Donkey People

Work has been a bit wild for the past couple of weeks plus I have had something to do almost every evening after work. If I do get to go home, I seem to get nothing done. I'm pooped!

I did manage to get my donkey finished this weekend though...for which I am thankful. This was designed and taught by Karen Poetzinger, an incredible rug hooker. It was fun and I'm glad I did it but I'm more a primitive rug hooker. Those little bitty wool strips drive me nuts!

Have a Heart

This morning Shelby, Dave and I participated in the first ever Have a Heart Dog Walk to benefit Crisis Control Ministry and the Forsyth Humane Society. Well, Dave and I walked; Shelby "rode". She's not too crazy about other dogs. She's a big baby...until the other dog walks away and then she gets brave and mouthy.

Luckily the weather held out. They were calling for today to be cold and rainy but instead it was just a little chilly at first and the sun came out. They had a big crowd. There was a 5K race (yeah, like THAT'S gonna happen), then the dog walk, then doggy prizes (the oldest, the smallest, the biggest, etc.) No, Shelby wasn't the smallest. There was a tiny Pomeranian that took that prize. Here are some of my favorites...

Cutest rolly polly puppy...


Most attentive...

Best hair-do...


And here's me and Shelby with our buddy Dr. F. That's where Shelby "rode" for most the the walk. It was great fun!

Dinner for Eight

Our church has a wonderful program called Dinner for Eight. People sign up and are put into a group of eight and over the course of 6 months get together for dinner4 or 5 times. Tonight was our first gathering. We met at a couple's home not too far from here, a couple we had never met. Our congregation is large and there are two services so there are lots of folks we never see. Of our group of eight, I knew two beforehand.

We had a wonderful time. It was so interesting to see these eight people, ranging in age from mid-thirties to mid-eighties and a wide variety of backgrounds, come together and enjoy each other's company completely. My husband and I were the only two native North Carolinians. It was fun to see how much common ground we all had. One fun fact we found out was that two of the men (meeting for the first time tonight) were both preacher's sons born in Memphis. What are the odds on that?

We are already looking forward to the next Dinner for Eight as well as looking for our new friends at church.

Old Friends

Tonight my "Raleigh Bee", also known as the "Eating Bee" got together for our annual Christmas party. Yes, I know, it's February but our crazy schedules make it impossible for us to manage to get together during the holidays. Actually...February isn't too bad for us. Last year we didn't manage it until May.

Snow!

Yay! SNOW!!!

It poured down today about 5:00. We're not going to get much but it sure was a pretty drive home from work.

Dogwood Days

This weekend our bee had our 3rd annual retreat to Camp Dogwood. As usual, we had a blast. There was lots of laughter and storytelling and, of course, sewing. I decided to take my big machine and get some quilts quilted. I finished four before I "hit the wall" and could not stipple another inch. Luckily I had some piecing with me to finish up the weekend. Ms. G and I shared a group of tables and just had way too much fun. My ribs hurt from laughing the first night and there was at least one incident where she just about made me spit water all over my machine.

We picked up a mascot this weekend too. This is Woodie. On Saturday morning, he came bounding toward me from across the driveway, just as happy go lucky as a big ol' dog could be. He flopped right over for some belly rubs and then followed me into the sewing room where he got more love and some crackers.


Retreats are wonderful times to be with friends doing what we love to do. It's a chance to be away from commitments, away from the TV and all the doom and gloom and just be "the girls" for a bit...or in our case, the "Troll Sisters". It is a time to laugh and share. There was one moment, though, that neither Mrs. G nor I survived without a little tears. A few months ago, the guild auctioned off Fannye's quilts. Most of us purchased one. I had egged Nane on to keep bidding on one until she got it. It is a split hexagon that is intricate and typical Fannye. Nane decided to border it with a solid navy fabric in order to have straight edges instead of having to deal with binding all those hexagons. So she basted it and wanted to hand applique the top to the border. Nane doesn't hand applique. So Saturday night KB taught her how to hand applique so she could finish Fannye's quilt.

It was almost too much for me and Mrs. G.

We know Fannye was smiling.