My wonderful daughter, A, my ‘bright morning star’, created the most perfect party for me a couple of weekends ago.
I picked flowers from my garden to help her decorate the hall.
I fear it is a sad reminder of climate change that I have so many flowers blooming, but they make for a cheery sight.
The calendula, having not flowered all summer are putting on a glorious show right now.
The jug is a favourite of mine, given to me by my Mum (becuase I like bright colours), and found on a market stall. Made in the former Yugoslavia.
Joining Cathy for In a Vase on Monday.
I put little jam jars of flowers in the loos and on the tables, but in the rush to get things ready, I forgot to take photos of them.
But there are some here on the magnificent banquet table that my talented daughter created – doesn’t it look sumptuous! Two varieties of homemade humous and my favourite cheese, Cornish Yarg, are included.
It is a family tradition that we have to have a pineapple present at any big celebration
We were not permitted to put anything on the walls and the ceiling was too hight to hang mandalas from, but I had to include them somewhere. A couple went in the entrance hall on frames I got from Hobbycraft.
I had intended to do something with the netting-waste ribbons, but time ran out.
I left them there for colour and a bit of surrealness
The surreal theme continued on the top of the wine cooler
and for the children, it wouldn’t be a Granny Party if we didn’t have sausages!
A huge thank you to my family and friends for making it such a special time: to my daughter for organising it (with all the many ups and downs along the way) and creating a such fabulous feast; for son 2 for a really funny and lovely speech; and son 1 for being the Mojive king of the night.
❤ I am still on Cloud 9 ❤
A belated happy birthday, Sandra! It looks like your family did things up right. I love the arrangement in the orange vase, especially the combination of the Calendula and the pink flowers, which aren’t familiar to me. The display on top of the wine cooler is impressive too.
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Thank you Kris. The pink flowers are Hesperantha, or Kafir lily. They seem to do well in my soggy garden.
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I hope you kept the pineapple top and planted it? It may take root, a new plant will grow and in due course it could produce another fruit. They are very easy to grow, and while they need warmth, they’ll do OK inside the house in a sunny spot during the winter.
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Thank you Kate, I have tried to root the tops a couple of times, but they have just gone mouldy – I don’t know if it is me, or that they have travelled so far and maybe kept chilled or some other treatment between field and my fruit bowl.
I saw them growing in Tahiti – a fabulous sight!
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It may be the time of year you tried, but you may be right that it had been zapped by too much refrigeration. There’s a pineapple farm down the road and they grow a variety with pink striped leaves. A whole field of that is a wonderful sight!
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Oh my goodness! I would LOVE to see that!
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If I remember, I’ll take a photo next time I pass it…
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Ooo yes please! I looked up ‘pink pineapples’ and apparently there are some pink fleshed pineapples – I never knew. Have you ever eaten pink pineapple?
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No, never seen one! We get fresh pineapples quite often, but they tend to be the local supersweets rather than the fancy pink ones.
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What a truly wonderful feast! So glad you had a happy time.
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Thank you Cathy. It was just what I needed – great timing! 🙂
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Great party and a great spread! Love the photo of you and the grands.
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Thank you Kathy – yes the grands really entered into the spirit of the evening!
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What a lovely family you have, Sandra! 😊 And what glorious displays you had at the party – are those painted poppy heads on the cupboard? What a great idea, and what a lovely montage of artefacts. Your hesperantha and calendula do you proud – is that just an ordinary pot marigold? One of these days might you be prevailed upon to tell us the story of the pineapple…?
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Thank you Cathy, I feel so very blessed with my family. ❤
Yes, I painted the poppy heads with white Gesso followed by acrylic paint. I think I will add more next year.
I don't know about the calendula, they seed themselves in my garden each year.
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It’s a great idea, and a useful asset for vases – simple too. Thanks 👍
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Ah – the pineapple – well for many years now I have tried only to buy seasonal fruit, local fruit and sometimes fruit that comes from no further than Europe, (bananas were they only exception), but when my kids were small, as a special treat I bought a pineapple to have at Christmas and since then it became a ‘thing’ and pineapples have appeared on special occasions ever since. 🙂
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Ahah, thank for the explanation – in a way it reminded me of when pineapples first appeared in the UK so were not ony expensive but revered
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I must have subconscious delusions of grandeur! 🙂 🙂
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A very Happy Birthday to you, and I can completely understand that the Cloud 9 feeling is still lingering, and may it do so for a long time. That party was so you with all the coloured flowers.
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Thank you Noelle. Yes, the party absolutely hit the spot! 🙂
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Happy Birthday!! looks like a wonderful celebration.
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Thank you. Yes it was fabulous! 🙂
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My gosh, what a wonderful spread! Looks both beautiful and inviting. Again, happy birthday.
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Thank you Laurie – my daughter did such a magnificent job! ❤
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Your vase is so full of colour it is hard to believe it is November! Looks like your party was a huge hit with all the extra decorations and that table laden with food. 😃👍
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It is hard to believe isn’t it – a bit worrying really.
Yes the party was fantastic – I am still buzzing!
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WOW!!!!
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❤ 🙂 ❤
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It’s all full of colour and fabulous! Belated Happy Birthday from me.
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Thank you so much Helen! 🙂
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