Food seems to taste much better when served in a beautiful setting.  Even though I didn’t have an extravagant childhood, my mother always set a lovely table for the holidays, using her Franciscan Ware apple pattern.

This year, I took one of my English china plates, Windsor Ware by Johnson Bros. with me to select the plants from Whitfill Nursery and flowers from Safeway for the centerpiece.

I wanted to purchase items I could use again~~plants and herbs.  Of course, I needed a few flowers for additional color.

We are having 10 for Thanksgiving dinner so we extended the table.  I wonder why they are called leaves?

It was a worthwhile investment purchasing a table pad to protect the surface of the dining room table.  One side of the pad is felt and the other is a protective plastic.  This one was custom made by Guardian and it has 3 parts.

Next, I layered my table cloths, starting with a Battenburg lace one, and adding 3 smaller muslin sheets on top.  I purchased the vintage muslin sheets from one of my favorite bloggers, Miss Mustard Seed. The lighter ivory tone and texture of the muslin matches the background of the dinner plate.

For the centerpiece,  I lined a rectangular wooden tray with both plastic and foil, and then filled it with the plants, herbs, and pomegranates, pears and flowers.  The brass pumpkins were on sale at Safeway ~~and add a bit of sparkle.

Since, at the time of writing this post, I had not finalized my menu, I was experimenting with adding different plates/bowls in case we have a first course salad or soup. The wooden charger is from Pier 1 Imports, providing a great back drop for my china pattern.

The glass, gold trim salad plate is from Lesley Roy. I like that the design in the center of the plate is visible.

I love these pumpkin soup tureens from Williams-Sonoma, but I rarely use them.

The napkins were a recent purchase (on sale!) from Ballard Designs.  They are the perfect creamy color and the plaid trim complements the brown tones.

A fresh sprig of rosemary from the garden is tucked in the napkin ring.

Looking forward to spending the next few days baking and cooking. Funny how Thanksgiving dinner takes hours to prepare and such a short time to eat!

I don’t know if I have confessed that I do not like to shop.  I really dread going to the store, especially if I need new clothes or shoes, or heavens forbid, a bathing suit or underwear.

But I do have one or two favorite stores because they don’t feel like a chore, but rather a pleasant experience.  I have written about Camps and Cottages in a previous post, but recently I have been following Molly English on Instagram and spotted these new candles that arrived in her shop.

She graciously mailed one to me and it is HEAVENLY!  The minute I opened the box, the entire room filled with a smell of apple cider, October, Thanksgiving and Christmas all rolled up into one intoxicating scent.

Even my daughter, Elisabeth, came into the kitchen after school and said, “What is that amazing smell? It reminds me of the fall and October and everything I love about this time of year.”

Not only is the candle an olfactory celebration, but it is truly beautiful.  This is apparently the smaller size, at approximately 6.5″ tall x 5″ diameter.  The name is Rosy Rings Spicy Apple and will burn for 200 hours. The price is $60.00 but seemed worth it with such a long burning time.

Embedded in the candle are slices of apple, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, small dark red berries (?)~~making this candle beautiful to look at as well as smell.

This is the PERFECT candle for the autumn and would make an excellent hostess gift.

Here are some pictures of Camps and Cottages in Laguna Beach, California that I captured during my beach vacation.

Unfortunately I only get to visit in person once a year, but Molly has made ordering directly from her SO easy.  She posts new items that come into the store on Instagram and on her website.

Today was the coolest day since the summer and now with my Spicy Apple candle it, I am getting excited about the fall!!!

A year ago today, I sent my first blog post of Life at Bella Terra.  It was an intimidating moment, because I thought “who would ever want to read this?”  I don’t consider myself a very good writer and I’m really trying to improve upon that.  But your words of encouragement have brought me back to the computer to post again and again.  If it wasn’t for your kindness and support, it would have been easy to just quit.  Thank you for your loyalty and feedback and comments. Truly. From the bottom of my heart.

