The Frayed Edges, July 2011-Part 2: Playing!
The fun began when Deborah arrived in Hope, Maine, at my house to spend the night on July 8th. We had a WONDERFUL visit, during which I forgot to take pictures~! In my last post about the visit, I shared with you the Coastal Quilters meeting and Artists’ Reception. Then we got to relax! Kathy and her husband are moving down to the coast and will be building a house in the coming months. For a short while, they are staying in Camden, and her hubby graciously volunteered to stay with a family member so we could have a girls-get-together-sleepover and yakking at their rental. After the reception, we went to Kathy’s and decided to start things right….
![2011.Blog.July.FrayedEdges019](https://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2011.Blog_.July_.FrayedEdges019.jpg)
When we got together a couple years ago, near Kate's, she fixed us mojitos and we sipped them under the pines, near the shores of Merrymeeting Bay (which has to have one of the coolest names in all of geography), with a bald eagle in the branches above us. We decided that we needed to do the mojitos again, so after the Artists' Reception, we decamped to Kathy's rental house...
Kate has mastered these drinks, and yes…we WERE all able to walk to dinner at Long Grain (an INCREDIBLE pan-Asian, Thai-inspired small restaurant in Camden..it opened almost a year ago, is frequently so full they have to turn diners away, and they don’t need more than the computer printed paper in the window…no sign…we all know where it is!). Before dinner, though, we sat on the back porch and talked and took photos:
and
and
and
and
and
In the spirit of “let someone else cook” we also ate breakfast out…at the Bagel Cafe. I think we STILL look happy!
Then we packed up from Kathy’s and headed west…just a little ways West….
![2011.Blog.July.FrayedEdges021](https://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2011.Blog_.July_.FrayedEdges021.jpg)
On Sunday, after breakfast, we convoyed nine miles west to my house, where it was a glorious Maine summer's day. I had bought a Jacquard Indigo kit, and we mucked about with cloth and an indigo vat!
I later draped mine over a pine tree by the deck:
![2011.Blog.July.FrayedEdges020](https://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2011.Blog_.July_.FrayedEdges020.jpg)
My indigo pieces on the nearby pine; a few of them washed out more than I had hoped, but I'll figure it out eventually
and
![2011.Blog.July.FrayedEdges022](https://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2011.Blog_.July_.FrayedEdges022.jpg)
a late lunch....notice the circle necklaces? Those were a thoughtful gift made by Deborah for being "in her circle of friends." LOVELY!
We wrapped up the day with sandwiches from the grill press. I discovered this AWESOME recipe in Daniel Leader’s Panini cookbook (here) that calls for goat cheese with chopped basil, marinated artichoke hearts (Kathy gets to eat the extra bits), sundried tomatoes (I made some using his other recipe but mistakenly put the oven to timer, not cook-time, so when the oven should have turned off at 1 a.m. it kept baking until I woke up at 6 and realized what I had done…luckily nothing smoked, but they did look more than a bit black and dead! so we had to use from the jar!), and–my addition–caramelized onions. I LOVE the sweet addition of the onions to the salty tang and tartness of the other ingredients.
After that Kathy headed home (with our HUGE thanks to her hubby for making the sleepover possible), Deborah followed Kate to her house an hour south, and I collapsed (briefly)! I was so fried with stress from Mama’s passing and all the other STUFF, that I don’t know how I made it except that it was so wonderful to be together. Nothing like being with friends and like-minded souls who love art and playing with cloth and color and having fun together!
July 22nd, 2011 at 6:46 am
Oh Wow! Sarah – what an amazing treat! The best time you could have done to atart the healing process! That is what friends are for!
Hugz
July 22nd, 2011 at 7:23 am
Sounds like quite a party — and I remember those sandwiches from my visit. Yum! Glad you all had such a good time.
July 22nd, 2011 at 9:05 am
oooh, that sandwich sounds divine! There is nothing like getting together with a bunch of women and sharing creative energy. It’s good for the soul!
July 22nd, 2011 at 9:05 am
oh, pass a mojito, please… 😛
July 22nd, 2011 at 10:05 am
Looks to me like your friends came at just the right time.
July 23rd, 2011 at 7:48 am
What lovely times and memories! Just what you needed!
July 25th, 2011 at 10:38 pm
Such fun times!