2nd Quarter Potluck Recap

Image: Polly Esther on the right with her arm over Pierson on the left sitting on a shelf in front of an open gray backpack.

Hello Sockmonkeys!

I'm playing catch-up again. Here is a quick mostly pictoral recap of our 2nd Quarter Potluck, which was held on April 11th, 2026 at the Graham Pierce County Library.

Image: White table with a silver crock pot in the far corner along with an assortment of pastries, chips, bagged veggies and disposable containers.

As is usually the case, though our group was small, we had plenty to eat! Please let this remind you that even if you cannot bring food, you are welcome to join us, because there is always more than enough to go around.

Image: A white board with the word Welcome in black above the word Sockmonkeys in a reddish brown stylized font and a small Sockmonkey drawing in the lower left. This display was drawn by Jen.

Thank you again to Jen for setting up the use of the room in advance with the librarians in Graham. It is often difficult to get space with the limited amount of lead time the library system allows, so it was nice to have this one all settled and not have to rush to get it reserved.

Image: Food table in the back and two vertical tables closer to the camera, each with one writer (Linda on the left and Joann on the right) sitting at them looking toward the camera. Assorted backpacks, bags, laptops and other things are on top of or next to the various tables.

A few of our regulars weren't able to make it this time, which is understandable, but we had a great time, got a bit of work or planning done and also had time to catch up with each other. Even if you're not a regular, please know that you're welcome to join us at any of our future potlucks. It can be hard to build community online when everyone has their own preferred app they follow, so these potlucks are a way of attempting community building in person.

Image: Jen Edwards at the shared table, food in front of her, with Polly Esther and Pierson in the background.

Thanks again to Jen for reserving the room, for helping set things up and for the other photos in this blog post!

We have a room reserved for our 3rd quarter potluck. Details will be posted separately very soon.

I hope you're all doing well!

2025 Midway Pie Day and Mug Exchange Recap

Image: A photo of 2 pies, 2 bottles of soda and other assorted snacks on a table next to the wall with some bags on the floor beneath it.

Hello Sockmonkeys!

I have a few different things to post about, but I thought I'd get this one up first so it doesn't get buried.

Image: One Sockmonkey writer at a table with her laptop, a cupboard in the background in front of the windows with Polly Esther, Pierson and other Sockmonkeys on top of it.

Many thanks to xwordslingerx for getting to the library before I did. And thank you to the librarians at the University Place library for unlocking the door to the room for her so she could set up while I was still on the freeway.

Image: Two tables with one Sockmonkey writer a piece at them. The table on the left has an open laptop facing the camera and the table in the distance holds the wrapped mugs for the Mug Exchange.

We had a small but fun group at this Midway event - and far more food than we could eat (as evidenced by the photo of the table at the top of this post). It was great to see them again, to catch up, and to hear a bit about each other's current projects. 

Image: A wooden cupboard in front of some windows. On top of the cupboard sit the mugs from the Mug Exchange, our mascots Polly Esther and Pierson, and the Sockmonkey bucket of Sockmonkeys.

There wasn't any need for the usual tickets to decide whose turn it was to pick a mug, but that was okay. It was still fun watching the mugs be opened, looked at and talked about. And, as is tradition, they were posed with our mascots for their posting online. In the photo above, from left-to-right are: a curvy red and white striped mug; Polly Esther; a black mug that reads "You Octopi my Heart"; Pierson the Sock dog; A green Christmas Tree shaped mug; and the Sockmonkey bucket of Sockmonkeys. I hope the others enjoy using their mugs - I know I'll enjoy using mine!

I know there were various writing and library events going on elsewhere, which is why a few Sockmonkeys (and maybe more...) who usually attend weren't able to make it. Here's hoping that's not the case for our Winter Potluck and Blind Book Exchange. As stated at the end of the last post, it will be given its own post, but, in order for people to have time to mark it on their calendar, just remember that it is scheduled on Saturday, December 6th from 1 - 3 p.m. 

Hope to see some of you then!

Polly Esther and Pierson visit Gig Harbor for the first time

 

Polly Esther and Pierson on a stick in a bed of rocks in front of the Blue and white Gig Harbor Pierce County Library sign.

Polly Esther and Pierson in front of some of the lovely shrubs outside the library.

I meant to post this on the blog earlier, but didn't get to it (although I did commemorate the event on our Instagram the day it happened).

The next to last in person write-in of November 2023 was at the Gig Harbor Library, a location that hasn't seen a Sockmonkey write-in since before I became a Municipal Liaison. It was a lovely day out, which made it a nice day for such a long drive and a nice day to get some photos of our mascots visiting a new location for the first time.

It was an interesting location and I like that the courtyard in front of the library has two round metal tables with matching benches, so writing could be done outside in warmer weather.

I met a very nice Sockmonkey writer at this write-in. It's possible that so few of the people who signed up showed up because it was the last Saturday of the month right after Thanksgiving, so I may try again and pick a different date in the future. We'll have to see how scheduling goes with other locations.

Just thought I'd post this quick update to add more of our mascots' adventures to our official regional records.