Christine's Home and Travel Adventures: August 2016

Friday, August 26, 2016

Feathered Friends and Fruits

I thought I would create a transitional table since it is getting somewhat cooler outside. And I always love the color of Fall.

I already had the pomegranate inside the cloche as my centerpiece so I just continued using it. Then I placed my rooster tablecloth. I think I bought it from Williams Sonoma years ago but this is the first time I've ever used it. Then, I remember seeing my tin fruit plate chargers that I saw in the garage while organizing there. They are the perfect color so I used them too. I got them on Ebay way back before I was even blogging.

I decided to use my Palftzgraff white dinner and salad plates in "Confetti" pattern to add a lighter color since it is not really Fall yet. Then I topped the setting with a bowl with peacocks

Since I decided to title my post "Feathered Friends and Fruits", my apples and strawberries S&P shakers would blend right in.

I have amber stems stored somewhere but could not find them so I used this set since they were stored in a cabinet inside the house and were readily available.

I added chickens in my centerpiece.

and rooster tea light holders and a vase a friend from Natchez gave me and placed fall colored leaves and flowers in it.

I have that little cute peacock another friend gave me from my Natchez days.

The orange flatware my son and daughter in law gave me one Christmas, looks right at home on this table.

Oh, I also found a little parrot lidded dish in the buffet table drawer and just added that to the table.

My napkin rings are various white feathered birds.

And I love using this tea set between summer and Fall.

Thank you so much for the visit! My feathered friends thank you too.

I appreciate all the hostesses of the memes that I enjoy linking with. Thank you so much!

Share it One More Time

http://designthusiasm.com/

Anything Goes" Pink Saturday

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/pink-saturday/

Sandi's No Place Like Home

http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com/

Christine's Dishing It and Digging It

http://www.rustic-refined.com/

Cindy's Amaze me Monday

http://www.dwellings-theheartofyourhome.com/

Jeanne's Blue Monday

http://backyardneighbor.typepad.com/backyard_neighbor/

Kathryn's Make it Pretty Monday

http://www.thededicatedhouse.com

Chloe's Celebrate it Monday

http://celebrateanddecorate.com/

Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage and Garden Blog Party!

http://blog.bernideens.com/

Ruth's Tuesday Cuppa Tea

http://www.antiquesandteacups.info

Julie's Talk of the Town Tuesday

https://lovemysimplehome.blogspot.com/

Tuesday's The Scoop

http://confessionsofaplateaddict.blogspot.com/

Marty's Inspire Me Tuesday

http://www.astrollthrulife.net/

Show and Share

http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com

Sarah's Classical Homemaking party

http://www.hopeineveryseason.com/

Tablescape Thursday

http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Home Matters

http://lifewithlorelai.com/

Thoughts of Home Thursday

http://www.athomewithjemma.com/

Kathy's Home and Garden Thursday

http://adelightsomelife.com

Tablescape Thursday

http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Share your Style Thursday

http://www.thevintagenestblog.com

Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop

http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com/

Kathryn's Anything Blue Friday

http://www.thededicatedhouse.com

Kate's Flaunt it Friday

http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/

Courtney's Feathered Nest Friday

http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/

Foodie Fri and Everything Else

http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/

Friday, August 19, 2016

Dinner with Friends We've Known Since Waukegan Days

We used to live in Waukegan, IL. While there for my mom's 98th birthday celebration, I found out that a friend from there, Vicky, is visiting our hometown in FL. Her daughter and family moved here 12 years ago but only found out about it last year when Vicky visited.

Luckily, she had an extended stay so we were still able to see each other after we returned home. We invited them to join us for dinner. My daughter Tina and her daughter Rosanna have met when they were practically babies so it was so nice to see them see each other again and try to reminisce what they remember.

I set the dining table using French Limoges dinnerware by Wm Guerin & Co.

The place card holders are Bavarian Tirschenreuth.

I only had 6 of the Tirschenreuth place card holders so I used Southern Living at Home Pavilion holders for the ends of the table. I also used a tureen of the same pattern to serve rice.

Bavarian Tea set in "Briar Rose" pattern by Schumann Arzberg.

I bought these silk flowers while vacationing in Park City, UT, in an Indian Museum store. Don't they look so real? I kept my centerpiece small and simple because I knew I would need room for the food.

I just placed a taper candle on a putti holder, a vase adorned with flowers where I placed the silk flowers and a bird on a pedestal.

This is where I served my chicken tinola soup.

We had herbed salmon, Thai shrimp toast, chicken tinola and Filipino beef steak we call "Bistek", macaroni salad and rice.

