Independence Day

As I began to create my tablescape for the Fourth of July, I really wanted to pay tribute to our Independence Day. On this federal holiday, we love fireworks, parades, barbecues, picnics and family get-togethers.

Now take a look at my whole table.

My centerpiece is vintage inspired with an old wooden box that my husband bought several years ago. I added three potted geraniums, my Peggy Karr flag bowl, and sitting in front of the box is a wooden star a friend made for us several years ago. I thought the red candles really topped it off. My original plans for my centerpiece ended up way too big for the table and now has a prominent place on my server.

I was so happy to find patriotic napkin rings at Kohl's this week and got them at 50% off. Can you see the silver star on the ring?

Each of the cute bowls has a single star in the center. You can see that I have a mix of red and blue ones. I bought them a few years back from a friend's shop. I bought all she had but sure wish I had a few more. I've looked online but no luck either.

The geraniums are faux vining or cascading geraniums purchased a few years ago and I have not been able to find these again. Glad I bought two bunches of them!

July 4^th Dinner Menu

Grilled Hotdogs - for my grandsons

Cheese Stuffed Hamburgers 
Grilled Brats
Bowtie & Shell Pasta with Chicken, Italian Sausage and Broccoli
Baked Beans
Slaw

Melon Salad 

I also found a fun easy dessert my grandsons should just love, Spangled Sandwich Pops.  The picture came from the site.


                                        

Thanks for stopping by to see my Independence Day tablescape.

I hope you enjoy Independence Day with your family and friends - Judy.

Tablecloth is by Pampered Chefs a few years ago.

Red placemats by Tag

White dinner plates are Dollar Store

Red dinner plates are Today's Home from Big Lots

White salad plates are Pfaltzgraff 

Dessert bowls are by Tag

Blue Flatware is from Walmart

Blue Stemware is Dollar Store

White hobnail glasses, bought at a kitchen shop in Branson

Napkins are from Tuesday Morning

Linking to:

On The Menu Monday at StoneGable

Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage 

Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill 

Meet Me Monday at You're Talking Too Much 

Table Top Tuesday  at A Stroll Thru Life on Tuesday
The Bunny Hop Party at Bunny Jeans on Tuesday 

Let's Dish  at Cuisine Kathleen on Wednesday

Centerpiece Wednesday at the Style Sisters
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style 

DIY by Design for Sizzle Into Summer

Ivy and Elephants for What’s It Wednesday

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

TablescapeThursday  at Between Naps on the Porch

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here on Thursday

Favorite Things Thursday at Katherine’s Corner

Kristen’s Creations for Share Your Creations on Thursday

Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life

Feathered Nest Friday at the French Country Cottage

Foody Friday at Designs by Gollum

Inspiration Friday At The Picket Fence

Common Ground for Vintage Patriotic Party

Stuff and Nonsense for Friday's Unfolded

Potpourri Friday at 2805

Seasonal Sunday at The Tablescaper

Miss Robin

We were getting ready to go to the hardware store and my husband said, "Do you want to see a robin sitting on a nest?" Of course, and I picked up my camera and headed out the door.

There she was sitting on her nest in my River Birch Tree. I didn't want to scare her off her nest so I just zoomed in and grabbed a quick shot.Doesn't she look motherly sitting there on her nest.

After we returned from the hardware store (we are cleaning and staining our deck this weekend), I became curious and wondered how long it takes the robin eggs to hatch. So I googled it and found out it takes two weeks.

Here's what else I found:
The female robin lays one small blue egg each day to a total of three to five eggs. She feeds on earthworms in the morning in order to ensure that her body has the energy to handle the physical demands of laying an egg. Until all eggs are laid, she may limit the time she spends sitting on the nest. This is to keep the older eggs cool so that the entire clutch develops at roughly the same time. Until the eggs start to hatch in approximately two weeks, the mother rarely leaves the nest for more than five or 10 minutes at a time.

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5419182_long-robin-eggs-hatch.html 




Sorry, this is not my image but it shows a single robin egg.
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/images/graphics/n-r/robin_Brophy019.jpg



Interesting facts, I'll try to get pictures of the babies after they hatch but it may be tricky.

Linking to:

Smiling Sally for Blue Monday

Mary at Boogieboard Cottage for Masterpiece Monday

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Favorite Photo Monday 
Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays

Outdoor Wednesday
Gina at The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursday
Nik at Floral Friday Fotos

Rollin' On the River

We were recently in Southern Illinois visiting my Dad. We had our daughter and grandsons with us and took them to Cairo, Illinois, to see the Ohio River and the barges.

You can also see the bridge that connects Illinois and Kentucky. Illinois is on the right side of the river and Kentucky is on the left.

My husband and I grew up about 10 miles from here so we kind of take it for granite but out grandsons thought seeing the water and the barges was a thrill. My oldest grandson is just about 5 and asked so many questions about the barges. Where are they going? What is on the barges? What is they come apart? Oh the imagination of a young mind, you have to love their inquisitiveness.

Just a little further south, maybe a quarter of a mile, is where is Ohio River meets the Mississippi River.

We were on our way over to a friend's historic mansion in Cairo. I took picture of his garden to share with you in another post. I'll give you one quick picture so maybe you will come back to see the rest of the garden.

Linking to:

Scenic Sunday 

Favorite Photo Monday

Smiling Sally for Blue Monday

Mary at Boogieboard Cottage for Masterpiece Monday

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday

Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays
Outdoor Wednesday

Judy at DIY by Design 

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

Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday

Miss Robin

We were getting ready to make a trip to the hardware store and my husband said "do you want to see a robin sitting on her nest?" Of course, and I picked up my camera and headed out the door.

There she was, sitting on her nest in my River Birch Tree. I didn't want to scare her off her rest so I just zoomed in and grabbed a quick shot. Doesn't she look motherly sitting there.

After we returned from the hardware store (we are cleaning our deck and staining it), I became curious and wanted to know how long it takes the robin eggs to hatch. So I googled it and found out it takes two weeks.

Here's what else I found out:

The female robin lays one small blue egg each day to a total of three to five eggs. She feeds on earthworms in the morning in order to ensure that her body has the energy to handle the physical demands of laying an egg. Until all eggs are laid, she may limit the time she spends sitting on the nest. This is to keep the older eggs cool so that the entire clutch develops at roughly the same time. Until the eggs start to hatch in approximately two weeks, the mother rarely leaves the nest for more than five or 10 minutes at a time.
http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5419182_long-robin-eggs-hatch.html 



Sorry, this is not my image but it shows a single robin egg.
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/images/graphics/n-r/robin_Brophy019.jpg

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/images/graphics/n-r/robin_Brophy026.jpg


Interesting facts, I'll try to get a picture of the babies in a couple of weeks - Judy.

Linking to:
Smiling Sally for Blue Monday

Mary at Boogieboard Cottage for Masterpiece Monday

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Favorite Photo Monday 
Outdoor Wednesday
Gina at The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursday 
Nik at Floral Friday Fotos

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