Tales of Two Tablescapes & a Tie-in to Travel

I last saw my Aunt Katy in August when we were both at my brother's house for Mary Gracia's 1st birthday party. Am I going to include a picture of my adorable niece from her birthday party? Yes, I am. When you're this cute your picture is going to make the blog cut often!

At one point in the party, I was near my Aunt Katy who was giving my older two nieces some items from her house that had been my mom's. (My older nieces are also adorable but they're teens; I will not include a photo of them here since they were not the subject of a robust photo shoot at the party!) My aunt told the girls that the items were from a trip that she and my mom took to Guatemala. I knew that my mom had been to Guatemala and it tracks that my mom went with my aunt as they traveled together a decent bit but I had never known for sure that they traveled there together. My mom traveled on her own- she lived in Germany for a short while as a young adult and I know that she went some other places with friends. 

I expressed to my aunt that I didn't realize she and mom had gone there together. My aunt said that not only had they gone together but my aunt remembered the date and year though it was over fifty years ago! My aunt could recollect it because their trip was shortly before my mom married my dad- that made the year and time of year easy to remember. My aunt said that she had a couple of things from that trip that she would give to me if I wanted. She said something about a tablecloth and placemats. I responded that I would like them very much as a memento of the trip that they took together.

That conversation went in one ear and out the other (to use a phrase of my mom's- if I heard that one time growing up I heard it hundreds). When I received a package from my aunt in the mail a few weeks later, nada from that conversation came to mind... until I opened the package. Inside were the aforementioned tablecloth, placemats and napkins. The items were very obviously hand-made. Though I have them on my dining room table, goodness, I will never put so much as a plate on them lest food should touch them. 

I mentioned they are on my dining room table. I was about ready to place a Halloween themed table runner on the dining room table for decor as I received the items last month and it was about time to decorate for fall. I bought the runner at TJ Maxx or some store like that- I hope the pictures will make obvious my decision to forego the mass produced runner and place some vintage handmade items on the table instead.  

The colors were perfect for fall! The tablecloth is too small to cover the table in its entirety and there are only four placemats and four napkins but I don't care...I love how everything looks from the colors to the detail to how other items that I already owned like the pumpkins and candles match so well. 

I know that I said I would not put plates on the placemats and here are bowls and plates- however, they are just for show- If I were to eat on this table, I would put another placement, one that I didn’t care about food getting on, on top of the handstiched placemat shown here. 

In the corner of the dining room are boxes for the outdoor project. I will keep the camera pointed on the table to avoid those less than lovely looking items out of the pictures...

I loved learning a little bit more about my mom from my aunt. My mom was a lot like me (or vice versa!)- not a big talker or outgoing at all. She shared information about when she was younger, sure, but not a whole lot and by the time I was really interested, it was too late. When my mom died, my aunt told us kids quite a bit that we didn't know- mainly really positive things that my mom had accomplished or done for others. Mom was humble as can be and it doesn't surprise me in many ways that she kept her good deeds and awards to herself but I can't help but think it would have been nice to hear from her about them when growing up. I mean, she lived a life of good character in front of us; she did not need to tell us stories about herself that cast her in a good light for us to see her in a good light because we already did. But I wonder if maybe knowing some things about her earlier would have impacted me greater? Who knows?

I also wonder if my grandpa and his brother stepping off the SS Bremen from Germany and onto Ellis Island imagined what their kids and grandkids would be like in America. Honestly, so far, no one has made a huge name for him or herself or earned great wealth or fame. But the legacy of hard work, integrity and faith have been cultivated and have shaped the lives of many of us in the family who live in quiet, unassuming ways. 

Switching gears to the next tablescape:

My fall kitchen tablescape I have shared on the blog here so I won't go into too much detail. Trying to tie it into my past or to make it symbolic is maybe a stretch but I am nothing if but imaginative (and hopefully not narcissistic by making everything about me, lol. But it's my blog- perhaps writing one is an indicie of some form of benign narcissism (hey everyone read what I have written!)). 

