Author Archives: cathyboettner

Last fall, we enlarged the vegetable garden on the south side of the house. This year, we added planting mix to it and topped it with mulch. Now, it’s time to get growing! I planted San Marzano tomato seeds and Cherokee Purple tomato seeds. I had a really good germination rate and ended up withContinue reading “Other vegetables–most all started from seed”

I bought a couple batches of romaine lettuce this spring and I planted it in March. I had to dig the first batch up in preparation for some extra cold (13 degree) weather and replant it once the coast was clear. I have been picking the outer leaves every week for the last several weeksContinue reading “Vegetable Garden–So MUCH lettuce!”

When we bought our old house, the woman who lived there had sown Lunaria (money plant) on the woods side of the fence and it grew well and self-seeded. I liked it really well and also moved it to one of our garden beds and allowed it to self seed there as well. When weContinue reading “A really neat perennial–great for fresh arrangements, and dried”

We are having dinner with my mother in law and my mother and family for Mother’s Day. We haven’t had a gathering this big at our house since the pandemic began, so time to pull out all the stops. My thought process started with the white and black canisters that have silhouettes of a boyContinue reading “Mother’s Day Table”

A friend asked me for ideas on how to decorate a table for a brunch to celebrate a baby boy’s baptism. This is a hard one because it’s a religious event. I pulled out the silver baby items that I had handy–there are a few more but buried deep in boxes–baby cups and a porringer.Continue reading “Baby Boy’s Baptism Brunch”

I am going to do the centerpieces for my niece’s wedding at the beginning of October. I found a bunch of driftwood in the river which looked cool, so I asked her if she wanted to use it for her centerpieces. She agreed, since she wants a Northern California kind of vibe for the reception.Continue reading “1st Try at Wedding Centerpieces”

This one has a chicken theme… I started with a white cloth and a green and white runner. I added cake stands topped with hens on nest, egg cups, a child’s pull toy, porcelain rooster box, julep cups with grass. I used the Pimpernel place mats, yellow Fiesta ware mugs, and green and white napkins.

I started this table with a white cloth and an embroidered square cloth. I used cake stands to elevate bunnies, little houses, snowbaby bunny and chick, green hobnail votives with foil wrapped eggs, silver julep cups with grass and butterflies, and a couple of tiny paintings. I also used white orchids and milk glass hensContinue reading “Easter Table–Number 7”

This is somewhat similar to the last table. I used the same cloth, dishes, place card holders, and napkin rings. I added the three bunnies in the center all dressed in their Sunday best, or Easter best as the case may be.

This is a simpler table. I started with a white table cloth and layered on a white linen cloth embroidered with blue. I topped it with a green planter with grass and eggs, silver julep cups with grass and butterfly, porcelain bunnies. I used pewter bunny place card holders and silver chicken napkin rings. TheContinue reading “Easter Table–Number 5”