Tally Ho! Tablescape

Taking a cue from yesterday's post about my trip to Kansas and chance encounter with a majestic grey horse in the heart of the hunt countryside, I pulled a few things together to mark the start of autumn with an equestrian themed tablescape for Tablescape Thursday (see Susan's Between Naps on the Porch - linked here and also found in my list of links - for more of the Tablescape Thursday tradition she started, along with links to lots more that other bloggers have submitted this week).

I've pulled together a red and black buffalo plaid placemat, which always makes me think "hunting," over a red/black woven mat (sources unknown) and a Royal Worcester bone china English teacup and saucer with horses and hounds and inscribed on the inside of the cup with "To A Very Important Person." I found it several years ago at a horse event trade fair from a Vermont antique dealer, I think.  It's always fun to celebrate and honor a special dinner guest by serving them with this unique teacup.

 

To the left of the cup is a lovely crimson cotton napkin with a contrasting beige cotton binding from Martha Stewart Everyday for K-Mart that I picked up at a tag sale (!).  Holding the napkin is the piece I initially thought of when envisioning this tablescape vignette.  (I know it's not quite a full-blown tablescape, but I'm gradually working my way up to that, while trying to do something applicable while squeezing in myriad other demands on my time.)  It's a bone china foxhunter napkin holder, one of a set of four greys and four bays (brown) horses, each with a red-coated rider, by RPA (Phillipines).  I know I mail-ordered them some years ago, but I can't recall who the retailer was - probably one of the equestrian gift shops in the mid-South.  These rings are such fun and always inspire comments at dinner parties when I set the table with them.

Beyond the napkin holder is a crystal decanter that I inherited from an aunt who also was an avid horsewoman.  The decanter label, a wonderful little Coalport bone china piece made in England and purchased from Thomas Goode & Company in London, indicates the vessel is filled with sherry, so I think of this setting as an afternoon tea - a bit of tea to warm weary bones and a sip of sherry to warm the soul and ease the transition to evening as the sun sets on a long day of riding to hounds in pursuit of "reynard" (the wily fox).  To the right of the teacup is a beautiful etched sherry glass, one of my grandmother's glasses.  She was the original horsewoman in the family, having ridden in Ireland as a child - the tradition continues!

The small, wrought iron candle holders were a housewarming gift many years ago and the fanciful hunting print with a charming little verse shown in the right corner used to hang in my bathroom (!) when I lived in the country.  (It already had some water damage when I bought it, so I had it framed and matted to mask the damage and withstand the intrusion of moisture.)  Fortunately, it didn't suffer from the exposure and it's now out of the bath and awaiting a decision on where to re-hang it.

 

The verse reads:

See the hounds begin to feather:

There's a touch by all that's good!

Hark! they're getting fast together;

Now they thunder down the wood.

Leap oe'r the brook; don't stay to look!

Ride at the gate; you'll be too late.

Cheers!  And tally ho!

Sunflower State

With apologies, I've been away from blogging for a bit because I was traveling, making my first trip to the Sunflower State:  Kansas!  Had a wonderful time visiting my good pal (and horsewoman), Susan, who moved west two years ago.  Susan has a lovely small farm where she keeps her horses.  The late September weather was absolute perfection - sunny and mild with a gentle breeze - I couldn't have asked for a better climate for my first visit. 

Okay, I confess, while I was taking in the magnificent heartland scenery, trying to get a sense of this rural landscape - rolling and expansive in comparison with others more familiar along the Eastern seaboard - I occasionally glanced warily at the western horizon.  This is acknowledged tornado country (hello, Dorothy and Toto) and it's a reputation that is difficult to shake mentally, especially if you've never been there.  Those forces of nature are not to be trivialized - they're scary and dangerous.  Gazing at the sprawling landscapes, it was easy to see how the openness of that vast terrain is an inviting playground for a madly spinning twister.

But enough about that.  There were no tornados (although, apparently, there was a raging thunderstorm overnight one evening that neither Susan nor I noticed) and the weather was grand. 

We toured around the region and went to look at a horse for sale nearby that Susan had heard about and thought might be suitable for a mutual friend back here in New York who is in the market for a new steed.  (The gelding we saw turned out to be quite special, so much so that both Susan and I could envision owning him!  No decisions yet, but we were glad we made the trip to see him.)

On our return, we made a few stops, including a visit through the "hunt country" of northeastern Kansas.  Here's a shot I snapped of a handsome foxhunter - probably Thoroughbred or TB-cross - near Louisburg.  For Tablescape Thursday tomorrow, I'll use him as my inspiration and do something with a foxhunting theme.  Stop by for a stirrup cup of hunting port!

We also visited by the Louisburg Cider Mill, a charming complex southwest of Kansas City that was just gearing up for a harvest festival over the weekend, including a corn maze (ubiquitous these days), and craft vendors, etc.  We were a day early, so avoided the crowds and still had fun shopping in the gift shop.  There also is a restaurant/cafe adjacent to the shop and the mill has a mail order business as well.  I decided to purchase a small packet of private label garlic powder (I had run out at home) in a plastic zip packet.  Only later did I realize how much the odor of the contents permeated the packet!  It was a short visit, so I had a suitcase that was small enough to be a carry-on bag and I had visions of garlic odors wafting throughout the planes on my return trip!  I double-bagged the packet in two ziplock bags and hoped for the best.  No one noticed (at least I don't think anyone noticed), so it wasn't as much of an issue as I feared.

We grabbed a cup of fresh-pressed cider for the road (tasty!).  The visit gave me some food for thought (literally and figuratively) about a Kansas lifestyle as I contemplate my options for relocation.  Not sure that I will move, as I do love my area of the country, but it's no secret that taxes in New York are the highest in the country and I've never been a huge fan of snow, so I've been contemplating other parts of the country as alternatives.

In all, it was a great trip and a wonderful visit with my friend.  I'm looking forward to returning soon to experience more of the Sunflower State's attractions.