Spring lasts for while in the Northwest, so the viney checkerboard tablecloth has come back into play again. I must admit that I am getting tired of this color scheme and planned to make a change, but the flowers from last week still looked great and I just couldn't justify the expense of new ones. This week the table needed to accomodate six instead of eight so I dispensed with the dark green undercloth and switched from the ivy cloth back to this one which is a little larger. The blue ribbons from last week look very well with it and give the table a contrasty punch. I thought it come out pretty well even though it wasn't exactly breaking new ground. The people we were entertaining are our old friends from our former neighborhood. They were the guests at some of our original dinners...the ones that showed me what fun it can be to gather around the table with people you like and eat and talk and laugh through dessert and on into the night. I wanted the table to be special for them and felt a little uncomfortable when this one came together so easily. When I recognized what was causing my uneasiness I had to laugh because I have been working all these years to make setting the table easy and affordable. Now that I have succeeded at least this once I worry that I haven't tried hard enough. I can't let myself win. This quandry does remind me that "making special" is what I am trying to do, and the effort and thought I put into the settings and the dinners are part of the gift I am trying to offer. Striking a balance between ease and effort is part of the puzzle I guess. Another balance that needs to be considered is the one between using what I have versus buying new. It just seems wasteful to throw out perfectly good flowers (and how often do flowers last a whole week?) because I want new colors. Aesthetic satisfaction always battles with what is available and what it costs. The flowers are starting to fade now, so I'm free to begin again, but in the meantime, this was an appropriate and pretty table for a happy reunion.