Our Sixth Year

Buca di Beppo

February 21, 2009

Rusty Bucket Corner Tavern

January 17, 2009

Holiday Party
Buckeye Boat Club

December 13, 2008

Red Hat Christmas Party
The Clintonville Women's Club

November 15, 2008

We celebrated with 10 other Red Hat Chapters at The Clintonville Women's Club in November.  We had brunch, shopping, singing, and of course presents!  Ask Flashing Diva how she enjoyed her beautiful gift box!  Mrs. Claus paid us a special visit and checked her husband's list to see if our names where on it.  He was still on the fence about the ladies in our chapter.......

Cat's Meow & Pine Tree Barn

October 18, 2008

The air was chilly and the sky was clear for our journey to find Chester the cat at in Wooster.  

A few flowers got carried away on the wind and wandered off course.  After a few phone calls and some helpful directions, they arrived safe and sound for our tour of Cat's Meow.  I'll bet their GPS systems will be safely tucked in their purses next time they leave home!  

Our tour began with a short film that explained a little about the 25 year history of the little black cat known as Chester.  We wandered through the Village Green and looked at all the displays in the "Mewseum".  We saw the first pieces that made Cat's Meow famous and learned a few details and little known "Cat Facts" that founder Faline Fay Jones hid within her designs.

Our tour guide showed us the steps in creating are very own "Make n' Take".  She was very helpful and didn't mind repeating the directions as we each took our turn.

We happened upon a barbershop quartet in the village.  To entertain us Princess Mary and Madame Butterfly joined them in song.  After our serenade we made our way to the gift shop to see hundreds of wooden designs to collect and enjoy.  Several ladies were already collectors and after our visit there are a few new collectors.

With purchases in hand we traveled to our next  destination, The Pine Tree Barn.  We arrived early for our reservation but they were able to seat us.  We quickly decided what to order for lunch.     The slogan "Dessert First" is taken very seriously by us Red Hatters so we dug right in....... raspberry pie, brownie sundaes, Mississippi mud pie.... we really tried to save room for our lunch!

The Pine Tree Barn is a great place to shop.  Each room is filled with beautiful furniture and everything under the sun.  They have a year round Christmas shop and there were beautiful Christmas trees and ornaments displayed though all three floors.  They sell everything including the kitchen sink!  

Some ladies shopped, some decided to take the scenic room home and "leaf peep", and a few adventurous ladies walked around the outdoors.  Two adventurous lades wandered through the cut-your-own Christmas trees and walked down to the "stick out".  They burned off their lunch calories on the way back up the hill.

It was a beautiful day spent with good friends having a great time.

"Gossip Tour" at Ohio Village & Lunch at Hoover Grille

September 20, 2088

The Victorian Bouquets traveled back in time and met the widow Mrs. Baugh who greeted us at the entrance of Ohio Village. As owner of the boarding house, and being a good Christian woman, she never allows the men guests to have ladies in their rooms.  This one evening she heard a familiar laugh coming form upstairs and she caught......  

Well that was more than she could take so she had to visit the good Doctor who prescribed medicine for her vapors.  Really GOOD medicine which, when taken, gives her no cares in the world!  We visited the Doctors home to see if she could get another prescription but all we found was a few skeletons in his closet. He had just left to go visit the carpenter.  To hear Mrs. Baugh tell it, the carpenter was lacking in furniture business due to the new factory in Cincinnati that mass produced furniture.  He'd decided to change his profession so he became the undertaker.  He'd also lost some of his faculties after following close behind the town folk and quickly measuring them for future business.

We visited several business establishments as we strolled through the town.  Mrs. Baugh shared several stories about Molly Malone, who had been a widow for a year, taking a shining to Mr. Schwartz, a widower of only two weeks.  It appears that Mr. Schwartz was caught with Mrs. Harper late one evening down by the Livery.  Well, to make a long story.... oops, we mustn't say too much more..... Mrs. Baugh never gossips!

The school was our final stop in the village as we said goodbye to Mrs. Baugh.  We broke up into two groups for a tour of the museum.  Mistress of the Frugal Warderobe Extraordinaire Cyndy let a group through the natural history section and Marchesa of the Nimble Thimble Liz took a group through the Ohio history section.  Both Cyndy and Liz, who volunteer at the museum, are very knowledgeable in their subject areas.  We all learned a little bit more about our wonderful state.

After a quick stop at the gift shop we headed to Hoover Reservoir for lunch at the Hoover Grille.  The service was wonderful and so was the food.  It was a great ending to a great day.  Thank you Cyndy and LIz, everyone enjoyed themselves and are looking forward to another trip to the village. 

