Bettysday in Central PA

Betty JoDee traded her sedate black felt hat for this rather more lavish creation.

Belated Happy Bettysday from central Pennsylvania!  Betty JoDee took me out to the Bell Mansion for a super tea party, with HATS PROVIDED! by the proprietor, a concert pianist who was enormously gracious to us.  The Bell Mansion invites patrons to choose their teacup and teapot from the extensive collection displayed on shelves and cupboards throughout the three Victorian-influenced rooms where they serve both tea and luncheon.  (The tea house doesn't seem to have a website -- I wish I'd taken a few more photos -- so the best I can do is direct you to their reviews on Yelp.)

Betty van den Betsy in tweed suit and family-heirloom necklace.

I am trekking (via motorized vehicle -- is that still trekking?) about the USA, and the JoDee family were gracious enough to put me up for my first night on the road.  A lovely family and a wonderfully comfortable stay.  Thank you to all Bettys for setting a marvelous standard of hospitality.  Photos of Betty Magdalen's pets, from a stay earlier in the summer, will come along shortly.

Striving for seriousness...

...but having too much fun for it to take, really.

What Would You Give Betty for Her Birthday?

What would one give Betty for her birthday?  I noodled on this thought a bit as I drove the socking un-great Honda Ellicott City-wards last weekend.  Betty rarely offered her heroines much in the way of imagination on gift-giving occasions.  Say it with me, everyone:  gloves, scarves, chocolates, cigars, handkerchiefs.  Brooches.  Small leather goods other than gloves.  Every now and then a small painting sneaks its way in, or a puppy, or a silver mouse tchotchke.  I confess I like my gifts to be fairly personalized, but as Betty seems to shy away from the emotionally-resonant present (that’s a double entendre), I considered:

A first edition of Jane Eyre, priced at $35,000 or €27,000 or £22,000

A more-demure-than-I-thought-commercially-available pink silk tea dress from Liberty of London.

A tweed jacket from Jaeger, in shades of pink and blue

A bottle of Harvey’s Bristol Cream Sherry, for imbibing directly or sprinkling over the trifle.

Inspired by BettyAnoninTX, a tea hamper

An antique lace hanky from Devon.

Or, I might take her jet-packing, which was the Jonkheer’s gift to me on my most recent birthday.  That’s actually one of my favorite gifts of all time.

I do like lace hankies, though -- the one above costs £175 or €220 or $282 -- and someday I shall treat myself to one of those F&M hampers.  Or maybe their rose-and-chocolate cocoa mix.

Thanks for the tip, Betty von Susie.  A Louise Green hat would indeed be a great gift; maybe this pinkish number:

Although given Betty’s preference for all things British, we might need to stick with Philip Treacey:

Betty Keira votes for an oil painting appropriate to a Devon cottage:

And Betty AnoninTX goes for pink roses (from a local Devon florist) and a kitten:

This little one is available for adoption -- you probably know that rescue cats are usually older; this one was born in May, and all its brothers have been adopted...

More Bettysday Festive-ness

Oh, joy – photos arrived this morning from Betty Adrianne and more from Betty Barbara.  Please read the previous post if you haven’t already so, so this one has at least a shot at making some sense.

I mentioned Betty Margaret/Mickie’s (She comments as Betty Margaret but in person becomes Betty Mickie.  I shall continue to use both until instructed otherwise.) beautiful peacock theme.  And then Betty Barbara told us she (Betty M/M) acquired a peacock at her country estate some years ago, when it wandered in and stayed!  For those of you wondering, peacocks are not native to the Maryland woodlands.  Anyway, with judicious cropping, I think I can show you a bit better what I’m on about ref: her outfit:

Better, right?  And there’s also a bit better a view of Betty Adrianne in her hand-knit (by her) lacey scarf, and if you peer in just to the left of Dearest Mary Jane, you can see that hand-turned (by her friend) box-elder scarf pin.  But don’t strain, as a close-up is coming.

