A FRENCH LACE TABLECLOTH

 Since we changed the room that is

adjacent to the kitchen back into a 

dining area, I have enjoyed setting

 the table with

various dishes.

Sunday after church we took the afternoon

to drive to Kansas City and visit a couple

of antique malls.  It was a gorgeous day.

I found the lovely lace tablecloth at the "Brass Armadillo".  It does have some

holes on one side which I will endeavor

to "fix" by appliqueing some other

 antique lace over the holes .

Late note:  I did fix 4 holes by laying a

small piece of similar antique lace under

each hole and doing a zigzag stitch over

the area with the hole.  

We visited a new antique mall I had

seen advertised lately, called "Market

Square".  Their displays were really 

lovely and well staged.

Everything was open and they 

are in a good location.

The other item I found (at the Brass

Armadillo) was this love cake platter.

I love the swirling shape of it.

For a long time, I collected this

Johnson Brothers Devonshire

Transferware pattern (1940's).

I first found some in Texas,  then

Colorado Springs and lastly

in recent years I found the teapot

on ebay.

It was fun setting it on my lace

tablecloth to see how it would look.

 The iced tea glasses above were given

to me from my Grandmother back in the

1970's.  I think they were from the 1950's.

I have always loved old things.

I am so blessed when I meet a

younger woman now who loves

old things because so few do.

TOO MANY SPARROWS for "Tea In The Garden"

 This is the time of year that I hear 

that sweet little house wren sing.

I love that sound. 

 Alas, a battle for birdhouse

occupancy has been raging at our

 house.  It has been very unpleasant. 

 The sparrow can't even fit inside

 the wren house(just stick his head in)

 and still he runs away the house wren.

So I have done the unthinkable and

moved the sparrow occupied houses

(that have the bigger holes) closer to

the backyard - yes, one even with

 babies in it.

So let's enjoy a cup of tea here in

the garden while I settle down 

after complaining about

my situation.

The daffodils are gone and also

the tulips except for a couple.

We now have the irises blooming,

and the alliums. The lilacs are

close to gone.

It's a lovely day to be outside.

I hope you enjoy the very old

Victoria magazines as much

as I do.

It has been such a 

pleasure to have bluebirds

 coming and going to our

deck and watching them

 go back to the blue

 birdhouse in our backyard.

I hope you are having a wonderful

springtime!

MORE COLLAGES FROM THE GARDEN

I am sharing a few more collages

from the garden today.  It is still

 certainly cool in Missouri,

 but not cold.

We have enjoyed an abundance

of lilacs this year.

It was just weeks ago

that everything that

had been brown

 finally turned green.

I hope your spring has arrived! 

END OF APRIL GARDEN COLLAGES

 Here we are almost done with

April and the garden is still just

developing but here are a few

collages:

It seems almost every birdhouse is

taken over by sparrows.  We have lots

of gold finches coming to and from

the feeders, nasty grackles back in 

the woods behind our home but 

we are delighted to have bluebirds too!

The blue birdhouse does have

bluebirds in it: 

I hope you are enjoying

your springtime! 

FREEZE WARNING - NO TEA IN THE GARDEN TODAY

 Spring seems to delight  in teasing 

us this year.  Just as we thought our

cold weather was history we  realize

it is not because tonight there

could be a possible freeze.

I decided I better pick a bouquet

of lovely white lilacs from the side of

our house.  I am also sharing a mulberry

transferware teapot I found yesterday

in Mexico, Missouri in a darling shop

that sells clocks and antiques.  They

are only open on Saturdays but

happened to be open by chance on

Friday.

The pattern is Masons "Watteau".

It was a fun day and I did really admire

this piece of furniture.  My husband 

can be seen taking this photo of it

with his phone.  It also had a hefty 

price tag so we did not purchase it.

I think this weekend's cold weather

will probably be the last.  The yard

has been displaying many lovely

bulbs.  I couldn't resist embellishing

my white lilacs with more.

This is a perfect time to enjoy some

gardening books and receive some

last minute inspiration for spring.

I am not sure how a freeze would

affect the lilacs.....we shall see.