PCWNC Book Club, PCWNC Luncheon, The Edge Book Club, Les Angels Purpel Red Hat Luncheon, Ft. Worth Stock Show & Rodeo

Wednesday, January 26, 2011
I feel like the little engine saying "I think I can! I think I can! So much has been on the agenda lately. On Thursday, January 13, the Parker County Women's & Newcomers' Club (PCWNC) Book Club group met in Opal Dale's home in Willow Park, Texas to discuss "Maisie Dobbs" written by Jacqueline Winspear. Opal, formerly a teacher, presented a thorough review of this book and we engaged in a question and answer session afterward. It is a well written book and the characters are especially intriguing. Opal provided delicious snacks much enjoyed by all. I highly recommend this book about a female detective in England.

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On Friday, January 14 the monthly luncheon of the PCWNC took place in Alkek Fine Arts Center at Weatherford College in Weatherford, Texas. Our program was a wonderful video of one member's visit to Israel and the Holy Land. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and the scenes made one almost feel like they were right there.

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The Weatherford Public Library has formed a book club called The Edge Book Club and it is apparently aimed at writers and wannabe writers. I attended the first meeting on Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 5:30 p.m. Author Mark Fadden presented an interesting slide show giving advice on how to get published. He also had his latest thriller available, "The Brink" and I bought a copy which he autographed. I am now 131 pages into this book. WOW! It is beautifully written and wildly exciting. This man knows how to write a thriller and I would have read it completely by now, but life got in the way. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys this genre. If you are at all interested in writing or are a writer I suggest you join us at WPL each third Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. from February through May 2011.

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It is now Thursday, January 20 and I have driven to Ft. Worth, Texas to meet Queen Rowdy Red and her Red Hat sisters of Les Angels Purpel chapter of the Red Hat Society. We eat lunch in The Rose Tea Room while I relate the "herstory" of the Red Hat Society. I am the area Ambassador of the National organization and, as such, try to help new chapters grow and help them understand what this "disorganization" is all about. Two of the ladies, Queen Rowdy Red and Shirley are celebrating January birthdays so Judy and I sing Happy Birthday to them. Note that they are wearing purple hats with red ensembles while Judy and I are in official regalia of red hats and purple outfits. This is just one of the fun things we do to change things up. When we first sit down a lady, Gail Sarap approaches us with her camera asking, "May I take your pictures? I just love Red Hatters." She promises to send copies and I give her my Ambassador card and a brochure. The meal is scrumptious and I even bought a couple of antique tea cups and saucers during shopping afterward.

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It's that time of year again. On Saturday, January 22, 2011 Doug and I meet our friends Jeanne & Don Streeter at the Ft. Worth Stock Show & Rodeo along with a large group of people that get together every year for this event. The rodeo is somewhat disappointing for the first time because there just isn't much action. However, we make the best of it as you will see from the photos. The first place I head is to see my friends Tommye & Gordon Tonips in their art booth. Gordon is an outstanding sculptor and, if fact, we have two of his pieces in our home. After seeing his latest creations, Doug and I determine that we must have just one more. He has named it "The Water Jar" and it is exquisite! Doug shot a photo of Tommye and me while we were there.


During the rodeo, one crazy bull comes running out, gores the dummy clown and completely turns a somersault. Doug is lucky enough to capture him in midair. After the rodeo we all drive to Los Vaqueros, a great Mexican restaurant for dinner. It is a long day and we are more than happy to arrive home safe and sound.

This is all I have to say for now.

Kelley's Birthday, Wild West Women Red Hat Birthday Party

Wednesday, January 12, 2011
On Sunday, January 8, 2011 the family gathered at Jennifer and Taylor's home to throw a little surprise birthday party for Taylor's mother, Kelley. She thought she was coming over to babysit the twins, Ashton and Landon. Even though the party was in her honor, I think she was actually disappointed that she wasn't babysitting! Taylor cooked turkey burgers and hot dogs on his grill. I brought baked beans. Russ brought a delicious chocolate cake that had "Happy Birthday Mimi" written on it.

As usual, the babies were the center of attention. Some of us did go outside to play ladder ball. Doug was ailing so he sent me with the smaller camera to commemorate the occasion.

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Wednesday, January 12, 2011, the Wild West Women of Weatherford Chapter of the Red Hat Society celebrated their 7th birthday with a potluck luncheon, fun and games. Our lovely Queen of Gaudy Gabigail hosted the celebration in her upstairs over the garage Red Hat party room. Joyce Bruton aka Ms. Sew & Sew made a beautiful Red Hat cake for the occasion. Joyce is one of our amazing women. Not only does she bake and sew, but she quilts, has a great flair for interior decorating and is an excellent arts/crafter as well.

