The weather is really nice now, cool in the evenings, sometimes after an afternoon shower. I like eating outside especially when we are grilling dinner. Of course, planning for the meat and veggies to be grilled means very little cleanup in the kitchen, and more time to sit and enjoy the view. I wanted to get out the lemon plates, as I haven’t used them since last summer. That meant yellow napkins too. The little napkin rings that are yellow flower pots were perfect for this tablescape.
I set the plate stack on my thrift store score of rattan chargers.
I set the table early in the day, and wanted to keep the bugs off the plates and cutlery. Recently I found these vintage screen covers at the thrift stores – one each at two different stores – and snapped them up. I need four more now!! I placed the cutlery on the plate and covered them with the vintage screen covers.
Here is the other one, with different flowers.
For the centerpiece, I placed a little planter that was given to me by a friend inside the ceramic yellow basket. I filled it with water about half full.
And here is how I left it until later when it was time to cook outside.
When evening came, I cut some fresh hydrangeas and added them to the centerpiece. Lavendar and yellow go so well together.
So the table is ready, now for the food.
Dinner was nice rib-eye steaks with zucchini boats filled with some butter and Parmesan cheese. I put a screen over the food while the grill heated up. We decided that we didn’t need a salad with this meal since there was more than plenty here.
Grilled to perfection by DH resident grill-master, and served with horseradish sauce, we had a lovely meal.
Looking out over the valley, there is a lovely green view we enjoyed as we had our dinner. The distant ridge is a bit hazy on this evening. It is difficult for the camera to see both the close up green and the distant ridge at the same time.
Later, at dusk, I attempted to get some of the hundreds of fireflies that were flashing in the trees and in the meadow. Taking a couple of dozen photos, this was the only one that had a yellow light. There are so many fireflies, it looks like twinkle lights on the meadow and in the dark areas of the forest.
I did try again later with a tripod, can you see some tiny lights near the grass here? They are just so hard to capture! But so pretty, softly flashing tiny yellow lights.
Do you have dinner outside at your place?
Sharing
From My Carolina Home 
I enjoy seeing your different tablescapes, but I can’t wonder how you store everything. Diane
Carole, those lemon plates are divine. I would so love to have been enjoying the meal with you on your beautiful verandah. It was so pretty with the gorgeous hydrangeas. Over here in the UK, we don’t get anywhere near the opportunities you seem to have for dining outside. Having said that, we are experiencing a good few days of what for us is extremely hot weather.
Linda
You tables are always so beautiful. I LOVE those little fruit dishes.
I loved your table setting and the views from your porch. We eat outside when it is 65 degrees or higher, so we are almost to the time when we’ll eat all meals on the porch.
I would love to eat outside more than what we do – my hubby doesn’t enjoy it though – we have such trouble with bugs that no matter what I use they will not leave the area when food it out- do you use anything special? I have tried sprays of various kinds, the candles, the torches – no luck
Here in the mountains, we really don’t have the issue that lower elevations have. A couple of citronella candles lit about 30 minutes before we go out is usually enough to keep us bug free. In the month or so that the no-see-ums are out (a biting gnat), we just use a bit of Off! on our exposed skin. I actually have more trouble with larger flying things like flies, wasps and wasp-killers so I need the screens over the food. But we were able to have our meal without much disturbance this day.
How lovely – like your own private resort, with the beautiful views and pretty tablescape! We always think we’re going to eat outside at the start of the season and the table, chairs and umbrella are put out with great enthusiasm on a nice spring day (in fact, I think we have the same tiles on our table that you have), but the thought of carrying things back and forth, bugs, and then heat and humidity mean it almost always remains a nice idea that never happens…but we can see our outdoor dining setup and garden through the French doors in our dining room where we eat with the AC on…
I love fireflies – little night lights flitting around that make you know it’s really summer – so much fun!
Good morning,
Oh my, how I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to have enjoyed that with you. The peace and quiet would have been wonderful .I love sitting on my swing enjoying the peace and quiet till a plane flies over or a loud car interrupts the quietness and my thoughts. The lemon dishes are great, I love to take a lemon wedge and sprinkle a little salt onto it and eat it. Y friend also turned me onto putting a little salt onto my strawberries and eating them. Thought she w3as crazy till I tried it and I love it with a glass of red wine to help wash it down a bit. Love strawberries with a piece of chocolate brownies also {so fattening but oh so good} someday I hope to live in the mountains. I do so enjoy your pictures of the home you have there.
