Friday Night With Friends

     Before we moved here we lived on the lake shore (Lake Michigan) and during the winter it snows there a lot.  My brother and SIL escape every winter to Arizona and we would leave our house and move into theirs in Grand Rapids so we could be closer to work and not have to worry for the snowiest months about winter.  This move wasn't something I talked about on my blog( I just pretended I was home) but we did it for seven years.  It was a blessing for us to be within 5 minutes of our jobs instead of an hour.
     Because we were back in the city, we got into the pattern of having friends over on the last Friday in January. It was convenient for everyone, for me it celebrated being in everyone's company without the travel involved for anyone.  We are six (and sometimes, when schedules worked out, eight of us) counting PH and I and I love these people.
     Pat and Karen always listen when I need to talk.  Pat has a way about her that exudes love and kindness.  I once told her, when she was trying to figure something out, she is a class act and people respond to that.  Karen held me together when I was working.  She works SO hard for the benefit of the kids at school.  I was/am in awe of her.
     Pat's Bill is the one you want to be sitting next to anywhere.  He always has a joke or three to tell, his stories as the dad of three daughters are in his repertoire and you will spend your whole time laughing. His heart is bigger than anyone's I know.
     Dave is fascinating, as are his interests.  I wish I had his toy budget!  Photography might be his biggest interest and his work is breathtaking.  I talked his ear off when I was shopping for cameras.  Rather, I listened my ears full.  He plays the ukulele, he loves to cook and is the one who sent the smoked cheeses, bacon and almonds when I last saw Karen.  I blogged about it here  http://weesied.blogspot.com/2016/12/new-year-newe-projects.html.  Karen said his next project is to learn to make sausages.
     The best thing?  It's hard to get a word in edgewise because we're all telling stories at once and laughing till our cheeks hurt. 
     So, tonight is the night and for weeks before I wander through cookbooks and -sigh- Pinterest looking for ideas.  I have a hard time with pork loin.  It's always so dry it's hard to choke down.  I've tried every which way and even made one as a trial run last weekend and had our daughter and her family here to taste test.  They said it was good, but I thought it was dry. I'm a good cook, if we're patting people on the back, but pork loin gets the best of me every time.
     Wandering around the meat section of the grocery store I saw pork tenderloin was on sale - a very good sale so I went with it.  I found a nice idea of stuffing it with pears, blue cheese and a rosemary sprig.

I put together two of these. Sure looks good!  I know I'll have my fingers crossed and fret the whole time it's cooking.   If it doesn't work, there's chocolate cake with salted caramel/smoked almond ice cream.  Dave's smoked almonds.

    I finished, except for the legs, the third raven/crow.  I am changing the blocks by adding or subtracting or moving things.  I am still struggling with the design being so close to the edge but that's what I get for following the designer's direction on how much fabric to purchase for the background.
    I finally met my next door neighbor and she's a quilter!  She had been admiring my wall from the street and due to recent coincidences PH saw her and told her to come see it up close and knock on the door.  So, last Sunday, she did!  I invited her to come to the quilt group I go to twice a month, and the next day she came!  She is also new to the town and was also looking for people to quilt with so it's all good!