Red Hat International Convention 2011 in New Orleans

August 18-21, 2011

We actually drove to New Orleans on Wednesday, August 17, 2011 which took us about 10 hours with Doug and I splitting the driving. When we arrive at the beautiful New Orleans Riverside Hilton Hotel, there is a mix-up in our hotel reservations so we are given a beautiful suite with, of all things, a Murphy bed and a lovely view of the mighty Mississippi River. We unpack and fall into bed; I mean this literally because the bed is flat on the floor! That 10 hour drive did us in.

Doug and I at the hotel coffee shop

Thursday morning we make our way down to the hotel coffee shop where we experience sticker shock at the prices of breakfast; even something simple like cereal is $7 to $9. We eat breakfast there, but vow to find something more reasonable for the rest of the week. I have a tour that is to take me to The New Orleans School of Cooking. When I go to the designated place to catch a bus, I am told that since there are only two of us going at this time, we can just walk there. I don't know who the second woman is, so I catch a cab which is quite reasonable. I thought I would be cooking, but this school is set up like a restaurant and the chef stands at the front with tilted mirrors above and behind her so attendees may view her as she prepares the dishes. I regret I did not get her name, but she was marvelous and had a running commentary about New Orleans and all the past inhabitants from various countries who helped form this fabulous city into what it is presently.

Here I am with this fabulous chef wearing my Red Hat chef's hat.

We are first presented with what she calls a lagniappe, some lovely breads with dipping sauce. Our next course is corn & crab bisque and it is absolutely fabulous. Then we enjoy shrimp creole, an exquisite mixture of shrimp, rice, onions, celery, green pepper, green onions with tomatoes and plenty of "Joe's Seasoning" among other spices and ingredients. Just when we think we've died and gone to culinary heaven, she takes the bread pudding out of the oven which is like no other bread pudding ever tasted. It contains a whole bottle and then some of Pina Colada mix and is covered with whiskey sauce. The final pièce de resistance results in something that derives their name from Marshal Luplesis-Praslin (1598-1695) and his butler's recipe for almonds coated in sugar, used as a digestive aid. When Louisiana was settled by French colonists, native pecans were substituted for almonds and thus, we have the praline. I've never tasted a praline as delicious as this one!

It was a grand gastronomic experience and I highly recommend The New Orleans School of Cooking at 524 St. Louis Street, New Orleans, Louisiana. I am told that people who want to attend make reservations a year in advance and you can call them at 800-237-4841 or go to their web site nosoc.com.

Queen of Gaudy, Gail Box aka Midam Moola and Carla as a flapper.
My colors are reversed because August is my birthday month.

The event for the early arrivals occurs on Thursday evening where we all board buses bound for Mardi Gras World. Many of us are in costume and wearing masks. With Red Hatters, one never knows what to expect, but imagination and fun abounds. We are escorted through this huge building housing float after float being worked on for the next Mardi Gras. Eventually we are ushered into a huge dining area for a dinner of jambalaya and other Louisiana delicacies. Exalted Queen Mother Sue Ellen Cooper and Vice Queen Linda Murphy even circled the room a couple of times in their very own Mardi Gras float led by a motorcycle cop. We were all trying to catch the beads they threw.

l to r: Barbara, Carla, Gail and Anna,
Wild West Women of Weatherford

Gail, our Queen

l to r: Gail, Carla, Anna and Barbara

Anna and Gail in front of a float

The King and I getting acquainted!

On Friday, August 19, 2011 we all headed for the buses to take a tour of New Orleans. Our tour guide is a lovely lady who is very knowledgeable in the history of the city.

Front l to r: Anna, Toni and Barbara
Back l to r: Pat, Gail and Carla

Pat and Queen Gail (her hat is Texas large so it's
stored in the overhead bin!)

Anna and Barbara enjoying the ride

Kay and Toni

Commemorative plaque where the flood wall
broke after Hurricane Katrina

This is one of the above ground cemeteries and
looking along the back wall where you can see
an empty space is where people are buried who
can't afford the expensive marble crypts.

This lovely lady beside me is Grandma Luge,
an Olympic Champion and booster of
Tena products for incontinence.

This is my attire for
the Friday night event
and Doug shot this in
our room.

Don't Anna and Barbara look wonderful
all glitzed up!

This is Toni in her hat creation and the
lovely pin scarf Kay made for each of us.

Saturday morning was the Pajama Breakfast and
here, Pat, Kay and Toni are wearing the
gorgeous bed caps that Kay made.

These ladies all dressed in prison stripe gowns
and said they had to escape from prison to get
some decent food.

