Pastels and Neutrals

This time of year can be rather drab and leave you feeling washed up.  This is when I like to add some pretty pastel colors or neutrals to brighten up the house and my spirit.  I hope you like them!

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Knitting for Dummies

Hi Everyone,

I have been busy trying to re-teach myself how to knit again.  It's been years since I've done any knitting and always found it therapeutic.  Thank God there is You Tube out there to refresh my memory on how to cast on and off and the basic knit and purl stitches.  It is amazing how quickly it all come back to you.

These are the colors I'm trying to incorporate into an afghan

It is going to be a long time before I get this done but it does give me something to do when it is cold outside and I can do it without thinking too much about any one thing.

So, for the time being, I will be content to knit away in hopes of finishing this sometime in the future and when I say future I mean future!   HA

I've also just made a nice little boudoir pillow for my bed in a lovely pale blue linen.  I love the color blue...my favorite color.

Pay no attention to the bed pillows without their cases on...I just changed our bed sheets and hadn't put the pillow cases on them when I took this photo.  HA

Anyway, this  is what I've been up to for the past few days.  How about you?  What have you been doing?

For those of you in the North, I hope you are covered up with a nice throw drinking something warm.  I'm even doing that here and I'm sure it's not near as cold as where some of you live.  :)

Pepsi Anyone?

You might be asking yourself why on earth I am showing you a case of Diet Pepsi-Cola bottles?  It's been awhile since I've told one of my stories and since it is so grey and drab right now, I thought I'd share this funny story with all of you to bring a bit of humor to your day or evening.

A Case of Diet Pepsi-Colas Back In The Day
Source via ~ http://www.popscreen.com

Many years ago, husband worked for Pepsi-Cola delivering drinks.  Back then, Pepsi's came in both 10 oz and 16 oz bottles.  I'm going back to about 1971 now so don't quote me on this. He had a sales delivery route all his own and he would have to unload drinks according to how many cases they placed their orders for.

His truck had bins on both sides of the truck where they loaded the drinks and sliding doors had to be tied down before he left the shop so the cases of drinks wouldn't fall out. He hadn't been working for them for much more than a couple of weeks when what I'm about to tell you happened.

He had just left the warehouse to start his day and was turning into one of the busiest roads that at the time crossed over a major intersection that brought most out of town travelers through the city.  As he was turning left through this intersection he looked into his right side mirror as he always did on a turn only to see all of his doors open on that side and hundreds of cases of drinks in those lovely glass bottles slowly falling out of those side bins onto the middle of the intersection...seven bins! He told me later that he was beside himself and used a colorful expletive that he had learned in the Marines and can't be repeated here but there was no way to correct the motion of the truck to pull the cases back into the trailer, it was a done deal!  Glass and Pepsi-Cola was everywhere.  He had to pull his truck over, call the office and have someone bring him a push broom and several barrels to deposit the glass and pieces of wood from the cases so that he could clean up all the glass that had shattered.  What a mess!!  Not only was traffic backed-up but he spent quite a lot of time on the clean-up.  His boss, the route manager, laughed and called him a "star", a name that stuck with him for the next year and half that he worked there. He also told him that because he was new to the job he didn't have to pay for the drinks (every driver had done this once when they were relatively new and the trauma of it prevented them from ever doing it again, they double checked all of their doors before leaving the warehouse for ever after!) or we probably would not have had a paycheck that week!  HA

The funniest part of this was I wouldn't have known anything about it since I had just had my first child who was a newborn at the time and I was at home.  But a girlfriend called and told me that she was on her way to work when she saw a Pepsi truck that had lost all of the drinks on the truck.  I asked her where did that happen and she said in the intersection of Highway 41 and Diamond Avenue.  I said "how horrible".   She asked if I had talked with K yet this morning?  I said no and she proceeded to tell me that she thought it was him who she saw cleaning up all the glass.  I felt so bad for him.  He called me later that morning to see how things were going and I told him I had already heard about what happened.  He said it was the biggest mess!  HA

The most important lesson he learned from this experience was NEVER FORGET TO TIE YOUR BINS DOWN!  We laugh about this now but at the time it wasn't anything to laugh about!

So, anyone feel like having a Pepsi? :)

Faceless Angels

Hello,

I found this tutorial on making a Christmas angel via Positively Splendid's blog and I thought I might try my hand at making some of these in different colors.

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Back view

I think they are adorable and really anyone can make them.  I used Martha Stewart craft paint in Pearl and Lake Fog (two different colors) to paint the base and head instead of spray paint.  I sanded in between both coats to give a smooth finish.

