Phlegmfest 2012

I had a grand time this past weekend as friends from near and very far came to renovate, hang out, do a wee bit of shooting and relax.

aepilot_jim arrived before the party by more than a week. FarmMom and FarmDad came next, as I mentioned.  The next day, OldNFO arrived and then came LabRat and Stingray. We went out to a nice Italian restaurant and I made sweet love to the bread tray.  I swear the next morning I had a (much-deserved) bread hangover.  I'm not kidding about the hangover.

Work continued apace on the house throughout the day on Friday, and FarmMom did a lot of cleaning in the house to help.   When Himself's pericarditis occurred, I sort of wrote off getting much clean around the house before the party, it having reached critical mess, but FarmMom is an angel and thanks to her efforts the place was much more tidy than I'd expected it to be by the time folks started arriving.  :)  To top all that off, she made 4 cobblers - 1 blackberry, one peach and 2 apple.  Honorable mention on the Nerds' assist with a formidable peach-peeling method.

Late Friday afternoon, Himself told me he'd greet arrivals and for me to go out to the range and meet Reno there.  I went with Spear, Old NFO, LabRat, Stingray and aepilot_jim.  Reno had an M1 carbine with which I killed a steel target at 100 yards.  Don't know how, but I knocked it off its hanger.  I did pretty well with Reno's AR, too, considering that was my first time to shoot one.  aepilot_jim gave me some great tips on the AR, and my shooting improved immediately. :)  That was fun.  The main purpose of the trip to the range for me was to shoot Old NFO's new Colt Mustang.  This pistol shoots a treat, and I think I could get to be quite comfortable with it. I'm thinking of purchasing one of these for carry. 

Back to the house, we found Holly and JPG had arrived, as well as Jennifer and EvylRobot.  Jennifer brought some delectable meat pies, and one of them was quite hot, but yummy.  Le Conteur and Gaffer very generously brought some wonderful chili and spice cake and other yummies, as well as a much-needed spare bar fridge.  Matt G arrived with Ambulance Driver and La KatyBeth.  AD brought 90 pounds of crawfish for a proper boil, and we threw in some taters, corn and garlic for the occasion.  The boil was done on a couple of huge pots in the back yard.  I have it on very good authority that the puppies are quite fond of crawfish.  (I could swear that they both gained a ridiculous amount of weight in a very short time).  The crawfish were a delight to all, and quite a bit was left for the next day for a toe-curling alfredo that EvylRobot whipped up.  We gobbled that up.

Tolewyn came by, as did Chris ex Machina.  NcongruNt came, along with his lovely wife, and she had made some incredible food to thrill us with, as well. I was honored to welcome Swamp Rabbit, and I know others were delighted to make his acquaintance.  He does not blog, but does bestow the occasional bon mot in lucky comment sections.

There was gun fondling.  Brisket.  Lots of food and laughter. EvylRobot fitted my wonderful shoulder holster to me, and I'll be posting pics of that soon.   Manicures and pedicures with KatyBeth.  As hostess, I was called upon to settle an argument on nipple color by viewing someone's nipples*, and that's all I'm going to say about that.  :)  People arrived and left at different times as their schedules permitted, but I was always sorry to see folks leave, and all seemed to be leaving very happy.  Exiting the house en masse Sunday morning to head to the breakfast place, Matt sagely observed that it's funny how all of us leaving at once makes my house look like a clown car.  :)

A couple of rogue crawfish were found and liberated.  I really felt they'd earned it.

Thanks to all you lovely people for showing up and bringing all your good food and good cheer. I thought wistfully of other dear friends who could not make it this year, and I hold out hope you can make it next time.  It's bittersweet to say goodbye to everyone, but I'm oh so happy that you all came, and I hope to see you all again very soon. 

*Yes, it was and it wasn't that kind of party