Dinner on the Porch

“How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!”

”Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child’s Garden of Verses

When my husband and I built our house nineteen years ago, the first piece of furniture that was installed was the swing on our screened-in porch. This was even before the house was finished. The swing was built by a friend of ours and given to us as a house warming gift. Nothing in our home as ever been so well loved. Family members and friends always hurry to find seats there, when we are visiting on the porch. As babies, all three of our grandchildren have been lulled to sleep with the motion of that wonderful swing. The grandchildren love that Robert Louis Stevenson poem above and I eventually set it to music. We have sung that song a million times - when first I pushed them in the swing and now, when we swing together.

Our porch is a perfect place to entertain, but in the midst of a Georgia summer, the brutal temperatures can send us scurrying back inside, even with the fan going full force. Right now is the perfect time to have a nice dinner out there and I have decorated the table with china that I discovered at Tuesday morning.

First, I covered the table with a green tablecloth to blend with the beautiful outside.

Next, I placed on the table a dinner plate, which is the Savinio “Fleur de Rouge” pattern. The dinner plate is plain with just gold trim, which is wonderful to mix with other china patterns. The salad plates and bread and butter plates (I did not have room for those in this setting) are the stars in this pattern, however. They are decorated with four different sets of pink-to-red flowers.

What wonderful plates for an outside dinner!

The gorgeous dark red goblets were discovered at Tuesday Morning, also. The color blends so well with the flowers on the plates.

Rose’ wine from a Waterford carafe and water from a Gorham pitcher will be poured into the beautiful goblets. The rose’ is a perfect color for the table setting – my husband and I fell in love with the light taste of this wine, when we were in Provence. It is a favorite of the people who live in that region.

Flatware with a floral motif was added, along with ecru Vera Bradley napkins. I bought these napkins and two matching tablecloths at Dillard’s many years ago and still love them. They are easy to launder and are stain-resistant. My family has eaten dozens meals on the tablecloths and they have made it through many spills by the grandchildren and adults!

The centerpiece is a simple large hurricane with a candle inside.

Other candles were used on the porch, as well.

In this photograph, you can see how high we are above the lake on which we live. You can see the lake, if you really look hard among the trees. It is almost like dining in a tree house.

As daylight fades, you can appreciate the lights that my husband installed around the top of the porch. They cast an almost magical glow to the ambiance of an after dinner coffee or drink. This picture was taken without our porch light off, so that you could really see these little lights.

I hope that you have a special place in your home that truly embodies your family times together. Our porch is definitely ours!

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