Saturday, August 26, 2017

August Celebrations and Ordinary Days


I know that on my last post I promised those of you who are Mitford fans a followup post after the movie aired but we all know that our mamas told us not to say anything at all if we can't say something good.

All I will say is that after I watched the Hallmark movie, At Home in Mitford, I had to reread the current last book in the Mitford series simply to get the bad taste of the television movie out of my mouth. Ah, there was the real world of Mitford where the real Father Tim and his wife Cynthia reside!



I do love the world of Mitford, North Carolina, but Nashville is an amazing town to live in too. Our weather has been lovely lately but it is the weather in Texas right now that has us all concerned. I pray that all of my blog friends from that great state will be safe and have minimal effect on property and livelihood. 

Please let us know how you are, when you can.



This picture gives me a chance to finally answer a question many have asked:


"Dewena, what did you name the big room?"

I named this area the dining room, another section the breakfast room, and the other the sitting room. Now if I could only get everyone else to remember that.

Backed up to the sofa, the dining table can hold 5 as is, 8 when we pull it away from the sofa, a few more with it extended leaves put in.

The other wall holds the large cabinet where my extensive vintage magazine collection is. The windmill picture on the wall beside it was actually a Delft tray that once held a Delftware tea set. My father always ordered tulip bulbs for the garden centers directly from Holland, and the tea set that was shattered upon opening the crate was one of the many nice gifts he received from the Holland rep over the years. 

Does anyone reading this buy cut flowers for the house during summer? I really don't. Even if there is very little pretty outside to cut, I still prefer arrangements from wild stuff that RH goes out and forages. Even a simple vase like this for the bathroom.



But RH knows I am crazy about purple gladiolas and on our last trip to the grocery store they were BOGO! 



Have you begun to decorate for fall already? I'll wait for September to do that but I have changed some linens and dishes to more late summer colors.

This pretty piece from Goodwill a few years back just seems like late summer colors to me.



And I brought out my stack of Grindley platters for it. I love this English pottery that was probably just dime store china when it was made.




I may have shown you my red cookbook bookshelf before, it was free to a good home, but I don't think I've ever told you that the oil painting of a ship done for RH by my Aunt Teenie decades ago hides a secret in our new home.

Notice the molding on the wall around the painting?



It frames a large opening in the wall where we're sure a large television once stood. I may take the painting down for Christmas and use some of my old large Dept 56 Christmas trees in the space.

I will probably begin decorating for Christmas as soon as I turn the calendar page to November this year. If you remember that last Christmas we were busy packing to move back to Tennessee from Florida and that I did absolutely no Christmas decorating, then you can understand my excitement about celebrating Christmas 2017.

We've already had one exciting family event in August--RH's 75th birthday celebration!




That's our daughter Christy with her dad and niece little Nora who is not so little anymore--five years old and started kindergarten!

As usual during busy times I failed to get photos. I did shoot video of everyone but have been unable to upload them because of their length.

Note to self: Take short videos!

But it was a weekend filled with family and good food...



Good bedtime stories...



And a great project accomplished...



That, my friends, is son Defee after helping RH install a storm door at our front door. And you wouldn't believe how exciting this long-awaited project was for me. I wanted to be able to open the front door to someone knocking and have a locked storm door between us. And the extra light in a room of knotty pine paneling that eats up the light was a very good thing. Add to that being able to pull down the screen in it for cool fresh morning air was a winner for me.

We have another exciting family celebration coming up soon, a really big one. And I've been to the beauty salon to try out Mother of the Groom hairdos for it. 

I think this one is it!



Zack and Courtney have worked so hard and been so creative to make their upcoming wedding special. I probably should say Courtney has because Zack is the first to say that she has half killed herself with hard work the past months. 

The wedding will be held at their home, The Farmhouse as it's officially known now, formerly our own Valley View.

RH has helped on some projects there to get ready for the big event . Here's the dance floor he and Zack built last weekend, Courtney has since stained it, and today RH used used pea gravel and old bricks to pretty up the surround.





