The Last Rose of Summer

Welcome to another Rose Wednesday! Today I thought I'd share some photos of the last of my roses (maybe the last... Texas weather can be very unpredictable so I may have a rose or 2 in December)

My rosebushes aren't laden w/ roses but nearly each one still has a couple of fall stragglers.

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'Tis the last rose of summer
Left blooming alone;

All her lovely companions

Are faded and gone;

No flower of her kindred,

No rosebud is nigh,

To reflect back her blushes,

To give sigh for sigh.

I'll not leave thee,

thou lone one!

To pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping,

Go, sleep thou with them.

Thus kindly I scatter,

Thy leaves o'er the bed,

Where thy mates of the garden

Lie scentless and dead.

So soon may I follow,

When friendships decay,

From Love's shining circle

The gems drop away.

When true hearts lie withered

And fond ones are flown,

Oh! who would inhabit,

This bleak world alone?


Poem by Irish poet Thomas Moore

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Thanks for stopping by! Now I'm off to thank the hostess & see all the other Rose Wednesday posts!

Tablescape Tuesday

I don't have pics of the table from our Halloween party w/ the grands, as promised. We did have the party on Sat but hubby was sick, the boys had football games nearly all day & to be honest, having the table "just so" w/ all the accompanying dishes, is really only important to me. *gasp* Did I just admit that? Well geeez, don't let my hubby here me talk like that! *grins* Anyway, we just watched old scary movies & ate take-out wings on TV trays w/ storebought mini-cupcakes for dessert. And popcorn & candy too, of course! It was still fun & was definitely a lot less work!

We did have a small (very small!) dinner party this week-end though so I'll share pics of that. My husband, & an old high school friend, took our 2 oldest grandsons to the Nascar races this Sunday (in payment for having to dress up as Wizard of Oz characters). I spent my time piddling in the house, making pumpkin butter (will share that recipe one day this week) & getting dinner ready for the men. Hubby's friend is newly divorced & I wanted to have a nice dinner for him w/out making him feel uncomfortable so I kept the table & the menu very low-key. Cause you know how men can be about fou-fou stuff. *sigh*

I got the twig placemats from Garden Ridge & the dishes are Roscher & Co. in the Flower Antique White pattern from Ross, T J Maxx or Marshall's. I also got the twig flatware from either Ross, T J Maxx or Marshall's...those stores are all the same to me so I never can remember what came from where. As I said, I kept the menu very simple....just Salmon Chowder w/ fresh French bread. I love this recipe for Salmon Chowder...the addition of the dill is such a wonderful flavor component!

The recipe is here but I can't recommend using canned salmon. I normally use leftover salmon but if I don't have that, then I use the salmon in the pouches. And I only use canned milk if I am out of half & half or cream.

And for dessert, Spiced Pears w/ Camembert. I often serve poached pears @ dinner parties...they're super-easy, can be made ahead, they can be presented beautifully & EVERYONE loves them. The addition of the spices in this recipe gives them a fall attitude. I used larger pears than called for so I increased the cooking time & I cut the recipe in half ( but left the spice amounts the same). I always core my pears but followed the recipe instructions & didn't this time...next time I will. It's just too difficult to manuever around the core when eating. I wish I had had some cranberries to scatter on the under-dish w/ the camembert cheese...wouldn't that have been pretty? The wine I used was a chenin blanc but just about anything white will do. I've used pinot grigio, gewurztraminer, riesling, sauvignon blanc...just don't use anything oaky like a chardonnay.

Spiced Pears and Camembert
Makes: 8 servings
Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 6 minutes Cool: 30 minutes Stand: 30 minutes


Ingredients
3 cups dry white wine
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup coarsely chopped crystallized ginger
12 inches stick cinnamon, broken
8 whole allspice, whole cloves
8 cardamom pods, slightly crushed
8 small firm ripe pears, peeled
Cranberries (optional)
1 8-ounce round Camembert cheese, cut into wedges

Directions
1. In a saucepan large enough to hold the pears (but only large enough to hold the pears), combine the wine, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and cardamom. Cook, uncovered,* over medium heat to a gentle boil. Add the peeled pears. Return liquid just to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered,* for 6 to 7 minutes or until pears are just fork-tender. Let the pears cool in the poaching liquid, turning, if necessary, to be sure all sides are moistened.
2. Using a slotted spoon, transfer pears to a serving dish. Strain poaching liquid (I didn't strain...I left the bit & pieces in to add visual appeal). Serve the pears slightly warm, at room temperature( I served them room temp), or chilled, with the poaching liquid spooned over. If desired, surround the serving dish with cranberries. Accompany with cheese wedges. Makes 8 servings.
*Note: Be sure to cook the wine mixture uncovered to avoid the wine's vapors bursting into flames.

Can't wait to see the other tables! Check them all out @ Susan's place @ Between Naps on the Porch .

And after you do that, please go vote! I don't care who you vote for ...well I do but I'm not going to try & convince you to vote my way ;o).... just GO VOTE!

My Wizard of Oz gang

My daughter had a wonderful idea to dress up all the grands as characters from the Wizard of Oz for Halloween this year. With the birth of baby Noah, we have enough grands for the whole cast. *grins* Connor, who's 10, wasn't really on board w/ the idea (he wanted a "cool" costume) so we bribed him w/ tickets to Nascar. ;o)

The kids were so excited that I couldn't get a good shot of all of them together so I snapped some of them, while trick or treating. Here's the Scarecrow & the Tin Man.

Here's the Cowardly Lion & Dorothy. This little girl has very definite ideas on how Dorothy should look & "she doesn't wear pigtails!" ;o)

And here's Dorothy's little dog Toto. Isn't he the cutest thing? My kids tease me because they say, that I say, that every table "is my prettiest!", every Christmas "is the best yet!" & every new baby "is the cutest!" but by golly, I think he is!

