A Leg(s) Up on Christmas

Well, we've gotten all the Christmas gifts bought and mailed, with a few exceptions. Cappy loves his Jeep, which I couldn't hide in the neighborhood, anyhow, til Christmas. We exchanged a couple of presents, since he's going to be out on the boat. He gave me a video camera...a good one, so's I can finally, start the little 'free-lance' business, which I have dreamed about for more than 15 years. He also bought a good tripod for it, but says it still needs a few more whistles and buzzers...(wha-hoo!!) which we plan on aquiring after the holidays. Besides the Jeep, I gave him the meat grinder/sausage stuffer his little heart has longed for, for several years. He likes to tinker with recipes and come up with his own variety of anything he cooks, which is always, as he likes to say, "slap yo mama GOOD", and when he gets it just right, to his liking, we commit it to the 'most favored' recipe file.
If the man didn't love being out in the back bayous, piloting up and down the Mississippi River, or 'stirrin' up mud' along the waterways, in general, he could open his own diner,or at least a 'hole in the wall', as he calls it. 'Down the road' about 15 miles, there is a small 'shack' where folks walk up to the window to order the daily special, like oven-fried chicken and dirty rice...plus the usual stuff, such as burgers, fries, or ice cream desserts, like cones, shakes or sundaes; all pretty much homemade and 'Cajunized'...YUMMEE! I don't know why Cappy couldn't do that somewhere around our neighborhood. He could. But for now, he 'guinea pigs' his lucky crew, with his out-of-this-world concoctions. We didn't get chubby like this, just dreamin' 'bout cooking.
So, to get back to my point, we are pretty well set for Christmas. I'm hoping and praying that I can be able to meet up with his boat Christmas Day, so I won't have to spend it by myself, again, wiff just dese dawgs. In case I can't, I packed his seabag full of presents for him, and am making gifts for his crew, which I need to get finished and taken out to them in the next couple of weeks.
Soooo...Santa came early to our house, gave me a smooch, patted da dawgs and as usual, admonished them to "take care of Momma, while I'm gone", then, whoosh, he was gawn.
Now...down here in South Louisiana, there is a group headed up by a guy named Benny "Grunch" Antin, who has a CD album we love playing, called "The 12 Yats of Christmas". Some of the songs listed are: "I Got a Used Kazoo for Christmas", "Santa Put the Hurt on You","If I Won Da Lott'ry For Christmas", and "I Could See the Aluminum Tree Through the Pitcha Winda". Cappy said, "You laugh...we used to have an aluminum Christmas tree, with the colored light spinner wheel, in our picture window for all the world to see. We thought it was the height of fashion at the time, and were very proud of it". That was way back when he was a young boy, before his family began using green trees, which were then adorned with all kinds of glorious decorations, many of which his mother hand made.
Since this year he's going to be away, and no family will be visiting, plus, I stumbled upon this 4 1/2 ft. aluminum beauty at Hobby Lobby, on impulse, I got it for "him". His eyes actually welled up with tears that I would do something like that for him. Aww. I figger this way, I won't have to haul the big heavy tree, with boxes and boxes of decorations, from the attic...and for what? Just me and the dogs? And, I kinda love this little aluminum tree that's sitting in our window. I can't find the color wheel to go with it (there are plenty online...but, naw...he's already out on the boat), but he bought some small, shiny colored glass balls for it, so I think it looks downright beautiful, and told him so. He thought I was lying, but I'm not.

Sooo..."Santa" is back out on da boat, but look what he left; gifts under our trashy aluminum Christmas tree; and stocking 'chock a block' full of goodies. He even got me a brown (his fav color) coffee cup with snowmen merrily dancing around the outside, so I could enjoy it everyday during the Holiday season. As a matter of fact, I am...two days in a row, so far. "Who Dat" say dey aint no Santa Claus?

Houn' Dawg Blues

My on-line friends always ask me "Cappy, why dont ya play ya harmonica like ya used ta"? Well here's the answer.

