Something Old, Borrowed, or Blue. Nuthin' New!

I am not very good at 'scaping things.
As in, tablescaping, mantelscaping (I think
I just made up that word), or even landscaping.

In my world, things mostly just sort of land someplace,

and that's often where they stay.

For instance, this oil painting by my Aunt Lillian landed on our sunroom
windowsill several weeks ago . . . and yes, it is still there, and kinda spooking me out.
See what I mean?

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But today it is raining.  All day.  It's  damp and ugly outside,

and occasionally smells like wet dog inside. 

Yes, Dion, I'm looking at you.

So, I decided to mantelscape the Parlor so that at least one room

at That Old House would have some pretty going on.

I didn't take a before picture, because the before was a bare mantel.

I still have many of my cousin Janet's things waiting for their

permanent homes, so I took some of them and did a quick 'scape.

A crazed white ironstone pitcher holds fake hydrangea blossoms.

Our own hydrangeas are in bud, but not blooming yet.

Isn't that bird darling?

On the other side of the mantel, a small painting

by my cousin Bill, Janet's brother.

I leaned it up against a gilt mirror from the apartment.

We are not lighting fires now until the Fall, so another

of Bill's paintings fills the blank, black firebox with color.

 As the afternoon wore on, the day got darker (duh!)

and the rain steadier and heavier.

Note to self:  Next rainy day?  Put out some candles!

Yes, it is dark and dreary this Tuesday afternoon.

But at least everything is nice and green outside.

 If I drank heavily in the afternoon, these pictures might look like this: 

But I don't, so they don't.

Have a lovely rest of the day, and visit Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for more Tuesday posts!  -- Cass

Click here for Table Top Tuesday!

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

Tea in the Parlor on Tablescape Thursday

Tablescape Thursday! Thanks to Susan of Between Naps On The Porch for hosting this fun event. Click here for more table-topping fun and inspiration.

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Meanwhile, I am going to have tea in front of the fireplace, and have a slice of Grandma Cake! Come with me, as I walk you through the recipe for Tea in the Parlor. . . .

Start with a parlor, a blank slate:



Paint it to your liking, and add ... well, stuff. Furniture is a good place to start.

Drive 200-plus miles to Sturbridge, Massachusetts, to order period-style furniture from Angel House.
Stir in some blood-curdling "we don't have that fabric anymore"
moments, dash to Calico Corners and order fabric to go!

Then,
wait ... wait ... wait for the call that the furniture is ready. Pester Angel House.

Pester Angel House again, till patient lady in the office begins to sound testy on phone. Rejoice when furniture is ready!

Send husband Howard and his ex-wife (00ps, ex-roommate) Mitchel on a 400-plus mile round trip in a rented truck to fetch new parlor furniture in Massachusetts to save whopping delivery charges. Offer to pay for their lunch en route. At Burger King.


Fall in love with the furniture.
Ask it to marry you, then remember you are already married.
And that furniture would make a poor husband,
as it has no means of taking out the trash.


Ruthlessly shove furniture around over and over again because
you can't find an arrangement that works.

Realize that for Tablescape Thursday, you can fudge it
and just use one wee bit of the room. Move appropriate furniture into place:

An Angel House (very comfy) wing chair, and the old
barley twist table your sister-in-law was donating to charity
and you snatched from her garage.Discover, too late, that the bottom side of the wing chair bears evidence of the
passage of a cheeky little white and brown spaniel who left a bit of himself behind,
on the upholstery fabric. Clean off for future pictures.

Add a bit of old table linen that doesn't need ironing, realize you don't have anything that doesn't need ironing,
so resort to last week's bit of old lace.


Add Johnson Brothers "Indies Blue" china, an old "Blenheim" pattern silver spoon (it hasn't been polished so just claim to like that vintage look), the cobalt and gold Meissen teapot, change your mind about the Meissen teapot as you don't have any cup & saucer to measure up to it, realize you don't have enough nice china and hear your husband scream all the way from midtown Manhattan, replace Meissen with unknown maker blue and white teapot, and, finally,
a slice of Grandma Cake to make it all worthwhile.



And there we have it....
Tea in the Parlor, or:
How To Get The Most Posts Out Of One Homemade Cake.


I'd light the fire, but it's a gas gizmo and I am mortally terrified of it.

And I still don't have a satisfactory arrangement of furniture in this room.
Someday.