Life has intervened and I haven’t been able to blog in about nine months. I am not sure if I will continue to publish. But I decided to dip my toe back into the blogasphere by republishing some of my most liked fall offerings. I hope you enjoy this post on fall front porch decorating. This year I wanted to do Something Different For my Fall Front Door Decor. Over the years I feel like I have employed every possible combination of mums and pumpkins known to man or, more likely, to woman. And I didn’t want to go in for corn stalks and bales of hay because let’s face it; this ain’t exactly Green ..read more

Oh, say can you see my red, white, and blue Patriotic Tablescape? Like most folks, when we host the 4th of July, we serve American classics such as hamburgers and potato salad. However, even though our menu consists of typical picnic fare, I love a table setting that is anything but typical. This year, I’m especially invested in creating a festive table to celebrate being with friends and family once again. Tablecloth As I’ve said before, I like to set a layered table. A tablecloth can be a great way to establish a color scheme and create a foundation for all the other elements you put on top ..read more

Eating outdoors and grilling something on the barbeque is always a go-to for Father’s Day in our house. I don’t know if it’s because cooking meat over fire seems manly. Or because the weather on the third Sunday in June is usually too nice to consider being indoors. Whatever the reason, we often end up having some version of steaks, Italian sausages, or hamburgers along with the usual picnic sides like potato salad and corn on the cob. This year, instead of serving our old standbys, I thought I’d change things up and make deliciously spiced lamb burgers as the entree in a Greek-inspired Father ..read more

Once the worst of the tree pollen tsunami has passed, it’s time to clean off all the gunk and start thinking about putting together summer planters for the deck. We use our deck exclusively for outdoor dining, so only an umbrella table, chairs, and our grill are on it. To turn this rather barren space into an inviting place to have a meal, I like to decorate it with various containers filled with beautiful flowers. Developing A Color Scheme Trying to figure out what colors look best together when faced with the overwhelming number of flowers available these days can be difficult. And premade p ..read more

Because of the pandemic, I haven’t seen my mother in over a year. Now that we’re all getting vaccinated, we are more than ready to get together to celebrate, not only Mother’s Day but all the occasions we’ve missed while sheltering in place. Butterflies spreading their wings and emerging from their confining cocoons seem an apt metaphor for our “coming out” from COVID quarantine. So, to fete our own metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly, I decided to create an exuberant Butterfly Mother’s Day Tablescape. The Venue This Butterfly Mother’s Day Tablescape is all about breaking out of our ho ..read more

My home was built in the late 1990s. When we bought it in the early 2000s, it felt like a brand new house. Some 20 years later, it has starting to show its age. Don’t get me wrong. I still love it. It has lots of floor-to-ceiling windows, an open floor plan, and for the most part, it functions well for our family. It also has some features that were quite popular back in the day that are no longer particularly desirable. One such so-called amenity is the kitchen desk. These small built-in desks were designed to provide a place for the homemaker to sit and make grocery lists, pay bills, keep tr ..read more

As I thought about my Easter tablescape this year, I had in mind a sophisticated table dressed in spring green and inspired by these lovely Primrose paper napkins. Caspari Primroses paper cocktail napkins However, when I began the Easter tablescape I’d envisioned, I realized that though vivid, the small print on these napkins did not make much of an impact on the table. A pair of potted plants and a floral arrangement did provide some much-needed color and life. But, it was apparent that I’d need additional elements to achieve the vibrant look I was going for. Large chocolate bunny with a bask ..read more

I have always wanted to have a vegetable garden. But, the marauding herds of deer in my neighborhood have made most gardening an exercise in futility. However, last year, my wonderful husband built me a raised bed garden with a nifty cover that effectively protects tender seedlings from all and sundry critters. The great thing about the framed chicken wire covering is that he constructed it in two-pieces. Eash side is hinged on the end so that both sides can be levered on and off the garden for easy access. The newly built raised bed garden before we finished putting in the soil, irrigation, a ..read more

The days are getting warmer, new green shoots are pushing up in the garden, and folks are getting vaccinated. After a winter of literally hibernating in our house to avoid both the lousy weather and the Coronavirus, we can finally get outside and feel the sun on our, unfortunately, still masked faces. Nevertheless, I feel hope and a sense of a new beginning with the advent of this Spring. This feeling makes me want to change up the decor in my house to lighten things up and bring the hopeful elements of Spring and Easter into my house. With my Christmas and winter decor, I tend to try to creat ..read more

Back in the dark ages when I was a child, kids exchanged Valentines with everyone in their class. These valentines often featured corny puns or goofy riddles. So in the spirit of this old-fashioned tradition, I ask, “What is black and white and red all over?” The answer: my Valentine’s tablescape. After just finishing up removing all of the Christmas red from my winter decor, I now find myself adding quite a bit of red back to my kitchen dining area to create a small but special Valentine’s dinner party for the folks in my COVID bubble. The Chandelier The difference between an everyday dinne ..read more