Sparky Closes Da Door

Well, I guess ya can tell Peg got a new digital movie camera. I was on the phone with a friend of ours, who said she didn't believe me when I said Sparky closed the door for me. Usually when I come in with an armload of groceries or something, I tell Sparky (who is usually right at my feet) "Close the Door, Sparky!" and he does. So, I thought I'd film it to show her I only lie or exaggerate 'bout fish stories, not doggy ones. It proved to be quite a task, requiring several 'takes', though. I guess Sparky was used to following me in and not havin' me shout at him, from the hall, to close the door. He came through for me, though. So Trishy, now ya believe me????:P

I've Got an "X" to Grind

Since it's the Holiday Season, and more importantly for Christians, the Christmas Season, I don't mean to be gripey, especially now, in what is supposed to be one of the most Joyous times of the year, but...I'm draggggging out the old soapbox already. (tsk tsk tsk, Pegody)

This is not a lecture for You...bear with me; it's an idea. Although the shopping madness and mayhem has begun, which has not much to do with Him, but at least in the past, has been called the Christmas Season. (I'm guilty, too, of over-shopping, if it be guilt that's wanted.) It just seems that lately, so much has been done to take Him out of His own Birthday Celebration time of year. Even tho some may dispute that Jesus wasn't born this time of year, to me it dosn't matter. Just the fact that we celebrate it anytime at all is what counts.

What has always puzzled me, tho, has been this business of replacing the name of our Lord with the letter "X". I've even heard sermons saying we shouldnt' be alarmed, because the "X" stands for the Cross. Somehow it still never sat right with me. If it represents the Cross, then why is it sitting on it's side? It just seems so disrespectful to mistreat the name of the Lord that way. I dunno, maybe it's just me, but this year, I think I'm going to ask...whomever...if instead of an "X", if they feel the word is too long for their signs or patience in length of time to write the word, "Christ", please replace the letter "X" with a "t". Just turn the "X" upright, trim off a couple of the sides a little, and voila: I think I could live with this.

( Parisian Font)

My Heroes

To me, it's the little everyday miracles that mean so much. While Cappy was away, and I was way too busy to mess with it, the drip in the bathtub had gotten much, much worse, to the point that I knew $ was literally running down the drain at a pretty fast clip. I "Googled" info about how I might tackle the problem, but was afraid I'd turn a minor problem into a major catastrophe with no immediate rememdy at hand, and so, let it be. Yesterday Cappy and his 'helper' got it all fixed just like new, with not a drip or drizzle in sight. Ahhhh, what a relief!
Today my boys are sitting in the 'captain's chair' together, of course, watching the Saints play against the Carolina Panthers, while I have a pot of chicken gumbo almost ready to serve. Now all we need is another miracle for the Saints. A big bowl of gumbo and a Saints win would be a nice reward for dese two hero buddies.

Now Dat Was a Thanksgivin'

As Yall know we celebrated our Thanksgivin' Saturday. Today, (da real Thanksgivin') we decided to kinda 'chill'. At the last minute, tonight, 'fore we realized it, the pit was lit, the blues were blaring out on the patio, we had our tacky party lights on, and we were dancin' in the yard 'round a camp fire. Sounds silly, I know, but Peg and I are kinda spontaneous dat way. At da drop of a hat we threw a feast together and had BALL celebrating Thanksgivin' again. Peg had never had black iron pot smokey bbq beans before, so we stuck our ole fry pan full of beans and set 'em on the pit to simmer and drink up some smoke from a pecan log we had put on da coals. We had corn on the cob and some seasoned pork chunks to acompany said beanage and it was a meal fit for a king. Since there was no kings aroung,Peg and I (and da dawgs) ate it, washin' it down with assorted beverages . Sure hope you folks had as much fun as we did , but I doubt it. So now we are all worn out, full of supper and we're goin' to bed. C'mon Boys.

Do I Love Her, or What?

Thanksgiving Day and there I sit, hunkered down in my recliner, contentedly sipping coffee, watching the dog show, while the Packers duke it out with Detroit on the other channel. "P.W'd" (Peggy wooped) you say?? RIGHT YOU ARE.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING,
CAPPY

We Give Thanks to GOD for the Bounty He Has Given Us.

The people and poochies in Cappy and Pegody's World would like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours the happiest and safest of Thanksgivings. We have truly been blest this year, and hope you have, as well. Please pause for a moment and give thanks to God , who made all this possible. Remember, as you celebrate over your turkey and trimmin's that these, like all things come from the Bounty of Christ.
(In one of the last blog postings, I mispoke and said that Cappy would be going back out on the boat today. We actually have a whole other week to spend together!!!)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving last Saturday, complete with fried turkys, as seen above, and all it's accompinaments and side dishes. Friends came bearing goodies. We had a house full of family and we all had a wonderful time. In true South Louisiana fashion, the meal was served outdoors in warm sunshiny weather, with music blasting from outside speakers. We truly "passed a good time".

