Eggs in an array of shapes, colors, and sizes; a symbol of renewal and rebirth at Easter time
Photo: Chronica Domus
When it comes to Easter, I'm not one to over do things in the decorating department, but I do like to mark the holiday with a few festive touches here and there. As I wrote last year, eggs play the predominant part in the decoration of the house at Easter time. I've been fortunate enough to have amassed a variety of them in sizes spanning an inch in length to as large as eight, and colors in shades of browns, buffs, greens and blues, and even the odd speckled and freckled variety.
I recently came across an enormous punch bowl at a flea market which looked to me to be Paris porcelain. Although I had no intention of buying a bowl that is a whopping seventeen inches across, I simply could not walk away from it, so home it went. As visions of bacchanalian pursuits danced through my head, plotting an evening where this bowl would surely be the most popular party guest among our friends, I was left with the question of how to put it to good use the rest of the year. Well, as it is Easter time, I thought, perhaps the punch bowl might cradle my collection of eggs and act as a giant bird's nest. Late last night, I dug up as much excelsior packing as I had on hand and used that to feather my nest before resting the eggs on top. Upon waking this morning and walking into the dining room, I was drawn to the shadowy pattern created on the wall behind the bowl. I ran to fetch my camera and snapped away before the illusion disappeared. Don't you agree the shadows make the bowl appear as though it truly is a nest tucked up high in the boughs of a tree?
A giant porcelain bird's nest perhaps?
Photo: Chronica Domus
I spent most of today reveling in the details and preparations for a pre-Easter dinner at home for two friends of ours, a husband and wife, who will join us this evening. My daughter is sad to be missing out on the festivities, but she insisted on attending a school friend's birthday celebration. Of course, the preparations for the dinner included a visit to the farmers' market this morning, where plump bundles of asparagus were procured, along with tender baby carrots, and spinach, among other locally grown produce. Next, a stop at the San Francisco flower market, a mecca for flower lovers everywhere. I could not resist several bunches of butter-yellow narcissi Yellow Cheerfulness (so very fragrant!), and a bundle of chartreuse colored snowball viburnum. Oh, how pretty they look as they impart a breath of fresh air to our dining room.
Flowering branches add a little spring drama to the dining room
Photo: Chronica Domus
I've been finding rather a lot of nests blown to the ground by the Bay's winds on my walks throughout the year. Their construction never fails to amaze. Two of the nests were found by the shore around wetlands and I was fascinated to discover they were made of fennel fronds which grow in abundance in the area, resulting in the nests having a delicate fennel fragrance.
The nest in the photograph below was located by a tree in my garden and made using twigs. Naturally, every bird's nest requires a clutch of eggs so these sweet little foil eggs act as a wonderful substitute for robin eggs.
Whimsical chocolate robin eggs
Photo: Chronica Domus
My husband asked me if I had an ostrich egg in my collection and when he discovered I did not, presented me with the egg you see below, as a gift on Mothering Sunday last year. It is the largest egg in my collection, by far, and an impressive specimen having been rated a "Grade A Jumbo", attaining a girth of eighteen inches at its middle. It is one of the nicest gifts anyone has ever given me, which many woman may find a little perplexing, preferring instead to have received the latest Louboutin creation, but this is right up my alley!
Found nests and eggs make a delightful Easter centerpiece for our table
Photo: Chronica Domus
As I finished setting our whimsical table for this evening's dinner with sunny yellow tulips, matching chocolate eggs, and Robin's egg blue banded Paris porcelain dishes, I was excited at the prospect of an enjoyable evening spent in the company of our dear friends.
The table almost ready for our pre-Easter dinner this evening
Photo: Chronica Domus
Do you celebrate Easter and if so, how will you mark the day tomorrow?
I wish you all a very Happy Easter!
What a beautiful post! Your china is gorgeous, and I love what you did with the ginormous bowl.
ReplyDeleteThank you, LPC. I'm thrilled to have found a use for my enormous bowl, at least during the week of Easter. Our friends raved about it upon spotting it on Saturday evening, and agreed it resembled a giant bird's nest. Perhaps next time they visit, it will be full of Pimm's Cup!