And here we have a pair of architectural views of the peacock frou-frou or fascinator affixed to Betty Margaret/Mickie’s head in the above, built with feathers from her very own adopted peacock, Pete.  That's right, Pete the peacock:

Hands up who wants one?  (Me!  Me me me oh pick me!)

And here’s a lovely photo of Betty Adrianne in her scarf (or shawl – is that a shawl?):

I’ll take one of those, too, if anyone’s offering.

If you were wondering about the food, which was tasty but a very distant third to the company and the (very distant second) revivifying beverage:

Beginning with the lowest plate, we have some fruit, a little metal cup that used to have corn salad in it, a small cut of dilled Havarti, and a cranberry-orange scone waiting to be bedecked with clotted cream, lemon curd, strawberry conserve or some combination thereof.  On the middle level, there’s a cucumber-lavender sandwich you can barely see – a thin slice of bread, spread with cream cheese with lavender petals blended into it, and topped with a slice of cuke.  Then the round tomato sandwiches, a not-yet-empty cup of corn salad (the shadow of my hand, reaching out to sweep that middle plate clean, hovers in this photo) and a ham-and-habenero sandwich.  Up top are the sweets, which included thickly-frosted carrot cake, some little chocolate things and shortbread biscuits drizzled with ‘chocolate.’  That’s how the tearoom describes them, but I say if it’s pale orangey-yellow, it’s not chocolate.

Ignore any incidental cleavage in that photo, please.  It’s allowable in a married lady, or anyone else.

Also, if I may request this, please forgive errors, typos and oddly-placed photos.  Favorite Girl has decided opinions on the appropriate use of human laps on Sunday mornings, and computers don’t come into it.  So I had to juggle a bit...

Many, albeit belated, returns of the day, Betty

The mid-Atlantic Bettys slowly dispersed after a delightful tea party.  Army Betty drove purposefully Pentagon-wards; Betty Kathy disappeared as mysteriously as she had arrived; Betty Adrianne strolled off to poke her pretty nose into a few needlework-shop windows; Betty Barbara’s husband of never-mind-how-many years pulled the socking great Dodge up to the curb and collected his wife and her friend of schooldays Betty Margaret Mickie, and Bettys JoDee and Magdalen and I, your faithful correspondent, stood on the pavement and gossiped gently.  We had gotten to the part about the domineering-ness of the Neels heroes when Betty JoDee said, in her soft West-Texas-Country voice, “Some people only like the wimpy heroes, like Hugo.”  “Gotta go!” I cried, leaping backwards.  I surely hope those two enjoy their multi-hour drive home together...

Betty JoDee and Betty Magdalen, before the controversy began.

If I note a few of the highlights of our only-slightly-tardy celebration of The Great Betty’s 103^rd birthday, I betcha the others will chime in with their thoughts in the comments section:

Best hat:  Betty JoDee’s, as shown above.  Not only is it a useful shade of gray that is actually more an attractive shade of silvered lavender; not only does it have that great bow; but also – when Bettys Magdalen and van den Betsy started a discussion that meandered gently down the back alleys of Brighton, Betty JoDee was able to pull that topper right down to her nose, covering her old-fashioned ears to avoid be-sulliement.   Yay for hats!

Most talented:  Betty Adrianne was wearing a gorgeous shawl she’d knitted herself.  I know nothing about knitting, but this one was lacey and light and complicated looking, and really beautiful.  Also, she’d used some kind of needle-craft implement as a stickpin, for bonus chic points.

Best show-and-tell:  Army Betty brought her Bosnia souvenirs, which invoke Yeats’s “terrible beauty,” plus lots of photos of her time in Sarajevo.  There’s one that shows a parking lot with a low white building behind which lies the courtyard described in her earlier comment!  Betty Adrianne had photos of the manor in her husband’s ancestral English village, plus an Aga.  We hope she will send them to Betty Debbie for future BitW posting.  Betty JoDee claims to have BitW pix from her most recent foray across the pond; we shall see if we ever get to see them.

