Tuesday 24 July 2012

A little fruity lunch ...

At last - some warm weather for us to get excited about!
One good thing about the warmth is that food tends to be lighter too - lots of salads & fruit; the table settings tend to be bright too as shown by this summer style ...

Summery fruit lunch

The daughters requested a fruit lunch after a very busy week so I made fresh fruit salad with pineapple, mango, oranges, peaches, apples, pears, plums and blueberries  ...


Sliced melon & grapes seperate because the melon tends to make the fruit soggy.


Perfect served with just ice cold pouring yoghurt & citrus water


What is your favourite part of summer weather? Do you opt for lighter food?

Thanks for stopping by,
Dee ~♥~

Monday 23 July 2012

What is your style?

A friend & I were chatting today & she asked 'how would you describe your style?'
An interesting question - I describe my style as modern shabby chic - I love mixing old & new, vintage with anything that I like because I like my home to be interesting - not restricted to any particular shop or era. Whenever I am our browsing, I like to buy things which I know will go with what I already have.

This also applies to my table settings which I love doing.

Summer settings should be light, bright & airy & so I did this for lunch with a friend. I started with a favourite vintage green milk glass set which is a perfect summer colour on my sideboard. A bunch of very scented sweet peas looks just right.



Luckily I have some interesting green glass ware which I decided to use on the table. This is my selection ....


A white undercloth with a vintage cutwork cloth in pink & green to set the tone

 The modern green footed bowl is often used at home & I used it with some delicate vintage glass salad servers because there were no children about ....


I love vintage flat ware / cutlery so I used a red & green setting for the two places. I am undecided which I prefer ... would you have chosen those two colours from the box?


On a visit to IKEA some time back I found these lovely plates  & bowls & bought them on impulse because they are so lovely. I think they are a perfect summer set.


The place mats are modern with a beaded border.


 The jug & glasses are a set of vintage vaseline / uranium glass. I love the intensity of colour from them .

Do you like mixing things up? What is your style?

Till next time, thanks for stopping by
Dee ~♥~

Thursday 19 July 2012

Summery joy of greens

I just love bright greens in the house & on the table. I have collected some green glassware that I love using with pinks & whites to brighten things up because it just feels fresh & inviting.

This is an outdoor summer setting I used at home
al fresco lunch
and with my sweet peas being so wonderfully fragrant, I picked a bunch & they seem just right on the sideboard with the bright greens on the sideboard.
My garden sweet peas

Do you favour certain colours at certain times?

What is your favourite ones you use?

Till next time, thanks for stopping by
Dee ~♥~


Tuesday 10 July 2012

The sweet scent of some success

Our summer just does not seem to want to arrive this year - the odd sunny day or two doth not a summer make in my view. We have had some pretty torrential rain which has battered the garden ...

In March, I shared how I always start my Sweetpeas early starting-sweetpeas in the hope of having two tubs of stunning colour.

Alas, all that planning & yet they are only now starting to flower; sparse flowers amid the green pea tendrils ....


Because I started the sweet peas early, I also added additional plants from our local farm shop when it looked to sparse, as well as some everylasting sweet pea seeds from a relative in the hope that some would flower at least.

 

 
 
 

Some have the most divine, heady fragrance - a real treat to walk past them. 

garden sweetpeas

I am hoping that they will fill out & flower into the summer because they are absolutely stunning.
Every year I wonder if they are with the effort of months of planting, protecting with fleece to have for a short time but ... I know that next year I will do the same again.

Do you plan & plant special flowers for summer?
Till next time, thanks for stopping by
Dee ~♥~