PARTY

/ janpriddyoregon
No chimney in the condo, but pieced stockings hung from the bookcase! I made the green one for Gary years ago, but the red and pink one on the right is brand new and for me. Both are lined in velvet and pieced with cotton, silk, and scraps of a red gilt and silk damask I bought in San Francisco for Ian’s madrigal costume twenty-five years ago.

We invited people in the building for a visit and had a lovely time. It gave me an excuse to bake cakes and shortbread, but talk was the major event. It was so good to sit down and have a conversation with our interesting and talented neighbors.

Oh, and the straw goat! This is a tiny replica of the Gävle, a 19 meter tall straw goat constructed each year in Sweden. Will it survive through the holidays or be burnt? Gary checks the webcam a couple times a day to check.

It was easier than the pre-holiday parties we used to host in Arch Cape, with fewer people, and we are retired so all the prep was done in daylight instead of after work. Next year: vegan options! This year we went to a half dozen shops looking for paper cups without luck because all anyone seems to stock is plastic. But Starbucks gave us all we asked for!

The amaryllis bloomed in time for the holidays, the “cactus” got a paper chain and all was well. Gary put on the Muppet Christmas album with John Denver. And for most of two hours our home was rich with conversation.

I ran in the morning, put out food and made hot cider with oranges and cinnamon and clove. Afterward, cleanup was easy and we didn’t know quite what to say in response to the kindness of our neighbors in Portland. We walked over to Erath Winery to a party where we knew only two people, but that was lovely too. When we got home I took a nap.

Winged killer whale, griffon, giraffe, horses and other creatures, clippy glass birds with feather tails, paper chains and pieced cotton leaves from last year. I am piecing feathers this year, but it will take me a couple weeks to get holiday cards in the mail.

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