CELEBRATING LILACS for "Tea In The Garden"

My lilacs aren't very pretty this year (the lighter ones in the bouquet) but I did find some that were dark, rich and thick.  The scent is heavenly!  Time to CELEBRATE LILACS because they are gone all to quickly!  My Flower Fairy will guard these for me.

It's a very sunny day as the sun rises on the east side which is our backyard.

I have an old embroidered topper with lilacs but I am using a Violet English Teapot and 2 Bavarian Violet Cups and Saucers - please forgive!

My vase is one of those old milk glass Anchor Hocking Planters - a recent $5.00 thrifting find!

I hope your week is lovely!

SWEET FINDS

Like many of you I love to hunt for vintage finds and charming bargains.  After Territory Days last weekend we closed our shop on Tuesday and headed out for the day.  We needed a break!

On my journey,  found this chocolate pot with a missing lid.  I have ordered a lid that I am pretty sure will work, but until then, some lilacs worked fine to use it as a vase.  It is hand painted with roses and violets and is from Germany and was just $6.00.

This sweet basket is one you see often in antique malls, etc.  I gave it a new coat of spray paint.  The runner fits perfect on my pink buffet with a soft pink rose on each end.   Another "smaller" sized  cake platter is perfect for displaying a teapot or cream and sugar.

The English Royal Stafford Cup and Saucer is the pattern Lyringa and I also found a darling 36" square topper of linen with roses printed on it.  All were very good prices.  This is my idea of a fun day!  Hope you have a great weekend.

MAKING CHAIR CUSHIONS FROM PLACEMATS

Now here's an easy project for you.  You will need to buy a placemat for each kitchen chair to make a chair pad. I used square placemats - not rectangles.  These are the same ones I am using for placemats on the table.

I have 4 vintage white kitchen chairs so I got four 15" square placemats and cut out 4  15" square pieces of fabric for the backings and a little more to make four tying strips for each to hold the finished cushion to the chair. I recommend a bodkin for turning the fabric strips - if you don't have one a large safety pin will work.   I had a roll of batting already on hand so I cut from a  four layer thickness four 12" square pieces.

LET'S SLOW DOWN FOR "Tea In The Garden"

Welcome to "Tea In The Garden" and what  a lovely morning for a cup of tea.  

Things in the garden are slow going 

since we just had snow days ago so

this bouquet should brighten up

the table.

My husband and I plan to take the day off today after surviving Territory Days all weekend in Old Colorado City.  I am so glad the event is over - masses of humanity packing the streets.  Time to relax today!

I hope our weather is finally going to stay warm as we had cold weather last week and we are tired of it.  You know what I mean.  This weekend was beautiful so hopefully that is the new trend.

My poor tulips don't exist this year as they came up 6 weeks ago and then froze and the leaves turned brown. They never bloomed and a lady told me they get the strength to bloom from the leaves. It is safe to say that we

have no real spring in Colorado, we

have snow in spring.

I'm not trying to fool you as I wouldn't have too much in the garden yet accept for sticking new plants in here and there.  My lilac bushes are also short on blooms this year.   

FINDING COMFORT IN GOULASH

Last night I was driving home from work - hungry.  The traffic was crazy and I began to crave GOULASH.  Yes, goulash is a good thing and it is an American institution.  So, a quick stop at the market for ground beef and I was home in the kitchen in no time.

  But the goulash is basically: 8 oz of prepared boiled macaroni, 1 1/4 lbs  ground beef which is fried with 1 chopped onion and 1/2 chopped large green pepper and 1 Tb butter, salt and pepper to taste, 1 can chopped tomatoes and 1 can condensed tomato soup and shredded cheese for the top.  Bake at 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

We love a healthy salad too.

See my pretty pink plates:  I recently found 6 of these for $3.00 each.  They may not really be old as there is a lot of reproduction

depression glass out there and frankly I can't tell the difference.