Teacup Girl will forever be know as: Tessie Thank you to everyone who submitted a suggestion.  There were many cute and clever ones!  Some of our favorites included:  Little Sip, Tea-na, Chalfontea, Mrs. Chatea, Hot Shot, Anita Cup of Tea and Miss Sips J     "Opening Daze"                 Water is warming, teacups awaiting.               Favorite old chairs anticipating,               For new customers to enter,                      Sit, sip and stay,              And feel the day's dilemmas                      Slowly slipping away.                Water now singing, teacups revealing,              Favorite delights so very appealing,              For new friends have savored,                       Flavor, fragrance and fun              Now ready for the day's dilemmas                       Fondly feeling redone.                                                       Eric Heck         Chamomile Moments Stories to warm the heart Life and a cup of tea.   When things in life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the pickle jar and the cup of tea…   Grandma sat silently with her family, celebrating the occasion of her 93rd birthday.     The dinner now done the dishes now cleared, she slowly rose to make her birthday wish.   Beside her was a small tattered case that she carefully opened and from it pulled out an empty pickle jar.   With fading eyesight she proceeded to fill the jar with stones and in a soft voice asked her family to tell her when the jar was full.   "It's full now grandma!" her family finally shouted.    She then pulled from the case a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.  She shook the jar lightly and as the pebbles rolled into the open areas between the stones she asked her family if the jar was full.  They agreed it was indeed full.   Next she pulled out a box of sand and poured it into the jar.   The sand, of course, filled up everything else in the jar.  She asked once more if the jar was now full and her family replied "yes!"    She then picked up her cup of tea and with a slightly shaking hand poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.   The family laughed.   The jar was full once again.   "Now," said the old woman, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.   The stones are the important things - your family, your children, your health, your friends, your favorite passions - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full."   "The pebbles are the other things that matter, things like your job, your house, your car.   The sand is everything else - the small stuff."    "If I put the sand into the jar first," she continued, "there would be no room for the pebbles or stones.  The same goes for life.  If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.    So my dears pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.   Play with the children.   Take time to get medical checkups.   Take your partner out to dinner.   Visit your friends.   There will always be time to clean the house and wash the dishes.  Take care of the stones first, the things that really matter.   Set your priorities.   The rest is just sand." Just then, one of the grand kids spoke up and asked what the tea represented.    Grandma smiled.   "I'm glad you asked my dear.   It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a good cup of tea."     Talking Teacups   If you've joined us for Tea and had occasion to sit in our main dinning room you might have noticed the original, circa 1820's, built in cabinet.   The cabinet has open shelves on the top and those shelves hold a variety of teacups and saucers.  On a plaque across the top shelf is written:   If These Teacups Could Talk…   You might have wondered what was the significance of that statement and all those different teacups in that old cabinet.   Well, wonder no more!   While we were renovating the 250 year old Farm House which now houses our Tea Room and Gift Shoppe we decided that we wanted to use the built in cabinet for something different, something special beyond simply holding extra linens, table cloths and china.    During the many months we were planning our Tea Room, we observed that nearly everyone has an old china set somewhere at home.  Some sets are proudly displayed, others are used almost everyday, some merely sit packed away in boxes.    Those china sets all have a story, a connection, for their owners.  Perhaps they belonged to Grandma, or to a Great Aunt.  Maybe they were your mom's or a gift for your wedding gift.   Whatever the story, if those teacups could just talk, what a story they'd surely tell.     Well, now's their chance.  We invite you to bring in your favorite teacup and saucer and to write down its story.  We'll proudly display your teacup in our built in cabinet and print a few of the stories in each newsletter.  You're welcome to use your teacup when you come in for tea and of course to bring it home whenever you want.   If these teacups could talk … Well, now they can and we're listening.