Halloween is Upon Us!

Recently I made a pact with myself to spend more time enjoying the holidays, all holidays, not just the big ones. With Halloween just around the corner, I thought it would be nice to put a theme to this month’s supper club. I’ve never really been one to appreciate all the “cute-sie” decorations so this is my version of a Halloween dinner.

 

Once a month we have a group of people that get together for a supper club. The evening usually starts off with a cocktail hour followed by dinner. The host provides the meat and the other members bring the complimenting sides. It’s just a small group and we had a really nice time. This was our week to host so Colvin and I wanted to put a little Halloween spin on it. Everything in the room was done for fewer than 20 dollars and I think it came out pretty well. Not all the decorations are shown, but below are pictures of some of them. I apologize up front for the quality of the photos. I left my camera at the house and these were all taken with my phone. The first photo is of the bar covered in spider webs dotted with a few creepy crawlies.

 

 For the table arrangement I used a mercury glass vase with dead limbs from a little oak in the backyard. I topped it off with a few pine cones and then attached three crows from the Dollar Tree. Also from the Dollar Tree, a couple of rats, a few spiders sprinkled around the base, throw in two un-polished silver candlesticks and voila. You have a Halloween centerpiece. I love the aged look of the candlesticks with the mercury glass. I thought it came out very well.

 

I also discovered this neat little idea too. The little plastic rings make wonderful charms for stemmed glassware. Stick on a couple of decals and you have perfectly decorated glasses for the occasion. I suppose you could do the same for any holiday. I love the little skull and cross bones on the martini glasses!

 

The menu:

Broiled Barbque Porkchops with Mango Ginger Chutney

Pear and Roasted Pecan Coleslaw

Dirty Cajun Rice

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Two people were missing from our group, but we sent them a member’s only video clip of the dinner while they were in New York. Hope everyone has a great Halloween!

P. S. I've been nominated for an award by 'The Lazy Womans Garden' and I'll list the seven things about me in the next post. :0)

 

No Words Just Wings...

My Weekend...

I hope everyone had a great weekend! This was a three day weekend for me and I should have used it to rest, but instead I was busy running the roads with friends. I went to Cuthbert, Georgia this weekend to visit my longtime friend James or as I like to call him Jaybeaux. He bought his dream home six years ago and he’s been committed to a major labor of love ever since. As long as I’ve known him he’s always wanted and been fascinated by grand old southern homes. Well, six years ago this month he finally found one and he’s been working on restoring it. Below are three pictures from his Facebook page that I snagged for this post. This is what the house looked like when he found it. Now, tell me it’s not a determined soul that will take on a project like this.

 

This is no small house either. Behind the main house you can see the ballroom and also the old outside kitchen. It was built in 1853.

 

This is Jaybeaux on the side of the house after he and Ken removed all the shrubs and debris from around the property. This really gives you a good idea of the scale of the house. James told us this weekend he was terribly afraid of heights and he had to make himself climb the scaffolding a little higher each day until he was no longer scared. Let me tell you something, that molding at the roofline is waaaaaaaaay up there. I got dizzy just looking up from the second floor porch.

 

This is the work he’s done so far. Pretty amazing don’t you think? I guess he could see something no one else could. A lot of hard work and love have gone into this house. James is not a construction expert, he's not wealthy, he's just a determined person figuring it all out as he goes along. Making his dream come true one board and one can of paint at the time. I have no doubt he and Ken will completely restore this old house in it's entirety. What an accomplishment...

 

It was a nice four hour trip, two hours to get there and two hours to get back home. It was a pleasant little Sunday drive and was punctuated with pretty scenes like this one. Wildflowers were in bloom all over the place. I don’t know what these purple flowers are, but we saw two cow pastures filled with them.

 

 We got back to Montgomery just as the sun was starting to set. The clouds were making a very unusual pattern that afternoon. I pulled off to side of the interstate to take this picture. Friday night and Saturday with my good friend Carol, Sunday lunch with my dear friend Jaybeaux and nice holiday to rest the following Monday. All in all a pretty good weekend...