Happy Easter!

Hello Blogging Friends!

Thank you for all of your lovely comments on my last post.  I appreciate your visits and hope to be better in replying to your comments soon!

I have my Easter tree up, and it looks like Spring in my house! 

I'm planning my Easter lunch on Sunday.  My son and his family are coming this year.  However, since I invited friends last year, I've asked them back for this year--the more, the merrier!  I just finished setting the table.  I hope Omar doesn't get up there and sit in every plate...

We are in Holy Week at the moment, and that's about all I've been working on for a while.  I love the services, and it does take much preparation for everything to go well.  The Cathedral was beautifully decorated for Palm Sunday.  We had a procession with singing, and it was stunning.  Below is a picture of the altar area with all the palm decorations.

I especially enjoy Chrism Mass, where the sacred oils are blessed and given out to the parishes.  All of the priests of the Diocese come, and renew their vows.  Representatives from each church come to accept the oils for their churches.  The photo below is during the Eucharistic prayers, when all the priests come forward to concelebrate Mass.  I love seeing them up there together. in their matching vestments.

I don't have much more to report at the moment!  Things will calm down tremendously after Easter is over!  My birds are coming back to the feeders.  I had so many during the winter.  Then they were gone almost instantly one day!  Oh yes-I went to Texas last week, as a guest for their music convention.  I had a great time and heard some beautiful recitals.  I was the featured speaker at their banquet. I don't have any new photos of Omar or Zoe, but I know that I will after Sunday!

Happy Easter and please come visit again soon!

Frances

Happy St. Paddy's!!!

Hello Blogging Friends!!

Hope you're all lucky and happy, and full of green beer!

I've had my St. Paddy's tree up for a couple of weeks.  I always enjoy this one, too!  (I probably say that about each one!)  I love green, and this tree certainly gives me that "green overload!"

This is the tree from a couple of views.  And below are several close up photos of various ornaments.  I think the newest is the Lizzie Kate "Luck to You" with little beads I put around the edges.  The second close up has a little green pillow with a blue and green checked ribbon.  I pinned a little antique shamrock pin with a pipe on it.  That belonged to my "Nannie" who died about 52 years ago and she was in her 80s at that time.  It's really old and so worn out.  The shamrock is wire and little green threads were woven through the wire, under the little white pipe.  Almost all of the threads are gone, but I think it's really sweet.

 

You will notice I put green lights on the tree!  Also, there are many green beads.  We have a St Paddy's Day parade here, and I have tons of green beads from that!

I love stitching St. Patrick's Day ornaments!  I have such cute little shamrock fabrics!  I have a few patterns sitting here, patiently waiting for me to stitch them!  Haha   I need to do that, so I can use my cute fabrics!

My dear friend Janie came for a visit, and we had such a good time, as always.  She was able to finish up a couple of ornaments.  I did some stitching on a Christmas Cardinal, but it's not finished yet.

I always have to show a photo of my "two favorites!"
First is Omar.....I decided to clean the bottom of the windows...where the window closes.  It had dirt piled up there.  I opened the windows and got wet paper towels and cleaned it up.  The dirt comes through the screen and collects on the bottom of the sill outside.  They were so dirty!  When I opened the window, Omar jumped in the window and smelled the outside air, looking like a bunny!  ha  He sat there all afternoon.  I didn't feel I could leave the room because the screens are just barely screwed in and I was afraid he would knock the screen out and go for a neighborhood run!!!!  However, it was so nice to have the fresh air in the house!  I can't really do it now....all the pollen is everywhere!
I went on the patio to take Omar's picture, and he's really busy telling me something!  Silly kitty!

My son sent me this photo of Zoe. I laughed and laughed when I got it!  They were teaching her how to take a selfie with the phone!  That curl on top is so funny!!!

I guess that's about it for right now!  I'm getting out the Easter stuff and will get everything changed up quickly.  Holy Week is almost here!  EEEEK!  I love the services, but I play for 6 days straight!  It's a lot to keep up with, but I've got it pretty organized, so it usually goes off without a hitch!  (fingers crossed!)  I will post photos of the Cathedral with its Easter decorations.  It's always stunning!

One thing I forgot to show you on my Mardi Gras post was my lion on the front porch!  He was at my mother's house, and came to live with me when she died!  I found a large plastic bag in her closet with a Santa hat (with a little neck strap) and a mask and beads.  Those were the lion's finery for Christmas and Mardi Gras!  She would decorate him and had his things all packed up in a bag.  He can also wear the mask for Halloween!  Anyway, here is Mr. Lion in his Mardi Gras getup!  He's too cute!  I should try to find him some bunny ears!

I don't have as many birds as I had several weeks ago.  I'm sure some headed home to somewhere in the North.  I've got to do a little reading on that.  I still have my feeders, and birds are still coming, but not in the huge numbers they were before!  

