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 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

A New Trend!!

Dear Fellow Bloggers,

I know you think I moved away to a foreign land or am hibernating in a nearby place! However, neither is true!  It's been Holy Week at church and much business around that!

I'm going to start a new trend, I think!!!  I didn't get my Easter tree on the blog before Easter.  (You may also recall that my St. Patrick's tree was late, too!!)  Maybe this should just be the way I do things now!  hahaha  But I didn't want to let the holiday slip by without showing the tree!  So, here it is!  I'll be switching to a Spring tree this week!

Speaking of Easter, I had lunch at my house.  My child and his family didn't come.....they went somewhere else.  I was a little bit disappointed, but I decided that I would not be sad and sit around and cry!  SO, I called several people that are alone, and we all got together at my house and had a wonderful time!  It was such a lovely lunch, and everyone seemed so glad to be included!  I guess when life gives you lemons, you must make lemonade!!  I forgot to take a photo of my table, which was pretty with my mother's ceramic rabbits in the center of the table.  I took this after I had washed all the dishes except the glasses and chargers.  I couldn't believe I forgot my camera!!  Oh well, this gives a general idea.  It was very festive!

Holy Week and Easter were beautiful at the Cathedral.  Everything went so well and the music was fabulous!  (If I do say so myself!)  The choir was wonderful and I had a flute soloist along with the pleasure of playing our wonderful pipe organ.  The church was decorated to a "T" and looked gorgeous.  This is a panoramic photo of the Cathedral.  It's so beautiful!!!

My dear friend Janie has told me that she is coming for a visit in May, so we will try to get some finishing done!  We both have a stack to deal with, so I hope to show progress soon!!

Well, you know I have to show my granddaughter!  She came to visit me and we had a nice time!  We went outside on the porch for a while.  I had noticed her squinting and sneezing previously in the bright sun, so I had gotten some fun leopard sunglasses! You're never too young to be fashionable!!!

When we went inside, a certain kitty was not particularly pleased to have attention-getting competition at our house!  As I went to put her in the bed for a nap, Omar jumped in and gave a forlorn look!!  I think he feels he's been demoted!!  hahaha

Finally, here's a sweet smile to close with!

Thank you for stopping by!  I appreciate the few readers I have left!  I have been so sporadic in my posting, but I'm determined to continue my blog!  Thank you for visiting, and please stop by again soon!

Frances

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! (late!)

Dear Friends,

I am late in posting this, but I'm going to go ahead and post it because I had a nice tree fixed for the holiday!  I think I've told you before that we have an annual St. Patrick's Day Parade and we always have tons of green beads!  I actually didn't attend the parade this year, but I understand it was a fun time and rather lively!!

Here are two views of my tree, full of fun green things!  I have two other pieces stitched, and I hope to get those totally finished, but of course that will be for next year, now!!
haha     I always think this is such a fun holiday!

 

Spring has finally sprung around here, I think!!  Our weather has been so strange.  It's been really cold (for us) and down around freezing at night and highs in the low 50s.  This week should have highs in the 70s-low 80s and lows in the 50s!  If only it would stay that way!!!  I took this photo a couple or three weeks ago.  This Japanese Magnolia is now all green leaves.  I started not to post it because it's not current, but I thought I would anyway since it's pretty.  This is beside the Cathedral.

We had an ordination over the weekend.  A seminarian became a transitional deacon.  He will become a priest next summer.  These are always such joyous events.  I played the organ, of course, and the singing was really lovely!  A glorious evening!  The other seminarians are seated in the pews on the left side.  It's so nice to know that so many young men will become priests.

You know I have to give a quick update on my granddaughter!!!  She is smiling and being silly!

 

Thank you for visiting and come back soon!

Frances

Back Yet Again!!

Hello Blogging Friends!!
I am back to blogging now...Holy Week and Easter are behind me now!  What a great feeling to have it all finished!  Everything went so well.  It was really beautiful!

The week before Holy Week, we lost one of our retired Bishops.  We were sorry because he was such a lovely person and will be sorely missed.  I have played for priests' funerals before, but never for a Bishop!  It's a three day group of events!!!  And this was the week before Holy Week!  I could not believe it, but everything was wonderful.  It was a joyous funeral.  We just had to juggle things greatly at the last minute!  Bishops from all over came--here is a photo of them during the processional hymn.  Quite an impressive bunch!

I went shopping at the Salvation Army (after leaving some donations!) and couldn't pass up this little strawberry picture.  It was a whole dollar!!  I plan to take it apart and make a little pillow ornament with it!  So sweet.  I always feel bad to see someone's hard work end up in a junk store!

