Sunset Dinner in the Garden

Last night was one of those evenings when everything was so pleasant that we didn't want it to end.  So we sat with our guest at the garden table until dusk fell and the owls were hooting.

I just love these limelight hydrangeas that we have in the garden, so I decided to let them be the star of the table.

With the addition of a small fern frond, the plate got a little extra personality.

 

Don't you love these plates?  

Since everything was sort of soft hued and natural, I chose this light colored wooden handled flatware, and a medium green charger.

The two green stems are different enough to be interesting.

All of this sat on this tablecloth that I layered over a plain white round caterer's cloth.  It features ferns with white flowers, so I thought it was a good choice for this combination.

An off-centered vase of limelight hydrangeas also held some ferns, and I added some asparagus fronds for softness.

And this little bird also held a flower.

Look who came to visit as I was photographing!

We burned through these little votive candles in no time and then grabbed additional candles from the potting shed.

It was a good thing I added these pillows.  It made these chairs much more comfortable as we drifted into late evening.

Here's the view from the garden down the driveway.  

I think this is the last season for this cute little zinc table.  It isn't holding up too well.

You can see the bush the hydrangeas came from here. It's getting huge.

This has not been the best summer for our garden.  We had irrigation problems and we continue to have deer that love to dine within the fence, even though we have SIX ACRES of woods for them to eat in.  Go figure! I sincerely have a love/hate relationship with them.

Joining:

 Tablescape Thursday 

at

Between Naps on the Porch

Dishing It and Digging It (Sun.)

at

Rustic and Refined

Share Your Style (Wed.)

at

No Minimalist Here

The Scoop (Mon.)

at

Cedar Hill Farmhouse

Inspire Me Tuesday

at

A Stroll Thru Life

Be Inspired (Tues.)

Elizabeth And Company

Home Sweet Home (Fri.)

at

The Charm of Home

Feathered Nest Friday

at

French Country Home

Foodie Friday

Designs By Gollum

Wow Us Wednesday

at

Savvy Southern Style

Monday Funday

All Things Heart and Home

Make It Pretty Monday

at

The Dedicated House

Moonlight and Mason Jars (Wed.)

Celebrate It Sunday

at Celebrate and Decorate

Share It One More Time (Sat.)

designthusiasm.com

Share Your Style (Thurs.)

21 Rosemary Lane

The Creative Exchange (Thurs.)

The Happy Scraps

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

Ferns Again

Come into the garden with us.  Won't you join us for a glass of wine?  We've had a break in the weather here in Georgia, so I thought we'd dine here tonight.

Just a couple of days ago, I was at the grocery market and I found these fun plastic plates with this fern pattern.  They were in the clearance aisle.  How did I miss them when they were full price?  Well, I'm glad I did, since I got them for $1.50 each!

Here's the dinner plate on a rattan charger.

And here's the salad plate. Aren't they fun?

 I set a similar, fern inspired dinner last summer and featured it here.

It was actually my 100th post.

Here's the way the placesetting looked.

These old standbys were the flatware I chose.

The glassware was nothing at all precious.  The water goblets were some very sturdy ones from Bed Bath and Beyond that I bought when Mr. Pressed Pants was living in a temporary corporate move, and the green glasses were from Ikea and I used them as stemless wines.  You can also see the faux bois salt and pepper set that I use all of the time.

Napkins?  Just cream colored linen with faggoting, gathered into a wicker ring from World Market, with a fresh fern frond tucked in.  I'm strange in that I love to iron napkins, so I use cloth most of the time. Don't hate me......I take LOTS of shortcuts elsewhere.

Our French butter dish was "accessorized" with a butter knife that has a fern frond handle.  I almost forgot that I had this!

And chilled water was served from this amber glass bottle that we brought back from France.

I think I got this vase from Boxwoods several years ago.  The green in the tablecloth was a better match than it shows here.

Not much left in the garden to choose from, but these white hydrangeas have turned almost green, so I started with them.

Then I filled in with several typed of ferns and fronds.  I just love these hairy little things!

We ate before darkness fell, but I did light these votives, mostly to keep the bugs at bay.  I love dining outdoors, but it's not worth West Nile virus!

So here's the way it came together. I keep this wooden table in the potting shed to use any time we want to eat out there.  You can see what else is in the potting shed here.

Very simple and not too much to drag through the paddock, down the driveway, and back into the house. I get it all out there, but  Mr. Pressed Pants helps me return it.

Ok.  We'll have another glass of wine before we clean up!

Joining:

Tabletop Tuesday

A Stroll Through Life

Wow Us Wednesday

Savvy Southern Style

Open House Thursday

No Minimalist Here

Tablescape Thursday

Between Naps On the Porch

Inspiration Friday

At The Picket Fence

Feathered Nest Friday

French Country Cottage