Doug took this shot
just before I went
down to the Pajama
Breakfast.

Speaker at the Pajama Breakfast was
Tina Sloan, The Guiding Light soap
star. Here she signs a copy of her book,
"Changing Shoes" for me in the
Hat District after breakfast.

Queen Gail all ready in her beautiful dress and hat
with plenty of sparkle to match!

Barbara all decked
out wearing her own
red hat creation!

Pat, our lady who loves to gamble and
I believe she took home some moola
from Harrah's!

This is Linda with the beautiful mask
she created for the contest and then
forgot to enter it!

Queen MaryKay from
Ft.Worth, Texas
looking gorgeous!

Again, Doug shot this
in the room just before
the Saturday event.

Vice Queen Linda Murphy and
Exalted Queen Mother Sue Ellen Cooper,
the Red Hat Society's fearless leaders.

This is just a fun shot!

Back at our sports bar/coffee shop on Sunday
before heading back to Weatherford, Texas.

It was indeed a fabulous convention and we so enjoyed meeting all our sisters from around the world. I believe the tally was something over 1700 of us and we're already looking forward to next year in Las Vegas, Nevada in the Paris Hotel on June 28-July 1, 2012. See you there!

This is all I have to say for now.

Missing in Action

Monday, August 15, 2011

I can't believe I haven't posted anything since July 3. Life absolutely got in the way as well as my writing. I'm trying to finish the second book of a trilogy and my goal is to publish this month. I'm close, but have to stop to attend the International Red Hat Convention in New Orleans. We leave on Wednesday, August 17 to drive to New Orleans. It's about a 10 hour drive, but it's always better to drive to a Red Hat convention if at all possible. One must take so many hats, changes of clothes, shoes, bling, etc. that it is almost impossible to get it all in the allotted baggage the airlines have stipulated we can have without paying almost another person's fare in luggage fees.

Life has not been totally quiet around the Kerr household. We've enjoyed birthday parties for grandsons and visiting with the great grandsons as well. I gave a dinner party for my daughter's 55 birthday for 15 people plus the three babies. Cooking went on for three days for this one and the menu included King Ranch Chicken Casserole with a doubled recipe; Confetti Salad, Corn on the Cob; Green Salad; Wacky Cake and ice cream for dessert. I was certainly glad I doubled up on the chicken recipe because there was only about a third leftover in the second pan.

My daughter reciprocated with a birthday party for me to celebrate my 73 years and we all had baby back ribs, salad, corn on the cob and, of course, cake and ice cream. She has a lovely home in Azle, Texas and we played darts on her back patio.

L to R: Andreas, Ingrid, Horst, Doug and Carla

Also, back in July our friends came to visit from Germany. Ingrid, Horst and their son, Andreas came to America on holiday and first flew to Montana, then to California and then to Texas on the final leg of their trip. We visited the Ft. Worth Stock Yards and watched the cattle drive with the long horn cattle being herded. Then we went through the Cowboy Museum and lunched at Dos Vaqueros. The next day we visited Ft. Worth's new Science Museum and attended the IMAX theater watching a movie about tornado's. That was a scary one. Andreas really enjoyed it. He is 9 and interested in everything. He speaks German mostly, but we manage to communicate. We played a couple of card games which probably should be renamed "Andreas Wins". It was a lovely visit, but much too short.

A sad note: Our dog, Daisy, 12-1/2 years old, became very ill and we had to take her to the vet and have her put down. She just quit eating and lost her zest for life. It was so difficult but we know we made the right decision. We have decided we'll just have pet fish from now on. I know fish die too, but these fish are four years old and getting bigger every day. We may have to build a pond for them!

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August 12, 2011

This was the end of the fiscal year luncheon for the PCWNC and it was really a fun time. Sue Coleman put together a slide show depicting the events of this past year and it was great seeing everyone on the screen. We also had a speaker on Decorating Do's and Dont's;Kathye Buckallew of Bele Chere Design in Granbury who was quite interesting.

Dottie Young, outgoing president was presented with gifts; this hat among them.
Doesn't she look like she is ready for an island getaway?

L to R: Rhoda Wollaston, Linda Waters, Patsy Vawter,
Jo Cheatham, Joy Williams and Gail Simko

Linda Waters, Gayla Fletcher and Gail Simko

Several past presidents brought their scrapbooks for all of us to peruse and each was asked to say a few words about their experience at the helm of the organization. Scrapbook creators were also recognized. These scrapbooks are absolute works of art.

