My patio, flowers, BBQ's and The Hamptons!

Hello and happy Tuesday night to you......this post is a bit of this and a bit of that, all about my favorite things- flowers, cooking, decorating, the great outdoors and The Hamptons!

Got my patio furniture for the back patio..was so excited! It is beautiful, very comfortable and beautifully made. Now I have to get busy deciding on pillows (again) and various accessories, and will naturally add my trademark blue and white to the mix!

Have been out to the Hamptons and the North Fork quite a bit lately and am sharing some of those highlights too. Had a casual BBQ on Sunday and love nothing more than visiting a local farm stand and picking up fresh vegetables and fruits......I get so inspired. Also visited a sunflower farm and found the most sensational sunflowers. They are enormous  and are well over 2 feet tall....talk about impact! So its a little of this and a bit of that around here. Let's get rolling......

Warning- VERY picture heavy, you might want to see this post sitting!

 Outdoor furniture!! Its a beautiful line from Woodard (the Landgrave division)  and I really love it, we have to now get busy figuring out pillows and accessories to add to the setting

This is just the start but I will be sure to share things as we go along......

The furniture is from Woodard Landgrave, a beautiful elegant beautifully built line of outdoor furniture

 Love taking pictures late in the day, that late day sun is my absolute favorite

 Love the elegant clean lines, now need to figure out pillows and accessories (the fun part).....

 Tried out my loggia pillows, they are a little small but think the blues look beautiful.......

Meanwhile back inside getting ready for a casual BBQ on Sunday......

 The sunflowers looked so perfect with my beautiful melamine outdoor dishes from my online shop

 Love my sunflowers! They are HUGE, towering about 2 and a half feet!

 The spinach Greek salad that is fast becoming  a regular around here

 Hard to tell here but these scallions were almost 2 feet long! The basil was enormous too.....

 My delicious pistachio ice cream sandwiches. So easy and always a HUGE hit. I buy vanilla pizelles and get pistachio ice cream and open it up and then slice it, I add extra pistachios ground up...this is light, delicious, pretty and a perfect summer dessert!

 Tossing in the baked almonds to the salad

 Yummy peaches with fresh mint chilling for my trademark peach sangria, the perfect summer drink!

 Easy peasy, the wine doesn't need to be expensive just a light dry white wine and Peach Schnapps, fresh peaches and mint, and then the ginger ale is added at the end.....so light and refreshing!

 Love a beautiful fruit platter.....found figs which was so exciting, they add a lot to any plate of fruit!

 Yum, let me do a "taste test"

 Am I the only one who gets excited over pretty tomatoes?

 The "sous chef" has decided he has earned a  much needed nap!

All the fixings for my crostini...a regular in this house!

Table getting set up

Veges ready to be thrown on the grill (I added sea salt and pepper and drizzled them with olive oil and they were fantastic)!

Meanwhile our driveway is getting done, its a mess but the end result will be wonderful.....

And to The Hamptons......

Sorry... I know this is cruel, espeically if you are hungry (which I am right now) and suddenly am craving a fresh lobster roll on squishy bread!

All of my favorite flowers at one of my favorite garden centers......

These orchids were AMAZING. Four stems...and HUGE!

And yes, of course one had to come home with me, it was begging to be picked and brought home!

If you are a hydrangea fan...you would have gone mad, they were there in every color!

Though I am not a big hibiscus fan, this pretty purple color got my attention.....

Loved this large boxwood globe (36" round)

More flowers getting stuffed into the car.....

Never met a sunflower I didn't love!

Beautiful Mecox Gardens

And the orchid beauty just continued to wow me!

Loooove farm stands, but I am sure you know that by now:)

And how gorgeous of a picture did these make? It made me want to plan a party around a sunflower theme!

 Love the farm stands.....they almost excite me more than a great clothing boutique (almost)!

 Beautiful vineyards.....

 An abundance of fresh fruit and flowers.........

 Love coming home and "playing"....

 Charm galore!

 Even the storage sheds have blooming hydrangeas!

 And once again my backseat is loaded up with as much as I can squeeze into it

 Duckwalk is a wonderful conveniently located vineyard.....

 Another beautiful nursery.....

 Windmills to me are synonymous with The Hamptons

 As are roadside farm stands....

 And gorgeous sunflowers just waiting for a new home

 White hydrangeas always stop me in my tracks!!

Back at home put together a pretty casual arrangement  in one of my favorite blue and white bud vases

And the huge sunflowers in this large blue and white vase...love the color combination

And finally put my huge orchid in the centerpiece bowl on my island in the kitchen, love the effect

And my hydrangea in its rightful home......love this planter from my online shop

So that is a wrap of what's going on around here. Trying to get into the summer groove and have to say this week it finally feels like I am. Love nothing more than a trip to the beach, a visit to my local farmstand, a car filled with fresh veges and fruits, flowers to come home and arrange, it's all part of what makes summer so amazing and an equally good reminder to stop and smell the roses along the way!

 Some girls need diamonds and other expensive accoutrements (and believe me I won't turn them down) but I realized the older I get the more I appreciate the simple pleasures in life.........how about you? Whats your summer pleasure? Thanks as always for stopping in!

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