The cantata went well – here is the link IF you should want to listen to it.
I was quite rattled by 7:00 when Margaret and I finished the preludes. We started playing at 6:45 and these are songs we’ve played for years. I could not even hear the organ! The piano was turned opposite of normal and the congregation was talking as if they were at a football game. I was almost in tears – wanting to do it all well and struggling to do so. It all became a blur.
Well, that’s water under the bridge today. The wind is awful and going to be even worse tomorrow – possibly 50-60 mph! Yikes! I ran to Walmart today so I wouldn’t have to think of it the rest of the week. We return to Mayo on Friday.
Took this picture in the parking lot today – is this just common in Iowa or everywhere there are pickups? Do pickup owners not know how to park? Are they just careless? This happens a lot – they can’t park straight and just expect everybody else to make allowances. Is it because pickups are just too big? It is one of my top ten pet peeves.
Got this fabulous iron (?) dog today from Connie R., a blog reader. He is just gorgeous and will look great in my collection – who wouldn’t love a heavy black dog? I think I’ll give him a name.
I would not generally take pictures of funeral flower arrangements but this one really caught my eye from last Saturday. Never say this blog doesn’t touch on any subject matter – ha! Except politics – we will never discuss politics!!
Enough! What’s happening at your house?
The people were talking while you were playing the piano? That’s so rude! I will listen to the Cantata. I forgot last night. My parents are here visiting from Michigan. I live in southern Texas. I’ve been busy with that. I received my sled pattern today! I think I might have the perfect brown for it. Who knows when I’ll get to sewing it though!
I just learned that the ring bearer in my wedding (46.5 years ago) is going to be a Grandpa! Won’t be making a quilt though. I’ll leave that to my sister the Great Grandma to be.
Your iron black dog is another “ Keeper “ love it. We have that Some at our church. To much talking, very rude.
We’ve been busy with church to.
Now time to start cooking.
Merry Christmas 🎄
I love that you touch on most topics and fully appreciate no politics!!
I’m at my son’s house this evening as I’m on Grandma Duty tomorrow when he and my daughter-in-love both have to work. I came down early to spend the afternoon with Laurel as she will be at daycare tomorrow. I’ll just have Graham during the day. I’ll stay until Liz gets home again Wednesday morning so I’ll get more Laurel Time tomorrow evening! No sewing while I’m here as I just couldn’t manage to get binding attached to anything. I did, however, bring along a needle felting kit that arrived in the mail just as I was leaving. I’ve been wanting some new handwork and am anxious to try this!
Snow is in the forecast but I’m hoping it will hold off until I get home again. Was 50 this afternoon.
I love to listen to music in church but some people can’t be quiet. Very rude. I love the iron black dog and the quilt on your chair. Telly looks so comfortable. We’ve been shoveling snow, pretty tired and ready to go to bed. The storm is coming your way. Be safe.
I think the pickups are just bigger and bigger and they can’t make the turn easily into the narrow space and they don’t want to back up and straighten it out.
I have a 17 year old Tundra and I wouldn’t want to park it in a space so I take the car to town!
Your observation about big pick-ups really touched a chord of agreement! Special driving classes should be required if you own one. Special segregated parking spaces that are sized for them. Automatic dimmer for headlights whether incoming or following.
Wound care continues here, accompanied by nerve pain that nothing soothes. Good luck at Mayo!
Stay safe in those upcoming winds & possibly big snow from what I’ve heard. We’ve had so.much.rain & clouds! We saw some ☀️ today for the first time in more than a week. Ugh! Wednesday we’re looking forward (not) to 1-3” more of rain. The our temps drop & get back to normal. (With the rains we’ve had we’ve also had 10-12° above normal temps.)
Ok, I’m with you on the truck & large suv drivers. They pull into a parking spot (or two) & leave their vehicle where it lands. I don’t know about you but I always straighten my vehicle out so in the the parking spot as it should be. We have some gargantuan monster pickup trucks on the roads here in TN. Many are set up with the gigantic exhaust pipes & their diesel so they stink to high Heaven. Grr 😖.
