Skip to main content
A May Party and Bouquets of Roses
For my month of May party, I wanted it to be delicate and flowery. Just as blowsy and romantic as the season. This called for huge bouquets of flowers to be cut from my garden, and Grandma Tommy's Bavarian rose wedding china atop an antique drawn-work tablecloth.
And it was the perfect time to use the antique porcelain name card holders Moma got me for Christmas. Remember them HERE? And I did tiny watercolor tags for the names.
I decided this was also the perfect time to try Mary Berry's Viennese Whirls that were a challenge on the British Baking Show. It was a soft dough similar to shortbread, that you pipe in a whirling circle, then bake and fill with raspberry jam and buttercream frosting. They were yummy, but they couldn't hold my attention when the other item I made was PAVLOVA.
If you have read many of my posts you may know that I am utterly crazy about Pavlovas! HERE you can read about what these blissful confections are like, and use my recipe to see if you find them as divine as I do. These were filled with whipped cream and topped with chopped strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. See why I couldn't pay attention to the cookie?
For a special treat we tried two new drinks. A Lemonocello from Italy, via Aldi. And a Rose Lemonade from England, courtesy of Home Goods. If you ever want to find really neat specialty foods and drinks, go to Home Goods. Honestly, I've never made it past the food and cooking aisles, so I don't know what else they may have. Shows you where my passions lay ;)
And now, finally, I get to bombard you with flowers!!
The center bouquet was of maidenhair fern topped with peonies, studded with sage flowers and blue Siberian iris. Alas, iris are short-lived in a vase and some have already closed.
On either side was a low vase filled with fern, English and antique roses, and nepeta (cat mint).
And now you get some close-ups, just because I love these flowers so much...
These bouquets filled the whole house with the scent of rose and herbs.
And last, but not least, my kitchen table. In the center is a bouquet that Seth and Emiley brought me for Mother's Day. It is still looking gorgeous, and I accented it with two peonies passed down from my Grandma Tommy. The one on the left has an unusual gold edging on the central petals that I have never seen in any other peony. (The fishbowl to the right holds my pet snail, Buckeye)
I so enjoyed everyone around my table, including a friend who stole a few moments away from her triplets, and my dear Paris companion who brought her baby granddaughter, Charlotte. A beautiful time with beautiful people. And even now the smell of roses pervades the air, and petals slowly drop to the table to settle like velvety jewels. Oh, the magical month of May...
You can never have too many flowers. I seem to pick at least one new bloom to bring inside every single day!
ReplyDeleteMy larger iris make good cut flowers. I cut a stalk with lots of buds. Each bloom lasts a day or so then as they fade I cut them off & the next one down opens. I love them!
I agree! Last night, before the storms, I cut five vases of roses just so they wouldn't ruin. I love them in my garden, but I get to relish them on my table!
DeleteOh your table is so pretty. And those flowers! We have had such a cold, wet, windy spring. I managed to get one bouquet of lilacs cut before the wind destroyed them and I don't know if my peonies will ever bloom. And there's more rain in the forecast. I'm ready for some sun and blooming flowers!
ReplyDeleteI'm intrigued by your pet snail. My little boy would love to have a pet snail!
Thank you, sugar! Our spring has also been chilly and wet. I took off the winter covers from the bed and have slowly put them almost all back on again :). I just keep telling myself to look how big all my plants are getting from the rain- I have hostas that are already a foot bigger than they've ever been. And, who knows, we may have a terrible dry summer and need this all now!
DeleteLand snails are such fun pets! People say they are slugs with shells, but not so. Mine is fascinating. When she is eating something crunchy you can hear her eating. And when they lay eggs and hatch babies it is so fun!
We may have to look into housing a land snail! Right now we have six chickens, some cats (if you live in the country you have to have a few mousers!), two goats, two fish and a hamster. I think Drew would love a snail! He wants a bird so badly but we had a bird when his oldest brother was little and I just can't do that again. But a snail sounds like fun! We enjoy having critters around to keep us entertained! We've also had a pot bellied pig, a bottle calf, rabbits, a turtle, hermit crabs, a lizard and of course dogs - with four kids you tend to have lots of pets!
ReplyDeleteYou sound so much like us- we've pretty much run the gamut of weird pets- including wild birds, possums, fawns, etc. I loved when we had hermit crabs and pygmy goats. I have a baby red-eared slider turtle right now! Snails are great though, small accommodations, easy feeding and cleaning, and no noise- ha! ;)
Delete