A 3-D CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION!

The 3-Ds, and mom and dadbeans, had company on Sunday night. We had our good friends over for a nice Christmas celebration. First you will see Della kissing Dante hello. Dante is a very kissy boy and likes to greet all the visitors.

Dylan has also come to say hello, but he waits his turn politely.


This is a close-up picture of the back of Della's jacket. It's a sparkly kitty -- how festive!


And there's two more sparkly kitties on the front, too! Nice kitties! Della is a Maine Coon breeder and has her own cattery called "Jondelcoon". (You can click on the name if you want to see her website.)


This is Della's husband, John, being greeted by Dylan and Domino. They are quite fascinated by all the nice smells on his feet. They have 19 cats in their home at the moment, so imagine all the different scents he must carry with him!


Of course, both Dylan and Domino have foot fetishes to begin with! After this Domino settled onto my friend Debbie's lap for most of the evening (except when we were eating, of course). However, I neglected to get a picture of that.


Here is the aforesaid Debbie, who cuddled with Domino. She is enjoying what she calls her "Chrismousse". It's one of her favourite dishes. It is a scallop and shrimp mousse served on a bed of homemade mayonnaise laced with chives, and is served as an appetizer. We sprinkled on a few red and green peppers to make it look even more Chrismoussy.


I skipped taking a picture of the main course which was Beef Wellington. I was quite upset that the crust crumbled so much. Everyone really seemed to enjoy it tastewise, but it just didn't have the presentation (so, no picture)! I had served it with roasted squash and green beans.

Here's Debbie again about to partake of yet another mousse -- this time a classic French chocolate mousse which is also flavoured with more than just a hint of orange. I dressed it up with a little icing sugar, and bits of kiwi and pomegranate seeds (to look like holly). I also made a fruit salad for those diabetics at the table.


Here we are in the living room again. Della and John brought me some beautiful flowers and Dylan was ready to snack on them. We gently persuaded him otherwise.


Here is Dylan sitting on top of one of the Christmas presents. He was getting a little curious about the tree, but behaved himself quite well actually.


See, a sniffing but no noshing!


This is Debbie's husband Colin giving Dylan a little scratch. Debbie and Colin are two of our oldest and dearest friends. I've known Debbie since 1981 when we met at French school. We both worked for the Canadian federal government and had to learn how to speak it for our jobs. At that time, the government would send you away from your work for up to six months, to go to one of their schools to learn French. It was quite an experience and well worth it. I'm still able to speak French, though, I'm a little rusty.


Here's John with Dante who is taking his turn to inspect the tree.


What's really cool, if you biggify the picture, you can see the reflection of the tree in the window. It's really quite a spectacular effect in person.


Dante's really getting off on this petting session.


Meanwhile, this is what was happening outside. It snowed for a couple of days straight, and what had been mostly green just several days before, is now a winter wonderland just outside our door.


Domino was the only one brave enough to step outside with me and my friend, Susan, the next day. Even she didn't stay very long.


Anyway, we and the 3-Ds all had a very lovely evening on Sunday. Della and John, and Debbie and Colin had just met for the first time at our house, but they all got along famously. There was lots of talking and laughter, and the kitties mingled in perfectly to make it a warm and homey atmosphere. Good food, good drink, good people and good cats. You can't get any better than that!