Kevin had the right idea. My friends Beth and Mike's Labrador retriever mix was roaming from apple tree to apple tree, snapping off the fruit from the branches that were so heavily laden, they almost touched the ground. He made a pile of apples and started to munch.

I totally get it. At a place like Riverbend, Beth and Mike's country home just outside of Kansas City, Mo., you can't help but want to eat it all up at once. The spreading-wide blue sky. The orchard filled with apple, pear and peach trees — and lots of droning honeybees. And the company of good friends. It's all so heart-filling and soul-restoring, I would spend all day in this simple paradise.

On this early fall day, a few of us played hooky and escaped to Riverbend to enjoy a picnic in the orchard, getting a cure for our Nature Deficit Disorder. Bruce and Cheri, two of our visual design and seasonal display champions, set a fall picnic to inspire you to go outside and do the same this season.

For our fall picnic, we commandeered one of the old wooden picnic tables and covered it with a patchwork of plaid throw blankets. I really like to use blankets as tablecloths because they are large enough to cover a table, are easily laundered and give you a chance to pull in great patterns and colors.

I have an unquenchable fire for plaid that burns year round, but in the fall, it becomes a bonfire as I add this old familiar pattern to my home's decor any way I can. A sweet, vintage-inspired metal plaid basket was perfect for transporting our simple feast of sandwiches, apple pie, fresh apples and cider to the orchard.

When you entertain outside, it's fun to mix the rustic and refined together. The tiered wooden server, one of my favorites for the season, is earthy and organic, yet gives you a way to show off your harvest of food with a touch of drama. We have it loaded with orchard apples, just screaming to be dipped in hot caramel.

Another tool I could not live without is a big, versatile bowl. Fill it with a wonderful salad or slices of crispy bread for dinner, or with apples or fall gourds for a simple centerpiece. The lantern on the table's edge will give us a soft glow to see by as this perfect fall day slips into dusk. No need for an elaborate centerpiece when you have all this beauty surrounding you and on the table. We just tossed in some sunflowers and pine cones and called it good.

Beth isn't afraid to pull out the family china every time she entertains, even when it's the grandkids, even when it's outdoors. She knows precious things are meant to be enjoyed, not hidden away.

We've set our table with my dish-heartthrob: Spode transferware. The dinner plate features a pheasant, one of my favorite icons of fall. The salad plate? A hunting dog, in honor of Kevin, our apple-eating canine assistant. The place settings are finished out with a wicker charger, amber glassware and faux antler-handled silverware, some of my all-time favorites for fall entertaining.