Mardi Gras Photos

This will be a heavy photo post.  Three years ago we were in Southern Alabama at Mardi
Gras time.  All the photos were taken in one of two small towns, Fairhope or Daphne.  They are located across Mobile Bay from Downtown Mobile.  As I said in the previous post, it was a fun time to be down there.  There were many special foods and wonderful decorations and parades.  I hope you enjoy!

 The first few pictures show a parade.  Look at all those beads! This parade was in Fairhope.

 They threw beads and moon pies off the floats.

Wonderful floats!

Many homes had these wreaths in the colors of Mardi Gras, gold , purple, and green.

 Or garlands!

Even mailboxes!

 And fences!

 This whole porch was decorated.

 A side yard!

These folks really know how to celebrate!!!

Have a wonderful week-end! If you are in the NE take care, it looks like a bad storm is coming!!

Valentines and Mardi Gras

Thanks to all of you who joined me on the beach walk.  I think it has been raining ever since so I'm so glad we got out that day.  My cross stitch slowed down just a bit.  Did you ever hear of a trigger thumb??!! I had been having trouble with my thumb sort of cracking.  Then it hurt quite a bit at the base of my thumb.  Well anyway, last Fri. I went to the Dr. He diagnosed it as trigger thumb.  First the bad news, he took an xray and my hand has tons of arthritis!! I had to get a cortisone shot in my thumb to cut down on the inflammation and hopefully that will take care of my thumb pain!! Now the good news,  I'm doing exactly what I need to be doing to keep my hands as healthy as possible  USE THEM!!! USE THEM A LOT! so I'm back to stitching 2 or 3 hours each evening!  Yea!!
Now on to Mardi Gras.  A few years ago we were down in Mobile at Mardi Gras time.  It was so festive and fun.  It seemed like every night a little town in the area had a parade.  In fact,  the Mobile folks say that Mardi Gras began in Mobile not New Orleans.  One thing I liked about the Alabama version was that it was very family friendly not just a big wild party.  So anyway , I bought some decorations.  It looked like Christmas down there.  Most homes were decorated so pretty.  I'll do a post tomorrow to show you some pictures we took.  I suppose my neighbors up here think we have lost our minds since it is not big at all.  We did have fun putting our things up. I hope you enjoy the photos.
My second finish for 2013 is Feb. Word Play.  I loved doing it and have ordered more for other months.  Have a super week!

 The Mardi Gras wreath

These were 1/2 price at Michaels!

Beads everywhere!

I am not sure how I want to finish these.  Right now I am thinking that I will get one frame and change them out each month.  My linen was lighter than it shows in the picture.

A Winter Beach Walk!

First, I want to thank all of you who take time to read my blog and a special thanks to those who comment.  I have not posted this week because it has been very busy.  I volunteer at a school every Thurs.  This week was their BIG play.  So I spent more than the usual time at rehearsals and the play itself-last night. I have been working on Feb. Word Play while I kit up my materials for "This is the Day" I will show you my work in the next post.  For now, I hope you enjoy a beach walk.  We had temps of around 50 and sunshine, a great day for the beach!!!

 The amazing little lighthouse at Point No Point.  This is one of our favorite places on planet earth!

 Because all buildings and homes are up high on these cliffs and a bit back, you can feel like you are totally alone on the beach,especially this time of year.

Some one else was there building this drift wood structure.  The sweet SBA(Super Bog Assistant, he loads the photos) posed so you could see just how big it was.

 Seattle, across Puget Sound.

I'm always amazed  that such a little tug boat can pull these huge ships!

 The beautiful snow-capped Cascades. In miles these mountains are at least 50 miles away.

 He says, "What are you doing on my beach?"

Obviously a bad hair day for Eagles.

I hope you all have a wonderful week-end filled with stitching and other good things!

A Yard Walk and a Finish!

