an outdoor table for Christmas...

I know that a lot of you would enjoy our temperatures right now. I am ready to trade. I would like some cold and snow, please. Send it as quickly as possible. Please.

In the meantime, we’ll be eating outside.

I like bringing a bit of nature to the table whenever possible. We found the fallen aspen branch in northern Arizona. The pinecones are from northern Arizona and our local favorite spot in the mountains. The pine boughs are from our Christmas tree. It always helps to buy a tree just a little bit taller than the ceiling. It makes for some boughs all season long.



The silver is my mother’s. She told me that it was customary for a bride to have her silver engraved with her maiden initial. She decided she wanted her married initial, despite her mother's objection. What surprised me was the placement of the monogram. It seems like it is upside down. Again, this is tradition and my grandmother’s silver is engraved with the same placement of the initial.

Please tell me why I keep buying candles that say they are dripless and somehow they are not. I will try the freezer trick to see if that will help.


These plates were so hard for me to photograph, much harder than a squirmy toddler. They are so reflective that the sky just seemed to wash them out. They seem to go back and forth from gold to silver, more on the gold side.
























And a bit of the night...


Please join the Susan and everyone else for more tablescapes at Between Naps on the Porch.