Here We Go with a Ho Ho Ho! 2018

The Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons seemed to fly by so quickly this year. I've decided to create a Holliday Diary, 2018, for you. This week's entries are photo intensive. Grab a cup of coffee or hot tea and settle into your favorite chair...and thanks for your patience and endurance in advance.  I hope that you enjoy the tables I have to share with you.

Fourteen of us gathered for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The kids wanted everyone to be seated at one table, so I melded a large oval and large round for a rather unique configuration.

Copper Williams Sonoma hurricanes, a Spode Camilla tureen, and wooden boxes filled with bright Autumn colors meandered the length of the tables...

...joining Vietri amber optic goblets and green AJKA Arabella wines...

with Pier One hammered copper chargers and the Copeland Spode Pink Tower dinner plates  to welcome an enthusiastic and grateful family to the table to share a meal and give thanks to God for the blessings that He pours upon us. After our precious time at the table, dishes were washed and put away, and everything was put back in place because...

...less than a week later, Christmas was in place at our house and it was time for the seasonal entertaining to begin.

December 5...

...I gathered with a small group of friends for our annual Christmas luncheon. I set a table for five at the games table next to the Christmas tree. The pillows at each chair were my Christmas gift to my friends at the table.

The Vietri gold ruffled charger framed the Aynsley Red Imperial dinner plate. Gold toned flatware added to the festive tone of the table.

The antique white and gold octagonal plate was later used for dessert. I acquired it some years ago from Susan @ From My House to Yours. I've so enjoyed using them time and again. 

One of my oldest, my mother-in-love's Rock Sharpe crystal wine goblet, was joined by one of the newest denizens in the crystal cabinet, the Edinburgh King James water goblet. You'll see this lovely several times in my soon to follow blog posts. It's a large stem with excellent balance. It truly dances when set against candlelight.  The gold/cream stripe napkin was a recent birthday gift from my dear friends Guyanne and Barbara. They found the set of 12 napkins at Home Goods. It's lovely.

My centerpiece consisted of a large Waterford red crystal bowl filled with candied fruit. Simple greenery picks created a bed for the bowl which is surrounded by a quartet of four  red mercury glass Christmas trees found last year at a local florist, New Leaf. Cut glass votives, found many years ago at Dollar Tree, completed the design.

 We visited long into the afternoon. 

December 7...

Two days later I hosted another luncheon for dear friends. This day I set a table for four. I was able to move quickly because I used  many of the same elements that I utilized two days earlier.

I did want to share another design in my collection, Christmas Garland by Andrea for Sadek. I found this pattern on eBay. I wanted to share it with you because in case you are wanting to add a Christmas plate to your own stash, this one can be add for extremely reasonable prices. I purchased a good number of them for under $5.00 - $10.00 per dinner plate.

For an additional $60.00, I acquired 12 matching salad plates; that's $5.00 per plate! eBay Tip: The longer a design is listed over and over on eBay, the higher the prices will climb. I've watched this situation develop many times, so if you want to buy a pattern, watch for one that is relatively new to eBay listings. It's the old early bird gets the worm lesson.

I ended up double booking myself on this day. I had another party to attend. Couldn't believe that I did that. When I left, I told my friends to please, stay and enjoy each other's company for as long as they wished. They stayed and visited with each other until almost 5:00 p.m. I just missed them when I returned home again. I hate incompetence, particularly my own. Did you ever schedule two dates with boys on the same night; I did. I thought I had learned from those unfortunate moments. Evidently not. On this day I was without doubt an EGR. Extra Grace Required

December 12...

 If you've been reading my blog for any time...and I've been missing in action for quite some time...you know that I cherish my friends in my Garden Friends Bible Study group. This Wednesday, was the day that I was blessed to gather this precious group of women around my table for food, fun, and fellowship. Today I set a table for 10 in the dining room. Please, join us!


I've been eager to use this hefty silver dome and platter for quite a while. I bought it at a lovely estate sale some time ago. Yes, it held the turkey at our Thanksgiving dinner, on the buffet. Today it anchored my centerpiece design.




The pair of wooden deer (elk?) were found this year at my favorite New Leaf floral shop. You'll see them several more times on my Christmas tables. They make me really happy. Also in the 'make Cherry Kay happy' category...have you noticed all the new Christmas trees gracing assorted tables throughout the house? My childhood friends feted me at a birthday party last month. Each and every one of them gave me a Christmas tree for a birthday present. I'm stealing the idea. Think about it! Bags full of bunnies in the Spring, pumpkins in the Autumn, the possibilities all spell F-U-N to me!


Left to right: The napkins were an eBay find. The napkin ring is actually a candle ring. The silver is my Reed & Barton Grande Renaissance wedding sterling flatware.  The red lacquer was my first ever charger, a gift from a good friend. I've used them for years, The dinner plate was made for Macy's,  Royal Gallery Holly & Ivy. It's new to my collections, and it was bought for a song on eBay. (See previous eBay Tip. Same song, second verse) The Waterford Clarendon Green Serenity goblet was a happy mix with the AJKA Arabella red wine goblet.


Ready to go. Already making plans for two large parties on Sunday, December 16, and Monday, December 17. These two will demand dedicated organization. Tune in for my next entries in my Christmas Entertaining Diary, 2018!


