We Are Growing Impatiens

This is a picture of daughter Jennifer aka Sookie, with her Pop and SparkyBear the camera piggy. When we got to New York State, we stayed with Jennifer, her husband, Russ, and their nephew Tim...and all the 'mountain' cats. The girl has a lot of cats. SparkyBear and MarkyBear happen to love cats, and in fact, think they are cats. The cats knew they weren't, so it made for interesting interaction between them.
It was sad that Jennifer got sick just as we were getting there. She's always had bad bouts with pneumonia and bronchitis. The only time she got to go out day-tripping with us to show Pop the sights, was our first real day there. That day we went to the Charlotte Beach with her, Tim and son, Dan, then to get some fresh apple cider AND the obligatory cake doughnut.
By the time we got her home, Jennifer was plainly feeling not good. They gave up their bed, to us, the guests, and she sat up on the couch all night, and for the rest of the time we were there! Actually, she sat up coughing most of the nights, the poor thing. Getting her to go see the dr. was hard to do, cuz she, like her Pop, don't wanna do that if they don't have to. So... echinechea and golden seal and vitamin C were advised, as usual, by..uh..."dr." Mom. Finally, the last day we were there, she started feeling a little better. I was sad because I didn't get to see her very much while we were there. We sat outside some on her porch, chatting lightly, while I admired her flowers. She's got nice mounds of lavendar mums. Because of that, when I got home, I put in some mums like it, too. ( I know I'm digressing, but I also put petunias in the window boxes, because it's about to be winter season down here in South Louisiana. Everybody is trimming damaged branches and limbs from the hurricane storm damage. I had some nice shade plants that were all comfy in the shadows of our neighbor's trees. Yesterday some guys came and chopped all of them to the ground, then buzzed the stumps into sawdust! My ferns! My ivy! My hostas'! My impatiens! Oh well, the lady is a sweetheart and knows what she's doing. Wish I did. We'll find another place for them, or find a way to shade them again. .....now back to Sookie's garden...) Jennifer has a lot of roses, too. That's one thing I haven't tried growing in the South. I think she has my grandmother's green thumb, cuz it comes so easily for her.
I wish I hadn't had to spend so much time in Olean and Port Allegany with 'closure issues'...past hurts, etc. from my childhood, that I wanted to share with Cappy. We had planned on getting back to Rochester in time to go to the drive-in with Jennifer. We had really looked forward to it. Rats.
Our last day there came much too quickly. It was sad to be leaving. Jennifer had her household all assembled on the front porch as Cappy, the dawgs and I were in the SUV about to pull away. Cappy and I had gotten into the habit of giving the 'Cajun Yell' (AAAAAAAAIEEEEEEE!!! the "I" being a yodel in the middle), as we drove away from anyone of the kids' houses while we were there. As we were driving away, she had them all give us the Cajun Yell, then added, "The Cajuns have left the building, but they have not taken all the Spirit!!" That means we left them with Joie de Vivre (Joy of Life).

Two of the Nicest People You'd Ever Want to Meet

This is Mr. Ed and Jean. They are a couple of funsters. Forget that they look all normal and everything. Mr. Ed is a wild and crazy dude on the guitar and kazoo. He entertains whereever he goes, singing hilarious songs, or maybe old Beatles or Peter, Paul and Mary songs, that have everyone singing and clapping along. He's the pebble in the center of the pool of laughter rippling all around him.
His wife, Jean, is a ball of creative energy. This woman is always on the go and always has something up her sleeve. She organizes initiatives for fund drives, or at Christmas time makes so many different kinds of cookies so as to make one think she's running some kind of cookie factory, or she's quilting by HAND the most gorgeous quilts or embroidering beautifully something or other. Last year she held an authentic Hawaiian Luau at their house, replete with roast pig. She even lined up an Hawaiian dancer. She made many, many costumes for her guests to wear. Hula skirts, leis, etc. Oh gosh! If you hadn't known better, you would think that, by looking at the pictures in her photo album, that the whole thing MUST have taken place in Honolulu. Plus, she's an amazing cook. I know I'm not including all the things she's done or been involved with. I for sure, can't keep up with her. She leaves me panting in the dust.
If you've read the archives, you know that Mr. Ed and Jean came to visit us last Spring. We had so much fun with them, we could hardly wait to get to see them when we went to visit western NY last month. We just couldn't wait to "hug their necks", as Cappy puts it. Well, we got to see them. We only got to see them the one night, but it was absolutely wonderful. They invited us out to dinner with them. Unbeknownst to us, they were including us to join them in celebration of their anniversary. What an honor. I don't remember ever having had such a sumptuous meal. It was my first time eating...I think they were King Crab legs. Well, now I'm spoiled. When Cappy gets off the boat this time, THAT's what I want. We dined like royalty at a wonderful restaurant near Rochester, but the name escapes me. The meal lasted for a couple of hours as we relished in each others' company. Mr. Ed, a chemist by profession, is an intelligent conversationalist, who tosses humor into the mix, which is how Cappy talks as well, so they always have their heads together. You'd think they'd known each other for years. (they haven't) Jean, is so sweet and funny. I love hearing about all her new adventures. Just talking about this couple makes me miss them so much (....hey!Pegody! No puddling up here on 'da blog'!)
We went back to their house afterward and before we left, you should see the 'welcome basket' they had prepared for us. And Cappy & I thought we had the market on (Southern) hospitality....the Northern hospitality aint not that bad either. We had them down here for a couple of days. They only had us for a couple of hours, but they sure did it in a big way. Mr. Ed said at the restaurant, "We're gonna shoot for the moon tonight!" I think we musta shot a hole right through it...if not, his wallet then. They wouldn't let us pay for a thing.
Now look at their picture again. Can't you just see the fun in their eyes?

