When it’s time sensitive and just can’t wait – what do you get? A BONUS BLOG!!! Yes! A mid-week blog for the holidays! It began beneath a brilliant blue sky yesterday as the air, with a teeny bit of a chill, was contrasted by the then warm sunshine glistening through a deciduous denuded Honey Locust making it’s lonely leftover pods look like birds silhouetted against the sky.
Scattered all over the ground were the same fallen wonderfully twisted mahogany-colored pods writhing amidst the dried leaves.
The color was so rich and warm it was irresistible. As I bent over to inspect one, I was captured by the unique quality of each pod and the amazing contours of their graceful, elongated shapes.
Almost as though they were varnished, they had a semi-gloss that was naturally beautiful. This is art in nature. This is inspiration. I can see this as a magnificent drapery fabric – a grand wall of these intertwined ribbons of organic seed pods.
However, on a more current and immediate note – I saw a centerpiece or multiple centerpieces as it turned out. I gathered the pods in my fist as though a wonderfully wild bouquet. I then needed a bag (thank you Becky) as I kept dropping them, in an effort to force the ever growing collection.
Here is the quickie result of the awesome autumnal centerpiece. I had a faux wreath of berries and leaves, tossed in a few recently harvested local apples, (thank you Vigils), some leaves gathered from the driveway as the Bradford Pear – which, a little late this year due to our unseasonably warm Indian Summer this fall, has only started to drop its gloriously radiant leaves. And Voila!
I stood back and looked over my shoulder and saw the collapsed plastic bag still spilling pods out over the counter-top.
I was about to call all my friends and ask “Do you want a piece of this fabulous, festive, fall, focus of attention? And I quickly realized I could expand the joy for those of you with grand tables needing a longer statement down the center.
So flanking glass vases provided the extension I needed. Now this was quick – adding gravel, sand or moss in the vases would add interest and depth, maybe pheasant feathers, other dried flower pods and grasses – this was just a start based upon an irresistible inspiration scattered before me.
So keep your eyes peeled for opportunities when you least expect them and make something out of nothing. Save unnecessary expense when you find your design accessories for free!!! Happy Thanksgiving!!!
The rich maroons transitioning to corals and rosy tones into brilliant golds and even bright yellows were irresistible. It’s similar to a maple tree with its magnificent range of fall colors but with precious little round heart-shaped leaves. 
I created a tablescape using short-cut branches in a pair of squatty square glass vessels flanking a large square hand-blown glass platter. In the center on the platter, I gathered acorn squash which we will be enjoying baked with brown sugar and butter later this week, and added some ornamental gourds for their interesting shapes and colors. 
After scattering some of the leaves around the arrangement on the neutral linen table runner, the result was boldly colorful, organic and spicy scene bursting with autumnal warmth.
So as I pondered this setting this morning, two days later…the leaves on the table were getting crunchy, the branches were dropping leaves and the water in the containers was a bit cloudy…time to clean it up! Since it seems that everyone is already transitioning to Christmas themes, I thought why not do the same?! The alternative of merely cleaning it up and leaving it barren was a bit anticlimactic after enjoying the spectacular beauty of this recent holiday table. So here again nature was calling to venture forth and scour the yard for the next seasonal statement.
a few holly sprigs from the bushes in front and jammed them into the same freshly refilled square glass vases. In the center, the neutral linen runner remained and on the glass platter I kept the acorn squash, traded the gourds for electric green granny smith apples and a couple of pomegranates ( I had bought three last week and had already picked my way through the many juicy morsels of one – leaving two to do the red thing in my centerpiece today).
His women are a fine group of chicks named simply Hello Ladies as that is how they are collectively greeted daily. 
They represent the breeds Ameraucanas which produces the green/blue series, Buffs Orpington for peachy/light brown and Wyandotte for the darker orange brown shell shades. The combination is a color scheme that is so wonderfully balanced with complimentary opposites that it is one of pleasing perfection.