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I used several different kinds of yarn in varying thicknesses to give different textures.

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Around the head and around the base I used Martha Stewart Glitter eyelash yarn as directed in the tutorial in a silver and gold color.

In Pink yarn and Lake Fog paint

And used a piece of Lamatta German tinsel for the halo instead of a button.

I used sheer ribbon instead of burlap ribbon for the wings and added the two mother-of-pearl antique buttons for the back of the ribbon.  These are really cute and can be viewed from both sides instead of one as the tutorial explains.

A perfect gift for a newborn baby (what child doesn't need an angel watching over them)

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Or you can change the look and colors for Valentine's, St. Patrick, Easter, July 4.

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For Valentine's day

I've made four of these and will have them listed on my Etsy shop.  If interested in purchasing one send me an e-mail.

Rooms to Swoon over

Hi Everyone,

I found some gorgeous rooms to swoon over.  Some are decorated for Christmas(which I can look at all year round) and some aren't.  Either way they are all beautiful.  Enjoy

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Which one is your favorite?

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed spending time with friends and family. After a brief respite, (enough to catch your breath and rest a bit), its time to get ready for the New Year's Eve/Day celebration. Regardless of where you will be spending it be it,  in the lovely city of Paris, France or at home watching the ball drop at New York Times Square, I hope you have a wonderful celebration.  If you decide to imbibe in more than the usual toast or two, take care to drive responsibly or have a designated driver.

If your interested, scroll down to read a bit about how other countries celebrate the New Year.

Source via Pinterest ~Originally pinned by Photo Idea Light by Hansol Kim

National celebrations

New York City's Times Square is the best location for the New Year's celebrations in the United States with the famous ball drop.

In the United Kingdom there are many celebrations across the towns and cities, particularly in Scotland.
In London, England, thousands gather along the Embankment on the River Thames to watch the fireworks around the London Eye. The New Year officially starts when Big Ben strikes twelve.

In Scotland, there are many special customs associated with the New Year. These are a part of the Scottish celebration Hogmanay, the Scots name for New Year's Eve. The famous street party in Princes Street in Edinburgh is one example.
In Wales, Calennig is celebrated, with celebrations attracting thousands of people in the capital, Cardiff.

In Greece and Cyprus, families and relatives switch off the lights at midnight, then celebrate by cutting the "vassilopita" (Basil's pie) which usually contains one coin or equivalent. Whoever wins expects luck for the whole year. After the pie, a traditional game of cards called "triantaena" (31) follows.

In Nassau, Bahamas, the Junkanoo parade takes place.

In the Philippines, fireworks, booming sound system as well as make a lot of noise with the belief that the noises would scare evil spirits away, preventing them from bringing bad luck to the coming new year. The tables are laden with food for the Media Noche or midnight meal, and there is a basket of 12 different round fruits to symbolize prosperity in each of the coming year's 12 months. Public new year parties like those in New York and Sydney are also available to the people and very well attended.

In Russia and the other 14 former republics of the Soviet Union, the celebration of Novi God is greeted by fireworks and drinking champagne. The New Year is considered a family celebration, with lavish food and gifts. In Moscow, the president of Russia counts down the final seconds of the "old year", as it is traditionally called in Russia. The Kremlin's landmark Spassky Clock Tower chimes in the new year and then the anthem starts. It is customary to make a wish while the Clock chimes. Old New Year is celebrated on January 14 (equivalent to January 1 in the "old style" Julian calendar. It isn't the official holiday, but only after Old New Year do people take decorations and Christmas trees (firs) away.
In Davos, Switzerland, the final match of the Spengler Cup ice hockey Tournament is usually held on this day by tradition.

In the United States, it is traditional to spend this occasion together with loved ones. A toast is made to the new year, with kisses, fireworks and parties among the customs. It is popular to make a New Year's resolution, although that is optional. In the country's most famous New Year celebration in New York City, the 11,875-pound (5,386-kg), 12-foot-diameter (3.7-m) Times Square Ball located high above One Times Square is lowered starting at 11:59 p.m., with a countdown from sixty seconds until one second, when it reaches the bottom of its tower. The arrival of the new year is announced at the stroke of midnight with fireworks, music and a live celebration that is broadcast worldwide.

In France,[6] people concern much attention to the weather that day. They regard the weather as the prediction of that year: wind blowing east, fruit will yield; wind blowing west, fish and livestock will be bumper; wind blowing south, there will be good weather all year round and wind blowing north, there will be crop failure. People would like to toast for the new year and drink till January 3. They think that they can't gain a beautiful year if they don't drink up all the wine left last year.

