Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Autumn Birthday

My husband and I celebrated our thirty fourth wedding anniversary at the beginning of the month. You can't be married that long without learning to respect one another's strength and weaknesses. He is calm and quiet, I am loud and crazy. He is methodical, I like to dive right in. He READS THE INSTRUCTIONS before starting a project. I assume I can figure it out from the pictures. He DOES NOT SHOP. So to help him out,I ordered some clearance Pfaltzgraff dishes for my birthday! I am sad I cannot go to the outlet store (they chose to close them, sniff, sniff). I had planned to unpack them before Mr. Merry caught sight of the quantity of boxes. Unfortunately he is home this week, working on preparations for our son's wedding. That silly UPS man dropped them off to him.

 
My centerpiece is a birthday gift from my co-worker and friend, Sam. She introduced me to blogs and inspires me to keep going! Thanks again, Sam.

I bought these placemats years ago and will hopefully showcase them on a fall TABLE once we get through the weekend.
For my charger, I am using a ruby red plate with a raised border. The very, very last time I visited the Pfaltzgraff outlet, they had piles of these plates. I bought quite a few to supplement my Pfaltzgraff Christmas Hertitage dishses, which were discontinued. As we keep adding family members to the Christmas table, I was wishing I had picked up many more. I was delighted to find them on the clearance site. The pattern name is Ruby.

I also ordered a set of four dinner plates and four salad plates in the green. I would have ordered more, but I am concerned about how I am going to store the ones I do have! The pattern name is Emerald, but I think the color is much richer than that.

Our top plate is a lovely golden Pfaltzgraff bread plate. When I saw these, I thought they would be perfect for a slice of pie at Thanksgiving. The pattern name is Plymouth and they came in a set of three. I ordered three sets, since most of my table is too full for pie. I unfortunately broke one plate when I dropped it while taking it out of the box. I am almost in tears. But I guess it is an excuse to order another set.

Don't you just love the wheat staff border?

I added a candle in a glass holder shaped like a jack'o lantern. I know that is rushing the season - but I love fall and I love Halloween. I can't wait to decorate my fall table and begin planning my Halloween table, too!
 

I am linking with Susan who hosts the Greatest Tablescape Review On Earth- Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch
http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2010/09/welcome-to-109th-tablescape-thursday.html

And with Michael who hosts the delicious Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/2010/09/pineapple-upside-down-cake.html

Please visit both sites and enjoy the lovely tables and delectable foods!

16 comments:

  1. I love the colors of your new plates! Sounds like you have a lot going on-enjoy:@)

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  2. I grinned at your description of your marriage. You could have been describing ours.

    Love the gift that you bought yourself from him. I'm sure he'll appreciate it too! The ruby is my favorite! I would love them too,and you're right about using them at Christmas.

    Of course, the stacking of emerald and plymouth plates with it looks great too!

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  3. Love your plates -- Happy Birthday. Of course being creative creates a mess -- the more creative the bigger mess (that's what I say anyway) Happy wedding.

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  4. Hi, Miss Merrie,

    I love the Plymouth plates -- so sorry one was broken. I agree that additional shopping seems essential! Happy fall birthday! I hope your birthday is happy, your Thanksgiving is festive, and all your special wishes come true!

    Your cheesy potatoes look and sound sensational! I need to try your recipe asap!

    Warmest regards,
    Bill

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  5. What fun to receive boxes of new dishes! Yours look very versatile, and I especially love the molded border designs. You get bonus tablescaping points for setting a place during such a busy time for your family! Hope the wedding is wonderful!

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  6. Oh, I just love getting new dishes! They are such pretty colors. Good luck with everything. I really liked seeing the pumpkins with the names on them.

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  7. Love your new dishes, great colors for fall. Happy birthday, Miss Merry!

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  8. I think you are just amazing, that you would help your husband out like that by helping him with a gift, we should all follow suit. My dining room is starting to look like that, piled with boxes of goodies I have been inspired to buy because of my lovely blogger friends! Congrats on 34 years. We were 31 years this year. What a wonderful accomplishment.

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  9. You're going to get so much mileage out of those wonderful red, green, & yellow plates. I can visualize a tablescape for every season. Great choices! I can hardly wait to make the Cheesy Potatoes. They look incredible. Thank you for sharing your charming design & recipe. Cherry Kay

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  10. A LOVELY tablesetting! Happy Anniversary and Wishes for a wonderful wedding for your son and his intended. Sounds like you have the same illness I notice all over blogland...dish addiction, lol. I converted my linen closet to hold overflow dishes..who needs linens in a linen closet anywho :)

    Blessings!
    Gail

    P.S. YUMMY looking potatoes!

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  11. Those potatoes look scrumptious. Will have to give them a try. I love that you live in the real world! And a table for one as cheery as yours is a welcome respite... lovely.

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  12. Hi,
    Happy birthday! I love your dishes, the pattern and the color! Very nice. The potatoes look awesome too.
    Sherry

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  13. What a great idea to buy your own gift. I am blessed with a non shopping husband too!
    Hugs, Rhondi

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  14. just visited for the first time.I love all your dishes! Please drop by and "meet" me. We have alot in common,I also love to dream about fearie gardens.I even made a fearie house for my granddaughter. Denise

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  15. Yes, I loved Debbie's Magazine.I sure hope it comes back someday.Thanks for your note. Denise

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  16. Great blogging, I can tell you've been at this a long time. I'm just starting out and I think I can learn alot from your site. Nice visiting with you.Please drop by my site anytime. Thanks Denise from Denise's Delights

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Thank you so much for stopping by to visit! I love your comments and suggestions and read them all. Due to spam, I will now have to approve all comments.

Miss Merry