Something SPHINX in Here

Now that Cappy's den is empty of grandchildren, he has once again ensconsed himself in his 'captain's chair' (immediate foreground), for a well-deserved rest and is watching his favorite subjects on the History Channel. He is an history buff, and one of the things he loves learning about is Ancient Egypt, and more particularly, pyramids, newly discovered tombs, and mummies. Although our tastes vary widely, I think that, since he's away on his towboat for weeks at a time, with hardly any tv time, that when he's home, he should have full control of the 'clicker' and watch whatever he likes. He also loves to have something cooking on the stove while watching his programs. I was being a lovingly dutiful wife; I swear, trying to muster enthusiasm, watching the tombs being pawed over and excavated. Occasionally, I ran and stirred the thin strips of onion which were caramelizing nicely in the black iron pot, making a wonderful, dark, rich onion gravy (etouffee). I cooked some rice for the ettouffee, then made a salad. We decided to eat on tv trays, while continuing to watch. Finally, I gave him a bowl of the rice and dark brown gravy, which, by then had chunks of stew meat clustered around in it...Yummy! I took a forkful of the stringy mahogany onions and was about to put it into my mouth, but just as the fork passed in front of the television, there on the screen was the same colored close-up shot of a mummy, looking, for all the world, as though the scientist was picking up pieces of my ettouffee from off that mummy with a pair of long tweezers. The dark stuff dangling from those tweezers looked identical to the dark stuff dangling off the end of my fork. I looked at the stringy mummy...I looked at my plate of stringy onions, and swallowed a gag which had clenched in my throat. Cappy was having no problems at all, and said, "This is really good". I didn't say anything, but as discreetly as possible, I sidled out of the den and brought my dish into the computer room, while I puttered around checking my email, reading the online newspapers...stalling; waiting awhile til I thought I might be able to swallow anything ever again.

Cappy is such a sweetie and I'd never want to deprive him of something he really loves, so I watch with him as much as I can, don't when I can't...but never make etouffee while the Discovery or History Channels are on. (Giggling)...He's out there calling, "Hey, Baby! I think you'd really enjoy this!!" That's how I got the picture above...Uh Huh.

They're Gone Already??

It just doesn't seem possible that a week has passed, and they are on the plane now, tonight, winging their way back to Rochester,NY. We took this pic just as they were about to get into the SUV and head on out to the airport. This is the group left to right: Jennifer (our son Dan's wife) their gorgeous baby...my 'cher bebe' grandson Chase Steven, Dan, Melinda(Jennifer's daughter), Robert, whom I am clutching so he won't get away, who is Dan's 15 yr. old son and Manny aka "Hub", (Jennifer's son) who is a complete hoot. It was so hot out we opted to stand in the shade of our banana palms to take the picture.

SparkyBear and MarkyBear are depressed at the loss of the kids, because they spent the week playing with the boys.

Cappy and I are whooped, because it was all just so wonderful and now we are planning his remaining week home and how to spend it. Stuff needs to be taken care of in the house, stuff needs attending outside the house, and I'm sure out in the bayous, the fish are jumpin'. We need to put that boat in the water!

As we recover our senses, one or both of us will be posting pictures of our early

Thanksgiving and the people who came over. We are downtalking those who didn't. (not really) Cappy has to go back out on the boat (the real) Thanksgiving morning...but it won't seem like it to us, because as far as we are concerned, we've already had thanksgiving, and have the turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce leftovers to prove it.

When our family left this afternoon, it was almost 80 degrees. When they arrive tonight, it's a good thing they have their winter garb with them, because it appears that there is snow in the air up thataway. I think we sent enough Love with them to keep them warm, tho.

P.S. They called when they got home to let us know they safely arrived and that Manny was in the process of making a snowball.

Everybody (except Destiny aka Desi Lu) Made it Home

Well, the house if full again with sounds of family...how very nice that is. Instead of getting a chance to relax and regroup, everybody landed feet first and are off and running. Today Dan and Jennifer plan on taking in New Orleans, whilst the rest of the crew readies for tomorrow's early Thanksgiving. Cappy has two 12 lb. turkeys thawed and will soon be injecting them with his special spices then leave them overnight to marinate through and through. Tomorrow he plans on deep frying them to perfection...and folks, if you've never had deep-fried turkey...oh migosh, it's Wonderful. In our archives we have directions, which, perhaps in a few days we may repost up front here.

