HARVEST TABLE FOR TWO

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair?

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

Remember me to one who lives there

She was once a true love of mine."

Simon and Garfunkle

Before we put dinner on the table, I would like to thank all of you who were so gracious to ask how Buddy is doing.

We went to the vet on Thursday and she was not as happy about Buddy's health as she would have liked to be.  He still has the pneumonia, in fact, she heard more crackling in his lungs than before, so evidently the medicine wasn't strong enough.  She prescribed a stronger dose and he was put on an inhaler and we had to put a humidifier in the room and pound on his chest for 1/2 hour twice a day.  If he is not showing signs of improvement by Wednesday, we have to take him back and they might have to insert a tube into his lungs and drain out the bacteria so that he can breath better.

Hopefully, he will be feeling better so that doesn't have to happen.

Even though he's sick, he still grabs his basketball and wants Dad to play catch!

Now for a little less talk and a lot more pictures....

The Harvest Time china...Royal Chippendale

Rosemary for "Remembrance"

Charger and napkin rings, Target

Placemats and napkins, HomeGoods

Rosemary and White Bean Soup

Tomato, Basil and Garlic Bruschetta

"Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves.  We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!"

Author Unknown

Make each day special....Judy

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You may have noticed the button on my sidebar proclaiming October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

BJ over at Sweet Nothings was kind enough to let me take it from her and I would like to offer it, also, to any one that might be interested.

On each post that I send out this month, I will include a picture with something pink in it.  It is a fun way to keep the focus on this devastating disease throughout the month, and I would be more than happy to have you join me.

Think Pink!

I'm sharing the Harvest dinner with:

Make It Pretty Monday

A Return to Lovliness

A Cozy Place Called Home

Wow Us Wednesday

What's It Wednesday

Home and Garden Thursday

Home Sweet Home

Feathered Nest Friday

   

A SMALL AMOUNT OF NONSENSE

Once my comments become exhausted on any certain post, I really like to put a new one out there.

I didn't have anything exciting in mind for this one but a smattering of nonsensical things that, in themselves, don't have much of a story line but may, if all done together, be of interest to someone.

So here is a small amount of nonsense and don't think twice if you feel the need to change the channel.

This is our guest bedroom that I've only shown once before, and if you will remember, the bed was loaded down with box storage from the kitchen.  Now that the kitchen is finished and everything is put in it's place, a slight face lift will be given to the bedroom and she will be ready to receive guests once again.

As you may recall the amount of time it took us to finish the kitchen and hopefully it will not take that long here.  We are repainting all the woodwork and the ceiling.  We are not changing the wallpaper.  That would be a sacrilege in the Captain's mind and I truly do like it, so I'm OK with that decision.  We will change the furniture around a bit and see how we like it.  I'm anxious to get started.

We picked up this desk (looking through the bed footboard) at a garage sale last weekend for $10.  It's in really good shape and is all wood.  I am going to attempt to paint it with chalk paint, that we will mix ourselves, and it will go into the sun porch (that you see behind the French doors above) and will become a pretty piece to use as my sewing machine table.

That sun porch will become my sewing-craft room.  There is a lot of light coming through the windows all the way around the room.  With new hardware and a pretty white coat of paint, I think it will do quite nicely.

I finally found some chair slips on line from Target.  They were very reasonably priced and are made pretty well.  They are not an exact match for our chairs, like custom made would be, but for now I am happy with them and I might find something better in the future.

This piece in being used in the dining room.  It is actually a bedroom dresser made by Bassett.  We found it at the Salvation Army store a few years ago.  It was stained a fruitwood finish and I painted it white, stenciled and painted the little roses on it, and went over the whole piece with an antiquing stain.  It is a little more yellow than I would have liked, but it does go with the background of the wallpaper.  If you will notice, the mirror is hung horizontally.  It's been this way for quite some while and I was happy with it.

