A Secret Garden Tablescape: Welcome to the 195th Tablescape Thursday!

Wow, what a week!  This is turning out to be one of the busiest and most exciting weeks I've had in a while.  My son and his sweetheart were here last night.  We're all in wedding mode since the big day is just 4 days away.  After dinner out we came back home and stayed up late into the night talking.  I miss them terribly and love it when they are here visiting.

As if preparing for a wedding in four days isn't enough, BNOTP is also moving to WordPress sometime in the next few days.  With all that's been going on, I didn't get a chance to create a new table setting this week but I do have a sweet garden tablescape to share.  It's one I spotted on a spring home and garden tour this year.

This house below wasn't on the tour but I just had to capture a few pics of it while on the tour. Isn't it wonderfully romantic with the ivy growing up the front?

The garden was in bloom and it was stunning!

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Dining on the Daylight Train: Welcome to 194th Tablescape Thursday!

Greetings my tablescape loving friends!  For this week's Tablescape Thursday, I'm sharing some of the wonderful settings linked for last's weeks party.  Each time I do this, it is always so hard choosing which ones to feature because they are all so wonderful!  This week was no different.   Here's a small sampling of just some of the beautiful tablescapes I enjoyed viewing last week.

I love trains!  When I'm stuck waiting at a railroad crossing, I always roll down the window to hear the sounds and the power of the train as it passes by...such a thrill!  Have you ever wondered what dining on a train would be like?  In honor of National Train Day, So Many Tables shares some wonderful memories of dining while traveling on a train .

A table in honor of Mother's Day...Home is Where the Boat Is
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A Mother's Day Celebration: Welcome to the 193rd Tablescape Thursday!

This Sunday is Mother's Day.  In honor of this special occasion, I've put together a table setting using  very special table "linens."  My Mom crocheted this luncheon set back in 1956 while she awaited my arrival.

Here's a photo of my Mom (and me) around the time she would have completed this set. Unfortunately, I never really got to know my Mom very well since she became ill when I was still small.  She never really recovered and passed away when I was a senior in college.
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Dining on the Balcony, Table Setting with Lomonosov Porcelain: Welcome to the 192nd Tablescape Thursday!

For this Tablescape Thursday, we'll be dining on my friend, Cornelia's beautiful balcony in Switzerland.

The view is wonderful from here!

Cornelia, please tell us all about the china you've chosen for this beautiful table setting here on the balcony.  Cornelia shared, "The theme is mainly based on the predominating porcelain, the Russian Lomonosov Porcelain.  Lomonosov Porcelain Factory was founded in 1744 and changed its name to Imperial Porcelain Factory after the Cold War."
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The Lure of Honeysuckle: Welcome to the 191st Tablescape Thursday!

Thanks so  much for all the wonderful comments left on yesterday's post.   I so appreciate each and every one.  Your encouragement is giving me the perseverance I need to finish the project.

I know Easter has long since past but I'm still not quite done with bunnies.

This time the bunnies are in a springtime breakfast table setting.
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A Teeny Bit of Trouble & A Big Giveaway! Welcome to the 189th Tablescape Thursday!

Winners of A Teeny Bit of Trouble Giveaway:

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway!  I first ran the InLinkz Random Number Generator, to choose one winner for the $100 Amazon Gift Card.  The generator chose #226, Sally.  Congrats, Sally!  Please e-mail me at betweennapsontheporchatgmaildotcom.

I ran the Generator once again asking that it select 6 winners, the winners who would be receiving of a copy of Michael's latest book, A Teeny Bit of Trouble.  The Generator selected the following winners below.  Please email me at at betweennapsontheporchatgmaildotcom with the address where your book should be mailed.

Congrats to all the winners and a huge Thank-You to Michael Lee West for sponsoring this wonderful giveaway!

A Teeny Bit of Trouble & A Big Giveaway!

Time to celebrate!   A Teeny Bit of Trouble, the long awaited sequel to Gone With a Handsomer Man, was just released, Tuesday!

To celebrate, author Michael Lee West is giving away 6 copies of her new novel that hilariously chronicles the latest escapades of our heroine, Teeny Templeton.  But wait...it gets even better!  One winner will receive a $100 Amazon Gift Card!  Whoo, hoo!  That's $100 to spend on anything that strikes your fancy at Amazon!  (As always, you do not have to be a blogger or have a blog to enter.)

Teeny loves to bake so I couldn't resist whipping up some Red Velvet cupcakes to celebrate the release of A Teeny Bit of Trouble.   The table I put together for this week's Tablescape Thursday takes the cover of the book one step further.  I decided it was time Teeny caught her man, at least for today!

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Easter Spring Table Setting with Tulip Centerpiece: Welcome to the 188th Tablescape Thursday!