Each time I send out an email letting you know I’ve created a new post, I am praying you find it interesting, enlightening or even motivating.  I try to share a small piece of loveliness in hopes that I can brighten your day. As I look out into the world, I believe we each need to find sources of joy and create our own beauty.  Whether it be feeling the warmth from a freshly picked tomato, or the scent of a homegrown flower, these moments of perfection can only help feed the soul.

Blogging for me, is a chance to stop and capture a sliver of time, an exquisite photo or a recipe that bursts with flavor. Plus it is forcing me to attack those cluttered corners of the house or undone projects while showing you my progress. But I can honestly say, I am still a long way from feeling confident about creatively illustrating that to you. But I will keep trying.

So here is a look back at the year and some of my favorite photos and posts.

My very first blog post was about the New York Times Bestselling author, Rhys Bowen and the fundraising English tea we had here at Bella Terra.

And other events we happily hosted here…..

Recipes shared…..

My Renovations and Restorations….

Travel and leisure…..

Decorating and Design…

The holidays….

Cleaning, Organizing, and Updating…

Sharing our home and yard….

My attempt at art….

Flower arranging..

Our pets…

And a few DIYs….

My online store….

There is still so much to learn, especially better photography, writing and getting my watermarks the same size on every photo.  So thank you again for following me and sharing my blog with others.

PLEASE send in your comments~~What area of interest would you like for me to expand? What are your favorite topics? How often should I post (trying to do a maximum of twice per week)? What can I do to be better for you?  My goals for the next year are to do a contest or giveaway and conduct a real survey into your likes and interests.

Here’s to one year and onto the next!! I couldn’t have done it without you.

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It is STILL very hot here in Phoenix and this recipe is cool and refreshing.  Wherever you are celebrating Labor Day, this salad is full of fresh, summer ingredients and is very simple to make.  With just a few ingredients and a light dressing, this is a perfect accompaniment to something off the grill.

Since access to the Farmers Market is still a few days away, I purchased the tomatoes and peaches at our local Safeway.  The tomatoes are a deep, dark blackish red heirloom tomato called Eclipses.

Aren’t these flat peaches fun? They are like regular peaches that someone sat on~~these beauties are called Saturn, donut or saucer peaches.  The reason I chose them is they were the ONLY peach that wasn’t hard as a rock and these actually smell like peaches.

The dressing is a Honey Vinaigrette ~~which is a lighter, slightly sweet dressing.  My relatives, Bruce and Janiece, have their own bees and make the most delicious honey.  We are always so excited when we get a shipment of their honey and I added this golden elixir to the recipe.

I adjusted the recipe a bit by adding cilantro.  I felt like it needed some green and who doesn’t love cilantro?

This recipe was in the July 2017 edition of Southern Living magazine on page 62.

Have a Happy Labor Day!!!!

This post shared with Tuesday Turn About #58 Fun in July

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:10]

I love our neighborhood as it provides the best of both rural and urban living.  Even though we are 10 minutes from downtown Phoenix (the 5th largest city in the US), our North Central neighborhood feels like it is miles away.

A few years ago, my friend and neighbor, Bo Mostow, called me to discuss her idea of starting a farmers market.  Bo’s dream has now become one of the most successful farmers market in the country.  I was so inspired to see her take her idea to fruition and as a result we all benefit from this wonderful addition to our neighborhood. USA Today has listed Uptown Farmers Market as one of the top 50 markets in the United States.

Every Wednesday and Saturday, the Uptown Farmers Market gathers at the corner of Bethany Home Road and Central Avenue, within walking distance to our home.  In the summer, they house nearly 100+ vendors in an air- conditioned space at a North Phoenix Baptist Church on Saturdays only.  Come September, all the vendors and white tents will again be outside for the cooler, fall weather twice a week.

Going to the Farmers Market is such a joyous event.  There is such a wide variety of food choices- from local farmers, small businesses, and home cooks.  In addition, there are handcrafted goods, food trucks, musical performances, activities for children. All the vendors and customers are genuinely happy~~it has such a nice family feel.

