Tablescape Thursday – New Breakfast Table Setting

I have been wanting to set a new tablescape for our breakfast table in the kitchen. However, my 91-year old mother gets so attached to whatever new tablescape I make in either the dining room or on the kitchen table. She insisted that the kitchen table was just fine. But it was ok to do the dining room since there was little to look at there. So, with her agreeable assistance, I laid out last week’s Tablescape Thursday setting.

For working on the the kitchen, I had to pick a time when she had gone to bed to remove and put away the old and set up the new. The new color scheme incorporates new placemats and coordinating napkins from TJ Maxx.
Their blue-green color coordinates with the wall color. (Sory about the reflecctions of the glass top onto the wall.)
I laid two placemats end-to-end across the blue-green striped table topper.

The place setting includes off-white Wedgwood "Edme" dinner plates, a napkin, Canonsburg "American Traditional" square salad plates, and Noritake "Misty Isle" cereal bowls, made in Ireland. The bowls pick up the soft color of the napkins.
The flatware is Towle Supreme Staineless "English Shell," a nice traditional pattern.
The formula of dinner plate, salad plate, and cereal bowl has worked well through out summer. Added for cool fall days are Canonsburg "American Traditional" cups and saucers, which we enjoy for hot herb teas. The matching covered sugar bowl holds Splenda and Sevita sweetners.

Tall tumblers hold filtered water, while the clear "Vendange" goblets from Cristal D'Arques serve for fruit juices.

The lid of the off-white soup tureen is tied with the cord that held the four placemats and four napkins together.

Just to add interest are a green antiqued metal candlestick 9also from TJ Maxx), a ceramic banana, and ceramic split pear salt and pepper.

When my mother got up during the night she was surprised and delighted to see the new setting.
Thank you for stopping by. I hope you will visit again soon. Please leave a comment. Be sure to visit our hostess Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for more Tablescape Thursday posts.

Mosaic Monday – Fall Tablescape 2008

My tablescape last Thursday featured a fall table with soft fall colors. Looking back to last fall I see that I did a very colorful table, quite in contrast to the brown and white one from last week.

The mosaics show some features of the 2008 fall table, including a vintage tablecloth, with ceramic pumpkins and salt and pepper sets:

Join Mary at Little Red House for more mosaic compositions. Have a happy fall week!

Tablescape Thursday – Early Fall Setting

Hello friends! I haven’t been able to participate in Tablescape Thursday for a long time, but I’m happy to join in this week.
Since it is still early fall, I wanted a quiet color scheme. I am not ready for the brighter fall colors of oranges and golds yet (Reminds me that pounds of oak and maple leaves will soon be all around needing to be raked up!) So I decided on a soft yellow rectangular tablecloth to underwrite a scheme of white and brown in this setting for four in the dining room.

Down the center of the table a large white ceramic pumpkin covered bowl has a smaller matching pair on either side.

The large pumpkin dish is placed on a yellow glass charger filled with acorns picked up on my driveway last fall. On the left is a Fitz and Floyd ceramic salt and pepper set shaped like acorns -- a fitting motif at Oak Rise Cottage!

Two brown hydrangea sprays in yellow glass tumblers are at each end..

The individual place settings include: Brown woven placemats, white Canonsburg "American Traditional" dinner plates and brown transferware salad plates by Royal Stafford, made in England; The goblets are brown Fostoria "Virginia." The flatware is Towle "English Shell" stainless flatware; striped wood napkin rings hold white napkins with brown embroidery. Nearby is a silver-topped wood salt and pepper set.

Be sure to visit our hostess Susan at

Between Naps on the Porch for more Tablescape Thursday posts.

Three or More Tuesday – Rose Teacups and Saucers

Three or More Tuesday is sponsored by Tam at The Gypsy's Corner. Please visit her for more participating posts.

In preparing for Mother’s Day last year I bought various floral dishes and cups and saucers with pink rose motifs. Since my elderly mother loves pink, I bought a few itemss in Bavarian and English china.
Along the way since then I have accumulated a csmall ollection of mostly pink rose-themed cups and saucers. They are kept in a corner cabinet in the dining room. The Bavarian dishes are on the top shelf, (with an English teapot), and the second shelf holds Royal Albert "Lady Carlyle" dishes including tea set:

Here are some placed on a rack on a side table for Mother’s Day 2008:
This is the first pink teacup and saucer I bought. It is a Lefton footed teacup with an iridescent finish.
Then I bought a set of cups and saucers and matching dessert plates. These were made in Bavaria, Germany:

This lovely pattern also caught my eye – Noritake Gala Contessa

Here are four rose-themed cups and saucers on the cup rack:

Thank you for stopping by today, and do visit again soon!

Blue Monday and Today’s Thrifty Treasures – Enamelware Pitcher

Blue Monday is sponsored by our gracious Sally at Smiling Sally.


Please visit Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for more thrifty treasures.

A stop at the hospital thrift shop on Friday gave me another blue item to share. It is an enamelware pitcher which I got for one dollar. Such enameled metal kitchenwares were popular and affordable household items.

The deep blue background is spattered with white blotches, hence the term spatterware.

