“Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:”
Proverbs 31:28
Hello sweet friends! Can it possibly be the month of May? I always heard my Mother say as you get older time flies, well I guess I am there! Being that it is the first Monday of the month, it is Monday Morning Blooms and a most special one…our Mother’s Day edition!
“A Mother’s hug lasts long after she lets go”
-Unknown
With our state still encouraging sheltering at home and only partially opened, finding flowers is a challenge. The flower farm nearby is between blooms, and only had poppies. I just so happen to love poppies and had never used them for Monday Morning Blooms.
All of my earlier spring blooms are gone, but wildflowers are plentiful this time of year. Renaissance Man cut honeysuckle and privet…but, no it wasn’t the look I was going for. Poppies are a little like tulips, they have a mind of their own. Adding hosta leaves seemed to be the perfect foil for the cheerful poppies.
The links for my friends beautiful floral inspirations are at the bottom of this post.
The pretty floral tablecloth (one of five) was made for my Mother’s surprise 70th birthday party. Knowing I wanted to use the tablecloth, it became the inspiration for this tablesetting! For sentimental reasons, I used my wedding china “Reverie” by Noritake and stemware also by Noritake. The silver-plated flatware was a wedding gift from my parents. The sweet vintage Spode “mayflower” saucer bowls are from the original first round of production that began in 1929. It was reintroduced in 2004 and then discontinued.
“She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.”
Proverbs 31:20
If you have followed my blog for very long, you know I often share memories of my beautiful Mother. Last Wednesday was the thirteenth anniversary of her home going. I miss her terribly, but she left me a lasting example of how to live life well. I am blessed that she was a Godly Mother who poured her life into me. From a very young age, I remember that every Sunday lunch included family, friends, and those who needed to feel loved…a single mother and her children, a widow that was all alone, or someone who was going through difficult times. Her home was small by today’s standards, but that never prevented her from sharing her gift of hospitality. She always said, “If there is room in the heart, there is room at the table.”
“She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.”
Proverbs 31:27
This photo of Mother and me was taken on Mother’s Day in the early 90’s. My love of setting pretty tables was inspired by my Mother. She never used a paper plate or napkin, the best she had was used daily for the people she loved. She prepared the most delicious Southern food I have ever put in my mouth. Mother was famous for her cakes, pies, cobblers, and cookies. Her red velvet cake once sold at a charity auction for one thousand dollars! Yes, you read that correctly, $1000.00! Her hands were always busy. She made beautiful quilts, ceramics, porcelain dolls, and many hand-crafted items. People far and wide were the recipients of her lovely handiwork. I still have people remind me of the intricate cross-stitched quilt, hand-painted Nativity set, or gorgeous doll that she made for them. She had the gift of serving. Every week would find her taking meals to the grief stricken, depressed, or to celebrate the birth of a baby!
Long-time readers may know that I have been a collector most of my life. One of my collections is petite jeweled trinket boxes. This little hummingbird was placed on the table to remember how Mother loved to sit on her screened porch and watch the hummingbirds swarm at her feeders. She looked forward to the arrival of her first visitor every spring. Her porch was often used as she mentored young ladies and teens. She was a Proverbs 31 lady, one who opened her mouth with wisdom and with the teaching of kindness on her tongue.
A cup-of-coffee trinket box is sitting on the table in memory of Mother beginning each day with coffee, her Bible, and quiet time in prayer. She had prayer partners that came weekly to her home where they enjoyed fellowship, coffee, home-baked goodies, and most importantly a time of prayer. My Mother was beautiful inside and out. I never remember a day that she did not “fix her face” as she described putting on her makeup. I have thought several times during these weeks at home when days have passed that I didn’t put on makeup, her daily routine of “fixing her face” would not have changed.
“Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”
Proverbs 31:29-30
Her two children and three grandchildren rise up and call her blessed. Her husband, my precious daddy, praises her. Her seven great-grandchildren are told stories of their Nanny. Ella Mae sees her picture and asks “where is Nanny”? It is such a joy to tell her she is heaven with Jesus, and this answer satisfies her. The way she lived her life continues affecting people thirteen years later. It is a reminder that the way we live our life matters…every single day that we are given will echo into eternity!
“Mothers hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.”
-Unknown
Becoming a mother was an answered prayer. After thirteen years of marriage, God gave us the precious gift of a son. Being a grandmother to two sweet girls has brought indescribable joy to my life while giving me the awesome privilege of passing on real life gifts to them from my Mother. She may be the Nanny they never met, but it is my prayer they will know her, and know her well. When they do…they will love her and admire her!
“Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”
Deuteronomy 4:9
You will want to make sure to visit my lovely and talented friends Lidy, Mary, and Shirley.
