Showing posts with label Mother's Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mother's Day. Show all posts

Sunday, May 10, 2020

Mother's Day 2020



Mother's Day 2020
I set a table in tribute to my mother.

My sweet mom lived a long full life,
and as an avid gardener, most of her days
involved working in her garden.

 She, herself, was raised by an avid gardener!
One of my fondest memories of my grandmother
is being hand-in-hand with her, among garden flowers, 
snipping my favorite sweet peas to make a petite bouquet.

Are you familiar with these old fashioned blooms?
            In Victorian Times, when flowers were used as a language 
of sorts, the sweet pea bloom meant "lasting pleasure".

For me, gardens create lasting pleasure.
They provide a sense of being one with nature, time spent
digging in dirt, observing the miracle of things sprouting, 
blooming, and then fading as the cycle is completed, while 
something new opens to take its turn on the garden stage. 

I don't have a good sunny spot for sweet peas, so you can imagine
my delight when our  local Grassdale Flower Farm delivered
sweet pea bouquets for curbside pickup at a nearby flower market.

These hand painted floral plates were a street market find in Italy, and though the simple stylized blooms are not sweet peas, the colors are a perfect fit for the bouquet from Grassdale.

I carried home two salad plates and two dinner plates for a table of two with these rather flat plates and a gently scalloped border.
Not heavy like most ceramics, they made a perfect trip souvenir.

 I paried them with Ambiance Vintage Garden 
chargers and Hester and Cook's gorgeous Woodland Nest placemats, the whimsical art work of Vicki Sawyer.

A small Nature Table bee plate from Anthropologie was added 
as a green accent between layers, along with a linen napkin, the handwork of my husband's grandmother in the early 1900s.
The Napoleon Bee flatware is by Wallace.

 I think it makes a lovely statement to all gardeners!

With a garden full of birds this time of year, 
an added treat should any want to fly in and join us.

 So there you have it, a tribute
to my mom, the gardener!

 Thank you for joining me today.
I hope you'll leave me a comment and tell me
a little something about your mom.


 Happy Mother's Day ~ 2020
Joining

Continue Reading....
16 comments
Labels: , ,

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Shhh . . . Can You Keep a Secret?






Shhh . . .

 Can you keep a secret?




Mother's Day Surprise

out on the terrace in a favorite spot.




 I'm going to pamper my mom with 

 delicious tea time goodies.





Big, beautiful magnolia blooms

 will fill the air with their sweet fragrance.





There will be fresh biscuits 

 with dad's yummy kumquat marmalade .   .   .

 You can find the recipe here.



And a cup of my mom's 

new favorite tea.



It's a blend of green jasmine tea with

 hibiscus, sweet rose, and soothing cornflowers

 made especially for Williams Sonoma.

 My mom says it's delicious!




 She likes to sweeten her tea with a

 drizzle of Tupelo honey.


Maybe she'll share some goodies with me.

 I love to eat!




Happy Mother's Day!
What are you going to do to pamper 

your mom on Mother's Day?





MacKenzie-Childs ~ Courtly Check Enamel Ware

MacKenzie-Childs ~ Taylor Ceramics

Grace's Teaware ~ Cup and Saucer

Susan Branch ~ Mother's Day Tiara

 Williams Sonoma ~ Fortnum and Mason Mother's Day Blend


Joining


Continue Reading....
57 comments
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Inspirations From My Mother



A few years ago, Laura @ Decor to Adore 
asked me to share my Favorite Five in the month of May, 
I immediately thought about Mother's Day. 
Having lost my mother the previous November, 
it seemed fitting that my Favorite Five would be something 
that honored my mother, Henrietta Emily.  
Perhaps some of my mother's favorite things 
that have provided inspiration in my life 
will inspire you in the month of May.

~ A Love of Gardening ~
My mother lived to be 99 years of age, 
gardening right up into her early 90s.  
Both she and her mother before her could be found 
cheerfully working in their gardens every day.  
I grew up nurtured with a love of nature and beautiful gardens.  
I don't have the green thumb of either of these admirable women, 
but I do share the love of gardening and the joys of nature 
that they instilled in me early in my childhood. 
She who plants a garden plants happiness.  
~ Chinese Proverb

~ Yellow Roses ~
My mother's garden was full of beautiful seasonal flowers, 
but her roses were always my favorites.  
Yellow roses to be specific.   
Once I left home and was living on my own, 
mother and I frequently sent each other a bit of sunshine 
~ a bouquet of yellow roses.  
The yellow roses above can be found growing in my own garden.

