Steak au Poivre sous les arbres

Welcome to dinner! Glad you could drop by this evening.

I can't believe I set the table outside while it's been so hot! But I did and I'm guilt-free. The tree canopy shelters the back patio, letting dappled sunlight enter thus leaving the space livable and about 10 degrees cooler than the "official" temperature. We are truly blessed.


I started with this wonderful striped table cloth purchased at Pier One about 2 weeks ago. I love the texture of the raised stitches. The colors are wonderful for a somewhat more rustic meal.


I used a real English ivy to add a bit of life to the table. Isn't the dappled sunlight great?


I was even able to add my new William Bounds Pep Art pepper mill to the table.
I've wanted this pepper mill for a long time. And thanks to Tuesday Morning, it now lives at our home.


I tend to leave smaller plants in their generic planters so that I can use them as I want by changing the outer decorative planter so it fits into the desired location.


Add a bit of moss or other filler to the top of the pot to fill the area between generic pot and decorative planter.


The brassware belonged to my mother in law. I believe her sister sent it to her from overseas when her husband was stationed in the orient.


It has these beautiful figural motifs on each piece. Labeled Siam, they are from the country now known as Thailand. From what we could tell, these pieces were probably made between 1945-1949.


Oh how I love napkins. Two Saturday's ago, I actually 'cataloged' our napkins. Husband was a bit dumbfounded to walk out of the shower and see the king sized bed full of neat little piles of nothing but napkins! I collect them here and there. The side benefit to all this organization is that they are now put up quite neatly in cabinets, only fingertips away from a table!

These napkins started out as hemstitched pieces of cotton. I decided that they needed a bit more texture. I chose to whip stitch the hemstitched area with some twisted floss.


The hurricane candle holder has a story to tell. We lost the original insert that belongs between the base and the lid at some point in our last move. The move gremlins must have snatched it up and made it their own! So in need of something that would work, I grabbed a vase and it fits perfectly.



Back out came the favorite hand-blown French glasses.


Do you love kosher or sea salt? Finding it hard to put it in a salt shaker with an opening large enough? Rescue a little jar destined for the trash.


My mother in law was going to throw this out. But that was not meant to be. I took this beauty and knew it would be perfect to house salt. The wooden spoon came with it!


At some point, I believe it held mustard. French of course!



The wooden plates are also part of the wonderful things I have from my mother in law. Triangular in shape, they hold a metal plate in the lower portion and have an indention at the top for a salad.

The metal plate is placed in the oven before dinner to warm up. Perfect for steaks or anytime you want to make a special special presentation and have the food do an extra sizzle when placed on the hot plates!


Not quite sure what the story is on why there are two different metal plates and they are not interchangeable. Each teak underplate is made for a specific metal plate. I do use a wood preservative meant for cutting boards (so food safe) to maintain the beauty of the wooden plates.


Love the look of the Mexican star in the background. Too bad it gets dark so late that unless we want to eat at 10pm in the summer, it's hard to get the total affect of the candles and lights.



Mmmm, dinner is served.. baked potato with butter, chives and sour cream. Steak au poivre medium rare. Baby portabella mushrooms deglazed with red wine.


And a green salad with French vinaigrette. There has to be something healthy on the plate?


Thanks for dropping by, I hope you had a nice visit. Do come again, I love company.


Luckily dinner was served soon as Regan was very interested in the table cloth!

Thanks for dropping by, I love your comments. I am linking this to Susan's Tablescape Thursday. Be sure to click the link below to see some more fabulous tables and dining decor.

Do-it-yourself concrete planters...

I was so hoping to have the step photos of how this is done - but Mr. Contrary is hanging more Mexican stars on the patio. So I can't get his help to be mixing Quickrete and me be taking pictures. Besides I'm not so sure I'd ace the consistency of the cement as well as he does.


However, if you visit here, it explains the concept pretty well. I found a set of 4 nested plastic bowls, with lids I didn't use, at Wal-mart for about $4.80. I used largest and next largest bowls for the project you see.

• Once you follow instructions and use a non-stick cooking spray on the inside of the larger bowl and on the outside of the smaller bowl, fill the larger bowl 5/8 full with the mix you have made with the fast drying concrete and water.
• Then push the smaller bowl into the cement mix. Center as you go!
• Place a brick or water into the smaller bowl to weigh it down.
• Insert river rock into the space between the two plastic bowls. This "decorates" the rim of your planter. Some other ideas are marbles, clear glass pebbles or any other smaller objects of your liking.
• Let the concrete cure/dry over night. You can take the inner, smaller bowl out earlier but leave the mass in the large bowl.
• The next day when it's time to remove the planter from the bowl, make sure the smaller bowl is in place inside the planter. Turn the planter over and "break" the seal on the larger bowl by gently releasing the plastic from the concrete. The smaller bowl provides stability and keeps the concrete planter from touching the surface when the bowls are overturned.
  