Mary @ Home Is Where The Boat Is
Shirley @ Housepitality Designs
Thank you for you visits and gracious comments. Wishing you a Happy Mother’s Day!
Linking with:
Pieced Pastimes, Between Naps on the Porch, Katherines Corner, Follow The Yellow Brick Home,
Such sweet memories of your beloved mom Pam! What a wonderful legacy she left behind along with her hand-crafted treasures to friends and loved ones to remember her by. I love her ‘fixing her face’. . .such a Southern expression and something I’ve neglected for the most part during our quarantine. 🙂 Your table is beautiful from the surprise birthday floral tablecloth, dish stack, wee trinket boxes and poppies paired with hosta leaves in your vase. Wishing you a wonderful Mother’s Day.♥
Thank you Mary. I decided after writing this post that I would “fix my face” while sheltering at home♥️
I can see that your sweet mother instilled the best of the best in you. She gifted you with her love of caring for her family, gardening, and all things that make a house a home. What a fabulous thing that friends did for her 70th birthday party…love the idea of the handmade tablecloths. I love that your mom “fixed her face” every day…when you speak of a true “Southern Lady” I am sure that her name is in the description….Your table is filled with such beautiful memories, from your tablecloth to the table setting of wedding gifts. Love your jeweled trinket box collection. The Poppies are the perfect compliment to your table. A beautiful tribute to your mom today Pam…so happy to be a part of MMB with you!! Have a fabulous day!
Thank you sweet Shirley. I can’t remember if I have ever told you my Mother’s name was Shirley.
Such lovely thoughts this morning, Pam. I lost my mother eleven years ago, and I always have a hard time around Mother’s Day. She did so much to create a beautiful home, and is where I get my love of dishes and flowers. She won awards at flower shows for her arrangements, set beautiful tables, and was the epitome of the gracious hostess often having parties and gatherings. Have a wonderful week.
Your mother must have been a lovely lady. How wonderful that passed on the love of dishes and flowers! We will always miss our mom!
Everything is beautiful and perfect tribute to your mom. Not sure why but your post brought tears to my eyes. What a special and very loved lady she was! Happy Mother’s Day to you, Pam!
Thank you so much for your sweet comments. Wishing you a wonderful Mother’s Day.
Yes, Pam your lovely tribute to your mother brings many memories of our mothers! It has been 35 years since my mother’s home going. During this pandemic I have have missed my mother so much. I was already thinking about Mother’s Day this morning and that it is also Mike’s mother’s birthday, this Saturday. She is in a nursing home with Dementia and we have not been able to see her since early March. That has been very hard. She will be 94.Both of our mother’s remind me of yours.
Your table is lovely with your wedding gifts and special jeweled boxes. The floral cloth is lovely too. I am sure you shed some tears as you set your table thinking of your mother.Your poppies are cheerful and the pretty hosta leaves set them off.
Wishing you a happy Mother’s Day this Sunday. You are a Proverbs 31 woman, too.
Bonnie, your mother died so young. Do your children have memories of her? We will always miss our moms. Happy Mother’s Day my friend.
What a beautiful post in every way! Thank you for memories that triggered many of the same for me! It is so wonderful that you keep her alive and pass down her values to your grandchildren. I try to do the same to my three grandchildren. My heart still breaks on Mother’s Day since losing my mom four years ago. She was a truly amazing woman! You inspired me to take out some pictures of her. By the way, I love your poppies! It is one joyful flower for me as well!
Maria, holidays without our moms are very hard. Take out those photos of your precious mom and display them, I keep one of my Mother on a kitchen counter. My oldest granddaughter who will turn four next week always talks about the photos and ask me questions. It is the perfect time to tell her stories of my Mom. Wishing you a lovely Mother’s Day!
What a wonderful tribute to your mother. I lost my Mom several years ago and miss her everyday.
Penny, we will always miss our mom. Thank you for your sweet visit!
You have honored your Mother so beautifully. A beautiful table set in her honor..the tablecloth so lovingly chosen and the other items that reflect the moments shared with her. She sounds so much like my own Mother. Pam, you are definitely a Proverbs 31 woman. How richly blessed you are to have such a wonderful example of giving and loving and making family the centerpiece of your life. Your table is really beautiful but your tribute to your wonderful mother is even more beautiful. Much love to you.
Dianne, we were both blessed with Godly mothers. Wishing you a lovely Mother’s Day week. Much love to you!
This table with its pretty tablecloth, place settings, mementos, and memories is such a loving tribute to your dear mother. Her beautiful attributes shine brightly through you. It is very evident that you share her same traits as a loving and caring wife, mother, and grandmother. Take care, and I hope you have a happy and blessed week, sweet friend!
You are so sweet Shannon. Wishing you a lovely week!
