Well, we had our first party of the season last night. I host a quilting bee, and to celebrate the Season, we had a soup supper. Each of the ladies brought something to share, and I made Minestrone soup and Cheddar Chowder. One of our more adventurous cooks made a wonderful salad with baked herbed goat cheese from a recent Cook's Illustrated magazine. Another made a cream cheese frosted pumpkin cake for dessert.
It was a wonderful meal, mostly because we had the luxury of sitting and chatting with friends.
I have a set of holiday plates that are white china centers with a wide red band around the outside, and a gold rim. I set the table with antique crochetted white mats and cotton napkins, and used a small Poinsettia and red candles. It looked very festive.
Mother joined us for dinner, but was ready to retire before dinner was over. The ladies sang "Happy Birthday" to her. I know she was pleased.
We quilted and chatted for a while before having dessert, and then we exchanged gifts. For the first time, we organized our gift giving, and drew names, rather than buying a small gift for each member.
I was astounded to receive a wonderful quilting accessory organizer for my sewing center. It's similar to a Longaberger basket in construction with three rows, each one being taller than the one before it. The front two rows are divided into compartments to hold pencils, thread, beads, needles, scissors, pins, and anything that you might need as you piece. The back row will hold either books and magazines or plastic rotary cutting tools. It was an incredible gift!
The house is beginning to be decorated. I have two wreaths up, and a small fake Sitka spruce has lights and decorations. I'm looking forward to adding more greens as we get closer to Christmas, so the house will be scented with cinnamon and cedar or fir. We have Poinsettias through out the common rooms of the house, and I've put out the Christmas wall hangings. I'm feeling much more in the Christmas spirit now, and I hope you are too!
Comments (3)
That organizer sounds fabulously handy! I'm getting more into Christmas this year than I normally do (which is to say I normally don't).
I've got a stuffed Santa kitten and a porcelain dog with a Santa hat sitting on the TV. I also have a stained glass Santa with sled and raindeer on a table. I thought about getting a small living tree a couple of weeks ago, but decided I would probably end up killing it (the last time I got one it died by February).
Actually, I plan on getting a couple of other things out - but time seems to have crept up on me and I still need to get and send cards, so I'm not sure how much more I will actually do.
Posted by bogie | December 6, 2003 11:25 PM
Posted on December 6, 2003 23:25
Speedbump, without me throwing 50 thousand fits, went and got down all the Christmas decorations and put up all the lights on the house yesterday ~ I guess he is getting into the spirit this year while I"m the one laging behind....
Posted by Jamie | December 7, 2003 11:53 AM
Posted on December 7, 2003 11:53
Bogie, we've never been organized enough to do the live tree thang....although I'd LOVE to have a double row of them growing between me and the neighbors, adding one tree a year. It sounds like you are about as far along as I am in decorating.
And then there's Jamie....who is being the grinch this year. I've seen how she she decorates for Halloween. This woman is amazing! Not a blade of grass goes undecorated.....so maybe we need to be checking her forehead to see if she feels okay. Jamie, you're lucky that Speedbump has stepped up to the plate this year.
Posted by Buffy | December 9, 2003 12:31 PM
Posted on December 9, 2003 12:31