I Suspect Mrs. Peacock...

... in the dining room

... with a feather.

Yep, that's the way it happened. I was there, and I saw it. 

Apparently, the old broad invited a bunch of hens to a luncheon club 

and tickled them to death.

 Have I mentioned that the Farm Sister has always had a thing for peacocks? Probably not, I can't imagine why I would. She has, though. When we were kids and played the game Clue, she was always Mrs. Peacock, and she spoke the entire game with a British accent. I was Miss Scarlet and spoke with a drawl. 

We've always been a couple of oddballs now that I think about it.   

Mrs. Peacock grew up to marry a farmer, and on their farm they actually do have a peacock. His name is Ralph.  Ralph is a bit shy about showing his feathers for the camera. 

He's not in the least bit shy about shedding his feathers for the picking, though. 

So when her daughters gave her these whimsical plates for her birthday this year,

 she knew exactly what she was going to do for her turn at luncheon club.  

Gold flatware and some gold chargers were a must. 

Peacocks are all about the bling. 

And the rest of the table was all about the feathers.  

Feathers on the place cards.

Feathers down the middle of the table

And eyes looking out from the votives and linen.   

Mrs. Peacock is nothing if not a detail person.  

Napkins were done in a peacock fold. 

It's made by fan folding a square napkin on the diagonal 

and nesting it in the glass. 

Her flowers had a lot of plumage too. 

 She was kind of afraid that this centerpiece was going to be too tall,

 but noooo...

We talked right over them without a problem. 

In regular accents though, which means that everybody was trying to be Miss Scarlet.

Everybody that is, except the Farm Sister. 

No matter how she talks, she will always be  Mrs. Peacock. 

And she will always be the second oddest bird in town.  

(If Miss Scarlet inexplicably disappears for that one,  
feel free to suspect Mrs. Peacock with a lead pipe in the conservatory...) 

*****

Sharing with The Porch on Thursday. 

Sand Gnats and Sunflowers

So here we are, after months of tablescapes with a failure to launch, back again with a second table in as many weeks. Lest you think this means we've gotten it all together, think again.  We've just gotten it together enough to join the tablescape challenge at Cuisine Kathleen.

This month's challenge is called 

Farewell Summer.  

Something we'd be more than happy to do around here.  

Unfortunately, we probably won't be able to officially bid summer farewell for about two more months. We have, however, already bid a sad farewell to summer's favorite flower. We're using that flower for our tablescape inspiration.

I had two measly contributions to the whole table this week. First, I offered up this happy yellow tablecloth from my mother-in-law.  Not to be confused  in any way with her harvest gold table cloth from last week., this one is definitely sunflower yellow, and happy, happy, happy.

It matches the inspiration dishes, sunflower salad plates 

which belong to the Duchess.  

In fact, the entire place setting belongs to her, from the burlap charger to the bold blue dinner plate, to the completely unnecessary white one we stacked between the two. 

We just put it in there because the rim kind of looks like a paper plate. 

We happen to think paper plates are very summery.  

See? Not actually paper...

She contributed just about everything else on the table, too.  

(Well, not the sunflowers. God contributed the sunflowers.)

We took the farmer gourd and little red wagon right off her summer mantel. 

 He has a little sunflower hat. Not that any farmer I know

 would walk around  with a sunflower stuck to his hat. 

The napkins came off her kitchen table.   

I had to put them at the top of the plate 

because the place card church fans took up all the other space. 

And there was no way we were leaving those church fans off the table. 

Because it's  summer and this is south Georgia, folks.

People aren't the only invisible guests at an outdoor table.  

The gnats are sure to show up as well.  If you've never experienced a south Georgia sand gnat, consider yourself blessed. Old timers used to call them Noseeums...

...because you no see um until you feel um.

They bite. 

Of course, church fans aren't going to keep the sand gnats at bay.

 Nothing short of running in the house whilst screaming will do that.  

  

They will, however, keep their slightly bigger first cousins from becoming 

 no see ums until you taste ums.  