We had papaya loaf and cherry cheese cake for dessert which I forgot to take pictures of.

And here are pictures of my lovely guests while we were chatting after dinner. Our German friend, Stephanie and daughter Isabel, who live here transiently also joined us. Shown here clockwise is Vicky, my daughter Tina, John, Stephanie, Rosanna(Vicky's daughter) and her hubby, Mike.

Tina's hubby Scott is not in any of the pictures because he was nice enough to watch all the kids who were swimming. John took over his place after a while.

Thank you so much for joining us and for the wonderful evening!

And thanks to all for your visit and to the hostesses for the following memes I am linking with.

Share it One More Time

http://designthusiasm.com

Anything Goes" Pink Saturday

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

Jeanne's Blue Monday

http://backyardneighbor.typepad.com/

Christine's Dishing It and Digging It

http://www.rustic-refined.com

Cindy's Amaze me Monday

http://www.dwellings-theheartofyourhome.com

Kathryn's Make it Pretty Monday

http://www.thededicatedhouse.com

Chloe's Celebrate it Monday

http://celebrateanddecorate.com

Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage and Garden Blog Party!

http://blog.bernideens.com

Tweak it Tuesday

http://www.cozylittlehouse.com

Julie's Talk of the Town Tuesday

https://lovemysimplehome.blogspot.com

Tuesday's The Scoop

http://confessionsofaplateaddict.blogspot.com/

Marty's Inspire Me Tuesday

http://www.astrollthrulife.net/

Show and Share

http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com

Sarah's Classical Homemaking party

http://www.hopeineveryseason.com/

Home Matters

http://lifewithlorelai.com/

Thoughts of Home Thursday

http://www.athomewithjemma.com/

Kathy's Home and Garden Thursday

http://adelightsomelife.com

Tablescape Thursday

http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Share your Style Thursday

http://www.thevintagenestblog.com

Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop

http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com/

Kathryn's Anything Blue Friday

http://www.thededicatedhouse.com

Kate's Flaunt it Friday

http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/

Courtney's Feathered Nest Friday

http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/

Foodie Fri and Everything Else

http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com

Saturday, August 13, 2016

My Mom's 98th Birthday and Painting and Staining My Sister's Back Porch Deck

We just arrived back from Illinois to celebrate my mother's 98th birthday. My sister Fe, who she is living with, wanted the party to have a nautical theme. And so I created a nautical centerpiece using stuff I brought from home. She already had nautical serving pieces that I arranged around the table.

And so the day came with so much food. All 5 of us children from various cities in Florida and St. Louis arrived so it turned out to be some kind of a reunion too and it was so much fun.

My sister Tessie from St. Louis and sister in law , Che, from the Tampa Bay area.

A beautiful birthday cake given by my dear friend, Ludy, with it's wonderful coconut and ube (purple yam) flavor. Simply delicious! We used to live in Waukegan too so we have a lot of friends there and it was wonderful to see them again.

Another extraordinarily gorgeous cake was given by another family friend, Norma. It was a mango chiffon cake and so yummy!

Thank you so much to all who came and helped us celebrate that special day.

Mama is very special. She had 3 birthday cakes. I baked one for her too but did not get to take it out until later because there was no room on the table. It went so fast that by the time I wanted to take a picture, it was all gone. It was a mocha chiffon cake.

Here is my mom with her big smile who is about to blow her birthday candle. Even her pillow is nautical, lol! I wonder what she wished for!!

My mom and her 5 children. She was so tired by the end of the day that we had a hard time getting her to open her eyes for the family picture, but she finally obliged.

My sister Fe, has a big back porch that she never used. She decided to get it cleaned so it can be used for the party because she was afraid the guests (around 50) would not fit inside the house. She paid $600 to get it cleaned so just imagine how messy it used to be.

I got her helper to trim the trees all around that were really overgrown.

and then we got it ready for the party. My other sister Tessie, helped me plant some fresh flowering plants on the window planters.

After the party, I thought it would be a good opportunity to stain the floor and paint the rails while the deck is still clean. I suggested that to my sister. And who could resist a free service? So off we went to buy the supplies at Menards and got started right away since we were only going to stay there for 2 weeks.

All done! It was so funny because her guests were all surprised to find out that she had a deck, lol. They never knew it existed prior to the occasion.

Now, my mom is even able to use it because it is adjacent to her room. Only a French door separates them. Her care taker assists her to take her daily walking exercise there and even feeds her there, taking advantage of the weather while it is still nice and warm. The overhanging trees are keeping the place cool.

We are happy with how it turned out considering the limited time I had in finishing it, though I would have wanted the floor stain to be somewhat darker.