Autumn in The Garden

I thought I would join Leigh of http://lbratina.blogspot.com/ for Thrifty Thursday. My contribution is my centerpiece below. Please visit Leigh for more interesting thrifty finds.

Lots of tables in Blogland are busy today because Susan of http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ is hosting another tablescaping event. Be sure you visit her after coming from here and check out all the fun creations out there.

It's fall and pretty soon it will be too cold to eat outdoors so I decided to do one on the deck table today. Might as well make the most of the weather. I hardly ever use this table because it is too far from the kitchen but it has a pretty view.

Do you see my vegetable garden in the background? I could not keep the fire on the candles burning because the wind was blowing.


How do you like my parrot flower?

I used my everyday dinner plates and I mixed 2 types of salad plates, this is one of them.

Here is the other. It is shaped like a flower. I layered them with smaller leaf plates.

The part of the deck where the table is sitting will be the site of the future jacuzzi.

I used a faux Japanese maple tree for my centerpiece. I bought it from Pier 1 last year after fall for $3.99. It was on clearance from over $30. That would qualify it for Thrifty Thursday, right?

My flatware has brown and cream bone handles. Do you see the droplets of rain on the knife. It was starting to drizzle while I was setting the table that's why we had to eat inside the house.

a birdie salt and pepper shaker from TJ Maxx

Bird napkin holders from Z Gallerie.

I bought the dragonfly placecard holders from Longwood Plantation shop after we toured the antebellum mansion last year.

I hope you enjoyed viewing my tablescape. Thanks to all for coming and to Susan and Leigh for being such gracious hostesses. Now let's go see the rests!

Pink Piano Babies, Hail to the Victors: Let's Go Blue!!

Sightseeing Saturday and Pink Saturday: a weekly double post!

Another Pink adventure is happening in our house. I have been frantically walking around the house, trying to find some pinks so I can join Beverly at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/. And then, when I got to the living room, wah lah!...... there they are, my 2 pairs of piano babies with a lot of pinkness!
Aren't they just the cutest things?
Just look at those innocent faces!

Thanks Beverly, for allowing me to participate! Now don't forget to visit her to see more lovely pinkness!


And now for our weekly sightseeing!

It's Saturday and you all know I am taking you on a trip today. If anybody wants to participate, please copy the SS logo on your website so people will know that you are a participant. Enter your name and permalink below where Mr. Linky is. I have to do this in advance again because believe it or not, I am going on a trip again on Thursday and won't be back until Monday.

Last week, I showed you a trip we took a few years ago to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to watch the Wolverines' football game. Today, I am showing you pictures of our recent trip, the first game of this season. I took so many pictures and I like a lot of them. I had a hard time deciding which ones to upload or leave out so I just created a bunch of mosaics so I can show you a lot. You can of course, enlarge the pictures by clicking.
We took AJ with us, in addition, we also took John's daughter and her hubby. Below are pictures of buildings at the University of Michigan. I just love old brick and stone buildings. The first 2 pictures is the dorm where John stayed the first year of College. The next is Hutchins Hall and Law School. You will also see the Diag, Burton Bell Tower, Michigan Union where John F. Kennedy stood and first defined the Peace Corps in 1960. Also pictured below are very nice sorority houses and a Congregational Church. We went to the pep rally and watched the cheerleaders, dancers and Michigan Marching Band perform. We sat on a hill and then, we had a hard time getting up. AJ had to pull us up. LOL! There was so much food and it was all free.

The next day, we dressed up in maize and blue, to cheer our team. On our way to where the marching band muster, we passed by lots of students having tail gate parties. You can feel so much of excitement everywhere! These students sure have fun!

Here, the marching band gathered, uniforms inspected and performed some moves. Then they all headed to the Big House Michigan stadium and the crowd followed. Did you notice John's shirt? I think he was the only one wearing purple, lol. And to think that he has so many Michigan shirts but you know, that shirt saved AJ and me a lot of aggravation. We got separated from our group because of the crowd and all I had to do was look for someone wearing something different and I found him. That purple shirt sure stood out amongst all the blue and maize. LOL!

It was a record attendance, 119,019 spectators. Just look at all those people!

Of course, our team won. These were the final scores. GO BLUE!!!

I took videos of the band's performance. John is very proud of this marching band. He keeps telling me that they are the best in the world and I have to admit, I was impressed and I really enjoyed watching them. Enjoy!


I don't understand football but I sure enjoyed watching the marching band play.

For anyone who wants to participate, please enter your name and permalink here.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Simple Casual Dining

Thursday is one of my favorite days of the week because Susan of http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ is hosting a meme where everyone who wants to play with dishes can join in. I am one of thsoe everyones:-)I just set a casual table for 2, for John and me, this time in the kitchen in front of the TV.

Janie of http://www.blondiesjournals.blogspot.com/ mentioned once in her comment that she wanted to see the Chippendale chairs I won at an estate auction. Janie, here they are in kitchen! I have 8 of them, 6 sides and 2 arm chairs. The arm chairs are in the living room.
We had rice (as we do every night) and porkchops with basil and potatoes sauteed in onions and tomatoes. I think John likes the entree cause he began to sit down but I told him to watch TV in the family room and give me 10 min. cause I want to take pictures first. LOL! For a centerpiece, I used my cloche with lovers that I brought at Marty's cloche party and a vase with flowers and 2 candlesticks.

I used my ivory Pavilion Princess house dinner plates with Fitz and Floyd "Bellacara"salad plates, on a wooden gold plate charger that I bought from either Horchow or Neiman Marcus from a while back..

We have a view of the pool from here too.

This is probably one of the simplest tablescapes I have ever done. Hope you like it.

Thanks Susan, for hosting another playful event.

Humming in The Back Porch!

One of the memes I really enjoy is Outdoor Wednesday, hosted by Susan of http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/. I always enjoy seeing some outdoor activities, beautiful outdoor sceneries and outdoor decor in gardens. If you visit Susan, I know you will also enjoy a lot of what I mentioned. I have been noticing a lot of hummingbirds zip in and out of our back porch. I took my camera and captured a few shots. Hope you enjoy them!
This guy really liked perching on the hanging rosemarie.

Sorry about dried branches on this plant. That's what happens when I go away for more than a few days.

Notice the red feathers on its breast?

This one does not have the red feathers.

Can you spot one there?

Do you see the tail of the other bird that is already eating?

I hope you enjoyed seeing our hummers. I love having you.

Thanks Susan, for giving us another opportunity to show our outdoor pictures.