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,

The Joy of Spring

Happy Tuesday and Happy Spring! Springtime is a joyous time of rebirth and brings us such joy. The first day of spring is March 21st. Easter is April 17th this year.  Christians celebrate a risen Savior on Easter which is Christ the Lord.

 Welcome to a Spring and Easter tablescape blog hop sponsored by Rita  @ Panoply. There are 18  bloggers participating in this blog hop. You can find links to their tablescapes at the bottom of this post. Stop by and show them some love by leaving them a comment.

For my tablescape, I have set a table outside on the patio. The birds are singing and I just saw an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, my first butterfly of the season as I was setting the table. I was hoping it would stop on my centerpiece and I could capture a picture. How exciting that would have been! 

Botanic Garden Portmeirion makes me happy because there is a different flower on each plate. The sunflower is🌻 the national flower of Ukraine and has become a symbol to us of their fight for freedom. Continued prayers for 🇺🇦 Ukraine. I am thankful for the countries that are taking in refugees escaping the horrific war.

I added azaleas from my garden to supplement the grocery store flowers of tulips, sunflowers, and hydrangeas. My curved willow vase accented the seagrass wicker glasses.

My aucuba scrub in my garden is great for flower arrangements. It adds color and variety and holds up very well.

"Golden Sunshine, a world of green, a world of blossoms, a breeze so clean; the redbirds whistle, the

bluebirds sing, my heart rejoices: 'tis spring,' tis spring!" 

Caroline Henning Bair

The sweet pea plate reminds me of my DIL's bridesmaid's bouquets. The ribbed depression glass sherbets hold strawberries and blueberries.

The plate stack consists of a white Ikea charger, Bordallo Pinheiro cabbage plate, and a hydrangea Portmeirion plate. I am hoping I will have a lot of hydrangeas to bloom in my garden this year. 

I was delighted to find tulips in the store for my centerpiece to coordinate with the tulip plate.

Have you ever heard of pine berries? What I thought were strawberries are (Berry De Blanc) pineberries. Note the light color. They are from Austin Farms in Plant City, Florida. They have a slight pineapple taste.

They were intriguing since I had not seen them before.

Springtime Fancy

It may be just springtime fancy, 

but it always seems to methat in the spring the flowers sing, and every leafy tree.
The songs of birds from every branchseem just to lead the wayfor all the earth to join in songto greet each coming day.
It may be just springtime fancy, but all nature seems to sing: hail to this happy time of year, the joyous time of spring.
Virginia Katherine Oliver
I feel so blessed this spring to have blessings of freedom, peace, comfort, safety, food, and shelter. We have all witnessed the horrors in Ukraine and could never have imagined this happening just like we couldn't imagine a worldwide pandemic. Thankfully, my hope is not in this world. The joy of spring gives me hope. The joy of Easter gives me hope.



The links for Spring and Easter tablescape blogs are listed below: 

Everyday Living - The Joys of Easter

The Little Yellow Corner Store - Funny Bunny Fern and Her Breakfast Tablescape

Me and My Captain - Spring Is In the Air

Red Cottage Chronicles - Fruit and Flowers Spring Tablescape

Living with Thanksgiving - The Joy of Spring

Life and Linda - Bunnies Pedaling Toward Easter

Hyacinths for the Soul - Garden Party on the Terrace

Home Is Where the Boat Is - Hop To It

Panoply - Blissful Signs of Spring / Easter Tablescape

My Hubbard Home - Busy Bunny Easter Table

My Thrift Store Addiction - Rabbits and Roses Garden Tea for Two

Thrifting Wonderland - Easter Table in Black and White

Karins Kottage - Children's Easter Table in Bright Colors

The Painted Apron - Spring Piggy Party!

Corner of Plaid and Paisley - Bunnies in the Garden

Dinner at Eight - A Field of Tulips on a Spring Table

The Bookish Dilettante - Casual Easter Tablescape

Pandora's Box - Here Comes Peter Cottontail

Wishing each of you a joyous Easter ✝️and Spring🦋. Counting my blessings✝️ and living thankfully, 

Vintage Dogwood Dishes

My mother had these dishes when I was growing up. They are nostalgic for me. I bought these at an antique shop some time ago. I gave them to my daughter and thought I would do a tablescape at her house using them  but time passed and that never happened. I kept thinking about these dishes and asked if I could bring them home and do a table. I think that was two years ago and now I have finally done a table. The vision in my head for a tablescape had to include fresh dogwood flowers. So this year I found flowers at the right time and got a table together.

I love the shape of the cup and saucer.

 The dogwoods were found in the woods. I felt so blessed to find any. Anthracnose has killed all the dogwoods in my yard and they have suffered severe damage in our area.

Aren't the blossoms beautiful? 

The glasses I'm guessing are probably from the '60s or '70s. I haven't checked that. I drank a lot of sweet tea from them at my MIL's home. I just googled dixie dogwood dishes and found the glasses that were handpainted that went with these dogwood dishes.  Here is the link. They are so pretty and delicate so it is amazing there are still some out there!  The tablecloth was loaned to me by my dear friend, Charlotte. I thought it was just what the dishes needed. 

The silverplate flatware is Simeon L. and George Rogers Company. I had to use a magnifying glass to read it. I was pleased to find the silverplate flatware in a Liz Claiborne shoebox that my MIL had given me a number of years ago. It was badly in need of polishing. I felt I needed flatware that was a little vintage for this tablescape but  after googling I think it is older than the dishes.

