A Fourth of July Table

I don't know about you all, but our town seems to have emptied out.  It seems that everyone is traveling somewhere for the Fourth of July week -- everyone, that is, but us.  :)  My husband says there has been very little traffic to and from work every day, so no complaints there.  Those who have gone to the North Carolina coast may have their trip spoiled by Tropical Storm Arthur, but I hope not.  That happened to us one year, and it was no fun.

We're planning on staying right here for the week, but my husband has taken an extra day's vacation in order to have a four-day weekend.  Woo-hoo!  We'll be going to my in-laws' house for the Fourth, but I set a patriotic tablescape in my "new" kitchen just for fun.

Making A Pretty Bird Feeder

I've been feeling crafty lately --

Updates To Our Living Room

Hi everyone!  I want to share some recent updates we've made in our living room.  I showed some pictures of our living room back in February, with a few snowmen here and there. The snowmen are packed away for another year, and I've replaced them with some rabbits.  I have a fondness for rabbits -- you can tell I don't have a vegetable garden.  :)

The bigger changes I wanted to share are what we've done around our piano, including new window treatments.  For years, I displayed about four or five accessories on top of our piano.  A treasured plate from my sister, a baby picture of our son, a Royal Doulton vase, and a few other items adorned that spot. 

I don't have a picture of the piano as it was at that time.  There was nothing wrong with the way it was, but at some point, I just wanted a change.  I decided the room needed a touch of silver.  I had lots of good black and white family photos, and so I set about getting silver frames for them to be displayed on the piano.

In addition, I wanted to hang something different on the wall above the piano.  This is what I had there for 16 years.  This picture was taken at Christmas, so I had ceramic Christmas carolers on the piano, but you can see the swag that hung on the wall at the time.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  Today is Thursday, and this is the first post I've published this week.  I had a couple of ideas in mind for the week, but things didn't work out quite the way I had planned.  I had a terrible headache Monday and Tuesday, my asthma flared up Monday night at bedtime, and I got very little sleep for two nights in a row.  That's more information than you want to know I'm sure.  I don't normally give you the details on my health issues, but I was just so frustrated not to have accomplished more this week.

I plan to link up to the "Be My Valentine" blog party, hosted by Laura at Decor To Adore, so without further ado, I'll share my Valentine's post for today.  I had actually thought to post something different, but I got a special surprise yesterday which called for a change in plans.

Our Home in Winter

Hi folks!  Did you all watch the Super Bowl, or did you opt for Downton Abbey?  We always watch the Super Bowl at our house, but we recorded Downton Abbey.  I'm planning on watching it tonight, so I hope I don't accidentally see any spoilers today.

Last week I showed you our foyer, and this week I want to show your our living room.  Like our foyer, I've only shown a few pictures of our living room on my blog, and those were mostly little close-ups of Christmas decor.  This is the living room in winter.

Beginning the Kitchen Reveal

I'm so excited to finally reveal the first part of our new kitchen!  Those of you who regularly read my blog have seen pictures of this cabinet in various stages of construction, but this is the first time I've shown the finished product.  We waited so long to be able to have our kitchen re-modeled, and then the actual work itself took four months; our contractor was working another job during the week, so he could only work at our house on weekends.  The cabinet and tile man and the granite guys were able to work during the week, so eventually, it all came together.  I've been doing the happy dance for weeks now.  :)

An Ode to the Redbud

Our Redbud Trees in North Carolina are in full bloom right now.  It seems as if, overnight, they just burst into glorious color.  Many people have them planted in their yards, but they also grow wild in the woods (along with the Dogwood Trees).  And this time of year, you can see the Redbuds blooming all along the highways and interstates of our region, announcing that spring is here.

I've always thought that Redbud is entirely the wrong name for these trees, for their blooms aren't red, but a wonderful, purplish-pink color.  For as long as I can remember, they have been one of my favorite trees.  They are typically quite hardy, and when they get larger, they provide a wonderful shade in summer with a canopy of heart-shaped leaves.

Redbuds are also known as Judas Trees, although I don't hear them called that very often.  According to the website About.com.Forestry, our native North American redbud is the Cercis canadensis, and "the specific redbud that is most often labeled Judas Tree is Cercis siliquastrum, and lives in Mediterranean and Asia Minor countries.  That tree is the one most associated as "Judea's Tree" and is supposedly the tree Judas Iscariot hanged himself on after betraying Christ."

My North Carolina gardening book states that Redbuds are short-lived trees.  But in this case, I would beg to differ.  This old, and rather gnarled Redbud Tree in our front yard has been here since we moved in 16 years ago, and it was a mature tree at that time.  Since our house is 40 years old, I would bet the tree is at least that old.  In addition, it survived damage from a serious tornado that hit ours and surrounding neighborhoods in 1999.  You can see in the pictures where some of the big limbs were broken, and its shape is not the prettiest.  Yet there is something dignified in the way this tree continues to stand as sentinel at the top of our driveway.  It blooms every year like clockwork, and I'm quite attached to it after all these years.

Here are some pictures I took yesterday afternoon when the sky was partly overcast.

     

 

 

You can see the stunted shape of some of the limbs in the picture below.

The front of our house gets the bright morning sun, and since it wasn't foggy this morning, I zipped outside with my camera to try and get some more pictures of the tree.  I then noticed that my next-door neighbor's younger and smaller Redbud was blooming, and the sun was shining directly on it.

