A Silver and Red Christmas Tablescape

Hello to you all.  I haven't posted anything in almost a week -- I've been deep into Christmas preparations, which are basically going pretty well.  I still have quite a bit left to do, but I'm doing much better than last year.  We also celebrated Mr. Forest Manor's birthday earlier this week.  I told him I was really glad he was born.  :)

I'm aware that I owe all of my blog friends a visit.  I have had very little spare time to do any blogging.  My husband is home on vacation right now, and we're staying busy.  But, I have been looking at your blog posts as time allows, and it's so much fun to see what all of you are doing during this Christmas season.

I've done another Christmas tablescape, and I felt kind of self-indulgent for doing that with just a week left until Christmas day.  But I did it anyway.  :-D  The main reason is that my mom gave me these reindeer a few years ago, and I wanted to feature them so she could see them on our table.  I spotted them when we were shopping together; they were already marked down to half-price, and my mom got them for me for Christmas that year.

A Woodland Christmas Tablescape

Hi folks!  I'm so excited to join Kathleen, who blogs at Cuisine Kathleen for her Copycat Christmas Challenge.

A Butterfly Meadow Tablescape and Farewell to Summer

Can summer really be over?  Surely not.  It doesn't feel like any time at all since I planted the flowers on our front porch after our Charleston trip.  Now here it is almost Labor Day weekend.  This feels like the fastest summer on record to me.  I think my dad being in the hospital for five weeks has made our family feel like we lost part of our summer.  Thankfully my dad is doing much better now.

Kathleen has issued a challenge to us for her Let's Dish party -- a "Farewell To Summer" tablescape.  I'm happy to be joining the fun this evening (even though we've probably still got some summer days ahead here in North Carolina).

Our Wedding China

Hi everyone!  I have been absent from blogging for about a week and a half.  Not only have I not posted, but I haven't had time to visit anyone else's blog either.  I always feel like I'm out of the loop when that happens.  We've had family things going on and the puppy is still keeping us very busy.

This week I'm participating in Cuisine Kathleen's "Let's Dish" party.  Her challenge this month is for us to set a table with wedding china.  It can be our wedding china, or the wedding china of a mother or grandmother, etc.  I just realized that the challenge was actually to use formal wedding china in an informal arrangement so, Oops, I guess I didn't get that memo.  The story of my life these days.  :)  Anyway, I was glad for the opportunity to set a table with our wedding dishes.  Those of you who are regular readers of my blog have seen this china before, but here it is again.

A Pink and Green Tablescape

Back in the first week of July, we gathered at my parents' house to celebrate my dad's birthday, which was July 3rd.  We had a delicious summer meal of grilled hot dogs with all the fixings (including my mom's homemade chili), baked beans, potato chips, Asian coleslaw, deviled eggs, and homemade ice cream for dessert.  It was wonderful!  :)

My mom had set the prettiest table in her dining room -- just a summer tablescape that she planned to leave out for a few weeks or a month, since they only eat in the dining room on special occasions.  I just fell in love with these dishes and the tablescape, so I wanted to share it with you.

 

Pretty In Plaid

I'm re-posting a Christmas tablescape that I originally published on January 6th of this year.  I didn't get it up by Christmas last year because my dad had been in the hospital, and December was a stressful month for all of us. This is one of my very favorite tablescapes, and I hope you enjoy seeing it.  I'll be linking this tablescape to Let's Dish, hosted by Cuisine Kathleen on Wednesday evening, and Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch.  Thanks to both of these ladies for hosting.  I look forward to seeing you there.

A Provençal Table

If you could drop everything and travel anywhere you wanted right now, where would you go?  Call me crazy, but I've been thinking I'd love to go to the Swiss Alps.  That's right, not a Caribbean cruise or an island getaway.  I'd like to go someplace where the air is fresh and clean (and cool); where all the houses have beautiful flower boxes and you can hear the cowbells ringing across the meadows.  In other words, what I like to call "Heidi Country."

But I'm not going to Switzerland tonight.  I thought I'd go to France instead -- Provence to be exact.  It will probably be every bit as hot and dry as it is in North Carolina right now, but I bet it would be colorful and exciting, never the less.  Cuisine Kathleen, who hosts Let's Dish every Wednesday evening, has given us a challenge to create a travel destination table.  I'm making my table a Provencal table because I have "stuff" from Provence, and I don't have anything from Switzerland or the French Alps. :)

My mother-in-law brought me this tablecloth from one of their trips to France several years ago, and this is the first time I've ever used it.  Our kitchen colors were all too busy before, and the tablecloth wouldn't have looked right.  I'm so glad I can use it now.  She also brought me the blue napkins from France.  I've used them in a few of my previous tablescapes.

I found the yellow salad plates and the serving bowl at Home Goods.  They're "Primagera," made in Portugal.  Flatware is Argent "Sophia" from Le Targét.   ;)

The sunflowers came from our local Whole Foods Market, and the pottery pitcher is actually made by Williamsburg Potteries.  The tumblers are "Picardie," and they're made in France.  They came from Williams-Sonoma many years ago.  The wine stems are part of our wedding crystal -- Gorham "French Cathedral."

I've had the baker's rack that you see in the background for many years, and I do love it. The doors in the bottom have chicken wire, and I think the whole piece has a bit of a French Country look.

Have you read "A Year in Provence," by Peter Mayle?  If you haven't, I highly recommend it.  It's a quick read, and it's laugh-out-loud funny.  

I love these cheerful sunflowers!  Now for the birds-eye view...

And the candlelight shots...

I can't wait to show you our new kitchen, but I don't want to do a full reveal until I choose curtains, and get some things back on the walls.  But here's a tease -- our new chandelier.  I'm loving it! 

My French Country Engagement Calendar stays on the baker's rack.  Ironically, the picture for this week is a former dovecote, which is now part of a hotel in the village of Le Paradou -- in Provence.

For dinner, we're having, what else...quiche.  We love Quiche Lorraine with salad and French bread.  I'll share the recipe for that on Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm.

I also chose France as my getaway destination because Mr. Forest Manor and I are watching the Tour De France on television, like we do every summer.

 I've learned enough about cycling to mostly understand what's going on -- yes folks, amidst all the doping charges, there's actually some cycling going on there too.  But the real reason I watch is for the scenery...and the flags.  You can just call me the flag geek.  :)  I love seeing all the colorful national and regional flags that are flown, carried, and waved every year in the tour.

Thanks for reading my blog; your visits and comments always make my day.  I'm so glad to be joining all the tablescaping folks at Let's Dish, hosted by Cuisine Kathleen and Tablescape Thursday, hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.

Also linking to Seasonal Sundays, hosted by the Tablescaper.  Thanks to these lovely ladies for hosting each week!

Au Revoir,

Denise