Monday, August 25, 2014

Tea Time!

In the past, our Tea with Bean (and Wylla) guests have traveled great distances to dine with us, but this year, both guests were Tacoma residents.   Rebecca was our auction winner and her guest was her friend, Traci.

Though we've never met in person before, we do know Rebecca because during a previous year's fundraiser. She was the winner of two of our naming rights auctions and gave the surname "Gibson" to this adorable set, and the first name "Pheona" to this lovely girl.

Our Tea was Friday, and our guests arrived promptly at noon.  Bean and Wylla were waiting for them in the window.

DSC_1256

DSC_1265

DSC_1270

We said our hellos and chatted with Rebecca and Traci in the living room, then ventured into the guest room to introduce them to the Von Tussles.

The kittens were resting when we came in, but quickly awoke from their naps.

DSC_1477

Rebecca and Traci were excited to meet all of the Von Tussles, but especially Malcolm, who had caught Rebecca's attention when he was first introduced on the blog.

DSC_1440

DSC_1537

He did not disappoint!   And he charmed Traci as well.

DSC_1473

DSC_1471

I think Cosette was the one that truly captured Traci's heart.  Traci is expecting a baby girl  in a few  weeks and "Cosette" now may be on the list of potential baby names.

DSC_1433

After a nice visit with the Von Tussles, we sat down at the table for lunch.

The table was decorated with decor elements from our FUNdraiser.

DSC_1200

Wylla staffed the phones in our centerpiece.

DSC_1162

Each guest had a favor to take home: a set of IBKC magnets and a package of sparkle balls.

DSC_1178


DSC_1243

The place cards each had an IBKC kitten.

DSC_1179

DSC_1184

DSC_1201

DSC_1251

For lunch, we had a tomato and cucumber salad.  Farmer Craig grew those beautiful tomatoes.

DSC_1204

We also had a fruit salad with pluots, plums, peaches, apricots, champagne grapes and blueberries.  Farmer Craig grew the blueberries.  The salad was dressed with a ginger, lime, and agave dressing.

DSC_1211

We had a hearty spinach salad with roasted sweet potatoes and toasted chickpeas tossed in a tangy lemon and garlic dressing.

DSC_1229

And grilled sandwiches, too.  One had roasted garden tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. The other had gruyere cheese, arugula, mustard with onion jam.

DSC_1280

Of course we had tea, too.

DSC_1231

DSC_1281

Once lunch was finished, we headed over to the shelter for our tour.  Marguerite, director of development, was our guide.  We toured the lobby and met the adoptable cats, saw the strays waiting for their families to find them, and headed into vet treatment, too.  We toured Charlene Butterbean Quarantine, The Petunia Louise Community cat room, and the foster room.

We saw many lovely cats and kittens.  This cutie was in the foster room.

DSC_1325

And so was this itty-bitty fellow.  He was just a couple of days old, and he had a very sweet mama and a set of identical siblings with him.

DSC_1395

Look at those tiny monkey feet!

DSC_1399

We did meet a few dogs on the tour too, including these two adorable pups.   I hate to say it in this crowd of cat lovers, but they kind of stole the show that day.

DSC_1335

DSC_1331

DSC_1349

It's Wylla in puppy form!

DSC_1364

We headed upstairs next and were happy to see this painting hanging. 

DSC_1405

And even happier when we saw the cages being assembled for the new foster room / kitten head-start program!

DSC_1409


We wrapped up the tour by taking photos of Rebecca (left) and Traci (right) in front of the HS van featuring the one and only Butterbean!

It was a great and very informative tour.  Though I've taken the tour many times before, I always learn something new from Marguerite.  Thank for taking time from your busy day to show us around, Marguerite!

DSC_1417

Next, we headed back to house next for a little dessert.

DSC_1158

I wish I could take credit for this beauty, but I'm REALLY lousy at making cakes.  This chocolate bavarian cake came from a local bakery.

