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April 30, 2016

Turkey Entertainment

Good Saturday morning! 

Old Tom Turkey and his ladies came out of the woods to visit.  He is trying desperately to get their attention.

 Oh good- a response... 

Darn... I guess not


Ladies.... see me!!!  Hello..... 

Hmph....they're ignoring me

Let's head off this way- maybe he'll get the message and leave us alone!

 I see you...come back!

 Darn it all!

Hmmm..... perhaps I need to perfect my skills!

I'm going out to clean up more of the beds and enjoy a nice day.
I hope you have a great one too!
Happy Spring!


April 27, 2016

My Eyes See Purple

I created a new arrangement in my white farmhouse tub.  I wanted to do something fun with it and this morning it all came together.  This plate became the star of the show!

I combined the pot of violas in the tub with some moss, the plate, a little clay pot and a candle.

Since spring has finally arrived here in northern Michigan purple is on my mind.  The violas are the first thing I invested in this year for my gardening!  The lilac topiary tree has buds all over it and I can hardly wait to see it in full bloom!  Purple is one of the colors of spring so my mind is currently tied to it!

 These colorful patterned dishes come out of a boxed set of 6 I bought several years ago (including the plate with the face).  Each one has it's own design.  There is a multi stripe plate that I didn't include.


 These dishes are described as an eclectic assortment paying homage to 6 different design styles- Victorian, Ethnic paisley, French Baroque, 60's English, American Cottage and Contemporary Indie.  All combined to make a collection that is refreshingly hip and artistic!

Once again the white Lacy dishes from Pier 1 worked nicely as a companion plate.

 I'm happiest when I can take photos of my tablescapes when the sun is shining.  It's greening up nicely outdoors although we are still getting frosts so I can't plant just yet.

Let's pretend we're outside under a gazebo enjoying lunch together!

I'm going to put this centerpiece over on the black table and convert my plate rack to a new spring look! These dishes might be up there soon!

 I included these dishes in a post back in 2014 called "My Spring Bling" you can see it "here"

Notice my Christmas Cactus decided to bloom again.  It bloomed on half the plant not long ago and now the other half is blooming!  Doesn't fit in with the color scheme but I'm not complaining!

The Players:
LaVie Boho dishes by Rosanna 
Lacy dinner plates by Pier 1
Vintage crystal stemware by Williams Sonoma
Baroque flatware from Neiman Marcus- no brand name
Artichoke tablecloth from One King's Lane
Napkin rings from One King's Lane last year
Wicker placemats from One King's Lane also last year
White farmhouse tub from Pier 1


I will be joining:

April 25, 2016

Spring and a Garden Party!

I put together a new post on my garden blog.  Click on the link below and pay me a visit!


I've joined a new party by some of our fellow bloggers called 


Spring Finally Sprang

Since I last wrote on my blog we had a couple of snow storms and a warm up and then back to the frigid temps and finally it seems like all that nonsense is over and spring has sprung!

 The purple Primrose came back from last year and just started shooting out flowers which I was so grateful to see.  I just added the pink and yellow ones- now that I know they're hardy enough to come back I'm willing to invest more into them.  A rabbit has eaten off my tulips already but the daffodils are working their way up. 

We made a trip to Home Depot for supplies so of course I had to meander out in the garden center.  These violas cried out to me- take me, take me, you know you want me!  So I obliged!



Even though we have to empty off the lawn furniture to re-stain the deck we just couldn't resist bringing all of it out.  Aren't these the sweetest faces!

In my ever so delicate way I was trying to remove debris from the winter and ended up breaking off a crocus so of course I rushed in the house and put it in the little tiny vase.

Happy Spring Everybody!

I'm Joining:
Spring Garden Party

April 20, 2016

Dining With Our Nesting Friends On A Beautiful Spring Day!


I created a centerpiece arrangement using the sunflowers that were sent to us from our son and daughter  in-law for our anniversary.  Aren't these beautiful!  They've really opened up nicely over the past few days.

I like the cobalt blue vase with the sunflowers since they're so tall it works perfectly for them.  I added one of my little cachepots I picked up in Pennsylvania at a garden center a while back.  The little creamer is a Polish Pottery piece and seemed to work well with the blue and yellow theme.  

I love the raised flowers and vines.   I remember they also came in a blue flower too and I had a hard time deciding which color to choose!

I saved a couple of birds nests last year and I used one to stage the blue birds in.  

I'm continuing on my bird theme that I started and posted about "here"

The sweet little blue birds came to me as a surprise gift from Michele from The Nest at Finch Rest
I used the tea already so I couldn't add it to the tablescape.  Wasn't that sweet of her to send me!  I love the pretty hand made note card she made with a sweet message!  Makes a person feel extra special to receive things like this!

