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Sunday, February 20, 2022

Two Winter Tablescapes




 

 



 

 Welcome to Debbie-Dabble Blog!!

 
I am so happy you decided to stop by!!
 
Just a reminder, I will be posting on Wednesdays and Sundays every week so be sure to check back on those days to see a new post......  

It is still February and even though most Bloggers are doing Spring posts, Spring is no where in sight here in NEPA....

So I decided to put together 2 Winter Tablescapes for today's post....

In my last post, I shared what had been going on in my life along with some crafting that I have been doing.....
 
 


 
 Click HERE if you missed that post!!
 
 
And now for a few Personal Notes...
 
 
 I have been told that some of you enjoy seeing the food that we eat during the week, whether I cook it or we do Take Home...

These were the dinners that we got from the WB Scranton Penguins Reheat and Eat Meal Service....

 
 
 I mentioned that I was surprised that Joe was going to try the pork shoulder....
 
He ate half of it on Wednesday.... 


Yep!

That was all he ate in addition to what he had for breakfast and lunch which was this!!!!


I am sure he ate more Reese's cups throughout the day as he keeps a supply of them in a jar in the fridge at all times.....

Healthy, huh????

Well, he did eat it and said it was "okay", meaning that he will not be getting that again....

Now, I tasted it and it was good but we are not pork eaters and never have been but I am sure that those that like pork, would love this dish.....

This was the Chicken and Shrimp Alfredo with peppers and seasoned with cajun spices that Joey and I got...
 
 
 
 I removed all the shrimp and peppers from Joey's as he does not like them and added some of my chicken to his....

  I added the shrimp and peppers to mine and it was very good.....
 

The cajun seasoning was on the chicken and shrimp so it was not overwhelming and added a nice taste to the dish....
 
We will get this Alfredo dish again.... 

Joe's Boss, Chef Steve, was a guest on the local TV show PA Live this week where he spoke about the Reheat and East Dinners....


Click HERE to see the show's segments featuring Chef Steve and Tux, the WB Scranton Pens mascot!!!!
 
 
On Thursday evening, Joe ate the other half of his dinner before he went to work as he works evenings Monday through Thursday now, I was looking for something to make for Joey and I.....

 Baked Chicken Spaghetti...
 
I wanted something quick and easy and to use up some pieces of thinly sliced chicken breasts from Sam's Club and a half a jar of Ragu sauce...
 
Found tons of recipes online so I decided to substitute the heavy cream or cream cheese or shredded cheeses that they all called for with a can of Campbell's cheddar soup...
 
 
Cooked up the chicken after cutting in small cubes, added the cheddar soup and the Ragu sauce making a nice creamy sauce...
 
Added seasonings and tossed with cooked spaghetti....
 
Put a layer of spaghetti and then used half a bag of mozzarella cheese....
 
 Added the top layer of spaghetti and topped with the rest of the bag of mozzarella cheese and sprinkled with parm cheese...
 
Baked , covered for 20 minutes, at 375 degrees...
 
 
I forgot to take a picture when I first took it out of the oven but it was really good...
 
Joey and I enjoyed it....
 
Joe would never touch this with a ten foot pole so glad he was at work!!
 
 LOL!!
 
Friday is the evening that Joey treats us to Take Home since I feed him dinner every day....

He also has us hooked up to multiple streaming services which he pays for ....

This Friday was Mission BBQ which is 5 minutes from our house!!

Joe likes his pork in this form on a sandwich!!!

He got the pulled pork with a cheesy baked potato!!!!


Joey and I almost keeled over that Joe tried this potato and did not get fries but it was actually very tasty and I will definitely order it again as will Joe and Joey!!!

I got the pulled chicken sandwich.....


And Joey got the sliced turkey sandwich....


I gave Joey 3/4's of my fries as we also got the vat of mac and cheese!!

 
These are just 2 of the 8 containers of sauce that they gave us!!


They are very generous with the meat portions that they give you and everything is so good!!!
 
 
On Saturday, Joe picked up one of the pizza's from Price Chopper.....
 
This was one we never tried before...
 
Chicken Supreme!!! 
 

 Chicken, bacon, ranch dressing....
 

A lot of chicken on there for $10.99 only!!


It was really quite good and very filling!!!!


We hit 60 degrees the other day but that was at 3 am in the morning before a cold front blew through with heavy wind and rain and the temps. dropped into the 20's within a few hours....
 
All of our snow and ice have melted and it was strange to see bare ground out there in February....
 
BUT that was short lived...
 
A Snow Squall Alert was issued and within a period of 10 minutes, there was no bare ground!!!
 









