Nauga Arm Warmers

Last week my business consultant from the local University told me that I need to start telling stories with my embroidery items.  Within a day or two of that conversation, I read one of the Etsy articles that said that people who list items for sale should include a story about the item.  Since both are telling me the same thing, I guess it must be so.  This pair of arm warmers was my first attempt at doing just they.  The arm warmers are on sale in my Etsy store for $15.00.

Measurements: 17 inches long, 12 inches around
Care: Wash in cool water and tumble dry

Here in Pensacola we love to celebrate Mardi Gras. We have every size and shape of Mardi Gras krewe. One of our favorite krewes is the Krewe of Nauga. They do not have a float. They do not parade. What they do have is one party each year, but what a party that is. The theme is always animals and animal prints.



The story about the Krewe of Nauga is that many years ago the local hair salon on the beach had their chairs recovered in naugahyde. A local gentleman happened by and was shown the new chair covering. In absolute disgust he said, "Do you realize how many naugas had to be killed so that you could have your chairs covered with their hyde?" The owner was mortified at the idea that she caused any creature to be killed. Of course, we know that there is no such thing as a nauga. But at that moment, she did not. It became such a local story on the beach that the hair salon created the Krewe of Nauga with the animal print theme. Yes. We believe in naugas on Pensacola Beach. lol



This one of a kind pair of arm warmers is dedicated to those wonderful, crazy naugas on the beach. The leopard print fabric is a light, silky, stretchy, tricot with that satin type sheen. The white lightning bolt is appliqued and curves around the front of your arm. For a bit of razzle dazzle, the crystal rhinestones were added because, really, is there anything more bright and shiny than a lightning bolt. The three inch opening for your thumb is also embroidered in white with a tiny hint of floral design around the edge. The fabric is doubled creating a lining of the same fabric for a bit more elegance.

Wear these arm warmers and people are sure to stop you to inquire. Tell them the nauga story but sadly this is a one of a kind, handmade item that they will not be able to purchase elsewhere. Of course, if you must part with them, this would make a fabulous gift.       


C'est tout, mes amis.

Cajun Corner - Vol. 3, No. 43

Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 43 – October 28, 2011

Bon Jour!  Welcome to Cajun Stitchery’s weekly email and welcome to our family.

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com, and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook. 

Visit our on-line catalogs at:

http://www.imprintit.biz/cgi-bin/cobrand/site.w?location=olc/catalog-home.w&top=catalog&frasmes=no&target=main&sponsor=000699

and www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery.

We had several orders last week for bags with the Cajun saying and Teaching is a Work of Heart.  All orders have been filled and shipped.

Last Monday I met my friend from MADD for lunch at The Coffee House to give her the table runner that I made.  As we were standing at the counter placing our order, we were commenting on the beautiful antique photographs on the wall of a turn of the century wedding.  The photos were family photos of the owner.  My friend and I were both commenting on our own weddings and each of us wished we had more and better photographs.  The young lady who was waiting on us mentioned that she is getting married on November 6^th.  My friend and I clicked into motherly mode and began asking questions.  The young waitress is from a small town outside of Boston and her family cannot attend the wedding.  She has been living with her husband-to-be for 7 years and they have decided to get married in their little church in Foley, Alabama.  They have nothing to speak of and are living with her in-laws to be.  We asked if she had a wedding gown and she said, no, they are just going to stay after church that day and get married.  She was still saving her money to get him a wedding band.  At that point, we began serious meddling.  We didn’t want her to be our age and regretting not having enough pictures or having the wedding of her dreams.  We began speculating that certainly someone has a wedding gown they could loan her.  You only wear those gowns once.

Thus began the search.  When I got home, I put out a message on Facebook with my WBL group about the situation and that we are looking for a wedding gown in a size 6-8 for this young lady.  Before the day was out, my sweet peep and business consultant contacted me and was having her wedding gown shipped here from her mother for the bride. 

The Facebook message took on a life of its own and I put the message out for all of my Facebook friends.  Another friend messaged that WBL has a Pay it Forward Wedding Program where girls put all of their wedding décor and the like in the program and whoever needs it can help themselves.  Down the road they help someone else.

We had offers of deals on wedding bands and all sorts of things.  My friend got in touch with the pastor of the church who said that the congregation was planning a surprise reception after the wedding.

Another friend, a hairdresser, has both the bride and groom coming in that morning to have her hair done and he gets a hair cut.

