I Won the Silver

I won the silver ~ the silver giveaway gift @ The Lazy Peacock!

The Lazy Peacock drew my name on September 25, 2010, and shortly there after a box of gifts arrived at my door. A box of favorite things that the Lazy Peacock had put together. As you might observe in her beautiful header shown above, the The Lazy Peacock loves silver.

Just look at this awesome assortment of beautiful gifts. With so many lovely silver items, I figured that Silver Sunday would be the perfect time to share this gift.

From the look of the many delights in this gift, I wouldn't call Wendy a Lazy Peacock. She must have been busy finding these treasures.

Yes, Wendy, I adore my prize! Each treasure makes my heart sing with joy.

The open glass salt cellar sparkles like diamonds.

These little tartlet tin hearts will come in handy for my valentine baking.

The rustic, shabby metal cup will hold pens and pencils on my desk.

The silverplate napkin ringedged with a beautiful beading will join my collection of silver napkin rings while the rustic hammered metal ice tongs will find a home on our bar tray.

The elegant Wm Rogers silverplate bowl is edged with this floral border and will soon be full of candy corn for Halloween.

Monogramed linens are a favorite here at HFTS, and this lovely napkin is monogramed with an S. How lucky is that!

I had commented in my entry that the S would be perfect for me. So thoughtful, sweet Wendy included something extra in the package ~ a beautifully engraved butter knife.

It was in addition to the silverplate sugar spoon and jelly server.

Look at the gorgeous details on these two serving pieces.

Back in August, Candy celebrated the 1st Anniversary of The Little Round Table with generous gifts to five lucky followers.

I happened to be the fifth name drawn and the winner of a $100 check. I used my gift to shop for tabletop items when I went to Round Top last week.

The oval silver vegetable server above is holding my gifts from the Lazy Peacock, but it's one of the treasures that followed me home from Warrenton.

Look at the beautiful shell design at each end.

I told Candy that the gift check would be spent on tabletop items. Antique mother of pearl flatware is another of my passions, so I was thrilled to add two serving forks with stunning sterling ferrules. I came home with more wonderful finds, but I'll share those another time.

I'm sending big hugs and a sincere thank you to both Wendy and Candy. I'm most appreciative to be the lucky recipient of these generous gifts.

Treat yourself to a visit @ The Lazy Peacock here where Wendy shares her latest vintage finds and here to join Candy @ The Little Round Table. Candy shares her extensive collection of dishes and linens with stunning tablesettings all through the week.

Click on the links below to see a list of others participating this coming week in the following memes:

Laurie's A Few of My Favorite Things

Beth's Silver Sunday

Mary's Mosaic Monday

Tam's Three or More Tuesday

Suzanne's Vintage Thingie Thursday

Cindy's Show and Tell Friday

Claudia's Friday Finding Beauty

Thank you ladies for hosting!

Shop Till You Drop in Round Top ~ An Autumn Favorite

The days may still be hot, but here in Texas one sure sign of autumn is the October show of the twice annual Texas antique event held the first weekends of April and October.

Thousands of dealers set up in the fields and buildings in and around the rural communities of Fayette County in Texas.

I first attend this event over 30 years ago when it was a single venue produced by Emma Lee Turney and held at the Round Top Rifle Hall. Over the years more venues have been added, and today the event stretches across wide open fields and spills into barns and buildings of several rural communities: Warrenton, Round Top, Shelby, Carmine.

Since many vendors travel long distances to participate, some dealers now arrive weeks before the main weekend and begin selling.

Treasures abound and venues continue to expand with each year. There are literally countless items. With Pink Saturday in mind, I thought you might like to see some of the pinks I encountered during my day exploring this annual autumn antique extravaganza.

Vintage drapery textiles offer the perfect backdrop for this depression glass canister.

Shelves upon shelves offered stacks of pink depression glass in various forms.

Rows of pink tumblers were available to add to one's collection of pink glass.

Pink feather plumes in a frosted pink dish kept a delicate tea cup company.