On a good note, our gas prices have been falling. Today, regular, brand name gas just of the interstate was $2.52 a gallon! Have a good week y’all!
I bet you did a beautiful job playing in the cantata. Sounds as though the surroundings were very frustrating.
The black iron dog is great. What a “keeper”.
I started working on a scrappy hex (epp) quilt. The hexes are 2 1/2” – pretty big. I’m using scraps of kids fabric. Not sure if I’ll like it. Oh well
Always enjoy your topics of conversation. Thanks
I do hope all the visiting stopped when the program began.
You’ve got some great goodies today. The chair looks comfy to me, but, sitting tells the whole story.
My husband took the seat out of my auto today. Somehow the little tab on my coat pocket slipped into the seatbelt slot. There is a magnet in there and it turned the button slanted. No getting the tab out or, the shoulder strap buckled in. So, we hunted around for a replacement. The dealership needs the VIN number of the car to order a replacement. Yep…isn’t that odd? It should be here Tuesday.
I finished a large job for a customer. 8 Christmas quilts, she will be very happy.
I went line dancing practice today. I can’t get the pivot correct. More practice. It is a blast to see 70, 80, and 90 year olds doing the electric slide to Shania Twain.
Bundle up, it’s goina get cold.
Bad parking by any vehicle bothers me! I think parking spaces in general are too small. I usually park my pickup way out in the more open area. Thank you for the cantata link. I went to a funeral visitation tonight. Several of the arrangements were photo worthy
Everyone should be humble and kind, especially in a church program. Be careful coming to Mayo on Friday, we’re supposed to get alot of snow this next 2 1/2 days! Do you have any quilts made out of hexi’s? I can’t quilt the normal way because of all the surgeries I’ve had on my neck, I can’t look down more than 10 minutes or I get extremely dizzy but I can sit in my down filled chair and hand stitch hexi’s together with my head laid back for short times. Looking at all the beautiful quilts in your posts had inspired me but not sure where to begin and watching you tube doesn’t really help. Love the black dog, he for sure needs a name! Thanks for all your inspiration!!
Robin
Robin – oh I am so sorry you’re having such a hard time with the neck surgeries and not being able to sit and piece. Is there any other handwork you might like to try? Yes, we will be careful and if there’s any question about roads we will reschedule. I saw an ad on TV about Townies which looked like a fun restaurant – do you know it? Is it good? No, I’ve never done much with hexies because I don’t really enjoy handwork – I like to piece – fast! Haha!!
People can be so rude. I’d feel like standing up and saying if you want to hear the music, please listen, otherwise, leave. It happens all the time. Or turn up the volume on the organ??
And as for pickups. They are another story. They seem to think they can park it anywhere, just like in the country. If the box sticks out into the lane of traffic, the drivers must change lanes. BUT, for some other reason, it seems like that is the way I park, even putting the car in the garage. The big long box, double cab trucks and town parking don’t mix well.
I made the trip to Walmart this morning, but I didn’t need very much. The veggies are cleaned and the Italian sausage is cooked and ready to put in the crock pot tomorrow morning. It makes a minestroni to die for. And fills the 7qt. crock pot. We’ll eat good.
The temp has been going down all day, wind, too, and now we’ve got a bit of mist in the air. Street doesn’t look slippery, yet. Snow will start later tonight. And the wind is not nice. Then we’ll see how much snow we get. Surprise. I’ll stay in the house. I could probably stay busy for at least a year without even leaving the house. Oh, what fun??
Oh, the basketball teams are in town and the tournament starts Wednesday. They may have to adjust for attendence, but a good time will be had by everybody. Time will tell.
Take care everybody and don’t do anything stupid. This storm will pass and the next one will come.
Betty in Rapid City
Mary,
That is too bad about the talking…I could here it when the first long segment finished. I would think that people would come and take a deep breath and enjoy the peace. Maybe next time someone can say something in advance, or post a sign. It seems as they are just waiting for something bigger to begin.
