Hooray for the red, white and blue

July 4th is a time to celebrate our country. May we  reflect on our heritage, our bountiful blessings, our customs, and our values of freedom and liberty for all.
As we set our holiday tables in red, white and blue and prepare traditional barbecues for family and friends let us reflect on our wonderful country.

I was delighted to read in my local newspaper today that Country Best Farms was inviting the community to pick free sunflowers at their farm. For a blogger that loves to tablescape that was music to my ears.

Welcome to Country Best Farms in Enterprise, Alabama.

 If you live in the area you'll want to head on over and pick some sunflowers.

 Large fields are loaded with huge sunflowers taller than me. 

 The owners, Nancy and Bob Helms( you'll see Bob later) are two of the nicest people you will ever meet.

 They sell, peaches, tomatoes, corn, shelled peas and...

 new potatoes, tomatoes, squash, okra, onion,  homemade ice cream, cookies, delicious pound cakes and homemade pies. So you'll also want to purchase some of their produce and baked goods.

 Here's Bob overseeing hand selected peas making sure each pea is the best quality.

He explained the shelling process to me. Have you ever seen a pea sheller? Or do you remember shelling peas as a child? I remember sitting on my grandmother's porch shelling peas and butterbeans. But these days, these fabulous machines do an excellent job.

 These 25 lb bags of peas are called hampers. 

 For their homemade ice cream they use this interesting machine. I also remember the hand cranked home style ice cream freezers.

The bees were everywhere feasting on the flowers.

I had a wonderful time cutting the sunflowers thinking of the perfect vase I had for them. Then  the idea to do a tablescape right here with the most perfect backdrop ever was born.

 Voilà! I even had the perfect sunflower tablecloth!

 This was fun despite the humidity and 90 plus degree heat.

The term tablescape has only recently made it in the dictionary and when you type the word a red line appears as if it is misspelled, however, in the lifestyle blogging world tablescaping is now a hobby. 
This could simply be a summer tablescape but by adding the flags it is representative of a Fourth of July tablescape.

 I've enjoyed tablescaping for over six years now. You may view another tablescaping field trip related to the South here.

 Country Best Farm is beautiful and I had fun but the nicest part was getting to know Nancy and Bob Helms. Thank the two of you for such a nice day!

I hope you enjoyed the tour of Country Best Farms and the sunflower fields. Locals don't miss this opportunity to enjoy picking your own sunflowers. May God continue to bless and protect this great nation. Happy July 4th!

The saga continues.... you may be wondering what were the pics at the beginning of this post about?

 When I got home I decided to do a Fourth of July table for my kitchen using the sunflowers in a different setting.

To change the tablescape I added a blue and white tablecloth, red placemats, and Cynthia Rowley napkins from TJ Maxx and changed the vase for the flowers.

Which tablescape do you like the best?

I can't decide. I enjoyed both of them.

 Living thankfully, Bonnie. I appreciate all of my readers. Have a great holiday weekend.

Linking to : Metamorphosis Monday, Show and Share,The Scoop, Inspire Me Tuesday, The Enchanting Rose, Wow Us , Share your Style Party, Tablescape Thursday, Thoughts of Home,Feathered Nest Friday, Home Sweet Home, Foodie Friday,Dishing It and Digging