Once In A Blue Moon Dinner

Tonight, to celebrate the "Blue Moon", we ate a late dinner out in the cutting garden.  A blue moon is a rare phenomenon when there are two full moons in one calendar month.  Mr. Pressed Pants and I were married on a blue moon evening, so we always celebrate whenever this occurs.  After tonight, there won't be another blue moon until 2018!

 

Come on into the garden with me.

Of course, the table must be blue tonight!

This is pretty simple, but it is just the two of us and it's a very casual meal.

I put a white burlap tablecloth from Ballards over the collapsible table that I keep in the potting shed.  Then I layered this blue and white cloth from Crate and Barrel over that.  The rattan chargers are from World Market, and the blue handled flatware is too old to have a provenance.  These hand painted plates are made by Mesa in Porgugal and I love the way they echo the checks in the tablecloth.

These clear goblets came from Bed, Bath, and Beyond years ago, and I used these footed blue goblets as wine glasses.  They are not at all precious, and pretty sturdy, so I don't hesitate to take them to the garden.

These blue and white barley twist candlesticks are also from Portugal.

Here's what the white roses from Whole Foods looked like when I took them out to the potting shed.

I cut some hosta and some ferns and tucked them in and it made a world of difference.

Here's the arrangement on the table.

This French pot is the perfect size.  I use it a lot.

The "matching" bowl will hold salad tonight to go with pasta primavera.  The stripes are a counterpoint to the checks.

A simple white napkin from the Palm restaurant line of linens separates the charger from the plate.

Here's the tray that brought the dishes out from the house.  Isn't it pretty?  I gave it to my mom years ago, but when we sold her house and she went to an assisted living facility in June, I took it back.  I knew I would love using it.  

It was a beautiful evening.

The effort to get the stuff back and forth is worth it.  Every meal in the garden seems to make a memory.

The light wasn't the best to photograph, but you get the idea.

Here's a different angle, over the paddock area and down the driveway to the road.

I keep several sets of pillows in the potting shed and these blue and white ikat ones were perfect for this dinner.

The potting shed is one of the reasons I fell in love with this house.  You can take a tour of it here.

I can't pass up an opprtunity to style a surface!

The Limelight hydrangeas are white this year.  They have been more green in past years.

Can you see that we need to paint the board that was replaced early this spring?

The fence could use a date with a paint brush, too.

We're now awaiting the appearance of the moon tonight.  I naively thought that it would be blue, but our meteorologist says not necessarily.  We'll see!

Joining:

Tablescape Thursday

at

Between Naps on the Porch

Share Your Style

at

No Minimalist Here

Show and Tell Friday

at

My Romantic Home

The Scoop

at

Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Inspire Me Tuesday

at

A Stroll Thru Life

Be Inspired (Tues.)

Elizabeth And Company

Table It

at

Rustic and Refined

Home Sweet Home

at

The Charm of Home

Sheltered Nest Friday

at

French Country Home

Wow Us Wednesday

at

Savvy Southern Style

Make It Pretty Monday

at

The Dedicated House

Fridays Unfold

at

www.nancherrow.com 

Moonlight and Mason Jars (Wed.)

Celebrate It Sunday

at Celebrate and Decorate

Memorial Day 2011

Whew!  That was quite a weekend!  Between golf, graduation parties, and a bit of gardening, we only had one chance to sit down together for a nice meal, and it just happened to be breakfast.

The weather called us outdoors, and I really wanted to take this one opportunity to do a Memorial Day tablescape.  It was just the two of us and we took  time for a long, leisurely breakfast.

I started with these hand-painted blue and white Portuguese plates made by Mesa.  I have service for four.  Why didn't I buy more? 

I used the "matching" bowls for cereal.  Blueberries and raspberries on Cheerios made it red, white (sort of), and blue! 

The flatware is from good old Target!

These red and white striped napkins are so old, I don't remember where they came from.  In place of a napkin ring, I used a double faced satin ribbon with a Martha Stewart rosette glued on it.

These star plates were picked up at Walgreens.

This tureen became the flower vase.

The white hydrangeas and gerbera daisies came from Whole Foods, and the blue hydrangeas are from our gardens.

Gerberas don't like to be smooshed into oasis, so I created a grid with tape and just placed all of the flowers directly into the water.

It seems that almost all blue and white goes together, so I used this coffee pot in a blue willow pattern from Royal Wessex.

This reproduction sugar and creamer are also blue willow.

Blue willow shows up again on this set of individual salt and pepper shakers.

I like that the coffee mug that goes with this placesetting keeps coffee warm for a long time. 

I think these blue juice glasses came from Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Sunshine, the morning newspapers, Mr. Pressed Pants and Cheerios!  It doesn't get much better.

I'll be participating in Susan's Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch.

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/