Monday, July 27, 2015

If I Could Fly | A Year In The World



Tea Cup Collection

If you can have some sort of super power, what would you like it to be?

If I could fly, I would travel the world.
Little wonder I was attracted to this book the instant I saw it in the library.  What a great title! - "A Year In the World." It invokes wanderlust and adventure... lot's of adventure.  Have you heard about or read this book?  What do you think?

Tea Cup Collection


Speaking of flying, I would like to share with you my one and only aviary tea cup for our Tea Cup Tuesday.  This cup is made in England by the Queen Anne company.   It is part of a five-teacup-and-saucer lot I got from ebay almost 7 years ago.  The seller was from Australia.  Isn't it wonderful to think how this tea cup flew around the world to reach me?
~*~
Frances Mayes is well read.  She would often have a quote from a book or an author ~ of differing styles and backgrounds, in wide array of subjects and literary forms.  I think one of them is definitely the dictionary, lol.  That is the opinion of myself, of course, whose language-of-the-heart is not English.  I had to consult the dictionary more than half the time.  There is a certain comfort in reading from a book-bound edition, but I had to switch to an ebook a few pages in as it made it easier to get word definitions.

Most of the time, I find myself drifting into daydreams.  The book is very interesting, that is why I daydream - about how I'd feel... or eat... or drink, if I were in her shoes, walking the path she is walking... on the place she is wandering about... or how I would write about my own adventures if this were my book.  Other times, I drift into memories - when everything in the "west" were new in the eyes of a girl from the east {Philippines.}

She says "Travel releases spontaneity."   I believe that.  When hubby and I went to Rome and we don't know where else to wander to, he thought of taking the subway and see what 'trouble' we could get into from there.  Spontaneous for one who always want to be sure where he's going or what he's doing. We decided we'd alight in a stop called "Flaminco"  I thought it sounded like "flamingo," fun :-)  And adventure it was for we saw there a landmark in Rome, something we would have been sad to miss.

Frances continues: "You become a godlike creature full of choice... You open, as in childhood, and - for a time - receive this world.  Free to go, free to return..."  Oh, if one isn't so worked up about how others would perceive her, would be free to show all the excitement that she feels deep inside - as in childhood :-)

About language, she writes: "When traveling, you have the delectable possibility of not understanding a world of what is said to you.  Language becomes simply a musical background for watching bicycles zoom along a canal, calling for nothing from you."  Doesn't that speak to you?  Until, when in Valencia, it's time to order some tea and pastries and the girl at the counter could understand no English, then you would pull out some meager Spanish from the recesses of your brain.  Sometimes speaking some Tagalog hoping that it means something in Spanish, haha...

Tea Cup Collection

Sometimes though, she would write her experiences and feelings in a very poetic (literary) way that I don't exactly understand what she means: "Free to go, free to return home bringing memories to lay on the hearth."  Memories on ashes in a fireplace, maybe? Okay, what does that mean?

Overall, I think its a wonderful read.  After all, someday, I would love, if I can fly, to spend a year in the world :-)



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I am joining these lovely blog parties:
Vintage Inspiration Party   |   Our World Tuesday | The Enchanting Rose | Rose Chintz Cottage: Tea Time Tuesday | Antiques and Tea Cups: Tuesday Cuppa Tea | Bernideen's Tea in the Garden on Friend's Sharing Tea  Tea Cup Tuesday on Martha's Favorites A Return to Loveliness by A Delightsome Life |



30 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for sharing at Vintage Inspiration Party. Love your sweet tea cup and saucer. :-)

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    1. Hi Betsy, thank you so much for allowing me to share :-)

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  2. Hi Maya. I LOVE your teacup! I love birds on cups. I haven't read that book, but others by her, so will look for it. Where in the Philippines? I was an exchange student in 1964 to Dagupan City in Pangasinan. Have a great week, and thanks for linking to Tuesday Cuppa Tea!
    Ruth

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    1. Wow, really? I lived not too far from Dagupan City. It's called Baguio City. My aunt lives in Dagupan and we sometimes visit her... nice beaches there :-)

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  3. Haven't read that book yet though I've watched Under the Tuscan Sun, which is really a delightful story. Someday I'll try to read that.
    I would also love to spend a year in the world. I'll fly without wings...hehehe......
    Your tea set is so lovely! I love the prints on them.