And so, the first week of Christmas entertaining comes to an end.  More to come next time. Thank you so much for taking the time to explore my tables. I'm hopeful that I am going to be able to publish posts more consistently as we go forward. I've really missed hearing from you all, and I've missed spending time studying and enjoying your beautiful blogs, too.

This week I'm joining Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch

Garden Friends Luncheon, May 25, 2017

The Garden Friends Bible study group met for lunch to have a fellowship time before we begin our summer break.  I was blessed to gather these priceless friends around my table.  Today I set a table for 8 in the dining room.  Come on in and join us!


It's Spring, and the perfect time for a celebration of color...


 and what says Spring?...


...more deliciously than...


TULIPS!  Thank you Whole Foods Market.


Of course, there were other pretty blossoms to be shared!


Now sometimes we need to amend the soil first, so I started with the Vietri charger,...


...which added just the right finish to the Mottahedheh Light Blue Lace charger.


Today's blooms are brought to you courtesy of the Spode Chelsea Garden dinner plate blossoms...


Close enough to smell the flowers


All good gardens need pretty ground cover, right?  Today it was the Reed & Barton Grande Renaissance flatware.






So many pretty posies...


There's even a tiny blossom on the Madeira linen napkin.


My wedding crystal Lalique Trèves wine was a fitting addition to the Waterford Simply Blue,


Amethyst,


Pink, 


and Lime garden art.

 And of course, one must have glorious potted plants.

Herend Queen Victoria...

So many incredible details

  A garden to be enjoyed any day of the year laid on a lawn provided by the Williams-Sonoma jacquard linen tablecloth.


Do you find inspiration for your garden while looking in magazines, or at a flower show perhaps?  Now you see where I found mine.

I'm always seated at this end of the table...a great view of my garden, but mainly closest to the kitchen.  Do you seat yourself in a place that allows you quickest access to the kitchen, too?

Every lovely bloom needs to be adequately watered...I like to place decanters at my table for my guests to be able to refill their water goblets without interrupting their conversations.

 Another delightful Garden Friends gathering.  Let me know if you're coming through our city on the prairie.  I'd love to set a lovely table just for you, and I know that my Garden Friends will join me to make you feel welcome.  There's always room for another blossom in my garden!

This week I'll be joining:

Inspire Me Tuesday with Marty @ A Stroll Through Life

The Style Sisters Centerpiece Wednesday linky party

Tablescape Thursday with Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch

Blue and White for Four

Once again, I've missed you all terribly.  Let's just say that it's been an interesting year health wise, but as of now I'm feeling and moving better than I've felt and moved in years.  I'm pretty excited about the possibilities.  I'm going to give my blog another go.  I certainly have a backlog of tablescapes to share with you.  At times I'll probably share two tables at a time, or I'll never catch up.

This luncheon took place in early February, 2015.  A small group of close friends joined me for lunch, and the menu was Soup Soup.  Soup Soup is a wonderful company that literally makes homemade meals and stocks the display cases every single day for customers to come by and pick up meals or a la carte items to go.  They will even accept a recipe that you particularly like and prepare it especially for you.  When I say home cooking, I mean home cooking.  I may never cook again. Come on in.  We're dining in the living room at the games table.

I'm a died in the wool blue and white girl, and once I move past the holidays and hit the first of the year, I find myself heading straight for the blues and whites again and again. 

 A creamy matelasse tablecloth, an eBay find, suited my mood this day.

 Keeping it fairly simple, I found myself happily choosing a variety of blues.  Flowers were kept to a minimum with roses in a array of colors placed in small Waterford posy vases.

 This is Copeland Spode Ermine.  I love the design work on the finial and the handles.

 A pretty tureen is often one of my go-to centerpieces.  There are several reasons that I enjoy utilizing them.  They are really pretty.  They are a great height for a dining table, and your guests can easily see across them to visit with each other.  Finally it takes about five minutes to create your centerpiece, and on occasion you can even put soup in them.  ;-)  The quartet of candlesticks are cobalt depression glass.  They and the centerpiece are more of my eBay finds.

 The Zrike cobalt charger rested peacefully under the Copeland Spode Ermine dinner plate.   Today our everyday stainless steel flatware, Wallace Antique Bead sufficed nicely. 


Water was served in the Goddinger Sutton Place goblet, and the Libby cobalt goblet from Dollar Tree was available for guests who wanted wine with lunch.   

 Once you are seated, enjoy your view of the table!

 Lunch was comprised of King Ranch Chicken, simple salad, and an incredible, giant dinner roll...all courtesy of Soup Soup.  For dessert, I served my homemade Brandy Ice.


It was a cold winter's day, and after lunch we visited long into the afternoon.  At some point we all need to "Stop the World, I Want to Get Off." (Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse musical from the early 60's.  Most memorable song: "What Kind of Fool am I")  Next time you're having one of those 'Stop the World' days, come on by.  I'll pick up Soup Soup when I know you're on the way.

This week I'm joining:

Inspire Me Tuesday with Marty @ A Stroll Through Life

Tablescape Thursday with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch

Thoughts of Home with White Spray Paint

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