Easter Fun

Today, I am joining twenty other bloggers for a Spring/Easter Tablescape Blog Hop sponsored by Rita@Panoply.
Our weather has been beautiful, so I set the table in my garden for the blog hop. Join me as we celebrate spring and Easter.

Thank you, Rita, for all you do organizing the tablescape hops! You do a fabulous job. 

 

White hydrangeas accented with pink carnations were arranged in a vintage basket borrowed from a dear friend and placed on a pastel stripe napkin for the centerpiece.

Spring has arrived in south Alabama. The azaleas, dogwoods, spirea, flowering trees, and  Lady Banks roses are all blooming.

I wish you could all be here and enjoy the beautiful weather in my garden.

Can you see my Pink Ruffle azalea behind the table?

Grace Tea Ware scalloped bunny plates with pretty pastel colors was found at Home Goods. I knew when I saw the bunny plates they would match my Paula Deen aqua plates. I was thankful to find floral napkins at Home Goods too, that brought out all the colors in the plates. 

This is a close-up of the Nicole Miller floral napkin with a rattan napkin ring. The napkin ring found at a local gift shop tied all the natural elements of rattan, bamboo, and water hyacinth together. 

The sweet pastel hand-tooled real eggs carved with beautiful designs were a birthday gift last year. They are so delicate.

Here is a close-up of the intricately designed eggs. They were such a sweet gift. I placed them in egg cups in several photos.

Natural elements are a major theme unifying this tablescape. Water hyacinth placemats, rattan centerpiece basket, napkin rings, rattan liners for the glasses, and bamboo cutlery are all-natural elements that give great texture to this spring table.

Click here to view the video.

After several days, some of the flowers began to wane. I broke down the centerpiece arrangement and placed it in smaller vases on my kitchen table to enjoy it longer.

"Our Lord has written the promise of Resurrection, not in books alone but in every leaf of springtime." Martin Luther.

It was the blue hour outside when I took this picture. I know you are wondering where I live because all our spring flowers arrived about two weeks early this year. Usually, in south Alabama, the azaleas open now and last until the end of the month. We had two weeks in late February and early March with highs in the 80s during the day, so everything bloomed earlier. The blooms are all gone now, and it has turned cooler. Monday night, it is forecast to be a low of 28. I guess this is the cool spell before Easter. Did you know the farmers say if the pecan trees have leafed out, there will not be any more cold weather? They have not leafed out yet. All my hydrangeas are full of leaves which is a concern. But, by Thursday, it is forecast to be a high of 80. 

Below, you will find the blogger's links to view their creative tablescapes. 

Panoply - Preppy Pink & Green Spring / Easter Tablescape

Home is Where the Boat Is - Cottontail Farms

Everyday Living - The Blessing of Easter

Corner of Plaid and Paisley - One Happy Bunny

Bleu Belle Interiors - Spring Brings Joy

Living With Thanksgiving - Easter Fun

Hyacinths for the Soul - Springtime Pleasures

Celebrating Everyday Life - How to Style an Elegant Easter Brunch Table

The Painted Apron - Carrots and Cottontails

The Bookish Dilettante - Tablescape Blog Hop: Wildflowers for Spring

Pandora's Box - A Dollar Tree Dessert Station

My Thrift Store Addiction - Egg-cited for Spring Breakfast Table

The Little Yellow Corner Store - Creating Happiness With An Easter Tablescape and a Giddy of a Good Time

The Cat's Whiskerz - The annual spring meeting of the bunnies

Celebrate and Decorate - Spring Table Decor

Red Cottage Chronicles - Blue and White Tablescape for Spring

Me and My Captain - Spring, When Flowers Bloom and Nature Sings

Thrifting Wonderland - Spring Forward Tablescape

Bluesky at Home - Bunnies and Blue Spring Tablescape

Dinner at Eight - Welcoming Spring with a Fluffle of Bunnies

Zucchini Sisters - Lavender and Sage Spring Tablescape

Thank you for viewing my post today. I am grateful for your friendship and support. Reflecting on life's blessings, you are a great blessing to me. 