I  am so happy that many of you enjoyed the pictures of Hurricane Ridge.  If you ever get to Washington, that is a place you will want to visit!! We had a spring- like day.  It was sunny and the temps were in the high 40's or low 50"s.  We took our morning walk and then took some pictures in the yard. 
Last night I finished my second finish for the year, "Meg's Bunny."  It will be nice to have it finished for Easter and the Spring. I hope you enjoy the walk around the yard!

This is the same bush that you see in the header only without the snow.  It is a species of Dogwood called"Mid-Winter Fire".

This crab apple has kept these tiny golden crab apples all winter.

You have to like moss to survive in the Pacific NW.

I think it looks like green velvet.  Can you see the tiny drops of rain left from last night?

Raindrops on roses! 

The birds have left berries on the pyracantha.

Our Witch hazel is blooming. The entire tree is covered with these pretty yellow flowers.

More Moss except I think this might be lichen.

Just wanted to show you how green it is up here, even in January.

Here is Meg's Bunny.  It is not one of my favorites.  I am not a pastel person.  However, I decided it would be ok for the Spring season. I changed the last two lines and put our initials on one line and the initials of our Grandchildren on the last line. I was experimenting with the Lakeside Linen Pecan Butter 36 ct.  I like the linen and the count, but maybe not a good color choice for this project.  The color of the linen and the threads combined to make the project appear rather drab.  I wanted a small project to see how I liked 36 count so it did serve its purpose.

My hope is that you all have a wonderful relaxing week-end!!

The Mountains

First, I want to thank all of you who read my blog.  I appreciated all the comments so much!  As I mentioned in my last blog, we have had very odd weather.  It is cold and foggy at sea level and warm and sunny in the mountains. The SBA and I decided to take a trip up to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park  to see if the weather reporters were correct.  They were!! I have often said that this is the place where I fell in love with Washington.  I don't think I have ever seen it as beautiful as it was on Sunday!! Enjoy the pictures!

 This is the way it looked at our house.

 Ok, it is getting better.

This was on the way up to the top.

 The SBA agreed to model so I could show you how deep the snow is. The really strange thing was how warm it was.  I just wore a fleece shirt and no coat and I was totally comfortable.

From the top!

 Here is the lodge where we had coffee. They rented ski things.

 When I saw this, I said," I think we have walked far enough!!!"

 This is Mt. Baker.  It is across Puget sound from the Olympics, it is in the Cascades.  From high up you could see for miles.

Oh , oh, time to head home and back to this!

The end of a beautiful day!!!!! Have a wonderful week!

First Finish of 2013!

I finally got rid of the Dec. header.  And no , our yard does not look like the header! Too bad!  That was a few years ago.  We have had the weirdest weather.  Some sort of inversion layer is over all of Puget Sound.  The days are cold and foggy.  So, tomorrow the SBA and I are heading up to the mountains.  It is suppose to be sunny and warmer up there-go figure!  We are going to drive up to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park.  If you like snow and mountains, I hope I'll have some great photos to share.
The other night, I finished France F.  I love the way it looks even if I did change many of the colors on the chart.  I appreciated all your positive comments about my changes! We are still on the look out for a good 25 count for the antique reproduction so I stuck in "Meg's Bunny."  It is turning out to be a quick stitch and I am using 36count  Pecan Butter by Lakeside Linen.  I am really liking that linen and the 36 count.  I owe a thanks to Ellen Chester from the blog"With My Needle"who recommended that linen to me. I am already planning my next stitch, "This is the Day the Lord has Made" All the while, I will be on the lookout for 25ct. linen.
I also have  some wonderful news to share with you.  My son and DIL are expecting a baby girl in June!!!!!! This is Caleb's Mommy and Dad.  He will be a wonderful big brother! The SBA and I are very excited and happy for them!

France F by Sheepish Designs. 

 The house was suppose to be light red but I had so much red, I decided to use gold.

Sorry for the wrinkles! This is the start of Meg's Bunny".  It will be fun to have this out in the spring.

I hope all of you are enjoying a good week-end with lots of stitching!