Yay! the first Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans rolls tonight, Saturday Feb 19th at 6:30 pm. It’s the Krewe du Vieux parade. I love it for its quaintness, individualism and satiric creativity. Because it winds its way through the narrow streets of the French Quarter, it also is the most traditionally presented with floats pulled by mules, human power, or even 3-wheeled bicycles (rather than the tractors or trucks of the larger well-known parades). Oh yah, did I also mention Krewe du Vieux is quite risque, too? To keep things child-friendly, I had to very selectively go through my photos from last year to find this small fuzzy subset. But I hope it gives you a bit of flavor of this fun, nighttime parade.
The Krewe du Vieux parade is such a treat and I can’t wait to see what they they have in store for this year. I’ve heard the theme is “25 Years Wasted” and the Grand Marshall is Don Marshall, Executive Director of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation. Beyond that bit of knowledge is the anticipation of the supporting themes that the participating sub-krewes will present https://www.kredite-vergleich.net/180-monate-laufzeit-kredit. You know that this all has to be about fun, with play-on-words names for the sub-krewes like C.R.U.D.E. (Committee to Revive Urban Decadent Entertainment), Drips and Discharges (the idea for the group began in the Emergency Room of Touro Infirmary), Mama Roux, Mystic Krewe of Spermes, T.O.K.I.N. (Totally Orgasmic Krewe of Intergalactic Ne’er-do-wells), Underwear, Rue de Bourbon, etc. In keeping with world and especially local events like the BP oil spill, the floats are touted to have themes like “TSA – The Good Hands People”, Crude Lubes NewOilands, DRIPILEAKS, Tokin Tea Party, David Semen’s Treme, and more that will probably make more sense when I see them, lol. In any case, I will be there to enjoy it all, and maybe even occasionally yell out “throw me something’ mista”. Oftentimes, outsiders think of Mardi Gras as just the single day festivity. But here in the New Orleans area, Mardi Gras is an entire holiday season. We like to have any excuse for a party. There will be lots of parades rolling between now and Fat Tuesday, March 8th. Com’on down (or up, or over, or whatever) and join the party!
KyleAnn Williams is a good friend and fellow knitter. She happens to be a designer in her own right, as well as a knitting teacher. And that is why I am particularly flattered that she became so enamored of the Peggy’s Shawl I had designed.
Peggy Shawl in Kid Merino knitted by KyleAnn Williams
I’ve lost count of how many Peggy Shawls that KyleAnn has made. They all are always lovely, but I think this one that KyleAnn knit in Crystal Palace Kid Merino in a strawberry-lime color will always remain my favorite.
You can read more about KyleAnn’s making of the Peggy Shawl in her own words here.
KyleAnn Williams
I am really fortunate to have had KyleAnn assisting me at the TNNA Shows held in Columbus, OH each June. When TNNA changes its venue in 2013 to a different location, I am not sure what I will do. We have so much fun together. I just wish we lived closer to each other!
During this week, we are encouraged to make kindness a priority. We probably don’t need a special week for this (hopefully it is something we can keep in mind all 52 weeks of the year). Nevertheless, even though everyone wants to help others, it’s easy to get caught up in our own activities and responsibilities (I know it is for me).
So, this week, I am going to take this special opportunity to reinforce my commitment to perform a not so random act of kindness each day. Need ideas? Check out this site: http://www.randomactsofkindness.org
p.s. The little heart pillows are sachets I needlepointed in Persian wool. My Sheepy friend is a Dora Designs doorstop I purchased at the Charles M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, MT last summer. And that is why this is called “Sheepy Hearts”. 🙂 Actually, I’ve never used Sheepy as a doorstop. She is just too cuddly to be relegated to a mundane job like that.
My motto here at “Taking Time to Smell the Roses” is to take the opportunities we can to have a little fun now and then. There’s a good excuse today, because the folks over at Wellcat.com have established Feburary 13th as Get a Different Name Day holiday. This is the day we may change our name to whatever we wish and have the right to expect colleagues, family and friends to so address us.