A bit of fragrance always clings 
to the hand that gives roses. ~ Chinese Proverb

~ A Beautiful Table ~
My mother always set a beautiful table for family meals.  
We ate on a large square oak table that had been 
passed along from my grandmother and is now 
the setting for large family meals 
in my sister's home.  
It's my Mother's wedding china that was passed on to me, 
her daughter who loves dishes and is passionate
 about setting a beautiful table.
 Fruits of the same tree have different tastes; children of the 
same mother have various qualities. ~ Chinese Proverb

~  Family Heirlooms ~
The family pieces passed on to me from my mom 
are not fine antiques or of any value other than sentimental. 
All the same they are greatly treasured.  
They are simple things that were in my childhood home, 
pieces loved and cherished through the years by my mom, 
special things that once belonged to my mother or grandmother ~ 
my family connections to the past.  
I credit my mother for my love of things that 
wear the patina of time.
A tree without roots will fall over. ~ Chinese Proverb

~ Sweets ~
I definitely inherited my mother's sweet tooth.  
Delicious baked goods and dark rich 
chocolate were my mother's favorites.  
The aroma of bread baking, 
the fragrance of sweet fruit pies wafting through the house, 
the joy of my mother's rum cake as it melted in my mouth ~
delicious memories of sweet treats from my mother's kitchen.  
My husband prepares most of the meals in our  home and
frequently bakes bread, but it is me who is the baker of sweet treats.

Patience is a bitter plant, 
but it has a sweet fruit. ~ Chinese Proverb

~ Rum Cake ~ A Family Recipe ~
1 cup shortening or butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups flour
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 tsp. salt
1 and 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Cream shortening or butter with sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each one.  Add dry ingredients and buttermilk alternately, mixing well after each addition.  Add vanilla.  Bake in large tube pan @ 325º  for 1 hour or longer.  Once out of the oven, invert tube pan.  Gently remove cake from pan, and using a wooden skewer, poke holes throughout the cake.  Coat the cake with a sugar and rum glaze of your choice.  Enjoy!


Happy Mother's Day to all!


Joining

Continue Reading....
62 comments
Labels: , , ,

Sunday, May 1, 2016

May ~ 2016





Maypole Dance ~ Pease Elementary, Austin, Texas c. 1950s
Photo from Pease Elementary Archives, Used With Permission

May 1st ~ May Day

Though not at all common these days, at one time May Day was 

 traditionally celebrated with festive dances around a Maypole.

 As a young child, I fondly remember dancing around a Maypole

during my early years in elementary school in the 1950s.

 Dressed in a pretty spring dress and holding a brightly colored 

 ribbon, I danced with my classmates around the tall Maypole

 that had been erected in the school yard.   As one group moved 

clockwise and the other counter clockwise, we wove the

 colorful ribbons around the pole, then reversed the motion to

 unfurl the ribbons back into the long streamers which we had held

 at the start of the dance.  Fond memories of a beautiful time!





Another early May Day tradition was 

 the giving of May baskets filled with flowers.

 The baskets were left anonymously 

 at the door of special friends and neighbors.

 I think this lovely custom needs to be reinstated!

Tell me if you have any special May Day traditions.




 May 5th ~ Cinco de Mayo


Cinco de Mayo is a favorite Mexican holiday celebrated here  

 in Central Texas where both the Mexican culture and

 the love of Mexican food are prominent.

 For ideas on hosting your own 

 Mexican dinner party click here and here.




The Polohouse, Used With Permission
May 7th ~ The Kentucky Derby

I've never been to the Kentucky Derby,

 but have long been fascinated with the tradition of this event.

 I think it would be fun to host a Kentucky Derby Party.  

 Have you ever attended the Kentucky Derby 

 or hosted a Derby Party?

 Visit Alison @ The Polohouse for 

 Derby Party inspiration here, here, and here.

Image from Home Is Where The Boat Is


 To view the complet post of Mary's beautiful, 

 Off to the Races table click here.



May 8 ~ Mother's Day

 In the US, Mother's Day is celebrated 

 on the second Sunday in May.

 Though my sweet mom is no longer with us,

 I will plan a special dessert tray in her honor, just 

 as I prepared for a previous Mother's Day post here.





May 30th ~ Memorial Day


A time to remember and honor all those who have given

selflessly to their country.  From Civil War soldiers to those fighting 

 today on foreign soils, we remember the men and women

 who have died while serving in the US Armed Forces.
Joining


Continue Reading....
37 comments
Labels: , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)