Many of the dealers displayed their items within lovely vignettes.

How about this fabulous ironstone pitcher with its ribbons of pink or the angular teapot?

This French faience bird cage sitting among a variety of pinks caught my eye.

This looks like a comfy pink spot to take a shopping break.

Rachel Ashwell was among several of the authors available to sign their books.

These pink doors offer a hint as to the treasures of The Junk Gypsy.

You just might want to grab one of these to help cart home all those pink treasures.

For those big items you might need to borrow this.

Linking to

Beverly's Pink Saturday

Laurie's A Few of My Favorite Things

The Tablescaper's Seasonal Sundays

Suzanne's Vintage Thingie Thursday

Thank you ladies!

Spied On An Autumn Morning Walk

The soda syphon or seltzer bottle was a concept introduced as early as 1790. It's a bottle used to dispense carbonated water. These seltzer bottles were popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Today one can purchase seltzer water in pre-filled bottles.

It's officially AUTUMN and a delightful time to take a walk in a quiet NYC neighborhood. We no longer have our NY apartment, but I do have some favorite photos of those times. I like to think about our treasured time experiencing the city that never sleeps. I spied this collection of seltzer bottles sitting on a windowsill in a New York apartment. Fun to see this bit of history as I took a walk one crisp AUTUMN morning. The colored glass coated with dust makes me think these have been sitting there for some time.

I was struck by the composition of the juxtaposition of these colorful seltzer bottles standing at attention within the window panes and the pink texture of the window ledge.

So Happy Pink Saturday!

Stop by to see Mercedes. She shares a wonderfully creative life. I think you'll enjoy her blog, M.E.R.C.E.D.E.S. S.C.O.T.T.

Joining Claudia's Friday Finding Beauty @ Dipity Road, Beverly's Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound, Laurie's A Few of My Favorite Things @ Bargain Hunting & Chatting With Laurie, and The Tablescaper's Seasonal Sundays. Thank you, ladies!

The Texas French Embassy

It's Outdoor Wednesday with Susan @ Southern Daydreamer. Come with me through the bustling downtown streets of Austin, TX to a quiet hilltop that overlooks our state capitol.

As we walk through the gates of this old estate, we learn that this home was originally built as the Légation de la République Française during the time when Texas was a Republic.

It was constructed in 1840-1841 as the place of residence for Alphonse Dubois, a young French diplomat, sent to the Republic of Texas to represent the government of King Louis Philippe of France.

French Legation in Texas

The French Legation, built in the Anglo-French style, was restored in the 1950s by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Click here to read an interesting account of Dubois de Saligny and his brief time in Austin.

Nestled on a hilltop east of the downtown business district, the French Legation has a protected view of the state capitol.

The structure is the oldest wood frame home in the city and is furnished with items original to its time period.

This little clump of red lilies were all that remained blooming in a flower bed that must have been awash in vibrant color just days before.

There are two of these boxwood maze gardens, one on either side of the main house.

The expanse of rolling lawn is a favorite spot for families to picnic.

The original dirt floor kitchen to the property was destroyed by a fire in 1880. This structure was built in the 1950 restoration of the property and is situated where the original hearth's foundations were discovered. I know this is Outdoor Wednesday, but there is pottery in this building. French pottery! I have to take you inside to get a peek.

The kitchen has an extensive collection of antique French kitchenware, but we'll just focus on the pottery.

Yes, there is even a shelf of Quimper and Malicorne.

As you can see, these two plates are marked HR Quimper. Below are four Malicorne Plates.

The four plates to follow are all French, but all unmarked. If anyone has knowledge of where these may have been produced, please let us know.

This collection of plates is also all French, again unmarked pieces.

This Chinoiserie motif was one of my favorites as were the following two painted in Delft Blue.

Well, I hope you enjoyed our brief outing to the French Embassy of Texas. More information and photos of this property and its history can be found at http://www.frenchlegationmuseum.org/

Click here to go over to A Southern Daydreamer to see more Outdoor Wednesday outings.