July says goodbye…

It is hard to believe next week is August.  I think every year it goes faster and faster.

School  doesn’t start  here till September, so we have plenty of summer left!

My hydrangea are out of control this year!

I cut them back last year, but man, they are over 6 ft tall, and the ones by the garage are covering the windows!

I know you have to cut them after they bloom, or you will lose next years blooms.

A year without hydrangea?  Oh that would make me BLUE!

Tonight’s inspiration…blue hydrangea, yellow and soft greens.

I started with a soft green cloth with a muted stripe.

Then I layered on all the colors in the napkin.

Blue mat, smaller yellow one from my friend Susan at Savoring Time in the Kitchen, White charger…

Buttery yellow plate, Pottery Barn, light blue salad, Pfaltzgraff, clearance center….26 cents.

Green swirl flatware, Christmas Tree Shop, 5.00 for 12 pcs.

Blue tumblers, CTS, Darker blue stems, CTS, clearance, 1.00

These are also by Waverly, CTS. Cute plaid on the bottom! ($1.99)

Hydrangea from the garden, little yellow ramekins, Tarjay, green butter dishes, Pfaltzgraff, and little blue glass flower pot votives, Walmart, years ago, .25 cents.

I think that’s it!  Thanks for visiting!

Please stop in at Susan’s Between Naps on the Porch for more tablescapes. 

Fess Up! I Know You Did!

Did you watch the QVC weekend Christmas in July special? 

More importantly, did you buy anything?

Most bloggers love Christmas, so maybe I heard your voice on TV as you told the hostess how you have been waiting for this event?

I watched, and I was tempted by a few things.  Some of them sold out while I pondered, so that was a good thing, I guess!

Did you buy this? Drunk Santa? Complete with a bottle of booze!

 

Nothing says Christmas like an inebriated Santa! : (

Apparently, you can still cash in on the bargains till midnight!  So to get you in the mood for Christmas shopping, a Christmas in July tablescape.  :)  It is from Christmas past times 2!

I am joining Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday.  And Merry Christmas! :)

I didn’t buy anything, it is just too soon to think about Christmas!

Favorite Things on a Summer Sunday…

Corn from the  nearby farm , New England Clam Chowder made with clams we dug ourselves, and a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw.A Summer Sunday supper!

Homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

A walk on the beach to work off some of those calories!

Hope you are doing some Favorite Things on this Summer Sunday, they are numbered!

Please stop in at Bargain Hunting with Laurie for some more Favorite Things, and Summer Sundays at The Tablescaper’s.

100 Tablescapes~ Where did the time go?

Susan, our lovely host from Between Naps on the Porch is celebrating 100 Tablescape Thursdays.  Congratulations, Susan!

  Has anyone done all 100?  They should get a perfect attendance award!   The golden dish award!

She suggested we do an outdoor table.  Sounds good to me.  I have these pretty floor length cloths I like to use for garden party themes, so I was set to go.

I used them once for this, pre blogging.

Last year my friend Susan from Savoring Time in the Kitchen had a Garden Party meme, and I used them again.  Same cloth, but everything else is different.

 

My friend told me white chairs would look better than my dark green ones, so I lugged the white chairs out, and I went with lavender rather than blue.

Snail rings, white fan shaped salads, etc.

So today, the sun is blazing and it is hot, but I dig out those cloths.  I got them on ebay a few years ago.

I got 3 as I have 3 tables on the deck.

And just as I was setting up, sweating bullets, thunder!  And the skies opened up.

I grabbed all my accoutrements, ( you thought Bill was the only one with accoutrements? :)  ) and ran for cover!

 

We will have to have our garden party another day!

We can still eat though!

I made some Baked linguine with ricotta and mozzarella with chicken .  A nice light wine sauce over the top, and snow peas.

Freshly grated parmesan reggiano on top.

And of course, dessert.

Fresh baked cherry pie to celebrate Susan’s 100 Tablescapes.  Here’s to a 100 more!

Here’s a piece for you, with a scoop of homemade cherry vanilla ice cream. It can’t hurt! :)

Thanks for visiting!

I am also joining Foodie Friday at by Designs by Gollum.

Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries & Ice Cream

The other day while I was on the phone with Dell, I pitted 3 lbs of cherries.

I used my cherry pitter~

Every time I pressed that thing down I released some of the stress I was feeling, because computer problems are THE PITS! :(

Suzy at Kitchen Bouquets is hosting her 2nd Annual  Ice Cream Social this weekend.  Please stop over and cool off with some cool treats!

I made Cherry Vanilla…

We can have some out on the porch, but you will have to eat it quickly, it is HOT out!

I kept some as plain vanilla, and filled some cannoli dipped in chocolate with it.

 

The recipe for the vanilla is the one that comes with the 2 qt. Cuisinart .

I used those cake pans I told you about that I got at WSonoma Outlet.

I poured a layer of chocolate icing over  the inside of it, and then filled it with vanilla ice cream.

 

 

I made some chocolate too, but it is not set up yet.

So what will it be?

Maybe a little of each?

I am joining Laurie at Bargain Hunting with Laurie for Favorite Things, and The Tablescaper for Summer Sunday.

The Tablescaper and I had a wonderful shopping trip Thurs., but that is another post!  :)

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful weekend!

