Each Little World

In a vase on Monday

This table setting and vase are from the dinner party we had the weekend before the election. It was a great evening with old and new friends. We were all nervous but hopeful about the election.

I snapped a few photos in the afternoon after I set the table. I always think we will take more pictures when the candles are lit just before we sit down but I always forget to do so!

A few years ago I was searching for an antique blue and white flower brick with no luck. In the midst of that search my sister-in-law found this rustic version and gave it to me as a gift.

I filled it mainly with foliage from the Korean maples, annual purple Hibiscus, Epimediums and assorted Heuchera and Heucherella plants. There are a few delicate stems of Tricyrtis, semi-dried Sedum flower heads and one of the last Dahlias of the season. 

I usually put this long, low container on the window sill above the kitchen sink. Turns out it is a perfect container to add to a table setting. It takes up very little room, holds a lot of material and makes a statement without blocking anyone's view.

The rest of the setting includes dark brown placemats, neutral colored napkins printed with assorted graphic designs, beaded orange votive holders and one of my favorite pairs of candlesticks. These ceramic couplings of the hare and the tortoise came from the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis. 

To see what other gardeners have put in a vase today, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who hosts this meme.

In a vase on Monday: Early Thanksgiving

Years ago I bought this covered veggie dish and a platter in the Fruit Basket pattern by the English china manufacturer, Mason's. For a lark I went online last fall to see if one of those companies that carries old china patterns might have a piece. Indeed they had a few but they were asking more than I wanted to pay. Imagine my delight when I found this little covered jar only days later at a local antique shop at a much better price. 

I decided it would make a great vase and not take up much room on the Thanksgiving table. At the rate we're going, I may be able to almost repeat this bouquet when Thanksgiving arrives. 

The main item is an annual Hibiscus which has been living by the front door and still looks great. There are more than a few spikes of Agastache with color left on them, but that's the last bright Baneberry seedpod. Most of the Heucheras are still going strong though I doubt I will get another fat flower stalk like this one from a plant in a protected location. It was fun to think about the next big holiday coming up and what might be available to create a bouquet for the big feast. 

Gardeners around the country and the world take part in this Monday meme. Visit host Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to see what they've created today.

In a vase on Tuesday: A summer table setting

Mark and I were invited to a dinner party at the end of last week on an absolutely beautiful evening. The table was equally beautiful; so much so that I made him grab a few pictures on his phone. There was seating for 14 guests which meant Mark had to take more than one photo to get the entire table. There were lap blankets and throws in case it turned chilly and we needed to cover up but the temperature never fell so much that anyone needed a wrap.

I particularly liked the look of those French park chairs all in a row, looking so pristine with their white enamel paint.

Mark and I brought easy hors d'oeuvres: olives and breadsticks. Gardeners, note that I used a vase to hold the breadsticks. I needed a tall plain container and I realized nothing fit that description as well as a vase! 

In case you are curious, the entree was Cioppino with cornbread. Dessert was a fabulous lemon poppyseed layer cake served with coffee and glasses of iced Limoncello. A wonderful way to welcome September. Thank you Jane and David for including us.

Summer supper

We began June with too many days with temperatures that went up in the 80s, making it hot and humid and feeling like August. Too hot to cook, even too hot to grill. So I decided to make the Spring Antipasto Platter that was featured in the NYTImes not too long ago. Turned out to be quick, easy and tempting to a pair of hot and tired gardeners. Best of all, there were leftovers so we could do it again the next night.

To give us more options I added shrimp and a rustic country bread. My only recommendations are to cut the fennel paper thin and not to even bother to use green onions/scallions for grilling. They're too small and just give you a pile of charred sticks. If you can't find spring onions, skip this item in the recipe. As more veggies are coming to local markets, this meal will be appearing in endless variations at our house now that it's summer and hot days are the norm.

In a vase on Monday: May

Last Monday's high was almost 20 degrees ABOVE normal. We both worked in the garden and enjoyed lunch on the deck. The rest of the week the temps kept going down so that by Thursday our high for the day was 20 degrees BELOW normal. We also got some much needed rain at the end of the week. The result is that it was too wet in the garden to properly gather flowers for a bouquet. Instead I braved the weather and went to an estate sale Sunday morning to see what treasures were left and to take advantage of everything being half of the original price. I came home with this little bouquet of morning glories.

It's enamel set into a pewter bowl, made in China apparently for Neiman Marcus, the fancy Texas emporium. 

My husband thought the colors were a perfect match for my fingerless gloves which I wear almost constantly until it really warms up. My hands are always cold when I'm reading a book or working at the computer. I thought the little Heath vase of Muscari that was sitting by the kitchen sink was a better match. So we combined them into one display.

To see what other gardeners have put in a vase today, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden who sponsors this meme.

 

Happy February 13th

We started celebrating Valentine's Day a little early. Actually my husband does not believe in made-up (aka Hallmark) holidays so he's not big on Valentine's Day — despite the fact that he's given me many lovely presents over the years.

We started the day Saturday with our usual group of friends for Saturday morning coffee. Then I went off to spend the morning with my textile group while he talked with his college-bound nephew about his potential options. We met up again to go to the gym for a brief workout.

And then we went off to our city's original shopping mall which is smaller than is common and was emphatically local until recently. Now it's being redesigned and relaunched with brand names like Kate Spade, Sur la Table and Madewell. What that means is there are a number of empty storefronts at one end of the older mall space. So they set up half a dozen pop up shops for the weekend, including Pleasant Living whose east side shop I still miss.

