Good Mail

It's a rainy, dark, cozy May morning. We've actually heard a bit of thunder this morning, my favorite kind of rainy spring day! I stepped outside for just a second to snap a picture of our snaggly old tree out by the chicken coop all wreathed in tiny soft green leaves.  Sadly, that tree is slated to be removed this summer, along with a few more that are half dead.  They are box elder trees, and anyone who has them can attest they are a hot mess.

 But for now, I'm enjoying the beauty in even this half dead old tree.

 Guess what? I got some sweet mail last week. I won a lovely giveaway over at The Inspired Room. She teamed with Dayspring who was giving away 10 pieces of this adorable dinnerware to 3 winners, and I was one of them!  I didn't really need all 10 pieces, but I have one daughter getting ready to set up her own household and one who has been married just a year and a half so I gave them some of the prize.

For myself, I chose this pretty pedestal cake plate,

 A beautiful big serving platter,

 and two of these handy serving bowls.  We had Earl's Uncle over for dinner last night with Victoria and her fiancé. This is one of the serving bowls with a salad of mixed greens, strawberries, feta cheese and pecans. Yummy and pretty :>)

 The kind folks at Dayspring even threw in a couple boxes of these cool chalkboard place cards that should come in handy for labeling drinks and desserts at the wedding this fall.

 Lauren chose the tea set and butter dish,

 Victoria chose a platter and serving bowl like mine as well as a gorgeous deep serving bowl and a great pitcher.  I love the sentiments of gratitude on these dishes and the fact that they are fairly simple and white means we can use them with a lot of table settings.

I love giveaways, and in the 7+ years that I have been blogging I have won many items that I use all over my home, and each item reminds me of a far away friend that I haven't yet met but who I consider a kindred spirit :>)

Have you ever won a giveaway? What is the favorite thing you have won?