It is adjacent to the picnic shelter where the band will play. Here's a photo from a few years ago of the picnic shelter.


I'll wait until after the wedding to share pics of where the ceremony will take place, but here's a picture of the back door showing the new paint colors their house recently got.


That's their dear Bentley asleep inside the door. He has been a sick boy this summer but lots of TLC and prayers have done wonders. 

Busy days are ahead for all our family who will be gathering to celebrate this happy occasion. I probably won't be posting here at the Window again until after the wedding when this beautiful woman will be Zack's bride and our new daughter-in-law.




I can't wait!

After all, I'm the one who prayed for her to be our daughter-in-law the very first time we met her!

16 comments:

  1. What a wonderful celebration that is going to be held very soon at The Farmhouse. And such a handsome couple they are. I bet you are thrilled. I look forward to seeing the wedding pictures. Little Nora looks darling here, and there's nothing sweeter than a parent reading bedtime stories to their child. Your hair is pretty and will look fantastic for the wedding. Your Purple Gladiolas are beautiful. I hope the wedding turns out to be everything you hoped for, Dewena. And it will be so nice to decorate your home for Christmas this year.

    love, Sheri

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  2. This is a very very happy post and I am glad to read it! Very happy for the new couple--please give them my best wishes from charleston! I am so looking forward to seeing the pretty wedding pictures and the dance floor will be put to GOOD USE that night I am sure! Looks like it will be a wonderful occasion full of love and laughter! So glad you got that storm door and oh my---those purple glads are just gorgeous!

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  3. So lovely to read your post Dewena, exciting times ahead for you and your family ... wonderful.

    Thank you for sharing your family photographs lovely to see the bedtime reading, that is such a special family time isn't it. Having done this with our children I now love reading stories to our grandchildren.

    I think your hair looks very nice, just perfect for the forthcoming wedding. Certainly a wonderful celebration to look forward to.

    Those purple gladioli are lovely what a glorious shade.

    My good wishes for the special times ahead.
    Take care

    All the best Jan

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  4. So much goodness in this post, Dewena! I'm sorry the Mitford movie was such a disappointment. Bummer. LOVE your wedding hairstyle! Gladiolas are some of my favorites, too. Happy Belated Birthday to RH. I may start decorating for Christmas early, too... though I usually want to really celebrate Thanksgiving before starting. September and fall is just around the corner and I'm looking forward to the shift of seasons. ;) Bedtime stories are the best. And, oh, my goodness! I can't wait to see wedding photos! So exciting. And so special that you prayed for their union and that they are keeping your old home in the family. I just love that. Have a wonderful time! blessings ~ tanna

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  5. I remember those prayers! and now look!
    you're wearing a beautiful hair style to a unique and lovely wedding to celebrate a brand new start at Zack and Court's Place! The Farm House. oh happy days! almost a chapter right out of Jan Karon's Mitford itself.
    all the preparations and the love that has gone into it.
    and as Tanna says in her comment ... to know that it's all still in the family only with their own new style blessing it for the new generations. it's just beautiful.
    i'm so happy for you darling sister mine! xoxo♥
    and I simply can't wait to see how you will make Christmas special in the little cottage by the pond! ♥


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  6. This is such an exciting post. Much to be thankful for.

    Love and hugs to all of you ~ FlowerLady

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  7. I, too, was so very disappointed in the movie last week. I am so surprised that JK let them make so many changes to the true setting of the Mitford series. Maybe she sold the rights and had no say ~ thinking Hallmark would do a good job. Did you know a new Mitford book is being released in September?? Can't wait!

    Also, congrats on the upcoming wedding. I'm sure it will be beautiful. So much work goes into it.... remember to BREATHE and take pictures in your mind as the day goes by.

    I understand your joy in looking ahead to Christmas. It takes a lot of time and effort...I say if we can enjoy it for 2 months instead of 1, we should be able to do so. So much work to get it put up, and then to turn around and take it all down in just a few short weeks seems sad. Enjoy while you can ~ as we know that life flies by too quickly.