I love when you pay tribute to your mother, Pam. You & I share our mothers’ home going in the same year. Your table is beautiful. I love poppies, so fragile yet resilient. Reverie is still so classic, and only one of the few sets I wish I’d kept just a few plates of. It’s so delicate. Great choices for your table honoring your mother.
Thank you dear Rita. I thought of you when I pulled out the Reverie. I still love it after all these years.
What a beautiful post and tribute to your Mother Pam! I loved hearing about her and her lifestyle, she truly sounds like an incredible woman. I have inherited my mother’s love of table setting, entertaining and cooking, and am so pleased that I seem to have passed it on to my children. Your table honoring her is just perfect, from her lovely floral cloth, your wedding china and silverware, the photo of you together…so many wonderful memories complimented with the bright and happy poppies! I haven’t ever bought poppies for arrangements, I would love to find some, I love their shapes and personalities! Thank you for such a delightful start to Mother’s Day week!
Jenna
Thank you so much Jenna. Your mom sounds like mine, always cooking and entertaining. Jenna the flower farm is amazing and is close to the hydrangea farm. She had loads of poppies this spring!
That is so handy for you, they are always beautiful!
What a precious tribute! What a precious mother! What a blessed life! Your tables express your upbringing and your life today. It blesses all of us now. She would be very pleased.
How sweet are your comments and thanks so much!
Pam, this was such a loving and beautiful tribute to your dear mother, and I know you miss her dearly. I always enjoy when you have tablescapes that showcase her beautiful ceramics. And a $1000 cake, goodness! My mother passed May 30, 2016. Proverbs 31 was one of the passages we chose for her funeral. Sometimes people will tell me I am a Proverbs 31 woman, and I truly can think of no higher compliment. Through this pandemic I have put on makeup everyday because I can here Mama’s voice saying “Roxanne, you absolutely cannot go around without fixing your face!”. We can all take solace in knowing that our mothers are healthy and happy again, and someday we will be reunited. Have a beautiful day, dear Pam.
Thank you dear Roxanne. My Mother would tell me to fix my face and it would make me feel better! Wishing you a beautiful week!
I always count it one of the greatest comments when Seth describes something I do to be like his Nanny. Ella Mae tells me often she misses her Nanny❤️ I also think Ella Mae would hoard all of the trinkets you pass down from Nanny if we’d let her. She is quite the lover of beautiful and sentimental things! Hopefully Emma will know Nanny through the stories shared and traditions you continue to keep and be able to say she missed her Nanny as well.
My sweet daughter-in-love your comments made me teary-eyed. I will always tell my precious girls about their Nanny!♥️
I wish I had know your mother but fill that I do know her through you. She taught you well because she loved the Lord. I can imagine her in her kitchen just baking away and giving it away. Proverbs 31 should be read by every mothers child and husband. She is worthy of their praise. Today’s Monday Morning Blooms is so well done they belong in a book.
Thank you Alice for your lovely comments. Wishing you a lovely week my friend!
Your Mom sounds so sweet and dear. I know you must miss her so terribly. I think your Mom and my Mom must have passed away around the same date, except my Mom died five years after yours. So, this time of year is a time of sadness and reflection for both of us. We are so blessed to have had such Godly mothers who instilled so much good into us, dear friend. I know she lives on beautifully through you, and now you are conveying that on to your precious grandgirls. We also have in common that it took a long time to have a baby of our own AND we both have one son! Our wait was 12.5 years of marriage. So much in common we have! God bless you and keep you always in His care. It was such a joy to visit with you and learn so much more about your Mom.
Thank you dear Cheryl. We will always miss our moms. Yes, we do have much in common. Have a lovely week my friend!
What lovely memories you have and she would love seeing your table today. She would be so happy and so impressed! The tablecloth is so pretty and the little trinket boxes are adorable. (I just bought a few to add to a small collection I have. (Thank goodness for Etsy!)) The stunning poppies made a gorgeous centerpiece!
Such a beautiful tribute to your Momma…
Have a lovely week my sweet Pam!
Thank you dearest Nancy. Wishing you a lovely week my friend!
Pam, this is one of my favorite of all your posts ever. Your mother was a wonderful woman, I can tell from every word you share. I suspect you are much like I am in that you think of your mother often. But at times of birthdays or passings, those feelings are exceptionally powerful and plentiful and it is so good to share them. I’m grateful that her stories are being shared with the little ones. My grandmother died before I was born but because of the stories my mother told, she remains as vital in my mind as if I knew her. Keep those stories coming. (And oh, that photo of the two of you, and honoring her with the things she loved on the table, the cloth, everything. Sheer perfection.)
Jeanie, your comments mean so much to me. Yes, we will always miss our mothers.
Dear Pam, a loving and beautiful tribute to your dear mom. She would have been so proud of you and the beauty of the lovely table you created. The poppies are so pretty and are a perfect flower for a Mother’s Day Table – so cheerful.
