Miss Molly was all worn out from her "big day". What a sweet little yawn!
Here she is with her pretty blue eyes opened.
Big sister Stella Grace loves to hold her new sister.
Daddy and daughter.
Papa Daddy with his newest grandgirl.
I had made a little card that I had thought I would be sending long before we got there to see her -- now, I'll be hand delivering this little momento for her keepsake box.
Sorry these are sideways - but hopefully you can still get the idea of the card - "Welcome to the world sweet pea!)
I'm sure she'll be catching up on her sleep after a long active night.
Nana's always have to take a few goodies for the grandbabies. Here are a couple of onsies - pink with butterflies - and a cute pink bib. We'll be stocking her up with some diapers when we get there.
And, of course a card for big sister Princess Stella Grace too!
She'll be a big sister soon!
And I know she'll love her sister Molly!
Here's what's in Nana's bag for Stella -- some outfits and a book "Martha Moth Makes Socks" - cute.
A pink sundress to match Molly's pink onsies.
A red, white and blue dress for the 4th of July with a little red straw bag (and tissues).
We received the cutest wedding invitation this week I wanted to share with you -- this was all in this cute bottle with sand, an umbrella, shells and a scroll.
The scroll pulls out.
unrolled, is the invitation, reply card and directions -- just so clever for a casual wedding (or Summer party).
This is what I call "A Cup of Sea"
I just love Tablescape Thursdays and playing with my dishes - thanks so much Susan (Between Naps On The Porch) - for inviting us to the dish party every week! Even more fun than just playing, is the opportunity to visit the tablescapes of all the other dish players too! I always learn so much from each of you.
Here we are approaching our Father's Day table. All the men in my life love the water (ocean, river, lake, probably even mud puddles. Me too - well everything except the mud puddles!) So I decided the sailboat/beach theme would be perfect to honor their special day.
Here's another look from a different angle -- I think you can see more of the full table this way. None of the dishes, glasses or flatwear I've used here are anything I haven't posted in other tablescapes. But hopefully they look "fresh" within a new themed tablescape. I know that it's unusual for me to tablescape without a tablecloth - but for the men, I thought the grain of the wood in this old oak table looks more masculine.
Here's a closer view of one of our place settings. You can see my china has shells on it and I thought that this large shell not only picked up the theme of the china - the colors on the shell are exactly the colors on the china. I don't even remember where I got these huge shells, but I had two of them in my Summer stash, so I've used them at two of the place settings.
For the other two place settings I've used two "skinny" starfish. The soft grey of these starfish also pick up the color of grey from the china. With these, you also get a better look at the ivory damask dinner napkins.
Here's a closer look at my china pattern - I loved it when I picked it and I still love it today. The shell flatwear is not my good silver, but it matches the theme of the day.
This particular china pattern has been discontinued, but you can see it's Noritake Stanford Court. I was able to find some deals several years ago on e-bay and managed to increase my place settings to twelve.
A close-up of the cup and saucer.
It looks like I'm showing you my flatware - but what I really wanted to show, were the vintage (of course) placemats. I got four linen placemats at the antique store for $2! Now I can't get plastic placemats from K-mart for that! And these are lovely for my "manscape" - they actually even remind me of a man's handkerchief (vintage of course!)
Here's a closer look at the sailboat centerpiece. I'm using a plate stand to hold the boat and they're sitting on a picture frame with shells completing the beach look.
For just a touch of whimsey -- I've added a Virginia blue crab to the scene.
On the other side of the sailboat we see an old bottle has washed on shore with a note inside.
When we were first married we spent a lot of our vacations at my in-law's river house. My husband would put on his hip boots and go out on the low tide searching for old bottles. We have several boxes of these treasures. One day we keep telling ourselves we would love to have a display of them, but right now we don't have the right place to do that. Anyway, this is an old wine bottle from the 1800's. The bottom is rounded and there is a flatness to the side so the bottle would lay flat and the cork wouldn't dry out. I just reached in one of our old boxes and this was the first one I pulled out. They're all quite interesting (to us anyway - especially knowing that he pulled each and every one of them out of the river himself)
Here's a picture of our table by tealight. Now, I probably wouldn't really serve our Dad's by candlelight. Have you ever noticed how many men really dislike eating by candlelight? I think it makes them nervous - like we're trying to slip something "healthy" into their diet or something, without them seeing it. I believe that my mother-in-law used to say that if she tried to serve a nice meal by candlelight my father-in-law would make a quip like, "What did you do? Forget to pay the light bill?" How about the men in your life? Do they like dining by candlelight? Or not so much?
