Mid Spring Table

If you know me, you know I love change. Every chance I get- I change the look of the table.

I (try to) keep the table dressed all day long and ready for meals. Some times it works, others, not so much. In reality, it's so much easier to just reset the table when I remove the dishes from the machine instead of having to put them in the cupboard. I'm lazy, but this time it pays off. It comes in waves. Lately, since about Christmas, I have been able to keep it up. There have been times in the past where it just sits, empty, or is stacked with all kinds of projects...that drives me nuts. So I try.

We have a fabric store in town that sells either over stocked or discontinued fabrics used strictly for home fashions, so I head there first. The first place I look is in their close out section where you can pick up a gorgeous fabric for as little as $2.00 per yard! We're talking fabric on rolls, at least 60 inches, most times wider. I made the table protector out of professional grade quilted fabric for $6.00, and I love it. My table is 3x5, so -usually- I only need 2 yards of fabric to make a generous cloth. I try to pick patterns that will compliment the house, but also bend to several different themes or dish sets. I think ahead and choose fabrics that can work for at least two seasons or events, most of the time they work several different ways. I like patterns* and geometrics*, and lately I have been in to textured fabrics. I also prefer cloth that doesn't say "Hi! I'm a table cloth!" I have cloth that has been used for drapes, sofas, outdoor furniture and who knows what! I but a test sample, write down the measurements to calculate shrinkage, wash it in HOT water with the same detergents I would use if someone spilled and if it comes out well, I go back and purchase it. Table clothes are easy, just measure, cut, hem- and you're done.

Now, although I have several choices when it comes to dish sets, if you have a set of plain white, or black (or any solid set) you can mix it up pretty easily. I collected dishes over the years, but my favourites always come back to the plain basics because they can morph into dozens of themes. Plus, a plain plate will show off the food better than darling flowers competing with the mashed potatoes. I let the table clothes and plate settings set the mood and the food be the star.

These photos are pretty lousy, but I have had these shell pepper and salt shakers for a couple of years so I thought I would build on them. I put a bunch of shells in a flower bowl, and added the deep blue glass over the white larger plates, using them as chargers. The cloth is chocolate with three shades of blue in small raised square dots. Tiny white shell rings for napkins and a (much too tall) tropical plant finish it.



*scroll to view table example.

More Cactus

Can you blame me? These cacti are seriously cool!

Well, that first one is a flowering agave. That blooming stem went up about two stories high!

The second scene is in Joshua Tree, just a view of the meadows filled with flowers and the mountains tops that look like hills from this side.

The ocotillo was beginning to bloom. We read that it blooms not according to season, but depending on rainfall.

Although that last one resembles a yucca in bloom it is, in reality, a Joshua Tree limb. I love the thick waxy petals! They looked like little porcelain cups.

As always, click on the photos for a great, larger view!

Are you sick of flowers yet?

Wild Flowers in Cathedral City

When I was a child we lived closed to a beach where the flowers grew quite easily. In one particular house we have a huge (at least to a four year old girl) bush of what we deemed "Barbie Doll Bouquets", because they were a bundle of minuscule florets fire-cracking from a single stem head. All we had to do was pick one tiny stem and it was the perfect nosegay or bridal bouquet for Barbie or Midge to hold as they hopped their way across our play yard.

As I went in search of wild flowers I came across the wild cousins to those flowers of my childhood. The prettiest of purple and a gorgeous yellow. The only thing different was the bush and the greens. In my childhood the bushes were full, lush, and about three or four feet tall, thick broad leaves, hearty wood trucks and deep green stems. The wild versions were very low to the ground only growing about a foot tall, no woody base, fragile rather, and trailing rather than bushy. The florets, however, were the same!
It brought back a flood of memories just looking at them! (how come if there is a Barbie, a Midge, and a Ken ...I always end up as Ken? That's what you get when you're the baby of the Three Hip Sisters!)

Then there are the tiny pink buds that wake up and unfold into the palest of pink flowers, so small, the size of thumbnail. They have little yellow balls that announce to any near by bees: "Hey! Here we are! Aren't we adorable?"

Lady bugs are so enthralled they don't bother with snacking, they just hang out and smell the perfume while working on their tan.

Momma's every where!

While driving through Joshua Tree National Park I saw a bright pink blossom off the road and in about 50 feet.

Thor pulled over, I popped out of the car and went in search of the elusive bloom.

As I walked I heard the excited call from another photographer. "Hey! Hey! I got a Lizard! And he's posing for me!" I walked towards the voice and saw a man with a huge camera lens balanced precariously on a tripod, nose to the lens, snapping away.

Not knowing who he was shouting to, I quietly approached him, announced myself and asked if I might snap some photos as well. "Sure! He's just standing there. He loves the camera!"

So I took a position and began to shoot. In my opinion, this is a mommy guarding her nest. Another photographer came to shoot and the lizard just scurried about five feet and then circled back. She dug in occasionally and then would pop her head up to see if we were still fascinated.

Just look at that belly. Have you ever seen such a "full" tummy on a guy lizard? I think I can even see the egg shapes in her belly. Look closely at the photo far right in the first two rows and center on the bottom. Can you see the "baby bump" too?

To see these (or any of my photos) in a much larger size, just click on them.

Joshua Tree Mosaic

Taken on a ride through Joshua Tree National Park last Saturday. Incredible. I suggest it to anyone who can get there within the next week or two. This is a feast for your eyes, a miracle of sorts, and a testament to the Creator. Truly amazing.

Please! Do your self a favour and click on the mosaic to see these gorgeous flowers a little bit larger.

colour

More spring colour from places we have been. These from Utah's Thanksgiving Point, Disneyland's Railroad Station at New Orleans Square, A bee (don't you just love his little legs full of pollen?) at the Redlands CA Temple, and a perfectly inspiring orange cannas from the warm sunny beaches near San Clemente, CA.

spring elsewhere

Just a few photos I have taken while on travels with Thor. These from a trip to Washington D.C. Enjoy.

in my neighborhood this week...

Yup, believe it or not, this is what's bloomin' in the desert! Enjoy!

It's Spring and love is in the air, or on top of the pillar.

One the first day of Spring (last week) I noticed that our doves had returned to nest. The top photo is from this week, the bottom photo from last year. They chose the pillar furthest from the front door but more exposed to the elements. Last year, after successfully laying eggs they tended them for a a week or so before they were destroyed by a larger bird. I am hoping this doesn't happen this year.

Easter flowers...

Hints of Spring

I don't know about you, but I could use some flowers, some heat, and heck, a trip to the beach.

Enjoy.