Thanks for stopping by, and please come again soon!

Frances

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

Valentines Day is on the way!

Dear Blogging Friends:

We are almost finished with January....time certainly does fly!

I put up my Valentines Tree, and have almost finished my Mardi Gras Tree, too!  I just need to add the beads!

Since these always fall close together, I have them both up at the same time!  The Valentines Tree is the super skinny one I put in the Dining Room.  I love these ornaments, and enjoy seeing them each year.  This tree always seems happy and fun to me, and I love the colors.  I've always read that children really love Valentines Day--they love to trade the cards at school and there's usually a party with cupcakes and some kind of red drink!!!  Valentines was my husband's birthday, but it doesn't really make me sad about that.  I just hate that he's not here, getting old while I do!  I guess we'll always think of him as young.

I also love my little monkeys that are so cute!!!  I have three of them and they make me smile.  In addition to my stitched ornaments, I have several bought ones that are fun and sparkly, as well as some vintage Valentines from my cousin's mother-in-law!  Aren't these fun??  I love the one with the little faded honeycomb part, by the pink monkey!  So sweet!  The lady would be in her upper 90s now, so the Valentines are probably more than 80 years old.  I love these sweet ornaments--need to make a few more!  The little "Bee my Valentine" was a discontinued store model that I bought in Memphis.  It had blue fabric around it, which I didn't think looked like a Valentine, so I removed the blue added the pink fabric and ribbon so it would look more like Valentines!

We've had snow twice this winter...unheard of here in Mississippi!!!  I've been feeding my birds and they are starting to look REALLY round and happy!!  I sometimes fill one feeder 3 times during a day.  Possibly I'm being a little overprotective, but they almost look like they're smiling when I refill!  The bright green "finch sock" was on sale, so I got it to try it, and they caught on immediately!  Sometimes there will be 5 or 6 goldfinches hanging on it, just eating away!

 

The egrets are everywhere!  This is the creek beside my house and I just love seeing them all sitting around and taking it easy!  There's one funny bird perched on the railing in this photo!  I guess he wanted a better view of it all!

Sweet Zoe had her First Birthday this month!  She was so precious and funny!  She played with the gift bags and ribbons more than the toys, but that's to be expected!  She was dressed in her mother's little Chinese silk outfit, but Zoe was too big for it and the top wouldn't button, so they left it open with a shirt under it!  How creative!  And she was playing with this big clump of ribbon, so I put it on her head!  She didn't leave it on long, but it was so cute!

The other night, I couldn't find Omar, but I knew he was hiding somewhere.  I went all around the house, looking, and came upon this sight!  This little doll bed was made by my grandfather for my mother when she was 5.  It was originally painted "apple green".  That's how my mother described it.  Anyway, it's stained into the wood and this is the best it will strip.  It's rickety and not safe, except for toys.  I use it every year at Christmas to hold the gifts I have for my choir, and I distribute them at the party.  Well, now you know that I haven't put the little bed away yet!!  haha--soon!  Omar was in there resting, and totally ignoring me while I walked around and called for him!  Silly cat!

Well, I guess that's about all for now!  Thanks for stopping by and please come again!

I'll show you the Mardi Gras tree soon--just gotta get those beads on it!

Frances

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Dear Friends:

It's hard to believe that 2017 flew by so fast, and is now over!  However, I welcome 2018 and hope it will be a wonderful year!

I changed out my cross stitch Christmas tree to New Year's!  I only have 4 New Year's cross stitched ornaments...maybe a resolution to make more is in order!!!  (Probably not--just another resolution to break!!)

I changed out the ornaments and put some party horns in the same topper I used for Christmas!  I'm dreading taking it all down, but I'll get it done.

I did want to show a few of my cross stitched Christmas ornaments that I didn't show in my previous post....I have loved these Mary Beale ornaments for years!!!  Aren't the colors pretty??

 

I showed our SNOW in my last post!  That's all gone now but we've had freezing weather!  It was 18 degrees yesterday!  Unheard of!!!!  I forgot to unplug my fountain, so look at it now!  I don't know if the pump will work when it warms up (I did unplug it when I woke up that morning and saw the ice).  If it doesn't work, I'll have to get another one.  They aren't expensive, but I'll have to get it before the handyman comes back!  It's always something, right????

You know I've been enjoying my birds lately.  I don't know if they can lick the ice! haha  I guess I could put a pan of water out there on the table when the temperature is above freezing.  It was today, but just barely, so nothing really melted.

