New Orleans

We could not have asked for better weather in New Orleans!  Everyone was talking about it because it was so unusual, but the high was 89 with reasonable humidity--wonderful!  Although I walked around while Amelia was in her conference sessions, I didn't buy anything in the Quarter, and when I got tired, went back to the hotel and my Kindle.

Suzie and Bobby took us to Boucherie on Tuesday night--and if you ever have a chance when you are in N.O., you really should experience it. Bobby ordered such an assortment dishes that we all shared.   It was all such a delight for the eye, but then the tasting sensation...!  I didn't even have enough sense to take a picture of all of it on display. Check out the menu and drool.  :)

Every place we ate had wonderful food presented so artistically, but Boucherie was in a class by itself.

Wednesday afternoon, Suzie picked us up after school and took us to Magazine St. where the shops cater to a New Orleans crowd mostly, I think.  What fun!  It was so late we only had time for two shops:  Uptown Needle & CraftWorks (and their Facebook page) and The Bead Shop, which was right next door.  Two little shotgun houses side by side.

The pics come from their Facebook pages.

Couldn't resist a few fat quarters

from Uptown Needle and CraftWorks.
Emma and her daughter own the shop
and offer all kinds of classes and lessons.
Oh, to live in N.O. and be able to take
a few classes!

Or beads from 

the Bead Shop

I'm eager to make some Halloween Eccentrics now!  Just look at those skull beads--perfect!  I was so glad Amelia was able to go with us, but we had to hurry because the shops closed at 6:00.  Rush, rush!

Up early Friday morning for the long drive home, but what a wonderful quick trip!

In the Mail

Several weeks ago, Debra Price from Artisun, asked if I sell my work.  She was interested in the encrusted pieces I was working on a while back and wanted an example to show her art classes.   As I've mentioned before, selling seems like a lot of trouble, and although I occasionally think about opening an Etsy shop, the work involved would be time consuming and would require a great deal of effort, and I'm not good at that sort of thing. Knowing that someone is interested in your work, however, is thrilling; it gives the finished product a worth beyond the pleasure of the making.  So I sent Debra one of the encrusted pieces as a "thank you" for her interest and appreciation.   Yesterday, this lovely candlestick and beeswax candle arrived in the mail.  You can imagine how thrilled I was to take this out and examine all the details!  Picture a big smile all over my face. Thanks so much, Debra, it is a real treasure and will be proudly displayed! And now, for a few more details: Gorgeous!  Even without being able to see the lovely sheen that adds to the beauty, you can see what a beautiful piece this is.

detail of candle

----

I've been adding to the embroidery on the seams of the first section I've been working on for Karen's class.  She recommends double and triple seam embellishment, and I'm happy to oblige.  

You can also see that I've been playing with fonts.  

The garden received some rain last night, but the sun is out this morning.  Cooler, too.  

My two little art quilts for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (minus the one that was 1/2" over in size) are in the mail.  One more thing checked off the ever-lengthening "to do" list.  

Monday Musings

 Two more encrusted pieces finished.  I think I'll give the encrusted muslin a rest until I decide what to do with them.

I visited with my friend Teresa (she of the beautiful library) on Saturday and came away with one of Ricky's wonderful plant hooks fashioned from horseshoes, some interesting corks with wooden tops to use in my doll projects, and some old horseshoes to use for rust dyeing.  Yes, I was supposed to be helping Teresa create her blog, but she ended up doing it pretty much on her own.

Take a peek at Teresa's new blog, Views from My Highland Cottage and see their beautiful house and some of Ricky's creations.

It appears that along with the entire middle section of the country, we should expect some serious storms this afternoon.  Such a contrast to the beautiful day we had yesterday.

The highlight of my Sunday occurred yesterday morning when 4 cardinals began swooping through the yard, briefly lighting on the fence or in trees, then taking off again as if playing chase.  It finally dawned on me that although they all seemed bright, one of them might be a female with an entourage of prospective suitors.  It was a brilliant display whatever the reason.

Have a great week!

Monday Musings

I'm such a doofus.  My camera was on the table ready to go, but when we got to the party, I realized that I'd forgotten it.  I had planned to take pictures of Ricky & Teresa's wonderful house all decorated for Mardi Gras, all the lovely food, old friends, etc.  It was frustrating to realize that I couldn't.

