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July 413 |
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the simple festival, as only they can to whom country life is something of a novelty.
Let the dining-room be decorated with red, white and blue bunting or cheese-cloth, which, bunched at the top of the chandelier in the middle of the room, caught and tacked to the picture-moulding, and then allowed to hang to the floor, makes a pretty tent-like effect and gives a gala appearance to the surroundings. Hanging from the centre of the chandelier—unlighted—a Liberty Bell of red immortelles, with the historical crack in evidence, would be appropriate, and round about it ball-shaped Japanese lanterns glowing like jewels, alternately of the three national colours. These, with white candles shaded by red silk poppies and held in blue bobeches, would give all the light required.
The table should be a glory of colour—in the centre a mass of poppies and bluets, which are procurable in July, their colours prettily harmonised by the common daisies of the field. These also add lightness and grace standing upright on their sturdy stems above the other blossoms. Or red and white carnations, verbenas, or geraniums, with the deep-blue larkspur, are effective in combination, and are in season at the time of the nation's birthday.
The name-cards may be fac-similes of the flag on one side.
If one be the fortunate possessor of any of the old blue-and-white china of our grandmothers' time, relegated to the kitchen during our mothers' ascendency, and afterward brought forth in pride and held in honour when fashion decreed that it was "aristocratic" to have family heirlooms, this is the time to use it.
One blue dish may be heaped high with clusters of red and white currants, another with white and red rasp- |
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