I hope everyone had as good a Halloween as I had. To have all my family together, Clifton doing well & a new baby....life is grand!

Show n Tell Sunday

What a fun topic for this week's Show N Tell! I had a hard time picking a "favorite collection." Not sure I have one. I'm pretty emotionally attached to all my collections...I wouldn't have such a problem if I weren't. ;o) But my religious art collection ranks pretty high & I figure there's gonna be lots of pink posts in today's Show n Tell, so what the heck.

This first photo is @ the top of the stairwell, looking down. I call this my "Stairway to Heaven". I keep all my religious art on the stairway walls. Religious prints tend to have a somber tone & I don't want them setting the mood for the whole house, so I group it all here. Almost all of the collection is on one wall....it's a 2 story wall & it makes quite a display. By the way, my walls aren't really white. They're a pale butter yellow, that using the flash washes out completely.

I made the Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much sign to use as a "curtain rod" in a previous home. It was much longer w/ glass doorknobs @ each end that I hung curtains from, to frame a picture window. When we moved into this house, I cut off both ends, leaving the doorknobs in place to use as peg racks (one is out on my front porch ...I don't know where the other end is) .

The angel was a souvenier from an Ohio craft festival & it was made from 125 year old floorboards, out of an old house.

Sweet tinted picture of the Holy family.

Mother Mary...love the depth these old prints have while still using muted colors.

Saint John, the Baptist as a boy...

Love these prints of the praying children!

"I will bless every house in which an image of my Sacred Heart shall be exposed and honored"

A beautifully colored print of Saint Therese.

Saint Anthony... by C Bosseron Chambers. Probably the foremost religious artist of the 20th century. I love his work!.

My favorite guardian angel print!


I hung the art all the way down to the baseboards. They're @ eye level when you are at the bottom of the stairs, so why not!



See! All the way to the baseboards!

This photo is of Saint John the Baptist, (also by C Bosseron Chambers) as a toddler & another beautiful Saint Therese print.

Another guardian angel print.


Love this rococo frame!

Mother Mary again, this time as a young girl. Doesn't it remind you of Drew Barrymore when she was young? This was another by C. Bosseron Chambers. I told you I loved his work!

I don't know if this would classify as religious art but it has the same feel, so I included it. The print is called Cupid Awake, Cupid Asleep & is by M.B. Parkinson. It's hung at the top of the stairs on a wall by itself.

The print on the left is of Mother Mary & Baby Jesus, unknown artist but maybe a C Bosseron Chambers.

The one on the right is Baby Jesus, is another Chambers (it's his most famous work...entitled Light of the World) & is the one that started the collection. I wasn't sure, @ first, what drew me to the print. I bought it years & years ago, it matched nothing I had going on in the house at the time & I kept it in a closet, for a long time. But it led to another one & another one & I got such a warm glow from them that I just kept buying them. And eventually displayed them. Then one day, my aunt came in from out of town & exclaimed, "You got Mam-Maw's picture?!!"

It seems the same print, similarly framed, hung on my grandmother's bedroom wall forever. I may not have a conscious memory of it but I'm sure, sub-consciously, I was attracted to it because it reminded me of my Mam-Maw.

Hope y'all enjoyed your trip up my Stairway to Heaven! Can't wait to see the eye candy on Show n Tell @ JunqueArt. Thanks for stopping by & be sure & thank Cindy for hosting the shin-dig!

The face of a SuperBowl champion

This is the face of a superbowl champion! Caeden's football team went to the playoffs today & after a very close game...brought home the trophy! Way to go Texans!!!!!



Connor's team also made it to the playoffs but lost the Superbowl by 6 pts. He was bummed but showed good sportsmanship by congratulating his brother. He was genuinely happy for him!

I got an award!

Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch was kind enough to bestow this award upon me. Thank you Susan...I'm honored!

The rules of the "Kreativ Blogger" Award are as follows:

Acknowledge the person who sent it to you. Pick 6 people who deserve this award to tag. List 6 things that you do value and 6 that you don't value!

Here's my six that I value-

1. Life...after spending 2 months in a constant state of panic, for fear my son would die, you bet this was tops on my list!

2. Family...dysfunctional we may be but we got heart! And we're big on supporting each other.... I am so blessed to have the family I do!

3. My husband..I know technically he's part of the family but I really value the fact that I have a partner to share all life's burdens. So many, who are married, don't.

4. My own strength...it's gotten me through some hard times.

5. Determination.....determination will take you farther than talent ever could!

6. Creativity...I love creative people. They think outside the box!

Now the 6 that I don't value-

1. Bad attitudes...happiness is a choice & I don't understand why everyone doesn't choose it.

2. Laziness...even doing nothing should have a purpose!

3. Dishonesty...have the courage to keep it real & keep it honest!

4. Self-centeredness...the world does not revolve around you!

5. Abuse...in any shape, form or fashion!

6. Rap...I'm sorry, I just can't hang w/ it! ;o)

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Now for my honorees-

Queen of 50 cents--very creative in regaling us w/ her garage sale tales...she's pretty creative w/ what she does w/ her finds too!

Sweet Old Vintage--I've only recently discovered her blog...seh's very creative w/ vintage items!

ShirlsRoseCottage--she's just plain creative!

Cottage in the Country--loved her Halloween countdown & made great use of her freebie patterns!

An Enchanted Cottage ----her witch's hat & mask on a lampshade, alone, was worthy of this award! ;o)

santamaker-- Wait til you see the Santas she creates! And her home is lovely!