Non-Stitching Update - Photo Heavy

A stitching update is in the works, but until then, here is a little of what is happening in our little spot on the bayou . . .

Ginghers from Jennifer

I won a giveaway by Jennifer of Feathers in the Nest and am now the proud owner of my first pair of Ginghers.  They feel great in your hand and operate so smoothly.  Now I understand why almost everyone has a pair.  Aren't they pretty?  I love them, they make stitching an even greater pleasure! 

Thank you so much Jennifer!

Louisiana History Fais Do Do (Cajun Dance)

There was no dancing, but lots of good food. It was a great way to end the school year.

Meal Planning

Monday - Red Beans and Rice & Cornbread

Porch Bird:  The Sequel

A new bird has taken over the old nest, so we are awaiting brood #2. 

I do not think that is a crack on the "top" egg, it looks more like something on the outside of the egg.

Meal Planning - Week One Results & Week 2 Plan

Week 1 - Was not a rousing success.  I had difficulty sticking to the plan.

Monday - Red Beans and Rice (a no-brainer in NOLA)
CHANGED - We ended up eating frozen fish fillets and french fries, but we did knock out 80 fleur de lis and crawfish-shaped cookies and 2 batches of pralines for the Louisiana History Fais Do Do at school tomorrow.

Tuesday - Smothered Pork Chops with rice and sauteed green beans
ALTERED - Paneed Pork Chops with red beans and rice and steamed broccoli. 
I purchased the pork chops from Wal-Mart (I NEVER buy meat there) instead of my regular grocery store, they were spongy and flavorless.  Lesson learned (again)!

Wednesday - Chicken Enchilada Casserole
AS PLANNED - Yummy layers of chicken with enchilada sauce, corn torillas, bell pepper and onion, corn and black beans and mexican cheese blend.

Thursday - Shrimp and Eggplant Jambalaya (a new recipe from a friend)
LEFTOVERS - Left over Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Will try this new recipie next week!

Friday - BBQ chicken and grilled veggies
CHANGED - Fried Catfish, Sweet potato fries and green salad
Saturday - Grilled Veggie Lasagna
CHANGED - Frozen pizza
Sunday - Dinner at Mom's

WEEK 2
Monday - Red Beans & Rice, Green Salad & Cornbread
Tuesday - Roasted/Grilled Veggies over Pasta
Wednesday - Breakfast for Dinner Night!
Thursday - Crawfish Monica, Green Salad & French Bread
Friday - Salad Bar
Saturday - Tacos & Taco Salad
Sunday - Dinner at Mom's

Swamped

It has gotten pretty busy here on the bayou, I have a new finish to photograph and a new start to share, but I have been sided tracked by end of school year events (Louisiana history fais do do, teacher gifts, graduations, etc.). 

We also travelled to visit family this weekend.  We had a graduation dinner in one of the private dining rooms at Houmas House.  If you ever have the opportunity to visit, the gardens and home are beautiful (ask to take Miz' Judy's tour).  If you stay for lunch or dinner, I highly recommend the crab and mango cake and the bisque of curried pumpkin, crawfish and corn was also delicious (we also had a mixed spring salad, filet and bananas foster that were excellent).  The service was exceptional, they had two weddings and an couple of private dinners in addition to the restaurant and every course was cooked perfectly and was served at the correct temperature.  Sorry no pictures -- my batteries were beyond revival.  DS was running around with his little digital video camera, hopefully he got a few photos that I can share later.

I will be back soon with all my stitching progress -- just need to get reorganized.

The first step in my re-organization effort is Spring Cleaning - I am pulling out every item in every closet and drawer (and in the case of my DS under the bed).  Some items will be repurposed (I have seen some great ideas on the blogs), "adoption" by friends & family or donation or (sniff-sniff) the trash.

My second step is meal planning, I have tried it before without much success -- I am a spur of the moment cook.  But, I have been inspired by all you meal planning bloggers to give it another shot.  I want to decrease my trips to the store and be more thoughtful about what we are eating since I have noticed more "convenience" foods sneaking into our daily diet.  Here is my plan for this week:

Monday - Red Beans and Rice (a no-brainer in NOLA)
Tuesday - Smothered Pork Chops with rice and sauteed green beans
Wednesday - Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Thursday - Shrimp and Eggplant Jambalaya (a new recipe from a friend)
Friday - BBQ chicken and grilled veggies
Saturday - Grilled Veggie Lasagna
Sunday - Dinner at Mom's

I will let you know next Monday how well I adhered to my plan.

School lets out at the end of the week, wonder what that will do for my stitching??

Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?

I found some wonderful clearance buttons over the weekend . . .

Some metal (brass on the right & silver on the left) . . .

and some wood . . .

and . . .

I also found some tassels that I thought would be perfect with . . .

I picked up a couple of extra buttons to include in a future giveaway. 

Which buttons would you like to see in the giveaway?

Crawfish Boil

We enjoyed a Mother's Day Crawfish Boil today . . . for those of you who have not had the pleasure of attending one yourself, here is what you missed.

Happy Mother's Day!

A Teapot Giveaway on Anne's Phamily Blog

For all you tea drinkers out there, Anne is having two teapot giveaways at Anne's Phamily Teapot Giveaway.

Argghhhhhh!!!!!

Still working on the bullion knot roses.  My bullion knots have improved, but are not consistent.  I am having a problem arranging the knots up to look like a rose and not a weird pile of small red worms (I wish I was exaggerating).

I am now open to suggestions to replace the bullion roses with something else.

UPDATE:  The roses are in the four corners of the "Mother's TLC" design with a fifth rose above the initials.

Mother's Day is Sunday and I am running out of time . . .

Life is Good!! (Mostly)

Guess what I found in the mailbox earlier this week . . .

This cute piece of stitching from my giveaway winner Ranae.  My apologies, Ranae, for not posting this earlier, but my DH had custody of the camera for the golf tournament earlier this week.

Isn't this little pincushion sweet?  It feels like it must be stuffed with crushed walnut shells (?).  Beautiful colors (a little brighter in real-life), pretty finishing fabric -- I love it, THANK YOU, Ranae! 

Our DS recieved the Arrow of Light, the highest achievement in Cub Scouting, tonight.  The ceremony was awesome!  This flaming arrow, which was lit at the climax of the ceremony, was 8 feet long. 

Today was the first 100% humidity day of the year and HOT with mosquitos and gnats and it started raining during the ceremony (but a little rain doesn't stop Scouts) -- but everyone had a great time.

Needles(s) to say -- no stitching done today.  Still practicing the bullion knot roses before I put them on my final piece, the roses and attaching the charm are all I have left to complete "Mother's TLC".  If I can get it done tomorrow morning, I can use the 60% off framing coupons from Michaels -- wish me luck!

The recent oil spill in the Gulf is looking pretty bad.  Officials have opened shrimping season early (catch what you can while there is time) -- not sure if that qualifies as a silver lining.

{{{Stepping onto my soap box}}} 

Please consider supporting the Louisiana seafood industry by choosing Certified Louisiana/Cajun seafood instead of the cheaper (and not nearly so tasty) Chinese imports.  

Thank you. 

{{{Stepping down from my soap box}}}

For more information on the deepwaterhorizonresponse