DSC_1489

Traci brought the cats and kittens a gift of kitty toys.  Wylla and Charlene opened up the package and had a great time rustling around in the tissue paper and playing with the ribbon.

DSC_1510

It was filled with all sorts of goodies, but the favorite was the catnip banana.

DSC_1517

Wylla rolled around with it for awhile, got a little loopy, and drooled all over it.

DSC_1524

Of course Bean is much more composed than that,  and would never do such a thing in front of guests.

DSC_1546


It was a really wonderful afternoon, and the humans and cats had great fun with our lovely guests.   I hope they enjoyed the experience as much as we enjoyed having them here!


Thank you so much for your very generous bid, Rebecca.  We appreciate your support of the IBKC and our Humane Society over the years SO much.

    







27 comments:

  1. Almost as good as being there!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like a wonderful time was had by all.

    How do you dice the pluots? I have had them before but they're so juicy that I'm not sure how you could cut one easily.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really wasn't difficult to cut them at all. I suppose a sharper knife would help.

      Delete
  3. what fun!!! I love reading about your teas. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a great story, and I love all of the photos! That menu sounds delicious. Congrats to Rebecca on her high bid and to Traci for scoring the guest slot!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That looked like lots of fun.

    Heh, could you give a shout-out to your baker? That cake looked gorgeous. Who made it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's from the bakery at our fancy-pants grocery store, Met Market.

      Delete
  6. I always enjoy the recap of Tea with the Bean and Wylla. So jealous of Rebecca and Traci. And I want to recreate the entire menu....everything looks so good!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Every year I look forward to seeing the great people who win this item in the auction. Thanks for posting it with so many fun pictures! Congratulations to Rebecca and Traci for the winning bid.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Aw, shoot, now I have to go and re-apply my mascara! So, so sweet.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you Laurie, it was a truly special day for Traci and I. We really appreciate all that you do for the kitties and The Humane Society!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Those home-grown tomatoes look heavenly! There is nothing better than a ripe tomato fresh from the vine.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Lovely, as always! I see Charlene and Wylla had their white gloves clean and sparkling for the occasion. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. OH! And so glad the foster room is coming together! Wonderful, all the improvements they've been able to make after all the cat money raised over the last few years.

    ReplyDelete
  13. My goodness, the Von Tussles are tiny!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Is that our little girl Audrey on Traci's name card? I love that crazy girl.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you Laurie, Craig, Charlene, Wylla & the Von Tussles (& Rebecca!) for a lovely (and delicious) day!

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a fabulous time everyone had!
    You outdo yourself every year - I loved the extra-Wee Wyla staffing the IBKC desk and guarding the cake!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Also love the tea recaps and pics. Everything looks delish, the place settings are divine, and the kitties are delightful. Looks like a good time was had by all.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Congratulations Traci and Rebecca -- and Thank you, too, from an IBKC loyalist.
    Those grilled sandwiches look wonderful. Any chance we can get the recipe? I'm not a great cook so I can't deconstruct them even tho they are right in front of my eyes, but I think I might be able to put them together with some itty bitty help.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't follow any sort of recipe, so I don't have one to share. One had slow roasted tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, balsamic, and olive oil on a ciabatta roll. The other had gruyere, onion jam, arugula and brown mustard. I grilled them on our panini machine.

      Delete
  19. These Tea posts are some of my favorites; I love seeeing who won the bid, the place settings, menu, darling Bean and now Wylla, and what’s going on with Marguerite and Co.

    This installment certainly didn’t disappoint. :))

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a fun day! I'm so curious about the painting at the HS. Where did it come from and who did it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Last year at Dog A Thon there was a gentleman doing live painting, and he made this one and a couple others for the shelter, too. I wish I could recall his name, but I can't.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, Laurie! Whoever did the painting, it's fabulous!.

      Delete
  21. drooling over the food and drooling over all those sweet baby faces! drooling everywhere!

    ReplyDelete
  22. What a wonderful selection of good things to eat. That cake! Be still, my heart. Still, nothing tops the kitties.

    ReplyDelete

Linkwithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin