The sweetest of flowers have arrived: white lilacs and lilies of the valley. Utter heaven.
Their exquisite blossoms are as delicate as their scents.
Not yet being blessed with blooms from our newly-planted-last-year white lilac bush, I have to content myself with drinking in the fragrance from a large bush we encounter on our daily walk with the dogs. I may have been known to surreptitiously liberate a few flowers from the street side of the bush on occasion.
Just enough to, say, add a little something to a centrepiece largely comprising legitimately procured white roses (Trader Joe’s) and lilies of the valley from our own garden. Those we have aplenty.
Blue Birds of Happiness salad plates from Pier 1 a couple of years ago seemed more than appropriate for this table. I like the almost Ikat style of the design, with all the different shades of blue.
This one is nearly turquoise. Don’t you love the little pink cheeks on the chubby birds?
A solitary, rather imposing bird occupies the upper portion of this denim blue plate.
Then we have the slightly partridge-looking fellow in the bottom area of this greener plate.
These two are my favourites. They look like mother and child to me: “Now be back in the nest when the street lights come on. I don’t want to be chasing after you. It’s not safe for you to be out once those big black birds start their nightly antics.”
Cobalt blue tumblers provided visual cohesion with their consistent colour and visual interest with their different patterns of striped and lacy etchings. They are both 9 oz tumblers by Hazel Atlas and are true Depression glass. The left one is “Fine Rib” (1936-1939) and the one on the right is Royal Lace (1934-41).
The large compote holding the flowers is a Moser piece I picked up a few years ago on eBay.
Bird napkin rings in a gold-tone hold the blue & white napkins, and pick up the gold edging on the salad plates.
The gold is also echoed in the Rose Gold Twig flatware from World Market.
We couldn’t leave out Blue Bird open salt.
Oh, those luscious lilacs and lilies of the valley! Let’s linger for a bit and enjoy the fragrance.
They snuggle in so happily among their white rose friends.
Before we go, I want to express my sadness at the closing of Pier 1. It filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year and has been unable to find a buyer – not surprising in this current environment, but very distressing for the employees, loyal customers, suppliers and shareholders. They have announced that everything will be liquidated when they reopen their stores. I have set countless tables with Pier 1 items over the years and will miss them very much. Their tableware buyers, particularly, have a wonderful touch. I wish everyone the best as they wend their way through the process. I fear it won’t be the last retail casualty of this global upset. Ugh.
To end on a happier note, I wish all my American readers a lovely Memorial Day weekend. It’s shaping up to be beautiful weather-wise here in the North East, with warmer temperatures finally on their way.
Have a good rest of the week, everyone.
I’m sharing this post with Between Naps on the Porch.
The table looks so lovely with the bluebirds of happiness plates setting the theme so delightfully. The fragrance of the florals brings to mind spring and the hope of much better times…always a contrast of white with blue is stunning. I too will miss Pier 1 as they carried some unique pieces for each season and it is sad for all employees and customers who loved and shopped the stores and the merchandise.
Thanks, Alayne. Blue and White is a classic for good reason!
Oh how terrible.
I wanted to order some wicker chairs for my porch from Pier 1 last year, but I waited because we are moving this year. Now, those comfortable chairs will never be in my possession .
This pandemic has had more consequences than we can ever imagine. We put our house on the market in January and it has not sold.
We are going to lose a lot of money on it and how do people recover from losses like that. The government cannot pay us for all our monetary losses.
I do thank God for having money for food and electric and all essentials.
I know there are people who will lose much more than I.
Thank you for this stunning table setting. I think it is one of your best color combinations. Take care and stay safe and Joyful.
Hi Patricia,
I’m so sorry to hear about your difficulties in selling your house. Let’s hope that with things starting to open up, you get some action, and at the right price. It sounds like you’re doing what you can to stay focused on the positive, which is always beneficial. I’m sending good thoughts your way.
Take care,
Helen
I had problems clicking to your blog this time. Obviously, from the preceding comments, that wasn’t the case for others. But have you had any comments such as mine? As I write, I have only text – no photos.
Hi Susan,
I’ve had no other comments mentioning this issue, it will pass this on to my web person. Do you mind telling me what browser you use? Sometimes that has a bearing on things.