Phyllis
Beautiful table setting. I love the purple hydrangeas in the yellow basket. We enjoy eating on the deck also, but it’s usually just taking our dished up plate from inside to outside. I’ve never actually seen a firefly, which means I need to venture out of the Pacific NW!
I also prefer eating inside (AC on) near the window, but my view isn’t nearly as beautiful. I love your tablescapes, a word I hadn’t heard until about a year ago. Like Diane, I was wondering how you store everything.
Love the hydrangeas!! AND the fireflies (though we always called them lightning bugs). I grew up with them in Pennsylvania, though haven’t seen them for many years; would have a jar of lightning bugs by our beds at night, which my mom would release after we went to sleep.
The view from your veranda is just lovely, really a most perfect setting! We don’t eat outside very often, though; mostly like to sit outside after dinner with a glass of ice tea or other drink — hate dealing with the buzzing flies and bees that seem to arrive along with food out there. When we do eat outside, it’s with paper plates and paper napkins for easy cleanup, just toss in the outdoor trashcan; my husband would look at me like I was nuts if I had a tablescape like that outside (or even inside) lol — he wouldn’t have a clue what a charger is or is for. And I no longer own any napkin rings, donated mine to a local thrift shop –the older I get the less fuss I want at dinner time, it seems!
Fireflies!!! Those are a rare find these days, and they aren’t common in our dry country. I remember them from my MN childhood. Love those screens! We don’t eat outside at home (no furniture) but do have a lovely picture window in the dining room, so it works. We save our outdoor eating for camping. 😄
what a gorgeous table you have set I love those vintage screen covers-quite the find Looks like a wonderful evening
Beautiful! The lightning bugs (as we call them around here) were the perfect ending to a perfect dinner!
Such a lovely table, perfect for first day of summer! I love dining outside, but during the week I live in the city and I only have a little balcony with a table for two: as we are a family of four, it’s very difficolt to dine there! In the weekend we often stay in our little countryhouse on the hills, and we always eat outside: breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner… everytime! Here in Italy, summer means alfresco dining! I particularly love fireflies season; our country house is in the middle of nowhere and in these days we have a beautiful fireflies invasion: is like living in a fairytale…
What a lovely view to enjoy while eating that delicious looking meal! I love the covers you found and they come in handy!
You have a beautiful view. Love your posts. Your plates are lovely. Thank you. So pleased to have found your blog.
I love your post , its the first one I look at each day. Its so calming to look out over the mountains. I love the outdoors and looking at the flowers and listening to the birds. The fireflies reminded me of times past with the grandkids showing them how to catch them.
Dining outside is a rarity here….only when the family comes for a cookout. My husband is a farmer and says he spends plenty of time outdoors – doesn’t have to eat there. I’m a gardener and nature lover and would eat every meal there if I could. Love spending time on our open porch which views the many fields in the horizon of all colors – sometimes a train and occasionally a plane or other lights. Our fireflies are definitely out tonight! While in the garden, I had thought it was lightning at times….thus the lightning bug name. Our grandkids love to catch them. I certainly love your table setting and the screen finds. Those little lemon dishes are just the right theme for the spring. Beautiful views and envious if your hydrangeas already blooming so freely. We have to wait until fall here in MN.
Not often, but I have some of those screen covers and will try it to set table early. Your tablescape looks inviting and food even more. I so miss fireflies (we called them lightning bugs growing up)! We don’t have them here, guess they like warmer nights than we have. Thank you for sharing a beautiful table and your view. :o) I am a horseradish junkie!!
love the net cloches for outside dining! Very fancy!
Hi there,
Well guess what I have been doing Sitting here copying recipes off Food.com, lots of great things to make. Been w3anting a recipe to cook shrimp with Old Bay seasoning and found one today, this site has a lot of recipes for canning different jams, vegetables and other great ideas, I will never be able to make a lot of these before he man upstairs calls me home but I sure will enjoy a great number of them, especially
The ones with good tomatoes. I think I have every tomato recipe book that’s on the market, LOVE those tomatoes! Also like the recipes to use zucchini and yellow squash. I have become a lover of fresh
Vegetables in my later years, wish I had done this when my boys were younger, it would have been so much better for all of us. Hardly buy canned vegetables any more but its hard to fix for just one.
Its cloudy and gloomy today, not much energy to do anything, want to sew some but machine is still out of sorts, want to take it to the quilting shop to have their machinist work on it when I find some money.
Talk to ya later,
Phylis
So lovely, Carole! I love the lemon plates and the hydrangeas with the yellow accents! Thanks for sharing @Vintage Charm–pinned!
Very fun and festive! I love dining outside in the summer. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
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