May 23, 2010

Though my travel schedule only enables me to participate sporadically, I am a member of the choir at my local church.  It's an activity I enjoy very much and a great deal of that enjoyment stems from Paul, our choir director, and Carol, our pianist (who is also Paul's wife).

Paul and Carol are wonderful musicians, dedicated servants of God and the church, and a whole lot of fun and have great sense of humor.  That's why, after eleven years of faithful service, it is so hard for us to see them retire.  Even so, we wanted to give them a memorable and fitting send off.  So today, at the end of the service and before their sumptuous appreciation luncheon to follow, the choir members got to their feet to sing a few songs, tell a few jokes, and let them Paul and Carol know how very much we love them.  

As a special surprise, we performed the following song, sung to the tune of "Immortal, Invisible". Paul and Carol got a kick out of it and I thought you might too.  Here are the lyrics....

Untuned and impossible God only knows

How tenors and basses, sopranos, altos

At service on Sunday are rarely the same

As those who on Thursday to choir practice came.

Unready, unable to sight-read the notes,

Nor counting nor blending, they tighten their throats.

The descant so piercing is soaring above

The melody only a mother could love.

They have a director, but on one knows why.

No one in the choir deigns to turn him an eye.

It's clear by his waving, he wants them to look,

But each of them stands with his nose in the book.

Despite the offenses, the music rings out

The folks in the pews are enraptured, no doubt

Their faces are blissful, their thoughts are so deep,

But it is no wonder, for they are asleep!

May 15, 2010

Well! It's been a busy weekend - and it's only half over!

The fun began on Friday morning when Jacqueline Kunkel, host of the Canton Village Quilt Works Podcast, came to my home for an interview.  The podcast recording is up now and you can listen to it on itune or by clicking this link ...

Today I had a wonderful visit to my "home court" bookstore, The Hickory Stick Bookshop.  I loved seeing my old friends, including a group from the Southford Falls Quilt Guild, and meeting news ones, including two young readers who came with their grandma and whose sunny smiles brightened my day, and a family in which grandmother, mother, and granddaughter are all reading and enjoying my books!  Such fun!  Thank you to everyone who dropped by.

Sunday, May 16 at 2pm, I'll be signing at Written Words Bookshop in Shelton, Connecticut.  It's a terrific bookstore with a terrific staff.  If you're in the area, I hope you'll stop in to say hello!

May 7, 2010

On Monday at 4pm Eastern Time, I'll be on Pat Sloan's Creative Talk Radio - Live! If you'd like to listen in at that time, just go to http://toginet.com/shows/creativetalkradio  

Pat has all kinds of interesting, creative guests on her show so while you're on her site, you might want to listen to some of the archives of her older shows too!

April 27, 2010

Today's the day! A THREAD SO THIN is out and either in a bookstore near you or on it's way.  I hope you get a chance to read it!

I'm writing this from my hotel room in Little Rock, Arkansas.  My daughter-in-love and Sparkly Assistant is with me and we've been having a great time on this tour!

First stop was the Paducah Quilt Show and oh my! What fun that was! I have never seen so many quilters and gorgeous quilts.  It was great fun meeting with my Reading Friends, signing books and, yes, buying a little fabric.  (Well, maybe more than a little but DO NOT tell my husband that.  He thinks I have too much fabric already.  What a silly idea.)  We were treated to a heaping helping of warm Southern hospitality by our delightful hosts, Cindy and Joe Beemer, who treated us to delicious breakfasts and good conversations in their lovely home.   

I hope to have some pictures of a few quilts up before too long.  We took pictures of the quilts we felt the Cobbled Court characters would have chosen as their personal favorites. I think you'll enjoy seeing those.

After Paducah, we headed to Memphis.  As near as I can tell, the entire town smells like the best BBQ you can imagine.  Even better, it tastes as good as it smells! We had a delicious meal at the famous Rendezvous restaurant.  We also visited Graceland, had a wonderful time and now have an impressive collection of Elvis memorabilia - right down to the pink and white Graceland socks.  And to top it all off, we went to see the famous Parade of Ducks at the Peabody Hotel.  What a great way to cap off our visit!  We took some video of the duck parade and I'm sure we'll post that soon.

Tomorrow we're off to Oklahoma City for the weekend, then onto Dallas. I'll keep you posted as time allows. 

Thanks so much for the good wishes so many of you have sent on the release of A THREAD SO THIN.  Your encouragement and kind words always lift my spirits!

April 21, 2010

Am at the Paducah Quilt Show and so excited to be here!  If you're here too, drop by to see me.  There's more information in the Appearance section.  As the next few days will be busy, we may be a little slower than usual in responding to the messages you've been sending, but we will get back to you all as soon as possible.  

Another very important note, Quilting King and Uber-Cupcake, Mark Lipinski needs a kidney.  Can you help?  Please take a moment to read more on Mark's blog for more informatin. Thanks!

 www.marklipinskisblog.wordpress.com