A Hamburger Lunch Tablescape

 

Oh my!

 "We're on our way. What's for lunch?"

Umm Umm Hamburgers!

So out came the quilt i made for our youngest.

Denim and flannel. Old shirts, scraps, etc. Love how comforting it is.

Some camping plates. Metal, Divided. Heavy!

Red Cambridge flatware.

Red bubble glasses.

Red check napkins secured in red knot napkin rings.

No time to run to the store.. pull the burlap sunflowers off the buffet.

Plop onto the table.

Add some votives. 

Who says you can't have candles at lunch???

And this is what you have.

Fun, casual and easy.

Quick napkin story. These red check napkins came all the way from Switzerland.

On a Bernina dealer's trip (I used to work for Bernina, USA. LOVED, Loved loved that job.),

we took a train ride on the Bernina Express.

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The Bernina Express will take you to Piz Bernina, or the Bernina mountain. Anyway.

They had lunch for us. Served wrapped up in this very sturdy, darling lapkins.

Of course, the hoarder collector that I am, I took every one whose owner did not 

want theirs. What a wonderful reminder of a really good time!

 I really have some cute pictures, but they are on the hard drive that needs to go in for some special, individual attention. Much easier to think of it that way!

 The One Kings Lane pitcher adds just the right amount of rustic charm to the table.

see the lacy leaf peaking out?

 It belongs to these Hobby Lobby sunflowers. They are made of burlap and I just love them!!

 

   This quilt is a simple square of flannel with  windowpanes of denim fabric. 

The quilting is all repetitive stars. 

Not all quilts have to be masterpieces. ;-)

 

A bit closer view of the leaf. It's quite stiff. And there is a wire for giving it shape.

 

 Really loving this look. How about you?

 The weather was awesome on Sunday!

We've been out of the triple digits for a few days and everybody's tempers

have certainly departed the boiling point!!

 So glad you dropped in.

I love having company.

Expected or not!

Cast:

Quilt - handmade by me

Plates - camping gear

Glasses - red bubble glasses from Stein Mart

Flatware - SteinMart

Napkins - Bernina Express, Switzerland

Napkin Rings - World Market

Flowers - Hobby Lobby

Pitcher - One Kings Lane

I'll see you over at Cuisine Kathleen's Let's Dish and Susan's Tablescape Thursday!!

ps... This is not Regan, this is Billy. He rules the yard. Allows you to pet him until he realizes you are petting him. Wants in, but not if you are there. Regan wants him to come in and play, but if you talk to Billy, Regan does not like it. Anyway, he and Scaredy Cat are well taken care of. They keep the back yard safe. :-)

Putting up Herbs

It's that time of year. The "putting up" time. I don't can or put up veggies since I don't have a garden. But I do plant herbs every year and they produce enough to enjoy now and then later.

Our house is an older home, which was built by an architect for himself. One of the things I love is the outside door in the kitchen. I'm thinking a jardin potager must be built out on this side!

It's been the perfect spot to grow herbs in our HOT, HOT, HOT West Texas sun. The porch off the kitchen is on the north side of the house. It gets early morning sun and that seems to be enough for the herbs as they are flourishing!!

 

Saturday morning, I harvested 6 cups of sweet basil and made 3 batches of pesto; 2 for the freezer and 1 for dinner. 

And then I began harvesting individual herbs and prepared them for the freezer.

How you will use the herbs later on will dictate in what you freeze them.

The lemon balm was made into pesto in the food processor and blended with olive oil before it was placed into an ice cube tray. This will be wonderful on baked fish!

Thyme and rosemary were  placed in the tray with water.

Chicken stock and baked chicken - oh yumm.

And Sage was bathed in olive oil.

I love to fry my sage a bit for pork tenderloin. The oil is perfect for this.
NOTE My trays have individual wells so that I can mix the herbs and liquid without it contaminating the next well.

Place your tray in the freezer and freeze until solid.

Then pop out the herb cubes and place into labeled plastic bags.

You will love yourself on those gloomy winter days!

Do you spot one of the jars of pesto?

After we removed the glass "screen" door and replaced it with a screen door, our yard cats Billy and Scaredy have taken to talking to Regan through the door. They don't even move when I come from around the side of the house and harvest. If I went out the kitchen door, they would have to move.

How do you store your herbs for the winter?

I won a really great mailbox!!!

Oh my, even I am shocked that we lived with this mailbox for so long. It came with the house. It's on the side of the house and so we drive by it, plop it open, grab the mail, park the car in the garage and never think of it again. Egads, that is one ugly, ugly eyesore!!

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So when Architectural Mailboxes had a giveaway in conjunction with a favorite blogger, Maria Killam's  blog called Color Me Happy, I JUMPED at the chance!!! And I was rendered speechless that I won. And excited!!

When it first arrived, it looked sooooo large. It was twice the size of this old metal clunker. Mr. CJ rocked that old mailbox right out of the ground.

Woohoo, it's out of the ground!!

We laid the new post next to the old one to make sure that we had the correct height.

 Do you like the stirring stick? LOL. A fallen branch to the rescue. It worked.

And then we had to be patient and let it set up. Promise, we used a level or two to make sure it was level.

 

This is Billy, watching us from a few feet away. Always wondering what we are up to.

It's not good to name the stray kitties.

 And then.

We dug up the surrounding area, removed the grass (which I sprigged into another area), purchased and planted a dwarf yaupon, a ground cover juniper, 7 golden lantana and the bushy thing. There is already one on the other side of the driveway, so I thought it would make a cohesive look. Can't wait for these to grow up. Hoping this variety of Lantana overwinters. In the fall, I'll add some mums. Pansies for the winter. I'll also plant some bulbs come late fall.  This little area even weathered the last storm with 80+ miles per hour winds. It was meant to be!!

I love the sturdiness, the deep coating on the box,die cast aluminum accents. And the many options there are! Made making a choice really hard.

Thanks again Architectural Mailboxes and Maria Killam!

And Regan.. well displeased that we didn't spend the entire day with him!

I am so proud of this mailbox I am shouting with glee. 

We'd still be discussing models if this hadn't happened.

Thanks for your visit!!