Speaker Kathye Buckallew with gift winner Marcy Brooks

Incoming President Jackie Dixon with outgoing President Dottie Young

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The rest of my days have been spent volunteering at the Weatherford Public Library at the Children's Summer Reading Program. This is so much fun to do and the children seem to enjoy themselves. I've also become even more involved with the Freedom House program and I truly look forward to interacting with these women. They may be down but they are not out and it's pure joy to watch them grow more positive about themselves each week.

Guess I'd better get off this soapbox and finish packing for the New Orleans trip. I'm sure I'll have great stories to tell after this convention.

This is all I have to say for now.

Texas Heat

"Jeesh! It's gettin kinda crowded in here."

"Something's got to give!"

"Aah, I'm able to completely relax."

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Our twelve year-old lab mix, Daisy, is beginning to show signs of aging. We took her to the vet a month ago because she was obviously in pain. He diagnosed osteoporosis of the lower spine, some hip dysplasia and growths on her vocal chords (the latter causing her to cough and her bark to have a strange sound). He prescribed antibiotics for the infection in her lower spine and pain medication that will be ongoing until her demise. He also said it was good to keep her inside out of the Texas heat because this would aggravate her symptoms. She is now happily ensconced in the kitchen. As a result, she no longer needs the big watering container outside. The above photos are indicative of how the Texas heat causes creatures to look for water and relief. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see tadpoles eventually.

This is all I have to say for now.

Red Hat Society World Wide Hoot

Princess Lele, Red Hat Lady, (Sassy Sam of Les Angels Purpel')
and Queen of Gaudy Gabigail,
all of Wild West Women of Weatherford

Princess LeLe of Eagle Mountain on a safe mount!

Queen Rowdy Red of the Les Angels Purpel' of Azle, Texas

June 25, 2011

Several members of Wild West Women of Weatherford Red Hat Chapter drove to The Fort Worth Stockyards to take part in the Red Hat Society World Wide Hoot with over 100 other Red Hatters from across the state of Texas.

These ladies are from the Houston, Texas area
and they are all about show biz!

They were just too cute not to get a close up shot!

Queen Rowdy Red, Queen Madame MaryCay of Diamond
Divas 10, Princess Lele of Wild West Women and others

Isn't this a beautiful specimen of a Looong Horn?

We met and greeted many Red Hatters, shopped and watched the cattle drive consisting of Looong Horn Steers and handsome cowboys on horses as well as one female (hurrah!) drover. It really frightened me after I got home and looked at my photos realizing how close I was to those horns.

These lawmen were a fun group!

Carla Kerr, National Ambassador getting into the spirit of the Hoot

How to you think Queen Rowdy Red looks with a blond mustache?

She's sporting purple balloon long horns!

We even interacted with some good looking gun slingers and a balloon making clown who made fabulous long horns out of balloons. The glitz and bling was readily apparent to all who approached us as we mixed and mingled.

They just don't get any glitzier or blingier than this lovely lady!

We hope all the Red Hatters around the world had as much fun as we did on Red Hat Society World Wide Hoot Day. We're looking forward to next year already.

This is all I have to say for now.

Red Hat Luncheon

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Our beautiful Queen of Gaudy Gabigail

Joyce Bruton, our talented, crafty member with the winning smile

The one and only Alta Fisher, game for anything

Nine members of Wild West Women of Weatherford Chapter of the Red Hat Society gathered at Nizza Pizza in Weatherford, Texas for a fine Italian luncheon. Members enjoyed everything from pizza to spaghetti to chicken piccata.

Birthday Girl Kay Roberts surrounded by Alta, Shirley, Pat C. & Pat R.

Back Row: Ann, Queen Gail, Shirley, Pat C., Carla & Alta
Seated at table: Kay, Pat R. & Joyce

A handsome young man happened to be trying to eat his lunch in the midst of all our noise and he volunteered to take this photo so we could all be in it.

Since this is Kay Roberts' birthday month, we sang happy birthday to her and shared a large slice of cheese cake. There was much good hearted banter and laughter as we visited back and forth. Lots of discussion about our upcoming Red Hat International Convention in New Orleans in August and the World Wide Hoot coming right up on June 25 where we will be gathering at the Ft. Worth Stock Yards with other North Texas Red Hatters.

This is all I have to say for now.

Twelve Years and Counting-TOTS, Recent Books

Sunday, June 12, 2011
After enjoying our usual late Sunday breakfast, on this our 12th wedding anniversary, Doug and I got ready and went to Theater Off The Square (TOTS) to see The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood.

Carla with Crystal Rincon "Lady in Waiting" (Screamer)

Carla with Alex Enslow "Robin Hood"
and Brittany Morgan "Lady Marian"

This play is so much fun and the actors had so much fun doing it. It is extremely campy, but who cares? They carried it off in fine style. Doug had his trusty smaller camera with him and took a couple of shots afterward to commemorate the event.

