(Say it Fast:) "Ho-Hum, Sweet Ho-Hum"

Cappy and I have worked on a few home improvement projects together, and it didn't always end up with the happiest of results. That's why he resignedly insists we hire what we need to be done, and if at all possible, that it's done while he's blissfully away on the boat. Well, if I knew then what I know now, I'm wondering if there wasn't a lot I couldn't have done by myself with a can of paint and a crowbar. Oh, sure, our house might have looked a little boring back then, but there was peace on earth, as I knew it. As we knew it. Finally today, after six weeks, of using my garden kneeler to get down low enough, then hunching over the edge of the bathtub to scrub pots and pans in the bathtub, because the bathroom sink was too tiny... we got our kitchen sink! I was about ready to take the dishes down to the river's edge and beat them on a rock, like they used to wash clothes in the olden days. I counted it as a merry adventure weeks ago, but the novelty soon wore off. Now I just want normalcy. Today the plumber, Mr. Gordon Rose made it so, Bless his heart. It wasn't easy either; there were, of course, complications because I had purchased a 12" deep sink that could more easily accomodate Cappy's assortment of HUGE cooking pots and pans. (One of the first things Cappy asked me over the phone, once it was all in place was, "Is it big enough for my 'cadillac pot' ??)... I hope so. Well, Mr. Gordon got it and the dishwasher working!

Yesterday, John from Bayou Granite and Marble came and installed the countertops. He and his helpers had them finished in less than an hour. I was impressed, and Oh yummy, the color of these countertops look better than I had remembered, from when I had picked out the stone. We are still waiting on 'absolute black' granite to be shipped in from New Jersey, of all places, for the little dining penisula.

And today the tin ceiling tile came in! Four boxes of them. Sam's wife, Louise spent the day with me as all this stuff was taking place, Bless her heart, or I woulda been walking around wringing my hands trying to 'help' and getting in the way, along with SparkyBear, who is always 'helping'...he likes MEN, that dog, and 'guy things'; fishing, hunting, hammering, tools...whatever; he has to be right there watching every detail of whatever is going on. LOL...and his "Dad" was, out there on the boat, telling them over the phone how he thinks things should be done, as well. I like that he does that. It's good that he does, in light of the fact that I had given up on my John Wayne personna when it came to dealing with carpenters, or the like. (It never worked anyhow...drat.)

Now also today the polite young man, who will be putting up the ceiling tiles stopped by to go over the plans. Alas, unless he changes his mind, the ceiling will not be worked on until Cappy gets home.

...And the floor tile repairs, which now need to take place because of cabinet re-arrangement, will also have to take place when Cappy is home.

Ya know...everything was fine around here; boring but fine, til I started overhauling and renovating. Too late, I now know, from talking with other folks, that it's pretty rough. Oh, on television they don't show all that stuff on those home makeover shows. Oh noooo...they give you all these wonderful ideas and examples of how your house can look, and it's all done in four days at the most, with a little cute bantering and an oopsy once in awhile with the hammer, then "tah dah!!!". HAH! >:-(

On the brighter side, once we finish up what we've already started, the only project left on the house will be the bathroom. (Pegody takes another look at the cartoon above and begins to re-evaluate the situation. Nahhh, I think Cappy is right; we'll hire somebody to get it done.)

Well, I Know I'm in Trouble...