You all know how wild I am about my sweet kitty Omar!  I got him a little t shirt.  You can see that he is not a fan of t shirts!  His expression is priceless!  I guess I'm just not going to have a cat that wears clothes!!!  hahaha   It even says "mommy's little dude" on it! hahaha

I'm embarrassed to show my Easter tree now, but I will do it anyway!!!!  It was cute and I enjoyed fixing it.  I will pull off the obvious Easter things and add some flowers and butterflies to make it a Spring tree!

 

I love all my sweet bunnies and carrots!

Finally, here are a few photos of the Cathedral decorated for Easter.  It is truly a stunning place!

Our weather has been delightful in Mississippi, except for the pollen and oak tassels!! Everyone is snorting and snooting!  But that's just how it is at this time of year.  These azaleas were so pretty at the rectory.  The bushes are so full!

Thank you for stopping by and please come back soon!  I hope I will have more posts and finishes to show very soon!  I am planning a big finishing day--my stack is growing and I'm very anxious to jump in and get some things done!  Now that Easter is over, we have a long stretch of calm regular Sundays!  YAY!!  Nothing special!  I feel like I will finally be back in my normal life!

Happy Spring!

Frances

Merry Christmas!!

Dear Blogging Friends:
I have not run away!  I have not been abducted by aliens!  I'm not in hiding!

I've simply been quite busy!

I know all of you are busy, too!  It's just that time of year, and starting a new job as a church organist/choir director on the First Sunday of Advent was rather daunting! However, it all came off without a hitch and our Christmas services were lovely!

Speaking of my new job, you may remember that I am now the Cathedral Organist!  It's been very exciting, and sometimes a little scary!  But all has gone well.  Everyone has been so nice and I think it is going to be a lovely experience.  Below are some pictures of my lovely workplace, all decked out for Christmas!

It is so beautiful!

The ceiling is gilded and stenciled.

 I love the poinsettia trees they use on the back altar!  

The plants are stacked on forms.

The two side altars are beautiful.  One has the antique nativity set.

This is the organ I play, and the choir loft in the back.

The music went beautifully!  I had a little girls' ensemble, a flutist, a brass quintet, and an operatic soprano solo!  Truly lovely!

My blog isn't the only thing that suffered during the holidays!  I did get decorating done at home, but not on the usual level!  I just ran out of time to get my 5 trees up this year!  Oh well, the two that matter most DID get done!

This is our family tree where we open gifts.  You can see that they've all been opened!  

 

We missed my mother this year, but we still managed to have a happy holiday and enjoy each other. The black leather baby shoe was hers.  It has been on my tree for years! The little frilly shoe was mine!  I'm told it was white but now yellowed!

 

My son and his wife gave me two lovely white cat ornaments, in honor of Omar!  I love them!

 

I'm very sentimental, I guess!  The little mermaid ornament is actually a fishing float that was in my father's tackle box!  We used to laugh at it as children, because she doesn't have on a top!!!!  The sweet ceramic Santa was made by my father not long before he died.  My mother loved ceramics and he would go with her, to talk to the husband of the ceramic lady!  He painted this for me and I treasure it.

This is my cross stitch tree in our foyer.  I love the angle where you can see both trees at the same time!

 

I love all my wonderful cross stitched ornaments!  I enjoy stitching and finishing!  I have a few left to finish for next year!  Isn't that always the case??  The beautiful Glad Tidings ornaments was a gift from Andrea last year--I love it!

 

Look closely at the beautiful heart ornaments!  These were a gift from our wonderful Jacquie!  I cannot believe she sent me these beautiful creations!  I was so touched when I went to the mailbox and found a package from England!  And if that's not enough, look at the precious little round felt applique holly ornament!  She sent that, as well!   Thank you so much, sweet Jacquie!  You really made my day and I admire these and think of you each time I look at the tree!

Well, friends, things will slow down dramatically now that Christmas is over!  I will not have to be at the church constantly, and I can get my world back!  In the middle of all of this, the designer has been coming and working on the house.  It's coming together beautifully, and I will show photos of that when it's done.  We finally got gas logs in our fireplace and they are beautiful.  But, it's been close to 80 degrees here, so we haven't enjoyed them yet!!!  We've had rain and hail and hot weather!

I have done some stitching, and intend to show that very soon.  

Speaking of Omar, isn't this too cute?  My husband had been somewhere and took a little zipper bag with him.  Of course, he came home and deposited it on the floor!!!  Well, Mr. Omar decided to check it out!!

I appreciate all of you, and in spite of my lack of activity on my blog, I have tried to keep up with yours and enjoy what all you have been doing!  You all provide sanity in a crazy world and you are most appreciated!  If you are still reading this long post, thank you for sticking with it and know that you are a wonderful part of so many lives online!  

Happy 2016 to everyone and I am looking forward to a new year!

Thanks for stopping by and please come back soon!

Frances