It seemed like everything was falling into place but if the bride is going to wear this gorgeous gown (we now have the gown), then we don’t want the groom showing up in jeans.  So, we got some measurements from the bride for the groom’s size and began trying to find a tux for him.  I must say that the generosity was overwhelming.  No one seemed to have his size in a tux.  Facebook friends began saying that if we could get a deal from one of the local tuxedo rentals, then whoever would like, could call the tuxedo rental company and charge whatever amount they could on their credit cards for this young man’s tux.  The problem with that offer is that you don’t know how much of a bill will be remaining for the groom to pay. 

Today, I have spoken with both the bride and groom.  I should be meeting with her today to give her the gown.  They keep telling me that he is more of a suit jacket and jeans guy.  That simply will not do; not with this gown. 

To top off the generosity, a dear friend of mine who is literally at her ailing mother’s bedside in Idaho, called to say she knows the owner of a local tuxedo rental store and is going to place a call and have the owner call me to make the arrangements for the tux.  My friend, who owns an entertainment/DJ business, told me that if she was here, she would provide the music and entertainment.

I love people.  Given an opportunity, people always rise to the occasion.  This week’s kindness and generosity has been pretty overwhelming.

As if that wasn’t enough human kindness for one week, there was more.  I knew that one of our neighborhood friends was having a birthday this week.  His wife emailed me and wanted to give him a surprise party, but, as it turned out, another neighbor had a birthday this week, too.  The plan was that we would get the neighborhood together at my house and hide them in the back yard.  When our birthday boy walks by (via a devious plan between his wife and mother-in-law), I would call him over to show him something.  Once he was on my deck, everyone would jump out and say “Surprise.”  This plan worked perfectly.

The second part of the plan was that when we bring out the birthday cake, we would sing “Happy Birthday” to both birthday boys.  The cake had both names on it.  Thus, we had the second birthday surprise.  Again, the plan worked perfectly.

We had appetizers, lasagna, salad, garlic bread, birthday cake and lots and lots of wine.  Not only was the first birthday boy surprised, but neither of them expected the second surprise.  They both received birthday cards and gifts and our neighbor that plays guitar played as we all sang songs.  We had a fire in the chiminea.  We ended up with about 12 people at the party.  It was an absolutely perfect evening.

Before I forget, I still have the box for non-perishable food for the homeless shelters.  If you are in the area, drop off some non-perishables.  The food drive is going on to December.

All cell phone holders in our Etsy store are half price ($5.00), so stop by www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com and get some cute cell phone holders as gifts for Christmas.

CHRISTMAS is around the corner.  Get that Christmas shopping done now and enjoy the holidays.

If you are not a subscriber and would like to receive Cajun Corner weekly, please email cajunstitchery@yahoo.com and let me know to put you on our email list. 

===============================================================

Thank you Marshall Larrivere for the following:

Father Murphy walks into a bar on Bourbon Street,

and asks the first man he meets, “Do you want to go to heaven?”

The man said, “I do, Father.”

The priest said, “Then stand over there against

the wall.”

Then the priest asked the second man, “Do you want

to go to heaven?”

“Certainly, Father,” the man replied.

“Then stand over there against the wall,” said the

priest.

Then Father Murphy walked up to Thibodaux and

asked, “Do you want to go to heaven?”

Thibodaux said, “No, I don't Father.”

The priest said, “I don't believe this. You mean

to tell me that when you die you don't want to go to heaven?”

Thibodaux said, “Oh, when I die, yes. I thought

you were getting a bunch together to go right now.”

=================================================================

C’est tout, mes amis

Peggy Henshall

Cajun Stitchery

(850) 261-2462

cajunstitchery@yahoo.com

P.S.  You are always welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.

Cajun Corner - Vol. 3, No. 42

Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 42 – October 22, 2011

Bon Jour!  Welcome to Cajun Stitchery’s weekly email and welcome to our family.

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com, and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook. 

Visit our on-line catalogs at:

http://www.imprintit.biz/cgi-bin/cobrand/site.w?location=olc/catalog-home.w&top=catalog&frasmes=no&target=main&sponsor=000699

and www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery.

It has been cold this week.  The temperature has dropped into the high 30’s and low 40’s around here.  I think we will be getting back to 50’s to 70’s soon.  So far the garden looks in tact, although it could use a good watering about now.

The other day our Labrador retriever, Evie, went outside with us in the evening and immediately her nose was to the ground smelling.  She was scenting something around the garden and our deck and ended up on top of the deck with her nose in a space between boards.  We didn’t hear or see anything and just went about business.  Later, we decided to step outside again, and a possum was running down our walkway to the driveway.   Evie knew what she was doing.

