Opportunity

Yummy!

We just got a new Chick-fil-A -- there are drive thru lines that wrap around the store at lunch time.  I am embarassed to admit that I have been in that line several times this week.

Tim Hawkins pays homage to Chick-fil-A to the tune of "Yesterday" by the Beatles -- too funny!

New Crop in the Garden

This was the largest one, the smaller ones are even harder to find!

Staycation 2011 - Day 1 & 2

We opted for another staycation this year.  I thought I would share a few pics.

We took a trip to the Bonnet Carre' Spillway this weekend, the Spillway structure is 1 1/2 miles wide and the flow of water through the bays is amazing.

Angelo Brocato's

We brought along a picnic lunch, but made a quick stop at Angelo Brocato's for dessert.  We all opted for gelato - St. Joseph Chocolate Almond for me, Pralines and Cream for DH and Sweet Cream for DS.

The Greek Festival

Another quick stop at Whole Foods

Crossing Lake Ponchatrain on the way home.

The north shore of the lake much bluer,
but you can still see the effect of the river water.

The south shore of the lake - muddy from Mississippi river
water from the Bonnet Carre' Spillway

A quick dinner of grilled pizza -
lots of veggies for DH and me
and pepperoni and cheese for DS.

Oh, did I mention another quick stop at the LNS Acadian Corner

to pick up a little fabric and my first silk threads for a new project?

Day 2 was spent attending church, lunching at Olive Garden, a quick trip to the Home Depot, adding to our vegetable garden, watching DS run through the sprinkler and having burgers with grilled garden veggies for dinner.

Rain

We finally got some much needed rain. 

 

I heard thunder this morning, so I immediately turned on the sprinkler

and considered washing my car to make sure it did not pass us by.

The early A.M. thunder left us high and dry, but we finally received

a little over one inch of rain in about an hour with an afternoon thunderstorm. 

Unfortunately, this cloud did not have a silver lining, the storm spawned some tornadoes

 about an hour north of us.  At least 12 homes were destroyed and 4 people were injured.

We have more rain in the forecast . . .

for a week from Saturday.

Summer Vacation Has Begun!

We are in our first week of summer vacation and while our summer plans are very low-key, we are very much looking forward to enjoying this summer.

I am working on a special stitching project as a gift, so I cannot post any photos of my progress, but  I will be picking up a couple of WIPs later this week and will post my progress, meager though it may be.

Hurricane season starts June 1st, and we are praying for a very quiet season and that the recent devastating tornadoes are not an indicator of the season.

I have been grateful for the unusually cool Spring we have had this year, just a few weeks ago, we were dipping down into the 40s at night and experiencing highs in the upper 70s to mid 80s.  The last two weeks have seen more 90 degree temps and an increase in humidity. 

How ironic that we are in the middle of a drought, having received only 30% of our usual rainfall for this time of year, while, the diversion of the Mississippi River at the Bonnet Carre' and Morganza spillways are flooding some communities just hours away with up to 15 feet of water. 

The opening of the Bonnet Carre' spillway has inundated Lake Ponchatrain with river water.  The lake is now almost completely filled with river water, this is no small task.  I think this will ruin our plans to go fishing and crabbing this summer, it will also cause an algae blooms later in the summer.

Our garden is really coming along, we will be planting our second wave of tomatoes, eggplant and squashes to stretch out our harvest.  Since my first planting of chives, thyme, parsley and cilantro were a bust, I will give it another try.

Blueberries!

Genovese, Purple Opal and Sweet Basils

Our Watermelon Patch (with a broken tomato branch that DS is trying to root)

Creole Tomatoes!!

Cherry Tomatoes

Our first eggplant of the season!

There are a over dozen squash growing just this one plant.

Sweet Mint - I am tasting lots of mint tea this summer!

I am also making plans for our fall garden with broccoli, cauliflower, mirliton (chayote/vegetable pear), pumpkins, butternut squash and potatoes.

My latest WIPs

Not much stitching going on, but I thought I would share what I have been turning my hand to . . .

Crookneck Squash

Creole Tomatoes

Eggplant

Also - - - watermelon, cantelope, cucumbers, zucchini, basil, parsley, cilantro, chives, sweet mint, thyme,

Holy Week - "But You Loved Me Anyway"

New Stash

If you have not been watching the Eastern Bluebird cam on my blog, the baby bluebirds are growing very quickly.  They are now fully feathered, although you can still see the feather shaft on the wing feathers, but they are flapping their wings in the nest preparing for that first flight.  They will be leaving the nest very soon.

Since DH borrowed my camera, he returned it with drained batteries, so I pulled in a substitution and used the photo function on the video camera to take these photos.  It takes much better video than photos.

On a recent trip into NOLA, I made a quick stop at my favorite LNS and picked up a couple of things . . .

28ct Cashel Linen (Taupe),
28ct 100% Linen (Shell, Monet Blue & China Pearl)
and Lizzie Kate's "Forgive Quickly"

The wonderful Marian from Gumbo and Grits sent me several charts from her stash that were on my wish list.  If you have not visited Marian's blog yet, check out some of her beautiful stitching.

Little House Needleworks "Heart of America"
The Sampler Girl "Fancy a Jane Day?"

