Tallulah Tassel Makes Her Entrance

Back in my old Rate My Space Days, I posted my screened porch and titled it, "Meet the two old ladies I rescued from the dump".
I actually didn't pick these up at the dump, but bought them for under $5 dollars each at a garage sale. The reason I used dump in the title is because, the lady I bought them from actually said to me as I was looking at them, "Please rescue these little chairs, I have been meaning to reupholster them for years and I have finally given up on the thought. My husband wants them out of our house and is threatning to drive them to the dump!" So there you have it!
I realize that Tallulah might appeal to those of you that are "sweet" on shabby chic just the way she is in her cream colored slip. She is sooo cute!



The thing is, I am "hooked" on country french (at least out in my screened porch) and I wanted to dress her up in some cheerful warm colors . Here is the frock that I gave her......



In a previous MMonday I introduced you to Frannie Fringe, her elderly sister. This is her "before" picture......




And "after", in all of her provencial glory.........



Now that you're in my porch, I might as well give you a little tour.........
Please say" hello" to Duchess . Actually, this is HER porch , she pretty much acts like she owns the whole house....
Just about everything in here were thrifty finds.
The wicker love seat and wrought iron table are garage sale items, while the rug, pillow and carafe vases where found at Goodwill.





This little cockadoodledoo too!







My little silver tarnished tea pot is one of my favorite treasures. I won't polish it, don't ask me to!
Do you see the book next to it? It's a great little resource to have around, if you your internet is down or computer broken. Instead of going to Goggle to look up an answer to your burning question, you simply ask the question out loud, concentrate on what you are asking for a couple of minutes , then simply open the book randomly and it will give you your answer.
It works, don't laugh!







This is the first piece of funiture that hubby and I bought after getting married. It actually didn't look anything like this. It was painted yellow and brown and had stencilling on it. I had to have it.
This is actually it's third look. After I got over the yellow and brown phase, I painted it pure white and enjoyed it in my white kitchen . It look very cute with all of my blue and white dishes and blue glasses.
When we moved to our present home, I didn't have a place for it inside and decided to use it in the porch, so I antiqued it !
I'm a tweaker, so I rearrange it all of the time. I emptied out some drawers to have the flowers tucked inside...




I found the spoon and fork handles at a church thrift sale and couldn't resist putting them on this piece for a bit of whimsy.






Here is another look at it with some rusted fleur de lis knobs...










I hope you enjoyed your little tour of my porch and the story of Tallulah Tassel and Franny Fringe!
For more Metamorphosis, visit Between Naps on the Porch!

Hooray for the Red White and Blue !

Psssst...if you are looking for Met Monday, please click on the second Santamaker on Between Naps on the Porch links. list. I'm not sure why the first one brings you to this posting.... although.... it's not a bad one to look at if you have a sec.....





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Blue Spode: Rome








This pattern was introduced in 1811. The main scene of the River Tiber shows the Basilica of St. Peter in the distance with the bridge and castle of of Saint Angelo.










Blue Spode: Greek






This pattern was introduced in 1811. The Greek pattern was Spode's most important design inspired by classical culture.








Blue Spode: Warwick Vase







This pattern dates from 1834. It shows a 2nd Century Roman marble vase found in the ruins of Tivoli, near Rome in 1771. It was displayed in the garden of Warwick Castle.




Blue Spode: Aesop's Fables









Introduced in 1830, it was taken from illustrations in the 1793 edition of the Reverend Samual Croxall's Fables of Aesop. "The Lion in Love".



































































I've been so lazy about blogging lately, just thought I would recycle this tablescape since it reminded me of Independence Day and I wanted to wish you all the Happiest 4th Ever!

Foodie Friday and "Home: A Memoir of My Early Years" Bookclub Luncheon

To see other great foodie items go to Gollum's blog!









For my bookclub luncheon, I made chicken and asparagus quiches, a green salad with walnuts and cranberries, strawberry and cantaloupe side dish and some mini lemon poppy seed muffins.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cup cooked chicken, cut in pieces.
  
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed
• 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pastry shell
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup half-and-half cream

DIRECTIONS

1. Saute onions until browned.
2. Cut eight asparagus spears into 4-in.-long spears for garnish. Cut remaining asparagus into 1-in. pieces. In a saucepan, cook all of the asparagus in a small amount of boiling water until crisp-tender; drain.
3. In a bowl, toss the chicken, onion, asparagus pieces, cheese, flour, salt and pepper. Pour into pastry shell. In a bowl, beat eggs and cream; pour over chicken mixture. Top with asparagus spears. Bake at 400 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean and crust is golden brown. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

I adapted this recipe from one I saw on Allrecipes. com. It used bacon instead of chicken. I increased the number of eggs, from 3 to 4 and the cream from 1/2 to 3/4C.





























When my bookclub selected the autobiography of Julie Andrews, "Home: A Memoir of My Early Years", I was delighted and excited to read her story. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to hostess that month and had so much fun in creating a table scape to go along with the book.

The very first movie that I saw after to moving to the US was The Sound of Music. I was 8 years old and didn't know the English language very well, but I fell in love with the big family with that charming and funny governess and I wanted to be one of those kids.









We all enjoyed the book and were fascinated by her childhood situations, but I was a tiny bit disappointed with the fact that it ended before she spoke about filming The Sound of Music.





I was all too happy to have a purpose for this antique typewriter that was one of my favorite finds in a "sailing" adventure.



All of the bright flowers on the table reminded me of "My Fair Lady".














Although the guest of honor "couldn't make it", I framed her picture for the tablescape.



































Thanks for joining me !











To see other great foodie items go to Gollum's blog!
To see other wonderfully creative tablescapes, run over to Susan's blog!