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    1. Yes that is very true, we could fly without wings... hehehe... :-)

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  4. Such a lovely teacup! The little robin reminded me of the robin in The Secret Garden that shows Mary the way into the hidden garden.

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  5. What a great title for a book.

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  6. What lovely images! Your teacup is so very pretty, I do so love when wonderful things fly their way to me...
    www.lisarusso.com

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  7. Very elegant and creative photography !

    Happy Week to you,
    artmusedog and carol

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  8. Maya, I absolutely ADORE your teacup! My uncle who grew up in England says the English robins are really sweet and look about the size of a chickadee but of course the colours of the robin. He really misses them. I haven't read the book but it sounds interesting. I don't travel very well so I get my many adventures from reading books. I enjoy how they can whisk me away to another place or time. Thanks for joining me for tea and have a lovely week.

    Blessings,
    Sandi

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  9. Travel is such a great teacher. Your tea set is wonderful. How nice that you collect them. You can even have your own tea shop someday.

    Worth a Thousand Words

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    1. Oh thank you. I dream, someday, I would indeed have my own tea shop. That would just be amazing! :-) I enjoy your travel photos as well... love looking at your photos :-)

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  10. It would be a very interesting book "A year in the World" I have read Frances Mayes other books so must search this one out. Such a pretty tea-cup I hope you use it often.

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    1. Thanks Dianne. For sure, this tea cup will have a lot of good use, and hopefully, it will acquire lots of memories.

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  11. Yes, flying would certainly be a great superpower, but I'll have to stick to airplanes. Have a great week!

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    1. Oh yes, airplanes, lol... My friend called that "flying without wings." That is grand indeed. But if i had wings then I won't have to pay for flights... hehehe... Oh I wish air fare were much cheaper :-)

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  12. Oooh, I love armchair travel books so I definitely need to check out A Year in the World!

    What a lovely teacup! Glad it survived its journey from down under!

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  13. The Tea cup is very pretty!
    Have a Great Week!
    Peace :)

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  14. Very pretty!
    I hope you'll stop by this week's linkup:
    http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2015/07/variations.html

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    1. Oh thanks a lot. I'm going to link right away, lol :-)

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  15. So nice to meet you at Tea Cup Tuesday. What a sweet tea cup you have. I often wish to "fly" with the packages I mail. My vintage goodies go all over while I stay here with my cup of tea.

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  16. I've just come from Rome, actually, from all over Italy. We were there on a prayer journey. I am finally at point in my life where I can be used in this new way, to go where he sends me and do what he bids. Thanx for sharing this lovely post.

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  17. Your cup and saucer so dreamy and colorful with the bird image. I have never seen one with a bird on a cup. Thank you for sharing. Have you collected others with birds?.

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  18. I'm going to for Mayes' book. I like the daydreamy sound of it. Your teacup looks like a daydream, too. I would like to fly, too. The closest thing to that is coasting down a hill on my bicycle.
    Take 25 to Hollister

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  19. Hi, Maya,

    You asked about how to create a link back to your blog. This is the code.


    After the equal sign, key in the URL of your blog or blog post.
    =http://prettynailsandtea.blogspot.com>
    or
    =http://prettynailsandtea.blogspot.com/2015/07/if-i-could-fly-year-in-world.html>

    Between the brackets , key in the name of your Blog >Pretty Nails and Tea<


    Blog example: Pretty Nails and Tea
    Blog post example: Pretty Nails and Tea

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    1. Maya, the full code is not showing. Send me an e-mail -- susieeemac at gmail dot com -- so I can give you precise instructions.

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  20. Hi sweet Maya! Oh, what a wonderful post. Your images are simply lovely and my, what a charming tea cup! Thank you so much for sharing with Roses of Inspiration - I hope you're able to join us again this coming week. Hugs to you!

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  21. What a wonderful tea cup. I also love your tea book selections! This was a lovely posting!

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"Like apples of gold in silver carvings, is a word spoken at the right time." ~ Proverbs 25:11.