Lots going on!!!

Dear blogging friends,

As usual, I'm hopping from here to there, and everywhere in between!!!  But I still love reading your blogs and hope to get more posting done on my own!

We took a quick trip last week, and had such a good time!  We went to New York and spent a few days, enjoying the fun and the big city hustle and bustle!  I love to visit New York--been there many times and I never get tired of it!  We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria, and this was the wonderful view from our room:

We always take a Gray Line Tour--it's the best way to see the sights. This time, we took a harbor cruise, too, and that was fun.  It's been years since I've done that.  Here we are, enjoying the sights on a really windy day!

This is a great view of Lower Manhattan, with the new Freedom Tower.  I love the tiny little red helicopter in the upper left--

Because I'm a church organist, no trip would be complete without visiting St. Patrick's! This is the gorgeous and huge organ there:

On the tour, we stopped and saw Strawberry Fields, a memorial to John Lennon in Central Park.  I've seen it several times, and I still feel sad when I visit.  It was decorated for Halloween, and people are always there, singing, crying, and taking pictures.  Sad.

Night time is beautiful in New York--here are the lights at Rockefeller Center, near the skating rink. The flags around it are so beautiful.  I really love New York, and we had a wonderful time!

I actually did a little stitching on the plane!  I am almost finished with this little Prairie Schooler freebie card--a Halloween design!  I'm always stitching on the wrong holiday! But at least I'm stitching!  I am making a solemn vow to start stitching on a Prairie Schooler Santa!  I have all of them and have never stitched a single one!!  That is really too bad because they are so lovely!  I also want to stitch those wonderful freebies from Plum Street Samplers--The 12 Days of Christmas!  I really like those, too!

You may remember that I have been having some work done at the house--I have gotten back most of the upholstery!!!  They were SUPER fast!  I am loving all of it!  Here is a tiny peek of the kitchen chairs...I love leopard!  These were oak chairs with sorta flat bottoms--they puffed them up and they are so comfortable now!  These were at my mother's and had rust velvet seats--I'm not sure what she would think of the leopard--but she'd probably be glad we're enjoying them!  I will post bigger photos when the room is finished!

This week I started my new organist job at the cathedral, and so far it's been good!  (Ha--that's funny because I haven't had to play yet!!)

Thank you for visiting and please come back again!  I still have a small stack to finish, but I don't think I have any Christmas things ready at the moment!  It's time to get the Thanksgiving tree up, so I'll be showing that soon!  Even though I haven't been posting regularly, I've enjoyed seeing what all of you are doing!!

Frances

I love the mail!

Hello blogging friends!

I hope all are doing well and having a lovely Summer. I've been gone on a trip and have much to tell, but will do it on my next post!

However, I did want to show you the wonderful mail that I received!  I went to my mailbox and found a package with beautiful butterfly tape and gorgeous postage stamps on it!  It came all the way from Greece!!!  How exciting is that???

Ariadne sent me a package, containing the book My Dog Skip by Willie Morris.  In reading her blog, I know that she is an avid reader.  She had read this book, and said that it really wasn't her favorite.  I commented to her that it is by a beloved Mississippi author, and that the movie was filmed very near where I live!   Willie Morris is one of many famous Mississippians and was always active in the public and such a Southern Gentleman!  He passed away a few years ago.

Anyway, she offered to send it to me--I haven't read it but I did see the movie!  She was so sweet to do this, and to include some lovely cards and bookmarks from her area.  I just love everything and it made my day to receive it!  Thank you again, Ariadne!

Has anyone read My Dog Skip?  Or read books by our famous Mississippi authors?  Willie Morris, William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Margaret Walker Alexander, John Grisham, Tennessee Williams, Shelby Foote, Walker Percy, Stark Young....the list goes on and on!   I know that your states probably have wonderful writers, too, but I have to admit that I am not well read--it is such a shame, and something I'm always wanting to correct!!  My mother was very well read, and collected books of literary value--not novels, but the classics.  She had a wonderful library and loved all of her books.  It was hard to deal with them when she died!!  I had a dear friend that wanted some, I kept a few, and I donated many to the library and to nursing homes.  She had inventoried her books, and had 571! Oh my!!!  But they were her treasures!

I have done some stitching!!  I will show that on my next post!  I also have a growing stack of items (ornaments!!!) to finish, and I am really itching to get to those and see how they all turn out!  Stitching is fun--yes!!  But creating the finished product is fun, too!!

Thank you for stopping by and please visit again soon!

Frances

A little trip!

Hello fellow bloggers!

I am going on a little trip to Fargo, North Dakota!!  Why Fargo??  Well, I'm very active in my local music club, and this is the national meeting that I attend every year.  It moves around the country, and this year it's in Fargo!  I haven't been there before, but I'm looking forward to visiting somewhere new!

I intend to do some stitching on the plane, and on my layover in Chicago.  I'm taking the other two Sled Dudes and hope to get those stitched so I can finish them on the little sleds when I get back on Sunday!

Aren't these the cutest things???  I really enjoyed making the Santa, and I can't wait to get the other two done!

Thanks for stopping by!  This is a quick post because I'm in the middle of packing and doing my usual worry about taking the right clothes!!  How silly is that!!!!  

Frances