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Moving into August, the hydrangea is starting to turn color to the muddy pink it usually takes on in the fall. But there are still a few blooms with the pretty clear lavendar I like best.

One blue bloom came out this week. The muddy pink can be seen behind it.

On the veranda, the orchid loves this hot humid weather. The single bloom is still lovely, and has been like this for three months now!

Unfortunately, the smaller bud behind it has never progressed beyond this point after the same three months. Sorry for the blurry picture, I could ...

Last week I got farther along on Koi Pond, and then was stymied once again. I finished beading all the fish, and they look great, but the purple beads do not shine as much as I had hoped. You have to be fairly close to the piece for you to notice them.

The last element I wanted to add was a water lily in the open space in the lower right corner. I pulled fabrics, trying to find something with a subtle print to add some dimension to the applique. Deciding on one that seemed to match the pebbles in ...

As the weather warms, more green is coming out on all the trees. It is lovely around our place, as well as on the drives we’ve been taking. The redbud has finished its flower show. Several mornings this past week have been foggy like this in the early morning.

The purple petunias in the hanging baskets are apparently very happy.

With all the spring green outside, I decided to bring that color inside for a nice tablescape. Spring green chargers and napkins provide the color, with a centerpiece of green, white and pink.

The settings have white china plates ...

The azaleas came into bloom this week with about half of the shrubs well into their spring show, just lovely! We have a lot of bushes inside the driveway island and down the edge of the meadow along the driveway. My favorite ones are the white ones. Luckily, the cold nights do not seem to have damaged the blooms significantly.

There are a few brown edges here and there, but mostly they are pristine.

I love the soft pink of this one, and it was full of big bumblebees busily collecting pollen.

On another white azalea, there is always one ...

Now that spring is here, lightening up the home decor with fresh flowers and garden themes suits me. Today, I have a roundup of ideas for tablescapes along with some delicious ideas for meals. So, let’s start with setting a table. I did this one for Easter dinner in 2017. It has the fun Easter Egg plates and bunny crackers I got at Pier 1. See the whole thing on the post Easter Tablescape.

Warmer days means being able to eat on the veranda. This tablescape from 2020 is set for two. Spring green placemats with yellow chargers hold ...

Warmer weather brings out the desire for lighter dishes and interesting flavors for meals. I love Asian influences in food and tablescapes, and today I’ll share a new table along with some of my original recipes for the food. This would be so fun to share with friends! A few years ago, I did an entire month of Japanese inspired posts, and I’ll link a few of those here today, along with a brand new tablescape. From time to time, I am contacted by companies to see if I would like to try their products. Sometimes I say ...

I have a couple of days to sew this week, and I am looking forward to Virtual Retreat on Friday as a sew day too! I have started a secret project, and all I can show you for now is this. It is going to be so fun! More details later when I can reveal it. But, it will have embroidery as you can see. It is National Embroidery month, see the bottom of this post for a special sale at Sulky on all your embroidery needs. This is a great time to get that stabilizer!

The mail has been ...

This week, I planned to have a couple of friends over for a day of sewing and chatting, and maybe just a touch of stitch-and-bitch. My Sweet Babboo always calls this a Hen Party, so I got out my chicken table topper for a nice tablescape for lunch.

I put my gold chargers at the places, topped with white plates and rooster bowls.

The chickens on the bowls are similar to the ones on the table topper.

Gold napkins are held with rooster napkin rings.

In the center of the table, a chicken trivet will be used to hold a ...

I’ve been collecting pieces for this Christmas dish set for a few years now. Each year I seem to find another piece, one more mug, a serving piece, or something. It is stoneware, and we use it almost every day through December. However, I have been making an effort to donate or sell a lot of stuff. My set of Noritake china, white on white floral with platinum rims (92 pieces!) is currently on Craigslist, although I doubt it will sell. But I want you to know, I resisted the urge to buy a pitcher listed on eBay that ...

Setting a lovely table in anticipation of an upcoming holiday is always a fun activity. While football games were on the TV last Sunday, My Sweet Babboo brought up the heavy turkey bin and special Thanksgiving linens and I had a playful time arranging the pub table for the holiday. I try to make this holiday table just a little different every year, but still utilizing what I already have.

This year, I wanted the table to be full of color. So, I began by spreading out my deep red tablecloth, and put the Turkey Talk placemats on top with ...