In Spain, you should have 12 grapes at hand when the clock strikes 12 at midnight. For each stroke you should eat one grape. If you manage to consume all grapes within the period of the strikes, it means good luck in the new year.

Source via ~ Wikipedia

New York Times 2007
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I love the color in this photo!

Beautifully played!

Wishing you a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!  See you in the New Year!  ♥

Maurice Ravel, French Classical Composer-House-Museum

Maurice Ravel

Maurice Ravel

Joseph-Maurice Ravel (March 7, 1875 - December 28, 1937) Was born in France near the Spanish border, to Swiss and Basque parents. His father's engineering work soon brought the family to Paris, and the young man entered the Paris Conservatory at age 14. He enrolled as a pianist but switched to composition under Gabriel Fauré and André Gedalge. Ravel was less radical a composer than Claude Debussy but rebellious in his own way. Where Debussy could write pieces to please the Conservatory masters and win a Prix de Rome, Ravel refused to be bound by the school's composition rules. His failure to win prizes did not endear him to his masters, even though he wrote successful pieces early on, including his Violin Sonata (1897) and Shéhérazade (1898). Given those successes, his failure to win the Prix de Rome in 1905 led to a public scandal and a change in the Conservatory directorship.

Soon after that debacle, Ravel entered a period of great productivity, producing works like L'Heure Espagñole and Rapsodie Espagñole (1907), Valse Nobles et Sentimentales (1911), major piano pieces, and Daphnis et Chloé for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1912. Around this time, he met Igor Stravinsky and joined a group of radical composers known as Les Apaches. In 1906, he started but did not finish Wien, an orchestral homage to Johann Strauss.

Wien would turn into La Valse fourteen years later. In the interim, World War I brought his composing to a near halt. Ravel tried to enlist but was turned down for physical reasons and ended up a military transport driver. In 1916 he started to feel the urgings to compose when dysentery sent him to Paris to recover. Soon after, his mother died. Ravel's mother was the closest human contact Ravel had – he never married – and with her loss came devastation and more musical inactivity. He wrote little during this period: most notably, Trois Poemes de Mallarmé (1913), Trois Chansons (1915), and Le Tombeau de Couperin (1917).

It was when Diaghilev asked him for another ballet after the war that Ravel's compositional juices returned. He completed Wien, called it a "choreographic poem," and changed the title to La Valse. Diaghilev called the result a "masterpiece" but added that, "it's not a ballet…it's the portrait of a ballet…." He thought it undanceable and refused to stage it. Ravel never spoke to him again. The ballet was not performed until Ida Rubenstein staged it in 1929 at the Paris Opera. After La Valse came L'Enfant et les Sortilèges (1925), a concert tour of the United States in 1928, and in the same year, Bolero. The Piano Concerto in G Major and the Piano Concerto for Left Hand came out in 1930 and 1931. Ravel's last years were slowed by Pick's disease, which may have been exacerbated by an automobile accident in 1932 (though he complained of memory problems and insomnia years earlier). He started some projects but produced only a few works. Brain surgery in 1937 was unsuccessful, and he died a year later.

Ravel was private, meticulous and precise as a person. Like Debussy, he was considered feline in manner, though he was more birdlike in appearance. Few caught him composing, though many saw him orchestrate, and his study rarely showed signs of a work in progress. As contemporaries, Ravel and Debussy influenced and respected each other, but their relationship suffered at the hands of critics eager to denigrate Ravel in favor of Debussy. From around 1900 until his death, Debussy was considered France's greatest living composer. Ravel assumed the mantle only after Debussy's death. Today, Debussy and Ravel are often thought of together, but they were very different composers. Ravel employed Impressionist techniques in works like Daphnis et Chloé, Ma Mère l'Oye, and La Valse, but he was really an objectivist and a Classicist. Unlike Debussy, he wrote cleanly shaped melodies, etched textures, distinct rhythms, and firm structures. He used conventional tonality and rarely if ever the whole tone scale. A fabulous orchestrator, Ravel employed the full battery of instruments, but placed every note, chord, and instrument like a jeweler working with clear pristine colors. (His orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition is one of his most famous "works.") Effects sound with polish and glitter; nothing is wasted. His search for novel colors often led to setting instruments in odd ranges or roles. ~ Roger Hecht.
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Photos of his home in Montfort l' Amaury
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Home of Maurice Ravel ~ Montfort l' Amaury

Beautiful composition!  Enjoy!