Easter Spring Table Setting with Tulip Centerpiece

Happy Spring and welcome to Tablescape Thursday, a party where we celebrate our love for entertaining and creating pretty table settings for our friends and loved ones.  A beautiful table setting is really just an expression of caring and love for those who'll gather there.  It not only offers substance for the tummy, but for the soul, as well.

And, did I mention that it's just plain fun?

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Spring Easter Table Setting with Daffodil and Moss Centerpiece: Welcome to the 187th Tablescape Thursday!

Greetings!  Hope it's as beautiful where you are as it is here in Georgia.  This has been such a wonderful spring!

As I looked through the photos for this post, I noticed the background is changing with each week's table setting here on the porch.  It's getting green and wooly out there...love this time of year!
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Spring Easter Table Setting: Welcome to the 186th Tablescape Thursday!

Greetings!  Hope your week is going great.  Spring is in full swing here; everything is blooming up a storm!

For this week's Tablescape Thursday, I did something I've always wanted to do in a table setting.
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A St. Patrick's Day Table Setting: Welcome to the 185th Tablescape Thursday!

Spring officially arrives on March 20th, but it's already here in Georgia.  The temps have been in the upper 70's; they even went above 80° today.

It was so beautiful out the day I captured these pics.  I'm looking forward to seeing green leaves filling out the trees real soon.  I don't think it will be long now.

The sheers were dancing in the spring breezes.

Since St. Patrick's Day is this Saturday, it's time to celebrate with a St. Patrick's Day themed tablescape.
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A St. Patrick's Day Tablescape: Welcome to the 184th Tablescape Thursday!

Happy Tablescape Thursday!  Well, things don't always go according to plans.  I had a tablescape all ready for this week.  When I went to bed on Tuesday night, the table on the porch was set and ready to be photographed.  Unfortunately, I awoke really sick Wednesday morning and as the day progressed, it got much worse.  Have you ever had a kidney stone?  I think that's what it was because around 6:30 PM, the horrible pain ended suddenly, like someone flipped a switch.

Your comments on yesterday's post were so much fun to read when I wasn't in bed.  Don't worry, I'm totally back to my old feisty self today.  Tired but much, much better!

Since I wasn't able to take pics of the tablescape I had set for this week, I'm sharing an "oldie but goody."  This St. Patrick's Day tea was first posted on March 12, 2009.  Hope you enjoy this tea 'scape!


St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner...let's celebrate with some tea out on the porch!

And of course, we must have green tea, since we are celebrating St. Paddy's Day.

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Springtime Table With a Daffodil Centerpiece: Welcome to the 182nd Tablescape Thursday!

It was another warm day today so the pull of the porch won out again.

All this warm weather we're having has me thinking spring.  This table setting would work well as an Easter tablescape with its springtime colors.

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Valentine's Day Table Setting: Welcome to the 181st Tablescape Thursday!

It was another gorgeous day here...is this really February?  Since the temps reached 67 degrees today, I headed for the porch for this Tablescape Thursday.

Before we get started, the winner of the shopping spree at French Bleu Vintage has been announced on the Giveaway post, HERE.  Thanks so much to everyone who entered the giveaway.

I know Valentine's Day is behind us now, but I had to squeeze in one more Valentine's Day table setting before we say good-bye to that holiday for another year.  I had envisioned this tablescape with red roses in the centerpiece, but unfortunately all the ones I found today were still closed up tight...not quite what I had in mind.
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Valentine's Day Table Setting: Welcome to the 180th Tablescape Thursday!

Valentine's Day is just a few days away.   Did you forward your Valentine's Day cards to the Valentine, Texas Post Master to have them postmarked with their famous stamp?  Such a cute idea!

We've been having spring-like weather for weeks here in Georgia.  Even the daffodils are in full bloom.  The porch was calling, begging me to come out and play.   Just look at all that glorious sunshine!
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Dining in the Conservatory: Welcome to the 179th Tablescape Thursday!

Greetings!  Hope your morning is off to an awesome start.  Last night I took advantage of having Wednesday evening free (now that our tablescape party starts on Thursday morning) and I attended a large Atlanta Blogger Meetup.  This group has been meeting for several years now and I just found out about it.

There were around 70 bloggers in attendance and it was so much fun getting to meet other bloggers in the Atlanta area.  Our speaker was John Saddington with Tentblogger.  John's enthusiasm for blogging is completely infectious and he's an entertaining and knowledgeable speaker.   Most of us had driven through intense traffic and some nasty rain to get to the meetup...totally worth it, though.  I'm looking forward to next month's meeting.  If you live in the Atlanta area and are interested in meeting other bloggers, you'll find more information about the meetups at Atlanta Bloggers.

