After a summer of not much tablesetting we had two consecutive weekends of big parties. Both were originally planned for eight people, which is a good number for a dinner party...six or eight are the best, I think. We put the leaf in the table which knocked my choices for an undercloth down to three. I picked the dark green as most summery and figured I'd do one table that would be nursed along for both parties. I got out my Indian kantha cloth, then found some hotly colored bouquets of lilies, dahlias and zinnias at the farmer's market and marched them in buckets down the table. Gray plates, gray candles, gray-green Mexican glassware and russet and purple napkins did nothing to dim the intensity of the flowers. It was good. The crowd dwindled to six people by the time we actually sat down, but it was lovely summer evening and a fun gathering.
During the course of the following week the second party began to grow. My sister and her husband were joined one by one by their two sons, the boy's girlfriends, my sons and their girls. Lisa and I both had two boys within a span of four years, so the cousins grew up together and still are close. If anyone was available and wanted to come, I wanted them to be here. We ended up with eleven people in the end, which is close the max that I can seat at this one table. The bright flowers had unsurprisingly faded, and I only had eight gray plates and Mexican glasses, so changes had to be made. Back to the farmer's market for more flowers, but this time I chose cooler colors and combined them with a blue Indian scarf and my Spode reproduction plates, of which I have twelve, thanks to Christmas about twenty years ago. The three arrangements in buckets were the same, but the effect was quite different. The party was a blast. We always get a kick out of the boys, and when they are together they egg each other on...each is quite funny in his own way. The girls are quieter but charming, and I hope they enjoyed the dinner as much as I did. It did my heart good.