Last night, when I returned home from an evening with the girls, our back door was ajar.  The wind must have blown it open and George had fallen asleep on the sofa watching a movie.  The problem this is that our cats are house cats.  Their front claws have been removed and I certainly don’t want them outside.  We counted cats and our little black Manx, Poly, was missing.  It was about midnight and we were outside calling, “kitty, kitty, kitty.”  Finally, I looked at Evie and said, “Go find Poly.”  She darted to the back of our garage.  George brought the flashlight.  Sure enough, there was Poly.  Poly is home and safe but she is in the doghouse.  Evie, on the other hand, is being treated as a celebrity.   

Have I told you how wonderful the SBDC is?  Of course, I have.  This week I contacted my business consultant because sales have gone down a bit this year.  Obviously it is because of the economy.  Nevertheless, I needed to brainstorm with my business consultant on available avenues to peruse.  I didn’t hear back from her for a day or two and then I received an email.  She had posed my questions and concerns to several marketing experts and forwarded their answers to me.  I never cease to be amazed at the information and people she has available from which to garner information.  The ideas that issued from that email were totally on key.  I had been thinking of these things but it is so comforting to have the marketing expertise reassuring me of the right direction.  If that wasn’t enough, she has made an appointment to come to me next Wednesday afternoon to brainstorm and discuss my concerns. 

No doubt my largest handicap is that Cajun Stitchery does not have a store front.  My store front is actually the internet.  In this day and age having a store front on the internet is not a bad thing.  I just need to stay on top of the latest social networks and make my store front pop.  The problem with that is I can just spread myself so far.  I could hire someone or a company to work with my website, but there is a problem with that.   The problem is that I wouldn’t be able to get in there and change things around without the assistance of others.  It is the same reason that I drive a stick shift.  I have more control.  I’m going to have to find a happy medium and I do have some ideas.

One of the ideas is to kick it up a notch.  Embroidery is not a cheap commodity.  Just look at tee shirts.  Screen printing is beautiful.  I have seen some really over the top screen printing designs, but put that art into embroidery and you have elegance, professionalism, class, durability, and the look that goes from everyday to special occasion.  There are embroidery techniques to satisfy everyone’s style, including the teenagers and young professionals.  Hopefully, you will begin seeing some embroidery from Cajun Stitchery that is more artsy and stylish and a notch better than in the past.  Logos will always be our bread and butter and we have that down pat.  Small business has become one of my passions and I will always be searching out new and better ways to allow small businesses the luxury of embroidery.  I just have this artsy, creative side of me that wants to burst out.

Before I forget, I still have the box for non-perishable food for the homeless shelters.  If you are in the area, drop off some non-perishables.  The food drive is going on to December.

Right now I’m working on a table runner for MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).  They are having their Monster Mash next Saturday evening at the Artel Gallery in Pensacola.  If you haven’t bought tickets, you need to do so.  Contact me and I’ll put in touch with the right people.  Insofar as the table runner is concerned, I should have been finished with it yesterday but it won’t be ready until Monday.  It is a peacock design.  Actually, I was looking through my stock designs and came across an Asian set with a beautiful peacock.  Once I started playing around with the peacock, I was hooked.  I stitched the peacock onto some teal colored fabric as a stitch-out.  Wow!  Gorgeous!  That stitch-out will become something but right now I have to stay focused on the runner.  In my “kick it up a notch” mode, I’m using a thin, shiny, brocade looking fabric, in a brownish-goldish color.  The embroidery design, alone, is beautiful.  I added some small touches of metallic thread.  Next I plan to line the runner with a very thin, black tricot.  I don’t want the runner heavy or bulky.  Then I will affix rhinestones and tassels.  I am debating on some smaller background designs to adhere the tricot to the runner but I haven’t decided that for sure.

I’ve sold several can wraps with the new Cajun saying on them. 

The Coffee House coupon is no longer available.  Toucansave’s new coupon is for a massage therapist.  For $28 you get a deal worth $250.  Now, that is a good deal.  Wouldn’t that make a great Christmas present?

I’ll be making some more “You Have A Booger” handkerchiefs soon.  I put those in our Etsy store for $10 each.  I’ll make these handkerchiefs this week’s sale.  This week only, I’ll sell them for $7.00 each.  We now also carry men’s white handkerchiefs.

