Hi all and thanks. We hope the next baby ~>insert species of your choice hereDaisy. Master Gardener. Puppy corrupter, I mean, role model, pond assistant, kitty head stuffer, mugger with A rubber chicken.... Yes, she manages to put a smile on our faces and perhaps a few bruises from the chicken assault. :-) We also discovered she is a Bird Nutritionist. No high cholesterol for our Downy Woodpeckers, the Pileated guys, the Yellow Hammers, the Nuthatches and everyone else. No way. No how! Daisy jumps up and brings down the suet feeders ... breaks into them and eats the suet! Then she has the bloody diarrhea from eating all that fat! Good girl, Daisy! Sacrificing yourself to protect the little feathered birdy visitors from eating that stuff. Good Girl! Now I need to climb up on a plastic milk crate to hang the suet feeders higher in the trees so Daisy can't pull them down. The other feeders needed to be raised higher too because she's pulled them down and she and Rani have destroyed many seed feeders. :-( Pets are relaxing. Pets are relaxing. Pets are relaxing. Pets are relaxing. Pets are relaxing. Pets are relaxing. Do I believe this yet? Pets are relaxing. Pets are relaxing.... She brought home a mouse this afternoon. We think he came from the compost pile area. He was wet but not harmed as he ran through the kitchen. He was caught, dried off, fed with grapes, apples and some seeds and water. Then he was put back in the compost pile with some seeds and apologies for being kidnapped. Pets are relaxing....

Cass, thank you! Yes, the tablecloth is silver (got it at local Bargain store for $8). WOW! You must have felt like you got a Christmas present when you found those dishes! They sound wonderful and so many! Please post a pic if you do a winter tablescape with them. Gail, thank you! The snowflakes/balls are hanging from the chandelier (which is out-dated and I try to hide out of the pic). I quite often hang things from it - even in the reindeer setting (#4) I had gold & copper balls from it but didn't like the pic with it so didn't post it with the others. You SHOULD do a winter theme around your house now that your Christmas decor is down - I like to leave up the white mini-lights on my mantel with snow items. Lynninnewmexico, thanks, I appreciate your comments! Susan, thank you too! See note to Gail re: hanging snowflakes. Lynne, thanks. I definitely can take inspiration for winter tablescapes from the weather lately, have had heavy snowfall warnings for past few days! Aren't the acrylic/crystal-y trees fun to work with?! Karen, thank you. I actually did these (4) tablescapes over a 2 month period so that wasn't too fast...its just that I posted them all at once. Actually, I spend WAY TOO MUCH TIME tweaking and adjusting the tablescapes I do! Luvs, thanks a lot! Judith would be proud of you and your correct count of the layering I did! You have a good eye for detail! In one pic, I did have the square white soup bowls on top too - that was when I used the table for a Christmas luncheon for my parents, Grandma, DS, DH and I and had some homemade turkey with wild rice soup in them. I lucked out finding those snowmen at our dollar store - I only ever saw 1 set of them and I scooped 'em up - even at $8 each, they were a bargain to me! pdg777, thank you too! I had never seen any trees like those either before or since. Would love to get some more if I ever do. yachter, thank you! I wish we had a Walgreens here so I could check if there was some of those trees but if they did, I'm sure they would have gone fast. I wonder if I have a pic of a table I did last year which has a similar look to it but I think I used a few more snowflakes - then I could call it my "flake-off" table...or MAYBE I should do a new one since that is more of a winter theme. dd50, thank you. I got that boa back in the summer with an idea to use it as snow somehow...that is as close as it got to "being snow". Hopefully, I can come up with more ideas for it. I also bought a red one and a black one recently when they had them on sale after Halloween. Mo, thanks. I find I have to take down the ornaments hanging from the chandy whenever I put leaves in the table as then they aren't centered either and it bothers me. patty-cakes, thank you. I like the "sparkle" of frostiness too. I am happy that you thought this was your favourite before looking at the reindeer one! DD

Dianne, I have quartz (not Caesarstone, they were out of my choice at the time) in my bathroom; looks new 2 years later. Online, you will find many cons or negatives about most any product you are considering buying. I wouldn't let that hinder you, as that's usually the minority. Caesarstone has a warranty. I will be buying either London Grey or Organic White in the next two weeks for my kitchen reno, but I love real marble. This is a happy compromise. Check with the company you are buying and ask if they've had any issues with Caesarstone. I asked the appliance company about Thermador vs. Viking and they gave me their opinion based on what they service the least. Good luck!

Hree (northeast England) the early winter (Nov) was cold but not exceptional, and the middle (Dec-Feb) mild, with very little frost. March was well below normal throughout (coldest month of the winter, lots of snow and light frosts on most nights), with no spring-like weather at all but also no really severe frosts either. April has not been a lot better, distinctly cool. Net result is that tender plants survived no problem, with the lack of any severe freezes, but spring is well behind normal. Resin