DeleteYour porcelain bird's nest is gorgeous - what a marvelous find! I especially love your flowers - simple yet elegant. I will be having an Easter brunch for my family and baking some delicious Bunny Buns using a golden sculpture dough that is much like brioche. I enjoyed setting the table tonight with our best china and at the last moment discovered a website with instructions on how to fold napkin bunnies. This borders on an obsession at our house. After our antique heirloom silver napkin rings were stolen a few years ago during a house break-in, we took to folding our napkins into fancy forms to suit the occasion. The pale blue bunny napkins are adorable and I know my grandson will be delighted. Your guests must have had a wonderful evening in such a beautiful setting. Happy Easter!
ReplyDeleteHello slf,
DeleteHow terrible to have lost your heirlooms in such a horrid manner, but I'm happy to read it led you to the art of napkin folding, a skill that perplexes this authoress.
Your Bunny Buns sound delish and I'm sure they were a huge hit at your brunch celebration yesterday.
Happy (late) Easter to you.
Lovely nest shadows, but I think your flower arrangement is just perfect. Spring, new life, dramatic yet elegant. Makes me want to be in that room!
ReplyDeleteHello Lord Cowell,
DeleteYou'd be most welcome to join us at our table had you occasion to visit this part of the world. I'll save a place for you and make sure the flowers are up to snuff too. I'm delighted you enjoyed viewing them as much as I enjoyed decorating our dining room with them. The narcissi added a delicate aroma to the air, but not as overpowering as Paperwhite narcissi, which pleased me no end as my husband cannot abide their smell.
I love the smell of daffodils, but I can sympathize with your husband as the smell of Easter Lilies I find overpowering after a while (and I always pinch out their stamens before they stain the benchtops with their yellow pollen).
DeleteOh, yes, those lilies are so sickly sweet with their overpowering scent that they can be a little too much sometimes. I learned many years ago to pinch the stamens off, as you rightly do too, after a little clothing accident. They are also hazardous to paintwork - yet another lesson I've had to unfortunately endure.
DeleteI loved Easter as a child but must admit it's not huge for me personally. In the Greek Orthodox religion it seems Easter is a much bigger deal than Christmas though so if my in laws are in the UK we celebrate. People seem to now equate it as the chance for s holiday and I equate it with expensive flights. But in any case I wish you and yours a happy Easter!
ReplyDeleteI laughed at your astute observation with regards to flights becoming more expensive during the Easter holiday. I've noticed the hike in fairs also coincides with each school holiday so forget traveling anywhere exotic (or even back to England) on a budget during the summer holidays or even Christmas! Having a child of school age means we are now tied to the school calendar so we are all too familiar with the hikes I'm afraid.
DeleteI too wish you a happy Easter Naomi, for next week that is.
Hello CD, It is quintessentially British to collect birds' eggs. I admire the way you augment their decorative and symbolic values to include a natural history/cabinet of curiosities element. I would have caved in even quicker when confronted by that giant punch bowl, but I do detect some circular logic there. Now that you have the bowl, you will look out for more eggs to fill it, and eventually start buying more containers for your enhanced collection of eggs, and so forth.
ReplyDeleteAn ostrich egg was a perfect idea for a present. I love to both give and receive objects from natural history, such as fossils, shells, minerals or meteorites.
--Jim
Hello Jim,
DeleteDo you know, I never quite put it together that Brits enjoy such odd pursuits as egg collecting, but now that you've mentioned it, I loved nothing more as a child than being taken to the Natural History Museum and ogling at the wonderful cases full of eggs and birds. I even fancied myself as a modern day Mary Anning, a woman that contributed many fascinating fossil exhibits to my favorite childhood museum.
Your friends are fortunate to receive such thoughtful natural gifts from you. Do you have a particular favorite in your collection of natural curiosities? Please do tell me about it.
This is all so so beautiful, of course I've pinned a couple of images to my Easter board already!
ReplyDeleteYou have such an eye for decorating, exquisite taste. I hope you have a very happy Easter weekend. xo
Hello DaniBP,
DeleteWell, I'm tickled pink to have once again inspired you to "pin" some of the images from this post to your board. I really must check out what all this pinning is about as it all sounds so terribly fascinating.
Oh, and thank you for your generous compliments. I always try my best to add a little beauty to our home, especially on such special occasions. Our friends raved about the decorations, which pleased me greatly.
I hope that you and your family shared a very nice Easter weekend too.
Dear CD,
ReplyDeleteYou set a splendid and elegant table. The eggs are marvelous and so cheerful.
