Between Naps on the Porch

A Secret Garden Tablescape: Welcome to the 195th Tablescape Thursday!

2012-05-24T10:00:00.000-04:00

Wow, what a week! This is turning out to be one of the busiest and most exciting weeks I've had in a while. My son and his sweetheart were here last night. We're all in wedding mode since the big day is just 4 days away. After dinner out we came back home and stayed up late into the night talking. I miss them terribly and love it when they are here visiting.

As if preparing for a wedding in four days isn't enough, BNOTP is also moving to WordPress sometime in the next few days. With all that's been going on, I didn't get a chance to create a new table setting this week but I do have a sweet garden tablescape to share. It's one I spotted on a spring home and garden tour this year.

This house below wasn't on the tour but I just had to capture a few pics of it while on the tour. Isn't it wonderfully romantic with the ivy growing up the front?

The garden was in bloom and it was stunning!

There were even foxgloves, one of my very favorite flowers.

I know this is Tablescape Thursday, but I can't resist sharing some of the pretty gardens with you. We weren't allowed to take photographs inside.

Love the pond with the waterfall...

This may be a New Dawn rose...very pretty.

So sweet in this shade garden...

Beautiful Rhododendron...

And here's our tablecape, tucked away in this little corner of the garden.

We saw some great homes on our tour. This house wasn't actually one of the ones that we toured. Isn't it interesting how two of the dormers are designed in a different style from the center one. I don't think I've ever seen that before.

Looking forward to all the beautiful table settings posted for this Tablescape Thursday!

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*If you are reading this via email or RSS feed, to view all the tablescapes linked for Tablescape Thursday, click HERE.

Please Read:
If you are participating in Tablescape Thursday, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name, then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar, into the "url" box when you link up.

You'll need to include a link in your post back to the party in order to link up and participate. That's so visitors to your blog will be able to find the party and the other Tablescape Thursday participants.

If you would like to use the Tablescape Thursday logo button in your post, just copy and paste it to your computer and upload it to your post as you would any photo.

Please, don't add your post name/blog name ALL IN CAPS...it tends to create big spaces between the rows of links. Thanks!

Let's try something fun today! Please visit the person who linked before you and after you...that way everyone will get some visits. Hope you'll visit more, of course.

Welcome! Thanks for coming to the party!

Between Naps on the Porch is Moving!

2012-05-23T16:00:00.000-04:00

Have you ever looked forward to something and dreaded it at the same time? Mixed feelings, yep I definitely have mixed feelings today. Between Naps on the Porch is moving...moving to Word Press.

(Image from Google Images, Pinterest and a bunch more places)

If everything goes as planned, you'll hardly notice a thing. If you read BNOTP via an RSS feeder or email, you should still receive it without any issues. If you read online, you'll automatically be routed to BNOTP's new home. The move should take place sometime in the next few days.

As with any move, there will be some "unpacking" time. But shortly you'll find a much more organized, better designed BNOTP when you visit. There will be category headers with drop-down menus which will allow you to quickly find the information or post you seek.

It will take me a little while to get all those posts tagged and in place under the categories and there will be a slight delay due to a special wedding that's scheduled this Sunday :) but hopefully I'll get those categories filled in quickly. I'm trying to be optimistic about that part. I see some late nights ahead of me.

Why is Between Naps on the Porch moving?
Well, there are lots of little reasons but the main reasons are:
1. When you blog on the Blogger platform, you're blogging for free. You're using Blogger's resources. Some folks say you don't really own your blog, although Blogger says that isn't true. But what is true is if at some point Blogger's system mistakenly thinks BNOTP is a spam type blog, it can make it disappear.

The thought of losing 3 1/2 years worth of work is unthinkable. I've heard of it happening and I know many of you know someone who has had it happen to them. Blogger does have some options for trying to get your blog back if it's deleted in error, or so I've read. I just don't want to have to worry about possibly having to deal with this one day.

2. Blogger has made lots and lots of really great improvements in the Blogger platform over the past year or so. They've added threaded comments and they've improved SEO by letting us title and add alt tags to our photos. But, Blogger templates are still very limited.

A Word Press blog can be designed however you wish. There are talented designers out there working every day to create new "plug-ins" for WP blogs. Plug-ins are sort of like gadgets in Blogger or apps for the iPad. They let you add cool functionality to your blog.

What are the negatives of moving? Well, you have to pay hosting fees and as your blog grows, those can really ad up. If something breaks, you're on your own or you have to find someone who can fix it. You're also responsible for keeping everything updated so your blog stays protected and functioning.

Another negative (but not really) is the horizontal pictures you see here at BNOTP are going to be a little smaller. This shouldn't really be a problem, though, because anytime you're reading any blog or site and you want to see bigger pictures, simply hit Ctrl + on your keyboard a couple of times. Hit the + button as many times as you like while holding down the Ctrl button and you can make those pictures as large as you want. You can make them fill up your whole screen, if you like.

Once you hit Ctrl +, all the pictures in the post will be equally large. Once you're done reading a post, hit Ctrl - a few times to take things back to normal. It will no longer be necessary to scroll from left to right to see the BNOTP sidebar after the move.

Tablescape Thursday:
I hope to have Tablescape Thursday up tomorrow morning, but if it's running behind, I know you'll understand. Timing is a bit rough for this change since my son is getting married on Sunday. Lots going on around here. I still need to find a pair of shoes that are comfortable and I need to pick up a few more things to get ready for the big day.

Thanks for being patient during the transition. You'll have a new and improved BNOTP once all the dust settles!

Shout, A Must-Have for My Laundry Room

2012-05-23T14:27:00.001-04:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Triad Retail Media. All opinions are 100% mine.

Recently, I was offered the opportunity to share how the stain remover Shout® works at removing tough stains. I've been using Shout® for many years. It's a staple in my laundry room. You may remember it was one of the products I mentioned back in early February in a post titled, "20 Things I Can't Live Without."

The good folks at Shout® sent a bottle of Shout® Trigger my way for me to try. I already had some on hand (mine is on the right) but I'm thrilled to have another bottle since I use it almost every time I wash a load of clothes.

This spring I've been doing a lot of container gardening out on the porch and decks.

I've been transplanting geraniums, Creeping Jenny and ferns into new pots. Transplanting always involves plenty of rich, black dirt, which somehow always manages to end up on my clothes. This was the perfect time to try my new bottle of Shout®. Having used Shout® for so many years, I felt confident it would work its magic and get out the dirt ground into my shirt from lugging heavy clay pots around.

The directions for using this stain remover are easy and straightforward. Just spray Shout® on the stain, rub it in good, then let it set for a few minutes...usually 1-5 minutes will do the job. Then wash the item in the warmest water safe for the fabric.

Here's the shirt fresh out of dryer, un-ironed.

Come a little closer and check it out.

All clean! The only thing I used was Shout® and my regular powdered detergent. Shout is such a time saver because it works in the wash...no presoaking for hours in advance.

Though Shout® is great for the most challenging stains, like the ones you get from gardening, my favorite way to use Shout® is to freshen up clothes that have just become generally dull from frequent wearings.

I know the exact time I became a Shout® fan. I had some favorite shorts I wore all the time. I loved those shorts. After a while they began to look pretty dull. I sprayed on some Shout®, not really expecting it to help that much. I was delighted when they came out of the wash looking so much brighter, much closer to how they had looked when first purchased.

If you have a favorite pair of jeans or a fave shirt that's looking kind of dull, try the Shout® treatment. It's definitely a must have for my laundry room!

You can find Shout® Trigger in the grocery store and your local Walmart.