You know how you do something and think, why don’t we do this all the time instead of once in a blue moon? (ha-ha-get-it?) We do have dinner on the little dock occasionally, but it really would be a great idea to do it every full moon as long as we don’t freeze to death.

Granted it’s a little, okay a lot, more trouble to do dinner down there. But a grill and a cooler take care of most of it, and the meal we keep pretty simple. I do like the table to be pretty, though, and it’s fun to use your “good” things in unexpected places.

The pond at Rancho La Zaca is one of Stella’s favorite spots, and she is especially pleased  with her likeness as featured on the Spode plates I gave His Grace a while ago. Do you reckon she is spoiled rotten? HG is the biggest pushover I have ever seen.

Sometimes it’s fun, too, to use leaves, pods, and other woodsy weird stuff instead of flowers, as I did here. Pieris is one of my favorites, and those green trick puffball things are fun. The deep burgundy of the smokebush leaves is a nice contrast, and the scabiosa pods sort of punctuate the whole thing.