Betty Adrianne – if a photo that shows her scarf better crops up, I’ll post it – and Army Betty in leopard print.

Most generous:  Betty Barbara brought about two dozen surplus novels.  Betty JoDee scooped several, and Army Betty took a couple of handfuls.  The lucky thing estimates she’s only read about 40 so far.  Betty JoDee brought hand-made and delightful Betty-quote bookmarks.

Best invitation:  Betty Magdalen will apparently give any of us traveling through her neck of Pennsylvania a bedsitting room with en suite bathroom for a night.  I inferred that breakfast might be included in the offer, and am trying to figure out how one makes the basis for a claim that profiteroles are a breakfast food.

Best sport:  Betty Margaret, who’s clearly not the, uh, enthusiast others of us are, and only managed a few minutes conversation about her sci-fi favorites.  She also qualifies for best-coordinated, as her peacock-print dress was perfectly complimented by a peacock-feather fascinator.  Ohmagudnetz, it was lovely.

Best surprise:  Betty Kathy!  A lurker!  She just showed up, and thanks to Betty Sue we had an extra place at the table as Betty Sue RSVP’d late and then didn’t make it.  Not meeting Betty Sue was the un-best surprise, but we’ll get you next time – maybe at Army Betty’s NoVA Halloween party, which I plan to attend costumed as a devoted family retainer and flummox everyone but the hostess.

Betty Magdalen, Betty Margaret in peacockery, and half of Betty Kathy.

Best hilarious moment:  Betty Kathy, asked why she lurks and doesn’t comment, said something like, “I just don’t have anything very witty to add.”  If there’s such a thing as ladylike guffawing, that’s how the table responded; I had to stuff most of my napkin in my throat to arrest the chortles.  “That’s never stopped any of the rest of us,” was the general consensus.

Best not-entirely-delicate gobbling:  Me!  For scarfing down three tomato sandwiches, two cucumber-lavender sandwiches (yummy), two dishes of delicious corn salad, and a scone with both cream and lemon curd.  Plus a pot and a half of tea.

Let’s see – L to R, we’ve got Betty Barbara, Betty Jodee, Betty van den Betsy, Betty Magdalen, Betty Margaret, Betty Adrianne, Army Betty and Betty Kathy.

So this runs Betty Margaret, Betty Kathy, Army Betty, The One True Betty (present on paper, thanks to Betty Debbie's inspired idea of Betty-on-a-stick, though I didn't get as far as the stick), Betty van den Betsy, Betty Adrianne, Betty Magdalen, Betty Barbara and Betty JoDee.

Resolved:  We’ll do it again sometime!

Many thanks to Bettys Barbara and Margaret/Mickie for the photos.  If any of the rest of you have more to share, please do send them along and I'll post them with more non-witty commentary.

Please join us for a belated Bettysday in Maryland

Calling all mid-Atlantic Bettys!  (Betties?)  In celebration of The One True Betty's 103rd birthday, we will be convening over afternoon tea at 3:00pm on Saturday 22 September at Tea on the Tiber in Ellicott City, Maryland, just west of Baltimore.  (And, ohmagudnetz, those of you who can't make it to Maryland but are in the USA, Canada or UK can find a tearoom at http://www.teamap.com!  It's not entirely complete, but I'll be surprised if it doesn't offer you a new suggestion or two in your neck of the woods.)

Please RSVP in the comments section below so we have the right size table and enough chairs and scones.  Betty van den Betsy will make the reservation, in the name of Neels, so you can just arrive at TotT at 3:00pm and declare yourself one of the Neels party.  If people want to show up before 3:00pm and browse the shops and shoppes of Ellicott City, feel free to make meet-up arrangements in the comments section.  Finally, if you want to try to set up something in another region via the comments section, go nuts.  We've got Texans, we've got Great-Lakers, we've got PacNorthwesterners, and we have got a *whole lot* of lurkers.

Jersey dress optional.

