Fish and Frogs and Fruit and Fur . . .

Mother Nature is experiencing an identity crisis today -- sunny, then cloudy, then windy, then sunny, then cloudy . . .

it is enough to exhaust a good dog:

Especially a good dog, like our Dion, who is sharing his home
with his sister Nina for the next few weeks.

That is Nina, whose big girl name is Kilbrook Lorna Doone.

Nina is a darling dog, as sweet as can be, and one of Dion's 3 sisters
who together were known as "The Belmonts."
You either get that reference or you don't.

Annie took Nina for a little stroll
and I got this shot through the sink window:

Can't you just hear her thinking, "Hey, who's the paparazzo at the window?"

Enough of dogs! Time for dishes!

*************************************************************************************

Nina must think we are quite strange indeed, setting the table in the conservatory and not putting food on the plates. To a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, the only possible reason to have dishes at all is to keep your food from wandering off to where another dog can grab it.

But back to playing with dishes . . . last weekend I got 4 hand painted dinner plates,
Italian, in a funky splashy primitive fruit design.

So today I did a funky splashy tablesetting.
Or, as my daughter Anne commented, "Wow, Mom, you have a lot of cr*p on that table."

And so I do.

Pictures first, then a list of what I used:

In the picture above, the hydrangea blossoms are nestled into
two handpainted candlestick holders -- and that was Anne's idea.
Very clever; she likes to play with dishes, too.

Dinner plates -- half price at Goodwill.
Flocked and silvered fish printed votives -- Dollar Tree.
Large printed woven napkins -- Dollar Tree.
Small orange napkins -- from my Mom.
Silver plate flatware -- eBay.
Handpainted fish candlesticks -- Some cheap-o store in NYC.
Squiggly-stemmed martini glasses -- Dollar Tree
Small gilt-leaved glasses -- from my Mom. 1950s chic; I swear I can still smell the Scotch.
Round woven placemats -- Kohl's.
Napkin rings -- Dollar Tree.
Wooden condiment set -- gift from Anne, from Guam in '09.
Hydrangea blossoms -- our own bushes.
and ... the Majolica frogs-holding-shell centerpiece -- Goodwill.

Anne: "Mom, didn't you say no candles before 5 in the evening?"
Me: "Shut up."

Have a lovely Thursday! The sun is shining again here . . . wait, no it isn't. Yes, it is . . . No, it's not. But at least it's not snowing! Happy dishes to all -- Cass




Visit Leigh at Tales from Bloggeritaville
for Thrifty Thursday.








And at Between Naps On The Porch,
Susan hosts Tablescape Thursday.

Of Cabbages and Lilies and Pineapple Plates . . .

It was 50% off the prices of everything in the Goodwill Industries Stores in our area this weekend.
After church on Sunday, Anne and I stopped into two outlets.

At the first one, a porcelain candy or vanity dish:

It was made at the turn of the last century by Oscar and Edgar Gutherz of Alt-Kohlaw in Austria.

I looked it up. :-)

A little plaque we will send out to Alida for her California kitchen --
she says she needs decorative stuff. Be careful what you wish for, Alida!

Best part of this plaque is the back. I am puzzling over what is meant by this:

It's made in Canada.

Surely our neighbors to the north don't remove hangers in order to hang things, eh?

In another Goodwill, more loot.
4 handpainted plates, from Italy.

Hey, I said they were handpainted. I didn't say they were painted well.

But I like their goofy cheerfulness for the summer.
They are dinner sized, very useful.
(And you know I need more dishes, right?)

Finally, a cabbage leaf pedestal dish.

I'm a sucker for cabbage leaf designs.

Lastly, on this Monday, a mosaic of our lilies:

Daylilies mostly, except for that little wisp of fur at the bottom of the collage.
That's our Lily, a tricolor Cavalier King Charles Spaniel whom we adopted in 1996 through breed rescue.
Lily was a little bit of a thing -- all ears and attitude -- and three years ago, when she was 12, we lost her.

