The Bookish

Happy December, My Lovelies! Are you having a nice Advent Season so far? We started December in New Orleans, and it was so much fun visiting friends. I feel very organized this year, and I'm planning to have more quiet time for devotion and Advent studies.

Today I'm joining fourteen other stylists for a Christmas Tabelscape Blog Hop Party hosted by Sweet Rita from the Panoply Blog.

Thank-you so much, Rita, for hosting these tablescape blog hops.

They're always so much fun!

If you're hopping in order, you just visited Patti's blog, Pandora's Box. I want to thank you for linking over to my little corner of the internet. I have been looking forward to this for weeks!

The theme for this tablescape in our dining room is "evergreen." I was inspired by my new napkins from GreenRow. I was smitten when I saw them on their site, and I ordered a set of them. GreenRow is a brand whose parent company is Williams-Sonoma.

The cheerful napkins feature different types of evergreen trees on a jaunty background of contemporary chartreuse polka dots.

The plate stacks feature modern plates from Crate and Barrel. I've had them for many years.

I decided on a living "evergreen" centerpiece planted in a vintage Annie Glass boat from San Francisco.

I chose a selection of ferns and white cyclamen. I like the frosty fern because it looks wintry.

I also purchased a set of green glasses from GreenRow.

The fun evergreen wreath napkin rings are new, and they're from Hobby Lobby.

I also decorated the Welsh Dresser with candles, a flocked tree, and felt garland.

If you're looking for a fun Christmas read, may I recommend:

Resources:

Living centerpiece plants: Leaf 'n Petal

Printed table runner and plates: Crate and Barrel

Glasses and napkins: GreenRow

Wooden chargers: Pier1

Ruffled table runner: Shabby Chic

Glass boat (centerpiece): Vintage Annie Glass

Candles: Root via The Fresh Market

Napkin rings: Hobby Lobby

White ceramic trees: Farmhouse Pottery

Pottery on Welsh Dresser: MacKenzie-Childs

Felt garland on dresser: Michael's

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
~Isaiah 9:6-7 (ESV)

Please visit all the other participants in this hop. The links are below! If you're linking in order, The Little Yellow Corner Store is next.

Panoply - Gnome for the Holidays

Home is Where the Boat Is - A Delivery from St. Nick

My Thrift Store Addiction - Gingerbread Galore Homespun Christmas Tablescape

Everyday Living - It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Pandora's Box - Holly and Jolly

The Bookish Dilettante - Evergreen Inspired Christmas Tablescape

The Little Yellow Corner Store - The Magic of a Nutcracker Christmas Tablescape

Celebrating Everyday Life - How to Style an Elegant Black & White Christmas Table

The Painted Apron - Christmas Sparkle

The Cat's Whiskerz - A Christmas Tablescape in Traditional Colors

Life and Linda - Nutcracker Themed Tablescape

Dinner at Eight - Plaid Patterns for a Warm and Cozy Christmas Table

Corner of Plaid and Paisley - Christmas at the Barn

Thrifting Wonderland - All is Bright Tablescape

Red Cottage Chronicles - A Red and White Christmas Tablesetting

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Evergreen Inspired Christmas Tablescape

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Hello, My Lovelies! I hope you're having a blessed Sunday! Welcome to the December 1, 2024 edition of the Tales of the Traveling Tote!

There is also a giveaway.

You'll learn more at the end of this post!

Recently we visited Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, for one of my dearest friend's wedding. I did not take many photos of the parties and the wedding because there were so many photographers, and no one had their phones out. It was sort of nice, to tell you the truth. I did take a few photos of Susan's gorgeous flowers surreptitiously because I knew y'all would want to see them. I was able to take them before the ceremony when no one was around.

Our home away from home was The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek. We enjoyed staying there, and the folks were so welcoming and accomodating.

The hotel was formerly a private residence.

We had fun in Dallas, and one of the highlights was eating lunch at Terry Black's. The ribs and sauce was the best I've ever had, but I must brag on Mr. Bookish because his brisket is better.

We also shopped for Christmas presents in an artsy section of Dallas (Bishop Arts District). One of the highlights for me was an independent romance bookshop called Blush Bookstore. It was so cute, and they sold the most adorable bookish clothing and accessories I've ever seen.

A cozy reading nook

Blush also sold a cute variety of vintage-looking Christmas decor and ephemera.

We also visited the Kimbell Art Museum in Forth Worth for the Dutch Art in a Global Age Exhibit. I took so many photos, but I will only share my very favorites in this post.