Recently I have begun to feel that it really does have a bedroom quality to it.  The Captain says I've been seeing too many blogs and that means more work for him. But isn't that why we do what we do, to help and inspire each other?  Anyway, we hung the mirror vertically and I think I like it much better. I also, if you can tell, painted the bases of the lamps a bronze color.  I like that a lot better also.

I found 5 of these pretty wine glasses for $1 at a garage sale this past weekend.  I had the 2 others from another sale some time ago.  I don't know the maker but they are quite heavy and have a nice little ring when the glass is struck.

I also removed the heavy pink drapes over the lace curtain in the dining room.

They made the room quite a bit darker, and with the colder weather coming on it's nice to have as much light as possible.

On a window shopping spree, I spotted these cannisters in a shop for $169.  Not really these cannisters, but ones very similar.  These cannisters I purchased at a floral shop for $49.  So, I think I did pretty well and they fit right into the new kitchen.

A while ago we picked up this Victorian doll house at a garage sale for $25.  I thought that was a good price and it will fit into my Christmas scheme this year.  I'm debating whether to paint it or just leave well enough along.  What would you do?  To do it justice would take a fair amount of work, I think.

I got this sweet basket of faux herbs at my sister's garage sale.  I knew it would find a place in the kitchen window.  I got some other stuff also that I will show you later.

It's kind of chilly here today even though the sun is shining brightly.  I think Maggie is waiting for the stoves to be lit and is taking advantage of the next best thing.

Poor Buddy!  He is feeling poorly.  It started when we were camping a couple of weeks ago.  We noticed that he was breathing kind of fast and seemed very tired.  We took him to the vet when we got home, and he was diagnosed with pneumonia.  She gave him antibiotics and said we had to keep him very quiet until he was better.

As it so happened that weekend we were supposed to go to Santa Cruz for our 55th high school reunion.  The Captain and I graduated together in 1957 from Santa Cruz High School. We always stay at our daughter's home whenever we go and Buddy plays with her dog, plus another dog that she babysits.  There really was no way to keep the dogs separate, plus she has a small foster dog and two cats in the house.  So we made the decision to stay home with him.  We were certainly disappointed as we have never missed a reunion in the 55 years since we graduated. Our's is a close knit class, so most of us have stayed in touch over the years.

Well, anyway, Buddy seems to be feeling better and he is such an integral part of our family, we couldn't have done anything else.  I have no doubt he would certainly do the same for us.  We will take him back to the vet this week and find out how he is doing for sure.

Well, as you may have guessed, since we have started another renovation at the Cottage, we have moved all the furniture out of the guest bedroom and placed it all in the parlor.  That happens to be where the main fireplace mantle is.  It's not a working fireplace, but my great-grandmother's old cast iron wood parlor stove, set into a wood mantle piece.  Since I can't decorate it for Autumn, I have done a little bit over the gas stove in the sitting room.  It's a small corner mantle and the stove pipe goes right up the center in front of the mantle.  It's a little hard to decorate but I gave it my best shot and am showing it in two separate photos.

I hope everyone is enjoying these wonderful first days of Autumn.  I think it is only going to get better and better....Judy

I'm sharing this with:

What's It Wednesday

Wow Us Wednesday

Rustic Restoration Weekend

Feathered Nest Friday

Show and Tell Friday

Home Sweet Home

THE GENTLE GIANTS

This is my contribution to the Harvest. Dried hydrangeas from the Cottage garden.

September is the time for harvest and in our small town that also means that the giants come calling.

These giants do not live at the top of beanstalks.  They are not part of an NFL franchise or a San Francisco baseball club.  They walk on four feet instead of two.  They are the beautiful and powerful draft horses.

Every September, Grass Valley plays host to the Draft Horse Classic.  It is the most beautiful display of horse flesh that you will possibly ever see in one place.  These horses are the working backbone of times gone by and are still used in many farming communities today.

Percheron

"The wagon rests in winter, the sleigh in summer, the horse never."