Please excuse me if this is short and fuzzy; I'm still sipping coffee, trying to get my bearings. We just had a diet breakfast of creamy old-fashioned grits, bacon, home fries, fried eggs,boudin, satsuma oranges and rich coffee. Now I have to haul that with me all day, around my waist, while getting a big Cajun lunch and big Cajun supper ready, and cooking for tomorrow's feast, too. Not gonna skrimp...the kids are writing reports for school on all they ate down here. They liked the beans and sucking the smoked turkey neck bones, file` gumbo, grits and boudin. I plan on having them understand the song 'Jambalaya', which we sing all the way home from the airport every time they come down, by feeding them jambalaya, crawfish pie, and drinking out of a filled fruit jar. As stated...they already had the file` gumbo.

Ok...so, we are 'off to the races'; tawk with ya'll later.

"D" Day

This afternoon is when we expect "Dan and Desi Lu" will be landing at the airport for their long-awaited visit, bringing the rest of the family with them this time. AAAAAAiEEEEE!!! (The Cajun 'joy of life' Yell) I told the dogs that Dan and Desi Lu were coming and they got so excited. I'm telling you, these crazy 'boys' understand so much that sometimes I have to spell things when talking to Cappy, lest they start to go wild and start pushing me with their noses on the back of my legs, toward the door.
The above cartoony thing is Cappy and Pegody's logo, which we put on our biz cards to keep from having to fumble around for pen/paper/pencil etc. when giving friends and aquaintences our address, etc. As of yet, I haven't added pore ol' Raleigh, but he's there, somewhere, chasing the 'Oops Guy' down the yard or something. Since our last name is Robin, we call ourselves the 'chubby robins'...which we are.The chubby Robins assume a laid-back attitude when Cappy is home off dat boat. BUT NOT THIS WEEK!!! The 'flock' is landing today, then Cappy will be getting off the boat Thursday, then it's run-run-run fun-fun-fun. Speaking of 'run'...gotta do that right now, I still got a whole lot to do...am cooking them a big Cajun supper: beans laden with smoked turkey neck bones on rice, our special coleslaw and since I know they are coming, gonna bake a cake!

Another Lovely Mother Passes

Not a couple of hours has gone by since I wrote the last post about mothers and 'kids'. I just found an email that says the mother of Sonia and Monica, two of our closest neighbors just passed today. I called Cappy and he was deeply saddened, as am I. He recalled how she used to meet him at the end of Sonia and her husband Jude's driveway and come visit for hours of pleasant talk. I can't tell you how honored I was one day when she came over to visit with me. By knowing her daughers, you could make an educated guess that their mother would have to be such a gracious Southern lady. I had always hoped she would come by again, but alas, all too soon, due to health issues, she was unable to visit anymore.
It's just so sad; many of the older people, who have learned so much, who have lived such rich lives, who could tell us wonderful stories, keep, one by one, moving along and disappearing off the long treadmill that is time. It brings to mind the poem "Thanatopsis" by William Cullen Bryant. I won't include the whole free-verse poem, but will pick out the parts that touch me the most and paraphrase:


The planets, all the infinite host of heaven,
... Through the still lapse of ages.
All that tread The globe are but a handful to the tribes
That slumber in its bosom.
...yet--the dead are there,
And millions in those solitudes, since first
The flight of years began, have laid them down In their last sleep
--the the dead reign there alone.---
So shalt thou rest
--and what if thou shalt fall
Unnoticed by the living
--and no friend Take note of thy departure?
All that breathe
Will share thy destiny.
... When thou art gone, the solemn brood of care Plod on,
and each one as before will chase His favourite phantom;
yet all these shall leave Their mirth and their employments,
and shall come,
And make their bed with thee.
As the long train Of ages glide away,
the sons of men,
The youth in life's green spring,
and he who goes In the full strength of years,
matron, and maid,
The bow'd with age,
the infant in the smiles And beauty of its innocent age cut off,--
Shall one by one be gathered to thy side,
By those, who in their turn shall follow them.

So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan, that moves
To the pale realms of shade, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon,
but sustain'd and sooth'd By an unfaltering trust,
approach thy grave,
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.
1814

I especially like the last part, which he added later. I like to think that the beautiful mothers, fathers, and all loved ones who have passed before us, are being sustain'd and soothe'd by The Lord and given pleasant rest and truly sweet dreams. God Bless you, Dear Mrs. Steib, I can't wait until it's our time to come and visit with you this time.

Well, KIDS!!!