We enjoyed attending our 3rd grade grandson’s choir concert tonight. There was so much energy in those kids! Just think! They were in kindergarten, then home for 1st and most of 2nd grade! They are so happy to be together again at school. There must have been at least 6 3rd grade classrooms represented. Our little guy stood like a soldier in the front row (he’s so tiny) & knew every word of every song & carried off his speaking part very well! A few weeks ago, we attended his sister’s 6th grade choir concert & drove home in a blizzard. On the 23rd, God willing, well be at our 5-year-old granddaughter’s preschool Christmas program. We have set up our wrapping station and my hubby is the chief wrapper as he worked in retail during high school and learned how to wrap beautifully! I still have a tickle in my throat from my bout with Influenza A and working on getting my strength back. Then on Christmas Eve our married son & daughter-in-law will host our family for appetizers, gifts and Christmas dinner! We have 3 single grown kids and we love getting together. May your holiday season be merry and bright, Mary, and safe travels to Mayo!
Sounds like you have been celebrating the season in the best ways possible. I envy you all your family time as my kids/grandkids live 1,000 miles away. We will see them for the holidays, but certainly won’t see all the fun kid events you have been enjoying. How nice your husband does wrapping! I love the festive paper and thinking about the recipients as I wrap, but it takes a long time! I used to try to do it all at once, but now I spread it out over several wrapping sessions.
Sometimes it seems people haven’t had any manners taught to them. I love listening to church music so I will listen to your cantata tomorrow. Thanks for sharing. I am working on my challenge quilt due tomorrow for Guild. Might get it done—hope. Big pickup trucks. Ugh. Many are driven by people who are too short to see what is in front of them. A woman drove right over my sister’s car in a parking lot. Luckily my sister was coming out of the store as the woman ran over it. Otherwise, if my had been in the driver’s seat, she would have been severely injured. The woman said, “ I told my husband I was too short for this truck..” But, when my sister told the policeman that, the woman said that, the woman denied it. Right, my sister made it up. Ha! People are weird! The black iron dog, funeral flowers, and Telly are wonderful. Stay safe and warm, Mary as you travel and at home.
Tonight I cleaned off my kitchen countertops, so at least I can see the countertop! Hah! I know how you feel about people chatting away while you are trying to enhance an experience with prelude music. It drives me nuts when people talk during the organ prelude at church; so disrespectful and not conducive to reverence before the meeting starts!!
Heavy black dog name…what else but Arlo? Ha Ha!!!!
Ginny – YES! Arlo it is!!!
Hi Mary, the iron dog is cute ,and l think Telly needs a quilt wrapped around him, got to spoil the fur baby! Finally summer weather is here, put some juice in the iceblock makers for when l need to cool down! Found huge number of Japanese half square triangles and other Asian fabrics today, no recollection of where they came from! Ironing and downsizing continues! Take care everyone, best wishes from Sandy
Thanks for posting the link for the Cantata and I will listen to it tomorrow as I love the music of them. It will be peaceful and meaningful to me since most of our local churches have stopped them due to lack of choir members returning.
Our church has a quiet time to regroup and reflect before our service begins with organ music playing to set the tone to prepare to worship. We all just know there is no speaking or visiting as fellowship hour after church is for that. I can’t imagine people being disrespectful in a house of worship.
I always told myself I can judge a persons character by the way they drive and park a car in a parking lot! If they cut people off driving, then I think they must be rude in their lives. If they pull into a parking spot haphazardly and don’t back up to correct themselves to be in the lines, then I peg them to be selfish and don’t care about others. I have watched people pull their trucks into grocery store lots like they were driving up to a barn and just slam their door and walk in when it’s sticking half out of the spot. Sadly they aren’t my kind of people to hang around.
It was always my advice to friends who divorced or were widowed and wanted to talk about someone they met or dated cause they were hoping for Mr Right.
Just watch them drive and decide how they think of others on the road.
