Set Your Table With Flair--A Shoreside Teatime for Afternoon Tea Week

Hello lovely people in the bloggerverse and beyond!  How are you faring this extraordinarily hot Summer?  We are enduring weeks upon weeks of triple digits here, so it has been quite unrelenting!  

Exceedingly hot temperatures make me long for a cool-down, or a reprieve from the excessive heat.  The perfect way to achieve this is a refreshing teatime.  

Since Afternoon Tea Week commences this week from August 10 through August 16, I wanted to set an atypical tea table that not only exemplifies the summertime, but I wanted to set a table for two perfectly fit for a relaxing reverie waterside.  I hope you enjoy the post!

First, I set a couple of beach chaise lounge chairs shoreside.  Aren't these fun?!

A small table with simple linen

makes for the perfect foundation for beautiful leaded crystal vase.

I love the detail of this vase, and I especially admire its heft.  It is quite heavy!

I filled the vase with a bouquet of fresh-clipped flowers from my garden paired with local grocer roses.  My hydrangeas and plumbago showed well this year, I was so glad I could use them to make this arrangement!

The plate stack consists of minty dessert plates with lovely gold gilding, paired with dainty saucers

and simple glass teacups.  Gold demitasse/cocktail flatware coordinates quite nicely with the gilding on the plates.

I also added pedestals galore.

A mint teapot on one of the mini pedestal plates sits in wait for pre-steeped pours,

while a gorgeous crystal bowl holds pretty ice orbs to cool the tea.

For a sweet little nosh, I have made some mini-cakes with a decidedly nautical/preppy flair.  They are placed on a coordinating pedestal.

Closer look.

To see the recipe for these mini cakes, you may visit the post on Parsimonious Pabulum here.

On the menu for tea is a choice between two tisanes, hibiscus and butterfly pea flower, shown here on another of the mini pedestal plates.

Either of these pair beautifully with the aforementioned ice spheres that I infused with key limes right from my garden (no, these are not pickles...lol).  To see how I made these lime-infused ice orbs, please visit the post here.

This pour features the butterfly pea flower.

SO refreshing!  

A teeny jar of honey sits at the ready for a sweet addition.

Completed setting.  Hello, little friend.  :)

 

I can't think of a better way to spend a Summer afternoon!  How do you spend yours?   

Very much looking forward to the Fall.  Take care until next we meet!

--Y

From my collection:

Topper, Linen, LaHome Flounces, Amazon 

Crystal glass vase and bowl, Ralph Lauren Glen Plaid Collection

Mint dessert plates, Ralph Lauren Hamptons Tea Collection

Saucers, Haviland France Marsielle Collection

Glass teacups, generic

Mint blue teapot, Agyuins, Amazon

Blue pedestal plates, generic

Gold demitasse/cocktail flatware, Wallace Silversmiths Antique Baroque Collection

Beach chaise lounge chairs, Neiman Marcus/Horchow

If you enjoy this post, please visit the archives!  You may also visit my full profile to view my other blogs. Connect with me on my Facebook Page, Parsimonious Décor Darling.   You might like to visit my other blog hubs,

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New Arbors and Other Happenings 'Round the Garden

Hello, all!  Thank you for popping in.  Today, I want to share with you some decorative elements I have added to the garden, as well as other happenings.  Won't you join me?  I do hope you enjoy!

Just a sparse few weeks ago, I decided to add a few more decorative elements to the garden.  As this will be my foray into the second season of what I deem to be true gardening (meaning I am actually trying to cultivate a real garden with beauty and purpose), I continue to marvel at what a difference a few weeks make!

First, I added an arbor over the statue in my favorite corner of the garden.  The arbor is a coordinating piece from the Plow and Hearth Montebello Collection.  You may view it on the Wayfair website here.

It is from the same collection of the garden gate I added when I initially built my garden.  You may view that post here.

The grape vines on my property return faithfully every season, so here, it was no surprise to me how lush they would become.  This is a look when I first added the arbor,

and some shots of the progress over a just a few short weeks (four to five).

A couple of shots by one of my daughters:

I cannot wait until the Summer fruit comes in, and there are already signs!

I am elated the arbor is almost completely filled in!   I had to train the vines and anchor them to the arbor with ties, so it did require a bit of finagling, but I am ecstatic with how it is coming along.

I also decided I wanted to add another trellising arbor on the small path at the rear of the garden.  Again, the arbor is from the Plow and Hearth Montebello Collection.  You can view it at Wayfair here.

Here is a look at my roses, how they typically show each year.  

Here is how the path looked before I gave it a refresh.  The roses were just about to start blooming here.

It looks much more romantic with a freshened path and the addition of the arbor!  Here are a few shots over a couple of weeks' progress:

The roses are trellising wonderfully!

My next step will be the deadheading process to promote more growth.

Now, onto the other happenings!

If you have been here before, you may have read in this post how I planted Heirloom White Eden Roses on either side of the gate/trellis at the entry of the garden.  Here is a look at the beginning of this Spring when they were just starting to climb.

A few weeks on, and the roses have practically exploded!!

The roses have bloomed so much, I am contemplating cutting them back!  I am hoping they will climb more...time will tell.

Right now however, I am taking it all in.

Here's a lovely shot my daughter caught one recent evening.

The hydrangeas in my hand-built planters are coming along nicely, but I usually don't see blooms until later in the Summer.

Hello, little friend!

The fruit trees have gone from near barren,

to blossoms galore...

to early signs of fruit,

to pretties almost perfect for picking.

My Plumbago never disappoint, always starting with pretty white blooms,

and then bursting with a combination of both blue and white.

Just like the grapes and Plumbago, the Bougainvillea has returned,

as have the Mexican Petunias.

Even the Birds of Paradise have done well this year. 

Do you tinker in the garden?

Hope to see you soon,

--Y

If you enjoy this post, please visit the archives!  You may also visit my full profile to view my other blogs. Connect with me on my Facebook Page, Parsimonious Décor Darling.   You might like to visit my other blog hubs,

The Marvelous Maison, a lifestyle blog hub and 

Frugal Fab Fashionista, my fashion blog hub. 

Follow me on Pinterest!!  Please be sure to kindly follow the board guidelines!  Thank you!  

Thank you for stopping by! ❤