I wish I had more pictures of her; she was very pretty, and even more opinionated.
In this old shot, above, she's in someone's lap. As usual. That's our Dion's ear
you see on the far right of the picture; he was a very young boy then and wanted in on the lap sitting.

***************************************************************

Visit Mary at Little Red House for more mosaics; Mosaic Monday has
inspired zillions of bloggers to learn new skills!

At Southern Hospitality, it's Today's Thrifty Treasures. Go see if anyone else took advantage of Goodwill's 50-percent off bargain weekend!


Have a wonderful week -- Cass

Peeking at the Garden Babies

Ssshhh. . . don't startle them.

They are the babies in our garden, the small grapes and tomatoes that are just beginning
to really grow and swell and absorb all that good sun and water.

The tomatoes will ripen and get juicy red,

the grapes will slowly turn a luscious purple . . .

And then, we'll eat them, the tomatoes on sandwiches or in salads, the grapes in rich dark jam.
That's why we don't want to startle them now.
Mum's the word.

We are growing a few varieties of tomatoes this year. The picture, above, is of either Celebrity or Big Boy -- forgot to pop in that handy little plastic marker when we planted them. Duh.

These below are an heirloom variety.
They are gorgeous, like something out of an old Flemish painting.

And because they are just so much fun, cherry tomatoes:

Our grapes are old-fashioned Concords. The vines have lived at That Old House far longer than we.

What babies are nestled in your garden? I just realized I have rosemary, chives and mint growing,
but forgot to plant basil and thyme. Will do that soon!

Meanwhile, our dear Mr. Dion DiPoochy is getting some quiet time in his crate after over-exerting himself the last week or so. Being eleven-plus years is getting harder for him.
Get well soon, my sweet boy!

Have a lovely weekend. The sun just came out! -- Cass

Please visit Laurie at Bargain Hunting and Chatting for more of
A Few Of My Favorite Things Saturday.

Rose Is A Rose Is A . . . Camellia

When is a rose not a rose? When it isn't.

Ever since I bought yards and yards of a beautiful rose printed fabric for draperies in the pink bedroom . . .

I have been keeping my eye out for rose-themed artwork for that room.
It is our daughter Alida's room when she visits, and her middle name is -- you guessed it -- Rose.

Last month, on Long Island's East End, I scored this original painting at a museum yard sale:

A couple of weeks ago, the Goodwill gods were smiling upon me. Among some amazing
purchases that day, I found a sweet old print of a rose, matted and framed,
with hand gilding around the cut edge of the mat.

Yeah.

The gardeners among you are about to slap me upside the head and say,
"Hey Chucklehead, that ain't a rose!"

And you would be right.

It is this:

A Camellia.

Oops.

So instead of taking up residence in the pink bedroom amongst the roses,
where it might be snubbed and made to feel like an outsider (roses being such snobs),
it's going to live in the powder room.
Where no one is a snob.

That's my share for Show And Tell Friday at My Romantic Home.

Go visit Cindy for more!

And if you are curious about some of the other things the Goodwill gods had in store for me on that pretty amazing Saturday, click here or here. I don't know about you, but Goodwill is having a 50% off sale all weekend in this area. Check it out! -- Cass

Dahlink, I Vant To Be Alone

Ssshhhh. . . . I'm taking a few moments for a solitary cup of tea in the parlor.

You can peek if you'd like; you're family.

It's simple.
An old brown lustreware teapot. A birthday tea cup -- July of course! -- and some vintage linen and lace.

Antique silver plate spoon.

And an old, old damask napkin edged in hand crocheted lace.
So soft, so pretty.

And that's all she wrote!

Do you have a corner in your house that is your bolt hole,
your little escape from the rest of the world?

Everyone wants to be alone, once in awhile.

But to join the crowd of people who just love to play with dishes,
mosey on over to Between Naps On The Porch, for Tablescape Thursday.

But before you go, just a glimpse of some early-on pictures from
my Dad's 90th birthday party on Saturday, held at That Old House.

These were taken before the baby got drunk on beer.
Only kidding. Really.

See you Friday! -- Cass