Lovely Weather for Ducks!

I finally got to do a table today.  That and spent 5 hours with Dell.

My computer , although protected, got a virus again. 

They said it is because I use the FREE version of AVG which doesn’t catch any of the new bugs, and there must be a million of them! 

So I called, 3 hours and they removed each one manually?  And then I said BTW, you fixed my sound icon and it is gone again.

My sound icon disappeared after Dell fixed it on the fourth.  So when I went to a blog with music, I had to go to the control panel to mute it. 

Well that was another 2  plus hours, no kidding, as they had to set up a whole new system and transfer everything.

But they forgot live writer!!!  OY! 

OK, enough whining, I am sorry, but I just find all this unbelievable.

We haven’t had rain for a month, but yesterday when I took you to Sag Harbor with me, the skies opened up and it poured till early this afternoon.

Hence, the title of my table!

  The cloth has been with me a long time, white trimmed in a yellow and white check ruffle.  It came with a square check topper.

The white charger , Noritake, Buttery yellow plate from WSonoma Outlet.  They don’t carry many colors anymore!  If you are reading Mr. Sonoma, or as Susan , Thoughts from Over the Rainbow says I should call him, Bill, is reading, PLEASE bring back the colors!

The paisley napkins are from WSonoma Outlet too, and HI to Bob, Rose, Kathleen and all the great sales associates there in the Riverhead store! :) (nah, I didn’t get paid to say that, they are just nice!)

Yellow flatware, yep, WSonoma Outlet too!  Last year, on sale!  (3.97 for service for 4)  Just had to say it!

The centerpiece is a bowl from Villeroy and Boch called Fire and Ice.  You can use it with candles or flowers.  I floated some yellow blooms and baby’s breath and have some ducks swimming around the edge.

What do you mean they don’t look like they are swimming?( I got them after Easter in the candy aisle, they are chocolate so they say!)       I have been saving them for this table. Sue at Sullivan and Murphy used some in a table too!

  Bread and butter plate, yellow ramekin.

Yellow duck egg salt and pepper from Christmas Tree Shop.

                                     

Salad plate and bowl from the set all blogland owns, Clermont.

Now what shall we have?

Duck Soup??  :)

Please join Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch for more Tablescape Thursday entries.

And this weekend… Cloche Party at Marty’s A Stroll Thru Life, Suzy’s Ice Cream Social at Kitchen Bouquets, Laurie at Bargain Hunting with Laurie for Favorite Things, and The Tablescaper for Summer Sundays!

Thanks for visiting, I’ll be back with some ice cream!

What’s on the Table?

Marty At A Stroll Thru Life does Tabletop Tues every week.  Such pretty vignettes are displayed, and she is the Queen of Cloches.

I am challenged in both areas.  My mantle gets changed only for holidays.

What to do?

I know!  I will show you a funky little set I bought a few years ago. It is called Bird Of Paradise by Pfaltzgraff.

I was standing on line to pay  in the clearance center, not the outlet, this was even cheaper, when I spied them.  I couldn’t believe the price! 

The whole place setting, in a box…96 cents.  I had to take a few settings, it would have been a sin not to!  Maybe I will dig them out and do a scape with them, use yellow for summer.

 

You would have bought them at that price, wouldn’t you?

Tasty Tuesday, Thrifty Tuesday, Three or More Tuesday?

Pulled Beef  topped with cole slaw.  Pulled Beef is just like pulled pork. It tastes almost the same, so if you like pulled pork, you will like this.
I made it with Top Round London Broil, cooked on low all night in the oven. I couldn't find my crock pot! :) @1.47 lb.  It streeeeeetches your dollar!

One last thing…these cute stackable cookie cutters from WSonoma Outlet.  My little gson Seamus loves elephants, so I will make him some ele cookies! There’s a rhino and a monkey too! They fit inside of each other for easy storage.

Tomorrow I will take you with me to Sag Harbor, NY.  Be ready around noon!

So What Do You Like???

Scratch you head and ask yourself that  question!

I found these last year at the WSonoma /PBarn outlet and used it in a “tropical” table setting.

I got these napkins at a yard sale, and knew what the centerpiece would be…

Lilies and Baby’s Breath from my yard.

But I’ll be a monkey’s uncle, cause I got 5 emails from future brides who wanted to know where to get the monkey!

So are jungle theme weddings popular?  I have never been to one!

One of my favorite things is fresh blueberries.

I have one small bush, and I am fiercely protecting the berries from the birds with netting.  I wonder if I will have enough to make a blueberry cheese  tart?

It would be perfect for a Summer Sunday ! 

For the Blueberry Tart I used Puff Pastry, Pepperidge Farm.

Sweeten the fresh blueberries with sugar, cinnamon and some fresh lemon jce.

Soften abt 8 oz cream cheese,  mix with sugar, vanilla and a dollop of sour cream.

Spread on top the dough which you have pressed into a tart pan.

Top with the blueberries, then bake till golden.

Enjoy!  Perfect with peaches or cherries too!

A cup of coffee, out on the porch, looking at these beautiful lilies are my favorite things for this  Summer Sunday!

I hope you enjoy yours!

Please see the other entries at Bargain Hunting with Laurie’s Favorite Things and The Tablescaper’s Summer Sundays .