Beautiful table setting and festive lighting.
Some blooms from my Fla. gardens.......
I like your palm tree! Very Florida :)
I used Adobe Illustrator to create the grapefruit. It can create some amazing images ..... now I just have to learn how to make it create them!!
Ha ha ha ha ha!
Laurel said "what is your secret for settling in so smoothly?"
And I read the answer: "Spode."
Had to reread two or three times to figure out what was up! I'd like to know their travel tips too.
Laurel - The only "settling in" secret I have is to pack the car and Yakima on top of the car with everything you own so that you will have it when you need it!! HA...not really.....I'm always wishing I had something that is at the other house. I really don't have any big tips......I divided the china according to where we would be when we would use it. Are you surviving the holidays ok????
Jen - No, the china is Cuthbertson - similar to Spode, except for the width of the band around the edge and the different toys under the tree. A close friend of mine from my teaching days started this china set for me in the 70s and gave me a different piece at every special occasion for years, so it has special meaning to me, and I set the table with it and keep it set for the holidays. I think of her every time I pass the table.
Thanks, Jan and Willie!
Funny, Carrie!
How nice of your friend---& a lovely reminder of her. I have some Pfaltzgraff with winter scenes of birds that I use this time of year--sort of perks up the season!
Very nice, Louise....
Robin- I've seen that Pfaltzgraff.... I like it.
Thanks, Jen!
Marilyn - I haven't seen the Pfaltzgraff pattern you have. Can you post a shot of them for me? They sound really pretty!
Here is the cookie dish (please note, Willie, that it's empty !), & one of the drinking glasses---they don't make this pattern anymore unfortunately!
I love the seasonal china, very nice everyone.
oh, I like the chickadee-dee-dee-dee!
That's lovely!! I like the "frosted" look to it!
I've not been a DG member long enough to go here and there apologizing for not keeping up. However, I'm so far behind it's hopeless. Life is getting in the way. What's with that?
If you want to know about citrus contact Hawkarika (Jim) on "Orchids". He is a Master Gardener and fellow orchid lover who is very knowledgeable about growing fruit.
I love the seasonal china too, Louise. I collect seasonal and antique bedding. I have collected china and flatware according to period. I've got a great collection going of post modern. It's not high brow.. flea market stuff. I love it.
laurel
WOW Laurel, I had no idea you collected post modern.
Guess thats how you knew about Wendel Castle's pieces.
Do you have other things besides bedding and china?
Any hand made pottery or fine crafts?
Louise, your flower pics are so refreshing..can't wait to come down ...Jan. l7th...we are looking so forward to it...My neighbors down there keep saying, once you get here...just stay...SO TEMPTING.
lIZA
Liza - I'll bet with all that ice and hassle, you are really looking forward to a southern break!! We did get to your area in Fla. on our anniversary day trip, and we went up on the dike surrounding the Lake. We tried to guess where you might have your place, but that wasn't easy. Be in touch if you and John can come for a visit and a garden tour, such that it is!! LOL
Laurel - I'm not sure I know what "post modern" collectibles are. Please educate, if you don't mind. Also, how do you do your seasonal bedding? Do you have fall colors/winter colors, and summer florals?? I love antique bedding.
I guess I'll need to get out for some more blooms tomorrow.....DH and I took a small excursion to a local winery today to get a special bottle of wine for a dinner party on Tuesday. What a small world....the vintner is a cousin of a neighbor I grew up with in this neighborhood. When we got home, Molly had gotten into a package of chocolates I had wrapped and stupidly put under our tree for a neighbor. She ate 7 squares of various chocolate confections, and I know chocolate can be fatal to dogs. We're watching her closely. What next????!!
Oh, Molly, Molly. Sending good thoughts to you.
Oh I hope Molly is OK! Dogs just love chocolate though don't they? My 2 dogs ate a full 13 X 9 pan of scotcheroos once! I thought for sure one of them would die but other than the runs they were fine!
Here's a bloom that really does belong in Florida but DH loves it so and it keeps on blooming for me. ^_^
The dark baking chocolate is the worst, but it also depends on the body weight of the dog---oh, Molly---hope you are OK. My DS had his erithymicin on his nightstand when he was ill some years ago---my female dale at that time Jazz, crunched the pill container & ate the 4 or 5 left---all night long I was outside with her while she had diarhea--then I had to go into school & teach, then get her to the vet's---by that time she was fine, & the vet said she'd be infection -free all winter!
Louise, so glad you have good weather... I bet your garden in NH is burried in snow... mine is at least 2 feet under!!!!
Oh let me tell you what Lilly did Friday night... she was very fussy so I let her walk around my bedroom friday night... I figured that she was safe so I let her be... the silly thing stayed in my bedroom and all I could hear was her nails against the floor so I made no attempt to check on her... about 15 minutes later she came to me and all I could see was her mouth really dirty... brown... so of course all I could think was she ate poo... yakes... so I went to my bedroom and to my surprise there was a half eaten Lindt chocolate bar on the floor, a bunch of chocolate stained mail and a dirty floor... to my surprise Lilly got into my working tote bad and got my chocolate... and it was not open... and the dog is blind!!!!! she ate it all... aluminum paper and all... so I prayed... and she is diabetic... she still allive !!!! so we can at least say that Lilly and Molly have good taste! I am convinced she has 9 lives...