The Cricket Collection
"On the First Day of Christmas", "On the Fourth Day of Christmas",
"On the Seventh Day of Christmas" and "My True Love Gave to Me"

Bent Creek "Winter Snapperland series"
"Chalet", "Sleigh Ride", "Le Rink" & "The Villa"

Little House Needleworks "Queen Bee" and "Chocolate Box" patterns

The Stitching Parlor " Mr. and Mrs. Darcy of Pemberly"
Rosewood Manor "And a Forest Grew"

Thanks Marian for your wonderfully generous gift!

I am fancying a "Jane Day", a cup of tea, a couple of Jane Austen DVDs and some beautiful linen and thread - sure does beat Calgon!

Oh, I almost forgot, I have one more stitching stash acquisition . . .

. . . sigh . . .

Hopefully these will speed up my stitching.

Media Monday #7 - Secrets Edition

Masterpiece Theater - Downton Abbey  I love period films and enjoyed this new series.  There is no shortage of family secrets.  Since the final show ended with the announcement that England was now at war with Germany, I am hoping that they have a second series to see how the lives of the Crawley family and their staff change with the coming of WWII.

Miracle in the Woods - An enjoyable "Hallmark" type movie.  Two estranged sisters are at odds over their recently deceased mother's will and discover a long held family secret.

A Lesson in Secrets (8th in the Maisie Dobbs series) - I LOVE this series.  Shortly after her mother's death, Maise enters service with the Rowan family.  One day the bright Maisie is caught in the library, the forward thinking Lady Rowan introduces her to Maurice Blanche who becomes her mentor.  Maisie balances her household duties with studies and is eventually enters Cambridge.  Maisie leaves college to enlist as a nurse during WWI.  After the war, she returns to complete her education and continues her mentoring relationship with Maurice, eventually becoming his assistant and a private investigator in her own right.  In this eighth book, Maisie is asked by the British Secret Service to investigate St. Francis College for any activities not in the best interest of Britain.  A member of staff is murdered, several others are hiding secrets and the popularity of the Nazi Socialist Party is increasing among the social elite as harbingers of the coming WWII become apparent.

This series is best read from the beginning as the backstory, challenges and changes faced my Maisie are what make this series so interesting.

Keep it Simple

I found this quote on one of my favorite blogs this morning and thought I would share it with you.

Busy As Can Be : Another Free Stitchery Giveaway!

Check out this great giveaway at Busy as Can Be

 http://thebeehivecottage.blogspot.com/2011/03/debbies-having-giveaway.html

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Wordless Wednesday

A Great Weekend, Followed by Media Monday #7

Friday

 

After a brutally cold, wet and dismal few days (did you know you could have snow flurries with thunder and lightining at the same time???), the sunnier and warmer weekend started off with Dinner and a Movie with my DS.

MENU

Despicable Me-atloaf

Vector Veggies

Moon Mashed Potatoes

Cinna-Minion Apples

Saturday

We attended Lady Lions Alumni Day at SLU and the ceremony retiring the jersey number of Robin Roberts.  She is just as wonderfully warm in person as she is on "Good Morning America".  Robin's family was there for the big event.  Her sister Sally Ann is a longtime anchor for New Orleans WWL-TV and lead everyone in singing "Happy Birthday" to their mother who made 87 that day.  I watched the clips on GMA this morning.  DS wanted me to let you know you can catch a glimpse of us as the camera pans across the crowd.

Sunday

I finished my Mardi Gras scarf before going to Mass and just in time for the first parade of the season.  The high temps just reached 60 and there was hardly a cloud in the sky.  We get another cool front tomorrow returning high temperatures to the 40s with another warm up for next weekend's parades.

We came home to some wonderful slow cooker BBQ pork sandwiches with beans and cole slaw on the side topped off with a slice of king cake I picked up from Nonna Randazzo's Italian Bakery and Cafe.  Though they do not use the traditional purple, green and gold decorations, their cake is yummy with maybe a little citrus peel (?) in the light, sweet dough.

On the Stitching Front

I have a huge project on my plate for the next 3 weeks, but I plan to set aside time each day to do a little stitching on my WIPs for the Flippin' January Challenge, so check back for and update.  I am going to kit up some knitting for a take along project (school pick-up, etc.) so I can have them all done by Thanksgiving for Christmas presents.

Media Monday #7

Here is a little of what I have been reading, watching and listening to:

 Sherlock - Season 1 - * * *

What would it be like if Sherlock Holmes lived in the 21st century instead of the 19th?  It is a fresh take on Conan Doyle's most famous character.

The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler  - * * * * *

During the Nazi occupation of Poland, thousands of Jews were kept in ghettos, Irene and her collaborators placed Jewish children with Polish families.  She saved 2,500 children before she was turned in to the Gestapo.

Dr. Who - Season 1 - * * *

A quirky (and sometimes creepy) sci-fi trip through time and space.

I also finished The Sandbagger's series by watching Seasons 4 and 5 (I hate cliff hanger endings at the end of a series) and I have been reading cookbooks like novels - something about the cold weather just makes me want to read about food.

Stay warm and keep stitching!