Jump Down the Rabbit Hole...A Mad Tea Party with 58 Cherries!

It all started one late afternoon when I decided to laze about outdoors with a quilt and a few old books...
I read in the sun until the shade of the big tree drifted closer and led me to put my book aside and close my eyes for just for a moment and daydream.

When I opened my eyes again I found all my books picked up and stacked at my feet. On top was a delicate little turquoise and white plate with a tiny white cake!

We've all heard of how interesting adventures can begin with tiny little cakes, haven't we? Well, this one didn't say Eat Me, so I hoped it wouldn't make me grow too tall, but at the same time I couldn't resist the temptation. I decided to take a bite and see...

It was a delicious petit four with vanilla cake and a hard shell of frosting with a delicious orange cream filling inside. Nothing seemed to happen at first until I put the cake down and suddenly I noticed a white rabbit beside the plate!
I felt my eyes grown heavy and I rubbed at them, not wanting to fall asleep and miss anything, but when I blinked my eyes clear I found myself somewhere else entirely!!


I was in a big room with large bright windows and a table laid out with an elaborate tea! The chairs were all different, some formal, some padded and I decided to tiptoe closer for a look.

What a beautiful and strange tea service, indeed! So many teapots and cups already filled with tea and just look at all the plates full of goodies laid out!

I remembered the last two times I'd had the privilege to join just such a tea party so I hurried forward to take in all the wondrous sights before they disappeared!

There were petit fours, jam jewels, lace cookies with chocolate filling, shortbread with raspberry or apricot jam and so many more!

I saw the armies of chessmen again and a squirrel behind them seemed to be about to drop something into a tea cup.
The chessmen were arguing again about whose turn at the cherry it was, but I was more concerned about the large green berry or nut the squirrel was going to toss in, should I try to stop him?

Then I noticed the tiny green boat with the pretty little lady rabbit in it - she seemed unconcerned about what was going on so I decided not to interrupt...

In the center of the table were two teapots on a heavy glass pedestal. I looked closer and saw three little mice sitting at a little bowl of cream. They nodded in greeting, but were too busy dunk little crumbs of cookies to pay anymore attention to me...
I turned away and glanced down to see more guests at the table below. I was so happy to see that both Gnomes had turned up for the party as well...

They seemed to have brought their own drinks and a big (to them anyway) watermelon to share. They smiled and nodded to great me and I took a cup of tea and a plate of cookies to join in...

I heard a squeak and looked down to see that the dormouse was nibbling at his own jam jewel and had stopped to great me.

He'd already eaten nearly half of it and I offered him a small cup of tea.
There was a tower of small tea cups halfway across the table. I admired the plate beside them full of more goodies to eat. There were cherries and vanilla cookies with dark chocolate and crushed pecans sprinkled on top.
"Better hurry up," a tiny voice said nearby. I looked and saw a little mouse in an apron with a dustpan and broom. She was sweeping up the crumbs from around the table into her little pan.

Just as I realized my time may be coming to an end I felt my eyes growing heavy, blinking sleepily with my tummy full of cookies, cake and tea. I felt something tingle - a hint of magic, perhaps? And when I opened my eyes I saw all the food and all the cups that had held tea were gone from the table...

And what was this? A tiny little old bottle by the little brown rabbit washing his face...

Well we all know that if you eat the little cake...you drink from the little bottle as well. So I took a sip...
And found myself back where I started, lying in the shade with my book of Grimm's Fairy tales open again!! No hint of a crumb of cake...

Was it all a dream? I don't know, but I can't leave my guests without a gift - now can I? So I made something special - a very Alice in Wonderland gift!!

Four pages from a VERY OLD French book - and on each one? A favorite image from Alice in Wonderland!!

These would look lovely framed together in a grouping, wouldn't they?

There are two Alice figures - one with the Cheshire Cat grinning down at Alice below. One White Rabbit in full herald costume and the King of Hearts - speckles, wig and crown! These images are from the 1865 Illustrations by John Tenniel.

Here's a closeup of one of the Alice images...

I'm hoping someone will want these for their own. I love the old vintage feel of them - these are old yellowed pages from a book 'Memoires d'un Royaliste 1851'.

So if you've enjoyed our little dream and like the gift you see - please, please do comment here!! I will pick one name from a hat on Friday, July 8th. That way everyone has plenty of time to visit (especially since there is a big holiday the weekend before) and hopefully everyone who wishes to enter can do so by then.

Thank you for visiting us here!! Now off I go to hop and skip along the other parties... Have a great weekend!!

**Important Update** If you are having problems posting comments via blogger - you are not alone. I've had a heck of a time posting comments on some blogspot blogs so if you are wondering why I don't comment that might be why. Also - if you want to post a comment and find you can't you can email it to me at: bookluv AT gmail DOT com (spelled out to avoid spam, sorry). I will then add your name to the hat for the giveaway and also post your comment here, too. Sorry it is such a hassle, but at least there are ways around it. *******