Make sure you push the pebbles into the rim quite way so as to cover the widest part of the pebbles with cement. This will secure them in place. If they pop out later on, use some E6000 glue to re-adhere and secure.


I filled the bottom of my planter with perlite, but smaller pebbles would do also. This aides in drainage. I planted sedums in my planter, they don't require a lot of water nor depth. I think I'll push the limit and fill the container with more cement next time. This will give me a deeper planter. One down, 6 to go!

Ooh excited - I finally found the blog where I first saw these. Click Sweet Something Designs to see how she made hers, with step by steps and even a new "light" goes on moment!

Illuminating ideas

I love these mesquite "stalks". I've had them for some time now. They are firmly planted into some quick setting concrete and then 'planted' into the planter box. In our previous home, they filled a corner inside and had either regular green foliage or fir branch foliage on them depending on the season. This home has no such spot, so I re-purposed them! Wrapped them in white Christmas lights and am letting the ivy runners grow up the stalks. It's such a nice way of bridging the indoors and the outdoors and gives a lot of festive lighting when we entertain outdoors.


I fell in love with these Mexican stars when first I saw them! In Santa Fe and at 1/4 the cost of the ones I'd found on line.


My dear, sweet, loving husband took the time to wire the lights for me. The cages open to make it easy to add a bulb and appropriate hardware. Ever in Santa Fe? Visit Guadalupano Imports, 111 East Water Street (just down from Cafe Pasqual's), or call (505)984-8177. He doesn't have a website - bummer for all y'all. But let me know and I'll pick some up...no problem.


See how it illuminates the corner with the birdbath? I love that it's a bit brighter than the colored Christmas lights dear, sweet, accommodating husband put up last year. Oh - but we are changing from 40 watt bulbs to 25's. Can't overpower those Christmas lights now can we!


Even Mr Ironman, the lizard is inching closer to see what the bright light could possibly be. One thing we learned in the process - no white bulbs, make sure you choose the clear bulbs! If you use white bulbs, all you see is a white round thing in the middle of the star - not quite the effect you want.

One last close up.. I love how intricate the metal is cut out!


Three stars up, I have 4 more to go. Two of which have a designated spot. The other two will be fashioned with tea lights and be placed along the back fence. This will give the yard more depth.

I've had this clay "bell" shape for years. It hung at our cabin over the dining room table for years. Now, it has a special place over the potting table turned serving bar.

See how much light it puts out. Perfect direct light over food.

We are still looking for some solar lights for the lower level (near the ground) for our yard. I have yet to find any that I would recommend. Anyone have some that work well, and are not tiny fireflies in the night? Just leave a post here - and thanks - I love your comments. Next week, I'll share with you some lower level lighting, stay tuned!

I'm linking this post up to Beneath Naps on the Porch. Be sure to check her page out for more ideas...

Plants, plants and more plants….

Thanks for all the great suggestions for shade loving plants…
Let me share the list with you:

Hellebores .. look at the beautiful courtyard my friend Gail has. The hellebores are the plants towards the back with the white blooms. Her pictures are simply awesome. Thanks for sharing your lovely space.

Also known as the Lenten Rose, I will be finding a couple of these! Thanks Gail!

Helen recommends that I find some Ajuga plants. Those should work too. Great low groundcover. And there are lots and lots of varieties. Some are quite colorful.

Did you know there are shade loving Geraniums? I didn’t. but there is a variety called a Hardy Geranium that will do well in the shade. And I thought our other neighbors just kept changing out plants!!

I think I’ll be planting some Astilbe along the back fence. That is if I can find the red color. Pink won’t do as well in our yard. If not red, then some white.

I tried Columbine once. Maybe I need to give it another try. I planted it in dappled sunlight and it did rather well, but it did not overwinter! And it’s supposed to. Where did I fail?

The list continues with

Forget-me-nots

Hostas

Violets

Coral Bells

Aphrodite Plantain ( in the Hosta family)

Bleeding hearts

Nettles - don't these make you itch?

Check back in a couple of weeks and I'll show you what's been planted!