Fall Fortnight means it is time to get my fall things to set a seasonal table, especially with the wonderful cooler temperatures this week. I got out my favorite pumpkin bowls, the copper color chargers and the leaf plates and began to play with putting things together. First, a plate stack is done, adding my white stoneware dinner plates.

The pumpkin bowls are added to the left side, ready to hold a hot bowl of soup. Gold color flatware comes out in the fall as its warm tones go well with the fall colors. The napkins are a nutmeg spice ...

It is Apple Festival weekend with a street fair, air show, classic car shows and lots more. There is so much to do all over town as downtown is closed to traffic, and all the area orchards are open with activities and apples for sale. Local groups do pancake breakfasts and other activities to raise money for charity. The main stage has the apple cooking contest on Friday morning, and then different bands playing all through the weekend.

If you are interested in more on the annual festival, click on Apple Festival to see my posts from previous years covering ...

This past weekend, we had good friends over for happy hour and a meal. It is so fun to be able to entertain again, and it gives me a chance to not only set a pretty table, but also to show off my cooking a bit. My friend is a great cook herself, so she got to shine for dessert. But first, a pretty table is essential. It lets our guests know they are special.

My Colors of August placemats and table topper are placed on the table first. That post will tell you my idea of the colors for ...

This weekend, we pause to count our blessings and remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom. To help you celebrate, here are a few of my posts with patriotic theme projects, food and tablescapes.

I made this Patriotic Table Runner some time ago, and it is the foundation of most of my patriotic tablescapes.  The complete tutorial on how to make the tri-rec star blocks and put it together including putting borders on points, and binding non-90-degree angles HERE.  It is easy and fast, you could have one made in time for the July 4th ...

Warmer days mean having meals on the veranda. Last week we had friends over for a meal, so I had to set a nice table for them. After washing the pollen off the table, I set it with white placemats, spring green chargers, white dinner plates and pink floral salad plates.

Spring green napkins are held with plastic crystal design rings, with everyday flatware. I didn’t put the drink glasses on the table, as I had several sizes for our guests to choose depending on what they wanted to drink. I put one set of salt and pepper shakers ...

Finally, the weather seems to be warming up and I hope it stays that way. I need to get some plants for the veranda and move the ones from the Carolina room to the front. I am in a mood for fresh lemons both in cooking and in decorating. So, let’s take a stroll through some past posts to bring together springtime and lemons! First up, a Lemon Tablescape. I still have the lemon salad plates, and the melamine platter, but the little lemon bread plates and yellow cutwork chargers have been donated back to the thrift store. See ...

Now that I finished the little table topper in yellow and grey, I wanted to set a pretty springtime table with it. I pulled out yellow chargers and my favorite yellow salad plates. They are called Chloe, and I got them from Pier 1 years ago.

I start with putting the table topper at an angle on top of a white tablecloth, with the points toward the places.

I have two of these adorable ducklings with eggs, with green hats and big orange feet. Pulling out my yellow ceramic basket, I filled it with faux spring tulips and hibiscus, along ...

I invited a couple of friends to come over for lunch this past week, so of course that meant setting a nice table. I piddled around with a lot of ideas, but nothing seemed quite right. It was way past Gal-entines day, too early for spring, pastels and flower baskets just didn’t seem right. I wanted to use my pretty Japanese bowls for the soup I planned to serve, but nothing went with them. I got out my bowls with the roosters on them, and decided to go with that color scheme. The red was just more appropriate for ...

When I saw that the Chinese New Year would be the Year of the Dragon, I just had to get my little dragon out and put him center stage on a table. I got this little guy for our MINIs on the Dragon event a few years ago.I got a long blonde wig and had him on my shoulder like Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones while I worked registration. Since then, he has been used for not only those events, but he was also a photo scavenger hunt item on a picnic event last year. I put him ...

Setting a festive table early in the month for everyday use brings more cheer to meals in December. I’ve been collecting these dishes for some time now, finding a mug here, and a bowl there. I’ve added three serving pieces found online, but there is no room for them on the pub table we use for everyday meals. There is barely enough for the large place settings, but it is so much fun to use the dishes as much as possible this month.

The set is called Vintage Christmas designed by Susan Winget. I just love her designs ...