All cell phone holders in our Etsy store are half price ($5.00), so stop by www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com and get some cute cell phone holders as gifts for Christmas.

CHRISTMAS is around the corner.  Get that Christmas shopping done now and enjoy the holidays.

If you are not a subscriber and would like to receive Cajun Corner weekly, please email cajunstitchery@yahoo.com and let me know to put you on our email list. 

===============================================================

Thank you Paulette Provost for the following:

A large group of Iraqi soldiers are moving down a road South of Basra, when they hear a voice call out from behind a sand dune. "One Louisiana Cajun soldier is better than ten Iraqi."

The Iraqi commander quickly orders 10 of his best men over the dune, where upon a gun battle breaks out and continues for a few minutes. Then silence.

The voice once again calls out, "One Louisiana Cajun is better than one hundred Iraqi."

Furious, the Iraqi commander sends his next best 100 troops over the dune, and instantly a huge gun fight commences. After 10 minutes of battle. Again, silence.

The Cajun voice calls out again, "One Louisiana Cajun is better than one thousand Iraqi."

The enraged Iraqi commander musters 1,000 fighters, and sends them to the other side of the dune. Rifle fire, machine guns, grenades, rockets and cannon fire ring out as a terrible battle is fought.  Then silence.

Eventually, one badly wounded Iraqi fighter crawls back over the dune, and with his dying words tells his commander, "Don't send any more men, it's a trap. There's two of them."

=================================================================

C’est tout, mes amis

Peggy Henshall

Cajun Stitchery

(850) 261-2462

cajunstitchery@yahoo.com

P.S.  You are always welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.

Cajun Corner - Vol. 3, No. 41

Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 41 – October 14, 2011

Bon Jour!  Welcome to Cajun Stitchery’s weekly email and welcome to our family.

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com, and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook. 

Visit our on-line catalogs at:

http://www.imprintit.biz/cgi-bin/cobrand/site.w?location=olc/catalog-home.w&top=catalog&frasmes=no&target=main&sponsor=000699

and www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery.

The screen embroidery is finished.  George is going to make a frame for the screen to fit in my studio window.  Each design fits in the middle of a glass pane on the window.  The screen embroidery was very easy to do and I’m pleased with the end product.  There are so many things that can be done with the fiberglass screen.  I’ve seen beach bags made from it.  From the articles that I’ve read, sewing on the screen is not difficult.  In fact, we could embroider logos on screens.  That would be pretty cool to have your logo on a window screen or screen door for your store front.  Imagine the comments that would bring.

I know there are people who do not like Facebook, but I am certainly not one of them.  I have met so many people via Facebook that I would never have met otherwise.  My Facebook friends have actually become good friends and I have met face-to-face with many of them.  Mama would have loved Facebook.  Lately, friends have been posting some really cute pictures and sayings.  In the evenings, George and I go through the posts and have some really good laugh time together.  Last night a friend posted a button that said, “Don’t make me go all CAJUN on your ass.”  I loved it.  This morning I digitized it in a variety of designs.  That embroidery design is going to go on my clothing someplace.  At the arts and wine festival there were a few people who came over and asked where our Cajun stuff was.  Guess I better get some Cajun embroidery done.  Of course, with Christmas approaching, we have our Heaux, Heaux, Heaux design.  Last year we put that design on tea towels.  Let me know if you need some.

Our friend from Orlando departed this past Sunday.  We had a wonderful time together.  She even got to meet some of our wonderful neighbors.  She is engaged and the wedding will be next fall.  After catching up with all of the embroidery that I’ve done this year, she loved the can wrap and spent the weekend digitizing her wedding design for the can wrap.  Before she left, she made two of them.  They turned out nice.  While she was doing that, we began talking about boring needles.  Oh my gosh, I want a boring needle.  With a boring needle Boudreaux will be able to cut holes.  You may not think that an embroiderer would want holes but for items like the can wraps that have eyelets, rather than punching the holes after the eyelet is embroidered, the boring needle will cut the hole and then embroider the eyelet.  It makes the hole much neater and it is one less thing that I would have to do after the embroidery is done.  A boring needle is mostly used for cutwork and eyelets are a type of cutwork.  When we looked online for boring needles we found that they are about $28 each.  That’s a lot for a needle.  The thing we could not find is a place that sells them.  So, we are still looking for boring needles.