Here is a pic from last year of Teresa's library, which I adore.  This is only the corner, there are more shelves and books out of sight.  Don't you love the ladder?

Patty and Dave, Yogi and Susan, and Carla were unable to make it from Colorado and Texas, but Sheila brought some old pictures she'd found of everyone--from the 1970's!  It was fun to see all those young people before marriage, kids, and grandkids.  Who'da thought we would be old and grey, with grown children....

We had to leave early and missed seeing many old friends that arrived later, though we did get to briefly see Tim and Lynn as we were leaving.
---
For some reason, the cats won't leave me alone this morning.  I push one out of my lap and another one takes its place.  Lucy left my lap to try to dial the phone and step all over the keyboard.

----------
 I've removed Blogger's new version of word verification from this blog and from my book blog.  I can't read it when trying to comment on other blogs.


  How many of you hate the new word verification on Blogger?

More Prayer Flags and Jury Duty

Two more prayer flags.  Wonder features the chevron stitch.  I had two main thoughts about the meaning of wonder while working on this flag:

 1) to be in awe of something, to marvel.  The world is full of things that cause one to be amazed and full of admiration--nature, art, music, the talent of individuals in so many fields of endeavor.  So much to fill one with wonder and appreciation.

2) to be curious, inquisitive, to reflect--"I wonder about what would happen if?" or "I wonder how he did that?"

Wonder uses a practice patch for the chevron stitch on a linen flag.

And for Valentine's Day, a quote from Shakespeare.  I didn't have enough room to add the name, so used his initials.

Below--some of the prayer flags hanging in the studio; they aren't all up there, and there is no more room.  Soon I'll string them between two crepe myrtles in the back yard.  Or begin doing some guerrilla art and just finding places to hang them...

Fee has been out of town since last Monday, but came in last night.  He's at the office now, catching up on paper work.  Poor man.

Tomorrow, I must report for jury duty.  I'm not pleased about it, especially as there is an 80% chance of rain tomorrow.  I've only served on one jury,  a Grand Jury at the Federal Court House in Shreveport over ten years ago.  While I'm all for of a trial by your peers, I didn't like being responsible for the decision.

The jury I sat on rendered a unanimous guilty verdict, and I did think the man was guilty, but was uncomfortable about sentencing a man to jail.  Right after the trial, the judge called the jury into his chambers and told us that he realized it was a difficult decision, but that he thought we'd given the right verdict and had performed our duty well.  That helped.  The evidence presented by the FBI was pretty overwhelming, still--a verdict that sentenced a man to Federal Prison was not an easy thing to do.

This will be in Petit Court at the parish courthouse, and I'm really hoping to be dismissed.
----------
On a more pleasant note, I ran into an old friend Friday at Sunshine Health Foods and had a great time catching up!  We taught together at Byrd, but she and her family moved to Austin.  Now, they have returned, and Lisa has a cookie company.  I have bought her cookies before without realizing that Middlebrook Bakery was hers!  Delicious cookies, all natural ingredients,  and very, very good.

Old Friends and Quilts

I had lunch yesterday with Beth, Nina, and Thomas from our old Tai Chi group.  Mike couldn't make it, but we had a great lunch with lots of catching up.  We used to be together about 6 days a week for classes and practice in the park, but we haven't seen much of each other for quite a while now.  Beth is moving to Colorado, and we will miss her!

AND I just found out for sure that...

My three little art quilts (Hope Is the Thing with Feathers, I Want to Go Home, and I Carry Your Heart) will be going to Houston to the International Quilt Festival!  I'm so happy that they will be on display and hope that they will make some money for AAQI.    Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative does so much to aid in finding a cure for this awful disease.  I'm honored and thrilled to have all 3 of my little quilts selected to travel to Houston.

Have a great weekend!

B.E. Visit and New Earrings

I ordered a pair of earrings from Sherri's Etsy shop.  I LOVE them.  I wore them yesterday and put them back on today...because I love them and because the color goes so well with so many of my tops.

