Away from the madding crowd

It was a good weekend down at West River. There were a couple of moments when I was overcome by the sense of social awkwardness I often feel in groups, where I am aware of how separate and odd I often feel. But luckily, unlike in high school, where those moments lasted months, this weekend they were fleeting.

I put a final border on that Storm at Sea quilt. I did one quilt top that is destined for my mother, as well as a pieced back for the same quilt. That pieced back is not quite finished, but I have to buy some Moda Marble in black, and no one around here carries it. I am trying to support my LQS shops, but it hard when they don't stock what you need.

Saturday night a group of eight of us went down the road to the Swamp Circle, the local biker bar. We've been threatening to do it for years, and one of our newer members, who I think was jonesing for a refreshing alcoholic beverage, organized the trip. It was fine, really sort of anticlimactic. I think we thought (hoped?) it would be filled with stereotypical bikers, it was sort of tame. We went out back where they had a couple of fire pits and people drinking. Everyone was friendly, we had some beers (except for our four ladies who insisted on wine) and talked to some of the locals. One very drunk woman offered us some advice on getting a man: we'd need to "fuck 'em and feed 'em fish heads."  I don't really know what that means, but I'm sure it was kindly meant.

The retreat was the perfect Time Out for me. Recently my work has been so deadening and horrid that I was delighted to go somewhere and spend time with people doing something they loved. We talked, some of us more than others! There were good meals and lots of snacks. If you wanted advice on where to go with a project, there was always someone to bounce ideas off of. Life would be better if it were always like a quilt retreat.