Days of Autumn are Upon Us

This afternoon I have redecorated the dining room with a mid October  design that speaks more to a climax of  Autumnal glory.... I do not celebrate Halloween so do not expect anything of a  "dark" nature, except I do love to use my black transfer ware in October--  actually through the coming holidays,  tweaking it just a bit as  we  go forward..
An over all view of the table  demonstrates the character I have developed over the many seasons... over time I have  somehow misplaced fall napkins  so it is a hodge podge of   plaid,  paisley, and solid brown which I think is rather charming...  tells a bit of a story of who we are and where we  are going!!!

My mother's  proud  cock heads the table all decked out in falling leaves and pumpkins  heralding the  season majestically!!!

I love the festoon of battery operated lights on the table with no   bother of  electric cords... 

A mix of real candle glow and  luminaires   set a warm inviting tone!

 Makes me want to create a lovely autumn repast and invite some friends in to dine and make merry!

So  there we have the downstairs all  warmly decorated for the  coming chill days of fall.. they a re upon us as I type!!!  

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Tablescape Thursday

Autumn Arrives Around the Home

Well,  I  like so many  across the east  are  pretty tired of  rain, mustiness, and  mildew,  but the  glorious colors of Autumn  warm the cockles of the home!!

A soft golden tablecloth with  blue transfer ware and  Autumn accents   set the tone  for  my  seasonal  changes around the house.

Add  some well placed sunflowers  ..I love  to see fields of them as we drive  through the country... I wish I could get a  great photo of them, but, alas, they  are always  blurry.. but I praise God for their beauty  each time I see them!!

Hubs  got my new   garland  above the mantel... it  set  everything off  very well!

 I added  my  proud  rooster to  the    drop leg table,  it seems the farm is being  hailed  this season as it should....  I am a farm girl in spirit!

It was so easy to  add a few sunflowers and  orange accents to  my summer  bouquet on the credenza.

 Sunflowers  brighten up every space!

Overall,  this corner  seems much more cosy and ready for   seasonal gatherings  and  fun times.

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Cooler Days on the Way

"Lord, May it be time! 

The summer was very big. 

Lay thy shadow on the sundials, and on the meadows let the winds go loose. 

Command the last fruits that they shall be full; give them another two more southerly days, 

press them on to fulfillment and drive the last sweetness into the heavenly wine." 

- Rainer Maria Rilke

And as the calendar  joins with the weatherman it appears we do have two more sultry days and then a time of refreshing cooling will spread deep into the mountains and valleys of  our  lovely environs!

I am praying this will usher in the end of the dog days of summer..SO  early autumn is showing her gorgeous petticoat around our home..

What was once a welcoming tea table has now been simply set to welcome the coming autumn

A pewter bowl lined with lavender holds the spicy colored branches  of fall, 

a single sun flower lingers before the fields perish and  return to the ground in their  vernal rest! 

                 

Now this is some thing new for me...

 Usually I go for more delicate and less humble  items for the mantel..

 But I think it is because my heart has been captured by the late Tasha Tudor and her love of all things simple and homemade that  these items found their place of honor on the mantel today.
Each item handmade...the gathering basket,  my mother made the  crowing rooster  several years ago while she was on the craft guild circuit,  and

 a hand turned bowl of fruit.

 I am rather charmed by  the mantel this year!

 Then I am using my new Johnson Brothers plates I  recently ordered from Replacements.  I love blue against the colors of autumn....  the lighter colored blue napkins remind me of the crystal blue sky of September..

 Small touches of autumn resonate around the room,  but the table takes center stage

 My centerpiece was so easy.  I removed some summer stems of the  green plant to make way for the  autumn sprigs  of  heathery colors of late hydrangea, and  the last roses of the year. I few fallen leaves  and it resounds  the  magnificence of September into October here in the mountains of SW Virginia!

                     

I think the dark maroon of the runner just sets it all off... My mood is so bright just knowing that I have  set a tone for the coming days of autumn that thrill my heart so much!!

