Dining With Succulents

Living in drought ridden Northern California where everything once was green, our way of life is changing. Once conifers and rhododendrons grew in glorious abundance - everyone expected foggy, soggy mornings, dry, slightly warm summers, and lots and lots and lots of rain in the winter. Sad to say, all that is over. So - we must adapt. Gone are the heathers and miniature conifers in my yard that I carefully selected, collected, planted and maintained.  I am slowly replacing them with water saving succulents (not cactus - yet - but if rain does not come, it may happen.....)
Anyway.....this week's table is designed around some of the succulents that I have ready to plant.

The table

Pat's husband made the rustic wooden centerpiece box for us a while back. I added the plants. Pat put large bowls filled with succulents to use as candle holders.

One of Pat's everyday dish patterns - "Desert Flowers" by Noritake

The flatware was our Mother's - she used to keep extra for when unexpected company stopped by and stayed for dinner (which happened all the time in our Italian household)

Glassware is "Espresso" by Lenox

The bread and butter plate

Small individual bowls were filled with succulents and placed around the table - I swear that the bowl was clean before the picture. I turned it to get a better "shot" and stuck my finger in it....

From the other end of the table

Where it came from:
Burlap Tablecloth - from Linentablecloth.com (fabulous mail order site for inexpensive tablecloths)
Dinnerware - "Desert Flowers (1974-1985)" by Noritake (Pat's everyday dishes purchased forty years ago)
Flatware - Pattern unknown (but was part of our Mother's "go to" flatware when she needed extra for unexpected company - which happened all the time when we were growing up....)
Glassware - "Espresso" by Lenox (a gift from my niece)
Large Black Bowls - from World Market
Small Black Bows - by Waechtersbach from Tuesday Morning
Blue Placemats and Matching Napkins - from Pier 1
Chocolate Brown Napkin - Handmade by Pat
We will be joining Christine's "Table It!" Blog Party this Monday at Rustic & Refined: http://www.rustic-refined.com/
We will also be joining Susan for "Tablescape Thursday" at Between Naps on the Porch:  http://betweennapsontheporch.net/


Not exactly tablescaping stuff:
I just hope that the ancient Redwoods (with their shallow roots) which used to grow abundantly in our area can survive......

The park is about a mile from my house - when we were kids, we lived much closer and walked there to play. It still has a wonderful zoo, flower garden, and playground.

The road winds through the grove of gorgeous trees down to the duck pond.....at a speed of five miles a hour through some narrow hairpin turns.

Here's what you see at the bottom....The duck pond - not as big as it once was......



Here they come for a snack - but we are not allowed to feed them anymore (you can see the bottom of the pond now....so sad...

One of the many trails through the park - not for the faint of heart or out of shape....