We started off with a glass of champagne (my third of the day, believe it or not, as Barb had served some with orange juice when she made me a french toast brunch earlier in the day and then her brother and his partner opened a bottle when we dropped in there in the early afternoon!)
We had a choice of 14 different teas - Barb picked Vanilla Bean and I chose Lemon Verbena. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I don't drink tea so I chose this one only because that was the name of the perfume that the teacher wore in the Little House in the Prairie books! It was described in the menu as "a blend of lemon verbena, lemon grass and lemon balm for a soothing, calm effect". It turned out to be quite tasty.
After that, we indulged in a traditional afternoon tea, beginning with scones (vanilla buttermilk and maple date flavours, mmm) served with saugeen honey butter, homemade strawberry jam and heavy cream.
That would have been plenty but we also received ten different kinds of savories and sweets (served on tiered stands, one for each of us), most of which we quite enjoyed (Barb wasn't too keen on the trout and apple salsa on toast but I liked it, and I'm not much for fish as a rule).
The main house was built in 1902 in the Federal Revival style. It is quite beautiful, and especially so this time of year, with all the Christmas decorations. Including this lovely tree in the parlour that leads into the main dining room:
which was exactly tall enough to touch the ceiling!
When we left around 6 p.m., the fireplaces were all aglow:
the pool table was awaiting players:
they were preparing to serve hors d'oeuvres in this room:
and the dining room was set for dinner:
The house was all lit up outside as well:
What a lovely birthday celebration it was! Many thanks to my long time and dear friend Barb for this unexpected treat.
1 comment:
Sounds lovely. You have some special friends.
Post a Comment