More Tea Things....

Never let it be said that I take the easy way....... I've just spent nearly an hour deciding on how to decorate the dining room table for tomorrow's tea.

I decided on a pink damask tablecloth, with a darker pink & burgundy crocheted doily for the center (a large round one). On top of that pretty doily, I will set out porcelain figurines of ladies holding tea cups. Those are from my collection of Josef Originals that I usually keep in a closed curio cabinet. Time to bring them out to the table, being that they'll go so well with the tea party.

I have a table-top Christmas tree that is filled with miniature teapots and tiny cups and spoons. It took me a few years to fill up that little tree with all the tea things (all of which came from resale shops and yard sales, as did the little tree and the porcelain ice-bucket that it's sitting in). Each branch of that little tree has a pink rose in it, so it has always looked more like a topiary than a Christmas tree. I was going to put that in the center of the dining room table, but then that would interfere with conversation and vision, so I've got that in the center of the sideboard in the dining room.

The baking is all done, and I've cut a cantaloupe into melon-balls and put them in a pretty crystal bowl. Tomorrow, I'll cut some strawberries into fan-shapes.... this way there will be some fruit on the table with the other sweets.

Sandwiches have to be left till the last hour or so.... that will be tomorrow's job. Always last-minute things to do before any party, but that's the way it goes. Along with the fun of having the party is the "fun" of getting ready for one.

Gorgeous day today...... sunny and warm without being too-broiling hot. I read The Chronicle this morning, but didn't listen to CNN today. The Chronicle was filled with stories and photos of the people from New Orleans. They keep calling them refugees. I don't know if I like that term.... it sounds so negative, so self-defeating. And what the people from New Orleans need is a fresh start and a hopeful outlook, not a grim reminder of where they've come from.