Mosaic Madness

Yes, I've been going a little nuts over mosaics lately.  :)  But many of you have been nice enough to tell me that you enjoy them.  Thank you so much!

I've been wondering if you might like to join me for Mosaic Monday.  Maybe I could post on Sunday night with a Mr. Linky, and you could add your own mosaics, and we could all have lots of mosaic fun...

What do you think?  Let me know.  If enough of  you would like to try it, I'll go ahead and put up Mr. Linky on Sunday night.  You can make mosaics at Big Huge Labs.  It helps if you upload your photos to flickr first, but that is not mandatory.  If anyone has questions, feel free to email me at mrcarroll(at)optonline.net.

Edited to add:  I'll leave it up to you to decide whether you want to make the mosaic from your own photos or from your favorites on flickr.  But if you decide to do your favorites on flickr, please include the attribution links in your post.  Big Huge Labs will provide you with the html code for these.  All you have to do is cut and paste them into your post.

Tablescape Thursday: Dinner for One

When it's only you for dinner, do you eat off a paper plate, or from plastic containers?  Why not pamper yourself a little, and set a pretty tray?

What could be more luxurious than a little bowl of roses?

How about a cranberry glass goblet?  I found this one in a thrift store.  Now I just have to keep looking for seven more!  :)

I lined the tray with a sumptuous piece of embroidered damask that my mother had put away in her linen closet.  The damask napkin is held by a mother-of-pearl napkin ring from Target, of all places.

I found three of these lovely plates in the thrift store for $5. each.  The mark on the back says:  "Taylor Smith Taylor, USA 4372."  Also, "Guaranteed 22K Gold, E.C. Co."

Bone-handled knife, monogrammed fork and coin silver spoon are from my rag-tag collection of flatware.

The rose bowl is also a thrift store find, $3.  Believe it or not, when I first saw this, I immediately thought of filling it with roses.

As you can see, there are a few carnations in among the roses.  I really love these soft colors so much more than the blood red roses you so often see in florist's shops.

Well, that's it -- all set for that microwave Lean Cuisine dinner.  ;)

As always, many thanks to our lovely Tablescape Thursday hostess, Susan.  To see lots of wonderful tablescapes, visit Susan's blog, Between Naps on the Porch.

All Flowers, All the Time

Round about this time every year, my blog tends to become all flowers, all the time.  I can't seem to help myself; after the famine of winter, I just have to give in to the feast of spring.

This year, my family has helped me along, with armloads of flowers for Mother's Day.  I've filled the little silverplated thrifted bowl, above, with roses and a few carnations.  Generally, I'm not overly fond of florist's carnations, but these opened up to blowsy beauty.  And the roses smell divine.

They also gave me peonies and chrysanthemums.  It's funny, but I think that for a long time my husband was afraid to get me flowers because I may have mentioned that I didn't like certain florist's flowers.  The ubiquitous long-stemmed red roses always leave me cold.  And I'm not really fond of carnations that have been dyed colors that don't appear in nature.

But now he knows that I love tulips and peonies and daisies.  And he got me some lovely pink peonies and "daisy" mums.  Beautiful!

My daughter thought I needed something I could plant outside, and so bought me this beautiful hydrangea, below.  It has such gorgeous shades of blue and purple.  I think it will look fabulous on our deck this summer.

They also gave me a bunch of these cute little button mums, below, white touched with yellow.  They are perfect in my kitchen, where I can appreciate them as I work.  :)

So I am smiling 24/7 this week, surrounded by flowers.  Spring is my favorite time of year.  :)

What I Did (Or Did Not Do) on Monday

Warning:  I'm watching 24 as I write this, so it may not make much sense.

  I know I said that I was going to do some gardening yesterday, but ...  well... life happens.  So I am left with a bench full of plants and a garden full of weeds, still.

I know I also promised to show you the rest of the pieces I got at the rummage sale a week ago Friday.  Well, here's one of them.  A little bronze watering can, for $3.  Cute, no?  But when I filled it to water my potted plants, I discovered that it leaks in three places.  

So not such a terrific bargain after all.  lol

I'll be planting some basil in pots on the deck.  There's nothing like fresh basil for Caprese salad.

I love scented plants.  The spicy, clove scent of dianthus always draws me in.  And the color is so pretty, too.

Some purple spiky salvia will grace my pots, also.

Hopefully, life will conspire to allow me to get my pots filled today.  In the meantime, Jack Bauer has less than 30 minutes to save the world.  And I've got to watch him do it.  :)

*****

Several people asked me yesterday how to make mosaics.  Here is a link to Big Huge Labs, where you can use their Mosaic Maker.  It's easier if you have a flickr account, as you can transfer photos faster that way.  But you are also able to upload photos directly from your computer.  It just takes a little longer.

Mosaic Monday: Green and White

Yes, Mosaic Monday is getting to be a pretty steady routine around here. :)

 I hope everyone had a nice weekend.  We went for a walk yesterday, in our favorite park.  The weather was beautiful, and the scent of wild honeysuckle was in the air.  Heavenly!

We're looking forward to more beautiful spring weather this week.  I'm planning to do a little weeding in the garden, and fill my pots and planters on the deck.  

What have you got planned for the week?

Tablescape Thursday: Mother's Day Tray

Some of you who are new to my blog may not realize that Little Red House is my childhood home.  I come by my love of dishes from my mother, who collected stray dishes like some people collect stray dogs.

So, with my mother in mind, I've set a Mother's Day tray using some of her treasured pieces.

This antique cup, made in Germany,  is part of a set that includes the other members of the family as well. 

I used a beautiful lace-edged pillow case from the thrift store, ($1.50) to line the tray.  The linen napkin is part of a set of six that I found in an antique shop last year.  Don't you love a crisply ironed napkin?

I layered dishes for a rich effect.  The "charger" is from my mother's Noritake dinner set.  The beautiful hand-painted dish on top is Limoges.  It is one of a pair that we found in a trunk in the attic when we cleaned it out many years ago.

Here is a close-up of the beautiful painted flowers.

The real flowers on the tray are peonies and star of Bethlehem.  Shop-Rite has this great deal -- three bunches for $10.  So I treated myself.  :)

I wanted to show you a close-up of the small creamer I used as a vase.  It has such lovely pink flowers on it.

The napkin ring is really a candle ring, from Michael's, I think.

Happy Mother's Day, dear bloggers!

Many thanks to Susan, who is our sweet hostess for Tablescape Thursday.  Please take a few moments to visit her blog, Between Naps on the Porch, to see lots of beautiful tablescapes.

Yummy

Yes, I know I promised to show you the rest of my rummage sale finds, but I wasn't able to get photos of them because my camera battery had to be recharged.  :(  So here is a photo from my files -- some yummy strawberries in a Bordallo Pinheiro footed bowl that I got at HomeGoods for $3. because it had a tiny chip in the base.  

Yes, I know.  I'm really cheap.

Rummage sale pics to come on Friday.  Happy Wednesday, dear bloggers.  :)