Said the Bells of St Clements

Strange title for a blog post? If you're from England you may know where I'm going with this, and if you're not.... well, you'll soon see where I'm going with this :-)

Are we all ready for another Tablescape Thursday? Don't you just love Thursdays now? I know I'm not the only one! Since I found Susan's blog at Between Naps on the Porch I've discovered a new 'hobby' so to speak, and that's setting my table every Thursday (well actually Wednesday, so I can have pictures ready for Thursday) whether I'm planning a fancy dinner or not! The main goal for me is to have fun, AND not spend much money. Believe it or not, last weeks setting cost me zero dollars. So this week I thought I might 'splash out' a bit and spend some.

My inspiration this week? Remember the 'cheap' napkin rings I used just two weeks ago from Kohl's. When I looked at them closely they reminded me of lemons (even though they kinda look like yellow apples!). So lemons it was going to be. As you can see from the above picture, I started off with fresh lemons in a vase, placed my green tablemats (seen previously here), added the gold chargers, white plates AND my big spend this week....4 green plates from Goodwill, a mere $2.99!

Next I added the yellow napkins (same ones I used here) with the napkin rings, and added a tablerunner (if you can call it that. It's actually just some scrap material I had that has sunflowers on it).

Next (above) I added candle holders. These are a set of 5 from Kirklands (I think) and all different heights, but I still think they look good).

I wanted to add a splash of 'freshness' so I went out back and cut some branches from our Pomegrante tree and a few bunches of basil from the herb garden (which as you can see, if you enlarge the picture, has gone slightly to seed, ooh but it smells so good).

Below is taken from the other side of the table with my terracotta wall in the background... looking rather 'Tuscany' I think!

A close up of the green plate from Goodwill.

So, all the while I was setting this table 'oranges and lemons' kept going through my head. Oranges and Lemons is a very old nursery rhyme. We used to sing it when I was a kid and played a game where two people stood opposite each other with their hands raised high and together to form an arch. Kids would line up to go under the arch as we sang :

Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St Clements
You owe me five farthings, say the bells of St Martins
When will you pay me? say the bells of Old Bailey
When I grow rich, say the bells of Shoreditch
When will that be, say the bells of Stepney
I'm sure I don't know, says the great bell at Bow
Here comes a candle to light you to bed
Here comes a chopper to chop off your head

(at this point whoever was under the arch would be caught between the arms of the two kids as they swung their arms down.

You can read more about these old churches and the nursery rhyme HERE.

So, having just been out to the store this morning where I picked up some lovely mandarin oranges, I had to go get them and 'throw' some on the table :-)

What a beautiful splash of color they give it, don't you think? And total cost to 'play' TT this week.. $5.98, ($2.99 for the plates and $2.99 for a bag of lemons!) I bought the oranges to actually eat, and whereas I will eat the lemons too I did buy them specifically for the table.

I managed to get evening shots too :-) Don't you just love the glow of candlelight?




Hope you've enjoyed all the pics this week. I love to read your comments so don't forget to leave me a little 'hello' before you leave. I try my best to return all of your visits (if you have a link that is) :-)