Movie Nights in Rodanthe

September 18, 2088

It's so much fun to have a girls night out with your friends to enjoy a good movie.  We have received free tickets for the pre-screening of the Richard Gere and Diane Lane movie "Nights in Rodanthe" based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks. We gathered at the Rave Polaris Theater and had a few minutes before the movie started to enjoy the arcade.  Grand Dutchess the Majestic Provider of Cachinnation (say that three times fast) and Flashing Diva enjoyed a "freindly" game of air hockey while Princess Daughter even spent some quality time with her old nemisis Ms. Pacman. 

Since this was a pre-screening, the theater filled up fast.  We were fortunate to get into the theater early to get our seats.  Late arrivers had to head to the front rows.  The movie was very good.  Richard Gere just needs to walk across the screen, that's all he has to do.  We'd highly recommend everyone seeing this film.  Remember, this movie is based on a Nicholas Sparks novel so bring some hankies!

The Blueberry Patch

August 16, 2088

"I found my thrill....on Blueberry Hill."
Actually we had a great lunch and found a trillion blueberries to pick!

It was a beautiful sunny day as we drove to Lexington and the Blueberry Patch.  Upon arriving we wandered through the nursery and were amazed at all the plants and unique garden accessories they carried. Since we were early for lunch we had extra time to enjoy our favorite pastime, shopping!

It's always fun to poke around in gift shops, you never know what you'll find.  They had everything blueberry; jam, jelly, muffin mix, syrup, recipes, fresh made pie, and already picked buckets of fresh blueberries.  Of course they had all types of gift items including some nautical decorations and even some treats for our canine friends.  We even found a Red Hat lady for sale.

The wait staff at Blossom's Cafe was very friendly and made us feel right at home. We ordered quiche, chicken salad with blueberries, sandwiches, and soup.  They serve all types of tea and even have a blueberry iced tea.  Of course no meal is complete at a blueberry patch without a generous piece of fresh blueberry pie.  In true Red Hat fashion, some of us decided to enjoy our dessert FIRST!

With our tummies full and our purchases tucked away in our cars, we ventured off to the blueberry patches to fill our plastic buckets with the sweet fruit. We found a couple of rows and went to town picking bunches of blueberries.  Eating the berries as we picked is a big no, no so we tried our best to follow the rules.  Let's just say an occasional berry never quite made the bucket.  If you drop a berry on the ground does the 10 second rule still stand before it finds it's way into your mouth? 

We each quickly filled our buckets and was heading back to the road when we came across one of our flowers hidden in the bushes.  We hadn't realized she was a  blueberry picking "newbie".  By picking one berry at a time she had managed to pick about a half pint to our 6 pints.  Without the help of her Red Hat sisters, she'd  have still been in the blueberry patch well into the next day picking away.  We showed her how to grab handfuls of berries as we helped her fill her bucket.

With the buckets weighed and paid for we headed home while talking and laughing about what we'd make with all our berries and how we had shared a wonderful afternoon.

Lunch & Movie
Mimi's Cafe & Mamma Mia!

July 19, 2008

"Mamma Mia, here I go again... You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life... Well I can dance with you honey if you think it's funny... I do, I do, I do, I do, I do... I have a dream, a song to sing... Super Trouper lights are gonna find me shining like the sun... If you change your mind, I'm the first in line"

There is nothing better on a hot summer day than sharing a great lunch and a fun movie with your girlfriends. The only decisions we had to make for the day was what we were going to have to eat for lunch.  Mimi's certainly had something for everyone as we checked out the menu.

While we were waiting for lunch to arrive Queen Marilyn was asked by a little diner why were all wearing funny red hats!  Of course she told that him that we were a group of Red Hatters who loved to get dressed up in purple, wear our red hats, and go out together to have a good time and to laugh!  He chuckled and said "that sounds like fun".  

We couldn't get him to put on one of our red hats but we did get the manager to try on Flashing Diva Judy's new hat.  Of course it was only after his picture was taken did she tell him it was made from a bra.  He didn't care, he was having too much fun posing and laughing with us.

We enjoyed a very filling meal and headed to the theater to get our tickets for the musical Mamma Mia!  Of course we had to stop and take a picture in front of the poster for the movie.  Rae, Radiant Ruler of Light even took the time to swap muscle poses with her new found friend the Incredible Hulk.

With tickets in hand we entered the theater and found our seats.  Some sat way up back.  Others opted for the middle, and some had front row seats.  Even though we had had a huge lunch, you can't watch a movie without popcorn and extra butter.  It's a rule!

We laughed, cried, sang familiar songs, and tapped our toes as the movie took us away to the Greek islands and told the story of a young girl on the eve of her wedding and her three possible dads.  As the final credits ended we left the theater is search of the ladies room, then home, singing on the way.

The Wilds

June 21, 2008

Eight adventurous flowers braved the high gas prices and ventured to The Wilds, the largest wildlife conservation center in the world.  10,000 acres of reclaimed land has been turned into a conservation and education center.  We board an air conditioned bus and stared on a 2 1/2 hour guided tour of the grounds.

