Lavender Summer Table

Thank you for all of the sweet comments for my family as we mourn the loss of my mother-in-law.  It means so much to me to hear from you, and your expressions of sympathy are much appreciated.  Even Mr. CH who never enters the blogisphere was touched.  (I read your comments to him.  Heaven forbid that he would actually read my blog!  That's okay with me. That means I am completely "unsupervised" here and free to share my secrets with you.) 

Since we had so many bluebells this year, I was looking for ways to make use of them.  While they are gone for the year, I still have a project or two that I haven't shared with you yet.  This is a table I put together with the bluebells.

Although they are called bluebells, they are actually on the purple side.  I thought it would be fun for everyone to have their own bouquet.   I used small mason jars for vases, with a little raffia bow.  I found a few other wildflowers that I added in with the buebells. 

You might recognize these jars filled with bluebells from the post on my breakfast bar, picture shown below.

I used new luncheon-sized linen napkins I found at Round Top for $1 each. 

The Cedar Hill silver is also tied up with raffia. 

I used a vintage tablecloth that my mother-in-law gave me years ago.  It has a soft, subtle lavender pattern. Perhaps it was a bright purple at one time and faded from use, I just don't know. 

I took a hike around the ranch to find some wildflowers to add to the bluebells, and found some bunches of Clasping Venus Looking Glass wildflowers for the Ikea vases.

Here are some more photos of the Clasping Venus Looking Glass flowers before they were cut.

I love this view, down our little hill toward the woods.

The dishes are Nikko Blue Roses, discontinued years ago, and the charger plates are lavender dishes made in Portugal. 

I really missed reading all of my favorite blogs in the last week, and hope to have some breathing room to catch up with everyone soon. 

And as a side note, my MIL (mother-in-law) loved dishes and one of her last wishes was that we keep as much as possible. I really think she wanted us to keep everything of hers.  I already had dishes stuffed into every nook and cranny here but now I am really trying to figure out where to keep hers and mine.  She had some wonderful things and she would be very pleased to see us enjoying them.  So as a tribute to her, I'll be sharing them with you here.  My most amazing find so far? Her ration book from WWII.  I can't wait to share her momentos from living in Switzerland in the 50's, her dishes, crystal, "Jackie O" gloves and scarves, a Better Homes and Gardens magazine from 1958, a family bible from 1897, a painting of the 1800's family homestead, an Ike for President button, and lots more.

Blessings to you.

Down our Country Road

Before I take you down our road, I have something personal to share.  My mother-in-law who was in ICU for 4 weeks, just graduated to heaven.  She was 84, and she would be "blessing me out" if she knew I was sharing that tidbit of information about her.  She was a wonderful mother and grandmother and she will be missed.

We have a lot to do with her estate and so I will be very busy in the next few weeks.  I'll be back soon and I hope you will still be here when I return.  This is a post I prepared a few weeks ago, so I thought I would share it with today, while I am busy with family matters.   

I was thinking of a ride down our country road, so hop in.  Here are some scenes from a recent drive. 

These amazing oak trees, on Leslies' property, are about 400 years old according to Leslie.  You can see her chapel, here, and her house, here.    

This old barn is also on Leslie's ranch.

Here's Leslie's chapel, as seen from the road. 

As we were driving the sun was beginning to set. 

We drove back to Cedar Hill and stopped at our "High Spot."  The neighbor's barn is showing in the distance.  If you look to the right in the photo, you'll see a little bit of a metal roof.  That is the roof of their deck on the pond.  

 

I love it here. 

 

Good night Sweet Friends.

Texas Farm House Chic

Today we are touring Lovely Leslie's Texas farm house. 

Hopefully you already saw the post (click here) on her darling private chapel.  Not only is there a chapel on her farm, but also

a wonderful gazebo,

a barn,

and this fabulous home.   

Leslie has an interesting story about the gazebo.

Dan also built the gazebo...  He built it in his barn. Yes, in his barn.  “How ya’ gonna get this massive thing out into the meadow, honey? It must weigh two tons!” “Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out.” So he builds a metal sleigh, slides it underneath the gazebo and drags the whole dang thing behind his tractor about two hundred yards out into the meadow. No kidding. He’s a genius of a rare sort!

I visited on July 4th, so you can see that she has some wonderful patriotic bunting for her front porch, and on the gazebo.

Leslie collects antiques and original oil paintings from local artists.  What a treat to see all of the wonderful goodies in her home.

This particular painting was my favorite.

As you enter the front door, the study is to the left.  As you enter you will see the wonderful handmade chair.

I assumed it was an antique, but oh no, Leslie's husband made it with no electric tools in a wood-working.  Wow!

The dining area and living room combine for one large room.

This china cabinet is Amish.

I want you to keep in mind that her home looked this fantastic when she didn't even know I was coming.  (There was a mix-up on the date.)  Below is the living area.

Her kitchen was gorgeous, but since she was in the middle of lots of cooking, I promised not to photograph it.  (I'll have to come back so you can see it later.)

She was serving homemade flavored water that I copied in another post (click here). 

She set up a delicious dessert bar in her family room.  I can vouch for the cookies, they were heavenly.

Again, she was sportin her red, white and blue for Independence Day.

Here are some more views of her family room.

The lamp was made from mesquite wood by Leslie's talented hubby.

And finally we ended the tour on her back porch.

Thanks Leslie for a delightful visit.