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Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Of Groundhogs, and Tabletops, and Multiples of Three




Winter is over, at least in New York!



February 2nd. Ground Hog Day.

A Prognosticators' Throwdown.

Two groundhogs: Punxsatawney Phil and Staten Island Chuck.
Two locations: Pennsylvania and New York.

This was a tough event. Having lived in both states, my loyalites were divided, until Staten Island Chuck came out of his burrow this morning in the great Borough of Richmond in New York City, and did not see his shadow!

Woo-hoo, Staten Island Chuck! You da man, bro! You da man.
Or, you da ground hog, as the case may be. His Pennsylvania cousin scurried back into his boro, the craven coward, but Chuck is clearly made of sterner stuff. He held his ground. Or, he hogged his ground.

Anyway, I'm done with winter, even if the calendar, Phil, and Mother Nature are not.

Me 'n' Chuck, we are looking forward to spring! It's not that we are wishing away the next two months; we just want them to be warmer, right, Chuck?

By the way, Chuck has an 85% accuracy record. Just so's you know.

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And I'm joining Tabletop Tuesday, a new blog party for me, and also a
familiar and loved one: Three Or More Tuesday. Links to both at the end of the post!

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Tabletops. I am tabletop-challenged. I stick a lamp, a coaster, and maybe a phone on a table, and call it done. It's not pretty.

So, I'm trying. On the big round table between the loveseats in the conservatory, I have put 3 lush (and not so lush) plants, a little bit of fluff, leaving enough room for a book, a magazine, and a cup of coffee.


I actually bought a new tablecloth on Saturday, which cloth incidentally has not yet been ironed because I let Annie take my iron to her apartment, and now there is no iron here at That Old House. How silly is that?


There are three house plants: a philodendron, a dish garden, and a small pot
of Christmas cactus that is at least 70 years old. Yes, you read that right.


This little cactus is one of many "babies" from my Grandmother's giant cactus. My sister in law Doris -- who has a green thumb -- took that cactus under her wing (ouch!) in the early 70s, nurtured it, and eventually hacked it into dozens of baby cactii. I've got 4 of them, two belong to my daughters; this one is Anne's and it's sitting in a ceramic pot she made in 7th grade art class.


The biggest cactus begins blooming at Thanksgiving, but each has its own timetable.
All are prolific bloomers. Ha ha, I said bloomers.

The lamp is one of a pair of cloisonne ginger jar style Ebay finds from about 10 years ago, for 15-dollars each.
I love the lamps, but I want a taller lamp on this table to better fit in the large plants.


Anyway, that's the top of one of my tables.
I better work on having more presentable ones as the weeks go by!


Sorry to feature something in the conservatory again; I was so caught up in the drama and suspense of today's Ground Hog Day festivities that I could not concentrate on much else!

Thanks to Tam at The Gypsy's Corner for hosting Three Or More Tuesday,
one of my favorite memes! Go visit ... just click!

And Barb at Grits and Glamour blog hosts the popular
Tabletop Tuesday, which I am just discovering!
Visit... just click!



18 comments:

  1. LOL! Yes, kids are good at doing that sort of thing... I went without my iron for a year... finally just went and bought myself a new one.
    Your tabletop looks very nice!

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  2. Well, I think it looks nice and homey. As for the groundhogs....I want to stick with Chuck!

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  3. Hooray for Chuck. I am a believer!!! I don't even care if it is cold, I just want to smell fresh air!!

    I love your tabletop. As you might know, I have never been in the event as I am really challenged in this department...I could use some help, so I am just stalking for now! lol!! I think your plants are very cool, especially the cactus. The flowers are just gorgeous. Wow...70 years old. I hope I bloom that long!! ;-)

    xoxo
    Janie

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  4. We don't have an Indiana Jones ground hog around here, so I'm not sure if he saw his shadow or not - - - if I REMEMBER rightly, it was snowing this morning - - - so I doubt he saw it. BUT - - - it was SNOWING this morning, so I'm not REAL hopeful that our winter is over - - - in fact - - - I'm rather certain it is not.