Some years ago we noticed ostrich eggs sold as souvenirs while vacationing in South Africa. We were told one ostrich egg has the same volumee as a dozen chicken eggs and I marveled at the thickness of the shell. Then again, dropped from an ostrich's height, that egg must be very sturdy.
We celebrate Passover and a roasted egg is always part of the Seder plate.
Happy spring.
KL Gaylin
Hello KL Gaylin,
DeleteHow interesting to learn that the volume of the contents of an ostrich egg equates to a hen's dozen. Last year while touring a small local dairy, I purchased a dozen goose eggs as I'd never actually had the pleasure of sampling one (I have one in my collection though). I prepared the goose eggs simply by scrambling them and was excited to take a bite. Surprisingly, I found them to be so overly rich, it was difficult to finish them. I think I'm sticking to hen's eggs!
I've yet to try a roasted egg, which sounds intriguing and delicious.
I hope your Passover celebrations were memorable.
Happy spring to you too!
Hmmm.... coming back to the overly-rich eggs I purchased last year, they were in fact duck eggs not goose eggs. Have you tried one?
DeleteCD,
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely spring/Easter post. I too love collecting eggs and abandoned nests. I may have to borrow your idea of placing a few of my collection on a cake stand surrounded by egg cups with pretty eggs to adorn them. I had to smile at your comment about the gift of the ostrich egg...I have always preferred gifts of treasures for my home over jewelry or expensive clothes. It must be the nest-instinct in me.
Your dining room table and side board look lovely. What a wonderful dinner it sounds like you prepared. We enjoyed an early dinner with our son, his lovely wife, and our newest granddaughter this Easter.
xo,
Karen
Hello Karen,
DeleteHow special your Easter early dinner sounds, especially as the guest of honor was your youngest granddaughter.
We are indeed kindred spirits through our love of egg collecting and abandoned nests, and the fact that you too prefer gifts from nature to feather your nest (home). I'm glad to have inspired you to use your collection as part of your table decorations. They not only look beautiful, but make for a great conversation point.
It was indeed a wonderful evening that we shared with our friends that ended several hours past midnight. I somehow managed to find the energy to wash dishes carried from the buzz of the evening.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteHere we are arriving after the event and wondering just how it all went.
Your decorations are all so beautifully stylish. An understated elegance pervades the entire scene and yet it is injected with vibrant citrus notes in the Narcissi and Viburnum which add such vitality. How your guests must have been delighted at the obvious care and attention to detail which had gone into the preparations on their behalf and how we wish we could have been at the table with them.
Your giant porcelain dish is fabulous. Scaling up are our watchwords, no matter the size of the space,or sometimes the lack of it, that one is intending to fill. Big is beautiful and seldom disappoints in our book and more is more and even more is even better in our view.
The abandoned nests have a bittersweet quality to them. The intricacy of their construction with the humblest of materials touches the heart. How one wonders about the fate of the fledglings without their nurturing nest and how it reminds one of the many in the world today who yearn for peace and the comfort of home.
Easter is such a joyous and hopeful time of year. We hope that your celebrations were filled with happy laughter and that the year ahead will be every bit as perfect as your giant egg!
Hello Jane and Lance,
DeleteThe pair of you are always welcome at our humble table and we'd be just as delighted to have you as our guests as we were this past Saturday to have entertained our two dear friends. It all went swimmingly and into the wee hours of the morning, a sure sign that we were all having a ball. There is nothing we enjoy more than making the necessary preparations for an evening of good food and fun to be shared with like-minded friends over hours of stimulating conversation and laughter.
As for the over-scaled bowl, well all I can say is that it is the most over-scaled item in our house, which is the exact opposite of everything else we own. The majority of our furniture was made in the nineteenth century and it all looks rather small compared to today's over-inflated pieces, so the bowl surely makes quite an impression. I cannot wait to fill it with a fun beverage (Pimm's Cup perhaps?), and invite as many of our friends over as possible for a little evening cocktail fun.
I do hope you too enjoyed you Easter wherever you may be in the world.
I used to have one of those gorgeous blue/green/black emu eggs from some volunteer work i did at the zoo. It was so amazing, almost like porcelain.
ReplyDeleteOh, dear, your comment sounds a bit ominous. What exactly do you mean when you write "I USED to have"? I hope you didn't love it to pieces? Do spill the beans please!
Delete