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. 

The Last Yellow Garden Rose

 

 

And the coming of winter.