One visitor came and I was very distressed to see him!  He is so regal, but he would also like to eat all of my little friends!!  This is a Cooper's Hawk.  I happened to look up and see all the birds fly away at once and then a flash.  I knew what it must be.  Luckily, he didn't get to eat anyone then.  I grabbed my phone to get a photo and then I ran out on the patio and told him to go away, which he did!  I'm sure glad no one saw that!  haha

I received another lovely gift from Catherine!  Isn't this beaded snowflake gorgeous??  She had sent me some smaller ones, and then this big lovely one!  I put it on the tree immediately and have really enjoyed its sparkle!  Thank you so very much, Catherine!!  You know how I love my trees!!!

Oh yes--the Christmas music at the Cathedral was beautiful!  I was so proud of my choir.  We were able to hire a few professional singers to come in and boost the singing, and we had a brass quintet and a couple of woodwinds, as well.  It was lovely!  The church was decorated beautifully.  Everything was great!  Now, a little rest until Lent!

I always have to show my two favorite "little folks"!  It's funny that some people don't like to wear the little paper crown from New Year's crackers!  Zoe couldn't wait to pull hers off!

And, I was actually stitching on a little ornament, and Omar decided he needed some attention!  Omar loves his mama!!

Thank you for stopping by and please come back soon!  I am trying to be more organized in 2018!  I hope I'll get more stitching done, more cleaning done, and throw out a bunch of junk that shouldn't be here!  I'm not making a resolution, though, because I never keep them!

See you soon!  Happy Stitching!

Frances

Snow and Christmas!

Dear Blogging Friends:

It's that wonderful time of year now!  I do love Christmas!  However, it's quite busy for those of us who serve as church musicians!  But the music is so lovely now!

I even got to visit with Santa!  Of course I told him I was a good girl!!

Most of you know that I live in Mississippi.  That means that we have plenty of warm weather, most of the year!  I was quite surprised to wake up and find this a few days ago:

 

Marly suggested that everyone should show their decorations, and of course, I'm last minute, but here they are!!  Yes, it's time to show my trees this year!  I ended up putting up 5 this year!  I didn't do as much last year, and I guess I'm just feeling a little bit better this year.  My husband had only been gone a few months last year and I just did the best I could.  Things are better this year.

Here is Omar with the big tree in the living room.  This is the tree that is our family tree and where Santa came for years!

 

This year, I decided to put up my glass tree.  I hadn't put it up for about 3 or 4 years.  It was time!  It's always been my favorite, and all of a sudden I had too many ornaments for one tree....I must really like them a lot!  Ha!  So, I decided to put them on 2 trees and just enjoy them that way.  One is in the music room and one is in the dining room. The 2 rooms are across the foyer from each other.  I have some Christopher Radko, as well as some Dollar Tree ornaments, all hanging together!  I love them!

This is my cross stitch tree.  It's the same small tree that I use for all the different holidays.  I really need to do some more stitching and have a bigger tree for them!  Maybe one day!  Even though I'm a cat person, I have always loved Snoopy, so I have some Snoopys sitting under the tree!!  

This is taken from my foyer, and you can see the big tree and one of the glass trees, along with the little cross stitch tree.  The other glass tree is in the dining room to the left, but I am not good enough with the photography to get it in the same photo!

Here's the little pencil tree in the breakfast room.  It's got Mississippi State stuff on it.  I didn't go to MSU--my husband and son did.  I'm hoping to send the box of ornaments to my son's house after Christmas.....I think they need it more than I do!!

My music tree and the Star Trek/Space trees didn't get done this year.  But that's ok.  There's next year!  And I think the Space stuff needs to go to my son's house, as well!  I was lucky this year and got my wonderful handyman to come and set up all the trees for me!  It was so much easier than waiting for family or someone to come and get it done.  That big one is quite heavy and awkward, so this worked out great.  And yes, he's coming back to take them down and pack them up!

I didn't do a lot of other decorating, but I put some balls around in pretty bowls.  I used a few of my mother's old glass bowls, and they look nice and hold great memories. These are some antique balls from my husband's mother.  They're sitting on my mother's furniture and by her lamp.  I love having family pieces around.

We can't have a post without precious Zoe!  Here is a reindeer, happy but refusing to wear her antlers!

Cross stitch friends are the greatest!  I have met so many lovely people through this blog!  My dear friend Catherine of I Love to Stitch sent me a lovely package recently!  It was a long day, and I was so excited to find an envelope from her in the mailbox!  Look at these lovely things!

She sent a wonderful chart, which I love, as well as some sparkly fabric that looks like snow!!  So pretty!  And she made a scissor fob that I love--I don't even own one, so I'm thrilled to have this one.  And she also made 2 beautiful beaded snowflakes, which are so sparkly and shiny!  Here's one on my tree!  I just love them and appreciate being thought of!!!!  Thank you so much, Catherine!

I have some closeup photos of ornaments, that I will post before Christmas!  I love to just sit and admire my trees!  I'll be back soon with those photos!  Plus some bird photos, too!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  Come back and visit again soon!
Frances