RJ Treleaven

Happy Monday, My Lovelies! How was your weekend? Ours was nice. We were actually in town for the first weekend in a really long time.

Today is Bastille Day! To celebrate, I put together a little tablescape in honor of our French friends. We owe a wee bit of our Independence here in the USofA to the French and their help during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

If I could get away with it, I would eat cake everyday. I think cake is the perfect treat for Bastille Day, don't you? But we are having small bites: little petit fours with our daughter's favorite tea, "Paris," by Harney & Sons. We had birthday cake last week for Independence Day and Shelley's birthday; Mr. Bookish's birthday is Thursday, and my mom's is Saturday. "Let them eat cake," indeed! We need to go easy on the sweets today. ;P

My husband has French ancestry, plus he's from New Orleans. His parents lived right around the corner from the French Consulate in the Garden District. Our daughters both have French middle names in honor of this heritage.

Below are the resources used on our table. I don't think anything is new.

French Toile Placemats: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

White Crochet-Trimmed Napkins: Vintage

Spoons: Horchow

China: (From our wedding registry) Rosedale by Wedgwood

Marie Antoinette vase and napkin rings: Molly Hatch via Anthropology

Ribbon: Michael's Crafts

If you're looking for something to read today, here are three recommendations:

The Balcony is about a French country estate and the families who lived their over the span of about a century.

All the Light We Cannot See is a WWII historical fiction that is one of my all-time favorite books. Please read this book!

Paris is nonfiction, and it takes us on a tour of all twenty of the city's arrondissements. I found it fascinating!

I hope you have a lovely week!

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Bastille Day 2025

Monday, July 14, 2025

The red, white, and blue rose garland is an Etsy find. The variety pack of patriotic ribbon is from Michael's Crafts.

Happy Tuesday, My Lovelies! What are your plans for Independence Day? We plan on celebrating with family and friends at Lake Martin. I can't wait to have the family together. We have a few Independence Day traditions we enjoy: grilling, boating, tubing, boat parading, and watching fireworks.

But just in case it storms (because we had rain and storms every single day during the month of June), I went ahead and decorated a little bit here in Birmingham....because if the weather is awful, we'll celebrate here. I thought I'd drop in and write a very quick post for y'all and share.

Our dining room is ready with a rose centerpiece, patriotic streamers and bows, firecrackers, scatter stars, placemats, and a cute USA sign.

See the sunshine? I was so happy to see it streaming through our window, I took these photos. This was during the one hour of sunshine we had last month.

These votives I usually display for Christmas and St. Valentine's Day, but they also work for Independence Day.

I purchased the patriotic garland at Michael's.

I like the little critters from Terrain. I usually have one in our terrarium, and the fairy lights come on at night.

This little dude is displayed on our Pressed Flower Work Table.

In case you missed you, click on the photo below for my Americana Tablescape.

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill

Independence Day Decor 2025

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Hello, My Lovelies! I hope you are well and having a lovely summer. I'm beginning to see the first of the back-to-school ads, and it isn't even Independence Day yet! In other news, we had our first day of sunshine after weeks of rainy and stormy days. And with the sunny skies, the heat has returned. But that's okay!

Today I wanted to share with you a few projects I've been working on in my art studio. I've accomplished much because of the rain keeping me inside. The first thing I want to share is a finished oil painting from a photo I took on our trip last year. It's a cartouche from the Imperial Apartments at Göttwieg Abbey in Krems, Austria.

Imperial Apartment Cartouche

16" X 12"

oil on linen panel

I've also been doing a lot of crafting. This year I've been keeping up with my reading with monthly reading tag journals. I hang them with "S" hooks on an over-the-table rod in my studio. I will share more about it in a week or so. I've also been making hand-painted and drawn bookmarks of my favorite books that I place in the tag journals.

This is the finished reading tag journal for May.

This is an example of a handmade bookmark I made for Jenny Hickman's For Ever.

This is a special edition book.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was fighting a cold at the beginning of June, and that I had been drinking copious amounts of hot tea. Below is my new favorite recipe for tea, and it is made from a Chocolate Earl Grey Tea, the "Cozy" blend based on Meg's Tea Room (an Instagram influencer) by Cliché Teas.

We were about three weeks late signing-up for our summer community supported agriculture box. We received our first box on Thursday, and we are very happy with it.