A Special Weekend- Happy Saturday!

Welcome to this weekend’s Saturday Sidelines…sorry that I was missing last week. It was a truly special weekend and week filled with grands birthday celebrations, my sister’s wedding and a family gathering. Can you tell my heart and home are both full?

This weekend was truly a special weekend for my family.

Last Saturday was my sister’s wedding. Hurricanes were filled with those ferns that I have shared before here for the wedding celebration tables…votives added…Boston ferns added to the entrances…and bud vases were filled with peonies and sweet flowers for the dining tables. One of her childhood friends was in charge of the floral creations and another was the one who married them AND made the wedding cake.

Sweet little granddaughters took their place in the processional and my niece was by her side as her matron of honor.

Beautiful bride with the most gorgeous fresh flowers created by a childhood friend…

…a beautiful wedding cake made by her best friend garnished with fresh berries picked by her friend’s dad which may have brought sweet tears.

And the five of our siblings together for the first time in many years. Made for a really special time together for us all.

Thankful the rain stayed away for the family brunch on the lawn the following day.

But…the deep rains made the shaded areas a marshland…hence? The sun shined bright on our old Kentucky home set up! Shades were donned!

There was lots of favorite foods shared around those tables with the following items that were on the menu:

• potato casserole
• butter pecan cake
• french muffins
• biscuits
• apple jam

And there’s more that made last weekend special…

My son, daughter in love and the grands were in from Atlanta and stayed with us for the weekend. More laughter, games played AND birthdays to celebrate for both grands have been so much fun.

This week?

My husband and I celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary. A trip to St. Louis with a visit to IKEA and a wonderful dinner was perfect.

And then there was a Graduation celebration.

Our first grandson graduated high school this week. After our anniversary celebration we flew to Boise to celebrate Ethan at his private school graduation at the Boise Botanical Gardens.

Oh, my goodness? What a beautiful location to celebrate. I will have to share more about all of this in days to come. It was an incredible ceremony.

More family and friend celebrations followed that overflowed the heart…again. Two weeks in a row of family were wonderful when we are so spread out across this great land.

And just a big thank you for those who reached out to us…

Hope the Memorial Day weekend was a safe one for all of you. Thankful for so many of you who reached out to us to ask about our safety.

The tornadoes were all around us and family members in Eddyville my hometown 30 miles away.

Thankfully none of us had damage and we are all safe; but, the tornado was visible from my sister’s back yard. So grateful that she and her home and my nephew and family’s home were okay. Thankful, too, that the tornado did not touch down any earlier and destroy the town.

Praying for all of my friends who had damages to their homes and businesses from Arkansas to Kentucky. So many are still struggling with clean up.

Now for a few things that I have loved from the internet this week…

If your Farmer’s Market or local produce farm has cucumbers already?…it’s time for a great Dill Pickle recipe. I PROMISE this one is easy and not intimidating like other dill pickle recipes. Hope you love this one. Just remember that you need home grown cucumbers, not wax coated ones, to create these pickles. SO EASY!

I am in love with these ideas for an outdoor gathering. From beautifully created DIY food covers to beautiful ideas for serving, you have to see all that Sarah shares. Just click here.

If you need a great red, white and blue no bake dessert for July 4th, I love this one that Elizabeth shared.

Do you need trellises for your raised bed garden? My friend Kim has the ultimate guide to create them.

I found myself organizing linens getting ready for 30+ guests for brunch. This friend has great ideas for organizing them. If you love entertaining, you may be swooning when you read this one!

She inspired me to wash, dry, iron and organize ALL of my napkins. A job long overdue! They are all now clean, pressed and in view to be used for gatherings. Makes my heart so very happy.

And speaking of linens...Do’s creation of drop cloth napkins is on my to do list this summer. I used her inspiration with adding silverware to napkins with fresh mint for our family brunch after the wedding. Thanks, Do!

I am in love with these pressed flower votives. Aren’t they lovely? Click here to learn how to create them.

And then there was this lighting fixture at Williams Sonoma home…who knew you could pay $10, 000 for a chandelier? I’m trying to figure out how we can DIY this one much cheaper. ol

More that I love…

Do you struggle with perfection? I always have to remind myself that perfection is over rated…I love this article.

Are you having house guests this summer? Maybe these tips will help.

Hope you guys have an amazing weekend.

Thank you, always, for joining me on Saturdays.

A joy to write and share with you,