Addendum to Yesterday's Post

More like AddenDumb. These boys have always been into mischief and making messes from early on. This is one picture where I literally 'caught' them in the act, when Mark was still a puppy.
I was thinking about yesterday's post about the dog cah-cah and lipstick smeared all over the bathroom. No matter how much makeup or coverup one can use, it's still not going to make real s*** any prettier.

These Little Town Blues are Melting Away....

YeahYeahYeah, I was kinda down after coming back from New York State. Back home to our little town here in South Louisiana. I guess a lot of people are depressed around here what with all the hurricanes. In THAT I wasn't alone; I just didn't know it cuz I was alone. I wondered why nobody around here was around here much lately. It appears everyone has been sort of keeping to themselves, just quietly recouperating. I really got to feeling cut off from society for awhile, so whenever I was able to talk with poor Cappy on the phone, I whined. A real nice thing for a tugboat cappy to have to hear from the 'homefires'.
Finally yesterday the phones started working better, so we got to talk for hours. Ya gotta know Cappy. He had me laughing in no time, concentrating on things that were going WELL, instead of things that were going wrong. He had me see the humor in the other night,when I had felt exhausted and wary, so I locked the dogs in early with me and went to bed. I closed the back door in such a way that they didn't have access to their doggie door. Around three a.m. I got up and staggered blindly into the bathroom, not turning on the light, as I usually do. I got halfway across the room, then skidded and slipped the rest of the way.(?) Whaaaa? I stomped around in the dark, back to the light switch, feeling something very wrong underfoot, and dreaded what I was about to see. Turning on the light I saw it. All over the floor. Upon not so much further inspection I noticed red smeared all over too, amongst the doggy-doo. Wait, tho...it wasn't blood. It was ...lipstick??? How had lipstick gotten down on the floor, too? Dang that SparkyBear...he's taken to jumping up and ferreting around for things on the countertop. So, I had dog cah-cah slathered on the bottom of my left foot, and lipstick caked on the bottom of my right foot, and I had been using them both as pallets and as art brushes on the canvas of the floor. Did I mention all over the floor? At three o'clock in the morning? Too late to get angry at the dogs. Sitting on the edge of the bathtub lathering up my feet, I had to admit the warm water felt kinda good. Then I got the floor cleaned up. In the whole production,what with my yelling when I took off on one heel across the bathroom floor, almost falling when I first went into the bathroom, and the water running in the tub, etc, the dogs, who always investigate whatever I'm doing, were suspiciously absent. When I finally crawled back into the blankets, they were sound asleep, snoring. Snoring too fast, I thought.

Gone With Da Wind

Been in a funk lately. Oh, I've been keeping busy, for sure, but since coming back from the trip and Cappy being back out on the boat for four weeks, it's just plain kinda depressing. WhineWhineWhine. And dat's why I haven't been blogging lately.
And what in the world happing'd to da squirrels? Since coming home, just after Hurricane Rita roared through here, MarkyBear, SparkyBear and I have not seen 1 squirrel! Not one cute cuddly squirrel nor one miserable squirrel. They packed up our pecans, and flew off into the next parish (county), with the help of Rita,I guess.
Although I know I'll never be a real Cajun, I love their attitude about making good things outa bad circumstances. Like life handing Cajuns lemons and instead of making the usual lemonade, they make zee poofy wonderful lemon merangue pie. So, I took the squirrel situation and tried to find zee poofy wonderful humor in it. Cappy wanted to make zee poofy wonderful squirrel gumbo.
Not to worry, I've got more 'lemons'. I've got little fingers, not big paws that handle tools very well. I'm on my third weed-eater in three years. Cappy says, "You're da man!" when he's out on the tugboat. Well, I got this one all ruined already and tried fixing it myself. I took it in to be repaired. Still not working. I put it out to the 'curb' and even the garbage guys won't take it. I've been down to Thibodaux three times looking for another one, to no avail. Meanwhile, I have healthy corn stalks growing tall around the bird feeder. Am still fumbling around for a recipe for dis lemon.
Lemon #2. Zee dryer won't start. Oh well, I'll figure out something. Until then, I'm enjoying hanging my laundry out, and avoiding the area on the line where the hummingbirds like to sit. They are tiny, yeah, but their poopy stains. I had to laugh this morning, remembering my Grandma bringing frozen towels, stiff as boards, into the house in the winter up north. Not sure what I'm doing wrong, but mine are stiff as boards, too, and they sounded like metal bending when I folded them. It's going to be an adventure toweling off with them.
Lemon #3 Wilma. Can Fred, Barney and Betty be far behind? Beam me up, Cappy!

