Tada!

Much to my surprise, I actually got my newest creations posted on Etsy!  So, if any of you are interested in browsing - feel free! 

Time for a break! 

Have a great day everyone!.

Beads!

I was sitting in my knitting room a few weeks back, looking around and thinking about what to make next.  I have so many ideas for projects I would like to make and I have to admit, way too large a stash of yarn to choose from - I have a hard time deciding what pattern to use, what colours to make it with, what size .....  I want to make everything and I want to make it all NOW!  

And my eyes landed on a little pot of beads I have and the idea hit me - knit with some beads! 

And now honestly, who doesn't think of Beads when one thinks of New Orleans? Beads are just one of those iconic things that automatically come to mind when you think N'awlins - Mardi Gras, Bourbon Street, Jazz....... Beads!

I have never been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, but I do have quite a collection of beads.  AND, for those of you with "Enquiring Minds" - NO - I have never bared any body parts to get any beads!  I have my Saints Beads and my Margaritaville beads, plain old beads from the French Market, and believe it or not - Oktoberfest beads from the (what else?) Oktoberfest parade we saw on Bourbon street -- it was so much fun to watch!   

Don't you just love seeing the tractors on Bourbon Street? 

And of course, every souvenier shop has thousands of beads to choose from.....all colours - all sizes - some naughty and many nice...

And no matter what time of year it is, you will find the trees on St. Charles Avenue festively adorned with beads tossed from Mardi Gras floats in February.

You can see trees like this all down St. Charles Avenue while riding on the Streetcar.  In summer, they are more hidden by the foliage, but the glimpses of bright shiny colours through the leaves bring a smile to my face!

Now, back to knitting....

I made a summer dress/jumper in a black acrylic yarn with a raised stripe in muted green, blue and lavender.  There is a small triangle of multicoloured glass  beads that echo the colours of the stripes on the bodice of the dress.  There is a matching headband with three beads.

And, I have made two pairs of infant socks.  The first pair is almost like a little ankle bootie with a scalloped edging with opalescent beads incorporated into the edging.

This second pair has a folded over ribbed top with various colours of glass beads worked into the ribbing.

These and other new items will be listed in my Etsy Shop (find the link on this page) before the end of this week! 

And now that I have put that in writing, I cannot procrastinate any more!  Gotta go!

My Redneck is showing - Part II

Well, my previous post sparked quite a number of questions from one of my followers and I will try to answer them here.

Where did my love of NASCAR come from?  I don't really know!  My dad sold Chrysler vehicles when I was younger and they made some of the muscle cars that were the original "Stock Cars"of NASCAR.  And I remember hearing some of the legendary racing names such as Petty, Unser, Allison and Yarborough in association with the Chrysler name.  So maybe it was a tiny connection to my childhood that sparked my interest later in life while watching a NASCAR race on TV one day because there was absolutely nothing else to do! 

As to the southern men's names ending in "Y" - I don't really know the answer to that either! (How am I doing with the information so far?) But, they are definitely prevalent, Ricky, Rusty, Bobby, Mikey, Larry, Davey, etc. And then of course, there is the Talledega Nights movie that is such a spoof of NASCAR with the title character " Ricky Bobby" - now that was a funny movie!

Courtesy of Filmania.com

Yes, I wear earplugs, no I will not wear the signed hat (although other people probably wear theirs), yes there are racing groupies and I guess I would be considered a Labonte groupie!  I am not a dirt track fan, but I would go again to see a favorite personality.

I was to one NASCAR race in Michigan and I was impressed with the event.  There are 43 drivers in the race, and fans for each one of them, sitting side by side talking about their favorite driver or drivers, getting along with everyone, no matter who you were cheering for.   The stands seat over 100,000 people and unlike going to a Buffalo Bills football game, we saw not one fight, not one drunk bothering anyone and we didn't even notice the Security presence  once we had come in through the gate.  Not bad behavior for a bunch of so- called rednecks!

This is a picture of the front straightaway and the stands, taken from our seats at the 4th turn in Michigan.

