Dining Room Table all Set for a Family Gathering and a Tea Party......

Sunday I dressed up the dining room table using the Battenberg lace duvet cover my sister gave me as a tablecloth.

I love it!!

I set the table with the Desert Rose dinnerware I bought at Goodwill last year.

Summer made the napkin rings for me a couple of years ago.

It's been awhile since we have had a house full of friends and family and I am so ready to host a family dinner and a tea party and a ladies luncheon.

I yearn to see all my children and grandchildren crowded around the table with people perched on all four corners bumping elbows with one another.

I feel a smile in my heart every time I pass through the dining room now.

If I can 'see' something in my mind - it's as good sign it will happen.

The menu will be planned out and I am going to look through recipes and maybe make all new food instead of the same dinners I usually serve.

After we eat, we will clear the table and get out the special decks of playing cards Summer ordered for us. And open up the box of cards for the grands to choose from and we will all play NUTS and laugh and talk and have fun!

And before everyone leaves, we will set a date for the next gathering so we can look forward to meeting again soon.

I made Louis Dean a fluffy salad yesterday and thought that would look pretty on a plate.

Today I made chicken and dumplings from some of the chicken I cooked Saturday.

Louis Dean loves it so I made extra dumplings.

The thing about having a clean house is that you are always cleaning!!

For awhile the fridge was so FULL and I was determined not to waste any food and I pretty much didn't. But today it was time to clean it out again and it was not before it needed it, let me tell you!

I have some preserves that are 'gunky.' They are still good - just crystalized.

Cheese Blintzes would be good with a fruit topping made by heating up the preserves.

I need to remember that and make some soon.

I was up late last night finishing up this batch of masks.

All the pony tail elastic bands have been used so I will need to get in a fresh supply.

I still have plenty of material and intend to cut up some garments I meant to use for lightweight quilts and make some more masks from them.

No way of knowing how long we will be needing to wear them.

Guess what happened today??

I heard from a new friend!

Renee commented on a blog post and since then she and I have connected by email, mail and now phone!

I am so excited!!

She lives in Texas and it is really a small world when you come right down to it!

We hope to meet in the near future when life permits.

Renee is going through some cancer treatment with a major surgery scheduled for next Wednesday.

I hope you will join me in praying for her........

And now I will share Louis Dean playing along with Merle Haggard and George Jones.

Speaking of George Jones, I am going to have new carpet put in whenever businesses open up again and the carpet company I am going to use is here in Irving on Beltline Road. It's owned by relatives of George Jones! They have lots of memorabilia all over the office and Louis Dean got to talking to them about music. They said that people would bring in their albums and they would mail them to George Jones and he would sign them and mail them back.

This was in the years when he was not in good health prior to his death in April of 2013....

What a nice thing to do.

We are all packed up and the truck is loaded!

Tomorrow morning we are going to the COUNTRY and I am so excited I may not even sleep tonight!!

I might just tear up when we get there!