Ode to Spring

I picked up one of my favorite magazines today and was ready for the spring inspiration it might contain to lift my spirits on this cold, drab and dreery day.

I was right...on closer inspection I noticed

the small green floral dessert plate the ice cream dish is sitting on is my pattern!  What a pleasant surprise!  I remember so well almost 35 years ago Dennis and I going to Elder Beerman McCook one weekend to pick up a set of 8.

I loved them for their green and white colonial design.  They reminded me a little of the same antinquity in style that my mom had chosen as her dishes.

These were Mom's dishes.  They are Colonial Homestead by Royal.  They were patented in 1954.  She always brought them out at Thanksgiving and the dining room table looked beautiful with all of us around to enjoy her delicious Thanksgiving dinner.  My oldest brother, Larry with his wife Donna and their two little girls, Cindy and Cathy, my brother Ron and his pretty girlfriend, Marsha,  along with my sister, Jean her husband and cute son dressed in little suit joined my brother, me,  Mom and Dad.  She always got up before 4 o'clock a.m. to get the turkey in the oven and bake the pies.  The house was filled with the most memorable aroma of hearth and home.  I used silverware purchased from Ballard Designs catalog a few years ago.  I love the rustic touch they add.

I changed the setting just a bit to add feminine touch.  This time I used my Mother-in-law's silverware.  My husband had a couple more children in his family than I and they shared the most wonderful family dinners as well.

Here, I'm adding a little close-up of the napkin ring.  While at a antique store not far from me, I found this pretty ring.

It has a most beautiful inscription of the name "Belle".  That was my Grandma's name.  I love it.  I think it reflects the period beautifully and reminds us that things were made with artistic talent, skill and with appreciation in the fact that it would last longer than a life time.  Today, things are made to be discarded without thought of any sentimental value.

  

My dishes are Royal Staffordshire  Avondale Ironstone by J & G Meakin ~ England.

Nothing fancy like porcelain but homey.  I imagined many a meal of meat and potoato hartiness to feed my family.  It's quite sweet to see them in such a delicate setting.

I also noticed in the magazine a cake stand that appears to be Fostoria ~ American pattern that we purchased at the estate sale of Dennis' grandmother.

This was the photo in the magazine.

And this is mine.

I also noticed a lot of spring green used as beautiful decoration in table setting.  I really fell in love with that green and varying shades of it depending on what I had to mix and match.

~

Not anticipating a trip but really had a desire to stay close to home and catch up on some maintenance and yard work, I find myself planning a wonderful spring 3-4 day road trip with my two sister-in-laws who are retired and garden enthusiasts.  We, well, I have been mentioning for three years now how much I would love to visit the Garden Home Retreat of P. Allen Smith who has his own gardening program on PBS.  One day out of the blue I decided to check his web site after receiving one of his gardening tips by e-mail.  Low and behold!  There it was!  A public invitation to attend your choice of his spring home and garden tour and view his prolific daffodil bed planted under an enormous old oak tree in the front of his home or a visit to view his spring gardens and home tour!  How fabulous is that?  It's in the planning stages at the moment, but I'm thinking a small lunch for them to set and make our travel plans will be a great start. 

One day while viewing a lovely post by Pat of Back Porch Musings, http://backporchmusings.typepad.com/, entitled: anticipating spring in the dining room, I fell in love with her tablescape.  I thought how nice it would be to have my sister-in-laws  for lunch and send them an invitation by mail.  I asked Pat's permission and this was the result.

I love how it turned out.  I used decorative papers as accents.  The white paper is handmade and stamped with fern leaves.  I love the photo of Pat's straw garden hat.  She purchased it in Charleston, SC while on vacation.  Thank you Pat for allowing me permission to use your photos for this purpose.  If you haven't visited Pat at Back Porch Musings, please do.  Her photography and postings are lovely.

Couldn't wait to play with the idea after purchasing some great placemats and napkins by RL on clearance at Marshall's.

A few more spring entertaining photos and I'm thinking my spring is shaping up to be quite exciting to anticipate after a long winter's bout of cold.  And so

what is it that sparks your imagination and desire to travel a little to get first hand perceptions of spring and what it will bring to calm the senses and soothe the soul?

Love,