"Collections"

Walked with Susan, had breakfast, then loaded up the car with selected items for the "collections" display, and got to the clubhouse by 10:30. 
It took me a good 45 minutes to set everything else.  I brought, of course, only a minuscule amount of the hundreds of Dionne Quintuplet memorabilia I have--I didn't have access to a Mack truck--along with a good-sized container, two baskets, and carryalls for my doll collection.
In truth, the latter isn't very impression.  I just decided to bring the dolls because I wanted to see what was in the container, which hadn't been opened since we moved here more than ten years ago.  There happened to be some nice "ethnic" type dolls and some repros of baby dolls, but compared to others I've seen, the group is pretty mundane.  The exception was my own doll, "Linda," which I proudly displayed along with a picture of Aunt Maggie and a note that she made the clothes Linda is wearing, and had made matching ones for me.
There were some nice displays of a variety of "collections," including several of paintings, and one each of photographs, needlepoint, plus a big dollhouse handmade by one of my neighbors.  Susan showed her quilts and wall hangings, and Gary L. his trains and boats, but the truly spectacular area was Betty McG.'s needlework. 
Betty had on display a beautiful Christmas tree skirt, very large and intricately laid out in a kind of petal arrangement.  The top included appliqués taken from Betty's wedding dress and, get this, the lining was heavy, cream-colored satin from her mother's wedding dress, worn in 1940!  Betty brought other wall hangings and table runners, also; each one was absolutely exquisite.  I'm not a big fan of what used to be called "the womanly arts."   Knitting, needlepoint, and so on always seemed about as creative as following a cake recipe, but Betty's work is in a whole other league.  I've never seen anything like them.
We broke up at 3:00 and I packed up, laboriously carrying all my stuff to the car (I repeat myself here: "Why aren't I skinny as a rail?"), helped by those nice guys, Jay P. and Marty H.
Unpacked and put away, then jumped in the car and drove to Manahawkin.  Those stuffed shells Susan had given me were calling my name and I bought sausage to go with them.  Stopped at the Stafford Library to see if Aline was available for dinner, but she declined, saying she'd call me later.  She did and asked about Tuesday, but I have the "Sunrise Sparklers" (why did I ever join?) dinner and we made a date for tomorrow for early lunch, as she has to work at 2:00.
Got a surprise Skype call from the little girls and their Dad in Singapore and enjoyed it so much.  V. and V. get prettier every time I see them.
All in all, an interesting day doing something different, on which I'm generally always keen.