Remember my friend at Toucansave.com?  I hope everyone registered on their site.  If you had problems registering, try again.  There was a glitch that has now been fixed.  Anyway, the current coupon is for the Coffee House.  A few years ago a place called The Coffee House opened on Navy Boulevard, just a couple of blocks away from me.  One of my neighbors told me about it and he really liked it.  Although I wanted to go to The Coffee House, I never made it over there.  A few months ago I heard that it had closed.  It is so sad when a small business closes.  It turned out that they did not close but the rumor mill had run rampant.  So, Toucansave got with The Coffee House and are offering coupons this month.  I bought mine yesterday and George and I intend to go there today or tomorrow.  I think we paid about $4 for a $10 coupon.  So, for about $4 we can go to The Coffee House and get $10 worth of coffee, pastries, wraps, etc.  Not a bad deal at all.  I may end up getting more coupons.  A coupon is good for one visit.  But, heck, if George and I go there without the coupon, we would walk away with a tab of at least $10, anyway.  If you are local, especially if you live near NAS, go to Toucansave.com and take advantage of this fabulous deal.  We all need to support local businesses.

Wednesday I met a Facebook friend at Bonelli’s for lunch.  Bonelli’s is my Pensacola favorite dining establishment.  My friend owns Flamingo A Friend.  For those of you who do not live in the Pensacola area, Flamingo A Friend is a local business where for birthdays, anniversaries or whatever the occasion, they will put plastic flamingos all over your yard for a day.  I’ve also seen black crows and a variety of other things.  It is just a really cool and different thing to do for these occasions.  We met for lunch and bonded immediately.  She also has a business called Mr. Margarita that furnishes margaritas for parties.  Now she is also doing some arts and crafts but our meeting was getting to know each other.  I love to brainstorm and she does, too. 

We have partnered with Uptown Park Records, Hines Cleaning Service, Success & Friends, and The Cell Phone Place for Rebuilding The City of Pensacola Food Drive. Each of these businesses, including Cajun Stitchery, has a box displayed for the purpose of collecting non-perishable food for the Bay Area Food Bank to distribute to homeless shelters. The food is collected once per week. Folks, times are tough for everyone. But for the grace of God, there goes I. Let's make these boxes overflow with non-perishable food.  What I didn’t know before is that Bay Area Food Bank, located in Milton, is the only food bank that supplies food to the homeless shelters for 7 counties, including Escambia and Santa Rosa.  I do not want to make light of the other food banks.  They do a good and useful job.  They supply directly to people in need of food.  Bay Area supplies to the shelters.  All are in need of food.

All cell phone holders in our Etsy store are half price ($5.00), so stop by www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com and get some cute cell phone holders as gifts for Christmas.

CHRISTMAS is around the corner.  Get that Christmas shopping done now and enjoy the holidays.

If you are not a subscriber and would like to receive Cajun Corner weekly, please email cajunstitchery@yahoo.com and let me know to put you on our email list. 

===============================================================

Thank you Sandy Goodman for the following:

A new priest, born and raised in Texas, comes to
Lafayette, LA to serve and is nervous about
hearing confessions, so he asks the older priest
to sit in on his sessions.

The new priest hears a couple of confessions, then
the old priest asks him to step out of the
confessional for a few suggestions.

The old priest suggests, "Cross your arms over
your chest, and rub your chin with one hand and
try saying things like 'yes, I see,' and 'yes, go
on,' and 'I understand.'

The new priest crosses his arms, rubs his chin
with one hand and repeats all the suggested
remarks to the old priest.

The old priest says, "Now, don't you think that's
a little better than slapping your knee and
saying, "No shit... what happened next?"

=================================================================

C’est tout, mes amis

Peggy Henshall

Cajun Stitchery

(850) 261-2462

cajunstitchery@yahoo.com

P.S.  You are always welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.

Cajun Corner - Vol. 3, No. 40

Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 40 – October 7, 2011

Bon Jour!  Welcome to Cajun Stitchery’s weekly email and welcome to our family.

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com, and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook. 

Visit our on-line catalogs at:

http://www.imprintit.biz/cgi-bin/cobrand/site.w?location=olc/catalog-home.w&top=catalog&frasmes=no&target=main&sponsor=000699

and www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery.

