Here's my dish...asparagus with proscuitto

Here's the winner -- A fennel bulb and an antique slab of wood made all the difference to stuffed mushrooms.

John's bookshelves after rearranging. The secret is high to low -- of course, if your bookshelves are full of books, then they are more functional and less decorative. But most of us have "stuff" in our bookshelves.

One of the neatest things David and Dana did was to go out into the woods and find little plants -- floral and greenery, twigs and sticks. Then, they added "micro beads" and glitter and set their holiday table with lots of this. It was so pretty.

Laura and the kids did wear costumes but before I could photograph them, they were wet and dirty and had changed. But I was happy they were there.

Julie and me with our best friend at Halloween.

Doesn't this scarf just make my outfit?

Spent the weekend in Rhinebeck, NY at the Wool & Sheep Festival. Don't ask me why. Not quite sure myself except that I've never been to any part of NY other than NYC so it seemed a good opportunity to see some of the countryside. Rhinebeck is beautiful -- quaint little village although on cloudy, rainy days it's a bit Stephen Kingish. There were sooooo many people, you could barely move through the exhibits. And the people -- hmmmm, all I can say is I don't think they get out much and they must not sell hair color in the state of NY. But, the sheep were really cool.

 I think she left the curling solution on a little too long???

Does this coat make my butt look big????

It's a totally French thing. Only the chicest of the chic can wear this.

I was horsing around with the camera this weekend. She's always willing to ham it up for me. 

Yes, I know how to French braid!

Guess who has lost two more teeth?

The pony taggy we can not get through a day without.

A brother's help is not always welcomed, but this time it was OK.

We're off and running.

A little wobbly at times....

And for some reason, sticking out your tongue always seems to help your balance.

But sometimes, it's just easier to get off and walk the thing back!

Some of us could whack that little ball. Some of us could not.

But all of us had a good time thanks to Patricia.

Christina & Patricia think it over.

Clint and Sam plan their strategy. 

We hold this how and do what?

Babies always take precedence over croquet....right, Honey? Especially when it's little JK.

 Some guys are so nice they play with your baby while you play croquet!!!

And you just have a gay ole time whacking that little ball....

Form was important....as Sam demonstrates.

Christina & Doyle (look like they) knew what they were doing...

 So is everyone's form all that funny Russ?

The knitters on the sidelines sure seemed to think so...

This was not your Mother's pinch pot class....Yes! These are pinch pots.

And check out all the smiling potters....

Table One

Table Two

Table Three

Table Four

Gwen just could not stop smiling (but then that's Gwen, always smiling)...

But Pepper's little creature was no slouch...

Instructor extrodinaire, Hope, and her Mom, Cathy.

A protective Wendy nurtures her new little creation.

Just another great day at Serenbe.

Can I have a cookie, Nana? (No.)

What's for lunch? (I just washed your breakfast plate)

Is this all there is? (Yes...it would feed Lee's army)

Can you make me a cup of hot chocolate? (It's 98 degrees)

I'm still hungry. (OKOKOK)

Is it time for dinner? (Do you usually eat dinner at 2 PM)

What's our bedtime snack? (here, just naw my arm off and put me out of my misery)

On the way home today, I was listening to NPR's "Wait, Wait, don't tell me" and Noah was listening to his iPod. Some where along the way, he started listening to the radio with me. He was laughing and giggling at everything they said. So I cranked up the volume and we both laughed all the way home. When it was over, he asked what was that show, NaNa? I told him. He then said, "I don't get all that stuff, but it sure is funny."

Then, he said, who's Monica Lewinsky. Hmmmmm...a good friend of Bill Clinton's??? Even when you think what you're listening to is clean, you're gonna get in trouble.

These two little monkeys really seemed to enjoy their week and were so great. They fight like two cats locked in a closet, but occasionally you get a glimpse of brotherly/sisterly love. I do remember trying to scratch Johnny's eyes out and hitting Carol Ann with the broom -- there's no anger like sibling anger.

Noah, Cat and Avery. Do you see that sign behind their heads -- NASCRAB?? Yep, crab races at Captiva. Now this was a hoot. Everyone chooses and names their crabs. We had Bubba (Cat), Dash (Noah), and Stanley (Avery). The race official had a wicked sense of humor (and judging from the humor, not sure he had any kids -- you know, comments like, now I see why some adults eat their young -- whoa! Altho there is nothing more obnoxious than a bunch of vacationers jostling for position around a big table to watch crabs race. It took one heck of an official to keep order. Wow, that was a long parenthetical comment.). All of our crabs qualfied in one of two qualifying heats. That earned us all a Kazoo. Remember those -- mercy, two kids with kazoos made the next few days kind of rough -- and you guessed, I hid them. In the final race, good ole Bubba placed second which earned Cat folding money and a T shirt. Great fun!

They loved this. So do I. The first time I went to Captiva, I was out on the beach with a flashlight and full "noseeum" gear. Just couldn't stop shelling.