Southern Gypsy Style Dining

Every now and then when the southern afternoons here in Virginia are not so hot, we like to dine outside al fresco or as I call it .."Gypsy Style ". I bring out the old bed sheets, candelabras and glass bottles or vases found at local yard sales and of course my huge candle stash ... one can never can have too many candles you know .Then we bring our supper outside,sit, eat and enjoy each others company .When evening falls we clear the table and light the candles then lay old blankets and pillows on the ground and out comes the wine for me and rum and coke for my husband. Tori will have either grape juice or sparkling cider in a grown up wine glass ..she calls this "kid wine". As for Tristan, well now since he will be joining us for out door dining and drinks he will have his usual drink of choice which is a very fine warm milk cocktail ..stirred not shaken as it brusies the milk (lol!)

We try to do this as often as we can and it does not take much to do... in fact both my tables you see are make shift .One is an old storage tote and left over piece of plywood for the top and the other is an old card table just dressed in old sheets, lace curtains and linens . They do not have to match and candles of any type with old wine bottles , fresh or fake flowers make the scene because as the evening comes the soft light of the candles falls upon every thing bringing a glow of enchantment to all objects it touches. You can even hang christmas lights in the trees for a fairy light effect ;)

Be creative and use what you have, example being in one of the pictures if you look carefully you can see I have hung two lantern like obejcts in the trees which I made out of Tristans formula cans(he-he ). I just cut diamonds shapes all around the cans and hung them with string then added candles in side and ta-da... lanterns for the evening!

I do recomend having at least one evening a year dining outside gypsy style. Be creative ,there isn't a right or wrong way to do it .. it is fun, relaxing ,romantic (ooh-la-la) ...and whether you have children or not it is a wonderful and magical way to spend the evening and make some good memories.