New Orleans

I recently read a couple of murder mysteries set in New Orleans and the most recent edition of Victoria Magazine has a story with pictures of New Orleans so it has been on my mind. The pictures bring back great memories and it is fun to envision the places where a story takes place because you have been there. We were there in the spring and I loved it.

The first picture shows some of the lovely Iron work in the French Quarter. You can just imagine the old Southern Ladies in their long skirts and hats.
We stayed in the French Quarter at the "Chateau" it is reasonable, centrally located, clean, comfortable and has very friendly staff.
Breakfast each morning in the courtyard was continental style with pastries and the Chicory Coffee that New Orleans is famous for.


We were usually joined by some of the smaller locals. This mule and driver were filming a commercial for New Orleans just outside our hotel. They use Mules as horses don't do as well in their climate.

The people in New Orleans were all incredibly friendly. Like any other big city, you should use common sense to protect yourself and your belongings. We were warned numerous times to be careful, but we had no problems whatsoever. The locals and were wonderful. They seem genuinely glad to see tourists returning.

I truly hope all goes well for them this week. As Gustav approaches, I will be thinking about them and their lovely old city.




The other two photos are from the Garden District and St. Louis Cemetery number 1. In New Orleans, they do everything with beauty in mind.


I have posted twice this week, please scroll down to see some of my artwork.
Kat

By Special Request

This page is especially for my Niece Kayla and Great Niece Jillian. Jillian and Kayla love Fairies so I decided to do a page just for them. They performed suitably Fairy like poses at my Sister's house in Utah. I took them with my trusty digital. I used a photograph from my woods in South Carolina for the background. I blew up a photo of a mushroom from my drive way to three different sizes and pasted it in digitally. The wings came from http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/ I cropped the wings then selected just them and stuck them in place.

I used Photoshop Elements 4.

August 23, 2008

I was using a larger notebook to make notes for the blog in, but my trip to Utah has convinced me that smaller is better. I picked up a small notebook today and started writing in it. A fresh notebook is always inspiring. I promised more about the trip to Utah so here it is.
The trip itself was nice. I missed my Hubby as soon as I left him to go through security. I am glad to know that I can still travel half way across the country by myself if necessary, but it is always more fun with him. He is my traveling companion.
I took some photos out the window of the airplane, this one is over Augusta. I plan on using them in a scrapbook layout with some old photos of my Dad on an airplane.
The highlight of the trip of course, was getting to spend time with my family. I really needed to

reconnect with them, I was feeling so far away. My sisters and I stayed up late and talked, then got up early and talked some more. I loved every precious minute of it. I feel closer to them both again. That makes me happy. Another thing that makes me happy is that they allowed me to share their grandchildren. I don't have any of my own yet and I am not in a hurry to do so. My Great Nieces and Nephews are a wonderful bunch of people. They all have very individual personalities and I really enjoyed getting to know them a little better. I hope they will stay in touch with me. I also got to spend some quality time with my Brother and his family. I enjoyed seeing all they have done to their home.
I don't talk about my own children, but they make me very proud. I love them like crazy!
This rose is just like some that my Mother, had in her yard. I can't get over how beautiful they are and how much they remind me of her.
The pink snap dragon and the succulents are from my Sister Margaret's garden. It is one of my favorite places to be.

This lovely moth was waiting to welcome me home.

The Trip to Utah

This is a panorama of the view from my big Sisters house. Ogden Utah is on the side of the mountain. Don't let the picture fool you, these are big mountains. Ogden's elevation is 4,617' (1,332m). It is a good sized city. As of the year 2000, the population was 77,226. I love to visit Ogden, it is where I grew up and I still have lots of family there. I don't however, like winter. These are the same mountains that hosted the Winter Olympics a few years ago. Brrrrr!

I didn't really go to play tourist, I went to see my family. I enjoyed every minute of it.

A couple of decades ago, my Mom came to visit us in Great Brittain. We had a butterfly bush in our yard and she was quite impressed with it. I took her to the garden center in our little village and she bought a pack of seeds. She took them home to Utah and planted them in her back yard. This is a close up of the blossoms. The butterfly's really do love it, and by the way, this bush is at least 10 feet tall now. My Mom is no longer with us, but the man who owns her house and garden now is taking good care of it. He makes tents and camping supplies. See his stuff at http://www.titaniumgoat.com/ More later.
Dinner is ready.

Vacation

I am enjoying my family too much to write about it at the moment. I will be home next week, see you then. (Probably Monday)
Kat

If you go to Charleston SC...

Hubby and I went to Charleston SC this weekend. As usual it was great. It is hot and humid in August. The temp was 95 F. That with the humidity is a whole lot hotter than 95 F in New Mexico. However; once you get downtown in the historic district, the ocean breeze improves matters considerably. So dress cool and casual. Put on your comfy shoes and lets go.

Parking is free on Sunday, but not Saturday. You can find some free spots on the battery and occasionally near the Aquarium (Just off East Bay). We got one of the rare spots by the Aquarium.

Shortly after we left the car, we saw a pelican soaring over head. WOW! How can something so silly looking on the ground be so graceful in the air? Of course he was way too fast for me. Sorry no photo.

From there we walked down towards the market. I have heard it referred to as the "Slave market" but slaves were never sold there. In the bad old days, slaves would man the booths. If I understand it

correctly, some slaves lived on their own and were allowed to trade or sell their own products in return for a share of the profit.

We stopped at several shops along Market. They were all doing a brisk business and many were particularly generous with their samples. We feasted on bites of spiced pecans and pralines from a number of places. Pralines are a lovely confection made by cooking brown sugar, butter, and milk together and using the result as a candy coating for pecans. My hubby makes the best of course, but of those that are commercially available in Charleston, "River Street Sweets" are unsurpassed. We also tried Gelato for the first time and bought a large Tiramisu flavored gelato to share.

Another unique treat, I tasted "Key Lime Fudge" (River Street Sweets) I know, it just sounds odd. It was really good.

From the market area, we walked along King Street for the antique shops. The fountain picture is a courtyard that is part of one of them. The area around the fountain is as peaceful and cool as it looks. There are not as many antique shops as there used to be, but there are enough to provide a great afternoon or two of happy hunting.

My favorite jewelry store, "Dixie Dunbar's Studio"

(http://www.dixiedunbarstudio.com/jewelry.asp )is also along King Street. Her designs are always unique and and to me, feel like summer. I saw two different turquoise necklaces that I really liked. This perfect piece of coral was the best thing in the store. I always come out of there inspired.

Sunday morning we had a long leisurely breakfast at our hotel. (Not as nice as Sunday morning at home, but then, I am spoiled rotten) After breakfast we attended our old Unitarian Universalist Church. We were not the only ones who felt the need to be with other Unitarians, the seats were full. Summer services are usually not that well attended.

The service was centered on music. (Uh-oh, there she goes again,). One thing that sticks in my mind is the idea of finding, or identifying a theme song for your life. Mine would definitely be "You can't always get what you want" by The Rolling Stones.

After the service,

Hubby and I tool our walk along the battery. Lovely views of the water on one side, amazing mansions on the other. I could not capture the clean, salty smell of the water, or the sound of the sea, but I took lots of photos. What a wonderful
weekend!

On the way back home in the car, we listened to "The Bridge" FM 105.5 as long as we could get a signal then "Infamous Angel" A CD by Iris DeMint.

What is your theme song?

Have a great week, Kat