Thanks for letting me know!
Another beautiful table setting with two of my favourite heavenly scented flowers, lily of the valley and lilac. These bird plates are adorable and I do love the red little cheeks on these chubby birds. Shame about Pier 1 as it has been on the high street in our home town, Westport, Ct. for over 20 years where I frequently visit every Christmas.
My very favourite table colors are blue and white. How did I end up with 300 pieces of Port Merrion? I guess that happens when you live in the UK for 23 years. Nice job, Helen.
As a friend of mine said about houses, you don’t have to be monogamous with them, unlike marriage. 🙂 I think the same applies to tableware. While your favorite might be blue and white, the Portmeirion has tons of blue flowers, and I always think of the green trim as “neutral”, like grass and leaves. So not very odd, after all.
Let’s enjoy the lilac and lilies of the valley this week. They’re at their peak.
Blue and white is definitely a classic for good reason. Your table is lovely. The bird salad plates are charming and the napkins are gorgeous. The stemware is a really pretty color – almost a pale cobalt – very unique; and they look like they were made quite a while ago. Love it all, including the imagined smell of the lilacs and lilies of the valley – just heavenly. I too, am saddened by the closing of Pier 1. They really did have the the best selections in tableware. Its kind of not surprising in the setting of this covid pandemic, but I had really hoped that they would make a comeback. So sad. Take care.
Thanks, Kim! The glasses were made quite a while ago, during the 1930s. Isn’t it interesting how many shades of cobalt there are, let alone the overall colour blue?
Many of us are mourning Pier 1, it seems. I keep hoping for a last minute deal so they can be rescued. It’s going to be a weird fall with none of their Thanksgiving or Christmas items to look forward to.
I hope you and yours are having a relaxing Memorial Day Weekend.
Dear Helen,
Another lovely spring-summer table for us to emulate. Interesting how the patterned serviettes work with the patterned plates. You are beginning to slip towards HiwtBi territory! But this works well, and the white flowers lift the mood. Our lilacs are long gone; don’t think a prolonged dry spell in March helped. The lily-of-the-valley are still going, but barely. I hope, with all that tableware, you never have to move again. I am busy estimating how many china barrel-boxes we will need–yikes, and we’re probably 1/100th of yours! I am not looking forward to it…
Sounds like your spring is well advanced. Are you able to get a small bouquet of lily of the valley for your bedside table? I love that; it wakes me up at night, but it’s so worth it.
Don’t think I haven’t thought about moving all the china and glassware. Oy! Now that does wake me up some nights, and not in a good way. One day I’ll have to face it, but not for a long while, I sincerely hope. What will you do about moving all your personal effects overseas? A shipping container?
Yes, probably a 20-footer…same mover as we have used for collector cars in the past. Pagoda and E-type got there without a scratch. I want them to pack, with supervision of course. Not trying to pack 10 mirrors, 2 glass-top tables, framed art, and lots of china myself! It should be interesting, esp. with distancing. I have to give away all my orchids…sigh.
In this late dry spring, I found that rhodies make great cut flowers!
Speaking of Pagodas, my Dad had a British Racing Green ’65 230SL when I was a kid. I used to sit in the back alcove, turned sideways, with a cushion to my back against the edge of the convertible cover “lid”. This was long before the days of seatbelts, of course. After I left home, the Golden Retriever and Newfoundland took my place. I had my own silver ’66 in my salad days. 🙂 Glenn has a British Racing Green 67 E-type. Do you still have both cars? And if so, will they be going back with you?
Getting packers is a very sound option. They do an excellent job; they have all the right equipment, including uniform boxes. You can keep a close eye on things from a sensible distance. Good luck with it all.
I’m sorry about your orchids. It is a downside…
Small world! Mine is a signal red ’68 with a kindersitz. Her name is Carling (my darling diminutive car), She and the E-type moved *this* way, to the dealership OH set up to feed his car mania. Needless to say, the “dealership” has not sold one car yet. lol Thanks for the moving advice…we went through it several times: CH to Dubai, France to US/CH (split move, with two different movers), Dubai to CH (a mess because we had fled and no one supervised–each light bulb got its own giant ball of paper). Sigh…