       

                                "By all these lovely tokens 

                                             September days are here, 

                                      With summer’s best of weather 

And autumn’s best of cheer." 

                           -  Helen Hunt Jackson, September, 1830-1885

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Happy Flag Day

This week we celebrated Flag Day,  a day to honor  Old Glory and the great nation  she represents..

As  an Elementary School teacher  for thirty years, and daughter and grand daughter of  men who served in   both world wars, I understand  the meaning of our  glorious flag,  what it  truly represents and  how much  citizens should  show respect,  not to  a  pattern of stars and stripes, but  for the many who have served and sacrificed  to keep  America free and  to give us the very freedoms  that some use to   actually   treat  it ingloriously!  But  especially during this season  from Memorial Day  through  the Fourth of July, our household will proudly  fly  the Stars and Stripes  and  enjoy   how it gently waves  by our  front door!
So it  has been  a delight to me to  create a  table scape    to celebrate the red, white, and blue.

I am loving my  battery operated  lights  on the table... and  the fact that they twinkle will be  fantastic for  my  patriotic cookout  I'm planning!

I wasn't sure about using this Jacobean patterned   cloth,  but  it 's   almost faded  jeans  background color  just seems to work very well..  And I like it with my  English  transfer ware  pottery.

I love mix and match patterns... I just  got these  darling   Finlandia pattern  plates from  Tuesday Morning  for  $3.99 each! I am thrilled  that I have  some antiques  plates of the same pattern  that my mother  had collected... she loved navy  so much!  Here they are  paired with some Johnson Brother  transfer ware  I've had for some time!

Those super cute  red and navy flowers dotted with stars  were  picked up this week at Michael's  and I love how the daisy  blooms look so star like as well... 

 I'll enjoy this table scape for the next few  weeks  until  we  have our    celebratory  Fourth of July  party!

I especially love it  from my seat here in the kitchen  just as I glance into the dining room.  so much fun!!!

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Bringin' Out the Green!

  Don't you love Pinterest....  I  have been looking for inspiration for  St. Patrick's Day...
  and  you can find it and more there.  Peruse  that    board and you'll  recognize many fine bloggers along the way...   Another board offers even more  fabulous  examples of   implementing the "green"!   I  can peruse my own backlog of photos   on  March decor...  and I wish I had   thought about  tulips...  but then  our   season is so early,  I  have blossoms  everywhere.. every  blooming tree  in our community is   laden with  white,  pink, and  lilac  blooms..

 Last year I  pulled forth every thing that  was Irish  and    created  my Celtic table..but  there again.. the  spring before  that  we had  travelled   all around Ireland and  I was  still reeling  in a jiggy  expectation of  St. Patrick's Day!!!

Now here is something I must put on my  list...  I love Shamrocks.... 

I have learned to be  a bit  imaginative  in using what I have to create  a  seasonal mood  for the table.. I mean,  I  wish I could  buy every  beautiful  dish I see...  I think my daughter thinks  china is an idol to me...  well,   I don't worship  it,  but  it is   a weakness  to me.  but  storage  necessarily  stays my hand  when I see so much to choose from.. Anyway, I  love to pair  pieces together...  so here I have my  Mikasa  white dishes  layered with  a green  clean glass salad plates and topped with  a  bread plate, 6 of which I ordered from   Replacements..  Johnson Brothers,  Fruit Basket pattern in green.

I have an assortment of green and white napkins that  I love to  fold in  spiraled roses and center in each plate...

My  inexpensive green goblets  purchased at Walmart  , even though  a  varied  tone of green completes  the look,  but  I love the  various tones,  for  Ireland  is a land  of  every green  imaginable..

 Source

One thing  I love about the Irish is their    desire to  bless  though their many  verses  and saying. 

May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow and may trouble avoid you wherever you go! 
And even though  Ive been there and back,, this poem  speaks  straight to my heart~~

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