One last look at our tablescape just for "us girls" -- before we turn the lights back on.
I found this shell pitcher that I believe I'll find use for all summer. This baby is really heavy - no markings on the bottom so I really know nothing at all about it. Did you notice the two starfish? I didn't until I got it home.
I love the lines and this gives a clue to the tablescape I'm doing this week for Father's day - it will be posting later this evening.
A couple of weeks ago I did a practice cowboy themed tablescape for our son-in-laws birthday. We finally got everybody's schedule together and had the dinner last Sunday. I found this cute guy this weekend - and added him to the fun. I didn't get a picture, but if you look back at previous tablescapes, you'll find the one I'm speaking of.
I had just about decided that I wasn't going to be joining the Foodie Friday party this week. Believe me, there was no "creative cooking" being done at our house this week! This was one of those weeks that was spent trying to get twice as much done in about half the time -- I'm sure you have those too. So I pretty well figured that I was out when I remembered my "desperation dish" -- you know the kind I mean -- the one you can put together in about 3 minutes and head out the door.
This is the dish I would make back in my 20's and 30's to take to parties or gatherings -- it got to be known as "Martha's Shrimp Stuff" among our friends, family and co-workers. I used to giggle whenever anyone would ask for the recipe -- it's almost embarrassing - but here goes. 
Here - have a cracker and we'll go and check out what people who are really cooking up some great dishes are sharing this week over at Gollum's "Design's by Gollum".
It's Tablescape Thursday once again! That day of the week that Susan of "Between Naps On The Porch" invites us all to join her with playing with our dishes!
Since June is considered THE wedding month, I'm sure that many of you have an anniversary this month. So this table is set just for you! (I'm not a June bride myself - so maybe I'll re-create this in November for our anniversary). I've always felt that swans were romantic as they glide across the water ... so this is a picture approaching our swan anniversary table.
As we get a little closer, we see that this table is set just for two. I thought about using my good china, but the white of the swans seemed better suited to my white dishes. Don't you agree?
A close up of the vintage swan tablecloth layered over my white tablecloth. This is such a pretty shade of soothing green. On the four corners are appliqued "cattails". My guess would be that this little tablecloth is from the 50's or early 60's - as I do remember swans being somewhat popular during that period.
Toward the center of the tablecloth we have four pairs of swans - aren't they pretty?
I've added a wine glass to the etched glasses that were from my husband's grandmother. They're so beautiful and I'm so happy to be using them.
There were only two small napkins with this vintage tablecloth - and because they're so small I layered them with a larger white cloth napkin.
I decided that two of my small swan vases would make great containers for the silverware. I couldn't decide if they should go handle up or down. What do you think? I do like the monogram on the handles -- so I decided this way. I also could have completely rolled them in the napkin and placed them inside as well. It's fun to try something a little different every now and then.
a small etched bowl will be perfect to start out with shrimp cocktails. Then we have my white on white salad and dinner/charger plates.
Here's a view from the second tablesetting.
A close-up of the centerpiece swan filled with "faux" flowers and two smaller vases that I'm using for candleholders. 
Since this is an anniversary table -- of course the theme is "Love"! Actually love really doesn't need a special time to celebrate. This could be a romantic dinner "just because".
Here's our pretty swan full of flowers and I see a bee has joined the table. "Faux" of course! (what else for faux flowers?)
See how pretty she is all "dressed up" with her hand painted flowers? I don't know why, but for some strange reason I've come up with an attraction for swans this year. They've certainly been easy to find in thrift stores and even Goodwill. I'm glad that they found a home on my anniversary table, but I don't think I'll be starting a large collection. I'll just enjoy these.
A bottle of wine is ready for toasting our anniversary couple.
What could be more romantic than swans by candlelight?
The centerpiece bathed in the glow.
An overview of the centerpiece.
One last look at our anniversary table - ready to celebrate love and memories of a special day.
