Turquoise Gingham on the Deck

It was time to have our bachelor neighbor over for dinner.  And time to post something!  I haven't posted anything in a month, maybe six weeks.  I've done a Cinco de Mayo dinner, a Kentucky Derby dinner, several small dinner parties, and a lovely picnic, but the situation just wasn't right to photograph blog-worthy pictures.  I'm a firm believer that the event is much more important than capturing it on film, even for a languishing blog!  And that, folks, is why I don't accept advertising.  I just can't promise a certain number of posts. 

But last night's dinner on the deck was simple and lovely and much appreciated by our neighbor.  I went with serene and summery.  He pretends to be all macho, but he loves to be pampered and enjoys a pretty table almost as much as good food!

I started with a white linen caterer's cloth, and then added a pale turquoise straw place mat.  These came from an awesome store in Seaside, Florida called Seaside Style.  The whole store looks like this!  Do not miss it if you are in the panhandle area.  Then I added this whitewashed wooden charger from World Market.  I love how it becomes soft and interesting with the whitewash. 

Then, I chose this scalloped edged dinner plate from Target.  Really!  Target!

These natural handled wooden flatware is Martha Stewart's from years ago when she had her on-line merchandise store.

And these turquoise glass tumblers are Martha Stewart also, this time from Macy's.  I didn't set the table with wine glasses, because we just brought our glasses we used with appetizers to the table.

The salt and pepper and butter looked a bit lost on the table, so I corralled them on this small bamboo tray.  It echoes the color of the flatware. 

White roses and hydrangeas continue to keep things serene.

Today's flowers are brought to you by Whole Foods! 

These candlesticks gave another element of blue/turquoise.

It was a beautiful evening.  We are enjoying the weather before it gets too hot.

The meal was a hit.  Pasta salad and grilled shrimp after an old fashioned appetizer of chips and clam dip.

But the very most enjoyed course was the banana pudding made with Nutter Butter cookies in place of vanilla wafers.  Unbelievable!

Mr. Pressed Pants thought I was way to generous when I sent all but one serving home with Ronnie!  

This deck holds several sitting areas, and  I've softened them with pillows covered with outdoor fabric from Ballard Designs.

The best part is the view of the lake, and of friendly faces across the table!

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21 Rosemary Lane

Plaid, Pewter, and Pumpkins

Well, it was time to have the bachelor neighbor over again!  I photographed this table set for four, but took a placesetting away before he arrived.  

We finally have some terrific fall weather, so I was determined to eat early enough to sit outside and enjoy it.

I started with this subtle Ralph Lauren plaid throw that I used as a tablecloth.  It was so soft and lovely, and I'm sure I'll love cuddling up under it this winter. 

I used all three colors, the grey, taupe and cream for the setting.  I feel like I could have almost photographed it in black and white, or maybe sepia!

The faux slate chargers are some I've blogged about before.  I primed some totally average plastic chargers, then spray painted them with chalk paint.  Then covered them in chalk and wiped it off.  Voila!  Looks like slate.  The taupe plates are from Z Gallerie, and the cream are from Crate and Barrel.

Aren't they great?  They are embossed with acorns and oak leaves.  LOVE!!!

Then, just for giggles, since I wasn't using flowers, I added a french seed pot filled with excelsior, and topped with a mini Cinderella pumpkin.  Just that one little gesture made it a fall table.  Take the pumpkin away, and it could be any time, anywhere.

Here's the bird's eye view.

A simple cream linen napkin was used with a square pewter ring.

And I added individual pewter salt and pepper sets.

The glassware was chunky and simple.  We just brought our wine glasses to the table when we sat down. 

A great, chippy cement flower urn sat on the table instead of any flowers.  I did slide it back a bit when I removed the fourth placesetting, so we could easily see across the table.

Just chicken kabobs, corn pudding and a caprese salad.  Oh, and pumpkin pie! 

We're grateful for such a funny, crazy neighbor, and for the evening together in this (finally) fabulous weather.  I hope that if you were so unfortunate to be hit with the terrible floods from the weekend weather that you are drying out and didn't loose anything precious.  I've been praying for you.

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Just Dinner with the Neighbor

Every now and then we invite our next door neighbor over for dinner.  He's a bachelor, so it doesn't matter what I fix, he thinks it's great.  So tonight, when I realized that we had a lot of food for just the two of us, I called next door and extended a quick invitation.  Of course, he accepted and in the time it took him to walk over here, I threw this table together, and while the guys grilled chicken, I snapped a few shots.

I bought these napkins from Pottery Barn outlet a few weeks ago, so it was in the back of my mind to use them.  Actually, it was early spring, and I thought they would be perfect for a spring table.  Well....here we are in July....they look good tonight, anyhow!

I threw this green tablecloth on the table on the white deck, then used some yellow graphic placemats. 

This is the mark on the yellow and green plates.  They sure don't look like Pfaltzgraff, do they?  

This flatware came from Homegoods last week.  I've been wanting bamboo for a while, but since I have several other wooden handled sets, I've resisted.  But, since it was $19.99, I grabbed it!  I bet I'll wish I bought another four place settings.

These old green stems and gold stemless wine glasses finished the place setting.

These have been outside on another table, so that was easy.

All of these things were in the kitchen, as there was no time to scrounge around any further.

The lake was quiet tonight, but the deck wasn't.  Our neighbor is a talker and, as usual, the evening lasted longer than I intended, but no one wanted to call it a night.