Thanks, everyone, for your good wishes and concern for Molly. It was a rough night with little sleep for any of us, as it all hit her around 1 am and then kept on going all night. Today she has been on and off all day, but so far her supper has stayed down (fingers crossed). I am most concerned about the long-term effect on her liver, which has already been compromised. This is hopefully just a setback for her and a good night sleep tonight will be a blessing!
Kassia - I'm glad to hear that Lilly is ok too. My, my...those little fur girls have good noses! I'm glad we got home when we did or I think it would have been a worse outcome. Fortunately, it was the 60% cacao squares that were mostly left by the time we walked into the chocolate covered carpet. The darker the chocolate, the more toxic.
Celeste - I love that hibiscus.....how nice that you can enjoy it all winter!
Marilyn - how fortunate that Jazz wasn't seriously hurt by ingesting the meds! Like Jazz and Kassia's Lilly, I think Molly's poor hearing is made up for by her very keen sense of smell. She always knows when there is a cat outside our sunroom even though she can't see it because of the wall that is about 30" high before the windows start.
oh Lilly... the poor tummy ache... glad she is ok
So glad Molly & Lily are fine---our furry children get into everything!
Oh my, I do hope all the fur babies are fine. They do have a way of sniffing out things you would never think they could get into.
Beautiful hibiscus Celeste, no wonder he loves it. I bet it makes the weather outside just a bit less depressing to have such a sunny bloom to admire. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Best wishes for all the forum furries.
Thanks, everyone! Molly isn't completely back to herself just yet, but she is coming around. She didn't get us up until 4:30 this morning, so we got a lot more sleep last night!
I planted my dwarf dahlia seedlings this morning. I can't wait to see what they look like. Has anyone else grown dahlias from seeds? Will these develop the tubers as they grow? I'm really a newbie when it comes to dahlias. I am proud to report, however, that I have little broccoli heads forming, tons of green beans developing and several small tomatoes. Yippee! We also had our first mesculin greens salad last night.
Oh, homegrown fresh veggies!!!Yippee!!
Yes, Jan......can hardly wait!!
Louise, so far Lilly is ok... yeah, she continues to be the boss... right now she is whinning wanting to go upstairs... but I have to get up at 5 to go to work in the morning... after Lilly, no more dogs for me... I want my nights back... I am suffering from canine sleep depravation... she sleeps all day long and at night she won't let me sleep... lol!!!! I need Cesar Millan - the dog whisperer...
you have to get someone to give her a workout during the day... instead of letting her sleep
Allison, its hard for Lilly because she is blind... so walking her is really a work out for me...we fight more than we walk... lol... and of course I ended up carrying her...
Treadmill
I forgot about that ... write Cesar
Glad to hear the dogs are doing better! I'll miss FL again this year, with all the fresh fruits & veggies---maybe we'll visit our friends next year.
How cheery is this pretty New Guinea impatiens given to us by a neighbor across the street!?
Marilyn - I do hope you get down here next year! Since this is our first time being here for Christmas, we were wondering if it would be very Christmasy......well, it was so pretty last night!When we got back from church, the luminaries had been lighted along both sides of all the streets in our neighborhood. We had our shrimp cocktail sitting on our front porch watching everyone walking the lighted streets and enjoying all the festive lighting. That's a first for us to be able to sit outside on Christmas Eve. LOL For hours people were driving through looking at all the lights. We decided it was just as much "Christmas" here as in New England. We didn't expect that. But.....no snow!! :(
Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas!!
Louise
Glad your Christmas was so nice, Louise! We had a beautiful day weatherwise--40's---& had a great dinner at the Mayflower Inn. Grant tired me out---he was crawling all over the sunporch, but a great place for the kids to play, & be away from the Inn's staff & other guests!
Pretty impatiens Louise. Sounds like a lovely Christmas eve for you. We had the traditional white Christmas but I think I might like to try a warm weather one someday too.
Very nice, Louise. Hope everyone had a nice Christmas. We did.
Nice New Guinea, what a great color, Louise! Sounds like you found a nice holiday for yourselves!!
Also, I didn't forget you, Robin, there are PLENTY of left over cookies with which to adorn your pretty plate. :-)
I think we ended up with about 3-4 dozen cookies each of about 30 different types of cookies!
We had a blast (as always) delivering them (and to some, presents, too) to all those unsuspecting recipients!
I am surprised to report that I am not yet sick of cookies!
I'm never sick of cookies.
This is a tough time of year for the diabetic.
Everyone bakes special cookies at this time, not the chocolate chips and brownies.
I make sure cookies go to the family room in the basement. Its not easy going up and down stairs so I'm safe when they go down there and not on the kitchen island.