🌸🌿💐🌿 🌸🌿💐🌸🌿🌸🌿💐🌸🌿💐🌸🌿💐🌸🌿💐

                                  Living thankfully,

Let Me Call You Sweetheart

Valentine's Day is fast approaching. In thinking about Valentine's Day, I remembered a song my parents were fond of named,  Let Me Call You Sweetheart. The song was written in 1910 and Bing Crosby made the song very popular in 1945, the year my parents married. 

Let me call you sweetheart

I'm in love with youLet me hear you whisperThat you love me tooKeep the love light glowing In your eyes so blueLet me call you SweetheartI'm in love with you
Beth Slater Whitson- LyricsLeo Freedman- Music

Welcome to a Valentine Tablescape blog hop sponsored by Rita @Panoply. We thank Rita for her excellent organizational skills in keeping these events happening. You will find many creative ideas from 21 table stylists to inspire your Valentine decorating and  their links are at the end of this post.

 I've set the table for a valentine's celebration with non-traditional colors. 

Multi-colored roses dress up a lady head vase as a centerpiece for my Valentine tablescape. Hellebores, also called Lenton Roses, accent the mirrored tile, and several added to the arrangement add additional texture.

The back view shows her pearls and pink and red glass heart accents.

The mirrored tile table runner holds jasperware vases containing lavender, fuchsia, and light pink roses. And if you look closely, there is a blue and white ceramic heart box. 

The place setting begins with ruffled velvet Crown Linen placemats. Horchow blue and white plates sit atop pink chargers. A Bavarian cream salad plate with gold trim holds different Wedgewood trinket dishes. Several of the small dishes have embossed greek mythology figures. The heart-shaped Wedgwood trinket dishes give a nod to Valentine's Day.

This is a close-up of one of the jasperware vases. Jasperware or jasper ware, is a type of pottery first developed by potter Josiah Wedgwood in the 1770s.

Usually described as stoneware, it has an unglazed matte "biscuit" finish and is produced in a number of different colors, of which the most common and best known is a pale blue that has become known as Wedgwood blue. The unglazed stoneware, decorated with cameo-like motifs, can be found in 18th, 19th, and 20th century versions of the original blues, as well as lilacs, greens, and whites." Wikipedia"

 Wedgwood china is made in Staffordshire, England. I love mixing Wedgwood with blue and white china.

I want to learn more about the embossed figures on the jasperware pieces, but so far, I have yet to have any luck. 

Pink napkins repeat the pink color in the chargers and roses. The napkin rings repeat the gold in the gold cutlery, gold rim goblets, and gold-rimmed china.  

The lovely vintage goblets were a Christmas present from my son's family. I love the beautiful etching. They also gave me the gold budding leaf napkin rings for my birthday last year.

This trinket dish is from Munich. This piece belongs to a friend. 

Valentine's Day celebrates romantic love. My favorite quote about love does not come from a poet but from the bible. 1 Corinthians 13 is called the love chapter and is often read at weddings.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth, It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1Corinthians 13:4-7

 We have had so many cloudy and rainy days it was hard to take good pictures. After a few days of sunshine, the roses opened more, and I added greenery. I really like the arrangement better now.

♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

Click on the post title to view the blog posts.

Panoply - Valentine Tablescape for 'Just You and Me' 

Home is Where the Boat Is - Love Birds' Bed & Breakfast

My Hubbard Home - Vintage Inspired Rose and Gold Valentine's Table

Life and Linda - Sealed With a Kiss Tablescape

The Bookish Dilettante - Valentine's Day Tablescape Blog Hop: Paris Is Always a Good Idea

Everyday Living - Colors of Love

thecatswhiskerz - A Frosty Galentine's Day Tablescape

Pandora's Box - A Galentine's Table

Living With Thanksgiving - Let Me Call You Sweetheart

The Little Yellow Corner Store - A Glamorous Winter Snowman for Valentine's Day

Karins Kottage - Pink and Red Valentine's Table for Kids

The Painted Apron - Hearts and Flowers

My Thrift Store Addiction - Cupid's Valentine Dessert Buffet

Celebrate and Decorate - A Romantic Valentine's Tablescape for Two

Belle Bleu Interiors - A Day for Love

Dinner at Eight - Valentine's Day - A Table Set for Tea

Red Cottage Chronicles - Fire and Ice Valentine's Tablescape

Hyacinths for the Soul - Where You Go, My Heart Follows

Thrifting Wonderland - Start With Flowers Tablescape

Corner of Plaid and Paisley - Sweet Valentine Tablescape

Wishing you and yours a Happy Valentine's Day on February 14th! 
💕💕💕

Thankful and Blessed

Blessings to everyone today! Thanksgiving will be here before we know it. Today, I am joining Rita @Panoply and a sweet and talented group of bloggers for a Thanksgiving Tablescape Blog Hop. Thank you Rita, for organizing this tablescape hop. I appreciate all your hard work.

