America the Beautiful

We will all be celebrating the birthday of our country soon. We proudly bring out the red, white and blue of our flag in our decorations to remember our countries heritage. 

America means so much to us! 

Today, I am joining a blog hop sponsored by Chloe Crabtree @Celebrate and Decorate with a patriotic theme. I am always amazed at the versatility and creativeness of each tablerscaper that participates in these blog hops. The schedule for the blog hop will be listed at the bottom of this post for your viewing. Thank you, Chloe, for organizing these blog hops.

The song," America the beautiful "is so meaningful. Sing along with me and think of the meaning of the words. I thank every leader of our country, every soldier who has fought and served our country, and I acknowledge God's guidance and protection all these years.

Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed His grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea! 

O beautiful for pilgrim feet, Whose stern impassioned stress 

A thorough-fare for freedom beat 

Across the wilderness! America! America! God mend thine every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self control, Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved

 In liberating strife, Who more than self their country loved, And mercy more than life! America! America! May God thy gold refine Till all success be nobleness and every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream 

That sees beyond the years 

 Thine alabaster cities gleam, Undimmed by human tears! America! America! 

God shed His grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!

My granddaddy was very fond of Dr. Pepper. He always kept a large supply of drinks on hand for all the grandchildren. I remember cases like this one with bottled Dr. Pepper in his storage room. I bought this crate at a thrift store years ago but have never used it. It came to mind that it would be a great centerpiece for my patriotic table and I have enjoyed recalling childhood memories. There were no soda cans for many years of my childhood, only glass bottles. And there was always pound cake available to go with our Dr. Pepper at my grandparent's home.

I enjoy looking back on previous themed tablescapes and it is fun to see them again. The continual challenge to myself to use what I have in a different way sometimes is hard. You can see other patriotic tablescapes here,  here, and here.  There are several more there and I am thankful they are gathered together titled tablescapes under my header picture on the navigation bar for easy reviewing. 

Having enough light is always a challenge in my home so I opened the shutters but as you can see that was not a good idea.  I am always learning! 

This red and white runner has proved versatile. I used it Christmas and now in this patriotic tablescape.  It was fun to get out my Johnson Brother's Blue Willow transferware dishes for this table since I haven't used them in a long time. I remember well ordering these dishes from Southern Living when we lived in Alaska and that's been thirty years ago! 

The small cobalt vases with gardenias are actually pill bottles that I repurposed. They are the perfect size for a few blooms and I still had a few gardenia blossoms left.  I love white hydrangeas and have two small bushes in my garden but I didn't want to cut them so I was glad they were available locally to buy for this tablescape.

I have been craving pound cake laden with fruit and whipped cream so this tablescape was a great excuse to have some cake. When I served six servings I realized I needed help eating all this cake so I snagged a few friends on short notice to "eat the props." I texted them a picture of my table and they hurried right over and said they had never "eaten the props before."

Table Details:

Dishes-Johnson Brothers Willow

Glasses- Wal Mart years ago

Flatware- Williams Sonoma

White Chargers- Ikea

Placemats-Wal Mart

Napkins-  Cynthia Rowley, TJMaxx

Runner- Country Living Fair

Transferware Pitcher- Consignment Shop 

Dr. Pepper crate- Flea Market

                                                                                                                    Monday

Corner of Plaid and Paisley | Red Cottage Chronicles | a casa di Bianca | Bluesky at Home

Tuesday

Everyday Living | Life and Linda | Home is Where the Boat Is | Living With Thanksgiving

Wednesday

White Arrows Home | The Painted Apron | Me and My Captain | Panoply

Thursday

My Family Thyme | Celebrate and Decorate | Darviny | Intelligent Domestications

Friday

Follow the Yellow Brick Home | Katherine's Corner | My Thrift Store Addiction | Zucchini Sisters

Facebook Group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1821422588143694/Monday

 

Dreaming about Provence

 What triggers a memory? Many times a color or scent brings thoughts to my mind of places and things I've seen. Early one morning as I strolled through my garden the subtle lavender shades of the hydrangeas set my mind back to memories of Provence. My mind has been on lavender for several months now after seeing a beautiful picture of a lavender field because I know the lavender blooms in June. My husband and I had a wonderful trip to Provence in April, 2011. Before the trip, I ordered the book shown in the photo above. On the cover is a gorgeous lavender field in front of Sénanque, a Cistercian monastery at Gordes in Vancluse.

I remembered I had a lovely french dishcloth that I bought at a street market in St. Rémy with a scene of a lavender field.  

In fact, I had two pretty dishcloths that inspired a vignette in my garden.   I move this bistro table and chairs around in my garden frequently. A vase was chosen and hydrangeas clipped for a small arrangement. 

The aroma of lavender is truly a mood enhancer. I use lavender hand soap everywhere in my home. I remembered a sachet of lavender buds I had and added them to my vignette. All the while, I am dreaming one day to see the lavender blooming in Provence. You see, our visit was in April and the lavender blooms in June. 

And to finish my little vignette my Provence book with the lavender field on the cover sealed a wonderful memory. On our trip, totally unplanned we came upon this very abbey and I gasped in delight when I recognized it from my book. If you are interested in Provence I have a number of posts about our trip:  Provence....One trip is not enough Provence-Part Deux Provence-Part Trois Viola! A gift to you from France! Does this street market make me look fat? Aix-en-Provence

Next week, I am participating in a Patriotic tablescape blog hop with a group of talented tablescapers. I hope you will come visit. My table is Tuesday.