All winter, we’ve been using our covered front porch as a safe place to visit with a few people at a time. We also sometimes use it just for ourselves – to sip coffee or cocktails and feel like we are getting out of the house. We fire up our small tabletop heat lamp and, if we have visitors, we bring out comfortable, appropriately distanced seating and a few small tables.
The bench is always on the porch, and during the holidays we had a couple of festive throw pillows on it.
The large pillow is actually from our sofa, so I didn’t want to keep it outside indefinitely. And it was time to change the look. I wanted comfy, warm-looking pillows that could transition from winter to early spring.
I wanted to make pillow covers that looked knitted. I’d been meaning to find a used sweater to repurpose, but I ended up using this sweater – which was on clearance for $12 at a local chain store.
In the title, I referred to it as ugly, but that wasn’t fair. It would look nice on the right person, it’s simply not my style.
But style is not why I bought it. I chose it for the texture and also for the blocks of color.
Creating The Pillow Covers
I started by ripping all the seams of the sweater apart and placing the fabric flat so I could see what I was working with.
I cut two 17-inch squares from the sweater pieces and stitched them on to cotton muslin squares cut to the same size. The muslin served as a lining for the sweater squares. It stabilized the knit fabric and gave it some heft and support.
Once the two sweater squares were lined with the muslin, I used them to sew a simple pillow cover for a 16-inch pillow.
Mistakes Made and Lessons Learned
I had enough scraps left to cover a small rectangular pillow, but this time I didn’t take the step of attaching the sweater fabric to a muslin lining first.
This was a mistake, and this pillow cover doesn’t look as good as the first one. I learned that the lining really does matter when working with a knit sweater fabric.
But what about the sleeves? I saved the sleeves of the sweater, and I’m going use them to make wine gift bags.
Snuggly Pillow Covers At Last
The pillows help my front porch decor make the leap from holiday to winter and early spring.
I have a variety of looks now – not only with color combinations but also with texture since I intentionally used some of the sweater fabric inside-out.
The Promise Of Spring
I’ve decided that paperwhites are not just for the holidays. The bulbs are sprouting well under the protection of our porch, so now they serve as an optimistic little reminder that spring is just around the corner.
After being immersed in my dressing room remodel for the past six weeks, it’s nice to finally write about something different – especially something as fun as Thanksgiving table decor.
Last year, I’d seen a photo in a home decor magazine that became my inspiration for our Thanksgiving table: Oil lamp chimneys with candles burning inside were grouped loosely together with a few scattered fall leaves on an off-white tablecloth. So simple and elegant.
So I found a muslin curtain that I wasn’t using anymore, and it became that simple off-white tablecloth.
Now that I had my “blank canvas,” the fun could begin. And to me, fun is always more fun when I’m saving money. Since I had most of what I needed already on hand, this was a very budget-friendly look to pull together.
Gold Leaves
Of course I immediately strayed from the magazine photo that had inspired me. I couldn’t resist taking home some huge maples leaves I found on a walk in the park. Maple leaves don’t stay beautiful for very long, so I spray painted mine with Rust-Oleum “Pure Gold” Metallic spray paint.
After they dried, I pressed them, and some other leaves that I’d painted, under glass for a few days.
This was easy since we have a glass piece that covers our dining room table when it’s not extended. But pressing the leaves into a large book or under a heavy board may have worked too.
The Oil Lamp Chimneys
I took a few of the glass chimneys from vintage oil lamps that we’ve collected over the years and put candles inside.
A small glass ramekin served as the base for each one.
In the magazine photo, the chimneys were of varying heights, which is why they looked so beautiful grouped together. But, since my chimneys were more or less the same height, I would be scattering them across the table instead of grouping them.
The Result
The reason I loved that magazine photo so much was because, by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, I’m usually already wanting to move on from a fall decor look. But it’s too early to set the table for Christmas. This look was such an elegant compromise.
My table ended up looking very different from the photo, but I was still happy with it.
The largest maple leaves became place mats.
Since Thanksgiving comes only once a year, I like to use the good stuff: Real silverware, vintage china, and vintage crystal wine glasses.
A Word Of Caution
At the end of the evening, I discovered that the candles were a little hard to blow out unless I took the chimneys off first, but the chimneys had become veryHOT. I had to use a pot holder to take them off and sometimes, because of the melted candle wax, they were stuck to the ramekin base.