The Big Apple State

When we first got to New York State, we stayed at daughter Jennifer's house with her husband Russ their nephew, Tim. We were so excited we didn't even get pictures of them or their house, but will be posting pics of them in the future. Jennifer wasn't feeling well at all, so she didn't accompany us on our excursions. The first day, she did (and so did Tim and our son, Dan.)when we visited Lake Ontario, an apple orchard and the traditional ice cream stop at Abbott's at Lake Ontario...it's a Ya Gotta Do. Cappy took these pictures of the Genesee River Outlet area. At Kelly's apple orchard stand, we got the walk-thru of the place where they make cider. Cappy tasted his first raw apple cider AND had the doughnut with it. He kept asking, "Why do I have to have a doughnut??" Well, now he knows. They just go SO well, together. It was also his first time seeing an apple orchard and eating fruit right off the trees. He also got to see the Lake. Being a boat cappy, he's always interested in waterways. It was a beautiful day for the trip.

Cappy Visits the Erie Canal

Cappy pilots his tugboat pushing huge barges along the canals, Intracoastal Waterway, back bayous and Mississippi River in Louisiana. Growing up he'd heard and sung songs about the Erie Canal, so it was his great pleasure to see it in person. Right now he's back out on 'da boat', but when he gets home, he may want to add more of his thoughts about these pictures which he took.

Da Finger Lakes..."STOP DA truck".

Cappy said he hadn't expected to see that New York State was so beautiful. All he had ever heard and imagined was that the whole state was paved and/or covered with parking lots. In Naples, on/near Canadaigua Lake, the town was setting up for it's Grape Festival. Cappy had been hearing about their grape pies for a couple of years from me. He and Dan each ate a small pie. Now they are sorry they didn't go for the whole pie. Cappy said that the bad part of trying grape pie is that now he's addicted to them, but can't get to them. (we'll see...) We drove around a few more of the Finger Lakes and stopped at a few of the wineries to sample and bring back some New York State wine to Louisiana.

One of the places we stopped had several of their bottles displayed high on shelves, looking for all the world as though they had been Olympic winners, festooned with all sorts of medals. It was definitly a 'high-dollar' place. We all bellied up to the 'bar' to sample. The lady was very prim and proper and knowledgeable about her wines to be sure. I've been a wine 'newbie' for at least ten years. I know nothing much about wines; my taste has never matured to begin asking for more dry wines, like "they" said I would. Dan wanted to sample Merlot, but Cappy and I wanted something sweet. Then we wanted something sweeter. Then something sweeter. The lady was finally at a loss, so I joked, "Ya got anything that tastes like Koolaid?" She might have guessed by our appearance, that we weren't the upscale clientele she was used to, so the question shouldn't have shocked her as much as it seemed to have. She composed herself, pursed her lips, raised one eyebrow, looked down her nose again, to see us further below than she had initially realized, then uttered, "Perhaps you would be better off visiting Bully Hill's winery". Well, dang if she wasn't right! We found Bully Hill, and boy! if those people weren't having fun! Large crowds were milling everywhere. Tour guides had everyone laughing. Big tour buses were parked everywhere. Inside the wine tasting was a mass of people laughing with the people who were serving them. They had the crowd repeating after them,"Bully Hill is Fine Wine" (bully hill is fine wine) "Napa is Auto Parts" (hahahaha) So, at Bully Hill we bought some SWEET wine. So there.

Cappy said this "Old boy" is one of his heroes. When we got to Canandaigua Lake this gentleman was sitting there fishing. Before he even really looked at the lake,Cappy walked over and struck up a conversation with this man, asking him what kind of fish he was looking for, what kinda bait he was using, etc. He learned that the man was in his 90's and came fishing everyday. I can't remember what he caught and what he used for bait, but Cappy walked away saying, "Man, that's what I wanna be doing when I'm in my 90's"

The views were gorgeous, looking down into the lakes. I don't remember which lake this was, but it was so nice having son, Dan, there with us, acting as our 'tour guide', and just enjoying his company, and wackysenseofhumor...wonder where he gets that!? These pictures were taken from the porch of one of the many wineries in the area. The grape orchards are behind us.

We Go to Wellsville, NY

The sun was shining directly into our eyes, so we didn't get one decent picture together, but this is son, Thom. We had a good time with him and Dan, his older brother. We took Cappy ("Pop") on one of our traditional crazy rides through the hills of Wellsville and Alfred, New York, singing and laughing.

When Cappy saw the "Pink House" in Wellsville, he called out,"STOP DA truck", got out and took a bunch of pictures. It was his first time in New York State at all, so of course, he'd never seen it before. On the other hand, (I) we used to live a few houses down from it. I never did get the actual story about this house, but it's a gorgeous place.