For several minutes we thought that all we'd see was the tall grass but wait, what is that?  It's a giraffe standing not more than 4 feet away!  A lazy rhino was laying in the road just to the left of us.  This was followed by several nosy camels that circled our bus.

The tour ended just before the rains set in.  We didn't worry about the weather since we were safely eating our lunch at the Overlook when it started to come down.  After a short shopping trip in the gift shop it was time to head home and enjoy the drive.

Derby Day Party - Buckeye Boat Club

May 3, 2008

The weather outside was yucky, but the atmosphere inside was full of hope and optimism as Flowers of the Bouquet created and trained their noble steeds.  Winning tactics were whispered into horse's ears in anticipation to the grand "Boa" of roses and the coveted winning trophy!! 

After final details were applied to the horses, they were placed in the paddock while the jockeys took a well deserved lunch break.  Chicken, salads of various ingredients were served.  There was even a "Kentucky Derby Pie" in honor of the prestigious occasion!  Horses need energy too, and that's no hay or oats on which they nibbled! 

The Derby isn't just about the race.  There's always the show of beautiful "Derby hats" and examples of lovely winning blankets (quilt which was sent to The Duchess of Windsor from her dear Red Hat Sister in Colorado.)  Barbara came with a few of her neighbors. 

It was time for the race!  The horses and riders lined up....  there was Lumpy with his jockey Judy; Quickie ridden by Mary; Limp Biscuit with jockey Queen Marilyn;  Tonia riding Prissy, the most elegant Carousel Queen with Linda; First Flight with rider Ramora; Coal Burner with Patty; Giddy Up & Gone with jockey Anna; Two Step (several behind) with Lois on his back; Mr. Ed with rider Alice, riding Old Pal was Rosemary; and last; but should have been first, was Free Beer (usually, nothing goes faster!) with Cween Carole (they say, the more time you spend with your pet, you begin to look like them....do you see the resemblance?)

THEY'RE OFF!!!  The crowd is cheering and it looks like Lumpy is far outpacing the field!  Oh! No!  Is Giddy Up & Gone losing his jockey, Anna? 

AND THE WINNER IS!!!...........................Joanne riding Buckeye Beauty!!!!!   Cween Carole has the honor of awarding the "Boa of Roses" and the Bouquet's "Horse Trophy".

The day, though gloomy and rainy, proved to be fantastic fun and we look forward to next year's Derby Day, for we have decided to make this an annual event!  However, next year as the horses are preparing to run, we will be fashioning glorious, elegant Derby hats!!

THE END!  

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All Around Westerville & 
Lunch at The Pizza House

April 19, 2008

Four teams raced "around Westerville" to see who would become the first winners of the first annual The Amazing Red Hat Race!

Our "Host" Patty passed out our clues and explained the rules while we formed our teams.

After opening the first clue the cars raced out of the Park & Ride on their way to their first stop.  Each team received the same 12 clues BUT they were in a different order.  Everyone had a "Road Block"....

... and had to find the owner of a big red dog.

And that's NO BULL !!!

There were a few red herrings......

..who's that painting the town red?????  And in WHO'S driveway??????

There were some mean teams......

....and a few delicate unmentionables (oh my)!

We even had to "Yield".

We unscrambled the clues and raced to the final pit stop, The Pizza House, as we didn't want to be "Pattiminated" where our host tallied the scores.  Lunch was served as we waited for the results....

And the winners of the The Amazing Red Hat Race goes to Team Roberta!

Congratulations!

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The Worthington Inn

Our Fifth Anniversary!

March 15, 2008

It' true!  Time flies when you're really having fun!!!  Twenty Two Flowers of the Bouquet celebrated our 5th year of fun, friendship, and Sisterhood as a registered chapter of the Red Hat Society at the beautiful Worthington Inn for lunch.

We not only celebrated our anniversary and the 10th year of the Red Hat Society, but we celebrated St. Patrick's Day and Easter.

Rae, Ruler of Radiant Light and Tonia, Mistress of the Bleeding Heart were sashed and received their official title.

Joyce, a Lady in Waiting (to be sworn in as a Bouquet Flower), learned first hand what happens if one forgets her red hat!  (Those aren't polka dots under that birds tail!)

Of course, there was lots of catching up to do.

After lunch, kazoos were raised and the Birthday Girls honored.  

We can't forget the "Birthday Spanking! 

How many whacks does Radiant Rae get!?!  I have a feeling that once Rae removes that red dress, she'll still be seeing "red" if she backs up to a mirror!  Sorry, the picture of "a pinch to grow an inch" is censored!

It's always hard to end the fun and say goodbye until next month but we're all looking forward to another year of love and laughter as we gather the Flowers of the Victorian Bouquet.

As a Red Hatter never has enough red and purple, or glitz and glamour, Milady Fifi, and Mistress of the Frugal Warderobe, just happen to spot a second hand shop as they leave the luncheon.  I hope they found lots of wonderful treasures to show off at our next event.