So, just a little warning that, if you try this, be very careful when you handle the hot chimneys, and also keep kids, pets, and flammable items away from them.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Posts on this website are for entertainment only and are not tutorials.
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The big snow that I talked about in my previous post has finally melted, and I can almost hear Mother Nature saying, “Now where was I? Ah yes, spring!”
Tiny flowers in the shade garden are no worse for the wear after being buried for days under a heavy white blanket.
Amazing. And such a cheerful sight.
I decided to bring some of that spring cheer indoors for a small family birthday party that I was hosting.
We’ve collected, inherited, and been given these pieces over the years. What I love about Villeroy & Boch is that many of their patterns, even the vintage ones, are a bit playful. They put a whimsical spin on classic china.
Repurposed Valentine’s Day Flowers
For the centerpiece, I just used some of my Valentine’s Day roses in a vintage fan vase.
It didn’t take up much table space, and it added a little visual tension to the blue-and-white theme.
So the dinner went well, and by now my family was lulled into a false sense of security – because they had not yet seen The Cake.
An Experimental Orange Rum Cake
Here I should mention that this is not a cooking blog. And I would never, ever, claim to have expertise in baking.
You’ll see why when I show you the birthday cake that I baked.
Syrup-infused orange rum cake.
What is that brown stuff on top? We’ll come to that.
I knew the birthday girl would enjoy a fruit-flavored cake with little or no frosting. The words “orange cake” popped into my head. So I googled it.
I found this recipe for a syrup-infused orange cake. But instead of following the recipe for the cake, I just used a boxed yellow cake mix and substituted orange juice for the water.
Then I followed the recipe for the orange syrup portion, but I decided to make it an orange rum cake. So I substituted some of the orange juice that the recipe called for with spiced rum.
It was all going really well. The syrup was infusing into the cake.
It was time for the final step: Making the glaze. I’m not sure what I did wrong, but my glaze cooled into rock-hard clumps the minute I spread it onto the cake. It stuck to the spatula. It stuck to my teeth. I knew then that if I finished spreading it on the cake, I’d need a chain saw to cut into it. So I stopped. All done!
Next time I’ll skip that part. I served the cake with whipped cream, and it was actually pretty tasty – for an experiment.
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The only thing better than growing your own vegetables is having a squirrel do it for you.
Earlier this summer, I noticed a vine growing under a manzanita shrub. The large leaves told me that the mystery vine was something squash-related. Over the summer, it wound its way through the branches of the manzanita. The vine seemed to thrive in its location – a location I would never have chosen for it.
How did it get there? I can only speculate that a squirrel buried the seed last winter. I waited to see exactly what the squirrel had planted for us.
White Pumpkins!
Thank you, thoughtful squirrel, for supplying me with one of the most popular fall decor items out there – white pumpkins! Well, white-ish anyway.
A Quick Centerpiece
Recently we decided to host one last dinner on our back patio. The table we use is long and narrow, so we couldn’t have a bulky centerpiece.
And I avoid using floral centerpieces outdoors even though it looks so dreamy on Instragram and in magazines. In the real world, flowers can attract bees to the table.
The white pumpkins were not quite ready to harvest, but I decided to sacrifice one to use in a simple centerpiece.
You might be wondering what in the world the pumpkin is sitting on. No it’s not a candlestick – it’s what’s left of this urn after it took an unfortunate tumble.
I hate to waste anything.
Lighting
With my centerpiece done, I just needed to come up with some after-dark lighting for the dinner party.
So Chris and I wound a couple of strings of lights through the frame of a patio umbrella to make a quick chandelier.
We secured the strands with clothespins. Next time, we will come up with a more elegant method for attaching them.
Chris’s first attempt at smoked ribs was a success, and one of our guests brought a wonderful blueberry pie.
Seems we always try to squeeze in one final patio dinner before the summer ends, and this one went off without a hitch – thanks in part to one very talented squirrel.
Wondering where I got those crazy dinner napkins? I made them using batik fabric quarters (also known as “fat quarters). The fabric quarters are just the right size for a dinner napkin, and I simply double-hemmed the edges.