What a fun day! All week I wasn't sure if I'd be able to go with Sam and Louise to the Crawfish Festival in Breaux Bridge. (Pronounced like 'Bro', for yall Yankees :-P) Last night I went to bed thinking I'd still be sitting around the house cooling my heels waiting for the granite guy to come put in my countertops as he promised he would have done this week. >:-(
This morning I was fast asleep, 'down a deep well', as I call it when the phone rang, and it was Sam and Louise letting me know they'd be here in about 45 min. or so to pick me up to go along with them! Whooshhhhh...showered, hair washed, shirt ironed, "toofsus" all brushed and did, makeup on, dogs fed and watered, camera bag packed, lunch ready, breakfast eaten...all in 35 minutes. I'm still amazed. Truth is, I didn't want them coming in the house to wait for me...it's a WRECK still. BAW! I want my kitchen done, and my life put back together.
Well, off I went with them. We took the most glorious scenic route; one that I usually take when I'm evacuating for hurricanes and the last thing I'm doing at times like those, is enjoying the scenery. Today it was lovely.
Now Sam and Louise are my witnesses: I kept mentioning that it didn't seem right to travel so close to the Lafayette area and not go see Aunt Gussie and the family, but it was just not possible today, so I was going to 'sneak' over and hope no family was at the festival.
It was my first time at the Crawfish Festival, and it was packed. The music...well, what can I say...it was Cajun music...I just LOVE Cajun music! How people can just walk calmly along listening to it is beyond me, but then I didn't grow up around it, so I 'act the fool' dancing along to it as I walk. If people didn't keep sending me Chicken Soup emails admonishing me to 'dance as if nobody's watching' and it hadn't sunk in...which it has...I would just walk normally, but when the air is full of the joyous, bouncing sound, I just gotta let go and enjoy it, by dancing along to it as I go. "AAAAAAiEEEEE!!" (Cajun yell, in case ya forgot.)

Sam tried the deep-fried, either shrimp or crawfish, not sure which, and said it was very spicy hot...yum! Louise got a bread bowl with a crawfish, spinach (I think that's what the green was) sauce. It looked rather awful, but she took one taste, her eyes rolled back in ecstasy, and she said, "Mmmmmmmm". It must have been pretty good, because it seemed as though everybody in the park was carrying one and wearing the same smile. We went to the crawfish tent and had some of the most delicious crawfish...oh migosh, talk about GOOOOD! Even the salt potatoes were very good. There were even a few jalapeno peppers scattered amongst the crawfish, like little gems.

Sam, "Mmmmmm".

We shared a table with a couple, who posed for us. I'm hoping this lady liked the crawfish...lol...actually, I didn't notice her expression til I got home and opened the photo shop. I was more interested in the crawfish table at which we were sitting. Now how cool is that? An hole in the center to throw the crawfish shells. Talk about Cajun ingenuity! I wonder what we'd use these tables for up north. I coulda stuffed one of the kids in there when they were misbehaving at the table:-D

After we ate, we wandered around looking at the craft booths, etc. and spent an enjoyable time visiting, while sitting in the grass under a tree, trying to soak up some shade, then headed for a ride down along Bayou Tesche. We hadn't gotten far when my phone rang. It was Cousin Larry. Oh-oh. (how did he know??) I call Cappy's cousin Larry, "the Hub", because he goes to all kinds of festivals, he's got his finger on the pulse of the whole family, he's the 'go to guy'...he's almost omnipresent this guy...eyes everywhere. He asked, "Where yat??" in a way that suggested he somehow knew. I confessed. "Uh, we are or were at the Crawfish Festival". He said, "Uh-HUH!! and you come all the way over here and not gonna call?" Rats. Busted. Ok, I'm publically apologizing to Cousin Larry, Aunt Gussie, and the rest of the family. I knew I couldn't get away with it, and it won't happen again. I DO miss yall, and I love you. You guys will really like Sam and Louise...they are great, fun people.

Another thing I learned about them is that they like to wander around the back roads like I do. What they gave me today, besides wonderful company, great memories, and a fun day, was...TWO new shortcuts!! I now have a shortcut, when leaving town in a hurry in case of a hurricane, and another shortcut coming back from out 'west' in south central Louisiana. Yessiree, my kinda people; and on top of everything else when Sam got dropped off at home, he handed me three ziplock bags of (drooling here) the best homemade smoked sausage I've ever eaten. (he makes this stuff himself!)Three bags full...I'm in trouble now :-) Thanks, Sam and Louise!

For the Birds!

