Gathering of Friends ~ 2016

Hi Everyone,

Yes, two months since I have last written.  There just isn't any time.  Sometimes I think Fall and Winter are the busiest times of the year with the holidays and all, and then spring comes and there are gardens to weed, the yard to fix up, mowing, and preparing for our 2nd annual "Gathering of Friends".  In addition to the day to day business of running The Old Tattered Flag, we have been consumed with Gathering preparations.  I'm going to let the pictures do the talking and will try to be a bit better about checking in more often.  The day was wonderful.....it's a lot like a wedding....when you in the moment you don't notice all the little things.  I thoroughly enjoyed looking through all the pictures that my son Jeremy snapped throughout the day.  There are over 100 photos so you may want to get a beverage...:).  Enjoy!!

Dragonfly Pottery

T-shirts from Folk Doodles

 

Above and below ~ Heavens to Betsy 

Coffee, donuts and conversation on the porch while waiting for the gate to open!

Our home

My Sister and I

The shop was busy all day!

The Potty Shed ~ we hid two ugly porta pottys behind this facade....

Above and below ~ Folk For All Seasons

Above and below ~ Silver jewelry by Denise Smith

Some snapshots before the guests arrived....

Here they come.....

Gail and her friend Linda traveled all the way from Indiana for our event.  We were honored!!

My son Josh was a wonderful emcee, he and I handed out prizes all day...

We had lots of lovely ladies from over the border (Canada).  Thank you ladies for making the trip, you are a fun group!!

Here's Mom holding a hefty prize from my Sister (Folk for All Seasons)

We had a delicious lunch, catered by local Johny D's.  Summer salads and breads.  Thank you to Maddy, Shelby, Brian, Clancy, Marcky, Ashton, of course my hubby, my son Josh and my son Jeremy for helping out.  Your smiling faces in these pictures showed that you did your jobs well!  The ladies enjoyed you all!

Speaking of Marcky and Ashton.....my right and left hands.  Thank you for all your help!!

...and now the rugs....oh the rugs......

 

 Mom's choice winner, above, hooked by Gail Huff from Rochester, NY, the rug was designed by Gail and is called "Angel Blessings"

Voters choice winner, above, again by Gail Huff from Rochester, the rug was adapted by Gail from a Dover Steampunk book and is called "Mistress of the Birds".   

I was amazed at the beautiful rugs brought to our event this year and it was very hard to choose a favorite, each one had details, colors, design that were appealing.  There were also several Punch Needle entries.  I promise to be better about snapping pictures of the punch pieces next year.  I chose The beautiful Sunflower and Sheep piece you see in the bottom left of the picture below.  That was also chosen as Voters Choice.  I know this piece was punched by one of our talented Canadian guests but for the life of me I cannot remember your name so if you are reading this, please contact me so I can give you proper credit as well as the designer.  Thank you to all those who submitted  rugs and punch pieces.  You created a beautiful Rug Show!

...and then there was dessert....
Thank you to April's Cake Shop for the gorgeous cake and brownies. 

I always get emotional when I am saying my closing comments.  That's because you ladies make Mom and I so happy!  We are honored that you come to our home/shop to spend the day with us.  We love what we do and are so happy to be able to share it with so many of you who are bursting with talent and creativity.  I also get emotional because I realize that our event is really a family run event.  My husband always does so much to help Mom and I, including trekking to hooking events.  We would not be able to do this without him.  Shelby and Brian were up for the weekend to visit Shelby's sister Marcky who work's for us and they said, "sure, we'll help".  Ashton hand wrote the beautiful name tags.  Maddy was sweating as she hung rugs on the fence (I pestered her to make sure she was drinking enough water) and of course my sons, Josh and Jeremy who have to listen to me constantly talking and planning and come through to help as well.  It was an amazing day and yes, we are already talking about what we can do next year, so mark your calendar's for the 3rd annual Gathering of Friends to be held on June 24, 2017.

Until next time......