Company's coming!

I have Company coming in a week.

Not a corporate conglomerate. No. Some of my friends are coming for a 'ladies luncheon'.

You recognise some of the Bitossi family above. The third from the left is certainly Italian ... but I'm not sure it's Bitossi. It really is difficult to know for sure sometimes.

So, I've been pointlessly cleaning. Pointlessly, because the minute I clean, it gets messy again, and I have to come back and clean what I just cleaned.

And then I see fabulous interiors on blogs such as Apartment Therapy and I race off and start rearranging vases. Like that will make a difference. 

The above is a mix of Danish Knabstrup and two pieces of Royal Copenhagen Fajance.

The above ceramic bucket is my most favourite piece ... The other vase went missing in the post between here and America this time last year. It was heart-wrenching stuff - I was concerned 1) that some uneducated mug would have gotten his/her hands on it and not given it the careful-handed appreciation it deserves or 2) it would have been smashed in transit.

Here on the left are some Clarice Cliff Bizarre pieces by Wedgwood. Wedgwood, which owns the Clarice Cliff name, reproduced some of her more popular lines. These are marked 2002. Ms Cliff died in 1972. And, you know Glasmadamer and the ceramic cat ... they came from my favourite ceramics supplier, Menno, in the Netherlands. 

He's still got lots of pieces worth trading people-under-the-age-of-six for. Thus far, he's been unwilling to trade in people-under-the-age-of-six, so I've had to use hard currency to secure ceramics from him.
I'll break him and he'll come 'round.

Anyway, back to the Company. The Husband said he'd take 3/4 children 'West' for the day, so I can spend some 'alone time' with the ladies ... Isn't that magnanimous?

There'll be a total of eight ladies - we've got 26 children between us and I'm sure we'll all be glad to be rid of them all for a bit.

 

The ladies are all sophisticates and witty and lovely so they make me look good! Some of us (not me, thank goodness) have had a pretty rotten year and the idea is that we can take some time to enjoy each other's company and regroup; ready for a better and brighter next year.

I've been dying to pull out these corker Champagne saucers. I don't like champagne, or its other geographical equivalents, so these don't ever get a run. I like holding the glasses though, so I guess I could drink water from them.

We're keeping it all really casual with each guest bringing a dish of something. I'm looking forward to bringing out some of my mother's old coffee and tea paraphernalia.

I'm guessing the silver thing is a coffee pot? Anyone know how it works?

 

 

I only wish I had a decent set of crockery on which to serve lunch ... But we'll have to ignore that fact and keep the eclectic plates on the periphery and concentrate on the important things - The fact that we got through the year relatively unscathed.

And as for music - I watched a bit of the hilarious Peter Sellers in The Party last night, so I think some Stan Getz and other 60s jazz is on the cards ... as is the rapid construction of an indoor-outdoor swimming pool.