As to food, some tracks have a speciality, often related to their geographical location.  Having only been to one, I can't speak from personal experience, only from what I have heard.  Martinsville has a famous hotdog and at the Southern tracks, BBQ (which is pulled pork) is a big item as well as  the usual burgers, pizza, fries, etc.   And then there's tailgating - not just for football you know!

And with NASCAR, going to a race doesn't necessarily mean just going to the race.  Many people make a week of it - camping right at the track and watching the qualifying laps and sometimes another race, which all start a couple of days ahead of the actual NASCAR race, plus practices, etc.  I have a friend who does that and it sounds like one big non-stop party.  I think I'm too old to handle that! I'm not sure how some people ever do manage to see the race! 

This shows part of the infield and some campers.

A car on display outside the track for viewing and just an idea of the varied driver apparel you see people wearing.

Apparel - you see some of everything.  And as I mentioned earlier, you see fans of 43 different drivers, and of course the way to tell who is their favorite is by the T-shirt or hat they are wearing.  It is not mandatory, but I would estimate that more than 75% and probably closer to 90% of the people at the race are wearing "someone's" shirt or hat!  And of course, many drivers change teams and sponsors so when that happens you have to buy a new shirt with the new number and sponsor on it!  I personally have Bobby Labonte apparel from when he was the #18 car with the Interstate Batteries sponsor and also the #43 Cheerios hat and shirt that I pictured in my previous post. 

For whatever the reason, I did become a fan.   It is difficult for many people to understand the attraction of watching cars go around in circles (ovals) for 500 laps or 500 miles.  And I can understand that because I find it difficult to watch a Baseball game on TV myself.  Part of what I like are the personalities - there are the really nice guys, there are the guys with such a thick southern drawl that you can barely understand a word they say, and there are the guys that you love to hate.  When a driver drops out of a race due to mechancial failure, I love it when the track reporter asks him what happened and his answer is "My motor broke"!  I love the ceremony of the start of the race - the drivers standing by their cars with their crew and families while there is an invocation, the national anthem is sung and there is usually a flyby of military aircraft - the one at Michigan was amazing!    They really know how to put on not only a race, but a show. 

Hope I covered all those questions!

Y'all have a nice day now!

My "redneck" is showing!

Bobby Labonte, the 2000 Sprint Cup Champion and my very favorite driver - coming to Humberstone Speedway in Port Colborne - really?  No way - couldn't be true....... but there it was on the local news last week!   I was afraid I had heard about it too late to get tickets.  So before you could count to 10 I was on the phone to the track and happily tickets were still available!   So before you could count to 20, I had my tickets bought!

I guess I should tell you that I have been a fan of NASCAR since 1986 and Bobby Labonte has been my favorite driver since 1994.  I have been to one NASCAR race  in Michigan in 2006.  It was great fun and great to experience a race in person -- very different than watching on TV -- but I do have to admit that I enjoy being able to watch instant replays in the comfort of my own home!

So I talked my better half into going with me and on Sunday off we went; me in my Bobby Labonte shirt with my Bobby Labonte hat and picture in hand -- all ready for autographing!    There were all kinds of fans there with all kinds of things to get signed, but the one that topped them all was the guy who brought the hood off of Labonte's 2009 Daytona 500 car.    He was carting it around on a dolly.  And just to prove it - there I am standing next to it!

It was a long wait, but I was happy to get my autographs, my picture taken, a handshake and a nice to meet you! 

So, there I am with Bobby!   Ladies - he has amazing blue eyes! 

The event included Bobby driving one of the modified cars on this 1/4 mile dirt track.   There were two other NASCAR personalities there - Dave Blaney (he is in the background of the picture above) and Michael Waltrip - Dave drove and Michael just commentated.  It was fun to watch Bobby race one of these cars - he has never driven a dirt track before, and it was fairly obvious that it was something new for him!  He didn't crash, but he wasn't really a contender.  I wonder if he wondered "What was I thinking?"

There he goes driving the # 76!

There's Michael Waltrip talking to Dave Blaney with Bobby to the right in the red and black and white driving suit.

