“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”
Psalm 27:14
Happy Monday and Happy August sweet friends! I can hardly believe we are already into the eighth month of 2020. I am excited that you are here as it is the first Monday of the month and that always means it is Monday Morning Blooms.
“This morning the sun endures past dawn. I realize that it is August: the summer’s last stand.
-Sara Baume
It is so satisfying to be able to walk into my garden and cut a bouquet of flowers for Monday Morning Blooms or just to enjoy on my kitchen island. If you are a gardener, you know there is much work and sweat equity in tending a garden.
Summer blooms in a stoneware crock!
You will find the links for the gorgeous floral inspiration from my friends at the bottom of this post.
Busy Bee sunflowers, colorful zinnias, limelight hydrangeas, and agapanthus stems after the spent blooms have fallen…
…combine for a summer garden arrangement!
Oftentimes, photos make everything look easy and stress-free but things are not often as they appear….I must relate the backstory to this table and floral arrangement. I cut my flowers late Thursday evening and set them in a cool place in my laundry room to rehydrate for photographing early Friday evening. The sky looked foreboding Friday morning and by early afternoon it began raining. The rain continued with dark and heavy clouds and finally changed to a drizzle around six o’clock.
Plan A was not going to happen! Now it was time for Plan B, except I didn’t have one.
I was afraid my flowers would not hold out and look their best on Saturday evening. I checked the forecast for Saturday morning and it was supposed to be cloudy with very little rain chance. With clouds, photographing in the garden would work. RM helped me late Friday night carry everything to the cottage so it would be handy and save time on Saturday morning.
I awakened before 5 o’clock which is quite normal. I enjoyed a couple of cups of coffee while waiting for dawn. At the first sign of daylight, I realized heavy fog had completely covered my garden. We live close to the river and this happens often, sometimes taking two or three hours to burn off. By this time it would be so hot, and if the sun was out it would be too bright to photograph. I decided to go ahead and set the table in hopes that the fog would lift and remain cloudy. About the time I finished setting the table, the fog began to lift and revealed very cloudy skies. It worked out after all and I didn’t even sweat!
Distressed chargers, dinner plates from Tuesday Morning (long ago), Paula Deen salad plates (I know I just used them, but the yellow band was perfect for this table) Johnson Brothers “Willow” cups and saucers. Please don’t judge, but these are paper sunflower napkins, aren’t they cute?
April Cornell “picnic” seersucker tablecloth definitely speaks of summer! Do you remember seersucker dresses? Acrylic tortoise flatware from Horchow many, many years years ago…
…and completing the tablesetting are Noritake dark blue “sweet swirl”ice tea glasses!
This vanilla/strawberry hydrangea in the background has turned brown instead of pink. It may have been our hot temperatures and possibly the sprinkler hitting the blooms.
“The month of August had turned into a griddle where the days just lay there and sizzled.”
-Sue Monk Kidd
You will want to visit my talented friends Lidy, Mary, and Shirley for beautiful flower inspiration.
Shirley – Housepitality Designs
Mary – Home Is Where The Boat Is
Thank you for your visits and gracious comments. I wish for each of you a joy-filled day!
Linking with:
Pieced Pastimes, Between Naps on the Porch, Katherines Corner, Follow The Yellow Brick Home,
Imparting Grace,Life and Linda
Oh Pam….we thank you for all of your above and beyond efforts to bring us smiles when we gaze at your beautiful table. Oh how I would love to say that my flowers came from my garden…one day…even though some of your hydrangeas have turned brown, they still look spectacular…your garden truly makes us happy. You have such a beautiful collection of April Cornell and you make the table linens truly the shining star and your settings the jewels. If you had not mentioned the napkin being paper, we would never have guessed! So happy to join you again today for our Monday Morning Blooms…stay safe and cool friend! Have a most fabulous week.
Shirley, I love sharing Monday Morning Blooms. It has been a great pleasure sweet friend!
Pam, I love the addition of your agapanthus stems! They add such an interesting accent and texture to your beautiful crock of garden blooms. How dreamy and wonderful to see your tall sunflowers nodding in the background of your garden table! Your cheery AC seersucker tablecloth is the perfect foundation for your table and pretty dish stack. I can identify with your tablescaping trials. The heat and storms have kept me indoors venturing out only for a table on the porch. I brought my flowers in to stay cool and covered my table in a sheet with an eye on the forecast to finish photographing the next day. Torrential rains and gale force winds overnight and the porch was swamped! Fortunately my sheet kept everything mostly dry. Sue Monk Kid’s quote is certainly apropos of our steamy weather 🙂 Happy August ♥
The trials of blogging…we could write a book, Mary. Happy Wednesday!
