Lantern Festival

We were in St. Louis, MO, visiting special old friends. The Missouri Botanical Garden was holding the "The Lantern Festival: Art by Day, Magic by Night." So while the three husbands went for a bit of beverages, the three women went to the Botanical Garden to see the evening Lantern Festival. Wow, it was awesome so come follow along the walking tour with us. The pictures are beautiful and I'll share some interesting facts about the sets. 

This was the Welcoming Dragon that greeted us as we approached The Botanical Garden entrance. There were thousands of people there so you will see other visitors in my images.

The admission fee was regularly $25 a person, but one couple lives across the river from St. Louis and is a member of The Botanical Garden so we got reduced tickets of $15.00 and it was worth every dime. We were given guide books so my information is from the guide.

This set is called Dragon Embraces the Pillars. Chinese dragons are strongly associated with water in popular belief. They are believed to be the rulers of moving bodies of water, such as waterfalls, rivers, or seas. 

The lotus flower symbolizes ultimate purity and perfection to the Chinese because it rises untainted and beautiful from the mud.

This lovely  statue was sharing the water  with the Lotus Flowers.

This is the Lotus Ponds Lantern. Sometimes called the Sacred Lotus, this flower often symbolizes elegance, beauty, perfection, purity, and grace.

This set is called Porcelain Dragon. There is a dragon on each side of the flower. I'll show you several images of the dragons and wait till you read what the dragons are made from. 

In China, 2012 is the Year of the Dragon, and many of the lantern sets depict this mythical creature. Did you also know that China was the birthplace of porcelain making?

Are you looking really close at the details of  the dragon?

Ok, one more clue to what the dragon is made of!

There are porcelain platters, plates, cups, and saucers wired together to form these two dragons. The installation consisted of more than 40,000 individual pieces of porcelain tied together using ancient techniques. Now you will probably want to scroll up again and look at the images a second time.


This is an evening tour, so the sun is setting.


The following set is the Sail Boat. Ancient Chinese sailing vessels, known as junks, are still in use today. Although seafaring junks are made of wood and bamboo, this vessel is made from plastic bottles and follows the 3 R's of sustainability: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. The Missouri Botanical Garden says it Reduced the number of plastic bottles used in the St. Louis area by collecting used plastic bottles for the set and they will be Recycled at the end of the exhibit. About 4,600 bottles were used to make the set.

The next set is the Moonlit Pathway. The symbolic significance of moons and stars has been traced to Chinese coins from approximately 2,000 years ago. The two women on the left are my two friends on the tour with me.

The guide says this moonlit pathway evokes a heavenly sky, but also wealth, power, and abundance as you pass beneath the canopy of stars and moons.

Panda's Paradise was next. This bear is native to central-western and southwestern China. Did you know that 99% of the panda's diet is bamboo?

The First Emperor's Quest for Immortality set.

Double Seventh Festival set.

The Flying Apsaras set. Here Flying Apsaras, sometimes referred to as feitian in Chinese, are flying celestial beings whose images are mostly found in cave murals.

The Four-Faced Buddha set.

The Butterfly Lovers set is a "Romeo and Juliet" tale passed down in China for well over 1,000 years.

The last set I'll show is the Heavenly Temple. Heaven and Earth symbolically meet in the Heavenly Temple.

Wow, what a tour this was at the Missouri Botanical Garden! Hope you enjoyed it, I know it was a bit long - Judy.

Note: The Garden is beautiful all year long, I have visited in at least three seasons. It is well worth a visit.


Linking to:
The Dedicated House on Monday

Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage 

Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill
Blue Monday at Smiling Sally 

Meet Me Monday at You're Talking Too Much

Your Cozy Home Party  at Cozy Home Scenes on Tuesday

Table Top Tuesday  at A Stroll Thru Life on Tuesday On

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style 

Judy at DIY by Design for Swing Into Spring

Paula and Patti at Ivy and Elephants for What’s It Wednesday

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Tablescape Thursday  at Between Naps on the Porch

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here on Thursday

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine’s Corner

Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life
Kristen’s Creations for Share Your Creations on Thursday

Feathered Nest Friday at the French Country Cottage

Inspiration Friday At The Picket Fence


Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound

Seasonal Sunday at The Tablescaper
Scenic Sunday 

Aqua and Lime

I'm adding lime to my favorite color of aqua today for my tablescape. Hope you can take another aqua tablescape by me.

Take a look:

I really hadn't planned to do another aqua tablescape but then I found this aqua and lime green tablecloth at TJ Maxx for $4.99 and I just had to have it. It is vinyl so could be used indoor or out.

You have seen my aqua goblets before and may remember that I bought them at Target. I love using them in my aqua tablescapes.