Aren't they precious!  The mister brought his missy some pretty flowers and laced them into the nest to flower her with romance!

Thank you again Michele for your generosity!  I hope you like how I used them!

I added the rose tone napkins to tie into the cachepot and I used the yellow and white paisley tablecloth to compliment the yellow plates and sunflowers.

 We had some early morning sun before clouds came in and soon it will be raining.  We need it so that's okay.  

I folded the napkin in half, then I made it into a narrow strip with a couple of more folds and placed it under the salad plate.  Then I turned the ends in towards the plate.  With this small (42") table it can be hard to fit everything on there without it being too crowded.


I was glad I had these yellow plates that create the feeling of a square corner and go well with the blue and white bird dishes.

Thank you for joining as we are dining along with our nesting friends on a beautiful spring day!

The Players:
White chargers from Pier 1
White flatware from Horchow
Yellow plates from One King's Lane- Sweet Olive Designs, Embossed Rooster Collection, Jane Adams
Blue and White plates- 222 Fifth- Adelaide Blue
Williams Sonoma Vintage Stemware

I will be joining:



April 15, 2016

Cleaning Up the Kitchen-Adding Some Blue

This is really the end picture but I thought it looked better than the next picture so I started with it.

 I got all wound up yesterday and emptied all my counters, and cleaned the backsplash, window and counters.

 Armed with simple green and glass cleaner

As I attempted to pull out my behemoth Kitchen Aid mixer and thought why am I struggling with this.  So I got out some 1/2" felt pads and applied them to the bottom.  Now it slides in with ease.  This mixer is a lot heavier than my previous Kitchen Aid and it's just too hard to move when I need to use it.

 I put the coffee maker and grinder back over here.  I had the coffee center here a while back.  I grind coffee every day and make a fresh pot.

 At this time of day I couldn't get a better picture of the window.  I cleaned it too and wiped everything down before it went back.  This is my little farm window complete with pigs and cows!

 I wanted to add some blue in the kitchen so I have been taking away the Tuscan accents.  That basket loaded with wine glasses came from Juliska on a sale a little while ago. It's really more of a bread basket but on a whim I put these wine glasses in there and decided to keep it.  The plate with the blue shells is one of a set of 4 and I just never thought about using it like this but it brought in the coloring I wanted to that's good.  The towel is new from a set I picked up at Williams Sonoma (I believe it's a new line they're offering).  The canisters were gifted to me from Betty several years back.  She was blogging but due to health issues with her husband she's all but disappeared.

The utensils are in a piece I got from Pottery Barn on one of their clearances.  It's made for wine but I adopted it to be for my spoons and spatulas.  The bread drawer is close by so the toaster stays here.  My kitchen is too small to hide all of my small appliances.

 This is from a couple of years ago.  I kept the coffee maker in the center for a couple of years but today I decided to move it back over by the window.  

This goes back a ways.  That plate on the stand with the Tuscan scene was hanging where the blue plate is now. 

I cleaned the glass on the doors too.  I had a water glass put in them so it softens what what you can see inside and I don't just display things for prettiness in them since it's a functioning area of the kitchen.  Our cupboards are solid hickory made in Tennessee.  I was very proud of this when we remodeled in 1996.  I still like it.

This counter on the right is that spot where everything gets piled…mail, groceries, etc.  I have a few things that didn't go back in the kitchen and one is a basket I keep on this counter that is where misc. stuff is supposed to go in.  Somehow it builds up for a while and has a strange collection in it. I am going through it again to thin it out.  

She's a narrow galley kitchen which actually works quite well especially for one person in the kitchen. 
So that's my clean kitchen with some blue added! 



Ahh… a surprise ending to today!
I was in the office loading pictures for this post when the door bell rang…. Dan was standing there holding these flowers for me!  I was so surprised and didn't even think to take a picture of him holding them!

They're gorgeous big flowers.  We had yellow roses for our wedding so I love that he remembered!

I had this pitcher in the kitchen before I started cleaning so I decided to use it for the flowers instead of the traditional crystal vase.  

Today is our anniversary!  We'll be going out for a dinner in the evening and beyond that I don't know what we're doing!  

ABOUT ME



Welcome to Home and Gardening With Liz. I have combined my previous blogs “Infuse With Liz” and “Sit With Me In My Garden” into this new blog. I love interior decorating and gardening. I enjoy redefining interior spaces by moving things around and reusing decorative items already found in the home. I also enjoy creating tablescapes and an occasional crafting project. I'm so pleased you've stopped by. I invite you to follow me and I do hope you will keep coming back! Liz
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