I think I finally got the Chicken slideshow finished; presently it's landed over at YouTube, and may, by now, be roosting there, collecting visits. Golly, it's been two whole weeks since SWAG and I wore our 'chicken' aprons and donned our hats, which she crafted for us. I painted three aprons, but Louise couldn't make it. We missed her, tho. We were the "Chicks" who greeted the guests, etc. Nontheless, it was a fun two days, meeting people and greeting people from a few of the Northern states, then those folks from France and Holland. What a nice bunch of folks.

I never knew that people kept chickens as pets. These are beautiful and sweet natured. I intended to post some information about Serama chickens, but there is so much out there, that I'd recommend that if your curiousity gets the better of you, "Google" Serama chickens.

Well, sorry, but this is going to be short and sweet; not feeling 'sparkling' tonight, and Cappy, out on the boat isn't feeling all that well either. NO! It's NOT what everybody's talking about, either. Not sure what it is, but am feelin' more like a dawg than a hawg.

I did want to explain that the video was taken from, of course, my perspective of the chicken show as a whole, as seen from in and around the welcoming tent, and not from intermingling with the judging or of the intense scrutiny of the birds. SWAG and I sat adjoining the live Cajun band, with the speakers a foot or so from our ears. It was good music tho, for sure, and the people really like to dance. I love it that the maw-maw's and the paw-paw's jump right into it. It was fun to watch everything within camera shot. I have to thank Mr. "Devil Dog"...the name belies him, for making me a special hamburger, which was delish. The sounds, the smell, the sights were wonderful. The song on the video is called "Allons Danser", which means, in French, "Come on along, let's go dancing"...or words to that effect. As I was putting the slideshow together, I was looking through all our music on the computer for a good song that would include chickens and ...uh...dance. The band did play that song and everybody enjoyed flailing around, wiggling and dancing to it. It was, for the slideshow, too obvious a choice; too overdone. Well, I'm done sitting on the darned thing for these past two weeks, so...why don't cha go on over to Youtube and see if it's 'hatched' :-) Hugs!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNHieubRjqw

Oh, I'm Working on it >:-(

I know I've posted this 'cartoon' before. Well, I'm postin' it again. It's been nearly two weeks since the Chicken show, and I've been trying and trying to make a simple slideshow. Behind the scenes here, there's a 'smackdown' going on between you know who and you know what. I'll letcha know who 'wins' when I win. Until then, I'm going to shut 'er down for now, go for a ride to Thibodaux, take a break and try to calm down. Cappy keeps insisting I'm pushing the wrong buttons. I say the computer is pushing my buttons.

Where O Where Are They Tonight?

So...these two got an idea...a 'plan' if you will...

Since Mr. Ed is most likely way far away at home in western NY by now, and Cappy is out on the boat, I guess it's safe to post this video I promised you.

A little background: Mr. Ed was, by trade, a chemist, but by hobby, an entertainer. He's played everywhere with his guitar. He's got about a thousand of the silliest, craziest songs which he embellishes with wacky sound effects and his kazoo. I remember when we went to Dan's house for an outdoor cookout, and the family teenagers were there, rolling their eyes and most everything that came out of their mouths was the usual youthful sarcasms and opinions about everything they knew nothing about. Typical, but I digress. When Mr. Ed pulled out his guitar, they started snickering in derision, but by the time he had played about five songs, they were like little kids hanging all over him, arms draped over his shoulders and wanting to get their picture with him. "He's a pretty cool ol' dude".

I met Mr. Ed and Mrs. Jean at our church and played in the church choir band with him and about a dozen other musicians. I played with other Christian 'Rock' groups, too, but the most fun I had was when I played at church standing next to Mr. Ed. When a song was really lively, we'd be standing there 'bopping' and 'rocking' in synch to the beat with our 'axes'...his guitar, my accordian. Some people might think that church music has to be straight-laced and oh lawdy, don't let it get too much of a beat to it...that's disrespectful! I think there's room for both. And I can and have done both. Even in the days of the early Bible The Lord called for the people to dance. So I danced with my accordian before the Lord and Joy'd in Him and always had a wonderful time. O o...have I gone to preachin'??? (sorry 'bout that) Wellllll, anywaze...that's how I know Mr. Ed and Mrs. Jean. Good friends.