I know my brother and I gave our parents 'fits'. One thing I remember early on, when I was about four years old (Yes, I can remember way back then) was getting so excited with a new box of crayons, that a sheet of paper just couldn't contain our enthusiasm. My father had to paint the walls in our (my brother and my) shared bedroom. He confiscated our crayon box, putting them in his bedroom on top of his dresser. The next day while he was at work, I distinctly remembering creeping in there and taking them back. (Boy oh boy...how naughty was that??!) I was just going to draw a little bit, but before I knew it, my brother and I were scrawling out the most wonderful pictures on the new apple green painted wall by my bed. I drew the most fantastic tree with a swing hanging from it....thinking, Daddy was going to be so impressed with our drawings, how could he possibly get mad. Well, he could. I just don't remember the bad part of it, whether or not we got a paddling, but the next day he had made an huge chalkboard with a big lip on it to hold all kinds of glorious colored chalk. He must have been used to that sort of goings on in his family, because most of them were artists. A few years later, after he knew he could trust us, he returned our beloved crayons. I still get all excited at the thought of brand new art supplies....even an huge box of crayons Cappy got me one time because I had told him about my brother and me loving them so much when we were younger. How nice was that.

We gave our parents 'fits' later on, too. Like my kids did me. But aha! I gave them (my kids) 'fits' right back, especially when I'd need help with the housework and whip out the much dreaded 'picka-job box'. To this day they still rankle whenever it's mentioned. It didn't help that whenver they picked out five or six slips of paper, that one or two may have included "go take a walk around the block two times to get some fresh air" or "give your sister and brothers a hug", it was the other ones that they hated. Oh sure, they might get to walk around the block a couple of times, but the toilet would be there, for instance, waiting to be scrubbed, or their stack of folded laundry needing to be put in their drawer, or drying a sinkload of dishes. This was for the teenagers, mostly...the younger kids had it a lot easier. It didn't matter; they all hated the 'picka job box'. There were five of them and picka-job by picka-job they all learned how to pull their weight, so to speak and cook...migosh, they are all fantastic cooks. But before that they mocked my 'game' by singing silly words, to the song, "Take a Chance on Me". "You can change your mind...picka job, picka job...but you can't change your job...picka job, picka job..." and it got worse, so we'll just leave it at that.

As I was working, just now, with my own 'picka-job' list of stuff to do before company gets here, Tuesday, I was 'decluttering' a particular 'paper blizzard' in the corner of this desk, and came across something interesting. A piece of paper that reminded me of a man named Zeke, whose mother I met right after moving down to South Louisiana. The poor lady was stooped over and deeply wrinkled, from having had a tough life, raising her kids alone. She'd been through the wringer. Now she lived with the son who had given her the worst time, and his wife, who seemed to care about her and treat her affectionately. Sitting at their kitchen table, Zeke regailed me with stories about when in his teens, how he, his brothers and friends had terrorized his mother, whom he called, "the Old Buzzard". His Mom just sat there, nodding stoically into her glass of iced tea, remembering, too. Horrified, I asked her, "You don't mind if they call you that???" She just looked up and said, "Oh, I got used to it", then sighed and took a sip of her tea. Zeke kept up the stories...he was so animated, I think he must have been one of those kids, and now an adult with an hyperactivity problem. I felt so bad for this dear, patient lady, who, despite it all, appeared to retain her dignity, even in the face of all she'd been through. Even tho her son told stories on himself, and all the awful things, he'd put her through, and even tho he still called her, "Old Buzzard", I got the feeling that he loved and admired her for putting up with all of it, and not killing all of them...which she must have felt like, at times. In the years that followed, I thought about her now and then, fondly, and prayed for her at those times.

About six months ago, Zeke called, looking for a phone number for an old friend that Cappy may have had. I asked him about his mother. He said she had passed. His voice softened and he said that she had been ill for some time. In the time he had sat by her bed with her, he had, had a lot of time to reflect. He said he felt bad for all the terrible things he had put her through and had told her so. He said, "You know, I learned a lot. As she got older, we knew it was wrong to call her Old Buzzard. We wanted her to know we loved her, so we stopped calling her that." Oh GOOOOD, I thought, and said so, too. I was thinking that she finally got to hear herself called 'Mother' or 'Mom',at last, the Dear Heart. "Yeah", he agreed, and continued softly, "We loved her, so we just started calling her "Buzz"... (the POOR Lady!) She probably went to her grave wishing her kids were back in their terrible two's.