I purchased the lime plates at Dollar Store and had been thinking about a tablescape to set with them. I bought  the napkins at Tuesday Morning and the napkin rings from Pier One (all a while back) so wouldn't you have bought the tablecloth knowing you had elements to use with it? You all know I am a push over for anything aqua.

The lime placemats are a new find and at a bargain - half price. We have been in Branson, MO, this week and I found them at a kitchen shop in one of the Outlet Malls. I do have some other round lime green placemats I haven't used but I did love the three flowers attached separately on top and remember they were a bargain. I turned the mat so the flowers would be on the upper left so they would have a little more exposure.

My centerpiece for the table is a small green olive jar filled with white hydrangeas. The jar came from TJ Maxx and then I used a green plate to set it on for a little added accent. The candle jars were in the $1 bins at Target, my daughter noticed them and picked them up for me.

You can really see one of the handles on the jar in this image.

I made a few changes to my breadrack to share. I have had white vignettes for a couple of weeks so just added some aqua elements to carry out my theme. I didn't add any more green since you can see plenty of green going on with the wreath, trailing ivy and my Mother-in-Law's tongue plant.

I added the pillar candles on both levels of the rack and moved the birds in close. The small aqua flower plate is new from TJ Maxx.

I liked taking the images of the teapot, the candle and the bird (above) through the edges of the wreath. It gives a little added interest and depth to the images.

Thanks for stopping by to see my Aqua and Lime tablescape - Judy.

Linking to:

Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage
Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hil
Blue Monday at Smiling Sallyl
The Delectable Home
Meet Me Monday at You're Talking Too Much 

Your Cozy Home Party  at Cozy Home Scenes on Tuesday
Table Top Tuesday  at A Stroll Thru Life on 


Let's Dish  at Cuisine Kathleen on Wednesday
Centerpiece Wednesday at the Style  Sisters
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

White Wednesday at Faded Charm 
Bunny Hop Party at Bunny Jeans Decor and More

Susan at Between the Naps for TablescapeThursday

Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and TellFriday

Sheri at The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

Courtney of French Country Cottage for Feather Your NestFriday
Inspiration Friday At The Picket Fence
The Tablescaper for Tablescape Sunday

Relaxing By The Pool

I have been out of town for a few days and relaxing by the pool at Stone Bridge Village in Branson, MO.

When it gets too hot I move to the chair that I planted in the wading pool and cool off a bit I have been swimming laps too but the water is like ice.

My husband has been playing golf and trout fishing in Lake Taneyco but I have just enjoyed the pool and working on my tan. Yes, I have been using sunscreen.

The pool has several sections to it. There is a nice waterfall, I'll post a pic of it too.

I have never made a post from my iPhone so I'll see how it goes. I see that my pictures go after my words. Can't seem to control picture placement.

Linking to:

Smiling Sally for Blue Monday

Outdoor Wednesday

Watery Wednesday

Kreativ Blogger Award

I received a wonderful surprise from Diane at Confessions of the Obsessed.

Thank you Diane for surprising me with this award. 

Now I am nervous, I must come up with seven interesting things about myself. I may have to think about this for a while.

Ok, I'm ready and hope I don't bore you, here goes:

1. I love to travel with my family and have visited over 40 of the 50 states in the United States and have worn casts or braces on my leg, my foot, my leg again; you don't know it but I am very accident prone. 
2. My hair color is natural, I don't do a thing to get this unusual color.
3. I have collected Fitz and Floyd for upteen years, mostly gifts from my husband and daughter; I have over 70 boxes of Christmas F&F pieces.
4. I like to swim laps, try to swim 40 laps each time. The water is safe, I never seem to get hurt just exhausted.
5. Only started blogging to help my friend, Jo Ann over at Jo's This and That; now I really love it.
6. I go camping once a year and sleep in a tent only because my daughter and family want to go.
7. I keep packing and unpacking boxes of dishes since my house hasn't sold; I started packing to clear out some of my cabinets and declutter them only it was way too soon.

Now for the fun part, I get to nominate seven people to bestow the award to. Oh, this is harder than I thought, I have many more than seven people I would like to give the award to. But I guess the fun in this award is that the next seven will nominate seven more and so the award will continue full circle.

Ok, now for my seven bloggers I am bestowing the award to:

1. Jo over at Jo's This and That who got me started in  blogging.
2. Alycia at Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One
3. Michele at The Nest at Finch Rest
4. Gina at Random Thoughts from An Incoherent Mind 
5. Elaine at Creating Wonderful Spaces
6. Marigene at In The Middle of Nowhere
7. Aledia at Plum Perfect

Thanks again Diane - Judy


Linking to:

Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage 

Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill 

Meet Me Monday at You're Talking Too Much