According to the museum's website:

In the seventeenth century, Dutch merchants sailed across seas and oceans, joining trade networks that stretched from Asia to the Americas and Africa. This unprecedented movement of goods, ideas, and people gave rise to what many consider the first age of globalization and sparked an artistic boom in the Netherlands.

I loved the gorgeous still lifes with the tiny little details that included insects and other fauna specimens.

The exhibit also included maps and stunning decorative objects in silver, porcelain, and more, from the seventeenth and the first half of the eighteenth centuries.

These Delftware tea canisters were designed to copy Chinese motifs.

This is a silver sugar server.

Sugar was sold in a hard, cone-shaped configuration, and it sat on the top of the server. Diners would use the spoons and scrape sugar into the base and then spoon it out for serving.

I also had a couple of favorites from their permanent collection.

Weeping Willow
1918–19
Claude Monet, French

Monet had painted ten Weeping Willow paintings by 1919, apparently in mournful response to the mass tragedy of World War I.

Presentation of Captives to a Maya Ruler

c. A.D. 785

Limestone with traces of paint

We had such a wonderful trip filled with parties, childhood friends, delicious food, shopping, and priceless works of art. I'm so thankful we were able to go to Dallas and attend Susan and Gary's wedding.

Please make sure you visit all the posts and see where the other totes have been this quarter, and Linda is hosting the giveaway!

Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

Patti with Miss Kenzie @ Pandora's Box

Jenna with Miss Coquille @The Painted Apron

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Jackie and Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home

Ricki Jill and Countess De Monet @ The Sketchy Reader (You're here!)

Our next adventures.

We are currently in New Orleans attending an event and visiting friends and family.

I will share about this trip in March!

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Tales of the Traveling Tote: Dallas, Texas

Sunday, December 1, 2024

Happy Thursday, My Lovelies! Today I am part of a TLC Book Tour for Yvette Manessis Corporon's Daughter of Ruins. I'd lake to thank TLC Book Tours for allowing me to be a part of this tour.

According to Goodreads:

A sweeping story that follows a Greek woman through the mid-twentieth century as she reconciles her family's troubled past and forges a path all her own.

Demitra, a young artist, comes of age in post-World War II Greece, struggling with her widowed father's emotional unavailability as she dreams her dead mother watches over her, like the goddesses she reads about in her mythology books.

While visiting family on Corfu, Demitra defies her father's commands to return home and marry the man he chose for her. She instead stays on Corfu, where she falls in love with painting and a forbidden man. But after suffering a devastating betrayal, Demitra has no choice but to return home to Cephalonia and ask forgiveness from her father. Before they can make amends, the island is struck by a massive earthquake that kills thousands and reduces entire villages to rubble. Amid the ruins, Demitra finds the courage to confront her father and start a new life in America centered around her art.

Set among the lush Ionian islands of Corfu and Cephalonia, Demitra's story is steeped in the myths and traditions of Greece. Over the course of decades, Demitra fights to find her voice and independence at a time when women are only as valuable as their dowries, ultimately learning the devastating secret of her family's history and the unforgivable act of revenge and betrayal that cemented her fate and future.

My Review:

I enjoyed this book quite a lot, and one of the main reasons is because of the setting. I haven't read many books set in Greece, and it was interesting reading a historical fiction book set there during the Italian and then Nazi occupations during World War II. Demitra is the main character, and she is a child during the war. Born in America, she and her father left the United States after her mother's death: Demitra was only three years old at the time. Her father is very cold and neglectful toward her, and her only other family member is an aunt who is a nun at the The Church of the Dormition in Markopoluo Monestary. This church becomes snake infested every year in August during the Feast of Dormition. After the feast, the snakes disappear. I was fascinated reading about this, and it is a real thing!

Demitra enjoys reading and learning about goddesses and other strong female characters from Greek mythology. She's convinced that they are looking over her in her mother's stead, and eventually they are her muses and subject matter for her colored pencil art. Although her father doesn't approve of her art, she continues to create and refuses to marry a local baker. Fortunately for Demitra her father has remarried by this time, and she also has a little brother. Her stepmother Stella intervenes and sends her to her aunt and cousins' village to help them run their restaurant and care for Stella's little cousin. Demitra's father reluctantly agrees with the plan because he thinks she will learn skills to make her a better wife. While there, she begins an affair with an older, successful businessman. Clearly Demitra doesn't want to be forced to wed as is the cultural norm. She wants to control her destiny, and she has hopes and dreams of becoming an artist. Soon after returning home to her village, a devastating earthquake hits Greece killing thousands. With nothing left in her village, what will become of Demitra?

