What a Weekend!

I seem to recall in my last post, writing about shampooing the high-traffic areas of our carpets....My husband was scheduled to play golf, but it was rainy and cold, so he (God love him) volunteered to do the whole thing. We have stained concrete throughout the house, except for the bedrooms and our offices (which are bedrooms in disguise), so that adds up to four rooms, which are fairly large...and lots of cat hair...and places where our darlings had deposited hairballs (ew)...This was Saturday, and we were entertaining two couples on Sunday around five...plenty of time, I thought...HA! I had thought about having it done professionally, but a husband is so much less expensive....First, there was the removal of the furniture, and when we took the mattress and box springs off the bed, I nearly fainted...If I were the Board of Health, I would have shut the place down. I am embarrassed and disgusted, and although we love our 13-year-old cats, we have decided that, when they finally go to their reward, no more cats...maybe a dog (or two), that can't fit under a bed. We worked well into the night on Saturday.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny, and since we were doing a pot-luck thingy, I didn't have tons of cooking to do (crock pot chicken wings (very yummy), bought some grapes, made some blue-cheese dressing to dip the wings, some crackers and cheese, and a big bottle of wine).
What took alot of time was putting everything back; we had put aluminum foil on all the feet of the furniture, to prevent it "wicking"....and I thought it would be dry by early the next day...not so...so the foil remains...I did tie a few silver bows around the legs of my dressing table in the bedroom, and with the bird wreath and silver ribbons, it looked quite festive...the bed, not so much..
I was rummaging about in one of the giant Totes in my garage, and came across my starfish...I had put silver dragees' on them last year, and loved them...I also had this wonderful, gold seaweed wreath, so decided the bathroom could use a bit of decorating...just stuck the starfish in, along with a few seashells. I just noticed that one of the cross towel hooks is crooked...oh well. I shot this early in the morning...our bathroom is not this color, although, I kind of like it....the sun was just coming up, and the warmth of the light really changed the colors of the walls...
Glass block would not have been my first choice in our master bath, but the house was three-quarters finished when I found it, and it was done. Considering our property has several acres of woods behind us, and privacy isn't an issue, I would have loved to have a regular window...Oh well.

I lived on Cape Cod for years, and collected lots of seashells, and they are now gracing the deck of our tub.....along with sea sponges, and an orchid.

So, the carpets were cleaned, the chicken wings prepared; everything was set out nicely on our island in the kitchen, the bon bons were in my hand-painted tall cake plate domes (or bon bon domes, as the case may be). The music was set up, the candles were lit, and I was ready for my guests. I usually use fabric napkins, even for every day...I feel they are ecological, and I like the feel of them..even though they may not be ironed when it's just the two of us...This time, since everything was finger food (my guests were bringing shrimp and a vegi plate), I would use paper napkins...I was at the supermarket at 6:30 in the morning, and all I could find in the rectangular napkins were red, green and white...I bought white, and ten minutes before the doorbell rang, I decided they needed to be more "festive", so I rummaged through my stamp collection and found the "Peace" stamp. I could now qualify as the "fastest stamper in the West"..I liked the stamp so well, that I think I will use it on my Christmas cards.

My friend, Diana, laughed as I opened the front door, and said, "how much did you have to pay to have the deer grazing in your yard as we pulled up?"...She said, "I could just hear you saying..."que the deer"!

I'm cheating a bit here...this is a shot I took last summer...the deer have their "winter coats" on right now. Oh well...

On a serious note, this was my beloved, favorite deer, "Shadow", who followed me about, looking wistful, thinking, "corn?, will she give me corn?"...sadly, she was murdered by my neighbor across the street...no sport in killing tame deer in your back yard, I'd say. That's fine, I put a curse on his house, and he moved away..but, I shall always miss my girl...

I bring this up because I came across our wire deer, that holds our Christmas cards -thus far, only one card...it's early yet. I also found an "Elmer Fudd" hunter's cap ornament, so in honor of Shadow, I put it on her head, and stuck a toothpick in a cranberry, and created "Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer Hunter" deer....revenge is sweet...I couldn't figure out how to make a gun for her, but instead, in the spirit of Christmas and forgiveness (not quite), I put a Peace Dove in her antlers. Oh well.

Speaking of the "Deerly Departed" (sorry, I couldn't help myself)...this is my "Gizmo", who several years ago, died in my arms...I was just crushed. I caught him on my dining room table, admiring a floral arrangement a friend had sent us for our anniversary. He was busted...I love this photo, and I've posted it for a reason...see below...

This is "Grey Ghost Gussie Plushbottem Good Cat"...busted her this morning on the kitchen table, inspecting the silver and crystal swans. Had to use a flash to get the shot, as I was sneaking up on her...hence the eyes......She's a good girl, and I can always clean the table...it did remind me of my Gizmo....

So, I said I would never have cats again, but I do love them so...hairballs and all......maybe we will get more...(my husband won't let me..I'll just bet)..oh well.

I am exhausted from the weekend...and blessed, because I am going to go take a nap...There are some advantages to being self-employed...this is one of them...