 Nature's own naturally flocked garland!!!

At least it did not stick to the roads....
 
I am sure that Winter here in NEPA is far from over.....



I want to Thank Dee, over at Grammy's Grid, for choosing my post, Winter at Nelson Crest and More Crafting, as one of my feature's from last week's Unlimited Link Party!
 
 
Thanks so much, Dee!!

Please stop by and link up to this lovely party!! 


Okay, so on to the topic of today's post and that is Winter Tablescapes....

I wanted to do a Winter tablscape before I start to pack away my Winter decorations which I may be doing by the middle of this coming week.....

So here is Winter Tablescape Number 1.....

 
 
 
 
 
I started with an ivory tablecloth......
 
Joe bought this tree skirt at Big Lot's when all Christmas was marked down to 90% off and he had a 20% off coupon.... 

 
Originally $10..

 
 It was 80 cents!!!!!

I folded it in half and placed it in the middle of the table....
 


I then added 2 round red place mats that Joe bought on Clearance in Wegman's a few years back....

 
 
 
Let's take a look at the place settings first....

 
 
 I added a wood like charger plate that was part of a set of 6 I bought in Micheal's on Clearance one year...
 
 
 
I think it goes well with the burlap look of the tree skirt...

 

 Then I added this plate with a Winter scene on it that I bought in Gabes for $2 each!!
 
 
 
You may remember seeing it before as I display it on this shelf in the Den for Winter.....



I added my red handled flatware bought by Joe on Clearance in Wegman's....
 
 
 
 Pretty Winter napkins with pine cones, also bought by Joe last year on Clearance in Big Lot's...
 
 
 
 
 
 Since I am using mostly red, which is considered a warm and cozy color, I went with just a simple mug....
 

 
This mug, with the pretty Winter scene on it, was gifted to me by my friend Mary....


I love the Winter scenes on both the dish and mug....


I envision this the place setting for a wonderful Winter meal of comfort food, like a pasta dish, with a mug of piping hot coffee to enjoy afterward while the snow is falling outside....



 
Now let's take a look at the center of the table.....

  
I pretty much walked around the house and pulled a few things..... 

 
This is one of my neighbor Elly's sweet snowmen from her snowman collection....

 
 
Also a snow bird from Gabes, snow balls and pine cones....


In the center, is this cute snowman that my friend Anne Marie gifted to me last year....



 
More snowbirds, pine cones and snow balls.....

 
And a snowman tea towel that was also a gift from a friend.....


On this side, is one more from Elly's snowman collection....


And another snowbird.....


The lighted trees behind the snowman in the center is another item that Joe bought at Big Lot's for 90% off!!

 
I thought $80 originally was a bit high!!


90% off took it down to $8.00 and with a Rewards Members only coupon for 22% off...
 
The final price was $6.24!!!!


But for a little over 6 bucks, it was a steal!!!!
 
 

 
I used a set of snow ball like lights that Joe bought one year in Wegman's on Clearance....


 
If we did not have to eat at our Dining Room table daily, I would love to be able to leave tablescapes out but that is impossible to do so....

 
I really had fun doing this one!!!

 
Should I ever host another table at a Harvest Tea again, I think this will be my theme....

 
However, it is not looking like that will happen in our parish as it looks that our church is set to close and merge with several other churches....

There is going to be a HUGE restructuring of parishes in the Scranton Diocese as part of Vision 2030!
 
Unfortunately, there are over 100+ churches and a projected amount of only 60 -70 priests by 2030 in the diocese as many will be reaching retirement age...

As mentioned in Mass at a neighboring church, there will only be 4 churches left open in a 2 to 7 mile distance from our house on this side of the Susquehanna River...
 
 There currently are 11 churches now in that same area!!

Our priest has been reassigned to his home parish and we will be getting an administrator and will most likely be merging with another parish that will be considered a "station" church that will be staying open not far down the road and one that is actually closer to us...
 
 

Sad to see this happen as our church is only 50 years old but it is a more easily marketed property as it is very nondescript in comparison to the older churches in the area...

So we are sure it will be closed and sold....

We suspect this will be happening by the end of the year as another church involved in this merger is slated to close in June but it may happen much sooner and ours was slated to be next after that one....

I have not returned to church in person since the Pandemic started and continue to watch masses in various churches online as the majority of people in our parish are not wearing masks...

The church that we will most likely be merging with is requiring masks which is nice....

It will also mark it's 100th year anniversary this year and is a beautiful Church...

Last year, I shared pictures of it at Christmas as it was gorgeous!!!



