table talk

...cloth napkins with individual rings to identify and (hopefully) reuse from one meal to the next...

Since my father came to live with us, we are eating more meals at home than we did over the past few years.  I am REALLY enjoying planning, shopping, and serving a variety of economical and healthy meals.  I'm thankful for the circumstances that resulted in our at-home mealtimes.

Gary and I don't eat breakfast, so my father fixes his own.  Gary makes our coffee and we gather around the breakfast table to share a devotional time - Bible reading and prayer.  We are generally able to eat our lunches together as well as the evening meal.  After cleaning up in the evening, we linger at the table to play table games.  More than usual, we are also inviting friends to join us around our table.  These times, too,are so pleasurable and rewarding.

After reading some Wendell Berry essays, I realize that community is happening around our table in fresh ways for us in this season of life.  It set me to wondering if there are any ways I can make our table experiences even more delightful.  So, I googled it and found these two paragraphs that encouraged me to keep up my quest. The article also suggested a few ways to perk up an ordinary meal.

All our senses are involved when we eat. When a plate of food is appealing to the eye, has a wonderful aroma, and a variety of flavors and textures, we take note. And we usually rate those meals as not only more pleasant but more satisfying, too. 

If your eating has become routine—and your meals look the same, day after day—that could spell trouble. In an attempt to get more satisfied, you may find yourself eating more but enjoying it less.

Before we find ourselves eating more but enjoying it less,  I'm adding a couple simple, small touches - beyond the foot itself - to our table.  I'll let you know what those "touches" are, if the men I share the table with notice, and how our table experience is affected (if at all).

***

 Meanwhile, what are some of the ways YOU make YOUR ordinary table experience a special one?

spending $5

 Found!  Today at the Rehab Store where we'd gone for a break in our day!

Five dollars went a long way!

My husband went right to work cleaning the enamel top

 and removing the paint from the legs

After the store visit, we took Dad to the historic (100+ years old) Coney Island

in downtown Fort Wayne, IN for (you guessed it) coney dogs!

It was pretty ironic to sit a a table that appeared to be the same size

and built of the same materials as the one we'd just purchased!

***

Our sweet day was enjoyed even more as the sunshine slowly emerged,

replacing the cloudy sky that had hovered gloomily over us

for the past few days...

repurposing. again.

When we moved this shelf from it's perch on the stairway landing

to the "new" room, I knew I would need to replace it with SOMEthing.

Looking around - outdoors, even -

I eyed the rusted base to a patio table.

Topped with a beautiful oak table leaf,

it is well on its way to being the perfect replacement.

Thanks to the skill of my husband,

the top was given a classy edge and the base will be painted black.

Use it up;

Wear it out.

Make it do

Or do without!

for a quarter...

In spite of its flaws I couldn't pass it up for a quarter.

I've tried to find another like it on Google images.

So far, no luck.

It's heavy.  I thought ironstone perhaps.

It's blue and white.  That's a winning combination in MY opinion.

Additional information welcomed!

Changing the subject a bit,

we sold the second of two "sofa tables" my husband constructed out of an old dinner table.

They really DID turn out beautifully with their pale grey painted "body"

and natural wood tops.

I wonder what project he'll work on next????

he's found his niche!

 He's definitely on a roll!

  Creating all of these tables from scraps of wood

and pieces of discarded furniture,

my husband has found a niche!

All three sold within hours of being listed on a few local

facebook garage sale pages!

He's already begun fashioning a fourth!

a project and a painting

My husband is constructing a sofa table out of 

miscellaneous boards & orphaned table legs he's been storing in the shed.

We'll probably paint it - maybe stain the top.

I'm pretty excited to see the end product.

Then there's this.  A large painting on stretched canvas frame.

I've had it for quite awhile and just realized yesterday that it would fit

into a frame I've had for a long time.

I like everything about it--but especially the colors.
I'd love to have an entire room papered in these colors; this design!

At some point, I may post both of these items  for sale

on a couple of local facebook sites--

but first I plan to enjoy them a bit myself.

evolution of a console table.

 I failed to photograph the originals that resulted in this evolution.

 Its legs came from a crib we found abandoned on a curb.

The top (half-oval) is one half of a coffee table purchased very inexpensively.

(My husband was attracted by its legs and hopes to use them on another project.)

I suggested he saw the top in half and create TWO console or sofa tables.

This is the end result!

Imagine my pleasure to read Abigail Ahern's praise for console tables....

 I’m a bit obsessed with consoles as they have been the biggest game changer in my house. 

Skinny, narrow they flag the walls and enable me to style them up with stacks of books, 

scented candles,  picture frames, lamps, and so forth. 

 The evolution is all finished except for the accessorizing!
AND we're currently searching for four legs for a second console table...

we call it HOME

 Yesterday  I had fun setting up the eating area of our kitchen

for a rather informal Salad & Dessert Luncheon.

 In order to accommodate an unknown number of guests,

I slanted the main table in the room and put a tablecloth over the dropleaf

(shown "naked" above after the fact).

 The room looked attractive to me, somehow...

so this morning while cleaning up, I snapped some photos.

 I realize that most people would probably not place three tables in such a small space,
but it's what has "happened" here.  And it feels quite homey to me.

 I'm also aware that furniture in its natural or stained wood state is not in vogue,

but except for our curbside-found mantel and a few picture frames, 

most everything we have retains its original wood tones.

As I look around, I mentally calculate how little money we've actually spent

in this room.  The furniture and accessories have mostly been free, thrifted or gifted--

and we call it HOME.