Fresh produce from the Farm Club. Look at these gorgeous pickled items by Lillie Mae’s Blue Ribbon Pickled Garden.

In spite of the heat this time of year, the market was heavily attended.

I have been craving heirloom tomatoes and really good peaches, so I decided to see what I could find at the market. Look at the incredible displays of fruits and vegetables from Abby Lee Farms. Fresh, local and delicious.

The absolute BEST cinnamon raisin bread is made by Capistrano’s and purchased from Rowland at the Noble Bread tent. If you don’t get there early, the bread sells out very quickly.  Just seeing Rowland on Saturday makes my day!

I purchased two loaves of this bread and it is chock-a-block full of raisins.  A quick breakfast before a workout will be one slice of this toasted, with almond butter, sliced bananas and chia seeds. Delicious!

I typically buy one loaf of sourdough, slice it and freeze it with a piece of paper towel in a zip lock bag. I use the sourdough bread to make my daughter her favorite sandwich~~grilled brie cheese with sour cherry jam.

So here is my haul from the market~~eggplant, zucchini, arugula, kale, brussels sprouts, peppers, tomatoes, peaches, French breakfast radishes, romaine lettuce, lemons and fresh herbs.  Plus two smoked bones for the dogs from Ruff Life. I would have bought more if I had more arms/hands!

I can only lay claim to a few of the photos in this post.  The balance of the Uptown Farmers Market photos were done by Kinita Albertson, from Caught by Kinita.

Kinita is doing a project for our neighborhood group where she was tasked to capture the essence of our area.  She was kind enough to give me permission to use her farmers market photos for this blog post.

For more information about the Uptown Farmers Market, please click here.

Each year we visit the Pacific Ocean for our family vacation. This trip is especially exciting for me as I love being by the water.

Marriott’s Newport Coast Villas offers a Canvas Art Event, a class where you paint step-by-step with an artist.  Since we live in the desert, I enjoy this event because we get the opportunity to paint a local seascape. Last year I attend this class by myself with a certain amount of trepidation.  There is no experience necessary and all ages are welcomed.  After the 2 hour class, I so enjoyed taking home a keepsake from our vacation.  Here’s is what I painted last summer, called Heisler Park, a setting in Laguna Beach, CA.

This year, I convinced my 2 daughters and their friends to take the class with me.  There was a bit of hemming and hawing, but you can’t learn to paint if you don’t try, right? The class was held in a light-filled room overlooking the Pacific Ocean, which, in and of itself, was inspirational.

The painting, entitled “Sailing to Catalina” was our topic.  Here is the teacher’s version for us to emulate.

The class was $35.00 per person and included a prepared 11″x14″ canvas, the brushes, acrylic paints, supplies and instruction.  The largest brush has inch markers on the handle which we used to determine our horizon line.

The instructor told us which paints and quantities to use.  The sky, for example, was 2 parts white to one part blue.

We then used the white paint to create the clouds.

Next we added Catalina Island in the distance and added various quantities of white paint to the darker purple to add dimension to the rock.

The painting of the beach came next.

We used different shades of blue and green for the ocean.

Added waves, and then the greenery in the foreground, as well as the sailboat.

Added the finishing touches of the flowers in the foreground~~ a quick 2 hours! Our instructor, Jessica Byrne, traveled the room, lending her artistic feedback and helping each of us with our paintings.

My daughter, Julianna, decided to add a character (Patrick Star) to her painting!

Everyone was happy they attended and we each had our own artistic style!

This was a fun family experience! If you haven’t painted before, taking a group class and doing it alongside an artist is a great place to start. This particular company, Painterly Events, also provides private, corporate events and plein air (outdoors on location) classes.  What a fun way to gather a group of friends/family and share in an artistic experience.

Now I am off to enjoy the ocean! Happy Saturday!