Pink Saturday – A Christmas Memory

 

 

I love Christmas and all that goes with it – the music, the decorations, the food and the reason for its being. I always have. Growing up in New Jersey, we always made a fuss about Christmas. Gram Potter would come to visit and there would be a wonderful dinner at Uncle George’s in Green Village. There was a new dress, a doll, and books. My dress was usually red. The books were so that my sister and I would not bug the adults as they celebrated in another room.

Each year there would be a new ornament or two for the tree. As we got older, my sister and I got to help pick them out. My mother liked to decorate the tree. Each strand of tinsel needed to go on separately. It took forever and the lights could not go on until the tinsel was on and it took forever….. My dad would offer to help but one at a time did not work for him. The front of the tree always looked better.

I found this picture buried in a box while I was cleaning out paperwork. It was taken in 1953. Such different times. Gram Potter (my dad’s mother) was truly an influence on me even after she was gone. Her love of her home, her gardens, her family and friends was legendary.

 

Notice my sister has the Madame Alexander Bride doll…….I loved Madame Alexander dolls. I still think Santa may have made a mistake on that one….

 

Be sure to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to see other memories and pinks.

Tablescape Thursday and more…..

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch hosts Tablescape Thursday each week. If you have not seen her blog, you really must. She is truly the hostess with the mostess.
I am sitting in my chair in my soon to be completed studio/office/guest room. There seems to be some semblance of order in the room itself but the guest bathroom is off limits (no media) and shall be for a while. Susan Boyle is singing softly in the background and I have some Christmas music to play as well.
The embroidery machine has been busy. Tea towels and snowflakes are wonderful presents. I shall try to make one a day until Christmas. I use the snowflakes on the Christmas tree. I place them on the boughs just as if they had just landed.




I have quite a few different snowflake designs. Some I do in white and some in ivory. I like to mix them up. The days of the real tree are over. I don’t miss the needles until April but I do miss the wonderful smell. Our tree is a tabletop model and works quite well. I set it on a round table covered with a Christmas quilt made just for that purpose.

I decorated the Welsh cupboard and the coffee table.



A big glass jar holds some of the ornaments too large for the tree.


Then I started on the table. This setting is just the holiday setting. For Christmas Eve and Christmas Day there will be different ones. I haven’t decided what but it is still early……


So that’s what I have been doing. Now I have to go and say hi to all of you who have been stopping by and leaving wonderful comments while I had that bug. I will take some more pictures as well.

Deck the Halls

We got through Thanksgiving and it was wonderful. I love the meal itself with all the accompaniaments. Even though I didn't cook the meal, I set my table. So that is all away now and we have started on the house. I am almost there. The last remnants of this cold still linger.

When we were back in Maine, we went to North Conway to the Christmas Loft and I took many, many pictures. Today I am sharing a mosaic of the ornaments and Christmas decorations I saw there.

Be sure to visit Susan at Thoughts from over the Rainbow for this fun December event. Now onto the rest of my house.

Pink Saturday at Serendipity

 

Well another Saturday. I am still dealing with this cold/flu thing so today I am going to just lay low. I do have a helper who is going to collaborate with me on some of my ideas for decorating. She has exquisite taste – always dressed for success.

This beautiful handmade bear was made and given to me by a dear friend for my 50th birthday. She makes an appearance every once and a while but is mostly content just living with the bears that I made doing what bears just do.

Right now she wants me to hop back in bed with a cup of tea and look at the roses on the dresser.

 

 

Happy Pink Saturday. Be sure to stop by Beverly’s at How Sweet the Sound and see what the rest of the “pinks” are doing.

Tablescape Thursday

 

This my Thanksgiving tablescape. Each week Susan at Between Naps on the Porch is the hostess for this event. Be sure to stop by and visit and see amazing table setting skills.

 

 

Well, Thanksgiving is here and the table is finally set.  I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends. This is a special time of year and may we not lose the meaning of the season.