The lid is hinged

Thanks for stopping by and do visit again soon. I enjoy when you leave comments. Please visit our hostesses as listed above.

Outdoor Wednesday – Fall Flowers

Since the summer flowers were all but done, I thought it was time to get some fall flowers for the front step containers. So yesterday I went to Walmart and got five 8" container plants. They were reasonably priced at just $4.50 each for a total of $23.91 with tax.

I went intending to get some bright yellow mums but when I saw these dark red mums and was smitten by the rich fall color.

I like the change to the front steps. It is quite a change from the pansies in spring:

Looks like fall is on its way!

See more Outdoor Wednesday posts at Susan’s blog, A Southern Daydreamer.

Please leave a comment and do visit again soon.

SecondTime Around Tuesday – Books on Diana

Diane hosts "Second Time Around" at A Picture Is Worth 1000 Words. See the list of other participants at her blog.

Yesterday, the twelfth anniversary of her passing, I posted about the books in my collection of items on Diana, Princess of Wales. As thrifty finds, was a list of the ones bought at local thrift stores. At least eight others are books from my swap club –Paperback Swap, which includes both softcover and hardcover books as well as audio books.

Yesterday’s mail brought my latest acquisition through Paperback Swap.com:
Style at Home by Mary Carol Garrity. This adds to several other books on home and garden I gotten through the swap club:

Here are the Diana books I’ve received over the past year and a half:

A Royal Duty by Paul Burrell
Death of a Princess: The Investigation by Scott Macleod, Thomas Sancton
Diana: Closely Guarded Secret by Ken Wharfe
Diana's Boys: William and Harry and the Mother They Loved by Christopher Andersen
Shadows Of A Princess: An Intimate Account by Her Private Secretary by P. D. Jephson
The Bodyguard's Story: Diana, the Crash, and the Sole Survivor by Trevor Rees-Jones, Moira Johnston
The Diana I Knew: Loving Memories of the Friendship Between an American Mother and Her Son's Nanny Who Became the Princess of Wales by Mary Robertson
The Way We Were: Remembering Diana by Paul Burrell


I joined Paperback Swap.com. in fall 2007. The system has over 1,800,000 hardcover and paperback books available. Membership is free and only requires you to post a list of your own books to be swapped.

A related free swap group is SwapaDVD.com, which has you list DVDs you no longer want and choose DVDs you do want from those posted by other members.


I found one DVD that I’ve added to the collection – The Queen, starring Helen Mirren. The film is centered around the time of Diana’s death in 1987.

Enjoy your day. Thanks for stopping by, and do leave a comment.

Blue Monday – Diana Princess of Wales 1961-1987

Blue Monday is sponsored by our gracious Sally at Smiling Sally.

Reading Gloria’s post today at Happy to Be and Katherine’s post at Yellow Rose Arbor, I was reminded that today is the twelfth anniversary of the death of Diana Princess of Wales on August 31, 1997. Katherine shared a lovely doll and many quotations of Diana’s words regarding the need to give of oneself to those in need. Gloria’s post shared her extensive collection of plates, cups, dolls, books and other items celebrating the Princess’ life.

This reminded me that I also have a large collection, though most of it is in boxes. For several years the collection was on display in my guest room, which is now used by my nearly 91-year-old mother.
The books, however, are on display in and around a small stand for the tv in my bedroom.

The books include biographies, photo books, mostly on Diana, but also on the royal family.

On of my favorite books is A Dress for Diana, which tells the story of how her famous wedding dress was designed and made.

Here is a photo of one of the plate series, this example showing her in her wedding dress:

Many books have been written about her fashion sense. One example is Diana: Queen of Style.

Inside another book, Diana: HRH The Princess of Wales we see her dressed in a blue outfit, including her hat.

Here are three books written by people near her: A Royal Duty, by Paul Burrell, The Housekeeper’s Diary by Wendy Berry and The Bodyguard’s Story by Trevor Reese-Jones. It was fascinating to read the different perspectives on Diana's personality and character.

The Diana I Knew is by Mary Robertson, an American whose son had the young Diana as his nanny.

Diana: Collecting on a Princess by Charles Nobles is a guide for would-be collectors and shows items in the author’s own collection. It also suggests prices.

This post is also for Today’s Thrifty Treasures hosted by Rhoda at Southern Hospitality.


All seven books listed below were from the local thrift shops. Most cost about 10 cents each since I usually bought a bag of books for one dollar.
Diana: The Last Year by Donald Spotto
Requiem: Diana Princess of Wales 1967-1987 edited by Brian McArthur

Diana: HRH The Princess of Wales [Photographs] by Tim Graham, Introduced By Clive James.
In Public – In Private: The Prince and Princess of Wales by Alastair Burnet. Photographed by Tim Graham.
The Princess & the Duchess: Inside the Lives of the World’s Two Most Dazzling Royal Women by Josephine Fairley.
The Royal Year 1989 Photographed by Tim Graham
My Story: Sarah, TheDuchess of York, with Jeff Coplon

Enjoy more Blue Monday posts at Sally’s blog, Smiling Sally.
Also, please visit Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for more thrifty treasures.