I love our new kitchen table. We had a black one for years that was utilitarian. We bought this much lighter (in color) but substantial in size table and couldn't be more pleased with it. I think the "blue pumpkin" table runner that I bought last year or the year before looks really good with the new lighter table. I bought the runner and some kitchen towels in the same motif from Amazon. The style is referred to as farmhouse. Thinking about this popular style (though is it still popular? I don’t watch HGTV or go out of my way to ascertain knowledge of home trends so maybe its heydey has come and gone) often elicits thoughts of my childhood home. I know that "farmhouse" as a design style is an adjective but since "farmhouse" is also a thing, a noun, to describe a house on the grounds of a farm, and I grew up in an old farmhouse, I can't help but think of the irony of farmhouse as a style goal juxtaposed with the real-life farmhouse that I grew up in. 

Linoleum floors in the kitchen, metal kitchen cabinets, insufficient insulation, no central air, drafty windows, undoubtedly lead pain and asbestos, a dank cellar, cracks in the drywall, mice almost continually residing in the cobwebby attic and a couple of charming features like high ceilings and some beautiful French doors are some of the features of my childhood home. The not so nice features have me loving our current nineteen year old suburban home immensely! I don't need wide open spaces- give me a small plot of land and AC! {I know that plenty of old farmhouses are beautiful- ours was not and my parents didn't have the resources to make the house comfortable in extreme temperatures or make it beautiful.}

Thinking about the house that I grew up reminds me of my dad who grew up in the same house that I did. My dad lived the entirety of his life in that house! He grew up in the house on the family farm. When his dad died and his two siblings came of age and moved out, dad stayed with my grandma in the house. My dad and his siblings did not want to farm so my dad found a job instead. I don't remember asking my dad why he didn't want to farm (he got sick way too early in my life to think to ask those kinds of questions). However, one of my dad's cousins whom my sister got in touch with a few years ago, said that the farm work was so labor intensive, especially for the return that they got for their work, that none of them wanted to do it. Now my dad was not a lazy man at all- he worked a full time job and in the summer months had a huge garden. If it grew in northern Indiana, it was in our garden. He'd come home from work and then spend a lot of time out in the garden. So if dad said farming was too much work, I believe it was too much work. Dad's cousin confirmed the labor intenseness of it. She spent her summers out on the farm helping and attested to how hard they worked from sun up till sun down. Anyway, after my dad married my mom, they lived in the house and my grandma moved to a place in a nearby town. So my dad never lived elsewhere.

My dad was also not well traveled. As a kid growing up in a farming family with livestock, getting away was not easy. Then when he had a regular job with vacation time, having extra money for travel to far off places was lacking. The only season in his life when he could have traveled was before he met my mom. I don’t remember him talking about any trips during this time but I it’s possible that he took some trips. 

Here he is with my little brother and sister. And Sandy our dog licking the watermelon we were undoubtedly going to eat...

My little brother and sister and me #fallvibes

Shuckin’ corn from the garden as one does...

This grainy picture looks vaguely dystopian. I took it with a not so great camera when I was a young teen- my goal was the double rainbow. I managed to capture part of the chicken coop (the white building) and part of the barn. 

A less grainy picture of the barn

I like to think that I got my (somewhat, to a degree) sense of adventure from my mom's side. From a grandpa who left his country of birth at age 17 to a mom who's visited many countries from ones in Central America to Israel to of course, Germany, where she lived for a while as an adult, I have the DNA of people who liked adventure and took risks. From my dad's side, where who knows how many generations of our family lived in the same house, I have the DNA of stolid, hardworking ancestors who forsook adventure for the labor of farming and blue collar work and I know that I can be content in either world. I like to travel and experience new things but I also really like to be at home. 

I got this adorable lil' pumpkin at Kleather’s this weekend. I love the blue and the sentiment (though it should read “let’s” and not “lets” I am “letting” it go, lol.

Of course, as long as I don’t have family in town, I will travel to see them. Some of these pictures remind me of my trip to Canada last year. My sister and I found the cutest stores where I bought these pumpkin things.

These pumpkins were on clearance at a really nice boutique which was odd since I was there in September and it was the season for fall items? I am especially grateful for them since I think they look really good with the white on the tablecloth.

And this Hello Pumpkin guy was at the most adorable gardening center imaginable called the Watering Can. I wrote about all of our adventures here.

Linking up with Joanne for Talking about it Tuesday...