Tablescape Thursday:
For this Tablescape Thursday, we've been invited to dine in the Conservatory.   Doesn't that sound wonderful?   Hope you have your passport handy because we'll be traveling to Switzerland this evening for dinner in Cornelia's beautiful home.

 


Come on in...Cornelia has everything ready.
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Children's Party Table for Movie Night, Welcome to the 178th Tablescape Thursday!

I'm not exactly sure where this tablescape came from.  One minute I was using a gift certificate to purchase napkins for a Valentine's Day table setting, and the next thing I knew, I was off to the movies.  I think the shift may have had something to do with stumbling across these cute popcorn containers for $1 each at Dollar Tree.

For the centerpiece I used a red and white bowl purchased from Williams-Sonoma years ago.  Filled with candy, it made a fun centerpiece.  Ya gotta have candy when you're at the movies.  Popcorn doesn't hurt either.
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Inspiration for Your Valentine's Day Table: Welcome to the 177th Tablescape Thursday!

Hi Friends!  How was your day?  I spent the first half of mine in a contacts exam.  Finding contacts that work as they should when you're...Ahem...my age, isn't much fun.  Monovision doesn't work anymore (been there, done that) and astigmatism makes all lens choices a challenge, even the ones that are designed especially for astigmatism.  We're going to try a new multi-focal.

Have you heard of Duette contacts?  They are a hybrid lens, rigid gas permeable in the center of the lens and a soft lens everywhere else.  They won't work for my eyes but it's an interesting concept for sure.  Google it and you can read about them.  I love that they keep trying to come up with new ideas for contacts, "poking the box" as Seth Godin would say.
 
After a morning at the eye doctors, the afternoon was spent at my credit union having a safety deposit box drilled out.  The key was lost long ago and I claim zero responsibility for that.  I'm not naming names, but... ;)  Did you know when you lose your safety deposit box key, they charge you $175 to drill out the lock?  Writing that check was painful.

The box hadn't been opened since 1991 and opening it today caught me completely off guard.  It was like opening a little time capsule.  Tears were shed as I went through the contents.
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A Wedding Reception, A Magical Evening: Welcome to the 176th Tablescape Thursday!

Recently, my friend Maree, who blogs at  Tales from an OC Cottage, shared some wonderful photographs taken when her nephew, Joe (son of her sister, Bee) and his sweetie, Katie, were married back in November.  The wedding reception was held in the backyard of Maree's sister (Kae's) home.  Maree has posted pictures on her blog in past showing Kae's gorgeous gardens and landscaping, but I had no idea her back yard was so beautiful!  Add to that a stunningly beautiful wedding, and it must have been an evening not soon forgotten.

Maree said, "The bride (Katie) knew she wanted the cake in the gazebo...the basket ball court would be the dance floor and little white lights every where like in Stars Hallow {the little town where the Gilmore Girls lived.  We know it's not real, but we still want to live there one day!"

Maree said, "The grooms only request was the hanging paper lanterns.  He still has NO idea how we had to "MacGyver" them that morning.  The proper instructions were just TOO MUCH...we were already up to our eyes in glasses, napkins and tree branches! So I said we can just bend this to secure it...bend that to hang it...no lights had to be restrung, none fell, and they looked very cool."
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Elegant New Year's Eve Table Setting: Welcome to the 175th Tablescape Thursday!

Can you believe this is our 175th Tablescape Thursday?  Wow!  That's a lot of fabulous tablescapes when you consider how many are linked here each week.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to all you talented ladies and gents who share your amazing eye for detail and beauty.  It's so wonderful to visit your blogs.  The world just melts away for a while as I lose myself in the wonderful table settings you create.

My friend, Bonnie, graciously shared the table she created for her New Year's Eve celebration with friends.  I fell in love with it the minute I saw it.   I have this thing for clocks so this table setting is one of my faves.  The chandelier got a touch of whimsy or should I say, it's "chimerical."   (See the earlier post today.)  Do you see the pocket watch draped above?

What a festive way to welcome in 2012!  Love the black, gold and cream color scheme.

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Elegant Dining in Brumby Hall: Welcome to the 175th Tablescape Thursday!

Early this morning I posted a tour of the downstairs of beautiful Brumby Hall.  If you missed that tour, you'll find it here: Brumby Hall.  For Tablescape Thursday, I'm taking you into the dining rooms.  Yep, Brumby Hall has two dining rooms, probably due to its function as a special events facility now.

This dining area was at the very back of the home.  Isn't the chandelier gorgeous?  I loved the simplicity of the three hurricanes down the center of the table.

The salad plates depict the Twelve Days of Christmas.  This one is "nine ladies dancing."  Does anyone recognize the pattern?

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