Just amazing that your flowers are all from your garden. Love the beautiful AC cloth. Every detail of your table is inviting set against the beauty of your gardens. Thank you for the joy this morning. Have a blessed week my friend.
Thanks so much Dianne. Wishing you a blessed day and week!
Thank you for going through all of that to share your beautiful arrangement and table! It all looks so lovely.
Thank you Penny…happy Wednesday!
Pam, your stoneware crock full of blooms is gorgeous. I always kept such an arrangement on my old farm table when we lived in VA. Your photos are gorgeous and I do know there is a great deal of work that goes into your lovely photographs. Not to mention skill and talent that you have. It is appreciated by so many.
Wishing you a beautiful day and week ahead, dear friend.
Thanks so much Sandra. There is just something about a crock filled with garden flowers! Happy Wednesday my friend!
Gotta always have a plan A and B don’t we? Sometimes I need plan C, D and E too! LOL! Your lovely garden must surely be your happy place Pam. It would be mine I can tell you! I love it. Love those distressed chargers and the blue and white cups! Lovely as always. Hugs and blessings, Cindy
Thanks so much Cindy. Have a blessed week!
Pam, your table is beautiful, full of my favorite blues and yellows. It is quite deceptive in the photograph for sure looking calm, cool, and collected! The stoneware crock is fabulous. In this most unusual of summers, one of the things that has brought me joy and contentment is to wander around the yard snipping this and that. It is so quiet and peaceful here in the country early in the morning. During these quiet times I very much feel the presence of our Lord.
Thank you dear Roxanne. Country living has been a major plus this year. It is our refuge!
I want to see more of your garden! Looks beautiful in the background.
Thank you Sandra. I have a gardening tab that you can click on for photos.
Bright and beautiful Pam, a lovely combination of your colorful garden blooms! I love the tablescape you created with the different colors and patterns, just lovely!
Jenna
Thanks so much Jenna. Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Oh Pam, I love your tablescape. Your garden is beautiful and your labor has produced colorful blooms for all of us to enjoy. I love seersucker! It’s the perfect material for summer. That’s a pretty tablecloth. Your setting is so inviting. Wishing you a wonderful week! Clara ♥️
Thank you my sweet friend. Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday ♥️
Pam, oh the things we do for wonderful photos! 🙂 Thank you for perservering….the result is not just inspiring, but a total treat to the soul. Your tall sunflowers in the background of your garden table are what my garden dreams are made of! I think we all three can identify with your table-scaping trials. I took the cheater’s way out this time and did an indoor photo session! Always such a joy to join you again today for our Monday Morning Blooms. Wishing you a blessed week ahead, dear friend.
Thank you sweet friend. Yes, it can be stressful, but it gives opportunity to persevere! Have a wonderfully blessed day!
I have those napkins and I love them. No judgment here! It’s a gorgeous table. I love the cloth and the mix of blooms is perfect. I especially loved the backstory and appreciate all you go through to make your arrangements and photo shoots really special! I have a photo buddy who often, when getting a great pic, says “I’d rather be lucky than good.” (He is always good and more often than not, lucky.) You were lucky and good!
I know you understand Jeanie. I like what your photo buddy said, I will have to remember that one! Thank you
Good for you to see plan B work out after all! I love that quote of August sizzling like a griddle. Truthfully, the last half of July was our worst so far. August has started out much better. I love that seersucker tablecloth, and it is a perfect complement to the bouquet! The agapanthus stems are a nice surprise element to the floral arrangement, adding a nice punch of interest. No judging on the paper napkins, they’re adorable! Have a good week, Pam. Happy August.
Thank you Rita. Our humidity was a little lower today, but it is supposed to be back tomorrow. Happy August to you!
I have never thought to use agapanthus stems after the spent blooms have fallen. What a wonderful idea!
I thought it was a fun idea and a little different. Thank you Linda!
I love going out in the early morning to cut some blooms too. Next year zinnias! Jim has made our flower garden wonderful lush and productive this year. Your table setting is delightful! It’s still too hot here though I did sit out for a few minutes until my hair started to frizz and my iced drink was melting!
Zinnias are so easy to cut and bring inside, they last several day! Thanks so much!
Pam, thank you so much for making my start to august, so beautiful. By next year, I will have a tiny little spot to call my garden.
Nonie, thank you. I hope you will get that spot to garden. Have a blessed week.
Bless your heart, it surely is a ton of work and dependent on so many factors, isn’t it? We see the finished product and bask in the beauty and perfection, never knowing what all it cost the one(s) who put it all together! All of your trials surely did have a beautiful ending, and I just love how it all came together. Those iced tea glasses! LOVE those and the seersucker tablecloth. Just gorgeous!