The Pensacola Beach 4^th Annual Arts & Wine Festival is now history.  Not a bad event at all.  It was very windy.  We ended the weekend with a profit.  It wasn’t as much as anticipated but a profit is a profit.  Yay!!!!  This was the first festival that we have been allowed to leave our tent/canopy/booth overnight.  When we arrived on Saturday the wind was so strong that about all George and I could do was hold onto the tent.  Our sweet helper picked up some concrete blocks and rope on her way to the festival.  That saved the day for us.  I really liked the improvements that we made to our booth this year.  At the end of the day, we loaded up everything except the booth and the attached signs.  The following morning when we arrived, the wind had destroyed the tent next to us and they had to use a spare tent that they had.  Other tents were blown all over the parking lot.  But the Cajun Stitchery tent stood tall and proud.   George and I have already begun discussions about some additions and changes for next year, but we were mighty pleased with the look this year.

Monday was spent resting up from the weekend, organizing and putting away everything from the festival.  Tuesday I was finally able to begin embroidering.  Wednesday a friend arrived from Orlando and will stay with us until Sunday.  Thursday I began embroidery on screen.  It has been a busy but pleasurable week.

Oh, you picked up on my embroidery on screen, didn’t you?  Wondering what kind of screen could be embroidered?  This is another embroidery technique that has been around for awhile but I finally got to try it out.  The screen is regular, fiberglass, window screens.  Since embroidery doesn’t fade, then it stands to reason that if screen is embroidered, it shouldn’t fade, even out in the weather.  Now I didn’t say it wouldn’t get dirty.  I would imagine that you should be able to hose it down, like you would any dirty screen.  There are so many possibilities for screen embroidery, such as, windows, screen doors, fireplace screens, etc.  For my initial screen embroidery, I have chosen a screen the size of one of my window screens.  Since my windows have 6 panels, I am embroidering Christmas motifs to show through each of the 6 panels.  George is going to frame the screen after the embroidery is done and we should be able to put it in the window during the Christmas season.

Since this is two sided embroidery, the bobbin color is changed as the top thread color changes so that you can see the design from either side of the screen.  So far I have only completed one design and I hope to get the others finished in the next few days.  I am sure I will be showing pictures once completed.

Every time my friend from Orlando visits, we try out new embroidery techniques.  She is an embroidery machine technician.  We have the same passion for our embroidery and just have a ball together.  I even sang my little rap song for her.  Let’s just say that she was amazed.

Most of this week has been spent organizing all of our items and organizing our Etsy store.  I am and will be running sales on Etsy from now through Christmas.  Half price on cell phone pouches.  Once I get around to it, I plan to list more “You Have a Booger” hankies.  They apparently make great Christmas presents.  Of course, this year we also have men’s handkerchiefs.

The garden.  We picked our first eggplant of the season yesterday.  The cayenne peppers are definitely the winner crop this year.  Those plants just keep on producing peppers.  We are almost ready to begin harvesting cucumbers.  The surprise of the season is watermelon.  Earlier this summer George bought a watermelon for us at a roadside stand.  We saved the seeds, which is our custom and planted a few seeds in pots on the deck.  The seeds germinated but summer turned into fall and we thought we would just have the plant with no fruit.  One day I noticed a watermelon on one plant that was maybe an inch in diameter.  We certainly were excited.  Now we have 2 more growing.  Who knows, maybe we will have watermelon for Halloween instead of pumpkin.   We are still harvesting all kinds of peppers, tomatoes and green beans.  The okra is still alive and producing. 

Three years ago we planted snapdragon seeds in a pot on our deck.  The snapdragons were beautiful.  Here’s the thing, snapdragons are annuals.  They only live one year and die.  To get more, you have to plant more seeds the next year.  Well, our snapdragons are still alive after 3 years.  I thought this past summer that they were gone for sure.  Guess what?  They are back.  I certainly don’t mind.  Snapdragons are beautiful plants and beautiful flowers.  We planted snapdragons in several locations this past spring and they are all growing and producing flowers.

CHRISTMAS is around the corner.  Get that Christmas shopping done now and enjoy the holidays.

If you are not a subscriber and would like to receive Cajun Corner weekly, please email cajunstitchery@yahoo.com and let me know to put you on our email list. 

===============================================================

Thank you Marshall Larrivere for the following:

Boudreau was driving down Canal Street in a sweat

because he had an important meeting and couldn't find a parking place.

Looking up to heaven he said, “Lord take pity on me. If you find me a

parking place I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of ma life

and give up ma White Lightnin'!”

Miraculously, a parking place appeared.

Boudreau looked up again and said, “Never mind, I

found one.”

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C’est tout, mes amis

Peggy Henshall

Cajun Stitchery

(850) 261-2462

cajunstitchery@yahoo.com

P.S.  You are always welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.