"Let Freedom Ring"

It's the fifth of July, and I'm just now writing my Independence Day post.  Hubby went back to work today, after spending last week recovering from his orthopedic surgery.  I'll be driving him to and from the office for a while because his car is a manual transmission, and he can't change gears with his right hand at the moment; we're not sure how long before he can.  His arm is in a soft cast/sling, and we have a follow-up visit with the surgeon this Friday.

I've missed blogging.  I have tried to look at a few of your posts, but haven't had much time to do so.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July holiday!  We could hear the fireworks in our neighborhood until close to midnight last night.

We ate at my parents' house on Sunday, July 3rd (it was my Dad's birthday), and then we ate at my in-laws' house on July 4th.  The food was wonderful at both places, and it was nice to get out of our house for a bit.  I had already bought some things to set a Fourth of July table with, so I did get to set it up (a few days late).  Most of the things I already had, but I did get a few new things.  I just hated to save it until next year, so I did a tablescape. 

You won't see any outdoor tables on my blog (at least not for awhile) because we don't have a good outdoor area to spend time in the spring and summer.  It's one of the things that I'd like to improve about our house, but it's just not in the budget until our son finishes college.  My kitchen needs a makeover as well, so that's why most, if not all, of my tablescapes will be in the dining room.  If I were doing an outdoor table, or a table on a screened porch, I would do something lighter with more of a festive, party feel.  But since I'm using the dining room, I went with more of a historic theme.

I truly enjoyed creating this table because I really LOVE history.  This weekend, we watched several parts of a series on the History Channel called "The Revolution".  It's a 13-part series and is available on DVD, but we recorded as many episodes as we could.  We stumbled upon it by accident Sunday night, and it was so interesting, we set up our DVR to record it.   DH and I learned so many things about the American Revolution that we had never known.  It seriously amazes me that a small, ragtag, but determined army was able to defeat the British, the most powerful empire on earth at that time.

For my table, I used white dinner plates and blue and white salad plates.  I used our everyday flatware,
Oneida "Colonial Boston".  Very appropriate for an Independence Day table, I thought.

I got my red for the settings from the place mats and the red napkins, layered with white napkins.  I love the ric-rac border on the white napkins; they always seem old-fashioned to me, and add a bit of a summery, party touch to the table.  The ric-rac napkins and the patriotic garland are my whimsical touches on this table.

The pewter 1776 mug was brought to our son from a friend when he traveled out of state many years ago.  The stamp on the bottom says Duratale by Leonard and was made in Italy.

I had originally thought to use it with the small American flags as the centerpiece, but then decided to use my Williamsburg pitcher.  It and the small candlestick were made by the Williamsburg Pottery Company.  This same pottery is displayed in some of the historic houses and taverns in Colonial Williamsburg.

The coffee mugs are from Old Salem, NC, which you can read about HERE.  We tried to get a picture of the stamp on the mugs; it's sort of hard to read, but it says "Garren".  This family of potters has been making the Moravian mugs for quite a while now.

The monogrammed napkin rings and the salt and pepper are Kirk Stieff pewter, given to us as wedding gifts.  I really like pewter; it always has an old feel about it and reminds me of colonial times.

My country, 'tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing;

Land where my fathers died,

Land of the pilgrims' pride,

From ev'ry mountainside

Let freedom ring! 

Samuel Francis Smith, 1831

Thanks so much for visiting!  I'll be joining The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays.  Please stop by to see all the fun summer posts there.  Also linking to Tablescape Thursday, hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.

Denise

On The Table:

Place Mats -- Marshalls, this year

Red Napkins -- Pier 1, this year

White Napkins -- Pier 1, this year 

Dinner Plates -- Lenox "Classic White"

Salad Plates -- Churchill "Finlandia"

Flatware -- Oneida "Colonial Boston"

Wine Stems -- Gorham "French Cathedral"

Coffee Mugs -- Old Salem, NC

Patriotic Garland -- Southport, NC, many years ago

Pottery Pitcher Centerpiece -- Williamsburg Pottery, Gifted

Pottery Candlestick -- Williamsburg Pottery, Thrift Store

1776 Mug -- Gift to our son

Napkin Rings and Salt and Pepper -- Kirk Stieff Pewter, Wedding gifts

Flowers -- Local Grocery Store