I made Gram Potter’s date bread and dreamt of date nut and cream cheese sandwiches all night. However, it is safely in the freezer until Thursday!

I chose my wedding silver because of the serving pieces. And I didn’t have to polish everything!

The centerpiece is an older piece of Fenton glass “iridized”. The flowers are dried from a potpourri mix. I can’t have too big a centerpiece without an extra leaf in the table.

 

The cut glass bowl belonged to my grandmother and would be filled with black olives, pickled watermelon rind and celery stuffed with Kraft Roka Blue cheese – the kind that came in the little juice glasses. I’m not sure they even make that anymore because I have not seen it in ages. My mother soon stopped asking me to help…one for me – one for the relish tray – one for me……

 

The little salt spoons match my silver and are the perfect size for these salt cellars.

I do not know anything about these wine glasses. We found them at Deb’s Flowerbed Farm in Bridgton, Maine 4 or 5 years ago. If anyone has any suggestions I would be happy to hear them.

 

My tablecloth is from Williams Sonoma as are the napkins.

The napkin rings from Pottery Barn a couple years ago.

Chargers from TJ Max

The acorn transfer ware from Williams Sonoma

The mint green salad plates from Home Goods

Flatware Homewood by Stieff

Wine glasses from Deb’s a few years back and don’t know anything about them

Candlesticks -Pottery Barn

Centerpiece bowl – Fenton Glass

Cut glass relish tray from Gram Potter

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Just plain Monday before Thanksgiving…

We are going to be with friends and neighbors on Thanksgiving. Our family is up north. We celebrate the holidays before we head south. I miss everyone but what I miss most is cooking the meal. Thanksgiving dinner is my favorite and in past years I always had the dinner at my house. And the more the merrier!

I usually had 3 kinds of stuffing, 2 or 3 types of tea breads with cream cheese or butter, a relish tray, rutabagas, butternut squash, mashed potatoes, creamed onions and pies! We could hardly move after dinner.

I don’t do the turkey any more. I roast a chicken. Sometimes because it is just the 2 of us, I get bored with turkey leftovers so with the chicken I get the same holiday feeling. I only make 1 pie and 1 bread but the rest is still good. I like both kinds of cranberries – the sauce and the jelly.

Setting the table is one of the favorite parts of this holiday as well. I used to have my mother’s dishes but those I passed on to my niece. I probably won’t have time to polish the silver but you just never know.

Look for the table on Wednesday but I will give you just a peek!

   

Maybe by Wednesday this horrible head cold will be better and I will be able to decide which flatware to use.

A gift from Normandy

 

 

I happened upon a contest of sorts and I won. I never win anything so imagine my delight when I won not one but 2 Pay it forwards in one week! Today I received my gift from Maggie B. at Normandy Life. Maggie writes a wonderful blog and takes amazing photographs.

 

Now I should have known when Jack came up with a candy in his mouth and offered me one that something was up! I am struggling around on the floor trying to make some sense and order out my guest room which I am turning into a studio/office. The bed will be a Murphy bed and when the bed is in the upright position, the underside will serve as my design wall. I am quite thrilled.

 

But anyway back to looking up at Jack (who is tall but very tall when you are on the floor) and the candy. Creme de caramel – mmmmmn. Maggie had told me she had sent the package but I thought it might take a little longer. I came downstairs for lunch and there on the coffee table was a pile of presents

and some candy….

I opened the card first. A lovely rendering of the Juliette Gordon Low birthplace. Juliette founded the Girl Scouts of America. I was a Girl Scout, Maggie. I loved earning those badges.

She wrote a wonderful note inside. Somehow I just knew her handwriting would be like this.

So now onto the presents.

In this package was this darling sign.

 

 

And in the other package was this little guy. He looks handmade and is just adorable.

Thank you Maggie B.

Now I will begin to plan my P.I.F. I am so glad that the rules allow 1 year to follow through. I won’t take a year but I need to come up with entry plan and some ideas for presents. And I need to get off the floor and have my design table in place!