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  5. Well done Chuck!

    That 70 year old cactus is just amazing. Lovely photos too!

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  6. My mother in law had a Christmas cactus that she would put in the middle of a large round coffee table and it would literally cover the table completely. Picture that with fuchsia pink flowers on almost every tip. Amazing.
    Until you get a bigger lamp just put this one on top of a stack of lovely books.

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  7. A 70 year old cactus! My mother has her mother's Christmas cactus, but it's only from the 80s. Love your tabletop decor. Not only are plants beautiful, they cleanse the air. That's what I call the perfect accessory. If only I didn't kill them...I am struggling to keep a Christmas rosemary topiary alive.
    XX00

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  8. Chuck is the man, ahhhhh I mean the ground hog! And what is that other guys name? Pakasataewmynjlgaj Phil? hmmmm, his very name does not instill confidence that he knows what he is doing. So Chuckie baby we are with you on this one.

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  9. Hi Cass! Well, ironed or not - your tabletop looks great to me. Love the size of the top of your table! That lamp is lovely! I love me some lamps too! :)
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia :)

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  10. I love Chuck! Thanks for stopping by and telling me to check in with you and Chuck, because that darn Phil had me so bummed all day today. Phil's going in the slow cooker for sure and Chuck? Chuck is my kinda guy, I mean groundhog and he's welcome at The Hut any time. From now on I'm listening to Staten Island Chuck.

    btw, love your tabletop just the way it is, very cool collection of goodies. I have no decorating skills, I just surround myself with things I love and I'm a happy person. My home is as eclectic as I am, lol.

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  11. Think I will side with Chuck also. All I heard on the news this morning was some man saying 6 more weeks of Winter, and I think I mumbled "good grief" or something worse since I had not had my coffee yet. :) He would not have seen his shadow here this morning, as it was cloudy. :)
    70 years old? That is a healthy plant. I like your table top vignette - beautiful lamp. Like someone else said, put the lamp on some books. I did that with one of my lamps.

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  12. Beautiful tabletop Cass...I love your conservatory...so pretty!

    Hope you are having a grat week!

    Miss Bloomers

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  13. Chuck Rocks... Definitely keep the faith in him. At least it will keep you humming and cheerful thinking about winter being over...(til it snows again...yikes) Wow, that is amazing about the Christmas Cactus. It's almost an antique! How cool. Your table looks great. It was nice stopping by again to see what's going on ..and of COURSE I loved getting to see Dion in the pictures.
    Thanks for sharing.

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  14. The kids and I were also all about the groundhogs today!! Even though we are in Pa...we will follow Chuck today! No idea he is 85% accurate!

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  15. I live in New York and it's snowing as I write this post, so I will try and be optimistic like Chuck and pretend I didn't see any snow ; )

    What a lovely conservatory. Hey, we have the same loveseat in our LR. Love the lamp... very nice.

    That's an amazing cactus.... 70 years of life and still blossoming. I only hope to live that long and be blossoming too!

    Thanks for sharing.

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  16. Does Chuck's prognostication extend to Chicago? 'Cause our dumb groundhogs at the zoo saw their shadows today, or maybe they just ran back into their dens because it was Election Day here in Illinois -SCARY STUFF!

    Anyway, we need a dose of Spring! BTW-did you know the movie "Groundhog Day" was filmed in Woodstock, Illinois and starred Chicago's very own Bill Murray?

    =Pam

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  17. Gorgeous post, that Christmas cactus looks very very happy!! I am hosting my first meme party on Friday and hoping for some takers.....it is fun foto friday, so it's simple, anything to jump start the weekend to make us smile:)

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  18. This is a very attractive tabletop...all the elements work well together for a very pleasing look.

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