At the end of this post, there will be links to bloggers participating in this Thanksgiving  Tablescape Blog Hop. Give them some love and leave them a comment.

 I named my blog post, Thankful and Blessed because I am very thankful and feel blessed to be a part of this group of table stylists as well as the myriad of blessings we have every day. I am setting a more casual table today, and everything can go in the dishwasher except the bamboo cutlery.

Years ago, when brass candlesticks were all the rage, I just had to have this Baldwin Brass lantern. It has a finish that never needs to be polished! I was also attracted to the beautifully curved handle. Years later, I was excited to find another lantern just like it at an estate sale. I  have used both of them in separate rooms on shelves. This is the first time I have used them in a tablescape. It does pay to shop your house!

A white-handled urn holds autumn shades of mums, daises, white carnations, white hydrangeas, and variegated pittosporum for the centerpiece. Faux bittersweet, white pumpkins and silk leaves accent the arrangement.

I love to arrange fresh flowers, but sometimes shopping for flowers where I live can be a challenge. I found out one package was not enough because this one had two lily buds that had not opened. Fortunately, I had more hydrangeas to add from another occasion, so I had enough flowers.  Note to self: don't buy bouquets with lilies. Do you set your table first and then look for flowers? This time I did, but ended up with entirely different flowers than I had in mind. I originally wanted rust alstroemeria and could not find them. I think the assorted colors added more color and variety than one color alstroemeria! I am always learning, which is fun!

The warm tones of the burled wood grain of the table, burlap runner, shiny brass lanterns,  and assorted kinds and colors of fresh flowers provide lots of texture for the season.

My plate stack consists of Mansard by Spode white dinner plate, Walmart charger, Crown Linen cream-colored velvet placemat, Fostoria amber footed goblet, a multi-color cotton damask napkin, and Southern Living bamboo cutlery.

"Hem your blessings with thankfulness, so they don't unravel." Unknown

"An attitude of gratitude is a never-ending prayer."

"All which we behold is full of blessings."William Wordsmith~ 1798

The only day I had to photograph my table was very cloudy, so I had to open the shutters and turn on all the lights and lamps!

🦃🍁🦃🍁🦃🍁 As we look forward to traveling to Colorado to visit our son and family this year for Thanksgiving, I  am remembering a particular Thanksgiving memory that still pulls at my heart. The memory took place in 2007, when my son was stationed in Del Rio, Texas, in the Air Force. Stationed at Laughlin Air Force base, where he was an instructor pilot, he met a young enlisted African man with no family and invited him to have Thanksgiving dinner with us.  He was from the central African country of Cameroon. He told the story of the long struggle he had experienced to immigrate to the U.S. My husband, who loves maps and geography, poured over Google Earth on his iPad with Romeo and found his actual village and very own house. It was very touching to share his joy of seeing his home and village so far away. That was his first American Thanksgiving. I wonder where Romeo is now. That experience truly made us realize how blessed we are to live in a free country and have opportunities for education and advancement. Romeo joined the U.S. Air Force to better himself and allow him to work toward U.S. citizenship. 

So from my house to yours, I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. 🍁🦃🍁 We are indeed very blessed. 
"Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving And His Courts with Praise. Give thanks to Him and Bless His Name."Psalm 100:4

Below are the links of those participating in the Thanksgiving Tablescape Blog Hop.

