Think Pink-- April 30th

The clematis next to my front porch is in enthusiastic bloom this weekend.  Usually, it eases me into the bloomfest...one bud then another... This year it happened suddenly...several big, happy blooms all at once!  Seems like a terrific way to celebrate Pink Saturday over at Beverly's, doesn't it?

Clematis "Asao"

May Day

Do you ever plan a tablescape, and have it  not quite look the way it did in your head?  I had decided on a May Day theme, complete with maypole and little pottery boats filled with a votive and flowers... a mix of fiesta and a fussy square painted plate....and used a California Handprints tablecloth with happy little pansies decorating it as the base for my inspiration...  It's pretty, but i think I needed a type of pansy called "Antique Shades" to really set off the cloth...the yellow and purple violas seemed to compete for attention, didn't they?  Maybe next time, I'll try a sweet white basket filled with pansies as a centerpiece.   What do you think?

...and for some other lovely May Day offerings, you might want to peek and see what the other divas are doing this lovely MayDay:  Daphne at Tabletop Time, Candy at The Little Round Table,

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!  The pink dogwood tree in my front yard is in full bloom today.  It's absolutely beautiful.  This tree was planted by the original owners of my house, Mr. and Mrs. Waddy, back in the 1940's, and I look very forward each year to its blooms.  Old stories link the Dogwood to Jesus' crucifixion, since the tree's flower petals are cross shaped with pierced rust colored tips, and has  a thorny crown in the center of the bloom. 
I'm sharing my tree at the Pink Saturday linky party, hosted by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. Do stop in over there!

 

The Legend of the Dogwood
(author unknown)
In Jesus’ time,
the dogwood grew
to a stately size
and a lovely hue.
‘Twas strong and firm
it’s branches interwoven,
for the cross of Christ
its timbers were chosen.
Seeing the distress
at this use of their wood
Christ made a promise
which still holds good:
“Never again shall the dogwood grow
Large enough to be used so.
Slender and twisted it shall be
with blossoms like the cross for all to see.
As blood stains the petals marked in brown,
the blossom’s center wears a thorny crown.
All who see it will remember Me
crucified on a cross
from the dogwood tree.
Cherished and protected,
this tree shall be.
A reminder to all of my agony.”

It's almost like MAGIC

I was thinking about my friend Yvonne the other day... We live very far apart--she's in Toronto, Canada, and I'm all the way down here in Virginia.  It's almost a 12 hour drive, so most of the time we choose somewhere midway and have a dishing and thrifting girl trip.  A while back though, Y came down to visit, and one of the fun things we did was to do some tablescaping.   We chose a tablecloth, and each of us set the table...it was amazing how different the tables looked, and I thought maybe today would be a nice day to share.  After all, Susan is hosting Tablescape Thursday over at Between Naps on the Porch , 

That was so much fun, we did it again, this time with a Wilendur daisy cloth... Amazing how different the cloth looks, isn't it?

Here's a closeup of those place settings:

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A is for Aquilegia

A

I'm joining Jenny over at Jenny Matlock for this week's round of AlphabeThursday .  If you haven't joined  before, come on over! It's lots of fun, and your timing is just right because we're starting over with the letter A!  This week my A is for Aquilegia, also known as Columbine.  This particular plant has some special meaning for me... It came from my grandmother, who got the seed originally from HER mother's flower garden.  It's not as big, bright and showy as some other varieties, but this little buttery yellow is my favorite, just because it was Gran's.  I'm also joining in over at Mellow Yellow Monday, just for fun.

 

World's Fair 1939 and Original Six

Many collectors of Homer Laughlin China (including Fiesta) have a soft spot for items from the 1939-1940 World's Fair in New York.  HLC along with a few other potteries built a demonstration kiln and made pottery at that fair.  The fair itself was massive--over 1200 acres divided into different zones.  More than 200,000 people attended opening day, and totals exceeding 44 million people attended over the life of the fair.   Today's tablecloth is a souvenir of that fair and depicts a map of the grounds.  Vintage Fiesta in colors from that time period was used, along with striped Anchor Hocking dessert cups, and primary colored napkins,  also from that era.  (I did cheat and use contemporary flatware, though!)   Who would think that linens and dishes would look so wonderful more than 70 years later?

 

Welcome to the Fair!

Choosing Colors for the table:

Ready, Set, Go!!!

Thanks for visiting!This is my first visit with Suzanne for Vintage Thingie Thursday, and  I'm joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch and celebrating with Jenny Matlock for AlphabeThursday.  Jenny's having alphabet soup today, and we're bringing the letter F for Fair and for Fiesta!  Head on over there with me!

Mustard, Ketchup, and Calaprint

Recently, my friend Pam mentioned that her daughter had made an observation about her Scarlet Fiesta when paired with the 2011 color,  Marigold:  "uh, it looks like mustard and ketchup."   and I don't think it was said with enthusiasm, either...

So, when this beautiful Calaprint tablecloth arrived, mustard and ketchup were on my mind.   I used Post 86 Fiesta in scarlet and Polka dots, vintage Fiesta in yellow to substitute for the yet-to-be-released Marigold, and HLC Ballet, with a Target melmac tiny dotted bread plate, topped with a Pearl Gray Fiesta tripod bowl.  The flatware is Masquerade, the egg cup/candleholder is Vistosa by Taylor, Smith, & Taylor.   The glasses are vintage Anchor Hocking  Rhumba.  The napkins were my grandmother's.  The Fiesta shakers were a gift from a wonderful dish friend.

I'll be joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday, as usual.  Be sure and drop by.

 

My favorite Cabinet

Today I'm joining Shelia at  Note Songs for her "Heart of the Home-Cabinets" Linky Party.  Come on over!

My house is an old 1940's Cape Cod, and as much as I love the style AND my house, I have to admit that storage hasn't been ideal, especially in my tiny kitchen and dining room.  There was a pantry, but it was deep and very hard to see into.  There were three cabinets for dishes, which I suppose would be adequate  IF I didn't collect dishes....  So, this past year for Christmas, my mom and brother arrranged the ultimate gift for a dish collector:  a new giant cabinet built into my dining room!

 

It pairs nicely with the vintage walnut cabinet that was my great, great grandmother's to hold a decent bit of my Fiesta collection. 

If we peek around the corner into the hallway, we can see the new shallow shelves  to show off other pretties!

Kitchen Color

We've had some cold and dreary days lately here in the Blue Ridge.  It's a good thing that it's always bright and colorful inside my house, especially in the kitchen.  On one wall, I have  vintage red mug rack holding a few of my contemporary Fiesta mugs.  It's surrounded by a mix of reproduction and original can labels. 

Recently we did a bit of renovation, changing my inaccessible pantry into something more user friendly.  The contractor also added a custom spice rack, and reinforced my shelving since the Fiesta is fairly heavy.

Even peeking out the window over the kitchen sink is colorful, despite the weather!

The red countertops came with the house when we bought it more than 20 years ago.  I keep talking about replacing them, but it's hard to envision my kitchen without them. (and no, I didn't keep both Fiesta knife blocks... the solid black set is now living at my friend JJ's house in Lansing, Michigan!)

 

I recently decided to change out the flatware I use.  Here's the old flatware, all washed up.  Now if I can just get motivated enough to list it for sale somewhere.  Anyone need flatware?