HYDE PARK—We had the usual Christmas party here Saturday afternoon when we gathered together the people who work on our own place and those who used to work for my mother-in-law.

It is then each year that we see the younger generation and tell each other interesting pieces of news we have not heard during the past year. In the evening we attended the Christmas party for neighborhood children in the nearby firehouse—a gay occasion, indeed!

The next day I returned to New York to have my Christmas lunch with my husband's first law partner, Harry Hooker.

I failed to mention earlier that I also attended a delightful party given for children of United Nations members by Isaac Liberman of the Arnold Constable & Company store in New York. Balloons and Christmas decorations made not only the store, but the room in which the children sat, Christmassy and gay.

A delightful entertainer provided by Mr. Liberman kept the children in gales of laughter, and these youngsters from various parts of the world seemed happy and well-behaved. Someone remarked in wonder if a group of young Americans would have behaved as well!

I went through a perfect comedy of errors last week with Noel Coward, the actor and playwright.

I had been given his address in New York as the Algonquin Hotel, and it turned out that he does not live there, only rests there briefly after matinee shows. So the messages and notes for him had accumulated.

He never turned up when I had hoped to meet him at lunch, and finally on Friday we were to meet at the United Nations headquarters for lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Darlington, for Mr. Coward had never seen the inside of the U.N. building.

Mr. Coward finally arrived in spite of the many vicissitudes he had on the way. We all had a delightful time, for Mr. Coward is a most enchanting person to be with.

I had only one regret about Christmas this year, and this was that my son, Elliott, and his wife were not with us, nor were any of their children. I missed them very much, but as usual I tried to reach by telephone the children who were not with me. This is not very satisfactory, since every other person in the U.S. hopes to do the same each Christmas Day.

My Christmas preparations came to an end on Monday and I only hope that everyone faced Christmas Day with as restful a feeling as I had.