The dogwood dishes were made by two companies.  I have four plates and two say Dixie Dogwood handpainted by Joni. The others just say handpainted and underglazed. 

If you can't read this above, it says, "The legend of Dogwoods dates back to the Crucifixion. Early lore likens the dogwood petals, shaped like a cross and stained with red, to the Cross of Calvary. "

The other company was Blue Ridge/ Southern Potteries. The prices vary and some sources say vintage 1950's and others say vintage 1940's. It was interesting to read on one plate it was oven proof. I saw the sugar and creamer online and they are such a cute shape. I can visualize sitting at the breakfast table and my parents putting sugar and cream in their coffee. 

By the way, I was happy to find the fourth napkin that  I mentioned  I could not find in this tablescape last summer. Seems like I have been reminiscing a lot recently. Is that a sign of getting older? I have fond memories of picking dogwoods in the woods around Easter as a child that I blogged about in an Easter tablescape here. Easter is this Sunday. May this Holy Week be especially meaningful to you this year. Have a blessed Easter. He is Risen!
Joining : Celebrate and Decorate  Tablescape Thursday     

  Dishing It & Digging It   

Spring Blooms

Welcome to Living with Thanksgiving. You are invited to step into spring today with fresh flowers, flowering dishes, and a spring garden salad. 
I'm joining a group of bloggers for a spring blog hop sponsored by Chloe Crabtree from the blog, Celebrate and Decorate. Chloe began a series of blog hops for each season in 2016 and it is still going strong.  You can view my two previous spring tablescapes below with the following links: Spring is in the Air and Spring Girlfriend Luncheon.
Thank you, Chloe, for all your hard work organizing these fun blog hops. A schedule is listed at the bottom of this post with links to numerous tablescapers with spring in mind.

Now with spring in mind, my tablescape features Botanic Garden Portmeirion plates with flowers and butterflies. 

I don't know which plate is my favorite because I have never met a flower I didn't like.  Sweet peas remind me of my daughter-in-love's bridesmaid's bouquets.  Green cabbage Bordallo Pinheiro chargers, white Ikea chargers and rattan chargers make up the plate stack.

The napkins were a gift from my daughter-in-love. I was touched that she went to the trouble to search on Etsy for vintage napkins that matched my purple stemware. It was also fun to use my butterfly napkin rings again since all the plates have butterflies. It won't be long before butterflies are fluttering through our gardens.  At first glance, I thought the flower on this plate was a lily but it is an azalea.

The azaleas in my garden are a little early this spring. I believe we are about two weeks ahead of our usual flowers.

Portmeirion is made in England and is dishwasher, microwave, freezer, and oven to table safe. It pairs well with the Bordallo Pinheiro cabbage dishes I think.

Foxgloves are high up on my favorite flower list. I haven't grown any in a number of years and have missed them.

Primroses which are harbingers of spring seemed to fit my table as a choice for a centerpiece. I was fortunate to find some on a trip out of town last week.  I love the variety of primrose colors.  Primroses are hardy in zones 3-8 and perform best in humus-rich soil in partial shade. I plan to plant them in my garden with hopes they will survive our hot summer weather. 

My spring salad was picked partially from garden flowers with violas, marigolds, and sprigs of fennel. Butterhead lettuce and grapefruit slices combine with the edible flowers for a light spring salad. 

 An article in a recent issue of Traditional Home magazine was my inspiration for my salad as well as this salad with edible flowers I enjoyed in Amboise, France, last May.

I have to confess I forgot that Chloe had planned an Easter tablescape blog hop, for April 1- 5, when I added the bunnies to my table. Since I will be out of town for the blog hop at least I got to use my new bunnies from Home Goods. We have a new store in a nearby town and I am a happy camper. And... since I am confessing. I broke my rule not to buy any more dishes! The Portmeirion plates showed up at our TJMax store last fall and I succumbed to temptation.
In my neck of the woods we have been enjoying spring flowers and temperatures complete with pollen but it is in the forties today with a forecast of 33 tonight and 28 tomorrow night.
 Yesterday, I was attending a funeral very near the area in Alabama hard hit by the tornadoes so I am not complaining about a little cold weather. My heart hurts for the loss of lives and property of the people in areas of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida on Sunday.   I am also well aware that many of you reading this have been dealing with record snowfall and harsh cold weather for a long time this winter and others have suffered from severe flooding. It does seem as if the weather has been severe this past year with fires, hurricanes, and storms.  
I am so glad you joined me today. The friendships I have made blogging have been very rewarding. 
Please enjoy visiting the blogs below and leave them a comment so they will know you enjoyed their tablescapes. 

Monday

A Casa di Bianca | Red Cottage Chronicles | Panoply
 The Little Yellow Corner Store | From My Carolina Home

Tuesday

Celebrate & Decorate | Everyday Living  | Home is where the Boat Is | Belle Blue Interiors 
Living With Thanksgiving 

Wednesday

The Painted Apron | Debbee's Buzz | Bluesky at Home | Corner of Plaid and Paisley
Home and Gardening With Liz

Thursday

Sweet Sensations | Chasing Quaintness | Our Crafty Mom | Zucchini Sisters | Life and Linda

Friday

My Thrift Store Addiction | My Family Thyme | Me and My Captain 
Follow the Yellow Brick Home | Katherine's Corner | Twelve on Main 

Living Thankfully,

Joining: Celebrate and Decorate, Tablescape Thursday, and Dishing it and Digging It.