French Riviera Tablescape

Has this not been the longest summer ever? It seems like it's been eight months long if it's been a day. The heat and high humidity set in during the first week of June and never let up. I know I'm not alone in being very eager for cooler weather.

Because I am absolutely itching for fall, this will be my last summer tablescape. I just cannot wait to get into the warm autumn colors.

A couple of weeks ago when I wrote about the lovely chargers I was given by Marigene Purcell of In the Middle of Nowhere blog, I also mentioned that she had included with the plates, some lovely tablecloths as packing. I showed you one of them here, and this setting features yet another.

Being a big fan of the blue and yellow combination, this made me feel cheery and as if I were vacationing in the south of France. 

To give a nod to the Riviera, I added these starfish plates with edges in light hints of blue.

The cobalt flutes (first mentioned here) have been getting a workout of late, and look particularly festive here.

This summer has had me mad about lilies, with this centerpiece no exception. The vase is from a lovely arrangement given to me when Jim passed away, so has special meaning for me. It looks perfect here full of yellow Asian lilies.

I use these yellow goblets a lot. I have no idea as to the manufacturer, and no hint is given on the bottom. These were given to me by my mother about 25 years ago. They tend to go with pretty much everything, short of patriotic or Christmas colors.

The small carafes my son and I ran across when we were cleaning out Mr.O-P's storage locker. (I'd mentioned previously about finding this very cool jug from Spain as well.) He had an entire case of them! (Don't ask me why.) So, I brought them home, washed them up, and thought they would be perfect for serving individual portions of infused water.

The blue and white salt and pepper shakers were a purchase made when I was in college. I still love them.

This post is linked to: Dishing It & Digging It, Art of Homemaking, Amaze Me Monday, Busy Mondays, Inspiration Monday, Cooking & Crafting with J&J, Inspire Me Tuesday, Tuesdays At Our Home, Two Cup Tuesday, Tutorials and Tips Tuesday, Homemaking Party Tuesday, Wow Us Wednesday, Work It Wednesday, Wine’d Down Wednesday, Wake up Wednesday, The DIY Collective, Thursday Favorite Things, Share Your Style, Coffee and Conversation, and Foodie Friday & Everything Else

A Coastal Dinner

My Lobster Linens, Now What? post brought a lot of comments from amazingly creative people both on Blogger and Flickr, for which I thank you all very much!  I couldn't have done it without all of your wonderful suggestions.  Now, bearing in mind that I live in the Mississippi Valley, not near an ocean, and, as such, nautical items are few and far between, I don't think I did such a bad job.  Here is the result of  couple of weeks of brainstorming, your suggestions, and using what I had.  I think this tablescape drew more comments from diners than any other I've ever done.  My son, who is probably my number one fan, told his grandmother, that I can open up a closet and pull out anything and make a centerpiece out of it.  Funny, but probably true.  It happened in this case when I pulled out the small black roasting pan and started from there.  Let me know what you think,  I loved creating this one.

Here is the roasting pan in question.  While I don't have a lobster pot, per se, this got the job done.  I filled it with new potatoes and corn, giving an indication of what was to come, and topped it with a plastic lobster that I bought from Amazon (of all places).

I absolutely adore these napkin rings and this wonderful fabric.  I had not planned on making such a big display of the napkins.  I simply accordion folded them and slid each into a napkin ring.  In doing so it splayed out more than I liked, so I figured, heck, why not just take it around the entire white plate.  People loved this!

I found the lobster salt and pepper shakers at Pine Hill online.  I think they are my new favorite pair and I'll be putting them to a lot of use this season.  The pails I had around the house: the large one once was home to an amaryllis plant, the smaller one contained the burned down remains of a citronella candle.  I cleaned both up and think they worked out beautifully.

Here's an overview.  Someone had suggested I use lanterns.  While these candleholders aren't lanterns exactly, they gave the look of them and worked well.  The fish pitcher, well, it's been with me since the seventies and is one of the first pieces of tableware I think I ever purchased.  I love it and it never fails to draw comments.

Tablecoth and napkins - Pottery Barn
Plates and roasting pan - Old Time Pottery
Cups and Saucers - Amazon
Napkin Rings - Pine Hill
Lobster Salt & Pepper Shakers - Stonewall Kitchens
Glassware - La Rochere

This is linked to

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm
Tabletop Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life 
Open House at No Minimalist Here
French Country Cottage
My Romantic Home
At the Picket Fence
Funky Junk Interiors
Under the Table and Dreaming
Between Naps on the Porch

CSI Project

Garden Bench

 For Metamorphosis and Mosaic Monday I thought I'd share a project my son has been working on for the past couple of weeks.  One of the causalities of the storm was our little Victorian garden bench.  The way it used to look is shown in the upper left-hand corner of this mosaic (photo from the Harbor Freight website).  I was perfectly happy with this, but after seeing it in bits, I decided I wanted something a bit different and more colorful with the placement changed from the far back of the yard, up to the front where I could see it every day as I was having my morning coffee.  The only spot relatively untouched by the tornado was a small area just outside the kitchen window, so a couple of weeks ago Andrew went to work.  Here are pictures of the results.

I LOVE the vibrant colors of this bench, and how great they look with the potted calibrachoa on top of the nudes base at right.  The "planter" at far left is the top of a birdbath, the base of which was lost to the storm, planted with begonias. Directly behind the bench I planted zinnia seeds, so it should be a riot of color come August.

All of the hostas in this area were rescued from beneath trees (now gone) in other parts of the yard.  We went from a yard that was all shade to one that is now virtually all sun, so I have to entirely rethink our existing and future plantings.  The small red impatiens will eventually grow together and fill this area with lots of red and hummingbirds.

These shoes have been in the garage for ages.  Many times I thought I should just get rid of them, but I'm glad I saved them as they look perfect beneath the bench, planted with creeping jenny.

Have a colorful Monday!

This post is linked to:
Seasonal Sunday, Metamorphosis Monday, Mosaic Monday,  This Week In my Garden, Wow Us Wednesday, Flora Thursday at Fishtail Cottage, Outdoor Wednesdays 
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