A Parlor Lunch on Tablescape Thursday

It's Thursday! That Old House is jumping into the Tablescape Thursday blog party, hosted by Susan at Between Naps On The Porch. Head on over for more table settings!

At That Old House, it's chilly and windy -- a real October day. Welcome. . . .

That Old House has a bit of a split personality.

On one side of her center hall are what we could call our family spaces --
the kitchen, pantry, study, conservatory, and the back (kitchen) stairs.

On the other side of the hall are what we could call our company spaces --
the dining room, parlor, front entry and main staircase.

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You notice I said, we could call. . . . because I don't. Call them that, I mean. All of the rooms in That Old House are both family and company spaces.

While the dining room and parlor are a little more formal, we use them every day, even if it's just a matter of setting the dining table for two at suppertime, making sure I use the front stairs as well as the kitchen stairs, or having lunch or afternoon coffee by the fireplace.

And that's what I'm going to do today -- set a table for one in the parlor.

My first attempt . . . . eh.

I didn't want Mr. Rooster on the table;
I wanted to use a cheery sunflower tea pot my daughters gave me years ago:

I like how it looks on the table; it would be filled with coffee if this were indeed lunch!

A candle in a lantern provides a little warm glow for a chilly day:

The lantern is a freebie; my daughter Alida worked one summer as a waitress at a local country club, and these lanterns were used to decorate tables at a wedding. They were left behind. What good daughter of a thrifter would not take one home?

The rooster plate is from Marshall's. . . in Hollywood!

Howard and I had to kill some time in Hollywood last week, before meeting Alida and her boyfriend for a taping of The Big Bang Theory. . . which we got shut out of, but them's the breaks.

Luckily there was a Marshall's near the In'N'Out Burger where we had dinner!

Underneath the rooster is one of the Dollar Tree aqua plates from this past summer.

I love those aqua and blue plates!

My long time everyday stainless, by Pfaltzgraf, works for lunch for one.

I can take a seat on the sofa, and enjoy my Autumn decor on the mantelpiece.

And if I look in the other direction. . . .

I am using a very old linen napkin, monogrammed with an elaborate "C" -- but I have to be careful;
it's so old that the very fine faggoting around the hem is separating:

I really should fix that, shouldn't I? I dare not launder this piece till I do!

Now for a few details:

And ... a moment of reality. The Awful Truth.
(And for once it is not dust, although you can find that, too, if you look hard enough.)
When we left for California, I had a little stone mustard pot of garden mums on the mantel;
I forgot it there. Now I have this on the mantel:

They are more dead than they look in the picture, I fear.

I could be Morticia Addams' gardener.

Happy Autumn! I'm taking my Dad to a farm stand this afternoon, then taking a long leaf-peeping drive back. -- Cass