A Tablescape in Remembrance - Memorial Day 2013

Welcome to a tribute to the fallen.

Memorial Day is to remember those who have fallen while in the service of our country.

However, when tragedy strikes close to home, the lines blur.

At first I was not going to do a table, it seemed so trivial in light of the devastation wrought in Northern Texas and Oklahoma.

 

But then I recanted.

Last week tornadoes ripped through Granbury and then Cleburne in the Dallas area.

Lives were lost.

I prayed for them.

 

Last Sunday, a tornado ripped through Shawnee, OK.

I remembered all the wonderful people I met when I taught at Sue's Sewing Shoppe.

I prayed for them.

 

Then came Monday.

And Moore, Oklahoma was struck with an EF-5 tornado.

Winds of between 200-210 miles an hour.

At least a mile wide.

Almost the same path that the 1999 tornado took.

And I prayed for them.

 

One by one friends and family checked in.

First my dear friends in Edmond.

Then a post from our beloved Cherry Kay.

Our Bernina dealer.

My friend Debbie.

I praised God.

 

While praising God and weeping for those whose loved ones were lost,

I remembered that God is with us always, in good and bad. He rejoices with us when we are full of joy. He cries for us when we hurt.

 

1 Peter 5:6-10

⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

¹⁰ And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

 

So I carry on. With a deep hurt in my heart for all those in Texas and Oklahoma.

And I ask for prayers, our tornado season is just starting.

 

I remember those fallen for my freedoms.

I praise them for their bravery and conviction.

We owe them a debt we cannot repay.

 

So I set this table for us to enjoy this weekend.

Amidst our bbq and gatherings,

I promise to remember.

And to be thankful.

 

Thank you Cherry Kay for this gorgeous tablecloth. I couldn't wait to use it.

I hope this is a fitting debut.

Cast:

Tablecloth - Cherry Kay from Entertaining Women

Dinner Plate - Queens Calico

Salad/soup Bowl - Villeroy and Boch Burgenland

Bread Plate - Arzberg Blaue Blueten

Flatware - Cambridge

Red Water Goblet - Stein Mart

Blue Wine Goblet - Libbey, Dollar Tree

Red Napkins - unknown

Napkin Rings - Dollar Tree door hangers

Centerpiece - Grape Milk Glass

 

I'm linking to Cuisine Kathleen's Let's Dish on Wednesday evening.

On Thursday, you can find me at Susan's Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch.

I hope you will drop in.

And here's to hopping the brick is re-laid on the patio by Sunday! ;-)

 

Birds, Bees, Flowers and Trees Tablescape

Birds, Bees, Flowers and Trees is the monthly challenge from Cuisine Kathleen. I don't have dishes with birds on them (note to self: fix that), I sent the hibiscus flowered plates on their merry way to a new home up north, and anything with trees I had was either Christmas or winter. So I figured it was time to cheer us up and help us forget about our last freeze this past Thursday and Friday mornings! Fast forward 24 hours... and here we are a balmy 70. (Another promised freeze coming up Wednesday! I am so tired of hauling pots in and out.) But back to the table....

To attract bees, something sweet needs to be about. Lemons sous verre. Under glass. A beautiful wooden bowl, more of those split peas, some reindeer moss and lemons. All sous verre. 

And the bees appeared! Lemon colored bowls with a beehive design and a huge bee! Bees are good, they give us honey and feed mostly on pollen and nectar from plants. Bees range in size from 5/64" to 1.5". 

Sweet bees are most common in the Northern Hemisphere. One landed right here on the napkin rings that flew in from One Kings Lane last year. It fell for the yellow checked napkins from Pier One.

A lone geranium with it's single bloom, confiscated from the kitchen window sill, adds a wonderful pop of color to the table. The sweet bird couldn't resist joining this party. Direct from Ashtree Cottage, Susan and Bentley's charming home. So charming!!

 

No ladders or chairs for me. Hold the camera up high, point down, check the vari-angle view finder and shoot away. Yep, those are still pecans on the ground. I did pick them all up and they were all in the dumpster by 5pm! I know that is sad, but with 3 large pecan trees, we have more than I can possibly eat, give away or beg people to take. 

Once again, those nest chargers came out to play. I almost succumbed to the PB ones that are now on sale for less than 50% off, but resisted (oooh that sounds so noble!). I also pulled out the larger cabbage chargers to use as plates.

A yellow handled spoon completes the setting, that I found at Ross's, from Cambridge. But there is something new on the table.....

 

When I was picking up a couple of dozen margarita glasses from Dollar Tree, these glasses with lemons just plopped their chunky bodies into my basket. It was a horrible clatter wheeling those glasses down the aisles in a less than perfect shopping buggy. But I persevered!!

Cast:

Tablecloth - yellow and white - very old.

Chargers - World Market

Cabbage chargers/plates - Bordallo Pinheiro

Yellow Bowls - Arte Florum

Flatware - Cambridge

Lemon Glasses - Dollar Tree

Napkins - Pier One

Napkin rings - One Kings Lane

Sweet Yellow Bird - Ashtree Cottage

Cloche - ???

Wooden Bowl - Germany

Do you think I covered the challenge?

Birds - From Ashtree Cottage 

Bees - Bowls and Napkin rings

Flowers - the single bloom on the geranium

Trees - set under the plum tree in the garden@

I'm joining Cuisine Kathleen for her Let's Dish party on Wednesday evenings. 

Then, I'll be popping over to Susan's Tablescape Thursday on Thursday mornings!

I hope to see you there!

A Pre-Valentine's Day Tablescape

Playing with dishes really is a lot of fun! While I have another table planned for next week. I was dying to use these new Juliska plates! And it is still winter, you know. Really go check the calendar.. not the thermometer. LOL, we sat outside and had lunch today. Kind of unheard of.