Well, who knew when they came down to visit me, Mr. Ed and Cappy would hit it off like a couple of school boys. (And now, they both have a lot of just-as-crazy friends in our town, such as Sam, Skip, Todd, Stephen, Bebe`...ohhhh, I know I've left somebody out...hmmmm?)

The last night Mr. Ed and Mrs. Jean were here, we sat around a campfire, singing along with Mr. Ed, who was playing on Cappy's mother's antique Sears and Roebuck guitar, as 'the boys' "toasted" one another. And they toasted a lot, that night. ...this video is the result of that:-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-943xyHhZH4

A Mouthful for Mr. Ed

Our good friend, Sam is holding (drooling here) some wonderful Boudin that he smoked last week when Mr. Ed and Mrs. Jean were here. The last time they came down, Mr. Ed got hooked on the wonderful meaty, ricey, spicey "sausage", and has lusted after it ever since. Cappy and Sam got a bunch of good ol' boys together in Sam's workshop and taught Mr. Ed how to make it, while Mrs. Jean and I visited with Sam's wife, Louise.
As if making the boudin wasn't enough, Sam smoked (drooling here again) the most delectable pork chops, beef jerky, some kind of fish(?) sausage, chicken...it's all incredible stuff, people! That's why I call him Suh-mokin' Sam. He made his smoker out of plywood...whodda thunk?? Cooking in a wooden box. All's I know is, it's darned good stuff the man's makin' over there.
Mr. Ed had a hard time wrapping his tongue around the correct pronounciation of Boudin, tho. As with a lot of the French words down here in South Louisiana, the "n" on the end of a word is not pronounced. Boudin sounds like, "Boo-Dahh" (as in Dad), with the emphasis on"Dahh", and it being said through the nose. I had to laugh because we confused the poor man even more. There was a store in the neighborhood called "Bodin", which sounded like "bo-dahh", but it recently closed. We kept mistakenly calling the new store by that name, throwing Mr. Ed off, whenever he went to say, "Boudin". "Boo-dahh...Boe-dahhh". He finally got it into his head that to say it correctly, he needed to growl the "dahh". The guys at Sam's had a blast 'pickin' at him, but Cappy said, it was just like Mr. Ed to "give as good as he got". And they in turn gave him the nickname Winchester, instead of Rochester, NY, where he's from. Well, he just had a blast that day and came home with an armload and belly load of his beloved Boudin. Here's the slideshow over at YouTube. I fear it's being there may be tenuous, as I also included music, which, although we PAID for our CD's, they still deem it wrong somehow, so paralyze our productions. (or some of 'em anyhow) So...I say, "see it whilst ye may".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp8Dk9sQQJM

Mr. Ed & Mrs. Jean's Whirlwind Visit 2009 video

We had such a fine time with Mr. Ed and Mrs. Jean, and wish we could have taken more pictures and videos of the whole time they were here. Alas, we couldn't have, so we'll have to be content with what we have. Here is a short video of their whirlwind visit with us. I can't seem to find any pictures of us all when we visited the Gulf of Mexico. I know I took pictures, but dang if I can find 'em. Nontheless, we all had a blast. Road tripping, egg dying, another video of Mr. Ed making boudin is forthcoming, friends of theirs and ours, John and Donna coming to visit, Easter Sunday with Cappy's sister Maria and her family coming for a cookout, our friend, Melissa, Melan and little David stopping by and ...if I had time...oooh, just wait til you see what we are going to be putting on YouTube for yall. It all started one night with Mr. Ed and Cappy making a campfire in the yard, Mr. Ed tuning up Cappy's mother's old guitar, them sharing a few toasts and laughs...them both 'practicing' a song, and me being told not to tape it just yet. Til then here's this one; short and sweet.

Dying to Tell You.

