Notes from the road..

Well I'm back from working out of town in Louisiana. And I have to say I miss it. Yes I missed my home, family and friends while I was away. But I guess I miss the work environment and my guy friends - that are off and working in Texas for the next 9-12 months. So sad!

Here's some pics off this last trip:

Last week I went into New Orleans to take some after photos of a church we had restored that had been fire damaged. Here's some photos of it - it truly is beautiful. We were invited to attend their 160th anniversary mass. Complete with a mariachi band!



Although it was not all work all of the time. After taking these photos at the church we ventured to the French Quarter for lunch and I some site seeing.

I spotted this old advertisement printed on the side of a building:
This is the box office at the House of Blues:
On our way back from a church that was off of the beaten path we stopped here at these abandoned slave quarters. Scenes from the movie Ray were filmed here. To me it is so amazing and sad to think that these cabins still stand amidst the same sugar cane fields that were harvested so many years ago.

Fields of sugar cane line both sides of the road for miles:

Rows of cabins are in a line just beyond the sugar cane fields:

We drove to Texas one morning - 3 1/2 hours each way. Needless to say I had photo in hand for anything interesting:

And whadya know - Gibson, LA:

I believe this is a sugar cane refinery:
We ended a lot of our evenings with a night cap from here: a drive thru daiquiri shop! O the novelty of driving up to a take out window for a yummy slushing daiquiri. This would so not work in Pennsylvania! They taped the straw to the cup and it was considered a closed container - so strange to this Yankee!
All in all it was a lot of work - but the down time we had was well deserved and spent!

12 Days of Halloween Swap...

Here's a peek at the 12 Days of Halloween swap that I'm participating in. You wrap 12 individual presents to open every day up until Halloween - fun!

Lots of fun goodies that were shipped out Saturday. I just love that crow - I need to make one for myself.

I'll post pics of my goodies once I receive them.

Artsy Autumn Swap...

I almost forgot about posting pics of the goodies I sent and the goodies I received from the Autumn Artsy Swap. Here are some of the goodies I sent to Janice my swap partner:

This is a little 2x2 inch banner that I made - this was so fun and fast to whip up.

Here's a close up of the detail.

Here's the bigger pennant banner.Here's the box full of all the goodies that were shipped off.

I recieved all of my treasures from Janice in this really cute decorated fabric box. All of the images are printed on fabric. Love the broach.
I love this big tag and hanger. They both have natural mica on them - I have never used that yet, but I'm so ready to order some. Also there is a cute decorated little blank book.

On top of the pin cushion is a really great bracelet with a bird charm decorating the middle and another bird charm laying down that Janice made. Some great vintage cards, a charm and a neato stamp. I can't wait to play with that!

Ahhh peace & quiet...

We just got back from a wonderful week of peace and quiet. There's something really to be said about not having a cell phone ringing and having to drive 2 miles down the road to pick up a signal.

The weather was wonderful, even the one rain day we had was a nice break. We went bike riding - and no I didn't fall off or break anything - thank goodness, sat by the fire, grilled, took photos, watched a ton of dvd's and just relaxed.

We spent the week alone in a cozy little cabin in the woods to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary. Hard to believe it will be one full year tomorrow. Happy Anniversary to us! Here's proof that I finally figured out the self timer on my camera!