In The Forest

Before I throw away the rest of the pumpkins, I was eager to try this treatment of succulents on an heirloom pumpkin.  All of these succulents have been in planters in our cutting garden, and while I know that they won't winter over outside, I also know that I'm just not good about remembering to care for them out in the potting shed.  So, I had no reservations about cutting them up to decorate this lovely Cinderella pumpkin.  I photographed it on a white paper background to get a really good photo for you.

Then, the day was so beautiful and the woods so inviting, so outside I went!

In order to elevate the pumpkin from the table, and give a little more room, I thought it was the perfect day to use this wooden compote dish with carved acorns around the edge. 

 

I decided to tuck a few leaves around the base of the pumpkin, since it didn't sit level on the dish.

This green and brown plaid tablecloth is really two very wide runners of dupioni silk.  Well.....polyester that looks like dupioni silk!

These salad plates were on sale at Ballard's outlet a few weeks ago.  Didn't take me long to get those puppies in my cart!

I used them with some dark brown chargers that are really pot saucers from Pottery Barn, and some cream scallop-edged plates from ZGallerie.

Oh, mama!  Don't you love these napkin rings????  They were gifted to me from my very dear friend, Barb.  You often see lovely things on this blog that were given to me from her, because she has the best, best, best taste and is very generous.

And look here!!!!  This incredible salt and pepper set is another gift from her!  Am I the luckiest girl?

My standby wooden handled flatware suited me fine for this.

Lime green stems and raffia wrapped glasses fit the bill.

These bow back chairs from the breakfast room were softened with pillows from the keeping room.

Since these guys are still hanging around, I thought they looked cute here.

The way the sunshine hit the table was the best part of the day.  You just can't fake this feeling.  

Although winter is not harsh here in Georgia, we sure do store up these last mild days.  

As I soak in the beauty and joy of this season and the land we own, my heart goes out to those in the northern part of our state and the agony they are experiencing from the wildfires.  Our air quality has been terrible from the smoke, but it is a small inconvenience when I think of their loss.  We are all praying for rain. 

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21 Rosemary Lane

   

Friends for Fall Dinner

One of our favorite couples spends the winter in Florida, and several of us wanted to be sure to have dinner with them before sending them off to sunny shores.  It turned out to be one of those evenings that you never wanted to end.  We sat and laughed and laughed and shared some lovely memories.

It was a table of eight....my favorite!  These are vibrant people, so not neutrals here!

I have slowed down in my antique collecting, as we approach the reality of downsizing, but this remains one of my favorite things to collect.  I especially love the engraved badge on the wood.  I filled it with the bright, bright colors of fall, along with some cream roses and bleached wheat.

Makes me smile!

Those colors are reflected in the rest of the choices I made for the table.

Years ago, I bought these bittersweet wreaths to use as chargers.  I bring them out every year, and so far, they have held up well.  Then I toned them down with my gold edged cream Lenox dinner plates, and some vintage salad plates with a variety of fruits featured on them.

Some placesettings had this bleached wooden flatware.....

and some had this dark wooden flatware.

The vintage napkins are embroidered with a sweet little maple leaf, and gathered into an antique bone napkin ring.

I thought these little squirrel place card holders were perfect!

These were new to the table this year and it made me so happy to be using gold again.

By far, these are my favorite candlesticks and  I love what the wood does for the table.

Do these make you smile?

Well, we sure did have lots of smiles around this table!

Here's wishing a great winter  to our friends.  They are the cutest newlyweds I know.  I love to share their happiness and this was a great way to do so.  

Here are some fall decorations from around the house.  Take a tour!

 

Wishing all of my readers a wonderful fall, and a very blessed Thanksgiving!

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21 Rosemary Lane

  

"Borrowed" Fall Flowers

I was flattered to be asked to do the flowers for the serving table at a beautiful event at our church.  We call this autumn United Methodist Women's event "Soup and Sisterhood".  Pretty self-explanatory.  A group of women gather for a dinner of a variety of soups and celebrate our friendship.  As I was putting these flowers together in the house, I could NOT stop myself from thinking about how perfectly the colors went with a tablecloth I got at Homegoods last year.

Check out these incredible roses.  They were open perfectly to arrange.  Sometimes that doesn't exactly happen to me.  (Just sayin'.)  These joined a couple different kinds and colors of mums, snapdragons, and some gerbera daisies.

I HAD to take them outdoors for a quick pretend dinner.  Nobody ate here, I just borrowed these flowers, set the table and brought it all back in.  Usually, if I post a table, we've actually dined there. 

You need to see these floral picks up close.  Acorns!  Hello! The only direction the committee gave me was that they were using copper in the centerpieces, so I went with this copper and brass pan.

So here's the table.

And here's the placesetting!

I started with this burnt orange colored charger that I bought this fall at Hobby Lobby.  They had the best colors this year.  The light colored wooden handled flatware showed up better on this table cloth than my dark wooden set.

Then I added these cream plates embossed with acorns and oak leaves.  I use these so much in the fall.

A picot-edged gold linen napkins separates the plate and this sweet pumpkin dish.  If this were a real dinner party, I would choose from a collection of fall soups to serve in it.  

Whenever I have a busy tablecloth, I sometimes tend to use more coasters and chargers to separate the dishes from the pattern.  This wooden slice serves as a good coaster here.

Here's the glassware I chose.  Can't see them too well?

Better?

This was sitting on my kitchen counter, so I added it at the last minute.

And, of course, these acorn salt and peppers joined the party.

I really wanted to sit down and take a rest, but I didn't. 

Even without the chair pads, it was inviting.

I'll do a post soon about those fall decorations you see in the background.  And I'll show you how these flowers looked at the church event.  It was beautiful.

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