Thanks, Sherri, for the beautiful earrings and the quick delivery!  My pictures aren't very good, so here is one from the shop:

I've finally gotten my pics to upload to Picasa, which is a relief.

Bryce Eleanor spent Thursday night and all day Friday with us, and we had a great time.  We'd brought her some  camo ducks from the Peabody Hotel that she loved.  So we played with them in the fountain, in the dump truck, on the stairs, in the bath, and we slept with them.  Hope Mila and Max will like their gifts as well.










 As usual, she eventually sheds her dress.

Bright and early Friday morning, she decides to put her ducks (in their little plastic purse) into the cat tree.  Edgar plays with her hair as she tells him not to bother her ducks.

Last night, I finished the third little quilt for AAQI, but I'm not much pleased with it.  I'll take pics later and share them with you.

Shower for "Our" Little Kris

Amelia, Amy Pappa, and Mary Fanning hosted the shower at Amelia's house.  It was great fun--lots of good things to eat, an assortment of mimosa possibilities, and a delicious non-alcoholic pineapple punch.

Kris collected big-time.  A good thing, too, because her due date has been moved up!

Little Kris and Amelia.

As usual, Amelia amazes me with her decorating abilities.  You can see some of her flea market candlesticks and plates after the candlesticks were painted pink and white.

Little Kris and Amelia

Ash Wednesday

and the beginning of Lent.

But first, some views of the Highland Parade, a wonderful neighborhood parade that wends its way through the Highland area. 

So much fun, such good food, and so many old friends.  Thanks to Ricky and Teresa for a wonderful time!

Below -- Bryce Eleanor's float from Audrey's Mardi Gras Birthday Parade.  Photo by KK (mother of John David, who not only appears in B.E.'s nightly prayers, but last night was also in the book we read.  She just co-opted the characters in one of the Stillwater books to become Bryce Eleanor, John David, and Paddy.





 Erin and Ren, what are those expressions about?  Looks as if the wine tasting in Sonoma went to your heads!

Suzie Saturday

Yesterday was a full and wonderful day.  My best friend was in town, and we were able to spend about four hours together, not nearly enough time!  Suzie, a speech pathologist, now works with children with Asperger's.  She is so involved and so committed;  I think a documentary following her through a few days of working with her kids would be fascinating.

Any teacher who is as dedicated as Suzie has always been can get so excited, so passionate about the work that--even as a long retired teacher--I feel that passion and curiosity.  Curiosity is a major aspect, I think.  Why does this individual learn this way?  What are the obstacles, how do you overcome them, what methods will work in this situation?  How do they work, and how can they be used to reach a particular student? 

(One of her workshops was on Word Finding -- one of my problems since...forever.  My reading vocabulary is large, but I have always had trouble "finding" words verbally.  For example, "Would you hand me that...thing with the handle."  She brought me the handout on "Models of Lexical Access" :p)


My sister-in-law Robin (an adaptive physical education teacher) is the same way.  Both Suzie and Robin remind me of the fascination of how mind and body and learning work, but then both of them are exceptionally good at their jobs, keeping up with new research, enthusiastic, and inspiring.

Suzie and I played in the studio, and I gave her Lily which she said she will re-name (because I'm not very good at name-finding either).  I looked for the name Thomas suggested, but couldn't find it.  Thomas, if you remember will you e-mail me?

We went to lunch and talked and talked and talked.  I hate never having enough time with her, but I have a list of things to research:  MicMacs, television series Terriers, selective mutism.....  She had to go help her sister for a fund raiser at Holy Angels, and because I had been up since 2:30 AM, I needed a nap before Megan & Drew's engagement party.

More on that event later, but it was terrific!

Love These

Over at Knit one Quilt, there is a wonderful "Love Always" Quilt! Such a happy look, such cheerful colors! A perfect way to wrap yourself in love and comfort.












And some more wonderful hearts and valentines by Between the Lines-- here and here. 

 More tutorials on valentines gifts from Sew, Mama, Sew...

I had lunch yesterday with my friend Thomas--delicious food at Cascio's Bistro and an hour and a half of talking non-stop.  Thomas is teaching chair Tai Chi at Summerfield Estates now.  I loved hearing about it...the oldest participant is 96!