O Chirtmas Tree part 2

Most of this wreath has dried and It's still pleasing to me. A lot of greens don't dry very gracefully even though they're evergreen. The white camellias are just added. They are notoriously fragile. They last a few days if you're lucky, before getting brown freckles all over the blossoms. I've found that if you take off all the leaves, these pure white petals last just a bit little longer.

 So we did end up with a little tree for a little dinner gathering after all. The weekend before Christmas we both felt good enough to take a ride to find a tree to cut down. Did you know that you can cut Christmas trees in certain National Forests if you get a permit? We found a Douglas fir stand that could  benefit from being thinned out. All the baby trees under the parent tree won't survive to adulthood since they are crowded together seeking light and space. We altered the survival question for the ones left behind to figure out.


Why all this consideration? Jon is bothered by cutting down trees. We didn't have trees for many a year. When all our parents were alive and awaited our transcontinental holiday visits, we never had to think about it. After they moved on, I had such a gut wrenching desire for a tree. It was a huge part of our holiday celebration growing up. It is wasteful in the sense that the tree grows for years and is sacrificed and discarded in a few weeks. But the scent, the evergreen presence, the lights and ornaments inherited and given to us by family and friends is such a big pull for me. And somehow an appropriate sacrifice in this season of endings and beginnings.

What to do, what to do? I know, you're thinking of a potted tree and I'm telling you that I'm a tree snob. The small potted varieties just don't do it. So we tried going to tree lots on Christmas Eve looking for trees that nobody wanted. We substituted a blown down birch branch for many years until it's limbs started cracking away. We have cut them down at tree farms where they are grown for crops trying out the notion that if we did it ourselves, it would feel differently, but still Jon winced.

 
 Nothing is simple, is it when you try to live a conscious life with conscious choices? So this is our latest  exploration of finding a tree for me and a comfort level for Jon.   When he stood examining the stand of trees and saw how some of the young trees were already beginning to die back, it made it easier for him, it made sense. For him and me. I think I'm just more used to the idea of embracing plant death since I work with flowers that are on their way to dying. When I'm working in the garden, there's always choices to be made as to who lives and who dies. Sometimes I feel like one big tyrant- at best a temporary steward who is really trying to be thoughtful when the ax comes down. 


 

O Christmas Tree

In early November Jon and I were snorkeling in the warm waters off Laniki Beach on Oahu. The last few weeks find us pretty miserable health wise, with colds and scary things that are worse than colds, but recoverable. Which has led to a  major deficit in energy for all things holiday: baking, present buying, finding a tree, decorating. This beautiful pine relic blown down from the latest big rainstorm may have to suffice as our Christmas tree- so far anyway. I'm trying to decide how I feel about that. My tastes in the visual world and lifestyle world tend to swing in a pendulum from either over the top or very spare and I'm trying on the spare motif for size as we approach this holiday.  In a way it's a relief- We have a pass card this year.

When I really think about what is absolutely necessary this time of year; my list is short:

The company of friends and family

Candles and sparkling lights

Some good food

Music

A few wonderful flowers and greens sprinkled around the house

Oh, and maybe a few chocolate chip cookies

Holiday Wreaths and Swags, December 6

Wreaths are their own private Idaho. There is more building and weaving involved than making arrangements (unless it's a very large arrangement). The result can be fleeting and fugitive; a wreath made with short lived flowers lasts for a day or two. The hardier ones can live on your door for a season, drying and fading in a more extended and graceful demise.
 Lets get together and make some!
 

Holiday Wreaths and Swags  Dec 6, 10-12


College of Marin: To register online go to:
http://marincommunityed.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&int_class_id=121&int_category_id=4&int_sub_category_id=36&int_cata


$79. includes all materials. Please bring a pair of pruners capable of cutting heavy branches and some garden gloves.

The year of the Peacock

We've spent many, many years celebrating Thanksgiving with friends who are extended family. This year our hostess asked (you heard correctly) to make the entire meal herself, an exception to the tradition of co-ordinated potlucks.

They also provided later entertainment; a Peacock puzzle. Simply a frontal photo of a bird, with all those feathers. It was the damnedest puzzle; all patterns and colors. And  the pieces had a maddening tendency to appear to go together but in fact be a wrong fit. Which only made it more entertaining because it's fun to curse a puzzle, tear one's hair out, and make all kinds of strange and fearful sound effects while all ten of us moved in and out of the prime spot, that is, looking at the bird right side up, instead of upside down.

It was a little respite from daily life which finds me quite often holding my breath; the latest political manuvering, fracking, someone else has cancer, another friend lost, something. 

Thank you friends, thank you turkey for feeding us and thanks 2-D peacock for the laughs.

Giving you the bird

Thanksgiving is coming up and this arrangement just sort of happened while playing around with a little teapot last year. So I've been saving this goofy photo to share.

If I don't see you until after Thanksgiving, many thanks for stopping by.

Aloha Papayas

Sure will miss the fresh papaya for breakfast the past few mornings. I just got back from Hawaii to attend a wedding. In this case I knew neither the bride or groom nor was I doing the flowers for them.

Pause for a little shout out:
My husband, Jon is the pedal steel player (and truly amazing) in the equally amazing Danny Click and the Hell Yeah's http://dannyclick.com . Danny's sound is SouthernRockCountryBlues- pretty rocking, but more recently he was much more mellow as an Acoustic Orchestra with cello, violins, and grand piano. The band was my ticket to ride.  The bride and groom, both loyal DC fans, hired the band to play at the reception on Oahu at the Pacific Club. I got to come along. No problem!

 

It was a short jaunt. I spent my time gawking  at all the flowers and plants  growing by the roadside and yards as we drove back and forth from big city, Honolulu over the mountains to the small town of Kailua to swim, swim, swim in the irresistible turquoise water.

  But wait; there's more

  Here is a picture of the table arrangements at wedding made by the bride's uncle. They are made from native Hawaiian plants with the exception of the non- native pink protea. He grew the plants himself as it is all but impossible to find them in the wild. They are fairly non-showy and have been all but replaced on the islands by the bolder looking more vigorous varieties from other tropical climates. During our chat he told me it was unusual for use these materials to be used at a wedding. The wild, loose look has not quite caught on there though native plant nurseries are beginning to pop-up. All the native plants he used were integrated into the hula dance as the Hawaiians have no written language.