Note: I’m still redecorating My Sweet Cottage, so please pardon the dust!
Recently, we decided to invite a few friends over for dinner. We wanted to have one last party on our back patio before the weather changed.
But we didn’t stop to think about how early the sun goes down this late in summer. The patio sits in the far corner of the garden, and there is no lighting there. So once it got dark, candles alone would not be enough. We had to set something up – quickly.
Desperation Lighting
If done right, outdoor lighting can be gorgeous. I was inspired by the magical, romantic lighting at the garden concert we attended earlier in the summer.
The Nick Drummond Band during their “Under the Stars” concert.
But of course we didn’t have time for anything that elaborate. At this point, all I could hope for was lighting that was adequate but not glaring.
I had a strand of Edison-style filament bulbs that I use during the holidays. We attached one end of the strand to a long bamboo pole. The pole was then anchored to a tree.
We ran the lights above the table. On the other end, we attached the strand to a tree branch because that was our only option.
It wasn’t elegant, but it would get us through the night.
Heat
Once the sun goes down, so does the temperature. So we made sure we had plenty of fuel for our heat lamp.
I momentarily considered setting out some blankets in case anyone got cold, but with the heat lamp it really wasn’t necessary.
The citronella centerpiece took me about 10 minutes to put together. I set a tall glass candle holder in the center of a small clay saucer, filled the saucer with water, and added some leafy twigs from the garden.
It was compact enough for the small round table. Flowers would have attracted bees, which is why I used only the fresh twigs to add some interest.
Little Touches
No matter how hard I try, by late summer my garden looks like an overgrown monster. I used to let this keep me from entertaining, but I’ve come to realize that no one really minds the monster but me.
Still it’s nice to create a diversion. Chris set up his mid-century bar across from the patio. This was where the party would start.
I tossed a few blossoms into the bird bath,
Tucked a few citronella candles around the patio,
And we set up our iPod player for music.
As neglected as it was, the patio still had some charm.
Goodbye to Summer
Everything worked out.
Photo by Loralee Wenger
We were warm, the bugs stayed away, and we could see each other.
It’s raining today. We really needed the rain, and I hear it’s going to stick around for a while.
But at least we enjoyed the last warm day of summer.
Posts on this website are for entertainment only and are not tutorials.
We used the Vickerman lights, which I love. However the bulbs are glass, not plastic, and the filaments are delicate. The globe string lights are perhaps sturdier, although I haven’t tried them. The heat lamp is very similar to ours.
I’m almost afraid to say this but the rain has finally stopped – for now. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we’ve had an unusually cold and wet spring. But now it seems that we’ve turned a corner.
We’ve even enjoyed dinners on our patio these past few nights. This got me thinking about some of my previous posts on gardening and outdoor entertaining. A few of them contain information that we can use right now, so I thought I would share a little roundup.
In my garden, the peonies are beginning to pop. I love peonies as cut flowers, but when I bring them inside there are always a few earwigs and other unpleasant cooties hitching a ride.
Well there’s an easy way not only to avoid this but to time peonies to bloom indoors exactly when I want them to. Check out A Peony Experiment to learn more.
This time of year always has me thinking about my old neighbor, Mr. B. His tomato plants were legendary, and he taught me everything I know about raising tomatoes. In Tomato Tips from Mr. B, I pass along his old-school advice.
In summer, we enjoy dinners on our back patio. And it’s even more fun when friends or family can join us. But nothing can ruin a dinner party faster than a few pesky insects.
One of my very first blog posts was about choosing bold colors for man-made garden structures. My writing style has changed since I wrote it, and hopefully my photos are better now. But I still feel the same way about using bold colors for the outdoors.
Whites and barely there colors are still popular indoor paint trends. But outdoors is a whole different story. In a lush garden, accents and small buildings can get lost if they are not given a strong color.
This time of year, magazines, Pinterest, and Instagram are packed with dreamy images of holiday tables large enough to seat armies and piled high with picture-perfect holiday decor. Somehow, guests cheerfully manage to pass serving dishes between the towering centerpieces, candle groupings, and festive bric-a-brac.
Yeah, right. In the real world, once the food platters arrived, most of that stuff would have to go. And in the real world, dining room tables and family celebrations come in all sizes – even small. So today I’m sharing a few tips for decorating a small table without sacrificing space.