YES!!!!! And even pushing a cart in the grocery store. Polite and considerate go a long ways.
Betty
Thank you for presenting the music for the cantata. I did many Christmas parents as a child and cantatas as an adult. Your job is essential and tough.
I am finishing up bindings on two quilts that will be Christmas presents.
Safe travels on Friday.
As a church organist, I agree with your comments about all the talking. If it gets too loud, I increase the volume on the organ and then after a bit,I take the vol. down real fast. All of a sudden, they catch on. I feel like I’m playing in a bar or something. As a child, I don’t remember talking once your were in the pew. And those pick-ups–that is another whole story.
I want to list to your music tomarrow. Doing some decorating for Christmas and probably the weather will not be good. No school here tomarrow, many are closed as of tonight. We have ice.
Thanks for your blog.
Kathy – my mother would never have allowed us to be loud in church! Wish I could use your method on the piano. What is wrong with people?
I loved the Cantata. Thanks for sharing it with us.
I tried sending a response to your tirade about pickup truck drivers. But your server refused to accept it, must have been too long. Mary, your view on this subject is unfair. Try once to look at it from our point of view. I have almost been killed twice by being rearended in my truck. I would have been dead if I had been in a car. I will never, EVER, own another car. Why are there more pickups? Because they are way more safe than any car you can own.
On another note now that my blood pressure has returned to normal, I received your blog posting three times. Also, why do we have to Login to hear the cantata.
I love your posts! Always so interesting and fun! I want to listen to the cantata will try to get it up
Later today. Jerry is so good about parking just perfectly, it drives him crazy when people park like that truck was parked!!
Stay warm today and hope things don’t blow away!!!!
The uneven truck parking is everywhere. I make it a point to park straight when I drive my husband’s truck, even if I have to back up and pull in again.
Lovely cantata. Hope you have a blessed week.
I hope to listen to the cantata. I sure understand how people just chattering on us so distracting! I feel like I’m always the “Mom” saying hush now!
Rude pick up parking must be universal. One of my top peeves too. Too big and they seem to think they’re entitled 😖
Stay warm and hang in if you’re out in that wind. We get ferocious wind too, so I get it!
Merry Christmas 🎄
Today I was thinking about Christmas memories and I remembered something I always looked forward to. Our country church had a Christmas eve service, where the kids told the Christmas story. The congregation sang Christmas songs and at the end of the service, some adults handed out paper bags of treats to each child. The bags held nuts, hard candy, and an apple or orange. I remember helping my father bag up those treats one year. It is a special memory of a time long ago. Anyone else have something similar or was it unique to our small church/congregation?
Vicki,
You brought back memories of my childhood as well. In our church in MN we always received a sack of hard candy, peanuts, and that chocolate covered piece of candy which we all would eat first! I remember the ribbon candy, but never really cared much for any of the hard candy. What we wanted was that chocolate drop. I don’t think we received fruit. Good memories of days gone by! Little things meant so much to us back then.
Raining here in south central Iowa this morning. Also very windy. Today is my birthday, and will go sew at the church. We are making Christmas lap quilts for another care center in Oskaloosa. We already gave 34 to another nursing home. The residents were so thrilled with them. Our prayer was that they would bring some Christmas cheer to the recipients.
My daughter in ND is getting snow today, which isn’t unusual. School closed.
I will try listening to the cantata later. We had church Sunday night. When I got home I tried to tune in and heard the last postlude song. Stay safe everyone.
Jeanine – Happy Birthday! We always got that same brown sack of candy when we left church on Christmas Eve and yes, the chocolate drops were our favorite – hated that ribbon candy. Good luck with the lap quilts!
