Cajun Corner - Vol. 1, No. 21 - October 16, 2009

Cajun Corner – Vol. 1, No. 21 – OCTOBER 16, 2009
Bon Jour! Welcome to Cajun Stitchery’s weekly email and welcome to our family.
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Ah, bookkeeping. We used the freebee Quicken to its limits and finally broke down and purchased the official, super-duper, version of Quicken. I’m still learning. Quicken is supposed to just pop up and tell me what sales tax I owe the government. Since it’s time to pay the quarterly sales tax, I sure hope that feature works. Then it’s supposed to tell where Cajun Stitchery makes the most money. I’m certainly looking forward to that function. The problem is that I’d rather be embroidering than playing with the books. Eventually, I’ll either learn Quicken and all of it’s features or I’ll hire a bookkeeping service. Right now, we are doing it all.

Today is our first really Fall feeling day. The windows are open and the fresh air is circulating in the house. Spring and Fall, my favorite times of year.

The tomatoes, beans and peppers are still producing in the garden. One of our neighbors introduced us to Philipino Beans. They are just like snap beans only longer, about 12” long. They cook and taste exactly like snap beans and are prolific. It only takes a few a day to feed George and me. There simply is nothing like the taste of food cooked fresh out of the garden. You cannot buy that at Wal-Mart. I can’t wait until next Spring when the asparagus will be ready to begin harvesting.

My pet is my herb garden. The oregano was so prolific that we had to take it out of the garden this past Spring. We planted it around the yard but none of it seemed to take. However, we have noticed a bit of the oregano that we planted near an oak tree in the back is now growing. Can’t wait until Spring. Parsley almost tied with the oregano this year. The parsley was in a separate area and didn’t have a chance to overtake anything else. We did end up having so much parsley that we had to take out about half of the plants to make room for other plants.

Blackberries are our usual nemisis. This year we decided that we are going to clear out a patch in the corner of the yard and just let the blackberries grow. We are still trying to find time to do that. Blackberries remind me of spending the summers with my grandmother in north Georgia when I was a little girl. She had probably an acre of land in front of her home that was nothing but rows of blackberry bushes. Nancy and I would each take a bucket and harvest blackberries. We probably ate as much as we harvested. It sure did occupy our time, though. We would return to Grandmother with buckets of big, juicy blackberries and two little girls with blackberry juice staining our clothes, our hands, our mouths, and all of the little cuts from the briars. With those kinds of memories, how could I even think of getting rid of all of the blackberries in the yard? They just need to be controlled. There is nothing like hot blackberry cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

In addition to the above, we have onions, garlic, and broccoli growing now. Those are not ready to harvest yet. We also need to get out there and do our October planting. Florida is wonderful for gardening. You can garden 12 months out of the year.
Always remember that we are just a call or email away at cajunstitchery@yahoo.com or 850-261-2462 and place your order.
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Boudreaux and Pierre were flying Cajun Airlines. Pierre was flying da plane and Boudreaux was in da back foolin wit da cargo equipment an stuff.

Da plane hit some turbulence an started bouncing aroun' an Pierre got knock unconscience. Den da plane start driftin.

Boudreaux him come run up to da front an saw dat Pierre was sprawl out over da steerin wheel.

Well, Boudreaux don know nuttin bout flyin an he start to get panaky. He grab da microphone and holla "May Day! May Day! Dis is Cajun Air Line 10210. Pierre, him knock unconscence an I don know nutin about flyin dis plane!"

"Dis is da control tower," someone answer. "Don you worry bout nutin. We gona splain how fo you to land dis plane, step by step, ah gar-on-tee! Jus leave aryting ta us. Fus, how high are you an what's you position?"...

Boudreaux thought a minute, den say, "I'm five foot ten an I'm all da way to da front of da plane."

"No! No!", answer da tower. "What's you altitude an where's you location?"

Boudreaux say, "Man, ah got a po attitude, an I'm from Thibodaux!"

"No! No! No!" came an exasperated voice. "Ah needs to know how many feet you got off da groun an how you plane's in relation to da airport!"

Boudreaux start to panic by dis time. He say, "Countin Pierre's an mine we got fo feet off da ground an I don bleve dis plane's related to you airport!"

A long pause --- "We needs to know who you next of kin is and where to send da flowers!"

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French phrase of the week: habillement (n.m.) [AH BEEY MAn] 1. clothing. 2. outfit.
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1. Mulch your flower beds and trees with 3" of organic material - it conserves water, adds humus and nutrients, and discourages weeds. It gives your beds a nice, finished appearance.
2. Mulch acid-loving plants with a thick layer of pine needles each fall. As the needles decompose, they will deposit their acid in the soil.
3. The most important step in pest management is to maintain healthy soil. It produces healthy plants, which are better able to withstand disease and insect damage.
4. Aphids? Spray infested stems, leaves, and buds with a very dilute soapy water, then clear water. It works even on the heaviest infestation.
5. Compost improves soil structure, texture, and areation, and increases the soil's water holding capacity. It also promotes soil fertility and stimulates healthy root development.
6. Look for natural and organic alternatives to chemical fertilizers, such as the use of compost. Our use of inorganic fertilizer is causing a toxic buildup of chemicals in our soil and drinking water.

7. When buying plants for your landscape, select well-adapted plant types for your soil, temperature range, and sun or shade exposure.
Please let me know if there is something that you would like to see in the weekly email. You may always call me at (850) 261-2462 or email me at cajunstitchery@yahoo.com.
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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 new catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.
Christmas is right around the corner – have you done your shopping yet? Take advantage of this week’s special and get ahead of the shopping rush.
Cajun Stitchery