And they might just keep a little summer breeze blowing at the table too, especially when we all start waving them in concert.   Back and forth... betcha think we're sipping on some sweet tea while we're at it, too. 

Well we're not. 

Need I remind you that I don't know how to make sweet tea?

Plus, I was setting this table  in 100 degree weather. 

I needed a little Power Aid to replenish what I was losing in sweat balls. 

Oh who am I kidding...

We picked the Power Aid because it's red, and we thought red would look pretty on the table. 

The fact that I guzzled most of it down

 when I came back inside is just a happy coincidence. 

Yes, indeed, I felt very refreshed, so refreshed 

that I almost... almost...  forgot 

that it's still August, this is still south Georgia,

 and we still have some time to go before we can truly say,

Farewell summer! 

Sharing with  Cuisine Kathleen

 and the good folks over on The Porch as well. 

That '70s Table

I mentioned a few days ago that my family was having an anniversary celebration this week. 

We're celebrating our arrival in Georgia 40 years ago today.

August 21, 1974.

We thought it would be fun to celebrate by creating a 

1974 themed table. 

We're calling it...

Of course, since 1974 was smack dab in the middle of a recession, we didn't want to spend too much money on it. I set myself a goal of staying within a $10.00 budget.  Everything on the table was either hoarded, thrifted, borrowed, or crafted.


We started with these thrifted salad plates in harvest gold and avocado green... with just the tiniest pop of orange thrown in.   Then, we added dinner plates and chargers already living in the dish closet.

The harvest gold tablecloth  belonged to my  mother-in-law.
It matched perfectly because, apparently,  there was really only one shade of harvest gold. 

The thrft store stemware was dirt cheap. 

because avocado green glasses aren't much  in demand these days.

Gee, I wonder why...

and the flatware was borrowed from a friend of mine. 

It's from her Great Wedding Adventure of 1974.

The rest of the table was filled with icons of 1974.

Like mellow mushrooms. 

Little tidbit: The Mellow Mushroom pizza place is having their 40th anniversary this week, too. The first one opened right around the corner from the husband's house in Atlanta forty years ago yesterday. Cool, huh?

Our little mushroom isn't very mellow at all. 

The happy little pitcher belonged to my grandmother.

 She had a whole set of canisters to match it,  but we couldn't find them.  

 So we used a harvest gold fondue pot for the centerpiece instead.  

What could be more iconic of 1974 than a fondue pot?

Maybe these two crafty staples of the era...

I cannibalized an unloved thrift store plant holder to make those napkin rings.  

And yes, I do realize that they wouldn't have stuffed 

 two different napkins in there in  1974.

Maybe they should have.

I think a little napkin bling kinda jazzes up That '70s Table.

Of course, the Sunshine On My Shoulders helped a little too. 

And that's the way it is, 

Thursday, August 21, 2014.

The day we celebrated with an anniversary table. 

Maybe it doesn't rise to the level of a 

 beautiful one... 

But it sure was  fun!

Happy Anniversary 

from our table to yours!

*****

Sharing with the Porch People

for Tablescape Thursday

An Officer and a Gentleman: Tablescape Challenge

When Cuisine Kathleen first announced her wedding pattern tablescape challenge, we were absolutely certain that we wanted to join.  We just didn't know which wedding china we wanted to use. We've had a lot of weddings around here, after all,  and we have the china to prove it.  We have some beautiful patterns, too, ones bursting with color and  tablescape fodder.

But we chose this one instead.

It's the wedding pattern of the (not so) Newlywed Niece
Pearl Platinum by Lenox

Plain white. 

Trimmed in more white. 

That's OK.  We didn't choose it for the color anyway.

 We chose it in honor of a significant occasion which is taking place this week.  

No, it's not their anniversary. 

They tied the knot on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  Not that we weren't all thankful for him, but that isn't the reason that they chose the date. Actually, the date chose them instead. The groom is a military man, you see, and that's the first day that Uncle Sam said he might be available.

Uncle Sam has been pretty much intruding on their lives ever since.  In  nearly five years of marriage, they have shared only two anniversaries together. They won't be spending it together this year either.