Finally!! I got the video made...tah-dah! It's the one of us at Cappy's sister Maria's house teaching Mr. Ed and Mrs. Jean how to dye eggs with cooking oil. This year's production is not as polished, just so you know in advance. I guess it might be a little lengthy, too; about 9 minutes or so. I never talk (anymore) while I'm taping, but I almost laughed when Cappy can be overheard, saying, "Only for YOU (me) would I dye an egg green", because he hates green. (It's my favorite color) He loves it in nature; he'd have to love it, being out in the swamps and bayous and woods all day, everyday. So, it's a dichotomy...he hates green, but he loves green, but only as God made it, not dyed, man-made green things.
I thought it was cute where Blythe, who just turned 10, examining her multi-colored egg, declared herself the new "Jackson Pollock", who was, of course, the famous artist, whom my Dad dubbed, "The Splatter Artist". Her Dad, Darryl, as you may recall, is an high school art teacher. For some reason Darryl wasn't there to participate in our egg-dying fiasco...he was sorely missed. Therefore, we proclaimed ourselves to be the winners this year and beat a hasty retreat.
Speaking of eggs, tho...I have much to tell about the 'chicken show' from yesterday. Am dying to tell you about the 'peeps' I met.
Meanwhile, here's the link to YouTube to see the purpose of this particular post. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En_rLcqr33w

2009 Serama Chicken Show

Although my house is still in major disarray, boxes scattered everywhere, etc. I wanted...needed a 'time out'. It was a toss up today as to whether I'd try to get that video out that I started last night or let you know what I did tonight. The chickens won. I got out of the house and 'helped' at the Serama Chicken Extravaganza 2009. I mostly just took pictures, handed out some fabulous Cajun corn and seafood soup to folks, ate some yummy crawfish, and visited with folks from up north and Holland and France who came to visit for the show, not to mention palled around with our friend, Susan aka Swag, and our 'peeps' from the town Forum. Tonight was just the warm-up; tomorrow is the big shindig. I'll report tomorrow and explain a little more about what it is.This is Mr. Jerry, the head of the whole shebang, making sure his guests are all having a good time. This is his wife, Mrs. Fay with their two daughters.I didn't get this young lady's name, but she sure knew how to peel and eat dem crawfish, which our friend, Todd cooked to spicey perfection!! Our buddies Sam and Stephen deep-fried some yummy catfish and alligator.

Cappy called from out on the boat to see how things were going, so Mr. Bebe` lifted a toast to him in absentia. The chickens are the real stars of the show, and the reason for the whole thing. The more I see these small beautiful chickens, the more I appreciate them, and especially their interaction with their owners. They have the sweetest personalities, like little pets, and I see that they do, indeed like to show off...they really do!

And I guess so do those silly 'chicks', "Swag and Pegody"...we be havin' fun, and plan on getting up early to go do it again tomorrow.

Trying...Trying

I've been trying for several hours tonight to make some kind of video...ANY kind of video of Mr. Ed and Mrs. Jean's visit, especially the egg dying escapade over at Cappy's sister, Maria's house. (Unfortunately, that rematch between me and the computer movie-maker will have to wait until either tomorrow or Sunday.) Suffice it to say, we had fun. As a matter of fact, the whole week they were here was fun, despite the fact that we had no kitchen. I could take the time to relate the whole thing right now, but I'm tired and going to bed. Tomorrow, and I'm not sure at what time, I'm planning on helping with the town Forum's chicken show, and also on Saturday. I went last year and dubbed it "The Fowl Ball", cuz it was a hoot. This year I painted some chicken designs on three aprons for three of us "Chicks" to wear as we do whatever it is that we are going to find ourselves doing as volunteers.
Well, this is short and sweet, but Cappy left me with plenty of "Blog Fodder" for yall. First, I need Rest...good ol' fashioned Sleeeeeeep, and a crowbar for this Dell of a computer...but you've heard all that before. Til then, God Bless.

Yeah, the end result is always about the same...pretty^messy --> (Oh rats, now the Blog is fighting with me; BAW! G'nite)