I enjoyed reading about Demitra's metamorphosis as an artist, and, as an artist, I appreciated the descriptive passages about her drawings. The literary allusions to Greek mythology enriches the story, and it is one of my favorite things about the novel. If you like historical fiction set during World War II and the middle of the twentieth century; if family drama and mysteries intrigue you; and if you enjoy allusions to Greek mythology, then you should enjoy Daughter of Ruins.

Demitra's story will stay with me for a very, very long time.

Blog Tour Stops:

Thursday, October 10th: The Bookish Dilettante

Monday, October 14th: Eliot’s Eats

Friday, October 18th: Novels Alive

Thursday, October 24th: Vegan Book Blogger

Monday, October 28th: Sarah Can’t Stop Reading

Wednesday, October 30th: Book Bird Dog

Friday, November 1st: Girl Who Reads

Tuesday, November 5th: The Calico Books

Disclosure:

I received a paperback copy of Daughter of Ruins from the publisher via TLC Book Tours in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Until next time...

Happy reading!
Ricki Jill

Blog Tour for Daughter of Ruins

Thursday, October 10, 2024

Happy Halloween, My Lovelies! The spookiest time of the year is right around the corner, and we're celebrating it today with a Halloween Tablescape Blog Hop hosted by My Friend Rita from the Panoply Blog. If you're hopping in order, you just left Sweet Jenna's blog, The Painted Apron. Thanks for visiting my little corner of the Interwebs!

Thank-you, Rita, for hosting these blog hop parties. They are always so much fun!

You've been cordially invited to step back in time and have tea in Madame Mathilde's Victorian home, specifically in her Room of Curiosities. The Victorians loved collecting curious things from nature and their travels, and they often dedicated entire rooms to these pursuits. Madame Mathilde collects many specimens from nature (she adores mushrooms and moths), and she also dabbles in the occult like many of her fellow Victorians.

This evening, Madame Mathilde is excited to show you a few of her most recent finds over tea and macarons. It's time to step inside her room of curiosities.

What type of tea would you like? Are you requiring a Love Potion or a Witch's Brew?

Do you take cream and/or sugar in your tea?

You're offered four different types of macarons: Coffee, Earl Gray, Vanilla, or Caramel.

As your enjoying your tea, Mathilde begins to show you a few of her latest acquisitions.

The florals in the Room of Curiosities are interesting. The magical white blossoms seem to attract rare butterflies, and the gray roses are ghostly and mysterious.

Madame Mathilde found the witch's banner and broom on a recent sojourn to Scandinavia.

She also has a few specimens from nature displayed in test tubes.

Clockwise from upper left:

Madame Mathilde has displayed several curiosities under glass cloches, from mushrooms to these Pearls of Wisdom and Kindness Dust she found in a dusty corner of The Cotswolds.

More flora specimens in a bowl

Ghostly books containing tales of wonder

A close-up of kindness dust and a miniature scene with swans

As dusk turns to evening, Madame Mathilde lights candles, and one of her cloche's contains real fairy lights. What looked enchanting in the daylight looks downright haunting at night.

As Madame Mathilde shows you the last of her curiosities, you notice your movements have become languid. It's definitely the bewitching hour, and you need to make your leave cordially and quickly!

I hope you ~~escaped~~ enjoyed your visit with Madame Mathilde! During the summer, I was thinking about what I might want to do for this hop because we really don't have a lot of Halloween things. One day I was in Michael's crafts buying a few art supplies when I noticed they had both a dark academia and light academia collection entitled "Haunted Forest." I was smitten with the light academia version! Most of the things on the table are from the collection, and I also love the Victorian/haunted mansion vibes and the butterflies, moths, spiders, and other natural elements.

Resources:

I'll list the things from Michael's first: Round metal cutwork trays; witch's broom; test tube display; teapot; teacups; green mushrooms under cloche display; pink mushroom stand under large cloche; butterfly specimens; pink organdy ribbon; large white floral sprays with butterflies and clear bubbles; vellum to turn books into "ghosties"

Plate containing floral specimens and white candlestick: MacKenzie-Childs

Salt and pepper set: Anthropologie

Terra cotta apricot rose candle: Shoppe, Birmingham

Votives: Leaf 'n Petal, Birmingham

Art pieces under cloche: White Flowers, Birmingham

Pink table runner: Sur La Table

White table runner: Shabby Chic

Plates and serving platter: Venetian lace by Rosanna

White velvet pumpkin: Hot Skwash

All crystal (vase, sugar bowl, and creamer), milk glass covered candy dish (from Patti) and napkins: vintage