Late Summer Tablescape

 A centerpiece of peonies was the inspiration for this summer table on my patio. Today, I am joining 20 other bloggers for a late summer tablescape blog hop sponsored by Chloe Crabtree @Celebrate and Decorate. Throughout the year, Chloe has tablescape themes that inspire amazing creativity. Friendships have developed and it is inspiring to be part of such a talented group.

These English hand-painted butterfly plates went perfectly with the pink peonies. There is a story about the plates I will tell later in the post.

Each plate has a different butterfly and flowers. The scalloped edge and two green borders are so pretty to me. I layered the plates with another gold-bordered plate to accent the gold in the butterfly plates and gold flatware.

My mother's Fostoria Meadowrose wedding crystal from 1945 felt right for this tablescape and I always love using it.

I added ferns from my garden in the flower arrangement to pick up the green in the plates. I really wanted some fuchsia napkins for this tablescape but none were to be found in our little town.

 Butterfly napkin rings complemented the butterfly theme.  It would have been fabulous if a butterfly had landed on my table while I was photographing it!

My granddaughter was visiting while I was styling this tablescape and she wanted to have a tea party.  We actually did before I dismantled the table. It was a hot day and she suggested having ice cream. It was a great idea to have something cool. We enjoyed eating our chocolate mint ice cream that just happened to match the butterfly dishes but we were not dressed for photographs. However, the ice cream inspired another tablescape........ fast forward a month.

In the summertime, I crave ice cream and chocolate mint is a favorite. Add some pound cake and I am a happy camper.

I have a friend who is an antique dealer. She brings back many lovely things from trips to England. I was pleased to buy these butterfly plates from her that inspired this tablescape. My eye went right to the plates as I viewed her new purchases. I immediately began planning a tablescape in my mind using the plates in front of my summer phlox before I purchased the plates.  If you live near Atlanta, her booth, The Spence Collection, shows monthly at Scott's Antique Market. Her Instagram account can be viewed here. 

Bougainvillea placed on the napkin added another pop of color and took the place of a napkin ring.

Phlox is a perennial that faithfully delights year after year in my garden. You may remember me mentioning my sweet garden helper cut my phlox down with a weedeater before it bloomed last year. So I am very grateful to have it blooming this year. It makes a great cut flower and multiplies. Soon I will have enough to move to another spot in the garden. 

I love this sheer embossed vintage tablecloth. It was used here some years back for a Valentine post. Pink lemonade, chocolate mint ice cream, and pound cake are refreshing and make a good summertime treat served in the garden.  Thank you for joining me today. The blog hop schedule with links to other summertime tablescapes is listed below. Stop by and leave them a comment. I would love one as well.  Wishing you a lovely week. 

Monday

Debbee's Buzz | A casa di Bianca | Red Cottage Chronicles | The Little Yellow Corner Store | Sweet Pea

Tuesday

White Arrows Home | Living With Thanksgiving | Life and Linda | Everyday Living
Corner of Plaid and Paisley

Wednesday

Home is Where the Boat Is | Celebrate & Decorate | Panoply | The Painted Apron

Thursday

Intelligent Domestications | Sweet Sensations | Our Crafty Mom | Bluesky at Home

Friday

My Thrift Store Addiction | My Family Thyme | Katherine's Corner | Zucchini Sisters
Follow the Yellow Brick Home

Remembering Notre Dame before the fire

Notre Dame is loved and admired by the entire world. It is Europe's most visited monument and emblem of France. Twelve to fourteen million people visit the cathedral each year with an average of 30,000 visitors daily.

 Notre Dame is one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. These pictures were made on May 2018. Note the scaffolding being used for repair of the building.

The size and perspective of Notre Dame are easily viewed from a Batobus on the Seine. We enjoy riding the Batobus every time we visit Paris. You can sit back and view the beautiful buildings and bridges and give your weary feet a good rest.

The tricolor is flown on the back of each Batobus so here I captured two iconic symbols of France.

Here Notre Dame is viewed from the rear where the Île de la Cité ends and the Seine cuts through to form the Île St Louis. 

Viewing this picture and noting the spire makes me realize how much we take for granted. I am so glad to have these pictures.

Little did I know, when I photographed this picture of Notre Dame on May 9, 2018, that there would be an unimaginable fire on April 15, 2019, that destroyed the spire, and severely damaged most of its roof and the upper walls. According to Wikipedia, the stone vaulted ceiling contained the burning roof as it collapsed preventing extensive damage to the interior. The cathedral's three 13th century rose windows and two pipe organs were spared with little or no damage.

The entire world watched with horror as flames engulfed the famed building of Notre Dame. Thankfully there was no loss of life and there is a unified effort to repair and restore and improve many safety aspects of the cathedral. Contributions have poured in from the entire world for this effort.

May 2018 was our fifth trip to Paris and there are many more pictures to share. I intended to link this to a Paris July link party but missed the deadline since we were on vacation so stay tuned for much more.

Join me for other posts with Notre Dame pictures from other trips here.

You may also be interested in viewing my Pinterest board on Notre Dame as well as my personal pictures of Paris I photographed titled Living with Thanksgiving Paris Pinterest board. More pins of Paris from various sources are labeled on the board called Paris.  I pinned pictures of the fire that are very interesting. 

Also, join me and other tablescape bloggers Monday-Friday of this week for a summer tablescape blog hop.

My table is on Tuesday!