Lunch for Two Lovely Ladies

In 2007 I had the privilege of getting to know  a lovely young woman  who is from England, but lives in Michigan because of her husband's career.  Her mum still lives in England but is here  visiting, so I invited them to lunch today.  The welcome flag was hung to greet them.

The table was set.  I had never heard of layering table linens until  2008 when I attended "An Occasion for Tea" sponsored by Tea Time Magazine, and designer April Cornell did a presentation on layering.   She began with a floor length under cloth, covered with a tablecloth, and a mini-cloth in the center [or a table runner], and place mats.   Ever since seeing her presentation, I often layer my table linens.

I used my pink Depression glass dishes.  I only had two berry bowls, so my girlfriend suggested I "re-purpose" my juice glasses [cherry blossom pattern] and use them for fruit. I liked her idea and it worked perfectly.  Pattern of the dinner plates and teacups and saucers is Sharon.

I used my Fenton Epergne for the centerpiece.  It's low and doesn't obstruct vision.

We began with tomato dill bisque.  [Bowls are Manhattan pattern]  I normally don't like to take photos once my guests arrive, but they read my blog and were very gracious about taking photos so I wouldn't have to recreate the lunch afterwards.

Green fruits in jasmine tea syrup [honeydew melon balls, seedless green grapes and kiwi] followed the soup.

I shaped corn tortillas into salad bowls for our southwest chicken salad.

We concluded with a simple dessert of raspberry sherbet.  Our tea throughout the meal was  Lemon Jade Green Tea from Simpson & Vail.

I so enjoyed my guests and our time spent together around the table.

Great Lakes Depression Glass Show

Last July I began communicating with a lovely lady [via E-mail] who is an antique dealer.  I  had purchased some Detroit department store memorabilia from her booth at a local antique store, and I wanted to inquire whether she had additional items for sale.  Eventually we met face-to-face, first at her house, and then at mine.   During one of our visits she told me about Michigan's two Depression glass clubs, both located in southeastern Michigan.   She is a member of the Great Lakes Depression Glass Club, and invited me to attend the November meeting as her guest.  The featured item that month was handled serving trays.  What fun seeing the collections some of the members displayed. 

My friend mentioned that the Michigan Depression Glass Club was hosting a show in November where Depression glass and other era glassware made in America from the 1920's to the 1960's would be displayed and available for purchase.   My girlfriend and I attended and thoroughly enjoyed the show.
 

I have a collection of pink Depression glass so I was especially drawn to the pink glass displays.

This past Saturday [April 21] the Great Lakes Depression Glass Club hosted their annual show, and my girlfriend and I went again.  What a fabulous show with even more vendors and glassware than the November show.   I drooled over a few items, but came home empty handed.  There were several pieces of the Tea Room pattern in both pink and green.  Some  reasonably priced, and others pricey.   But there were no "Petals" dishes.

 

 

After seeing all the beautiful glassware, I was inspired to come home and bring my totes of pink Depression glass up from the basement that I packed away during a family room renovation.   Over the extended period of time I forgot exactly what I had, so I decided to catalog my collection.  It'll be great  knowing what I have when I attend these shows or go  antiquing.   The photo below shows two totes, with one more to unpack.  I'm having some friends over for lunch this Wednesday.  Can you guess what my tablescape will be?  ;-)