Near To The End of Another Year......

I was out at the local stores today, looking to see if they had any interesting decorative items for New Year's Eve......... nothing. Not even those pretty balloons that say Happy New Year. If they had them, they sold out in a hurry.

So I guess I'm sticking with what I've already got........ the centerpiece with the candles and truffles..... and lots of curling-ribbons in gold and silver. I just finished decorating the dining room...... gold and silver streamers cascading down from the chandelier. Once I get the centerpiece on the table, everything will be sparkling and pretty. The candles and truffles will be the party-favors, as well as the vintage New Year postcards that I'm using as placecards. No one will miss the balloons.

We will, however, be missing our friends from Dallas...... both of them have strep-throat, the flu, cold/sniffles/sneezing.... whatever germs were going around with their grandchildren have found their way to them. Bill eMailed me and told me he mailed me a check so I can buy wine or champagne for the dinner... he said if he and Patty can't be with us in person, then at least they can be with us "in spirits." We'd rather have them in person, but that's the way it goes.

My friend A came down here this afternoon and we celebrated Christmas........ I hadn't seen her since before Christmas Eve, so we opened our gifts today. She was thrilled with the Lenox Snoopy ornament and even happier with the vintage Snoopy Christmas stockings. A gave me a beautiful Williams-Sonoma book-- "Christmas Entertaining." Lots of pretty decorating ideas and recipes....... I just spent over an hour going through that book. Also in the Williams-Sonoma box was a set of bright red mixing bowls..... great color, with a handle on one side of the bowl and a pour-spout on the other...... can't wait to use those.

The weather has been glorious......... nice and warm sunny days, and warm nights as well. The cats have been spending more time on the porch than in the house. And starting tomorrow, they'll all be on the porch till after New Year's Eve because I'll be setting up the dining room for our dinner party on Saturday night.

I've been busy taking down Christmas decorations...... everything is boxed up and in the holiday closet, except for a few things in the living room and dining room. Of course, the big tree is still up, and if we weren't having company on New Year's Eve, I would've been undoing that tree two days ago. It has stopped taking up water, and the water that's still in the pan is getting nasty. The tree stayed very fresh this year, considering that it's been in the house and up since the day after Thanksgiving.

The spider is still somewhere in the tree.... his web is still around the star at the top, but growing at a slower rate. Come Sunday, that spider is going to find himself out on the curb with the tree.