Use Scaled-Down Centerpieces
I have a tiny dining room that can only house a small table. But because my husband loves to cook the turkey, we happily host Thanksgiving.
For small holiday tables, it’s best to keep the look festive yet clutter-free. So I keep my centerpieces compact. They don’t sprawl across the table, and they are not too tall.
Take last year’s centerpiece for example.
In an urn with a small base, it didn’t take up much real estate on the table. And it was just tall enough to add interest without being a distraction.
Choose an Interesting Theme
Since I have to carefully edit what I do put on the table, I try to come up with an interesting theme. Last year it was jewel tones.
A lively tablecloth and flowers, and amethyst runners and napkins, kept the mood festive.
Again, these looks are clean and simple. On a small table, any more decor would add clutter.
Use Smaller Plates
Over the years, dinner plates have gotten bigger and bigger. Many modern dinner plates are 12 inches wide. Get a few too many of them on a small table and things look crowded.
For dinner parties, I often use our antique china plates which are just under 10 inches wide. They are a better scale for the table, and they still hold plenty of food.
Use Narrow Chairs
According to Emily Post, for guests to be seated comfortably there should be at least six inches between chairs. So using narrow chairs means that more chairs can be placed at the table.
Place the Silverware on the Plate
Another way to keep the look clutter-free and add the appearance of more space between place settings is to use this restaurant-inspired trick.
Rolling the silverware in the dinner napkin and placing it in the middle of the plate (as opposed to beside the plate) saves space.
Rethink the Placemats
When I’m trying to seat eight people on my small dining room table, placemats wind up too closely spaced to look good. Scaled-down chargers can be a nice alternative.
Bending the rules a little is fun too. Simply using smaller, attractive dinner napkins as placemats can work.
Last year, I placed narrow homemade runners across the width of my table to give the place settings definition without taking up space.
Which leads me to my fun new way to define a place setting without taking up any table space at all.
Put It Under Glass
When we are not hosting dinner parties, we take the leaves out of our table and it becomes a small square table – great for two to four people.
It’s an antique table from the Craftsman era, so to protect the wood – and make the table easier to clean – we had a piece of polished glass cut to fit over the top.
Sometimes we put a tablecloth under the glass and sometimes we just enjoy the look of the wood. Either way, it’s super easy to clean now. This is a wonderful option for a small table.
And it got me thinking. I started playing with ways to define place settings by placing gilded leaves – in this case, witch hazel leaves – between the tablecloth and the glass. (For how I gilded the leaves, see this post.)
They are placed fairly tight around the edge the of the plate – again keeping the look compact.
The dark tablecloth adds elegance and sets off the golden leaves.
And as you can see, the leaves are under the glass, so they don’t interfere with anything on top of the table yet they still add interest.
Leaves can also be arranged under the glass to expand the look of the centerpiece.
The possibilities here are endless. For spring and summer, flowers or fern fronds would be fun.
Of course, once we expand the table for Thanksgiving, our glass top won’t fit. But at least this started me thinking, so this year my Thanksgiving decor just might include leaves pressed under glass.
Have Fun
Whatever the size of your dining room table, things always turn out better when you enjoy decorating it. So don’t forget the most important tip of all: Have some fun with it!
35 Dinner Party Themes
Recently, ProFlowers reached out to me to share their wonderful post “35 Dinner Party Themes Your Guests Will Love.” It’s a compilation of dozens of creative dinner party themes with helpful filters such as style, season, and guest size to help plan the perfect holiday get together.
In addition to being packed with creative ideas, the guide is beautifully photographed. I hope you enjoy perusing it as much as I did!
Are we already in August? As usual, the summer is going by too fast, and now we only have a few weeks left – with so much we want to do. So I’ve decided to put this blog down for a little late-summer nap. While it’s sleeping, I’ll be working on projects to share with you in September. At least that’s the plan.
And since this is my last post until then, I have all kinds of things to show you.
Costco Roses with Summer Garden Clippings
As I mentioned in my previous post, My Three-Season Greenhouse, my husband gave me two dozen Costco roses for our anniversary.
With so many roses, I thought it would be fun to break them into several different arrangements and include some fresh clippings from the garden.
I gathered some of my favorite vases and headed to the greenhouse.