Thank you dear Cheryl. When meeting a deadline, it can get stressful if the weather doesn’t cooperate. Have a blessed week!
First Congratulation!! for such nice post your flowers arrangement from the summer garden it would really like to see your summer garden.
Thanks so much for your visit!
Oh Pam… you got the tablescape photographed so nicely even though it was under some stressful moments! Your centerpiece filled with your gorgeous garden flowers is a delight to my eyes this morning! Using paper napkins just shows that simple elegance can be achieved. I enjoy paper napkins because the art work on them is quite desirable! Your Monday Morning Blooms are such a treat today! Thank you dear Pam!
Once again I’m a little late to seeing your lovely post. But yesterday we began putting in a new kitchen floor. So… all other life has stopped for right now. Lol!
Oh, and I had a seersucker blazer! It was one of my summer favorites!
Thank you for the beautiful table and for reminding me about my favorite blazer in the late 70’s!
Happy Tuesday my friend! ☺️
Good morning Nancy, I loved seersucker, it said summer in the south! Putting in a new kitchen floor is exciting, just have to get through the mess! Happy Tuesday and thank you!
Pam, I am sorry I missed MMB yesterday. I had some problems yesterday and sometimes life throws you some curves.
I love your summer flowers from your garden! They are lovely and artfully arranged. Yes, I know all about the sweat equity and stress of the right light, and weather to photograph a table.I remember the very first blog hop for me with the camera lens fogging up as well as the glasses not to mention my glasses! And keeping flowers fresh is always a challenge.
You always do a great job. Your seersucker cloth is very pretty and looks cool and we need to feel cool.
I chuckled at the August quote. So true.
Thanks so much Bonnie. I forgot to mention how the camera lens fogs up with the humidity. Have a blessed Wednesday my friend!
Happy August, Pam! This table is so beautiful, and the perfect summer setting. Your floral arrangement is simply stunning, and I know it brings you such joy that all of your hard work and dedication yields such pretty flowers. I would have never know those napkins were paper if you wouldn’t have told us. There are so many pretty ones on the market today. I have so enjoyed my visit to your gorgeous garden! I hope you have a most beautiful day, dear friend!
Thanks so much my friend. I always love your visits…Happy Wednesday!
Amazing table with an adorable flowers bouquet!How inspiring!Thanks!
Thanks so much Maristella. Take care dear one!
These are ALL so beautiful. I love the mix of sunflowers and zinnias – does anything say ‘August’ more than that? I am thankful I planted zinnias this year, but am so disappointed in myself for not planting sunflower seeds. Thanks for sharing the beauty of yours, Pam.
Cindie, I have a second crop of sunflowers about to bloom. My hubby enjoys them.
a bounty of sunflowers sharing a stoneware crock together.
yes please!
just too lovely …
Thank you dear Linda!
Love your flower arrangements.Gardens are a lot of work, but the rewards are worth it. I think lol.
Thank you and yes the rewards make it worthwhile!
When I see posts like this, it really makes me wish that I had an actual garden instead of a container garden. I do very well with what I have, don’t get me wrong, but I have relatively little to chose from when attempting an arrangement unless I plan to include chives and tomato vines. Sigh.
Pattie, all gardening whether container or not is time consuming and can be back breaking. It’s rewards make it worthwhile. Wishing you a lovely weekend!
I know exactly how you feel about being able to run out into the garden and pick a bunch of flowers for a floral arrangement any time you want. This is such a beautiful post Pam. Thank you for sharing with Charming Homes and Gardens. Pinned and followed you on Pinterest!
Thanks so much Kim. Wishing you a wonderful Sunday!
Oh my gosh the flowers!! So spectacular. Your Tablescapes just makes me wish I was there right now! Love it! I would love to have you come and link up to Centerpiece Wednesday Linky Party and share this post! https://karinskottage.com/2020/08/its-time-to-link-up-to-centerpiece-wednesday.html
Karin
Beautiful tablescape Pam – and the flowers in the crock are gorgeous! Love the sunflowers. My sister and I had seersucker dresses when we were kids – still love the material lol. I can only imagine the work that keeping your garden is but it is truly stunning! Wishing you a lovely week.
Thanks so much, Kim! Yes, I love seersucker material.
As always, Monday Morning Blooms is inspirational. Loved your table ; so summery. Too hot here for outside dining most days. Take a look at my latest post on our garden flowers. I was amazed at the colors and number of blooms.
Beautiful table as always and your garden is looking magnificent. I love the use of the agapanthus stems; it gives your arrangement so much more interest. Well done. Carolyn
Thanks so much, Carolyn. I like to use the unexpected!