Hi Everyone and welcome to the blog today. Memorial Day will soon be here with family gatherings and all the energy and fun they bring with them. This breakfast table is a little “calm before the storm” for my hubby and me. We wanted a peaceful moment to remember those who have served out country and kept it free for all of us. Thank you!
I set this outside in the garden as it is a beautiful day. I’m using very simple elements with a Memorial Day theme of red, white and blue. There’s a little pink in their for good measure but the Peonies are so beautiful I couldn’t resist including them in the table setting.
I’m going to give you a close up of the dishes as some of them are a little bit different. We’ll start with those in the top left row. Found these several years ago in an animal shelter thrift store. They had just been donated and the lady at the counter didn’t know a lot about them. We were both admiring them because of the motif of stars around the rim and the blue glaze roughly applied giving them a rustic but very American country look. I was so happy to have been there to give them a good home.
The red dessert/salad plates are from Portugal and have a gently scalloped edge. They are a bit deeper than your usual salad plate but not nearly deep enough to be called a bowl.
The small berry bowl is Mikasa’s English Countryside and has fruits and flowers around the rim. Finally, the bowl filled with strawberries….they look so luscious and are locally grown…..is a dish by Johnson Bros. from England. The fluting on the sides is simple but gives the bowl some interest.
The plate stack rests in a rattan charger and sits on a white tablecloth. I used one of the blue check napkins to anchor the center of the table. Red hand blown goblets add to the patriotic feel of the table. They are really quite substantial…a find from a few years ago.
In the center of the table, anchored by the checked napkin, are a red, white and blue birdhouse with some patriotic stars, a red star rattan basket holding extra blue-checked napkins, a white bowl filled with red strawberries and a beautiful crystal vase holding some fabulous peonies from the garden. The crystal vase is a Thrift Store find and has beautiful scalloped edges with deep crystal cuts. Although the peonies are not red or white they are really beautiful so had to include them on the table.
The flatware is wrapped in a napkin and set beside the plate stack. Much easier to carry it outside this way. I do like neatly wrapped bundles.
This table setting fits right into the garden.
There’s always something interesting to view….birds, flowers, plants, chipmunks and even the occasional rabbit. It’s a pleasure to create a habitat where they all feel welcome. Remember with me those who gave their lives to keep us free.