Blue & White For Thanksgiving~ A Family Tradition

 This has to be my favorite china, Blue Danube*.

 Although not a bold beauty, this cup & saucer is the china pattern my husband & I chose for our wedding registration. 'Charleston ', by Noritake. This pattern was on sale when we married and we received settings for 12 in plates, cups & saucers, plus quite a few serving pieces.I love the simple elegance of this pattern and after almost 40 years of marriage have never tired of it.The ivory background with the platinum rims, and the dark blue design filled in oh-so-delicately with pale blue always look just right on my dining room table.

 My husband's father started our Blue Danube collection of china, and he filled in our wedding china pieces, and also gave us a set of Noritake 'Perspective' goblets in Peacock Blue to accompany our place settings. Above you can see the two china patterns we love and use frequently on our table as we share meals with people we love.( plus, a Blue Danube candle-stick I found at a thrift store! )

 I use my Blue Danube dishes as accent and decoration through-out our home.Here it is behind the tiers of fruit on the sideboard. What bounty !

 Over the years I have broken enough pieces of my wedding china that when we have a lot of company I need to fill in with Blue Danube. Here, before all the platters of food were placed on the Thanksgiving table you can see how I mixed and matched my favorite chinas.In the photo below, you can see the bright blue water goblets in my china cabinet and a few more pieces of Blue Danube.

The children ( 4 of our 8 grandchildren) had their own table, and you can see they are eating off Blue Danube. I used a yellow & white toile tablecloth for their table. I love the double-blossomed yellow orchid my husband's brother and his wife gave us as a host gift,it made a perfect center-piece for this table. ( Thank-you ! )

The nice thing about hosting any kind of dinner, lunch, or tea, is you can be as creative as you like. Matching dishes are not necessary, and often I think mixing patterns and decorations makes it more fun . I am very thankful for the china my husband & I chose together so many years ago, and especially thankful my husband's father loves to gift his family with dishes they love to use.I am MOST thankful for the family assembled at our table and the abundance of food to fill our dishes to overflowing ~ gifts from God I do not take for granted."Enter His gates with Thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise, Give thanks to him; Bless His name." Psalm 100:4

I am joining these ladies for Tea Time Tuesday:

• Sandi *
• Martha *
• Terri*
• Kathy *