At least once a summer I like to have dinner in the garden where we do it up. So we did it up last weekend.

The occasion here is for Jane Scott Hodges and her book Linens for Every Room and Occasion, following her signing at Mecox Gardens in East Hampton hosted (where youmay call to order the book) by Chesie Breen, Charlotte Moss, and me. (You can click on the Mecox website and call to order the book 🙂

Jane, you may know, is the founder of Leontine Linens which grace some of the most stylish beds and tables in the land. And then they grace a few of mine, including those at Bee. I wrote a bit on her book a while back, HERE. The book is fab.

The tables and chairs (with rented linens, alas) go to this end.

And the bar goes here, at the other end of the pool.

The porch gets a little spiffing. That plexiglass disc in the center of the pouf makes a level surface but leaves room for people to perch around it. That’s what you do on a pouf: perch.

The dining chairs from around the porch table relocate to improvise seating areas in the garden.

Around to the side, the raised beds and grape arbor remain pretty much as is,…

…with a bunch of oak leaf hydrangeas on the table I hope does not collapse by dinner’s end. The flowers and the armillary brighten this darkish corner of the garden.

Summer is all about casual and laid back and can I bring my cousin visiting from Richmond. In other words, buffets work best, don’t you think? Praying for good weather (and for no more awful injuries in the World Cup) is  burden enough without the penance of place cards and seating plans.

With garden as backdrop, the tables don’t need much. Lanterns, votives, and roses floating in glass containers. The napkins were embroidered with pink polka dots around the border. Simple and enough.

East Hampton artist Richard Udice did the flowers for the porch and tables. So lovely and just right. I love doing them myself, but not enough time this time. As a friend of mine’s grandfather used to tell him, “Son, you do what you can–and sometimes you can’t even do that.”

Dinner is served on the round table under the awning, which is handy in case of sprinkles, in which case the lawn tables are abandoned, and it’s every man for himself inside the house. It happens.

Fortunately and hallelujah the only sprinkles were from the fountain, which I still cannot quite believe, because it is ridiculous, but funny. Photo by Kelli Delaney Kot via kdhamptons.com  on Instagram.

Fortunately the rain held off this night. 

Thank you Hurricane Arthur. Having spent 4th of July as scullery maid on hands and knees in relentless deluge bailing out basement window-well which wasn’t draining (any insight on that I’m happy to hear, btw),

… said maid was all the more grateful for the beauteous weather the week following, including for last Friday’s dinner.

(If you’d like a signed, autographed copy of the above photo, let me know.)

Not only was it clear and cool, we had the Super Moon. Like a theater prop, it was, rising over the trees just as we were sitting down. Photo via my Instagram.

Thank you again Brent Newsome Caterer for the sublime sea bass, sticky rice cake, spinach, and watermelon and tomato salad, and Alex Hitz for the Berry Cobbler (recipe to come! ) A perfect summer menu.

The gardens at Bee are what they are thanks to Jane Lappin and Wainscott Farms, and Maureen and Lazaro. Thank you all, as always. 

Goodnight, (Super) Moon.