 
Stunning, isn't it???

They actually also do a Harvest Tea so we will see what happens.....

If we have to switch parishes, this will be the 5th parish that we belonged to since we are married.....


Next up is another Winter Tablescape ....
 
 
 
 I used more blue in this one and since blue is considered a cool color, this is a more calming and serene tablescape....
 

 With this one, I envision a nice Tea with a friend.....
 
Let's look at the place settings first again.....

 
I kept the same charger plates out.....

 
This time I used my blue and white transferware dishes....

 
And my Oneida everyday flatware which was bought for me by my Mother just a few years before she passed away....

 
For some reason, she insisted on buying a set for both my sister and I...

 
I bought the dinner plates, cups and saucers for a buck a piece in Salvation Army about 10 years ago!!



 
A simple white dinner napkin as I do not have a lot of blue linens or napkins...

 
And I used these blue glasses that I bought at a yard sale for 25 cents each!!!

 
 
 
 

 
 
 Let's take a look at what I placed in the center of the table this time....
 
 
Again, I started out with the lighted trees....
 

 
I bought this cute wing chair at a church flea market many years ago....
 

 
 Another one of Elly's Snowmen sits in it....

 
And another one in front...



On the left side is my Ice Church, gifted to me several years ago by my friend Anne Marie....
 
 
 
 
 
And a moose bought in Gabes...
 
 
 
 
 
On the right side is the matching Ice House.....
 
 

It is setting on top of a blue velvet box....


And a reindeer...


Once again I used the same snow ball looking strand of lights like in the first tablescape.....



 
 
 
I had a lot of fun putting these 2 Winter tablescapes together....




I hope you enjoyed seeing them......

Did you notice something????

I am frequently asked what does Joe say about all of my "Stuff"

Did you notice just how many things were bought by him????

About half, if not more, of the things in this house have been bought by him and not me!!!!

He has a shopping addiction and can't control himself when he sees signs for CLEARANCE!!!!

So the answer to that question is he has nothing to say as he is responsible for half of it!!!

Not sure yet what my post on Wednesday will be....

So I hope you will stop by to visit again on Wednesday to see what it is!!

Stay safe, healthy and most of all, HAPPY!!

Thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE  give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment.  If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......


I am linking up to these parties:
 

Please take some time to visit these terrific hosts and all those joining in on the fun!
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7 comments:

  1. Miss MerryFebruary 20, 2022 at 12:16 PM

    Can I start with churches? We had these talks about 10 years ago (pre Covid) and at our church I think 80% went to the "informational" meeting. The people the Diocese sent were kind of overwhelmed. We are a small country parish and financially solvent and our question was - is there a way we can stay open and maybe have a communion service three Sundays a month and share a rotating priest. You would have thought we were suggesting turning satanic. That is not the plan. We got merged but a group of three other parishes did get merged. One was my sister in law's church and was a very active small parish. Another was my neighbor's family church. When they decided to sell the parish school across the road about 15-20 years ago, a big family bought it and operates it as a senior/community center in the middle of corn fields as a successful 501c3. The decision was to close THAT church and another and tear them down. The family BEGGED to be allowed to purchase the church, their ancestors had built the pews, paid for the stained glass windows,it was their church. The Diocese refused. When they hired lawyers and lost, perhaps members actually broke into the amazing little church and stole as much as they could - pews, furniture, moldings and some of the windows, just ahead of the wrecking ball. There is an adjoining cemetery that remains next to the empty lot which is still owned by the diocese - no move to sell it or the other vacant lot where the second church was demolished. Meanwhile we went to the third church that they moved into and changed the name to see my niece sing the next Christmas. We got there early to get a good seat. The church was barely a quarter full on Christmas Eve after combining all three parishes.

    This weekend we went to the cathedral in Toledo to see our oldest grandson confirmed. We too have been watching mass on Facebook since March 2020. By we, I mean me because my husband was uncomfortable going and stayed at my daughter's to watch younger children. There were 100 candidates and probably 1000 people. My other daughter who was his sponsor said they were like sardines in the front pews. 2 of the 1000 sponsors had masks. We sat 10 rows from the back and luckily had more space. Our row was masked (my family) and I did see one other family of four with masks when people moved to get communion. But out of 1000 spectators, I doubt there were more than 25 masks in a crowded building.

    Now to the food! Thank you, I am so jealous of these dinners. I really really want a personal chef like your arena chef! I would have ordered every meal this week. And you sure have some great pizza deals, too. We have tried all kinds of carryout dinners in our area and almost every time which we had just cooked a meal ourselves. My daughter did get a huge lasagna from a caterer on Sunday and it was just delicious. It was so huge I think I could cut it into 8x8 sections and fill a freezer. And it might be an idea, lol. The prices of your dinners is so reasonable, too.