I had to work fast because it was warm in there and I didn’t want the roses to wither. I came up with these three arrangements.
Thriller, Filler, Spiller
The old thriller-filler-spiller technique used in container gardening also works well for floral arrangements.
Thriller: Red roses
Filler: Lady’s mantle flowers (Alchemilla mollis or Alchemilla vulgaris)
Spiller: Love-lies-bleeding (Amaranthus caudatus)
I love the fresh green of the lady’s mantle flowers as a substitute for fillers like baby’s breath. The crimson-tasseled annual called love-lies-bleeding adds a little drama and works nicely with the color of the vintage glass vase.
Manicured
I set yellow roses upright on a spike frog in a vintage milk glass vase for this buttoned-up look for the master bedroom.
I tucked in maidenhair fern (Adiantum) fronds from the shade garden and, around the perimeter, Bishop of Llandaff dahlias.
This late in summer, most of my summer perennials are starting to fade, but because I deadhead these dahlias, the plants bloom for months.
Classic
I put the remaining roses in a tall crystal vase with honeybush (Melianthus major) leaves around the perimeter. These large silvery leaves add a touch of glamour.
An Easy DIY Patio Tablecloth
Feeling like the summer was getting away from me, I hosted several small get togethers on our patio last week.
Planning the table decor is always half the fun, and I wanted a tablecloth that would complement our china and the chair cushions.
At the fabric store, I came across a whimsical home decor fabric called Sannio Cabana by SMC Swavelle Millcreek.
It was 54 inches wide, so I just asked for a 54-inch cut of fabric and hemmed it to have a square tablecloth.
The square tablecloth worked well with the 42-inch round table. I positioned it so that it draped elegantly between the chairs yet guests didn’t wind up with a bunch of extra fabric on their laps.
With a tablecloth this lively, I didn’t need much else in the way of table decor – especially on such a small table.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Wildin
Not wanting to attract bees, I didn’t use any flowers. The centerpiece was a citronella candle.
That and a couple of dryer sheets under the tablecloth did a fairly decent job of keeping pests away. (Note: For more tips on keeping bugs from crashing a patio party, see this post.)
My Recent Vintage Finds
I always look forward to the annual garage sale that my neighborhood hosts. I never participate because I would rather cruise around and see what everyone is selling.
This year I scored with two of these tall fir cabinets with leaded glass doors – for $5 each! The style is an exact match to the original built-ins in our house.
They have that “old schoolhouse” smell that I love. I have several ideas of where to use them in our house, so we’ll see what happens.
My friend, Carolyn, participated in the sale and when I admired these adorable mid century salt and pepper shakers that belonged to her mother, she gave them to me. Thanks Carolyn!
I hope those of you living in the Northern hemisphere have a chance to get out and enjoy what is left of your summer. Let’s meet back here in September!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using these links
We recently hosted a family birthday brunch for my mom. She appreciates pretty table settings and beautiful floral arrangements as much as I do, so I was looking forward to setting the table.
The Centerpiece
Around Valentine’s Day, the price of roses skyrockets. And in February, other options for fresh flowers are limited. But one enduring classic came to the rescue: Carnations.
Mom uses them as one of her go-to flowers in her floral arrangements, and no wonder. They have a lovely light, spicy fragrance, come in a variety of colors, and stay fresh a long time. As a cut flower, they are underrated and usually reasonably priced.
So I bought a grocery store bunch of carnations in mixed colors. I put a wire flower frog inside a milk glass container and cut the carnations to fit just above the rim.
I had some eucalyptus leaves that had dried in place in one of my winter white arrangements so I used them around the perimeter of the container.
And I had a pretty centerpiece.
Vintage Linens
For the table dressing, I used a few pieces from my vintage linen collection. I placed a square table topper diagonally over a linen tablecloth and used cheerful rose print napkins on the place settings.
What looks like a tea pot is actually the coffee pot for the Casa Look pattern. The Casa Look china is discontinued. It is our everyday china, and I love that it is strong porcelain china. Clumsy as I am, these pieces have stayed intact for years with no chips.
The Switch 3 pieces are a gift from Mom. They work nicely with the Casa Look and are also very durable.
Can you spot the tabby cat in this photo?