My mom went home 10 years ago, this past April. It seems much longer than that as I miss her terribly. As I am sure anyone who has lost their mother does. Wishing you a glorious Mother’s Day full of everything and everyone you hold dear. Blessings, my friend.❤
Dear Sandra, I know you miss your beloved mom. No one can ever fill the void. Wishing you a beautiful week sweet friend♥️
I can well imagine your beloved, beautiful Mother smiling down at your exquisite homage to her and feeling the reassurance that you have learned her lessons well. What a God-filled woman she was and how proud you must
be to pick up the legacy of her life to carry it on for your Family. What purity of heart and spirit. She lives on, indeed, through all you do, Pam dear. No greater tribute can be paid to a woman than Proverbs 31. May each of
us aspire to it. Thank you for this glorious entry.
Thank you dear Mary. It is always a joy to write of my Mother’s love. She was definitely a Proverbs 31 woman!
Pam, this is one of the dearest posts I’ve ever read. I feel as if I know your precious mom. Your description is vivid and shared with amazing love and respect. I know you miss her each and every day. Thank you for sharing this heartfelt post. I love poppies, and well, yellow, is just magnificent! Happy Mother’s Day to you.
Thank you Sarah. My Mother was a lovely lady that everyone loved!
Pam, The poppies are lovely & the hostas were a perfect addition. The table is beautiful & sentimental. It’s such a wonderful tribute to your Mom. I always look forward to the Mothers day post as reading about your Mom is such a joy! She has touched even more lives in your sweet posts about her. Mothers are so very special & shape our lives forever. God truly blessed you with a wonderful Christian Mom! EK & EM are blessed to have you as a grand. The memories you make with them will last their entire life. They will not have the memories you make but will remember their great grand as well! Happy Mother’s Day sweet friend! Clara♥️
They will not “only” have– sorry left out an important word!
Thank you dear Clara. I am so grateful for my precious Mother♥️
Pam, I am teary eyed. What a wonderful, wonderful post about your love for your Mom, and what a stellar example she was and still is I am sure, to all of you who were blessed to know her. “If there is room in the heart, there is room at the table.” Is there any more caring, loving statement than that?
I know she is in heaven with our Father, and probably wearing a big crown. {I think my Mom is probably trying to tell God what to do! : ) } You are everything your Mom was, a true woman of God, a caring, loving, and devoted wife, mother, grandmother and friend. I know you are everything she prayed for you even from way back before you were born. God bless you, dear friend. It is always a true joy to join you on our special Mondays, never more so than today.
xoxo Lidy
Lidy, your sweet comments made me teary-eyed. I try to follow in my mom’s footsteps, but I often fall short. She was the most giving and unselfish person that I have ever known. Happy Mother’s Day Lidy : )
What. Beautiful loving tribute. I could imagine what she was like just reading your words. She was definitely a woman to admire and respect. I definitely want to remember “If there’s room in the heart, there’s room at the table”. Lovely memories! Thank you for sharing. Love the pretty table you set and the pretty tablecloth too!
Thank you Liz and Happy Mother’s Day!
Pam, such beautiful memories of your precious mama! What a wonderful tribute you have made to her. Love your table setting and those darling trinket boxes….Oh my! I pray you have a beautiful rest of the week Pam and thank you for sharing your sweet mama’s legacy with us. Hugs and blessings, Cindy
Thank you Cindy! Happy Mother’s Day sweet lady!
Pam,
That was a beautiful post and tribute to your Mom! Thank you and I hope you have a lovely week and Happy Mothers Day to you.
Theresa
Thank you Theresa. Wishing you a lovely week and Happy Mother’s Day 💗
What a beautiful way to honor your mom. I love the poppies, I had no idea they came in other colors besides red. Hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day.
Thank you so much, wishing you a Happy Mother’s Day. Stay safe and healthy!
This is the sweetest most beautiful post, Pam. Your mother must have been very special.
Thank you Stacey and she was!
What a beautiful tribute to your mom and her mastic legacy as a godly mother! The tablescape is delightful!
Thank you Elena. I have visited your blog and tried to comment, but so far I haven’t been able to. I will keep trying!
You mom sounds lovely, and obviously she passed on her kindness and beauty to you! So nice to remember those we love! Thanks for sharing this gorgeous table in her honor!
Barbara, you are so very sweet!
Pam, what a beautiful post! Your table is gorgeous and is such a lovely tribute to your mother. I am sure she is smiling down on you. She sounds like a very special person and I think you have those qualities yourself. How sweet that you share those memories with EM and EK. I wish you and your daughter-in-love a very happy mother’s day!
Thanks so much, Kim! Happy Mother’s Day dear one!