Me and My Captain - Those Were the Days and I Am Very Grateful

Pandora's Box - Thanksgiving Brings Back Memories

Living With Thanksgiving - Thankful and Blessed

Everyday Living - Thanksgiving Traditions

My Hubbard Home - Pumpkins and Pears Thanksgiving Holiday Table

Thrifting Wonderland - Give Thanks...Thanksgiving Tablescape

Panoply - Homeland Merriment Thanksgiving

Home is Where the Boat Is - Porch Dining with Plaid & Proud Tom Turkey

Corner of Plaid and Paisley - Give Thanks

My Thrift Store Addiction - In Everything Give Thanks - Garden Tea for Two

Life and Linda - A Copper and Blue Pumpkin Table

Karins Kottage - Come set an outdoor Thanksgiving table with me

The Painted Apron - Grateful Gathering

Belle Bleu Interiors - A Time to Give Thanks

Dinner at Eight - Patterns in Blue for Thanksgiving

Red Cottage Chronicles - A Cozy Cottage Thanksgiving Tablescape

The Bookish Dilettante - Thanksgiving Table in the Breakfast Room

The Little Yellow Corner Store - A Northwoods Thanksgiving

Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving!🦃🍁🦃Living Thankfully,

An Autumn Tea

Today, I  am joining my friends Pam at Everyday Living and Mary at Home is Where the Boat is, as a guest blogger, for Tea on Tuesdays. They share this fun virtual treat on the third Tuesday of each month. At the end of this post, there will be links to view their beautiful and creative posts for Tea on Tuesdays.

I'm setting up an Autumn tea time in my garden. The weather is glorious. I chose a brass container for flowers and found golden mums, persimmon Shasta daises, ruby-tinged peach roses, chartreuse button mums, and limelights cut from my garden that have turned from white to that pretty shade of green. Don't you love the colors of Autumn?

My teapot is Johnson Brothers Ironstone and was a wedding gift.  That makes it vintage, as we just celebrated our 51st wedding anniversary in August. I  fondly remember the sweet lady who gave it to us.

In reading about teatime rituals in Victoria, The Art of Tea, I remembered my English tea caddies. The workmanship of these antique boxes shows the pride and dedication of a bygone era. The bright autumn colors in the tablecloth and flowers bring out the warm wood tones of the caddies.

This fabulous book has exquisite photos and information about the art of tea and would make a great gift.

This Tunbridge English tea caddy with a dome lid is circa 1890 and has stunning marquetry inlays and detailing.

The tag on this footed tea caddy read the late 1800s. What is the first thing you want to do when you examine a box? Of course, you want to open it. 

You'll find most caddies have two compartments, as do mine, one for tea and the other for sugar. They also have locks and keys. They are made of rosewood, mahogany, and satinwood. They not only had a utilitarian purpose, and earned pride of place in the home but also as elegant decor. ( Victoria -The Art of Tea). These boxes were treasured as much as the tea, and many examples remain today as collectible items.

Afternoon tea was introduced in England by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford in1840. The Duchess would become hungry around four o'clock in the afternoon. The evening meal in her household was served fashionably late at eight o'clock, thus leaving a long time between lunch and dinner. The Duchess asked that a tray of tea, bread, and butter be brought to her room during the late afternoon. (Historic UK-Afternoon Tea by Ben Johnson)I am serving one savory item, a dainty pimento cheese open-face sandwich. For something sweet, a lemon square and a slice of pumpkin roll. My favorite tea is Earl Grey which is a black tea blended with real oil of bergamot. I love the bergamot flavor. 

"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea." Henry James

As I mentioned, our weather has been beautiful, with cooler fall-like temperatures. To sit in the garden having tea and peruse some issues of TeaTime magazine and Victoria's, The Art of Tea can't be beaten.

In 2013, my husband and I enjoyed a Crème Tea in the Lake Country in England. You can read a blog post about it here and view a Crème Tea I had in my home for friends. Thank you, Pam and Mary, for inviting me to join you today for Tea on Tuesdays. I wish we could sit and enjoy a real cup of tea together☕️, as well as with all our readers!🧡Click on the links below to view Mary and Pam's lovely and creative posts and leave them a comment, so they will know you enjoyed their post. I love your comments also!🧡🧡🧡

             Mary at Home is Where the Boat Is.

                                   Pam at Everyday Living

                   Living Thankfully,

🍁🧡🍂🍁🧡🍂