Sunday Afternoon Tea - Preparing for Company

I have out-of-state company arriving today.  They hopefully enjoyed a visit to Louisville last night and are attending church services before traveling to our house.  Tomorrow we will enjoy a combination Memorial Day/Birthday celebration (not mine!) and then next weekend another get-together which will include an extended family member we don't see often.

While there wasn't a lot that needed to be done to the house, I did work hard yesterday to get as much maintenance chores finished in advance.  One enjoyable task was to finish my container garden that is on and in front of the porch.  I decided this year to invest in porch plants and pretty much skip the deck for budget purposes.

At the last minute, I found that all my clay pots had cracked over the winter.  Most likely a combination of extreme cold and then a wet spring.  It seems like it has rained every day and while I am certain that is not true, it has rained enough that we were always working around showers or storms to accomplish anything outside.

So I took my stressed self to the nursery for three flower pots (a nice sturdy plastic this time) and enjoyed walking through their aisles, even though I wasn't there to buy flowers or herbs.  Nurseries like this are among my favorite happy places.  The aroma alone, a combination of flowers and veggie plants and herbs and dirt... blended together from recent rains... were so calming that I was tempted to stay longer than needed.  I did but just a little while.

When I arrived home, the remaining herbs and two dahlias were planted and even if I do say so myself... it looks lovely even in these early stages.  The herbs will probably have to go to the deck eventually for more direct sunlight but they look nice on the porch at the moment.

What I at first thought was a hardship, having to purchase a few more flowerpots, ended up being a blessing.  I felt so much calmer when I arrived home.  A calm I tried to hold on to for the rest of the evening.

The only stress I was experiencing was put upon myself but you know how it is when people you haven't seen in a long time are coming for a visit.  You want everything done before they get here!  It isn't all perfect but it is... good enough.

Cookie dough is waiting in the deep freeze and I only have to place the preformed (with my favorite little scoop) frozen cookies on the baking sheet to bake on Memorial Day.  Potatoes are boiling as I write and will be the base for our favorite potato salad recipe.  Then there has to be the preparation of lemon bars for those who prefer them to chocolate.  Everything is to be readied today to make tomorrow a true holiday for the cooks.

I will be writing a book review mid-week and then I must take next weekend off from blog writing as it will be even busier than this weekend.  Have an enjoyable Memorial Day, I hope no severe weather comes your way.  We are watching the skies closely today...

Mentioned in this Blog Post
Heloise's potato salad... here.
Chocolate chip cookies... here.

The lemon bars are from the Southern Living Heirloom Recipe Cookbook (which is a treasure!)... here.  I couldn't find this one online. There are a lot of inexpensive copies third-party.

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