Tomorrow, the Army Man heads to Afghanistan.  

He'll be there for the next year. 

His wife will  be home on the farm...

 tying yellow ribbons. 

So we took this table out by an old oak tree

 and tied some yellow ribbons too. 

 Then we filled the empty spaces  with daisies 

because they're just a daisy kind of couple.

She loves him...she loves him not...she loves him... she loves him not...

She loves him. 

Yes, I realize that proper table ladies do not scatter teacups willy-nilly on a table.  

They probably don't stick random daisies on saucers either, but I did it anyway. 

I'm pretty sure the rules are relaxed for pretend tables set for invisible people. 

(I hope so because I kept rearranging that stemware to suit my photo op notions.) 

Their crystal pattern is Marquis by Waterford

I love the simplicity of it.

Their flatware is Melon Bud by Gorham. 

And there you have it:

Tying Yellow Ribbons 'Round the Old Oak Tree...   

.... which, according to my husband, is actually a sweet gum tree.  

Well, oops. 

Regardless, I have had that song stuck in my head all day. 

And yes... I do indeed sound exactly like Tony Orlando. 

Admit it.  You knew I was going to say that...

But can we be serious for just a minute?

Please don't let the the dish playing and song singing fool you.

We're all pretty nervous around here right now.

We won't tell a lie.

But we're covering him in prayer for a safe trip home, and for once in our lives

  hoping that time actually does fly.  

We would deeply appreciate all your prayers as well.

May God hold you in His mighty hand, Captain McNephew. 

We'll be saving a place for you at the table. 

*****

Sharing with Let's Dish
and Tablescape Thursday

I'm Late! I'm Late!

For a very important Valentine date.

Yes, I know that Valentines Day is still four days away, but I'm still late with this table. It's bad enough that I'm 3 days too late for the Valentine Par-Tay at Bargain Decorating With Laurie, but I'm actually even later than that.  

About 368 days later. 

This is the table that I dreamed up in my head for luncheon club last year. I had it all planned to go with my 2013 color of the year. I just didn't finish the kitchen makeover in time to host a luncheon until May. 

I hosted it this year, though.  Saturday, the club came over for a luncheon that I called, That's Amore!  The food was Italian. The table was the one that I dreamed up in my head last year. 

Which is why this table is mostly  white and silver...

...with just a pop of red. 

I used a white table cloth, white candles, 

white  tulips, and white china. 

(Cameo Platinum by Mikasa.) 

I  borrowed the little red and white plates from the Farm Sister and added a bold red napkin.

That was the only red on the table.

(Act I flatware by Oneida.)

An easy peasy transformation with some little candy boxes turned them into favors.  I just painted the exterior with white Fusion satin paint and trimmed the sides with silver paint and satin ribbon.

Then I decoupaged each guest's wedding monogram on the top. 

Never let it be said that Debbie let a good decoupage opportunity go to waste...

(Moonspun crystal by Lenox)

I told them to share the chocolates inside with their husbands. The Men of the Houses deserved a little favor this time because they had done me a favor.   

They helped me with the place cards... 

... by secretly sending me a photo of their own big fat 80s weddings.  

Of course, the groom below didn't have to send me a picture. That's the Farm Sister and the Cowboy once upon a time. I was the Maid of Honor at that wedding and had my own photo.

I remember that boy...

 I remember all those boys.
In fact,  I'll let you in on a secret: That's still the way I see them. 

High school sweethearts...

In the end, most of the men kept their secret. One young swain accidentally left his photo on the computer so his bride had a hint. She kept it mum, though, and still enjoyed the surprise.  I think we chose some pretty good boys.

I know I chose some very good friends.

Talkative ones, too.

 They arrived at 11:30 and never headed out the door until 6:00. 

I'm pretty sure that's a new record. 

Even though I still had a Sunday School lesson to finish, that was fine by me. We're studying "one another" in Sunday school, after all. Part of that one another-ing includes hospitality and fellowship. Saturday we had a little bit of both.

And there you have it:
 My 2013 pop of red Valentine table,

 better late than never. 


*****
Sharing at The Porch