    What pretty tables! I got out the dishes for a January table and a Valetines table, but neither happened. I have grandkids tomorrow since no school on President's Day so maybe if they help with my organizing project I could strive for March, LOL. You have so many pretties.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble ChristmasFebruary 25, 2022 at 9:53 AM

      Miss Merry,
      I so enjoy your comments...so much so that rather than just reply when visiting your blog, I decided to reply to this comment here too!!!!
      Now as far as churches closing here,this has been going on for about 19 years now...The problem in NEPA is that when the Eastern European immigrants came here to work in the mines, each Nationality built their own church in every little town....They came from Poland, Russian, Italy, Lithuania and Slovakia. They did not speak English so they needed to build their own churches with priests that spoke their own language. So in just our Country , in my area there are about 10-12 communities on each side of the river that had at least 2-4 Catholic churches in their borders.Way too many churches as congregations declined in number ad monetary support also declined...Now with the amount of priests declining, the only sensible thing to do is to close churches that can not be financially maintained and marge several parishes into regional churches and congregations....In many areas of the Country, there is not a Catholic church within a 65 mile radius where here, there were 3-4 within a 1-2 mile radius....BIG MISTAKE that our ancestors did not think about.....People here still refer to the "polish" church, the "Italian" church, the "Irish" church.....The church of my childhood was built by my Dad's parents and was closed about 10 years ago and torn down...Sad, but a neccessity, unfortunately...Personally, I am sad to think of the church that we currently belong to, closing and shutting down but yet, I am excited for a fresh start in a different, more vibrant parish...I had planned to do a lot more volunteer work, like I used to do, once I retired. The parish that we will be joining has a food pantry, a clothing store where people can go and choose clothing for free and many other charitable ministries...We will see what happens but I think this change will be good...
      And as far as the Pizza, there is a big Italian population i this area so Pizza is king around here!! Thanks so much for stopping by as often as you do!!
      Hugs,
      Deb

      Delete
  2. AnnFebruary 22, 2022 at 9:05 AM

    It certainly still is winter around here, isn't it, Debbie? I think we had that same snow squall! Hopefully spring will arrive soon, I'm so ready for it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. LyndaFebruary 22, 2022 at 11:28 AM

    Hi Debbie,
    I love reading your posts. The take home food you have been getting looks delish. The tablescapes are so nice. I really love the blue one set for tea with a friend. It is very calming. The pictures you shared of the church at Christmas is really gorgeous. We too have been having issues with churches in the area closing or merging. It is very sad but unfortunately a sign of the times. I have not been back to in person service since the pandemic either but do watch services on line. Looking forward to Wednesday's post.

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    Replies
    1. Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble ChristmasFebruary 25, 2022 at 11:06 AM

      Lynda,
      Thanks again for stopping by! I appreciate you taking the tie to do so!! It is unfortunate about the churches closing but it is a sign of the times with decreasing congregations and monies needed to sustain those churches...I am looking forward to the prospect of starting over in a new church but hopefully, with some familiar faces...I do enjoy watching different masses online at the parish's of our former pastors.... I hope you have a good weekend!! Stay safe, healthy and happy!!
      Hugs,
      Debbie

      Delete
  4. JeanieFebruary 22, 2022 at 12:24 PM

    These tables are jolly and happy. Very pretty indeed, Debbie! And I know I've said it before, but your porch in the snow is so pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Life as a LEO WifeFebruary 27, 2022 at 7:43 PM

    I love the blue table! The dishes are beautiful. I so wish that I could get to church! We only have one car and my husband works on Sundays. My son got saved a few months ago (yes I was completely over the moon to confidently know that I'll spend eternity with my baby boy, living with our Savior!), but we haven't even been able to have him baptized since we can't get to church. (I think we Evangelical Christians do that a little different than you do.) It wrecks me. You can tell a huge difference in your spiritual life having to watch online than getting to go and worship and serve with other believers. God knew what He was talking about when He told Paul to warn us not to forsake the gathering of ourselves together to worship Him. I'm thankful for online, but it's not a replacement that's for sure. I'll be praying that your new church exceeds your expectations, and that God opens doors for you to be able to serve and volunteer the way you want to! Your church was beautiful at Christmas a few years ago! Thanks for sharing with us on Crafty Creators!
    XOXO,
    Niki ~ Life as a LEO Wife

    ReplyDelete

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