We Have Roses!

"Big and Bursting" could be this year's garden theme. The planting are now three years old, and some of them have turned into real space hogs. Here's a little month-by-month of how we got to where we are today.

March

The crocuses debuted this year, and they did not disappoint.





We had a rare 80 degree day that shortened their bloom time, but the daffodils were not far behind.





These snowdrops and hyacinths have been here since the house was built.







I put these in the window box for a few weeks of color.



"Old Faithful" forsythia also put on a wonderful show.





April

Then it was tulip time.















The lilac gave us a few blooms.



The shade garden sprang to life.









May

One new addition~



The rhodie ushered in the pinks.









We have roses!

Missoni Meets Fiesta

Dish Fairy came calling last Saturday, and she was wearing stripes...Missoni stripes to be precise.



This espresso set is one of the most coveted pieces from the Missoni for Target line that sold out in mere minutes. Thank you, Angela, for working your Dish Fairy magic to send a set my way! Your package was a truly amazing surprise! Now let's take it for a spin on the tabletop.















The placesettings feature Fiesta in lemongrass squares, black luncheon plates, paprika individual pasta bowls and Ikea flatware along with napkin rings from Bloomingdales and napkins from Pier One.









You can read more about the vintage California Hand Prints tablecloth here. I think it works so well with these Italian stripes and zig-zags. Thanks again, Angela, for a fabulous new tabletop toy!

Brimfield Encore

Friday brought another great Brimfield excursion. Traffic was intense, but the company, weather and purchases were wonderful. It seems I've filled up the tabletop once again!



Let's start with the linens. I've admired this California Hand Prints Fish Tail cloth for a long time, but I could never see the pink and turquoise colorways in my dining room. When I spied this yellow and lemongrass version, I knew it was the one for me.





Do check out the photos on this Flickr page that show some of the original Richard Koppe artwork that inspired this design. Oh to dine in that restaurant!



The Brittany fishing village cloth below continued my beloved ocean/beachy theme.



What great graphics!





Fizz approves of this part of the design.



I really love this cloth in contrast to the New England fishing village.



I don't think this Wilendur fruit cloth has ever been washed. It's a nice compliment to this larger version in scarlet.

A tangerine stripe for Halloween rounded out the linen purchases for this day.



I'm looking forward to using it with my tangerine Bistro plates.

Ready to see the new pottery?

A few more bits of Riviera~



A shell planter for Rivera sea scapes~



~and a Hall nautilus tureen that I've been craving for a very long time.

Finally, I could not resist some earrings to go with some of my vintage pieces.



I especially like contemporary jewelry made from vintage findings. The mix can keep retro fresh and avoid a costume-y feel.

I hope you enjoyed my Brimfield report for this year. I won't make it back to the fields until September, but I definitely have enough treasures to hold me, don't you think? Now I have one final observation to share. For the first time, a lot of vendors had "no photographs" signs in their booths. The reason? They don't want their tents appearing on monetized blogs!