I just love those tiny pink blooms against the backdrop of a blue, blue sky.

 

 

Now for some close-ups...

 

Do you have Redbud Trees in your part of the world?  If so, are they blooming now?

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and taking time to leave a comment.  I always enjoy reading them.  :)  I hope you have a great weekend -- ours is predicted to be rainy.

I'm joining Home Sweet Home, hosted by Sherry at The Charm of Home,  Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday, and The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays, and Kathy  at a Delightsome Life for Home and Garden Thursday.  Thank you, ladies, for hosting every week!

Denise

My Mother-in-Law's Easter Tables

I haven't done any new tablescapes in 2012 -- at all.  For a variety of reasons, I just couldn't seem to get motivated.  We have a project pending at the moment, that I hope to be able to share with you later.  And I have plenty of small things like hanging some prints that I've had for a while, but haven't hung them because I got sidetracked with other things.

So, since I haven't done a tablescape this week, I've borrowed one instead. :)  I'd like to share with you some pictures Mr. Forest Manor took at his Mom's house last Easter.  I know Easter is still a ways off yet, but these pics are so cheerful and pretty, maybe I can be forgiven for rushing the season.

The first pictures are of the dining room, where the adults usually eat.  There are lots of pretty pinks here for Pink Saturday -- pink ribbons on the candlesticks, pink dyed Easter eggs, china with pale pink shells around the border, and pink flowers in the center. 

   

I Heart Valentines

I haven't done my Valentine Tablescape yet for this year.  Instead, I wanted to show some Valentine images that I captured throughout the house -- just some heart-shaped objects here and there, touches of pink and red, and romantic roses.

 

Potpourri made with petals from our David Austin roses

 

Heart-shaped potpourri bowl

 

Heart napkin fold. (Tutorial HERE)

 

Royal Doulton "Juliet" bowl holds heart candies

 

Valentine wreath

Conversation Hearts :)

 

David Austin roses

 

2011 Valentine Tablescape

 "Old Britain Castles" heart plate

 "Old Country Roses" and Laura Ashley

This snow lady's red, painted heart is almost hidden by her scarf...

An Austrian cow bell and wheat ornament with simple heart designs

An early Valentine card

Wedgwood Jasperware sweetheart plate was a wedding gift

Our David Austin roses...

I'm joining Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Valentine Pink Saturday , Laurie at Bargain Hunting and Chatting With Laurie for her Valentines Party, The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays, Marty at A Stroll Through Life for Tabletop Tuesdays, Kathy at A Delightsome Life for Home and Garden Thursdays, and Shannon at Cozy Home Scenes for Your Cozy Home Party. Thanks to all of these ladies for hosting and thank you for your visit!

Denise

Counting The Days

I like to mark the passage of days and weeks with a pretty calendar in our home.  When I was growing up, my mom used to give my sister and I a pretty wall calendar for our rooms every Christmas.  I saved those calendars for years because of the pictures, and also because I'm sentimental and have a hard time throwing away anything that was given to me by a loved one.

I still like to buy my upcoming year's calendar by Christmas every year -- just one of my little quirky habits.  Almost 20 years ago, I discovered the "French Country Diary" engagement calendar, and since then, I've always had one in our home.

 

They're hard-backed with a fabric-like cover and are packaged in a decorative case.  They have beautiful end pages, and are filled with wonderful photos of French Country interiors, food, gardens, antiques, and gorgeous French countryside.  It's a treat to look at the photos every week.  These calendars are so attractive, you can stack them and use for decorating, just as you would regular hard cover books.

 

 

This engagement calendar resides on the baker's rack in our kitchen where it's easily accessible, and I can enjoy the pretty photos every day.

 

I've never shown pictures of my kitchen in this blog, because it's pretty dated.  Hopefully, that's getting ready to change (more about that later).  :)

I also have a wall calendar...just because I always have.  For many, many years, I've bought the Lang calendars.  They're so well made with nice heavy paper and beautiful illustrations.  Lang even makes wooden frames to fit these calendars if you want to display yours that way.  I used to buy the Lang "Folk Art" Calendar with illustrations of little New England villages, but I finally decided it was time to try something different.  So my whimsical side took over, and now I get the Lang "Cows Cows Cows" Calendar.  ;-)

 

  

The illustrations are still pretty, but they make me laugh as well.

  For some reason, I just seem to like cows. ;)  You can read my post about Oreo cows HERE.  I never write on my wall calendar; I use my engagement calendar to jot down dates, appointments, etc.  And what doesn't get written in the engagement calendar goes into my trusty Daytimer.

This little organizer I couldn't do without.  I use it to write down my to do lists, appointments, grocery lists, projects, etc.  I also use it to keep up with addresses and phone numbers.  So that's how I try to stay organized.  I often jot down appointments or phone numbers on a handy piece of paper, but I've learned the hard way if I don't put it in my Daytimer or engagement calendar, it gets lost or forgotten.

How about you?  Do you like pretty calendars, or do you just prefer to use something more business-like?

Thank you for your visit.  I'm joining Sherry at The Charm of Home for Friday's Home Sweet Home party, The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays, and Kathy at A Delightsome Life for Home and Garden Thursday.  Hope you'll stop by to see the other posts.

Denise