Sadly, no, it does not just happen in Iowa. It is all over. I do think it happens because the trucks are so much bigger than they used to be. My husband can’t park his truck easily either. He also has trouble turning street corners without running over curbs. It is also a pet peeve of mine too. The car manufacturers love the problem. 😄
People who can’t park don’t just live in your area. That pickup brought back memories of my oldest daughter when she went for her drivers test at 16. She was petite at the time, had her hair up in a ponytail under a baseball cap and drove our standard size pickup. She passed her test easily and the State Trooper commented on her excellent driving skills. Maybe women should give driving lessons. lol Love that iron dog and of course, the photo of Telly on “your” new chair is as pretty as a Christmas postcard – love the beautiful red & white quilt. Lovely, delicate flowers, not your typical funeral bouquet. I had a chance to listed to some of the Cantata -the music is wonderful. Sad that those in the pews were so loud & rude. I know in our Church, the “Christmas & Easter” crowd are often loud and chatty; the regulars like to sit in respectful silence. It’s not a sports venue folks!!!! The little children of our parish brought in their shoes for St. Nicholas to fill with goodies last Sunday. One little one brought in her pink boots! The photos posted were adorable. Praying that everyone in the path of those winter storms stays safe.
Large trucks and parking!!! Don’t get me started….I work at a university and there are HUNDREDS of large trucks in our parking lots and NONE of them know how to park, nor do they really care how they park! I would rate it at the top 10 pet pees as well!!! 🙂
Incompetents who can’t park seems to be pretty universal and very much a pet peeve of mine. In our little town the big pickups should be banned from parking on main street as the road isn’t wide enough. You run an obstacle course getting around them – on both sides of the street. Your cute little black dog looks just like the cocker spaniel we had when I was a kid – loved here. It sure looks like you will be getting bad weather. Stay safe everyone.
I’m in love with that flower arrangement. Makes me want to buy some flowers and try it myself. Alstromeria have a very long vase life and I have greenery. I would need white, of course. So pretty.
I love to go places in our pick-up. It’s very comfortable and I can see things better. It’s a hard one to park in lots, though, but my husband tries hard to park her right. I notice the crooked ones too.
Ha, ha, crooked parking happens everywhere!! And it isn’t just big trucks either!!! I think that even if parking spaces were bigger, people would still park wonky! I think part of it is that people just don’t care how their actions affect others. Kind of sad but that’s the way a lot of society is now.
Thanks for putting picture of your iron dog you received as I found a cat on the same style and is brown and iron also at a garage sale this summer for 50c.
Wind is very strong here in Buena Vista County, IA and it is just raining, at 34 deg not too much ice, but you do have be careful on side walks.
Am staying in and enjoying your site and our Christmas decor.
Thanks for doing the blog, makes my DAY!
Me again. The big SUV’s, trucks, etc brought an accident to mind. It was probably 4-5 years ago, I don’t remember where. A family was crossing the street at the crosswalk and run over by a high SUV. The driver couldn’t see them and didn’t even know they were right in front of him.
Parking lots scare the heck out of me. I’m always afraid that somebody is going to back up when I’m right behing them.
Memories: About 60 years ago the State Basket ball Tournaments final night at the Vet’s Auditorium in Des Moines. Everybody was there by 6:00 PM, it started snowing and when the games were over, everybody was snowed in and couldn’t get out into the parking lot. Everybody spent the night. Wonder how many got any sleep?? The good old days? I always loved snow days whether working or school even tho we had to work twice as hard afterwards.
News just said the 2nd blast of snow is on track, Interstate is closing, temps dropping, winds rising and stay safe.
Betty in Rapid City
Betty – I remember that year the kids slept at Vets and when I started attending during high school we always hoped it would happen again. Ha! This has been a miserable day – the high winds from the east are blowing the rain horizontally. I have extra water buckets filled in the barn in case we lose power – oh, I hope not! I’m sitting in the front room watching the traffic and watching it rain but soon I’ll go back to the sewing room to watch the news. – hoping I can finish Bitcoin tonight. I know what you mean about parking lots – and also big pickups and SUVs. They’re an entitled bunch of jerks for the most part.
I listened to the Cantata! I heard what you meant about the beginning and the noise. I can see how that would be distracting. Your music was still beautiful though. All the music was very nice! Thanks for sharing.