Monday, February 12, 2018

Mardi Gras Fun!

Dear Blogging Friends:

It's Fat Tuesday tomorrow, and then Ash Wednesday, and my days as Cathedral Organist are full until Easter!!!  Wow!  Time flies so fast!!!

I have my Mardi Gras Tree set up in the foyer, and it's pretty similiar to last year's.  It always makes me smile and I love the bright colors!  I have said before that I grew up an hour and a half from New Orleans, and we always went to the big parade-Rex-on Fat Tuesday.  Such happy memories from so many years ago!


Omar walked by as I was taking photos, and decided to sit and pose!  Silly kitty!


This is a fun little ornament of a mask, and directly above it is my little voodoo doll!  She has a blue feather on her head!  It's so cute--I bought it in New Orleans several years ago.  Of course, I've never tried to use it!  haha


These are two fun ornaments I stitched.  I especially like the comedy/tragedy masks, because I put vintage Mardi Gras beads across the very bottom of it.  And I like the plaid ribbon hanger.  Such fun!


This is a fleur de lis and I like the Mardi Gras colors.  You can't see it well, but there's a little matching charm and black tassel at the top left of it, where the hanger attaches. My mother loved New Orleans and went there often when SHE was growing up.  When I cleaned out her apartment after she died, there were many, many beads and she had 4 or 5 pieces of paper with the Mardi Gras colors on them--I guess she didn't want to forget!!!  If you aren't familiar, I'll share them:
GOLD for power, PURPLE for justice, GREEN for faith


I have described this one before, but for those who might be new, I have feathers at the top left and bottom right that belonged to my mother's friend's bird named Joe!  He was an Amazon Blue Front Parrot and regularly dropped feathers, so his owner saved them for me because I like feathers!!!  I have all colors and sizes.  They are so sweet!

Speaking of birds, we have had white pelicans in the bay of my neighborhood lately.  It was so exciting and we all would walk or drive by, just to admire them.  It seems that they were migrating back to Manitoba from the Gulf of Mexico.  I guess they liked the looks of things here, and stopped in mid-Mississippi for a little break so they could entertain us!  Aren't they wonderful??  They've moved on now, but we will never forget the excitement they brought!

 

Aren't they beautiful??  There were so many and we all loved watching them.


This photo was taken from the bridge, right by my house.  For some odd reason, they all were gathering in the narrow part of the bay.  It looks like they're on top of each other!  If you look closely, you can see more of them swimming toward the big group, in a line.  They stayed, for the most part, in a line.  Fascinating.  Also, you can see some egrets on the bank, just checking things out!


In addition, these ducks came through, too.  Lesser Scaup--I've not seen those and they are so lovely.


Speaking of egrets, you might remember the photo on my last post about them being everywhere.  They were here a little before the pelicans.  Later, I took this behind my house.  They were all gathered together, having a nice visit.  Some were even in the trees!  So funny!  Egrets are here all the time, but just not so many!

My "regular" birds are here, as usual, and are still being enjoyed.  I feed them all the time and wish the squirrels would get out of my feeders!!!  Oh well, they have to eat, too!


I'll leave you with another photo from Zoe's birthday.  She's my sweet girl!

Thank you for stopping by and please come back soon!
Frances

9 comments:

marly said...

What a pile of pelicans! Loved the photos of nature and the lovely area where you live. Never been to New Orleans, have friends that love it, but I am not a crowd lover!

Pudding et Biscotte said...

A gorgeous and very festive Mardi Gras tree. This is a very good purpose to make cross-stitch smalls. The crowd of pelicans is impressive and so must be their "singing". Have a nice day!

Shelly said...

Wonderful post Frances! Gosh, we tried to make it back to Mardi Gras this year but things didn't pan out:( But your tree, love it! I wish there were more Mardi Gras style cross stitch out there. Maybe a search on Etsy will result in more patterns. All those birds, wow! Sometimes we get Canadian geese passing through, landing in some of the lakes around here. Best wishes on your busy organist days coming up.

Carol said...

What a fun tree, Frances! I bet you are the only stitcher with a Mardi Gras tree. Loved all the bird photos and your sweet Zoe--she sure is growing up quickly!

Angela Tucker said...

Your tree is fabulous, Frances. And all those bird pictures? WOW I have a few birds that visit my backyard, but not quite in those numbers. LOL You and Zoe are both beautiful. You are such a good grandma. SMILE

diamondc said...

Frances: Zoe is so cute what an adorable photo of you both.
We have pelicans here in the summer, the DNR wants to get rid of them because they eat so many of the fish population, they are so much fun to watch, they can be very entertaining.
I am in love with your Mardi Gras tree, the umbrella is the perfect touch and Omar what a sweetheart.

Blessings
Catherine

Beth said...

What a lovely post Frances! The Mardi Gras tree in green, gold and purple is stunning as is Omar! Enjoyed all your bird photos and your darling grand-daughter. I am sure with your job as organist the Lenten days will fly by.

Karen said...

Omar complements your Mardi Gras tree perfectly!

Kaisievic said...

Your Mardi Gras tree makes me smile, too!