Thanks so much everyone for all the sweet comments. Those are actually Noble Excellence lg gold plates under the others. My dear family blessed me with a set of eight at Christmas. I hadn't thought of the top place mats as lacey until some of you brought it to my attention. They are made out of some type of string so I thought of them as manly.LOL Here's a close up of the buffet. Used some blue candle holdrs and my black cake plate I used for DGD's BDay cp. Also a couple of my gold candy dishes. Thanks again for all your comments. Punk

i sincerely appreciate all your kind words but my sister is the one who really deserves them. she is the one who's been there for the last couple of years, providing whatever help he needed and getting him moved into a good, assisted living facility so we didn't need to wonder and worry... and i am SURE you are right, annie. dad had an opinion on just about everything (unlike his eldest daughter, of course) but was remarkably close-mouthed about all of his children's spouses and i just don't recall him making any personal comments about them, good bad or otherwise. the last thing he said to me when they were getting ready to transport him from the hospital to the rehab facility when we were in ny a couple weeks ago, was to take good care of ted. and the VERY last thing he said to me in our last conversation this past sunday, was that ted was a jewel. he was right of course but still, it was such a surprise. last night, we had a dinner in his honor. those "stubby glasses" were there katie--i think they can be seen in the 2nd pic. and of course there was champagne as well as a sam adams, which was something that dad enjoyed sharing with syl's son michael. i made chicken fricassee as he really liked Mom's, as well as some roasted green beans and onions with walnuts and mustard-roasted potatoes. i know he would have enjoyed that. the other picture was one i took of him at michael's wedding this past summer. it was a beautiful wedding and dad was very happy to chat with the other guests, right up until about 11 that night. i'm very glad he didn't miss that! thanx again, guys--and best wishes to all of you, especially lee, laurie, brenda, david and annie (hoping i haven't missed anyone who has been faced with their own challenges recently!). Here is a link that might be useful: dad

We certainly could have used this article last week! However, both fathers gave wonderful toasts at our perfect wedding. One related a tender story about how they met, and the other told us how his son helped him as a young boy and was a great bullfrog hunter, grabbed and held on to them and never let go better than anyone -- as he has grabbed and held on to this wonderful young woman. It was cute--groom's father is from rural Louisiana. Everyone loved the toasts.

Thank you so much for the kind words! Raphaella - I adore both kitchens! We have very similar vintage green bread boxes too. Love your little cream-colored Dualit. It's a classic for sure! The English "chunky" kitchen cabinets (for lack of a better term - not sure how to describe them) make me swoon. As do those wonderful deep windows that are almost always fitted with the most gorgeous roller shades. ::sigh:: The utter charm of it all! I want to live there. ;-)