Old Yiddish Proverb

Belgium

These wonderful animals do not answer to pretty names like most other species of their breed.  They have been christened with common names, such as Jack, Bill, Dolly or Bess.  Good, simple and strong, just like the humans that work alongside them.

Percheron

"There is just as much horse sense as ever, but the horses have most of it."

Author Unknown

Clydesdale, Double Hitch

A draft horse is a large horse bred for heavy tasks, such as plowing and other forms of farm labor.  They are strong and patient, and they were extremely valuable before the Industrial Revolution.  Today, they are used mainly for crossbreeding, although some are still in use.

"Its' always been and always will be the same in the world:  The horse does the work and the coachman is tipped."

Author Unknown

Humans needed to domesticate horses to use them for work, such as farm work and carrying heavy loads.  While they used light quick horses for transportation, they needed an animal that was strong, calm, and patient for pulling these heavy loads.

I don't think they were talking this light weight!

In the 1800's before the railroad, the heavy work horse was invaluable and in high demand. This even carried through to the early 1900's, as draft horses were used during World War I to help the military effort.

Percheron

Percherons come in black, white and any color in between.

At that time, draft horses were being imported from Europe into the United States - from Belgium, France, England and Scotland.  The most numerous of these breeds in America were the Percheron from France, with 40,000 broodmares by 1915.  The American Cream Draft breed was developed as an American draft breed.

American Cream

"He knows when you're happy

He knows when you're comfortable

He knows when you're confident

And he always knows when you have carrots.

Author Unknown

Unfortunately, due to the Industrial Revolution in the 20th century, the internal combustion engine greatly reduced the demand for the draft horse.  After World War I, the tractor began to replace the draft horse on the farm.  Many breeds became depleted after horses were sold to slaughterhouses for horse meat.

Clydesdale

Can you believe that this big guy was ever this small?

Young Clydesdale

Today, some smaller farms still employ the draft horse in both the United States and Europe.  The Amish and Mennonite farmers especially use horses for their power.  Outside of that, draft horses can be seen at pulling shows and competitions, or used as exhibition animals.

Belgium

A lot is involved in the upkeep of these beautiful animals.  Both male and female undergo the same stylish transformations and it's not an inexpensive ordeal either.

They do love their bubble baths.

And they are known to frequent 5-Star restaurants.

They definitely have to keep regular beauty parlor appointments.

They are quite proficient in the art of dance.

And it would appear that they are foot wear aficionados.

And, of course, there are hired body guards.

Or, in this case, maybe fired body guards.

But when it comes to their style of dress and all their trappings, this is where the real expense comes in.

The white piece of paper tacked to edge is a For Sale sign.  The sun washed it out but it states that this cupboard of equipment is being offered to anyone interested for the price of $5,695.00....USED!

English Shire

"Where in this wide world can man find nobility without pride,

Friendship without envy,

Or beauty without vanity?

Here, where grace is served with muscle

And strength by gentleness confined,

He serves without servility; he has fought without enmity.

There is nothing so powerful, nothing less violent.

There is nothing so quick, nothing more patient."

Ronald Duncan, "The Horse" 1954

This is a wonderful annual event, set amongst the tree-covered 100-acre Nevada County Fairgrounds, and I'm proud to bring you along...Judy

"There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man."

Winston Churchill

The Gentle Giant

Picture taken in the spring when the dogwoods were blooming.

I would also like to share with you the Sierra Sunset on the first day of Autumn, 2012.

P. S.  I just got a message from Shannon at Cozy Home Scenes. She has had to quit her blog and has opened a new one. What a shame, she had such a great following and did so much with her special features and was so helpful to me when I had a problem, and now she has to start all over again. Please visit her at A Cozy Place Called Home, which looks magnificent, and start fresh with her again. She also comes highly recommended by Mr. Buddy. After all, she was instrumental in his stairway to stardom!

I'm sharing this week with:

Sweet Saturday

Saturday Show Off

Seasonal Sundays

Rustic Restorations Weekend