I dearly miss my Mom, especially this time of year. She was always rushing around with some holiday cooking project at hand. The woman seemed inexhaustable. I couldn't keep up with her! No matter that I was an adult, I was still her kid, so I think my dawdling exasperated her. Mom has essentially passed the baton on to Cappy, who now has to put up with my puttering. As mentioned in an earlier blog, I'm working on our Christmas card. I want it to be just right, but am, perhaps, too picky with it. Well, he's coming home Thursday. Whenever somebody rushes me, I kinda panic, and that's when mistakes happen. I just don't want him to come home and find that he has to repaint the walls in here again. I guess it's just like this blog posting, which you are presently reading; I was only going to write a little something, but the thoughts just went everywhere, hither and yon...I had trouble staying inside the lines again. Some things just never change, I guess.

Pick a Card

I've kept this card around for years. When I bought it, I thought I'd send it to someone, sometime, but everytime it's found itself out of a junk trunk or box of miscellaneous stuff, I've always so thoroughly enjoyed it that I decided to keep it around for awhile longer. It's got one of those blank insides. I've always been a big fan of the cartoonist, Gary Larson, anyhow.

Presently, it reminds me that Dan and Jennifer are jumping through all the paper hoops in Rochester, getting ready to move into their new house. The reason the cartoon reminds me of that, is because I promised them that 'the Arkys' (SparkyBear and MarkyBear) wouldn't mess on their floors. They should be all moved in by Christmas, I think, and we aren't really planning on going up for a real visit til next May. When we go, I'd love to take the dogs with us again. It was surprising how much they loved the road trip, and they were so well-behaved. They did mess up at "Aunt Sookie's" house, tho, by peeing on the carpet one time...right in the middle of the floor! I don't know what the purpose of that was; we weren't there, as they were being 'babysat', while we gallavanted around town. Sookie has, or did have five cats, so I don't know whether that was a factor or not. That was no excuse. 'It was one of the nicest visits we spent in Rochester...and then they had to go and do that on the carpet!'

Dan and Jennifer & 'troop' should arrive next Tuesday afternoon; a couple of days before Cappy gets off the boat. I'm still feverishly working on getting things 'stowed' into nooks and crannies in the name of 'Organization'. Even with odds and ends going to 'da road' or 'anywhere', it feels as though a petite Cinderella(ahem...that being all the nice, pretty stuff in our little house...) has grown into a vast, tangled, oversized, ponderous, tentacled colossus trying to fit herself into a tiny ball gown, (...and that would be the house...) well, it just aint workin'. Well, dat 'prince' will be gettin' off the boat next week, too, so ol' Cinderella better excercise a whole lot more discretion. I'm workin' on it...I'm workin' on it. (I guess I kinda strangled logic somewhat on of all that, but I think you get the point.)The day before company arrives I plan on hauling big boxes to the post office and sending them off to New York. I hope the kids don't mind holding onto their Christmas gifts, in BOXES, taking up space in their houses for about a month or so.

I took a break from all that to write this blog to you. Actually, I took a break from drawing our Christmas card. You'd think after so many years, it would get easier, but it hasn't. Cappy said I'm always picking at them, even after they are finished, and that I am still touching them up and primping on them, even as they are on their way into the envelopes and the glue is all wet. Too true. As in the past, we'll post them here on the blog, (check archives) as well, so 'Yall' can see them. I am thinking that if you write and ask for one of our Christmas cards at our email: cappy_and_pegody@yahoo.com , you just might find one in your 'snail mail' box this year. (Of course, if you are already friends and family, you know yours will be finding it's way to your house again, as usual.)

Alright, it was nice 'visiting' with you just now, but, alas, back to...hey! what's that on the floor?! Why, it's two white 'pamered curlies' (bichon frise in French), just laying there, innocently snoozing, for a change. Hmm.

If This Doesn't Make You Smile, I Don't Know What in the World Could.

I suppose I could've taken lots of pictures of all the kids who came to our house for Halloween, as I usually do, but this year, all I really wanted was a few snapshots of this little guy. Dis here is the best "Charlie Brown" and his dog, Snoopy, that I've ever seen. His parents, Karlie and Jean, plus, someone I suspect may be an aunt, brought him by just before the 'throng' hit our street. I couldn't stop giggling at the sight of little Jake aka Charlie Brown and wished I had my camera out. Finally, I couldn't resist any longer and went down the street to take these pictures. He's just so darned CUTE!!