We bought a set of 1920-30s Sheffield nickel silver flatware for six.The knife handles are celluloid, I believe. It has four serving pieces and two kinds of soup spoons, demitasse and dessert spoons. I know. This is totally against the trend of downsizing and casual entertaining. Two things I think about but am not good at. Also picked up a beautiful Chinese ceramic garden stool, decorated in soft blues on gray. 

Hit the grocery store to pick up everything I wanted to make a couple of the recipes in this week's New York Times food section. We started with Mark Bittman's Champagne cocktails, Hook's Tilson blue cheese and my favorite cranberry and hazelnut Raincoast Crisps while sitting in front of fire, candles lit and the two of us getting slowly lit as we worked on the NYT Sunday crossword.

Dinner (above) was David Tanis' concoction of Seared Sea Scallops with Ginger-Lime butter, sweet potatoes and greens. He used baby bok choy but I subbed a quick saute of arugula. He baked his potatoes and I roasted mine. A superb meal and one to make again.

So we'll be spending Valentine's Day sleeping in and doing what ever we usually do on Sundays . . .

A holiday table of a different color

When I was growing up, holiday meals always took place at tables set with beautiful china. My mom, the grandmothers, the aunts — no matter who hosted the family dinner it was served on great dishes. As I've said many times before, those experiences turned me into a dish junkie. Today I have my grandmother's gold-bordered service, which I just used at Thanksgiving, as well as a set of antique dinner plates with a wide red band dripping with gold curliques. They are my usual go-to choices for December dinner parties.

Last December, when we hosted friends for dinner, I made Afro-Brazillian fish stew and it needed to be served in bowls. That necessitated re-thinking everything because my big soup bowls are blue and white. But I think I managed to create a holiday feel without going all red and green, which I try to avoid everywhere but in my red room. 

I used little plexiglass napkin holders, that are actually vases, with a sprig of evergreens for a Christmassy touch and silky plaid napkins for a bit of glam. The placemats are some kind of straw which also has a bit of a sheen. 

Our wooden Italian putti is in the corner shedding a little candlelight. More candles are on the table along with a big bowl of dried pomegranates, pomanders and assorted ornaments. 

I won't be able to recreate this setting again this December because Mark never liked those napkins: too thin and too slippery according to him. So this fall they were relegated to my bin of supplies for textile projects. They definitely have a lot of potential in that area! 

In a vase on Monday: New containers

I have definitely fallen behind on these Monday posts, though not on actual bouquets. I've been cutting flowers continuously and putting arrangements throughout the house. But our hot weather and abundant rainfall have the garden exploding — especially with weeds. So I've let the photos slide while I try to keep up with the weeds. 

I splurged recently on a group of vases to add to my collection. They're made by Heath Ceramics and are quite small, only 3 inches in diameter and just over 4 inches high (7.62 cm x 10.16 cm). As the company says, "the Heath lover can never have too many bud vases". The company's current palette is subtle and the containers have a matte sheen rather than glossy shine. And they just added the wonderful little speckled style this summer (below and in the center above).

I've been using them to showcase foliage rather than flowers. The group usually is resting on an irregular slab of green marble in the center of the dining room table. But I brought them outside to photograph them. 

To see what other gardeners have put in vases today, visit Rambling in the Garden who hosts this monthly meme.

Signs of the season

Every day I'm seeing evidence that the rabbit who is currently living under our deck has been enjoying a number of spring treats around the garden. Luckily the rabbit pictured here — who used to live with my late mother-in-law — never eats the flowers.

We're having a lovely weekend: gardening followed by get togethers with friends and family. Hope you have equally pleasant prospects in store for the weekend.

Fiber Friday: Convivio

Wednesday morning I went on an impromptu jaunt to Spring Green (WI) with a couple of my sisters-in-law. Our first stop was Convivio. Two of us had fallen under the spell of this gem of a shop on previous visits. But it was a new experiece for the third. The space itself exudes charm as it's located in an old building with wood floors, high celings and light that streams in through big windows. Then there's the friendly staff and the fabulous goods for sale.

When I'm in Convivio my eyes instantly gravitate toward textiles. The store has a large selection of beautiful napkins and tablecloths, many of French manufacture, in luscious color combinations. There are also Indian print cloths and runners, which caught one sister's eye. Another was taken with the pillows using Indian saris sewn in the kantha technique. On my last visit I bought a large throw using this technique with saris. There's a different color scheme and pattern on each side making the pillows and the throws very versatile.

My fiber find on this trip was a large woven cloth from Indonesia using the ikat dying technique (all three photos). It's heavy-weight cotton and roughly 77 inches x 93 inches. Big enough to cover my dining room table with both leaves in or to toss over my couch. I knew it would look good with all my stoneware dishes and that spills would not show as much on such a busy pattern if I want to use it on the table. Nor will it show dirt if we put it on the couch so we can come in from working in the garden and plop ourselvers down on it without fear.

Be sure to check out Convivio next time you're in Spring Green. They are also a great source for all kinds of gifts and kitchen and entertaining items as well as wines and chocolates. And don't miss their beautiful ribbon: lots of colors, widths and many embroidered styles, sold by the yard. 

Be sure to check out Convivio's hours before you visit as they are still on their winter schedule in April.