Organizing Five!

Time for Five on Friday and Friday’s Fave Five and I spent so many hours organizing spaces around this old house that I missed organizing my Friday post last night! Thank you to Amy and to Susanne who have organized these memes for all of us to enjoy.

Our eastern Washington kids are coming to visit the last weekend of this month. My daughter who just moved out of our basement with her hubby came over this week to help me organize her stuff that had overtaken this guest room. Now it is ready for Dan and Jamie’s visit. Although Katie and Andrew have moved out they have to leave a lot of their stuff here because it just won’t fit in their little 570 square foot space.

Besides clearing out guest room #1 we moved some furniture around and changed up Guest Room #2 and organized the basement. One of the additions in the basement is this drape (tablecloth) that covers the closet in the basement that is full to the brim with our daughter and son-in-law’s stuff. The dresser in the photo next to the bookcases is being filled with books we are ready to let go. Organization continues there.

Don’t be afraid as you look at my dish space in the basement. I have my mom’s 50th wedding anniversary dish set (service for 24), Christmas dishes, Thanksgiving dishes, pink Depression glass, lots of blue and white dishes, cake plates, etc. etc. I re-organized this space and even got rid of a few plates. But…then while I was in Canada on Tuesday I bought the fruit bowl (below) with 8 little matching bowls, oops. The boxes under the table belong to our kids. Our poor basement dwellers lived with this dish wall for a whole year bless them…

I’m such a sucker for Johnson Brothers dishes.

While I’ve been organizing inside this old house Dear has been organizing his shop and our garage space. We’ve also completed projects organizing outside spaces. This next photo is our latest organized outdoor space. I can see this planter from my kitchen window.

So I am thankful for spaces to organize, the strength to organize them, the satisfaction of ordered spaces, having help in the process, and looking forward to sharing these organized spaces with others.

What are you thankful for? Are you on an organizing binge?

A Bright Fall Table…

I used 2 different cameras for these table scape shots and you’ll be able to see the difference.

I bought the tablecloth at Target and set the table around it.

Josh and Laura were going to come over to help eat my latest test recipe for our new Mennonite Girls Can Cook book coming out next May.

A lot goes in to creating a cookbook. I’m glad I have 9 “sisters” to go through this process with.

It would be daunting to do a project like this on your own.

It was fun to put together things I’ve collected here and there to finish off the table setting.

Stemware, dishes, flatware and linens from antique malls, thrift stores, discount stores and on huge markdowns from major department stores rounded out the table.

We enjoyed a wonderful meal at this table with Josh and Laura. Everyone gave my recipe a thumbs up and I’ll be sharing the recipe in our new cookbook.

The day was cold, clear and sunny and it was fun to see how the sun added it’s brightness to the setting.

I’m looking forward to enjoying many more meals with family and friends in November and December. I find enjoying fellowship around food to be so satisfying. It feeds me physically and spiritually.

Yesterday I went shopping for a new pair of jeans and some boots. I forgot about Monday being a holiday and didn’t anticipate the crowds at the stores. Thankfully I had success. I find it difficult to find jeans that fit right and was happy to find some that will work and at a good discount. What did you do on our Monday Remembrance Day /Veteran’s Day holiday?

Because You Asked…

Here’s what I bought while avoiding the noise at home from the roofers!

The lavender goblets and small green goblets were purchased at an Antique mall in Edmonds. I paid $40.00 for the lavender goblets and $7.50 for the little green ones. I paid more than I usually am willing to pay for goblets but I found that it’s not that easy to find this color out there.

The small green bowls and the purple dessert plates are from Crate and Barrel. The napkin rings are from my stash.

The dinner plates 4 of each kind were purchased at Goodwill.

These napkins are April Cornell and they were purchased at Goodwill.

These dessert plates were purchased at an Antique mall in Snohomish.

I was on a specific search to find lavender and green but I couldn’t pass up some other good buys…

As soon as my schedule permits I’ll be working on a table setting using my latest finds and mixing them with things I have on hand.

I’m linking up with Kathleen at Cuisine Kathleen for Let’s Dish. This event starts on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 P.M. (Eastern Time)

Tablescape Thursday ~ Memorial Day

It’s time again to set the table! Please visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch to join in the fun. My tables lately have been “real”. What I mean by that is that there was an actual meal and people sitting down at them. I haven’t had time to play with tables much but I’ve had a few good occasions to enjoy having family over for a meal. We had a gathering for Memorial Day and this is what I came up with.

I used 3 different patterns of blue and white dishes with red chargers and napkins and star napkin holders.

It’s hard to tell but the lemon pound cake was made in a star shaped bundt pan, too. Stars were the major theme.

George and Martha adorned our table even though Memorial Day came about long after their time.

My basket is a star shaped one, too.

Besides praying for all those who are alive and serving our country in the military before our meal this day we chose to memorialize Dear’s father Rex who served in World War II in New Guinea.

My dear husband even made red and blue drinks to go with the theme.

Some of my decorations will stay around for June and all the way to July 4th since we have Flag Day and then our Independence Day celebrations! Blessings…

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Where Do You Keep It All?

Time for fellow Bloggers to link up at The Tablescaper and show the world where you keep your stuff. All my storage is a work in progress right now. I’m tweaking here and there and shuffling stuff around to be more organized.

