Miss Spenser's Blog

Miss Spenser's of Longview Farms ~Tearoom and  Bed & Breakfast ~ 641-342-1547 MissSpensersSpecial-Teas.com  ~ LongviewIowa.com

The fun stuff comes when someone is not so strict on sticking to the script. You're allowed the spontaneity, and great moments can happen.  ~ Jennifer Aniston  And how true that is! Yesterday, mom and I had our own bout of spontaneity... We had heard the author, Susan Branch, was coming to the Midwest for a book signing. She is one of Mom's favorite authors; I grew up with her in our home. Susan was to be in Iowa City on Saturday for a book signing. We both wanted to go, but we had a tea at the tearoom and couldn't make it. We were disappointed... but after looking around on her website discovered that she was going to be in Kansas City on Monday evening! We didn't know if our busy week could handle a mad dash to Kansas City, but we decided it was a once in a life-time opportunity and that we should really try and go! And so we did!  We decided we'd also make it a prelude to my birthday which is at the end of the month. Mom thought it would be fun to have...

“You like potato and I like potahto You like tomato and I like tomahto Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto. Let's call the whole thing off” Remember these fun lyrics written by George Gershwin?   That’s all we could think about when we were with our delightful English Hosts!!   What fun we had with different terminology… Here’s just a few: We Say:                                               The English Say: Interstate                                              Dual  Carriage Way Freeway                 ...

Big Ben Tower Bridge Just got back from our trip to Europe last Friday! What an amazing time! As many of you know, it's been Mom and I's dream to go to England for many years! So it was very fun to visit there and add Germany has a bonus to our trip!  I've had some people ask me, "Well, is England everything you hoped it would be?" To which I reply, "Yes! And so much more! It was truly magical!" Through the tearoom we met the nicest couple, Alan and Ilse. They were our official England tour guides and "English B&B hosts." :)  Alan & Ilse ~ Our England Hosts A Trip to London ~ Donna, Miss Spenser, & Ilse As for Germany, that was quite a fun experience! I was able to meet my pen-pal friend, Kaya Mogge and the rest of her family.  Kaya & Spenser in Germany Her family opened up their home to mom and I. Kaya's grandma did a good job "pampering" us and Kaya's mom, Ines, we have nickn...

A quick post of some photos from our first day in England!  We had Tea in the Garden... Clotted Cream!  Our lovely hosts... Alan and Ilse Mom and I getting excited to try clotted cream for the first time!  Alan's Fabulous Scones Ilse's yummy Lemon Drizzle Cake Alan's Alpine Strawberries... the kind Jane Austen would enjoy!  'Til next time! Cherrio! 

Well, friends, today is the day…my mom and I will be flying out of Des Moines Airport to Chicago, and then on an overnight flight to London!! We will be in their fair country for 6 days; then heading on to Germany for 2 weeks. We are so excited! We hope to share pictures with you along the way…so stay posted.  This little dream started about 8 years ago, over a cup of tea. My mom and I discovered how much we enjoyed the ritual of a cup of afternoon tea…I was 14 at the time. One day, my mother came up with the brilliant idea that we would travel to England when I graduated in 4 years and have tea with the Queen! (smiles). We shared our grandiose idea with dear ole’ dad and he said, “That’s nice, how do you plan on funding your trip?” Well, naturally, we thought he would, so since he wasn’t offering, we put our heads together and came up with our tea business to help fund our way.  Finally, we are fulfilling this dream! Thank you to all of our tea friends...

So excited about the picture of the new little Prince! I thought I'd make a collection of photos for you to enjoy as well! Photo Credit: PA The Proud Grandparents    Photo Credit: Georgina Brewer And Now... the moment we've all been waiting for...  (drum roll please!)    Photo Credit: PA His Royal Highness... The Little Prince He's greeting by the whole world !  Photo Credit: PA Photo Credit: PA Photo Credit: PA Photo Credit: PA Photo Credit: PA  First Close-up of the Little Prince!  Photo Credit: PA When asked who does he look like, Prince William replies, "He's got her looks luckily!" To which Kate just giggled and said "No!"  Proud Daddy, William says they are still deciding on a name...  but one thing is for sure, he has a big pair of lungs!  Photo Credit: PA Prince William said, "Thank goodness he has more hair than me!" Kate looks l...