For many years we traveled to Rhode Island to celebrate Thanksgiving with my husbands family. Due to my mother in laws health now we are unable to make this annual pilgrimage. One of my favorite things to do was stay up very late the night before T-day and make centerpieces with my husbands cousin. She is wonderfully creative and has an acute sense of spacial design. We click on several levels and that makes for lots of chatting while we create the "thing" that will go on every table.
One year we needed some greenery or "twiggery" to add to our creation. It was near midnight, no florist was going to be open at that hour. "Let's go outside," she said. So, with our Wellies on, a flashlight and clippers in hand we headed out into the depth of night. I went along thinking ok this is fun. I am still not sure whose yards we snipped some treasures from but what I do know is we found some really interesting shapes and textures. And once we got inside it was obvious not much of our clippings were green. That didn't matter.
The following year we went to the left coast over the Thanksgiving weekend to celebrate a family wedding. During all the hustle and bustle of getting things ready for the wedding, my parents decided to host Thanksgiving at their house. Tables were being set with table clothes and place settings and I noticed something was missing AND I was also missing my time with my husbands cousin. Feeling kind of nostalgic, on Thanksgiving very early in the morning I asked my mom what she was doing about the centerpiece. She said she could pull out some candles or some artificial flowers because she had not thought of the table flowers. That was my cue. This was my chance. I asked my mom if I could go into her garden and find some stuff and make a centerpiece. She looked a bit puzzled as if to say, "are you crazy there's nothing blooming outside," and yet we both smiled with relief, it was a win win.
Outside I went with my Wellies, hat, coat, clippers and a collecting basket. Martha would be proud. I didn't need to snip away in neighbors yards, my mom has a green thumb and she had so many plants to chose from. That morning it was chilly enough I could see my breath. The plants were sparkling from the sunlight just coming through the trees. I might have been talking to myself or out loud, "ooh that's a good one", as I spied a fine specimen here and there.
Once inside, I raided the refrigerator of some veggies. I found a giant basket in the attic, that green foamy block stuff and some floral pins. The kitchen provided me the necessary wooden skewers. Frankenstein's lab was in the garage and what emerged was a beautiful Fall arrangement and it came from my moms garden.
As the Summer turns to Fall and our gardens begin to brown don't be so hasty to cut and mulch. You might need some of the "twiggery" to ordain your next feast, or maybe your neighbor needs it (at midnight).
