back from Seattle

Well, I am back from my Seattle area visit to my son and I must say that I saw some interesting and beautiful sites. Here is a very tiny sampling:
Above--jousting in a gas-pipe park
Above:--houseboats on the lake

A German type town called Leavenworth

Some Trees

Looking foward to visiting blogs!! soon!

seattle vacation

I am on vacation for a bit--in the beautiful ,wet, world of Seattle.

getting ready for Tablescape Thursday

Getting ready for tablescape Thursday with Susan (click on her name on Thursday to see others who are displaying much more marvelous tablescapes!) . I could have done the above scape.


Do you all know what the above thing is???? Down here in the South we call it a popcorn tree or Chinese Tallow. It turns a beautiful yellow and orange in the Fall and produces these popcorn looking things. Unfortunately it can spread like wildfire!

I could have used my December cup in anticipation of what is coming!! I could have used a nice old vintage napkin and doiley too.




Notice the old glass bottle says snow on it. I got it back in the 70's when I drank milk from it in Japan. The other side is written in Japanese. I thought snow was kind of cool for holding something that was white like snow.



But, naw (translation= nope=no), I was watching a Clemson football game this Saturday instead. ..AND AND I don't mind saying that they slaughtered North Carolina!! But I want to say that I love this teapot. I got it last year from QVC. The only negitive is that you can't put boiling water in it. It has to be 200 degrees or less. I have gotten used to that......AND the tea cup from Rosanna's had become one of my favorites. HOWEVER I chipped it!! I dropped another cup on it yesterday!! I can turn it around and sip from the other side , I guess.

Bishop Boots , the cat, was watching me , watching Clemson. (Oh, of course I was doing a little bit of blogging--multi-tasking , ya know?) Oh and did I say, it is peppermint tea?)

What I love about this teapot is the insert it has for loose tea (below)







All in all it was a splendid day.


And my roses are in agreement ;-)

met monday-creating snowflakes

I love snowflakes and I found a site that lets you print out the design. It has a bunch of different ones --more than what I have done! You print them out and it gives you the fold lines and the cut lines. I was just going to try one , BUT it was toooooooooo much fun. There is something so magical about the transformation of a folded piece of paper into a neato design!! I had to do more and this was late at night. I am feeling a bit like a kid again!!! ANY ways go here to get the free print outs-JUst click on the word here and it brings you to the site Or (http://quackshack.blogspot.com/2008/11/avalanche.html

--this would be fun on windows, trees, tablescapes etc.......and if you have more ideas let me know!!!

For other creative ideas and transformation join others at Susan's on Monday! (my post is about transforming paper to snowflakes so I think it is ok, but I didn't take a before pic)

Tablescape Thursday

IT will be tablescape Thursday at Susan's On Thursday so go there to see some smashing ones!! I failed to take many pics of my set table and it was only partially set!!! GETTING old age syndrome!!


In the picture below you can see I have moved the round table to the fireplace area instead of the rectangular one---round is more cozy. I have added my pink cups to the tea cup shelf instead of just the blue ones. (oh forgive my spelling--if I do the check it messes up my pics). I threw on a different red table topper and I moved my wicker chairs up here. NOTE: THESE PICS DIDN'T SHOW TOO WELL BECAUSE OF THE NIGHT TIME MIXING WITH THE COLORS.




Below is the same area with the blue checked table cloth--which looks better in the picture than the red, for some reason.







I put a red one on the bigger table in the area too. I can't make up my mind which ones I like better. I have tried red plaid stuff. I have tried a white on the rectanglar table and the blue and white check on the round---but for this time of the year it seemed a little cold.

Below is how it looks in the white:




But I think I will stick with the red for this time of the year. Anyone else want to put some in put? Hmm, may be I will try a white topper over red for the big table?


I love red and white---so a simple red and white and glass and silver thing going on here. I lost my fork somehow! We actually were celebrating something.