Betty in the Wild - Ellicott City

We need a few items to refurbish the living room, so a few weekends ago I headed off to Ellicott City, Maryland, about an hour up the highway from DC and renowned for its quaintness and antique shops.  Sadly, I got there at about 4pm on a Saturday, and it turns out the town more or less closes at 5pm.  Humph.  Tea on the Tiber, the Victorian tearoom next the Tiber River (more like a creek at this point) turned me away, as they serve their teas at noon and 3pm only, and had no more scones.  Harumph!  Who has tea before 4:00pm?

Their loss, as I found a wide variety of teas, a delicious egg salad sandwich and a beautiful though gelatinous (viz, not tasty) chocolate cake practically next door, at the Bean Hollow coffee shop.  So neener.

I brought A Winter Love Story and The Vicar’s Daughter along for inspiration, as they both include our heroine getting to furnish a charming abode with the help of a healthy checkbook (i.e., his).  Given the health of my checkbook, I probably should have made it Dearest Love or No Need to Say Goodbye.

I did get to browse around one antique shop and a good thrift store (difference between ‘antique’ and ‘used’ furniture, anyone?), and determined to return.

Ellicott City is actually a lot more beautiful than quaint:  19^th-century buildings, mostly brick and stone, hugging a narrow, winding and steep Main Street with hills or maybe small mountains drawing one’s gaze to the horizon.

Wonder of wonders, over Labor Day weekend the Jonkheer took it into his head to focus on the furniture project – and he is a man of impressive focus.  We went to four mainstream furniture stores on Saturday, to get some ideas on styles we could both bear, and prices neither of us could.  On Monday, we visited a couple of modern-furniture stores (the Jonkheer as appalled as TGB would be), a couple of cheap-stuff places, and two thrift shops.  In between, on Sunday, we hit every shop in Ellicott City.  We began by fortifying ourselves with tea.  That’s right; having learned my lesson, I made a point of showing up early at Tea on the Tiber and demanding scones.  And though those scones were lemon-coconut (coconut!  bleah!), they were delicious, as were the tomato sandwiches, the date-and-cream-cheese sandwiches, and the truly fantastic cucumber-and-melon salad in a little metal cup.

In keeping with my plan to read the finalists over the weekend, I brought along the Top Two – didn’t get much reading done, though...

TotT advertises itself as ‘Victorian,’ and the rooms are impressively stuffed with knick-knackery.  The hostesses wear fascinators (those mini-hats that are mostly fluffy bits of tulle), and the poor waitresses wear black dresses just below the knee with full, white, ruffled aprons.  There may have been mob caps.  Tip extra.

And now, off to the shops!  One of my favorite finds was this 1950s/60s sewing machine in a shade of lime green not done justice in the photo (sorry).  I was thinking of Betty Keira’s tale of becoming a pleat-sewing runway star through the $5 machine she picked up at Goodwill – but that’s not what the shop had in mind for this beauty, as the label makes clear.

Fortunately, there was another option...

Four bucks for this one...

Two very Betty moments presented themselves – one in the form of a pleated dress (not a nightgown; that’s a dress) that made me think of Betty’s favorite, Gina Fratini.

This dress (not nightgown) is actually by the firm Gunne Sax.  Anybody?  Anybody?  By furrowing my brow and pressing hard on my temples, I can remember Gunne Sax, by Jessica McClintock.  Many, many 1970s US high-school girls wanted to wear one of these to the prom.

Even better was this lovely scene.  The lampshade, white on the outside, is lined with pink!!  I should have bought it, shouldn’t I?  I didn’t even think to check the price.  O, woe.

Finally, and with really no reference to Betty that I can think of, I just had to snap a shot of this:

That’s right, a 17-year old six-pack of Coca-Cola, celebrating baseball’s Cal Ripken.  He played for the Baltimore Orioles, so maybe someone in Maryland would actually want this?

Bettys Magdalen, JoDee, Army and Barbara and whoever else is in the neighborhood – Bettysday in Ellicott City?

Incidentally, we didn't actually purchase any furniture.