End of Summer...College Football is Here. 9/11 Tribute, The Ohio State University, 2011

Today my husband and I went to the OSU game--what a gorgeous day to be there to take in the sights! It's always a trip down Memory Lane of our days as students there.  I started taking pictures, not sure how I would use them for my blog, then they did a 9/11 tribute.  It was beautiful.

First, the band came in.  "The Ramp," it's called, and it's one of the highlights of the game.  (See them through the goal post and fanning out?)

 They marched into their formation--An eagle--the American symbol of freedom.
 The bald eagle was chosen June 20, 1782 as the emblem of the United States of American,
because of its long life, great strength and majestic looks, and also because it was then believed
to exist only on this continent...
      ...The eagle represents freedom. Living as he does on the tops of lofty mountains, amid the
solitary grandeur of Nature, he has unlimited freedom, whether with strong pinions he sweeps into
the valleys below, or upward into the boundless spaces beyond.  (baldeagleinfo.com)

 Then they unfurled The Colors.

Oh, say! Does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? 

YES! 

Before the band did their Script Ohio there was another tribute and a moment of silence.

In a stadium with 105,000+ people there was TOTAL silence...

They also recognized first responders out on the field, and asked all

first responders in attendance to stand and also be recognzied.

Here's what the OSU website says about Script Ohio:

First performed during the 1936 season, Script Ohio is the most indentifiable trademark associated with Ohio State Football and the Ohio State Marching Band. The script is an integrated series of evolutions and formations. The band first forms a triple Block O formation which will slowly unwind to form the famous letters. The drum major leads the outside O into a peel-off movement around the curves of the script, every musician in continual motion. The middle Block O revolves counter-clockwise as the other two rotate in a clockwise manner. Slowly the three blocks unfold into a long singular line which loops around, creating the OSU Marching Band's trademark.

I'm linking to:
The Tablescaper ~ http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/ for Seasonal Sunday

and

Susan from Between Naps on the Porch ~  http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/  for Tablescape Thursday

Summer's End, Blue & Yellow

Hi, all, and a special hello to Susan.  I'm new to blogging (as some of you will be able to tell when you see a few glitches I can't seem to fix), but I'm sooo excited to do my first-ever link!  I'll be linking to Susan's Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch!   What a fun day it was when I stumbled into her blog!  Thanks for your help, Susan!

Labor Day weekend...most table settings are of red, white, and blue, and that's where I was headed.  (But I have to admit, I don't "get" why it's RWB...it's not a patriotic holiday; it's a day to celebrate work and our ability and freedome to work!)  So back to the original idea--I knew I wanted to use my blue and white Spode dishes, but somehow the red just wasn't coming.  I found myself shifting gears and wanting a more sedate setting, to represent a day of rest and to recognize summer's official end--her last hurrah.



I LOVE blue and white and had wanted blue and white dishes, but I wanted florals.  About 10 years ago, I was the chairwoman for our church's Mother-Daughter Tea, where we could host and decorate our tables, and lo and behold, I'm at Macy's and find THE blue and white dishes!  I don't remember how I explained the "need" for more dishes to my husband :)   I bet there aren't many women who use the church tea as an excuse to buy yet another set of dishes. :)
The salad/dessert plates are The Blue Collection, and the dinner plates are Delamere. 

 Hydrangeas, another favorite, from our garden.  The miniature tureen is a gift from my mother many years ago--isn't it precious?  It has its own matching ladle.  The seeded glass candle holders are something I'd wanted for a long time.  They were a Christmas present from my husband a couple of years ago, from a nice shop, The Morgan House, in Dublin, Ohio.


 The napkins are from TJ Maxx, years ago...well before I got the dishes.

 One of my recent finds--Spode Imperial Garden salt & pepper shakers--were a GREAT buy:  $6 at the Powell Antique Mall near our home.  Just what I needed to complement my blue and white, because, if you look carefully, they have just a touch of yellow.  Perfect.

  

 The picture of the sunflower?  From our garden, and there is a real, honest-to-goodness bee visiting it!  Perfect timing.

 Yesterday's thrifting outing netted this precious silverplate tray from GW.  It was pretty tarnished, and I didn't notice a spot that was a bit rough...oh, oh.  But I used a fabulous cleaner that is NOT TOXIC, and poof!  It's gone!

I cut the hydrangeas several weeks ago, and they get prettier as they dry.

I love the scroll handle on top.




 

Can you see Mrs. Bee now?  This sunflower must've come from bird seed we had in another part of the yard...isn't Mother Nature amazing?!



That's it for my first link to any blog!  I'll be joining Susan of Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday, so I'll be looking for all of you to enjoy your art!

Hydrangeas and Pumpkins

Friday, September 2, 2011

Labor Day weekend is upon us, and here in Ohio the leaves are starting to change ever so slightly.  I'm always sad to see my favorite season come to an end, but invariably I fall in love with fall, year after year.  This table setting is from a a few years ago, before I dreamed of a blog.  It's from an intimate dinner party my husband and I hosted to celebrate my cousin's engagement and to welcome his beautiful bride-to-be into our family.

The china is my wedding china--Lenox Eternal--which I still love after all these years, because it mixes and matches with so many other patterns.  The crystal is Pristine, by Reizart, which was bought by Gorham shortly after I registered it for my wedding.  The bridal consultant advised me to change it, but I was--and still am--in love with it.  It was produced from 1969 to 1974.  Its fine cuts and crystal make it super-special--and super-fragile--but well worth the tender care it requires.

And the pumpkins? :)  I've done this several times--real pumpkins to serve squash soup.  Early the morning of our party I went to a pumpkin "patch" at a local church and scouted around (with the help of the gentleman manning the "patch," who said he'd never heard of using pumpkins for soup) until I found perfect, similar ones.

Dusk is upon us.  Another view of the full table, with a hint of the hydrangeas, used as simple centerpieces and as accents with the hors d'oeuvres.

A close-up of the pumpkin...see the little tendril?  I made sure they all had them, to add a bit of "sweet" to their earthiness.  I like the contrast of the fine bone china, crystal, and hydrangeas with the pumpkins.  Maybe some day soon I'll do a post on how to prepare the pumpkins, and share the squash soup recipe.  Linen napkins from Pottery Barn.  The "placemats" are also linen napkins from PB, and the flatware is by Oneida, pattern unknown.

  Sweet little pumpkin.

This picture isn't very clear, but no engagement celebration would be complete without champagne to toast the happy couple and wish them health, wealth, happiness, and continued love for a lifetime.  Napkins are vintage, given to me by my mother-in-law from her own collection from when they lived in Mexico.  The marble lazy Susan is from TJ Maxx, many years ago.  The champagne bucket and the sterling compote are gifts from my mother many years ago.

This first post is dedicated to Susan, at Between Naps on the Porch, and Bill, at Affordable Accroutements, who have generously given me much of their time to help me get started.

I'm joining:

 Marty's Table Top Tuesday:  http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/

 The Tablescaper's Seasonal Sunday: http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/

 Kim's Wow Us Wednesdays: http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

Please be sure to visit their blogs too, and to leave a comment.

All images, unless otherwise indicated, are the property of the blogger and are copyrighted. Please do not use without permission. Thank you.