Ladies and their Tea

This past Saturday, six members of the Ladies Tea Group gathered for the annual Christmas Tea sponsored by the City of Campbell's Historical Museum. The Campbell Historical Museum maintains a local landmark, The Ainsley House. The tea itself is held in the Ainsley Carriage House, and a tour of the house follows the tea. The Ainsley House is an English Tudor, complete with English gardens. The house was built in 1925 for J.C. Ainsley, one of Santa Clara County's canning pioneers. The Santa Clara Valley is known for it's fine cherries, apricots, and prunes. Mr. Ainsley developed a method of canning that perserved the fruit well enough to be shipped by boat back to his native England, where his brother marketed the fruit. Mr. Ainsley was considered an innovator in the canning industry. Santa Clara Valley is currently home to many innovative companies. Apple Computer, Ebay, Facebook and Yahoo! all reside in the Santa Clara Valley.

When Mr. Ainsley built his home, he insisted on a thatched roof to remind him of his home in England. When the house was moved to from it's original location to downtown Campbell, the roof was redone with cedar shingles. The shingles were soaked in water so they could be "molded" into shape. This gives the house the appearance of a thatched roof. The house is decorated every year by local interior designers and businesses.
I took quite a few pictures, but some came out blurry. I am reminded on a regular basis that I have a lot to learn about photography!! I do have a few pictures to share with you though.

The front of the Ainsley House

The decorated bathrooms always seem to get my attention. Like many of you, I like to decorate all of the rooms in my house if I can. One year I used an idea from the Ainsley house, and displayed my Christmas Village in the bathtub. I put a board over the tub, covered it with snow and then build the village. Of course it's a tub no one uses!! Last year I put a four foot tree in the tub and wrapped empty boxes to be placed around and under the tree.

The den in the Ainsley House

A few pictures of the ladies inside the Ainsley House

Ladies ready for the house tour.

The ladies had a great time at our annual tea at the Ainsley House. We will be hosting our own Christmas Tea in a week. This year the Christmas Tea is at my home, so I need to get going on finishing up my decorating. Thank goodness daughter number 5 just got home from college!! She doesn't know it yet, but, she has a lot on her plate!!

chris