We left there and drove to the Tokyo Seafood and Steak House in the Lowe's shopping center on I-20 for dinner. It is Habachi style and we always enjoy the food cooked by hilarious chefs doing tricks with their spatulas and forks. I highly recommend this restaurant.

We came home, got comfortable and wore ourselves out cheering for the Dallas Mavericks. How about those World Champions of Basketball? It was a thrilling end to a perfect anniversary and we're looking forward to many more (anniversaries, that is).

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I feel I've been remiss in not sharing with you books I've recently read. I found "The Paris Wife" by Paula McLain interesting reading, but not that exciting.

"Follow the River" by James Alexander Thom, a novel based on the true ordeal of Mary Ingles, was chock full of interesting facts about the Comanche Indians, her being taken by them, living among them and subsequent escape. The story of her survival in trying to return to her husband is most difficult to read. This book like an earlier one I read "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand, is definitely a story of incredible human survival against all odds. I wanted Follow the River to be over long before it was. The suffering is almost more than a human can bear even just reading it.

I am currently reading "A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mother by Janny Scott. It is well written, but with a lot of repetition concerning her work in Indonesia and many other Eastern countries in anthropology, banking, farming, etc. I am about three/fourths of the way through it and will finish it because she really was a remarkable woman.

I also read "Sons in the Clouds" by Randy Mitchell. Randy is a new author and this is a well written novel. It reads rapidly and the setting is in Dallas, Texas around White Rock Lake which struck a chord with me. You really need to pick this one up and give it a go.

If I haven't mentioned it, I have now published my second book, one of a series of three written for young people. The overall title is "Cherokee Adventures" with Book 1: Linnie and Aaron being loosely based on my great-great grandparents. You can order it at lulu.com. Book 2: Fort Gibson at Last, is slated for publication in August, 2011. Reminder, I write under my maiden name, C. C. Crittenden.

This is all I have to say for now.

PCWNC Book Club, PCWNC Board Meeting

Wednesday, June 8, 2011
As you can see, I'm way behind in communicating with you. By way of excuse, I really have been concentrating on my next book, "Cherokee Adventures" Book 2: Fort Gibson At Last. This is the second in a series of 3 books written for young people about Cherokee Indians, loosely based on the lives of my great-great grandparents. My goal is to publish this second in the series in August so I'm under the hammer to complete it. Historical fiction takes a lot of time to accomplish because of all the research that must be done to make the novel credible. I spend my time at my computer with a dictionary, a thesaurus and Google on call as I write. On Monday and Wednesday evenings I am taking one hour online classes learning the Cherokee language through the Cherokee Nation educational web site. This is helping me because I use a number of Cherokee expressions in this series of books and I want them to be correct.

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Thursday, May 12, 2011, the PCWNC Book Club met in the home of Mary Ellen Astidillo. It was a fantastic experience because the only way to describe her home is "doll house". She has combined antiques, various other furniture eras and items she found in her travels to make an absolutely beautifully decorated home. We reviewed the book, "Gay as a Grig" by Ellen Bowie Holland, who was an early settler in the Weatherford area. She had an interesting outlook on life and terrifically interesting descriptions of many things, people and situations. Mary Ellen suggested, when we chose the book, that we pay particular attention to Ms. Holland's descriptive phrases and this led to an even more interesting reading experience.

Mary Ellen Astudillo greeting Becky Tripp

Opal Dale and Carla Kerr

Polly McLean with Mary Ellen (Polly says we always catch her with her mouth open)

This closet is actually a life size doll house

When we arrived, she took us on a tour. She inherited many antiques from relatives, has traveled extensively, lived in other countries and has managed to mingle all the items she found along the way with the antiques to create a beautiful home. It was a grand experience for all of us.


She served ice cream sodas, cookies and various other goodies in her formal dining area. We had our choice of flavors and she created the ice cream sodas on the spot. Yum! Yum! What a treat! Afterward, we gathered in the living room to discuss the book. She took photos of relatives out of antique frames and placed photos of the characters in the book in them for us to view. This all added to the ambiance of the occasion.

Doug Kerr came by for a short time just to photograph all of us with Mary Ellen as well as her beautiful home. It was one of the best book club meetings we can remember having!

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May 19, 2011 the PCWNC Board Meeting was held in the home of Patti Lankford. Here are a couple of random shots in her beautifully landscaped backyard. Patti is a Master Gardener and it shows.

This is all I have to say for now.