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  8. What a beautiful family you have Dewena, and there's no way R.H. is 75! Not that hunka, hunka luv, and if he is, I want what he's having ;).

    It must be such a nice feeling to know your son will be getting married in your beloved Valley View. Things have really come full circle, and you better tone it down with your hair. Wouldn't want you to upstage the Bride you know!

    xxx

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  9. Your son and DIL-to-be's wedding is going to be just beautiful. I can't wait to see pictures. I love that you prayed for her to be your DIL from the first time you met her. My son is only 26 and he has no interest in marriage right now, but I sometimes pray for the young woman "out there" who hopefully will be my son's bride someday.

    More celebrations...happy 75th birthday to your dear husband!

    I'm with you on waiting until September (for me - not until mid-late Sept) to decorate for fall. I hate rushing the seasons! But I won't be decorating for Christmas until December. ;-)

    I love Delft because it's such a beautiful combination of blue and white. I have Delft candlesticks and a couple of figurines.

    I rarely buy store flowers in the summer. Most of my summer flowers come from my yard...or sometimes, wildflowers from along side the road.

    Love your English dishes...beautiful patterns.

    Very clever to cover that hole in your wall with a painting!

    Well...try to relax and breathe and truly enjoy yourself with your son's wedding.

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  10. Love love love your wedding hair style. Your family celebration for the wedding will be awesome. Such a sweet pic of the two. Enjoy.
    xoxo
    Kris

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  11. Such happiness and joy in this post, Dewena: Zack and Courtney's upcoming wedding, RH's 75th, the pic of your princesses and their parents enjoying bedtime stories, the Farmhouse, your stylish 'do' and of course, flowers, and especially, your gladiolas - they make such a statement, don't they?

    I can feel your excitement growing as the big day fast approaches. There has already been so much accomplished in preparation for it; I absolutely love the dance floor that Zack and his father built for the occasion. I can imagine the band playing something romantic in the picnic shelter and everyone dancing, chatting and adoring the beautiful bride and her handsome groom, amid the charming surroundings. Can't wait to see pics!

    Your own sweet cottage has undergone many projects, too, in such a short time, making it even more ergonomic and elegant. You've created such coziness, and I know the countdown to fall is on, so that you and RH and your guests can truly bask in its autumnal ambiance.

    Sending love,
    Poppy

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  12. I'm glad you shared your opinion of the Mitford movie. It's pretty much what I feared. Your home is so cozy and inviting, Dewena. I love coming here because your home says, "welcome."The glads are gorgeous! Happy belated birthday to RH. You, my friend, are surrounded by beautiful, happy people. As it should be when one is as lovely as you are. Hugs.

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  13. So many exciting things going on with you - the biggest is the new hair style! What's a lady to do without good hair? Beautiful. I'm thinking about writing my thoughts on the Mitford TV movie as well. Hmm. still thinking about that.

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  14. Beautiful post, Dewena! I smiled the whole way through. I'm doing a little fall decorating, although in years past I was adamant I wouldn't. Sometimes you just have to do things when you have the energy. Same for Christmas with me. I used to wait until we could get a live tree that wouldn't perish before the New Year. Hence, my decorating was rushed as I tried to time it. Now, I start decorating earlier and the tree is the crowning touch.

    I am so excited about the upcoming wedding - what a lovely couple! And a huge Happy Birthday to RH! Celebrations everywhere in your world. Is the wedding soon? I do love your pretty hairstyle, your natural shade is just what I would want.

    Enjoy these gorgeous days. I, too, have a few new doors coming, I love the light coming through.

    Jane x

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  15. I'm sticking with the books for sure. I've seen a few reviews with the same opinion. Looking forward to Jan's latest book coming out soon.

    Wishing you much joy with the upcoming wedding as you all prepare for the big day. Will look forward to a peek at a few wedding pics.

    Brenda

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  16. Glad to hear that I'm not missing much by not seeing the Mitford movie. Few movies live up to the books that inspire them.
    Your hair is so pretty - a great look for the MOG. Wishing you happiness as you anticipate the big day.

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