Kiss me! I'm Irish! No, really... I am.

Ok, so I'm 1/4 Irish - 1/4 Italian - 1/4 Lebanese - 1/4 English. Quite the mixture, isn't it?

My dad's mother was Irish and I was told my black hair and blue eyes are from the Irish side of the family. My dad had black hair and blue eyes -- as did his mother and about half his siblings. "Black Irish" is the term my father used.

I've occasionally met people who are surprised to hear there is even a twinkling of Irish in me because apparently I don't look the part.

St. Patrick's Day is an e.v.e.n.t. where I live. It goes on for days and is very cool. The town is named for the Irish patriot, Robert Emmet, and there is even a statue of him outside the courthouse in the center of town. We happen to have one of the only 4 statues in existence -- I believe the others are in Dublin, Ireland and California and Washington DC.

I do enjoy aspects of the celebration but for the most part, I'd rather read about it afterwards. Too many people and too much celebrating for me!

Quietly at home is more my speed. And with that said, I'm very excited to share my 2nd ever tablescape today!!

Table is set for brunch and location is in our sunroom at the lake:

Centerpiece is a Shamrock plant still in the florist container with the pretty ribbon
 

A tiny whimsical touch of Irish on each spoon
 

I love the shamrock design on the embroidered cut-work table topper

Closer view
 

Individual butter dish for each person
 

Side table held the Irish coffee mugs with sugar and Bailey's Irish Creme
 

Closer view. You can see the lake beyond the windows. Still ice right now!
 

Place setting



Another angle



Using the flatware I discovered in my own home a few weeks ago
 

View of the sunporch. It's actually on the upper level of our home with a fantastic view of the lake.
 

Using my favorite goblets
 

From above
 

My helper, Holly. She loves to be involved with whatever I am doing!
 

A few glittery shamrocks in the Shamrock plant

What's on the table:
Dinner plates and bread plates: Mikasa Italian Countryside
Salad plates and small fruit bowls: Martha Stewart "Hudson" from Macys
Water goblets:  Villeroy & Boch "Boston Green" Collection
Flatware: S. Kirk & Son "Kingsley" (found in my home!)
Butter dishes: Crate and Barrel
Napkins: Walmart
Table square: Already owned
Shamrock plant centerpiece: local garden center

I had fun with this tablescape! I used the shamrock square top without a tablecloth underneath it as I love the open feel of the glass table.

The individual butter knives were collected from the various flatware sets I have.

Loooove those butter dishes. they are two pieces (the bowl to hold the butter and the lid to cover it). When it is just Hubby and me for dinner, I don't mind using the 'community butter dish' but otherwise, I much prefer giving each person their own.

Each butter dish holds about 4 tablespoons of butter. I usually add 3-4 tablespoons. Just cut them from the stick and put inside the bowl and let it soften to room temperature. You can also soften it in the microwave (as my photo below shows) but it can over-melt if you don't watch it closely. Once softened, I use a tiny fork and give the butter a quick stir and put a swirl on the top!

You could also use the top as a tiny cloche!

Add 3-4 tablespoons of butter to bowl.



Let stand until it is room temperature or soften in microwave (watch it closely!)



Give the softened butter a swirl and put the lid on!

Thanks for reading!



I will be linking up with:

Show and Tell Saturdays at Be Different Act Normal
Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper
Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage
Mosaic Monday at Little Red House
Amaze Me Monday at Dittle Dattle
Tabletop Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life
Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch
Third Annual St. Patrick's Day Blog Crawl on March 15th at Cuisine Kathleen's

St. Patrick was One Cool Dude...

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…" (Matthew 28:19) 

When my daughter was a little girl, she brought home a flyer announcing a meeting for girls who were interested in joining the Girl Scouts. I was a Girl Scout myself as a child and remember how much I enjoyed it and thought K would as well, so we went to the meeting... During the meeting a sign-up and permission sheet was passed out to join. I also checked the little box offering to help -- thinking I would bring cookies or be a chaperone occasionally. 