The stemware above was purchased by my hubby when he was in Venice, Italy. They are hand blown and we bring them out on holidays and any old time and on special occasions.

This is how the inside looks (above). We have 6 for white wine, 6 for red , and 6 champagne flutes (sp?). We had them shipped so he wouldn't have to carry them on the plane. But we had a time getting them from customs. The price he paid was supposed to include the customs charge....but we still had to pay. They all arrived safely.


This little beaded doiley above is from my college days back in the early 70's! I was dating a guy from Rhodesia and he brought it back from Africa for me. It is hand made.

So I know I should have done a more fancy table---but ah well. We were celebrating my youngest son's grade on a major test. He got an A---now the amazing thing about this is he flunked the course 3 other times with an average in the twenties!!! This one course kept him from getting his degree!!! He now commutes 5 hours round trip three times a week to do this course. His brother tutored him for a month this summer and now continues to give him help by webcam (since he lives in Seattle area and we live in SC) over the internet. We are now hopeful that he will graduate and also get his Lt commision(I can't spell!!).

So all in all we are celebrating his A average so far and hope for the future. (however he did have a speeding ticket--Ha!)

Needless to say, my son is the one on the left ;-)

AND last of all I decided to change the pic above the table for the wreath and add an underlying white cloth



Oops--left the picture in the chair!

Fall Flower Power

Last night this was the view from my sofa. It is one of the reasons I love Fall. There are so many beautiful things blooming.




Below :The impatients are still going fairly strong--they need a bit of water.







Above : the carpet roses are trailing over the carport wall



Above: these were the berries in view from the bay window



ABOVE: the camelias are in full bloom (they were the ones seen from the window).

Above: a section of my wildflower mixed seed garden



And last of all the pink camelias---so much color!! I am thankful for all the colors and beauty!

Met Monday and sick

Met Monday is coming up and I am posting this a bit early since I am not feeling well and don't know how I might be feeling later.

First of all, aren't all of you guys simply sick, sick, sick, of everyone telling you about their chalkboard making experiences????? I mean, really, how many ways and types of chalkboards do we need to see!!! It is as bad as the burlap take over or the painting cloths from Home Depot being transformed into curtains, sofa covers and etc.!!! WELL, I GOT SO SICK of it I had to DO something about it!! YUp....you know what is coming....I HAD to DO a CHALKBOARD. UGH....you say, not another one!! yup..it is spreading.......


I found my above calandar holder in a closet when I was cleaning this week and I painted the chalkboard paint on it which I found at Walmart.


It is in the kitchen.....yup, another kitchen blackboard! When will this conflagration ever stop!!





I wrote some
"family rules"--an idea which I got from another blogger--things I like to be reminded of daily (especially while washing dishes!)

Above is where I like to be when I am feeling under the weather as I am now (and not from the chalkboard!)


One more change I did this week is to put a different tablecloth on this and other tables and move some stuff around in this room . I am not going to show it all now.....But the CAT--Bishop Boots-- would not allow fake flowers on this table. He kept going up there!!! I think he would have learned that they were fakes, but he was probably smelling some real ones I had elsewhere. I gave up and put a teacup in its place---it looked better anyway. Perhaps Boots is a future decorator???


Yikes that sign was supposed to say expert not export! HA!! Fooled or fouled again!

Tablescape Thursday...coming up!

OK-- so it is time for tablescape Thursday at Susan's. I can't remember what her rules are so if I am not obeying them....then it will be my Bad. This is not an eating tablescape....just a tablescape. I love bare branches and this branch fell off our oak tree and it has some acorns still attached and some mossy growth on it. So I put it in a green vase and it just gives me a neat feeling.







The above is how it looked before the cardinal landed.



I love cardinals and tonight my hubby and I enjoyed watching the sunset on the patio with a glass of red wine surrounded by a ton of cardinals at our 3 backyard feeders----such a nice Fall evening.

Moving things around

I didn't take part in the usual met-monday because I have been busy moving china and tables etc. So hopefully next week I will join back in!?