Simple Summertime Dining

When our son married a few years ago the colors chosen by the bride were cobalt blue with accents of beautiful sunflowers. I posted about it "here"

I fell in love with the color combo. 

As we are in the last 1/3 of summer beautiful colors like sunflowers are appearing.  My little kitchen dining nook is the only place I showcase any blue and I'm adding some sunflowers to embrace this time of year.

This was an impromptu table I set using a faux sunflower in the simple brown bottle along with some real flowers called Browallia that are a pretty shade of blue/purple.  In the flower world there is no "true blue" but there are some flowers that get pretty close!

The little picket fence candle holder is a new favorite of mine and it fit in with this casual dining setting.  The little bud vase was from Pottery Barn a few years ago.  See how blue those flowers look here!  The cobalt blue stemware was a lucky clearance find at Pier 1 a little while back.

 The dishes are called Devon Cottage by Johnson Brothers which I placed in some willow chargers and the blue cobalt flatware from Horchow anchors the color some more.  The chargers and napkin rings were both from One King's Lane.

I added a bottle of Riesling from a local winery called Bry's Estate

The French Laundry tablecloth was also from One King's Lane.  

The whole time I was prepping this table I was being chased and played with by my new kitten Teddy.  I posted about him last Friday but I don't think many people saw it.  I forgot how much fun a kitten can be (and sometimes challenging)!  I love him to pieces :-)

Simple summertime dining

There's still plenty of summer left, let's enjoy the beauty it offers!  I know a lot of people are saying summer is over, but I disagree wholeheartedly!  I think it's because in some areas kids are going back to school already, but come on summer goes through September 22nd!

Cuisine Kathleen has announced an End of Summer party to be held August 27th

(no fall themes)

I'm joining Between Naps on the Porch 

for Tablescape Thursday

A New Garden Bed and an Evening Stroll

I weeded and prepared a bed for some new perennials 

I have tulips that come up here in the spring and some lilies that have just finished blooming.  There are some lily of the valley that got in here but I worked at getting them out today.  They have the sweetest little flowers but they are so invasive!  There was a little hosta hiding in here from an old garden that used to be here.

I clustered all my plants into my cart- I love how they look!

I got them set- they look a little haphazard but next year they will look a lot fuller.  I'm going to keep the store tags with them so next spring I can remember where they were set.  We're going to put some landscape bark down to help with the weeds and it looks good!

I wanted a dramatic bunch of Russian Sage so I put three of them in and I put these Tuscan Sun Heliopsis close by because I think their a great mix together.

These Coneflowers are called Secret Affair from the Secret Series- they are fragrant too!

This is a Helenium plant (Sneezeweed)  It's a really cute flower and will be hearty in our area.  I look forward to it getting larger each year!

Looking up the slope of this bed are the Asiatic lilies and a Crocosmia- Lucifer plant (the tall sword life leafed plant.  I guess they are related to Gladioas

I think they look very exotic like something I'd expect in Hawaii!

Turning to my side across the driveway the Limelight Hydrangea is starting to flower.  It's coming on fast- always a pleasure to see it bloom.

On the front island near the hydrangea my Shasta daisies, Coneflowers and Coreopsis are blooming away

Does this say summer or what! These coneflowers are called Little Annie

Zagreb Coreopsis

I don't know the name of this cone flower off hand but I love the color.  The stems are very dark and the flower really stands out.

The Black Eyed Susans are just starting to flower

The Butterfly Weed has been blooming for a good week or more.  

These Meadowbrite coneflowers have been in for at least three years and they've really spread out nicely.  They stay short and compact.  

This is an Orange Marmalade Hosta. It starts out with somewhat of an yellow/orange cast and then fades to more of a white look.  I think mine gets too much sun- it's color hasn't been as rich as it should be.

This island garden just blooms along without much effort.  I dead head flowers and pull a few bits of grass that try to invade but that's about it.  

Early evening at the end of a beautiful summer's day!

 

Cotton Candy

I strolled around Saturday evening and took some pictures of the gardens…87 to be exact!  LOL…

I decided I should break it up into a few posts or your eyes will cross and you'll forget why you were looking!!  

I used Espoma Organic Soil Acidifier this year and it deepened the color of the blooms

This made me think of cotton candy!

I don't know what my camera focused on but my goal was the double impatiens that looked so pretty. This is part of a hanging basket by the house.

My fav!

Happy Sunday!

I'm joining
A Delightsome Life
for
Home And Garden Thursday

 

This Week's Rambings #6

It's been a busy week for me, not much time for creative things or posting.

I'm still putting time in the storage area, sorting and organizing.  These clear containers work perfect on the shelving units.  I made some quick notes as to what's in them and slid the paper inside.  I have two more shelving units to organize and now it will be much easier to find things. 

While sorting I found my husband's childhood Teddy bear.  I keep it in a protected container and hadn't seen it in a while,  which leads me into my next story.

 

 We have a new 14 week old rambunctious kitten!  After losing our 7 yr. old cat Riley this past spring we weren't sure we'd get another.   We made a trip out to get him mid-week and he's been keeping me busy.  He's already neutered so I don't have to worry about getting that done.

He loves exploring, playing and sleeps a lot.  I put a bed on the sofa with a little blanket to keep him snuggled up.  That's Mya (bottom right) our 13 year old Birman.  She's being very sweet to him but Carmen our 5 yr. old cat is keeping her distance. 

 

 I've come up with the name Teddy because he's cuddly and cute like a Teddy bear.

 

Outside

A quick snapshot of this little garden bed area.  The Annabelle Hydrangea is fabulous this year.  The Alyssum has come back on it's own for the past several years.  It's starting to spill over the edge which I love to see.   I have some perennials to plant in another garden bed, fertilizing and some trimming to do.  I think my weekend will be full!

So It's been a busy week for me- how about you?