5th Annual GCGSW!

Oops, I thought it was #6, but it's just #5. So this year we added Edith, who's a prolific knitter, but we missed Katrina, who couldn't make it. And Nancy and Edith couldn't stay Saturday night, so they came Friday night to start the festivities early! And, no, once that bottle was open, there was no sewing, just talking on the porch until 1:30 AM! (There may have been a second bottle involved.)


We all woke up without headaches, and everyone else arrived, and the big new dish this year was Heidi's Thai chicken salad, which was a-MAZ-ing! Here's just the vegetable noodles made with a Spiralizer, which I shall be buying forthwith.


And here's with the yummy sauce and chicken added. We ate every bit of it.


On to crafting, Nancy made tassels, and Heidi's perusing her tassel-making tool in the background.


Heidi brought her loom and showed us how it worked. She's weaving pieces to sew together for a top!


Nancy contemplates the vintage bell-pull she was working on with crewel work.


Yaffa and Robbie discuss deep issues, while Edith knits and Becky sews.


This is some jewelry Yaffa made using polymer clay...


and beads, sadly out of focus but stunning in person.


Yaffa nearly finished this doll outfit,


and Robbie cut out a top then worked on her Alabama Chanin dress.


And this is Becky's paper-pieced project, with a tutorial she shared.


I finished a dishcloth and started a sweater that may or may not work out, but I'm not worried about it, because I had a relaxing weekend with cool friends who do fascinating crafts, and cook really good food. Thanks to everybody for bringing all the food and doing all the cooking! Katrina, we definitely missed your signature cocktails! Hopefully you can make it next time, and Pam, I fully expect you next year! Let me know if you're planning a Gulf Coast trip!

Fall Update of Family Stuff

So September is the month that Lucas went viral with his YouTube channel taking silly pictures like this (of him, not me) and making an 8-second video at the Battleship. Want to remember this moment when he hits it big.


And Drew brought Camille home for a 3-day weekend, which made me feel special, because when your kids choose to spend time with you at this age, it means a lot.


I went to Chicago with my college roommates for our big 50th birthday weekend. Everybody arranged one outing or meal, so we did some diverse things like touring a famous recording studio where the Rolling Stones and I think Muddy Waters worked.


This was our view from the apartment we rented...


and we did Bobby's Bike Hike to the zoo and around a bunch of neighborhoods.


Let's pause for a beautiful dress my friend wore hosting the Greekfest Gala. I love it - it's like confetti on ice cream!


And Drew showed up on TV when Auburn played somebody - Jake even started barking at him when I yelled, "There's Drew!"


So in October my mom and I flew up to Fort Knox to see my sister Tracey and BIL Joe.


Apparently there are deer all over the base that come out at dusk.


Would you believe there are 4 deer in this picture?!


And Joe took us for a ride in his cool convertible.


One other thing we did was groove with Misty Tripoli's CD's I brought. Mother declined to participate, but did provide video evidence of the shimmying.

Then it was back to work, bleh, and we were Snow White and the Seven Dwarves for Halloween...well, just 5 dwarves, but we walked all over the building asking people if they'd seen the other 2 - such a hoot! ("I think Queasy's in the lab.")


Next up was that I knit a sweater using a book of edgings to make hearts around the sleeves and bottom.


Wore it one day and laid on the couch against something sharp, which cut an actual hole in my yarn - arghhhhh!!!!


So then Drew turned 21 and we went to Auburn to see the Georgia game and take him out for a birthday dinner.


It was an amazing game, if you watched it, and we had great seats in the end zone.


And this is what we found when we finished dinner and walked down to Toomer's Corner.


Finally up is Thanksgiving with everybody coming here. Tracey tried out some new hardware on my hair.


Yes, lovely!


And Camille provided beautiful flowers for a centerpiece, plus she and Drew polished all the silver - yay! Tracey made place cards with "fun facts" on the back about each person, most of which were outright lies, but were funny.


Dean made his signature shrimp remoulade.


Here's a little bit of the spread.


We played some game that I forgot the name of, plus had a fire in the backyard, and lots of good times practicing for a big Dr. Fun performance at the hospital. Thanks to all the teenagers drafted to dance with me...and Joe, who danced briefly!


So that was our Fall roundup, and next up will be the 6th annual GCGSW - stay tuned!