Gobble Gobble

Wishing you all a tummy filling, relaxed and enjoyable Thanksgiving Day!

Reflecting and Being Thankful

Many enjoyable gatherings have been shared with my family at Thanksgiving and it brings up a lot of memories for me.  We lost our Dad on Thanksgiving night 1991 and we all miss him dearly.  I'm thankful that my mother is still with us and grateful to celebrate yet another holiday with her!

   

This time of year is always a mix of emotions.  The Christmas holiday season is breathing down our necks and we tend to get wrapped up with the decorating and buying gifts.  I look forward to enjoying the day with family and reflecting on good times from the past. 

My Mom always set a nice table for our gatherings.  It's funny how things like that stick with you all your life.  I'm a sucker for a traditional table with fine china, crystal and silverware!

I staged the placemats a bit off center with the place settings set on the left leaving room for the silverware that I angled and to allow the corner cornucopia design to show.

 I pulled apart an arrangement I made in early October and reused a few pieces to make this new arrangement up.  I had the urn for a while and was looking for a way to use it.  The glass riser is a useful piece to add height and a little glamour!

The white tones were played up a bit more with these S and P shakers and the turkey below

I laid sheaves of grain underneath the turkey for a little ornamentation.  Some pieces are functional some are decorative which can easily be removed for dining.

 I mixed my Ralph Lauren Ashton glasses with the Pier 1 Golden Luster Crackle stemware for a little sparkle and glow!

 I like to use this glass lidded turkey dish for the cranberry sauce.  I believe I got this through the Martha Stewart web site years ago when she had her own on-line shopping setup.

 A few mini pumpkins tossed in with the brown candle to bring in a little color up above

I combined a wood charger from Pier 1, my gold and red accented dinner plates from Macy's which are normally for Christmas, and the Spode Woodland Turkey salad plates.  The silverware is what I grew up with- by Rogers, called Reflection.  The napkins are a combination of a ruffled rusty copper one along with a red one both from Pier 1.

I was feeling misty eyed thinking about my Dad and all the years that have passed without him.  Suddenly the sun beamed through the front windows for just the shortest time while I was taking some more pictures almost as though my Dad was letting me know he was there.

Ready for some turkey and pumpkin pie? I sure am!

Mmmm....smells good!

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Joining

Between Naps on the Porch

for 

Tablescape Thursday

My Kentucky Living
for

Holiday Decorating Ideas Party

WWW- White Winter Wonderland

Seems like I haven't got much to talk about except the weather! 

 A few days ago I took a some pictures as the morning was progressing.  

 This is our fire pit filling up with snow.  The white shows off the design that is cut into it.  We bought this from a local guy who is recycling propane tanks into these fire pits.  This one is nearly 4 foot across!  We decided to go with this up north kind of look and had pine trees and moose cut into it.  They use a torch to cut the tank and to cut out the designs.  Before long it will disappear in the snow until next spring.

The view has changed (slightly) from a few weeks back when it looked like this

 I prefer this view but we are forced to go through the inevitable winter so I just have to re-focus my mind to the indoors. 

I opened the slider door to take pictures.  This is Teddy's first winter.  He stands safely back from the door opening but was curious about it all.   I definitely don't have to worry about him bolting out the door!

 Early this morning (Nov.18)  The sun was just coming up and working on breaking through the cloud cover.  They are talking a small warm up this coming weekend so I'm hoping this will melt down a bit. 

 This was Nov. 7th  Do you see the burlap wrapped shrubs? We find some of the shrubs do better if they are protected from the harsh temps and winds through the winter

 

The sun is dotting in and out (yay)!  The succulents were brought in from the deck at the end of the growing season.  They should be able to survive although they are already getting leggy.  

I'm tickled that the Christmas Cactus is developing buds.  Looks like I will have flowers in December!

My everyday table setting now includes two amaryllis I started.  The one on the left is growing like crazy.   They took right off as soon as I planted them- I guess they were more than ready!  

The tall one will be a mixed light green with red veining called "Magic Green" and the other one will be solid white with a green center called "Wedding Dance".  I usually go with the classic red but I decided to try something new!  I got mine at a local garden center (not a big box store). 

I broke out this "Winter Woods" candle that I bought in August and it smells divine!  My house smells like a pine tree forest.  I'm in the office and I can smell it from here!  I didn't even know Colonial Candle made these jar candles.  I have another one called "Indian Summer" that I've been burning since September.  They are long lasting.  They sell them direct from their on-line web site too which I just discovered.

I'm dreaming about Christmas decorating but will refrain from putting any out until Thanksgiving has passed.  I have picked up a few small items for the season but that's only because if you don't grab it when you see it you'll loose it!

 A small glint of one of my ideas that is formulating for my kitchen area!

Sunny morning- wintry weather!

November greetings!!

 The sun made an appearances in between the clouds this morning. 

We're all buttoned up here for the winter and the landscape looks completely different than it was only a month ago.  

As you can see winter like weather has already hit our area.  Thank goodness we don't live a bit further north because they got 9" in some areas!  Way too early for that kind of nonsense!!

Those pots are going inside this weekend.  I was dragging my foot on letting go all the way!  Some of the oak and beech trees are still hanging onto their leaves.  

 I cut back all my hydrangeas and I even shortened up my spireas.  I hope they'll bloom next year- some bloom on old wood and some on new.  All the small odds and ends have been put away. 

 Dan cut wood pieces to fit the pots.  It's a marine grade plywood which will last for many seasons.

I took these pictures last week before the snow came.

 The fountain all prepped (I think it looks like the Command Module from the old Apollo spacecrafts!)

I hope you are ready for winter!

Falling Towards Thanksgiving

Early in October I was the lucky winner at Cherry Kay's blog "Entertaining Women"of a tablecloth giveaway she offered!  This is the link for the post where I saw the giveaway "here"
and a picture from her home with the tablecloth.

Cherry Kay has an enviable collection of fine china, silverware and crystal!  She really appreciates the elegant finer details of gracious dining and actively uses her pieces.
She's been recovering from knee replacement surgery and last I heard she is doing very well!

 I used my iron urn for a centerpiece.  I broke the tops off of some dried Indian corn and spread the husks out and layered my little pumpkins on top.

I'm still enjoying the autumn season and I like the rustic elements like dried corn, pumpkins, berries and pine cones.  

I arranged some seasonal sprays around the base like a wreath.

This tablecloth can easily be used for summer but since it has a soft orange tone I decided to use it with my autumn theme since we are "Falling Towards Thankgsgiving" at this time of year!

I pulled the autumn look together with these burnt orange plates and grounded it with the dark chargers and flatware.

This will look completely different with off white dishes and lighter colored flatware.  I'll pull another post together with this tablecloth next summer!

I chose to lay the napkins under the bowl to keep this very casual.  I'm making a potato corn chowder and plan to have baked chicken breasts and a salad to go along with it.

I was able to draw further on the colors in the tablecloth with the napkins and green bowls.

As you can see outside my back door it's wet (we had snow yesterday and more coming) and it's very gray outside.  There won't be any sun for a while so I had to shoot these pictures using the lighting from the chandelier.  I really wish I could have gotten a more natural look but this time of year is very fickle!

 Next I'll focus on a Thanksgiving theme.  It all comes on so quickly doesn't it!!

  Thank you again Cherry Kay I enjoyed winning this!

I'll be joining
Between Naps on the Porch for
Tablescape Thursday