One of the games we played is called "Pin the Macho on the Man" and there was a lot of giggling and outright cackling going on during this game. Each lady was blindfolded and led to the poster to pin the macho on the man. The Red Hatter in the photos applying the blindfold is Carol Johnson aka "Duchess of Tales & Trails". I was taking pictures the whole time so I was almost last. Ann Donley was last to play and she pinned a fig leaf on the man. Somehow, I pinned him at just the right spot and won a word puzzle book for my efforts.


We had 23 fun ladies in attendance including a visitor, Jean Palmer from Weatherford, Texas. We also had a Chinese Birthday Exchange where I lost two of the gifts I had chosen. Easy come, easy go! Our Queen presented each of us with card cases filled with cards representing each member with all their vital information such as address, phone number, email, etc. The food ran the gamut from barbecue chicken and beef to numerous salads including the "green stuff" which is always so yummy, to baked beans, jalapeno cornbread and peach ice tea. Ann Donley aka "Red Annie" brought some outstanding asparagus soup.

The girls made me promise to put the recipe for my baked beans on the blog so here it is.

Apple Bean Bake from Barbara A. Yoder, Goshen, IN

Makes 10 - 12 servings

4 Tbsp. butter
2 large Granny Smith apples, cubed
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. molasses
1 tsp. salt
2-15 oz. cans Great Northern beans, undrained
2-15 oz. cans pinto beans, undrained

1. Melt butter in skillet. Add apples and cook until tender.
2. Stir in brown sugar and sugar. Cook until they melt. Stir in next four ingredients.
3. Add beans and mix well. Pour into slow cooker.
4. Cover. Cook on High 3 hours.

This is all I have to say for now.

Visit from Larry & Jonathan

Monday, January 3, 2011
I have dedicated today to fulfilling my New Year Resolution: Catching up on filing and completely cleaning my office/quilting room. It is now 1:40 p.m. and I've managed to tidy up one corner of my desk. I'm taking a break now to report on an impromptu visit from my son, Larry, a trombonist among other things with the 77th U.S. Army Band in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. My grandson, Jonathan, a music school major at Cameron College in Lawton, Oklahoma made the trip with him. They ate dinner and we had a lovely visit. (See Photos)

This is all I have to say for now.

Kimbell Museum Exhibit, New Year's Eve

Saturday, January 1, 2011
On Thursday, December 30, 2010, Doug and I drive to Ft. Worth, Texas to the Kimbell Art Museum to view the "Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mystic Sea" exhibit. We are not disappointed. The artifacts are exquisitely fascinating. As one enters the exhibit a huge carving covers one complete wall. Doug takes several photographs before realizing he isn't supposed to be shooting so we are fortunate to have these to show you. The long gray slab depicts a crocodile. Part of its snout is gone.
The large colorful lidded bowl with the open mouthed creature on top is a combination iguana/jaguar eviscerating humans. The three humans painted on the bowl have been chewed in half, representing the first sacrifice to create the world.
This depiction of a crocodile is a symbol of the primordial world. It contains the head of a deity in its mouth.
This beautifully colored lidded bowl serves as a model of the Maya conception of the world and denotes it watery origins. The earth is represented as a turtle surrounded by delicate volutes and dotted lines of orange and black that evoke lapping waves. A water bird sprouting from its back indicates the emergence of life. The bird, whose head forms the lid's handle, draws a shellfish up from beneath the waters.
This last one is a model of a deity and is actually an incense burner.
We wander over to the next gallery to get a look at Michelangelo's first painting, "The Temptation of St. Anthony". It is indeed astounding for the artist to have created this between the ages of 12 and 14 and The Kimbell feels most fortunate to have acquired this important work.

Walking all around the museum makes us hungry and we drive to our favorite place for veggie burgers, "Tommy's". The place is unusually packed and we wait about 45 minutes for our food. It is worth the wait.

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December 31, 2010, New Year's Eve

My daughter, Lynne fell heir to hostessing the NYE party this year. I help as much as possible by making black eyed pea and ham soup and Cowboy Caviar (also made with black eyed peas) along with a large pan of cornbread. For those of you unaccustomed to southern traditions, it is considered good luck to eat black eyed peas on New Year's Day and just about everyone has black eyed pea something at the stroke of midnight.
As you can see by the photos, the twins are stars of the show as we eat and watch the ball drop in Times Square. We "old folks" managed to hang in until midnight and then make our drive home to Weatherford from Azle, Texas. It's really only a 20 minute drive between houses.

Happy New Year everyone! Hope 2011 is a good year for each of you. We are coming up on the Chinese Year of the Dragon and this is supposed to be a good omen. Let us hope.

This is all I have to say for now.