It's all Fred's fault!
That's what I told our guests who ventured out into the cold and the rain to welcome us into our new home. If it hadn't been for Fred, we wouldn't be in Floyd, we wouldn't have built this house and we wouldn't be having a housewarming party. As you can see, Fred took this all very seriously.
You see him here signing copies of his new book, Slow Road Home. Gretchen and several other guests took the opportunity to buy copies for friends who keep asking, "What's so special about Floyd?" (Click on images to enlarge)
The housewarming party turned out very well in spite of the cold rain. We had a cheerful fire blazing in the wood stove, a tent on the back deck, and guests kept discovering other people they hadn't seen in years!
One of the results of blogging is you get connected to people you would not otherwise meet. Fred First introduced us to Doug Thompson and the two of them introduced us to many other people in Floyd.
Once we started visiting Floyd, we met another whole network of people through Michael Shortt, our contractor and Betty Lineberry of Eagles Wings Estates.
When it came time to celebrate our housewarming, we found we had developed a lot of close friendships in a relatively short period of time.
Country living means potluck dinners which are a wonderful way to build closer ties with friends. You get a delightfully different view of someone when they bring food to share with you.
I smoked a turkey and it reached 180 degrees just before the first guests arrived. It turned out fine and the 16 pound bird was totally consumed by the end of the party.
Gretchen made hors d'oeuvres and guests brought all kinds of wonderful food dishes. We even had venison, thanks to Colleen Redman's husband Joe, shown here talking with Doug Thompson.
Animated conversations, happy people, and wonderful food. It was a memorable experience. If you look through the photos, you will see bloggers Fred First, Doug Thompson, Sean Pecor, Sean Sharp, and Colleen Redman. 
An impromptu performance by Bernie Coveney, Sally Walker, and Chris Luster brought the house down. It was the most enjoyable party I have ever attended and it was all due to Fred First and his Fragments from Floyd blog.
As an incidental side effect of preparing for this party, I was prompted to finish the yard and my workshop. We are finally moved in and we are ready to begin the next phase of our lives here in Floyd.
Stay tuned...
It's great to relive such a warm and spiritful evening again through seeing the photos here, David.
It's Fred's fault that I have a blog too!
Posted by: colleen | May 09, 2006 at 08:45 AM
The cold outside could not effect the warm and loving feeling in your house that night. It was a great night with great people in a great place. Thanks Bernie
Posted by: Bernie | May 09, 2006 at 11:40 PM
It is easy for to image what a exciting party through your photo on your Blog.
I am a college student in China
Posted by: napster | May 09, 2006 at 11:44 PM
Looks like a good time was had by all. Wish I had been there. There were lots of faces I did not know. Looking forward to seeing you soon
Love Betty
Posted by: Betty Lineberry | May 11, 2006 at 09:01 PM