Polka Dots, Lucky Ducks and Silly Chicks! Summer Whimsy Challenge!

Time flies, it is time for June Summer Whimsy Challenge !  To link up tonight, you have to show us a new table highlighting Summer Whimsy. 

I was hoping my new polka dot flatware from PFALTZGRAFF would arrive, and it came late yesterday!

They have it in a few colors, but the blue is aqua, not the blue I was hoping for!

I am not being compensated by Pfaltzgraff, not that I would mind, lol, but I am not.

Now if you must have them, they come in pink, aqua, yellow and some others.  Do link through mrrebates.com, I have talked about it before, you will get 4% back.  Very easy to join.  http://www.mrrebates.com/search_stores.asp?k=Pfaltzgraff&g_search_option=S

I just got an email that there is 30% off from 4 PM till midnight.

A lucky duck and her babies swim among the yellow flowers, St. John’s Wort, I was told, but I am not so sure! The bowls are from Horchow.

They bloom every June, and spread.  I love the jolt of color they give amongst all the green.

Plain yellow kettle cloth tablecloth, white charger from Ikea, and yellow and white polka dot plates from Christmas Tree Shop.

I thought they were ducks, but they are chicks.  Yellow, feathers, close enough!  They are the napkin rings.  They come from Factory Direct Crafts.

The butter domes are from CTS too, as well as the little white ceramic cups I am using for vases at each place. 

They are supposed to look like paper cups. I can think of several uses for them!  And for .39 they spoke to me! “You need these, you need these!” 

I used a white linen napkin with a polka dot one.

A clear stemmed wine with a yellow tumbler by Anthropologie, via the .99 store.  Sticker still on them from Anthropologie, oh how I love a bargain, only pay full price when desperate!

Since I will be using this table to celebrate a friend’s birthday, a little take home , some candy bars to tuck in the freezer for a summer time treat.

  I like my Milky Ways frozen!

That’s my little whimsical table. 

I finally finished scrubbing the shutters and cleaning the siding on the house.  The pollen is especially late and brutal this year!

  The covered porch, floor  and railings are all clean.  I thought I would never get done.  Still have some more planting to do, and the final touches on the porch décor.

Meals are simple when I work all day outside.

Homemade New England Clam Chowder and Chicken salad with cranraisins on Oatmeal Bread.  I used those little cups for the crackers.

Hope you are finding time to enjoy the pleasures of summer!

This is Wooleys Pond, and you can see the Peconic Bay beyond the row of houses. I’d love to do a scape on that lawn, but it is not mine!  I live around the corner!

Please link only new tables with a SUMMER WHIMSY theme.  Put your blog name first, and be sure your word id is turned off.

ONLY ONE LINK, and a link back to the Summer Whimsy Party.  Please mention that in or at the end of your post.

If you can’t visit at least five entries and leave a comment, I’d rather you not link up.  Some of you visit everyone, you are the best!

I don’t belong to Google Plus, they want too much info, so if that is the only way I can comment, sorry.  I will email a comment though.

Thanks for stopping by!

Joining Susan for Tablescape Thursday, and Foodie Friday.

An InLinkz Link-up

A Tea by the Sea and a Celebrity?

Yesterday I took time off from my seasonal chores to go to a “Strawberry Tea” with my sister.  It was held at Cormaria,  a beautiful retreat house on the Bay,  in nearby Sag Harbor.  http://www.cormaria.org/



As you can see it was very cloudy, and quite humid.



The views are fantastic!

Before the tea, we were treated to a centerpiece demonstration by Michael Grim.



If you watch Ina, The Barefoot Contessa, you will recognize him.  He is on her show frequently, he does her flowers.

He demonstrated several kinds of easy centerpieces.






Michael is very generous to Cormaria with his time and talent .  Everyone got to take home a beautiful long stemmed rose.  

He  gave away everything he made. 
 He was very personable and we chatted about another Ina favorite, my neighbor, TR .  If you watch the show, you will know him.



You can read about TR’s house here.  

On the other hand, the Kardashians, omg,, have rented a home nearby. 
 They opened a store in town and needed a little place to lay their heads.
  $235,000 in rent for the summer. 
 They have guards at the driveway.  I have to pass it every time I go in or out.  
I wouldn’t know them if I fell over them, I don’t watch the show, nor do I know why they are famous.  I think they have a lot of weddings or something. >)

So besides planting and cleaning pollen, that’s what I have been doing.

Don’t forget the Summer Whimsy table challenge this Wed.  



Remember this one, with the light up bathing beauty frogs?


Or the watermelon umbrella holder centerpiece?



Hope you will join in!  It has to be a new table, no repeats, with a whimsical summer theme!

Thanks for stopping by!
Joining Marty for Inspire Me Tues

This and That

Not much going on here besides coughing and sneezing!  It has been quite the allergy season!  Millions of us allergy sufferers are having a rough go.

I  eagerly await the end of the pollen invasion to end.  Everyday I wash off my car, and the next morning, it is green again!  I can’t set up the porch till it is over, or I would have to rewash everything, and doing it once is enough for me.

A few years ago a neighbor was having a yard sale for the Leukemia Foundation.  I donated my white porch wicker, figuring I would replace it.

I didn’t realize how hard it would be!  It seems the synthetic wicker has taken over, and I didn’t want that.

So far I have found this…

Two of these, one last Sept. and one last month.  Amazing they are exactly alike!  I haven’t brought out the right cushions for them yet.

Last week while I was sick, I was looking on Craig’s list.  Someone was selling this.

It was over an hour away, and by the time I got there Fri., someone had left a deposit.

I was able to talk the person into selling me this rocker and ottoman.

$100!  I paid more than that for the others, and they needed work! 

I had to console myself with that at least I got something!

It is in mint condition, and so comfortable!

I wanted to take part in Michael Lee’s Mystery Ingredient Challenge at Rattlebridge Farm.  Chipotle!  Me?  I was very leery.  I am not a “hot stuff” person, you know, Irish, no spicy foods, please.

So, here is my wimpy contribution.

Boneless grilled pork chop with a fresh peach , chipotle compote.

It was good, but I  don’t think I would use it again.  It definitely had a kick to it, even though I tried to tone it down with apricot brandy and some oj.

I just cut up some fresh peaches, sauteed them in butter and cinnamon sugar, added chipotle sauce , apricot brandy and oj.  Reduced it then topped the grilled pork chop with it.

The June Tablescape Challenge is…

SUMMER WHIMSY

Let’s see where you go with that!  No formal china, let’s have fun with this SUMMERY theme.  The date is WED. JUNE 18th!

Thanks for stopping by!

Joining Rattlebridge Farm for the Chipolte Mystery Ingredient.