I’m working on getting all my candles and candle holders together. My tablecloths are out of control and I need more hanging space for them.

My tiered servers are too tall for a shelf so they sit on the floor of this closet. One each of my different tea cups are finally all in the same place. The extras I have of some of these patterns are down in the basement on my latest storage space!

We just bought this unit from Ikea and set it up in our basement. This room is gutted right now and needs to be worked on but I’m so happy to have all my plates in one spot so I can see what I have. I like this arrangement because I don’t have to dig into the back of a lower kitchen cupboard to get at all my plates. My everyday dishes are still in my kitchen.

Now to my actual kitchen storage…

Everyday dishes, Italian Countryside by Mikasa, that I bought at Macy’s for a super price. Soup bowls and cereal bowls and tea mugs and dessert dishes that were all purchased at Goodwill or other Thrift stores..

Water goblets and Cocktail glasses. I really enjoy different styles and shapes of glasses.

My large platters and some cutting boards.

The cupboard above the refrigerator. My sets of champagne flutes in their boxes for special occasions. My pitchers, vases, fondues, punch bowl, cookie cutters, etc.

Oh dear more glasses. These are the everyday kind and then some fun sets way on top. I think I could give water to 200 people easy in all different shapes and sizes of glasses!!

I really love my stainless drawers.

And right under my everyday stainless is another drawer with dividers for my serving pieces and extra stainless.

My Le Creuset and my bake-ware. Maybe I should just insert here that I was a Home Economics Major so these are just the tools of my trade.

My baking, measuring, and other stuff drawer.

More specialty equiptment and my large stock pots.

More bakeware. This is where the cake pans, bundt pans, muffin pans, pop over pans and mixing bowls, etc. are.

Springform pans, tart pans, pie pans.

Believe it or not there is more stuff and more cupboards but this post is getting way too long!! Before you click away here is a photo of my kitchen with all the cupboard doors shut!

Tablescape Thursday ~ Taco Night!

It’s time to enjoy tables set for our viewing. Please visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch to be inspired !

I had so much fun mixing and matching last week for my Mother’s Day table that I decided to do it again for our Taco Night table. I wanted to choose colors that would represent the colorful Mexican culture.

I rolled my napkins like taquitos and used some made in Mexico napkin rings. I had 6 of the flowery ones and found two striped ones that completed the 8 place settings. The 4 red and white checked plates I found at Goodwill and the 4 red and white flowered plates I picked up at HomeGoods.

The center cake plate and candle holder were both Goodwill purchases, too.

Our daughter Katie, my sister Lana and her husband Steve…

Our son Josh, my nephew Caleb, his girlfriend Marie and our DIL Laura.

I bought 8 of these goblets at a thrift store on Main St. in Ventura, California for 49 cents each.

The tablecloth came from Goodwill also.

This was a fun table to enjoy with our company. We built our own tacos and had brownie sundaes for dessert with a fun game of Mexican Train after the meal…

Looking forward to getting around to see tables from around the blogisphere…

Tablescape Thursday ~ Mother’s Day

Since the table was set for Mother’s Day I’ll be able to participate in T.T. this week. I’ve been buried with other jobs around this old homestead and haven’t had the time to scape much. Please visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch to see other tables set to dine.

There were 6 of us for dinner on Sunday night. Dear barbecued steaks and baked potatoes, Katie put a frozen pie in the oven, and Josh & Laura made a salad and salad dressing. It was all real good and wonderful to be around the table together. Katie’s boyfriend from Florida was with us, too.

I have 5 of the Blue Onion plates and 4 of the Churchill plates that look like Finlandia. I decided to mix and match with 3 of each.

I mixed and matched some more by using 3 of the Finlandia cups and saucers and 3 of the Blue Danube. The Tea Pot with the Rhododendrons in it is Blue Danube.

The napkins are Blue Danube also. I layered the plates with a blue glass dessert/salad plate and used my pewter chargers.

It was a wonderful evening.

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling…

This is a simple Spring tablescape I created for St. Patrick’s Day last year. I searched high and low here at the homestead and was shocked to find I do not have any St. Patrick Day decor. I did find some green so it will have to do.

When Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, ’tis like the morn in Spring.
In the lilt of Irish laughter
You can hear the angels sing.
When Irish hearts are happy,
All the world seems bright and gay.
And when Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, they steal your heart away.

An appetizer ottoman scape from the Condo last year, too.

An early Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all!

For more Tablescapes visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Laurie’s Valentine Party & Tablescape Thursday!

On Friday besides visiting Laurie’s Party head over to the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog where I’ve posted the recipe for this dessert that would be great for Valentine’s Day! Remember the recipe won’t be posted till Friday!

Now for some possibilities for a Valentine Day scape!

This was last years bar scape that Dear and I had our Valentine’s Day dinner at…

Another possibility without red…

Here are the two cutest Valentine’s in love that I know!! My parents who have been married for 66 years!

Hoping you have a Valentine’s Weekend filled with lots of love for all the people in your life.

Mosaic Monday ~ New Dishes…

Got some new dishes that make me smile. Now to come up with a tablesetting for dinner on Saturday…

Thank you to Mary at the Little Red House for hosting mosaic Monday.

Thanks for your visit and hope you have a week filled with love and joy…

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Dishes