A few days later, the Head Girl Scout Lady showed up at my doorstep with a couple of large boxes to drop off and to thank me for volunteering to be the troop leader! What?? I did not volunteer anything of the sort! Apparently, I either checked the wrong box and I actually volunteered to be the Girl Scout Leader -- or none of the other moms checked anything and they grabbed onto the one person who did. (I never again saw that sheet of paper I allegedly agreed to be in charge of 24 little first graders, so I couldn't prove anything.)

I was the Troop leader for five years... 

When the girls were still Brownies and in 1st grade, I had an activity planned for St. Patrick's Day and to learn more about the person St. Patrick really was. So I started out the meeting by asking the troop, "What is St. Patrick's Day all about?" All hands flew into the air with answers. Although I can't remember all of the replies, these are some of my favorites:

"It's the day Dr. Seuss said we eat green eggs and ham"

"My parents get a babysitter for me on that day so they can go to a party"

"It is the day you have to wear green so you don't get pinched by boys"

...and my favorite...

"A little leprechaun who collected snakes took a bunch of them and colored them all different colors. Then he put them into a pot of gold and played his flute and they crawled out of the pot of gold to reach across the sky and find another pot of gold. And that's how rainbows were invented!"

Wow. I was impressed with this kid's imagination! And impressed that she even knew about -- or made the connection with -- St. Patrick and snakes. 

By the time the meeting ended that evening, the girls were very excited about the shamrock bookmarks they made -- and having gained a little bit of knowledge about St. Patrick of Ireland. 

I joined a Christian youth group in college and while discussing the doctrine of the Trinity one evening, our youth pastor brought each one of us a shamrock plant. He explained how St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity. How God is One God but three persons. St. Patrick showed how the shamrock was one leaf on one stem and at the same time were three separate leaves that made one leaf.

I love shamrock plants and always pick one up when the garden center has them in March. Each time I look at the three leaves that together make one leaf, I think of the Holy Trinity.

Pretty awesome.

Thanks for reading!

The Guest House: The Building Process Part II

Here is Part II of our guest house and garage that we began building in 2009. I thought I would have photos of the carpeting installed to post today... but it's still not installed.

Here's hoping Mr. Carpet Layer #2 still comes through for us!



House is wrapped and windows begin to go in.



View of back of house before wrapping and windows.



It was an exciting day when the stairs went in! You can see where small bathroom will be underneath the stairs.



Another shot of stairs taken from the garage door. Shows entire first floor of house.



Bay windows next to kitchen. These really helped define some character to the first floor.

 

More stairs. By now, they have put plastic between the house and garage to keep the heat contained in the house.

  

Electricity is run and recessed lighting installed throughout the house.
 

Electrical inspection was passed and work progresses... the heating and plumbing are going in now.
 

Flooring installed in upstairs bath after partial drywall and tub/shower is moved in.
 

Wall was removed in the bedroom to install the bath/shower into the bathroom.



Insulation in upstairs bonus room.



Another view of insulation. From this angle, the half door to attic storage space is seen along with the upstairs bath and bedroom. Stairs seen in the middle of the photo.

Drywall really changed the feel of the house! The rooms became very defined and actually felt larger than we thought they would.
 

Garages are insulated and drywall went up. Both garages are finished just like the interior of the guest house.



Drywall in upstairs bonus room.



Another shot of bonus room.
 

Upstairs landing. Bathroom straight ahead and bedroom to the left. Linen closet in the hallway and half door to attic on the right.
 

Taping the sheetrock.
 



More taping...



This is the inside of the upstairs attic room. There is a lot of storage room in here!
 

Texturing the walls...
 

Everything is pretty much done and walls are textured. Painting is next!



This is how the garage guest house looked for many months!



I will post Part III : The painting and exterior finishing later this week!

Thanks for visiting!



I am linking to:
 
Debbiedoo's Newbie Party at Debbiedoo's Blogging and Blabbing
Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage
Metamorphis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Show Off Your Cottage Monday at The House in the Roses