And, here is my new NASCAR "treasure"!

Later Y'all!

My Stalker aka Picabo the Cat

I would like to introduce you to our cat.  His name is Picabo (pronounced Peekaboo) and he is 11 years old.  He lived with us when we first got him as a kitten at about 7 weeks of age.  We had him with us for about 5 years and then he went to live with my daughter.  Last summer he came back with us and although I had not missed having a pet, I cannot describe how much life he has injected into our home!

He is a small cat, but what he lacks in size, he makes up for in personality!

For some reason, he has taken to lifting his paw when he wants food. He always has dry food available, but when he is looking for that moist food, or a little bit of what we are having for dinner - up goes the paw! Just to his left in the picture below is where his food and water bowls sit.

One of his very favorite things is to have his back petted right by his tail.  He lifts his back end way up, flattens out his front, and expects us to pat him until he has had enough.  He will gradually inch forward, moving away from you but with full expectations that you will follow.   Picabo will stop whatever he is doing (even sleeping) whenever he hears Jamie coming and assumes "the pose".  That's Jamie's hand you can see in motion in the picture below.

And then, there is the "Stalker".  There are some days that I cannot make a move without him following me - I go to the washroom and he meows outside the door, I go into the kitchen and he follows me, I go to the laundry room and he follows me, I sit at my desk and he's up on my lap in a split second.  Or if he's not feeling quite so clingy, he will sit ON my desk.....

To the right......

To the left......

In the middle........

And then there's the printer/scanner......

"But how do I look out the window?"

"Maybe I can fit my head through there for a better view...."

"Oh the heck with it....I think I'll just sleep."

It does make getting work done a little challenging some days! 

And while looking at these pictures, please understand that I subscribe to the view that a messy desk is the sign of a healthy mind!

And then there's the pose that never fails to bring a smile to my face.....

What a life!

Flowers and gardens from here and there

Well, it's definitely difficult to leave that picture of Harry behind, but he is last week's news and it's time for something new!  Gone for now, but never forgotten. 

Belated Birthday Greetings to both Canada and our American neighbours, or should I spell it "Neighbors"?  I was raised spelling the British way with the "our" at the end of neighbour, colour, labour, etc.  And, I suppose since the Queen is actually in Canada right now, I should honour (there's another one!) the British ways.  But enough rambling about that!

Below are a couple of pictures of wild delphiniums that I took while visiting Alberta in 2007.  Although they are not the blue of my garden delphinium (which I unfortunately did not get a picture of before the blooms dropped), they are still very pretty and I wouldn't mind having a few of them in my garden.

And speaking of Blue flowers, I did get some pictures of my hydrangeas that are just starting to come into bloom. I find the changes in colour of these blooms fascinating - the delicate green changing to blue and almost purple - each day they are different and beautiful in their own way.

And here is a picture of my back fence with some of the outdoor artwork we have gathered. 

(That is our Black Currant bush that you see at the bottom left loaded down with berries just waiting to ripen.)

 

This idea was inspired by a French Quarter Garden Tour that we took in New Orleans in 2008.  It was a self-guided walking tour of gardens at private homes in the Quarter. 

 

I was so delighted with these gardens that were so unexpected to find.  The pictures below were taken in a courtyard of a Bourbon Street home just down the street from the condo we stayed in that October.  I would say that these are definitely not the pictures that come to mind for most when they think of Bourbon Street.

I was astounded by the size of the leaves on the plant I was standing next to, and as much as I dislike having my picture taken, I insisted on getting a photo that would convey just how big they were! 

I just loved all the old brick and variety of plants and the fountains and the statuary and lime trees and.....all of it!  I can picture myself curled up with a good book in a chair in any one of the gardens we visited.   That would by my happy place!

There were so many hidden gems that we got to see that you usually only get a glimpse of from the street.  It was a delightful day and the very best part was meeting all of those New Orleanians who were so very proud of their gardens and were so welcoming to us as we have always found New Orleanians to be.  They are one of the main reasons why we go back again and again.