In case you have never thought about changing your name (even for a day) and are at a loss how to join in celebrating this holiday, check out this site — Fantasy Name Generator
The justification for today’s holiday is in part for those who hate the birth names they were given. For those in the U.S., you might find it interesting to see if your given name is on the list of Popular Baby Names for the year you were born. My given name is not, but I still found it interesting to check various years and see how names cycled in popularity.
Jacquelin without an 'e' - 4 months old
So the story goes, here is how my parents picked a name for me. They thought I was going to be a boy (or maybe that was their wishful thinking?) and they had already picked out the name Jack (after my Mom’s brother Uncle Jack). So I guess they were back-peddling in the hospital to quickly come up with a derivative name for the little girl baby that the stork delivered instead, lol.
I don’t hate my birth name, but the uncommon spelling entered on the birth certificate has been a minor grief throughout my life. My legal first name is Jacquelin. That’s right, no ‘e’ on the end. You wouldn’t believe the countless legal documents I’ve had to send back for correction because invariably people want to add an ‘e’. “Jacquelin-without-the-e” became a well-rehearsed jingle.
Almost no one ever calls me Jacquelin. I go by Jackie. But my fantasy name is Nichole — or Nicky for short. So that is what you need to call me today, ok?
What’s your name for today?
p.s. Thanks to Thomas and Ruth Roy at Wellcat for permission to share this holiday with you.
I barely remember Nancy Miller, one of the children of next door neighbors when I was going to high school in Winston-Salem. Then about 15 months ago I happened to (finally) look at my Facebook account which I had opened several months prior but had never actively used. There was a message from Nancy Miller Bolten, coming out of the blue so to speak, 45 years after I had graduated and left Winston-Salem.
She said “You have to be the sister of Happy Erickson. You look just like the Jackie as I remember. We used to live next door to you on Pennington Ln in Winston-Salem. I have been wondering where and how Happy has been all these years since we moved to Charlotte…” Happy and Nancy had been close playmates, so of course I was glad to help them get in touch with each other again.
And then Nancy and I realized we had the needle arts in common and have since become steady cyber friends. And so it is a delight to have Nancy Bolten as our blog guest today. I know you will enjoy this peek into her creative talents.
Roxie tote bag by Nancy Miller Bolten
From Nancy —
I love what you are doing with the item of the week. Can I submit the Boston Terrier tote I made for my sister Emily to take with her to Germany over Christmas? It was her Christmas present for my baby sister so she could have a nice tote to put all of her goodies. Her husband is over there for a year. The Boston Terrier is actually her dog and I designed the bag with all the glitz to go around it (with a few of her specifications of course!)
I have forwarded the picture of Emily with her tote in Paris/Germany and have attached some of my own. The dog’s name is “Roxie”. She has a crystal earring too!
The “Roxie” tote has several colors of silk, decorative interior with green silk header, swarovski crystals, and other embellishments.
I love your blogs and posts…keep them coming!
Emily in Europe with her tote
Nancy also reminded me, “You may not remember babysitting for us when Emily was just a baby. Mom said you sat a couple of times then you were off to college for most of the time we lived next door.” Now that really brings me down memory lane.
Decorative interior with green silk headerRoxie has a crystal earringNancyEmily
You can visit Nancy at her Sew Cute Decor & Finishing business website (be sure to see other examples of her needlepoint and home decor here) or on Facebook. Thank you Nancy!
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Designer/Creator Nancy Bolten of SewCute Decor & Finishing has been sharing her expertise for 24+ years from her studio in Charlotte, NC. Her work has been featured in designer homes, including the ABC October 2008 Extreme Makeover Home Edition, Charlotte, as well as represented in both Charlotte Observer and Charlotte Weekly.
Related Images:
Behind the scenes with Jackie E-S and life at the HeartStrings FiberArts studio.