So I paired those sweet dishes with a red plate I found, wait, that found me.  Added a silver heart, some lace and tulips and the red flatware and called it a Valentine. It could pass, couldn't it?

I think the lace on the napkins really does tone down winter and brings out more of the love.

Yes, these red plates jumped into my basket at Tuesday Morning, after Christmas, during one of their sales. They were a whopping 1.87! Now with that price there was no second guessing. And for those who played along earlier, HERE, those dishes haven't made their trek back to Pier One. Yet.

I really love the edge of the Juliska plate. So curvy!

I "planted" the tulips in a vintage Burgenland serving bowl. They are really not too tall to leave on the table. A silver candlestick and a red votive holder complete the centerpiece.

There's a story to the red votive cups. Our youngest son and my father conspired to bring a lot of mom's stuff (that no one else wanted) to rest in our garage. What a horrible mess it was. Last Saturday, I bagged up 8-10 bags of fabric, a vhs player, a bag of ribbon, some clothes, etc and we took those to Goodwill. Amongst some of her things there was a bag purchased at a now defunct Christmas store. Inside the bag, amongst some pinecone ornaments that I love love love, I found these red crackle glass cups. Love them too. You might think I rescued them, but they rescued me.

Sweet Mr. CJ bought these hearts for me last year. Aren't they precious tucked into the braided, red napkin ring with the lace napkin.

 

Here is the start of my latest obsession with Juliska. Youngest son gave this platter to me for Christmas. It's their Holiday Country Estate line. He loved it, I loved it. And I love him for it!

 Flowers were very scarce last weekend. What's up with that? So I found these red and white potted tulips and thought they added a good mix of pretty to the table. 

 

 I added a bit of green dried stuff to the edges of the bowl to soften the look and plopped an unused heart into the bowl.

Because the Juliska plates were so curvy, the Mikasa French Countryside goblets fit the bill for a glass. Their curves mimic the edges of the plates. Repeating elements on a table or any other design, is always pleasing to the eye.

As if to give a stamp of approval, the sun broke free of the clouds and danced across the table with joyous abandon.

I was skeptical of the red flatware, thinking it might be too much, but it just brought the plate outward and completed the setting perfectly.

 I brought this lace runner back from Switzerland as a remembrance of working there. Andrea took me to the textile museum in St. Gallen. Also HERE if you can read German. It is certainly a place that is a must see.

Each set of Juliska holiday plates has 4 plates with 4 different scenes. Well, I had a tray, I needed something to go with it, right? It was perfect by itself, but so much happier with friends!!

Cast:

Chargers - Pier One

Dinner Plates - Thomson purchased at Tuesday Morning

Salad/Dessert Plates - Juliska Country Estate Holiday

Glasses - Mikasa French Countryside

Napkins - vintage

Napkin rings - World Market

Hearts - United Market Street

Flatware - Cambridge

Lace Runner - St. Gallen, Switzerland

Bowl - Villeroy & Boch Burgenland

Silver Candlesticks - Gorham Chantilly

Thank you so much for dropping in on this post. I'm always so happy to see you've been by and love reading your comments. I am joining the following ladies at their parties this week. I sure hope you will join me. There are so many pretty tables set just for you! 

Cuisine Kathleen's Let's Dish on Wednesday evening, and

Susan's Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch on Thursday.

Advent Calendar 2012 - Pinecone Tablescape

 

Can you believe that last Saturday evening we ate outside? In December? Yes!!! We. Did. 

 We have patio heaters, so it was no biggie. But it wasn't cold. 

Fast forward to Monday morning. There was a dusting of snow on the ground. And it was 16 degrees.

Now, I'm sitting by a roaring fire, have a warm drink, and feeling winter invade come gracefully into my December!

Pulled out the winter sweaters and shoes this morning.

Now back to Saturday...

Red glasses just say Christmas don't they? Want to know more about the "crystal"?

I saw the "crystal" first on one of fav blogs - Sandi Coughlin's Reluctant Entertainer. One glass is featured in her blog banner. So now it's your turn... guess from which delectable store I might have purchased 24 of these?  I'll tell you later, meanwhile, guess again.

I brought out the instant centerpiece - my pine picket fence box filled with candles, rocksalt snow and greenery. 

Oh I had a moment of weakness a couple of weeks ago. Amazon to the rescue. New flatware... I needed wanted something red. It always cheers me up!

I absolutely adore pinecones!!

So when I found these pieces at Tuesday Morning about a month ago, they saw me coming, jumped from the shelves into my basket. A set for 12. I rarely see 12 of anything there.. but there they were. 12 plates, 12 salads, 12 soups, only 6 bowls (frown), serving pieces... and these salt and peppers. They held me hostage until i was past the checker and were out in my car. 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. You believe me, right?

Each plate has a slightly different edge design. OOh, luv them all! 

And the "charger".... a dollar wreath from ooh yeah, same place as the crystal. Guess yet?

I really was pleased with this table. Green. Red. White.

Cast:

Dinner, salad, soups, serving pieces and s&p - Certified International

Wreaths used as chargers - Dollar Tree

Flatware - Cambridge Silversmiths, Amazon

Red bubble glass goblets - Stein Mart

Napkins - Ralph Lauren

Napkin Rings - Kohl's

Centerpiece - built by my talented son, decorated by moi

Perfect weather - well it really isn't mother nature...

Thank you for dropping in. I treasure your visit always. I'll be partying over at 

Cuisine Kathleen's Let's Dish and Susan's Tablescape Thursday.

Glasses - oh yeah.. did you guess? Dollar Tree. yes. Dollar Tree.