Dreaming At The Garden Table




An Outdoor Garden Dining Table Is A Great Place To Dream

A quick trip to meet a friend for coffee turned into an afternoon of redecorating my dining room. My friend, an antique dealer, had a truck full of treasures she had just picked up. I couldn't miss it as I pulled into the parking lot at The Waffle House. Garden green metal chair legs caught my attention, even before I saw her waving to me from the door way.

"Come on. I need coffee!" She yelled across the parking lot.

"I think I see something here I need more!"

I was already standing on my toes, peeking in on an amazing garden table and chairs. My own dining room table was a great old farm table, but not the right height to eat at. A new table was on my mind, but I was not looking just yet.

And then......there it was. The perfect set for me. We had coffee and drove to my house. On a dreary day, a bit of summer shined down on me . The garden table fit perfectly into my dining room and it is a place I sit and dream of my garden this spring.

My house is my indoor garden. Old lovely cement ladies and frogs fill nooks and sit on table tops. Oil paintings of gardens, Victorian roses, and women with bouquets leave very little white space on my walls. This charming set was the perfect addition.

I spend many hours looking at garden photos, old gardening books. I wonder if this will be the year I bloom outdoors. My yard is full, three outbuildings, a huge deck, the Lady of Lilburn life size vintage cement muse sits tucked next to a lattice trellis that blooms with jasmine when the season changes. Yet I rarely plant flowers and my front yard is neglected. The established beds bloom out of control with butterfly bushes that reach so high they mingle with the brances of the crepe myrtle tree, but it is not as lovely as I'd like.

I want to journal here as I plan my work in the yard. There is a good chance, however, the writer in me will write more than I plant, and my antique dealer side will still shop for more garden treasures. The artist in me wants to paint garden scenes more than dig in the dirt. The dreamer in my heart sees a garden full of the cottage flowers I love and herbs that leave a fragrent scent as I brush pass them going down my gravel path to the little cottage out back.

For now I'll share my dining room. We'll see what blooms in time.