The Leftover Carnations
When I first unwrapped the carnation bundle, I found that three of the blossoms were broken off at the base. But why waste them? They made a cute statement on a bathroom windowsill.
And the carnations I had left over from the centerpiece looked sweet in this little cup on the living room sideboard.
The Birthday Cake
The cake was actually a key lime pie. I got this key lime pie recipe from a trusted source and it is delicious and easy to make.
I wanted the pie to look like a cake so I pressed the graham cracker/almond crust into a springform pan but I went up the sides of the pan too far with the crust – far beyond the level of the custard filling. I was worried the crust would crumble when I took the springform apart, but luckily that did not happen.
So what started by mistake became an interesting presentation. The crust was precarious, but it looked unique and held together while we sang Happy Birthday.
About Villeroy & Boch:
What I love about Villeroy & Boch is that this company is not afraid to take chances and have some fun with their china. Many of their designs are fanciful and so imaginative. Even their more traditional designs seem to teeter just on the verge of whimsy. This edginess is surprising for a company whose origins date back to 1748.
An eclectic assortment of vintage Villeroy & Boch china can be found on Etsy.
If you are planning a holiday party, you are probably so busy right now that you barely have time to read this, so I will get right to the point: If you think you will have time to mix cocktails for your guests, you probably won’t. Bring out that perfect chilled or heated dessert at just the right time? Doubtful. Hover around the food table so you can let your guests with dietary restrictions know which foods are safe to eat? Not likely.
Even if you did somehow manage to get across the room, mix that cocktail and bring it to your guest before he or she dies of thirst, it would come at a very high price: Missing out on visiting with all the other guests you pass along the way.
I have learned the hard way that it’s no good to flit around nervously at your own party, trying to do a million things at once. Your guests will enjoy the party more if you are relaxed and have time to chat. And so will you.
So here are a few simple suggestions to help make that happen.
1. A DIY Cocktail Station
Since I do not have the first clue about how to mix a cocktail, this task lands squarely on the capable shoulders of my husband, Chris. But he doesn’t want to be anchored to a bar all night. So he sets up a little DIY cocktail station so guests can help themselves.
This is the simple countertop station that he recently set up.
You could definitely have some fun with this idea and set up a more elaborate station. Shakers, mixers, garnishes, and glasses should all be available for guests to help themselves.
Sometimes if Chris knows that several guests will want the same drink, he might pre-mix a pitcher of just one type of cocktail. But even so some guests want to mix their own drinks a specific way.
Of course for this to work, you have to be able to trust your guests to know their limits or have a safe ride home.
2. A Cookie Table
Chilled or heated desserts can be tricky for a party, especially an open house where folks are dropping by at different times. The most practical dessert would be something that can sit for several hours at room temperature – namely cookies.
Many people, myself included, shy away from foods that are difficult to eat while standing and mingling. But cookies are easy and portable – no fork or plate is needed.
For a cookie table to be interesting, the cookies should be beautiful, tasty, and small. Small cookies mean that folks can sample a variety without feeling guilty.
My mom, Erika, makes wonderful cookies using old world recipes.
Whenever she volunteers cookies for my parties, I jump at the opportunity.
It spares my guests from my own baking efforts, which are marginal at best. Add a bowl of nuts and some chocolate and you’re good.
We all know someone who loves to bake, so if you don’t have time to bake or don’t enjoy it, seek that person out to bake cookies for your party.
3. Food Tags for Guests with Dietary Restrictions
Guests don’t always want their dietary restrictions to be a topic of conversation at parties. So instead of pointing out which foods your friend with a dietary restriction can eat, make little tags and signs to place near the food.
For example, a few gluten-free appetizers can be grouped on one platter with a simple “GF” sign placed in the middle.
For this sign, I used a wooden stir stick as the little signpost and a flower frog to anchor the sign.
Similar signs can be attached to bowls of gluten-free crackers and chips.
No more worries, and no more having to scream “Don’t eat that!” from across the room.
4. Now Enjoy the Party
My suggestions do require a little planning and work in advance, but that will pay off later when you are able to relax and enjoy the party.
Happy Holidays Dear Readers!
This will be my last post before the new year, so I want to take this opportunity to wish all of my dear readers the happiest of holidays. We will meet here again in January.
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