The verse is a rebus ....

A couple of days ago,
I noticed a photograph
taken by
Pat Winter
on her post
Paulownia tree in bloom

If you look at her post
and scroll down to the items
she purchased,
you'll see a couple of trays
with tea themes ....

What a blast from the past

In July of 2001, I purchased a
pattern, from a stitching friend, called
The Tea Sampler
c.1996 Threads Through Time

This morning, I unearthed it
in my stash:

On the pattern, it says "This little tea sampler was found at a flea market
and is now in a private collection.
The original is a tiny piece measuring 4 1/2" wide by 4" tall.
Unframed, the linen was sewn to a fabric backing.
The verse is a rebus in which a picture represents a word."

This is the photo which came with the pattern:


This is a close-up of the one I stitched:
I used wildflowers by Caron (Fiesta) and
Danish Designs flower thread

Of course, I took it to some stitchy friends
& we decided the verse was:

Except the kettle boiling be,
Filling the pot
spoils the tea

The photo on Pat's blog reads:
Put the kettle on
And we'll all have tea

my guess is the tray underneath
has nearly the same verse
as the one in the pattern I have

Has anybody else seen sampler verse in
a rebus? I find them so interesting