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Archive for the ‘Home and Garden’ Category

Lilacs

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Flowers, tagged , , on May 13, 2013 | 2 Comments »

I love lilacs.

Their delicate blossoms. Their fragrant scent. The beautiful shades of lavender.

I had a lilac bush up until the desolate septic project destroyed our back yard last year. It came from a start I got from my mom who got it from my grandpa. He enjoyed lilacs, too.

Spring without a lilac has not exactly seemed like spring.

So I’m making do today with some glorious substitutes for the real thing.

lilacs 1Light and lovely from Such Pretty Things

 

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Lilac and a book from A Good Thing Happened

 

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From Creative Country Mom Photography – can’t you almost smell the fragrance?

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And this beauty from A Little Junk in My Trunk

Happy Monday from She Who Loves Lilacs

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Johnny Jump Ups

Posted in Family, Flowers, Home and Garden, tagged , , on May 2, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

johnny jump ups

The other day I noticed a random pot bursting with colorful blooms in the wasteland of our backyard. I didn’t plant these sweet little violas here, they somehow, magically, grew without my help (which is probably why they look so good!).

These little flowers are pretty special to me. They remind me of my Grandpa, my dad’s father, who always had them growing in his flowerbeds. He called them Johnny Jump Ups, so that is what I’ve always referred to them by.

Apparently, viola tricolor is a European wildflower and also known as  heartsease, heart’s ease, heart’s delight, tickle-my-fancy, Jack-jump-up-and-kiss-me, come-and-cuddle-me, three faces in a hood, or love-in-idleness. Americans bestowed the Johnny Jump Up title and refer to it as a wild pansy.

Whatever you want to call it, I know that the sight of one of these darling little blooms always makes me smile. Not only because of the bold, bright colors, but because it reminds me so of my Grandpa.

She Who is Feeling Nostalgic Today

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The Tulips

Posted in Captain Cavedweller, Entertaining Ideas, Flowers, Home and Garden, tagged , , on April 30, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

 

 

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I’ve blogged about these beauties before, but I love these tulips.

The deep magenta and the soft pink tones speak to my heart and make me smile.

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The original bulbs came from Captain Cavedwellers great-grandmother. We got our starts from CC’s grandma. Where we have them planted they are always the last tulips to bloom, usually after the threat of frost has gone and spring has truly arrived.

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I can see them from my kitchen window and all it takes is a glance at their vibrant blooms to make me smile.

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The other day the sun was shining just right to take a few fun shots of the tulips (and the bugs hiding on the petals).

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The blooms were absolutely gorgeous.

tulips 4Rich and colorful.

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And the sky was a fantastic shade of blue.

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That made me really glad I took a few minutes to stop and enjoy my tulips.

She Who Loves Spring Flowers

 

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Morning Glory Tea Set

Posted in Dishes and Serving Pieces, Entertaining Ideas, tagged , , , on April 24, 2013 | 2 Comments »

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Uncle John, my dad’s only (and younger) brother,  was in the service stationed in Japan in the early 1950s.

When he came home, he brought all his sisters (including his lone sister-in-law) a lovely tea set.

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The pattern is Noritake Morning Glory and from what little information I’ve been able to find, it was only manufactured from 1950-1953.

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I can remember my mom using her tea set for  extra special occasions.

snake plate

She would carefully take the cups and the little snack plates down from the high shelf of a cupboard and serve special little sweets to the ladies gathered in our home.

Long admiring the set, I was thrilled beyond words when my Dad gave it to me the last time we were at their house. Trying to downsize since their move from the farm into town, I was more than happy to give the tea set a new home.

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And I need to plan a little party so I can use these beautiful china pieces.

Thanks, Uncle John, for being so sweet and bringing them back to your sisters in the first place!

If any of you know more history about the dishes, I’d love to hear it. Please leave a comment or send me a message at shanna@shannahatfield.com

She Who Loves Old Dishes

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