Cajun Corner Vol. 2, No. 13

Cajun Corner – Vol. 2, No. 13 – APRIL 2, 2010


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

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Don’t forget to visit  www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.

Cajun Stitchery’s first anniversary has been wonderful. This week we had several contest entries. All were excellent entries and the decision of who had the best entry is impossible. Therefore, we put all of the names in a hat and drew the winner. The winner is … drum roll, please … Evie Reid. Evie, please contact me and let’s start designing your napkins.

Evie’s entry read:

I have several suggestions that I use and really count on. Here are five I really love:

1) Since I have chickens I cannot put out poison for bugs or ants. Instead I use white paint on trim and white rocks/gravel surrounding the house, trees and flowers. Most bugs avoid these areas because they have no camouflage and they are easily seen by their predators. It is a very easy way to keep pests away from my house. Also, rocks will get dingy and brown after a while so just cover them use lime which is good for the soil and repels slugs and ants. I keep a shallow tray of lime under my pans of cat food so no pests get in the food.

2) For fire ants I simple spread instant grits on the ground at the mound. The ants carry the goodies inside and share with all. When they ingest water or whatever liquid they drink they literally explode which gets rid of the ants without chemicals.

3) Summer is headed this way and along with it comes many activities. As we have two teenagers doing laundry in the house, often one would start a load of laundry and forget it. In this Florida heat, wet clothing can start to sour quickly but I have them add a quarter cup of baking soda to each load which works as a booster to the detergent and prevents the clothes from souring quickly.

4) To prevent soap scum and mildew build up in your tile shower, use car wax. Clean shower thoroughly first then rub a coat of car wax all over the tile. Be sure to not get it on the floor; it will be slippery! This will repel water and prevent mildew.

5) For a natural and inexpensive bathroom disinfecting spray, use white vinegar and 3% hydrogen peroxide. Pour in separate, clean spray bottles (which can be purchased at the dollar store). Spray one then the other; wipe clean. It can be used on any surface in your bathroom!

Way to go, Evie!

Cajun Stitchery’s Facebook page has been a lot of fun. At this point we have around 230 fans. That is just wonderful. I can’t wait until Cajun Stitchery becomes as well known as Coca Cola. I believe in thinking positive. Anyway, if you are ever on Facebook, please become a fan of Cajun Stitchery and stop by often. I love to post pictures; although recently I’ve had to fight with the computer to get the pictures on there. Of course, the photos are always on the blog.

One of the cool things about the Cajun Stitchery page on Facebook is that Facebook supplies an area for analyses and tells you how many of your fans are males or females, the age group of the fans, and the location of the fans. We do have some male fans but most are females of all ages. George and I were discussing these statistics and trying to determine what kind of embroidery would a man purchase for himself. About the only thing we could think of, except that maybe men would purchase for women in their lives, was patches, military patches, motorcycle patches, and that sort of thing. So, I gave George a promotion. He is now Director of our Men’s Division at Cajun Stitchery. If you can think of another embroidered item that men would like, please let us know.

We did a really cute tote this week for a lady who wants to give her sister a birthday present. Her sister loves going to the casinos. She chose a very cute design of a cartoonish slot machine. However, the design was about 2” square which was too small. I explained to her that you can decrease the size of a large design but the reverse is not true. However, I had to eat my words because we blew the design up to about 6” square and didn’t lose any detail. Never say never. Please note that enlarging designs does not always work that well.

I simply could not get George out of the lawn and garden this week. The weather has been beautiful. He is so creative and meticulous in the yard. We have several little gardens dispersed everywhere. Little rest areas here and there, each surrounded by a different type of garden. It’s beautiful.

And we are eating out of our garden: asparagus, broccoli, lettuce, chard, carrots, onions, and parsley. One of our garlic plants is getting ready to bloom. The pansies are absolutely gorgeous this year and prolific. One daisy up front, a beautiful red daisy, has bloomed and several other plants are about to bloom. The gladiolas and lily plants have started to grow. Oh, and the blackberry patch that we set aside next door is covered in beautiful white flowers. The wisteria is even in bloom. Everything seems to be popping out of the ground and it is just so delightful.

I made one of those little dog harnesses, like the ones we embroidered a few weeks ago. Talk about simple to make. The one I made had a little twist to the design. Since I wanted to use a decorative cotton fabric, I worried that it wouldn’t be strong enough. I lined it with the same fabric and left off the bias tape. Rather than using a D ring for the leash, I made a belt loop of the same fabric and attached it as we did the D ring. I tried it on my smallest cat and the harness was too small. I’m going to take it to my neighbor with the little dogs and see if they can wear it. If so, I want them to put it through the paces of letting the dog tug on it and washing it, etc., to see how it holds up under normal use. If it holds up well, I’m selling these on Etsy.

If you know me or read Cajun Corner often, then you know that I don’t like to cook. My mother didn’t cook and as a child, I never learned how to cook other than Cajun food. I agree with my mother’s feeling that you go to all of that trouble to cook a beautiful meal, then it’s consumed and there’s nothing to show for it. In the case of sewing, you can have the items for years and years to show. Nevertheless, as an adult woman raising two boys, I did learn to cook. In fact, I began gardening to be assured that my children ate the healthiest food. I canned our vegetables and fruit. I made wine (and that’s a whole story by itself). I made yogurt, cottage cheese and ricotta cheese. Most everything was made from scratch. When the two of them grew up and left home, I told George that’s it. No more cooking for me.

Every now and then I get the urge to cook, as I did at Christmas, but that doesn’t last too long. I get it out of my system and return the kitchen to George. Recently, I’ve been thinking about the homemade yogurt, cottage cheese and ricotta cheese. I think I’m going to have to get this out of my system as well. A simple search on the internet found the recipes. Yogurt is about the next step up from boiling water in difficulty. You simply heat some milk, add a couple of tablespoons of “plain” yogurt, and let it cool. That’s it. However, it is best to have an actual recipe to know how much milk and how warm to heat it.

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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Leblanc one day noticed his cat looked a bit ill stricken, so he phoned up the local vet, Thibodeaux. Once Thibodeaux got there he said, well show me da cat. Leblanc hands him the cat, and Dr. Thibodeaux takes a look, he stroked his hands along the right side of the cat, then he stroked his hands along the left side of the cat and finally gives a little touch to the cats head and tail. Well?..Well?....What could it Be? asks Leblanc. Looks like you called me over for nothing, seems da cat just got a hold of some bad catnip or somethin, replied the Dr. Well how much do I owe ya? asked Leblanc. Well I wont charge ya nothin for my services, but it'll be 500 dollars for the Cat-Scan!

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French phrase of the week: Garde voir le beau petit bébé! (Look at the beautiful baby!)

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Thank you to Janet Etheridge for these tidbits:

Fireplace soot on your carpet – sprinkle it with salt – let stand for 10 minutes – vacuum area lightly and soot should lift easily.

Before shoveling the ashes in your fireplace or grill – mist with water – keeps the dust down.

Got lint on a dark fabric? Put a panty hose leg over your hand and wipe the lint right off!

Home-made furniture polish – mix one part vinegar and 3 parts olive oil.

Emergency Carpet cleaner for Mud – sprinkle corn starch on the area and let stand for 15 minutes – then vacuum.

Re-whiten kitchen appliances that have yellowed – mix ½ cup bleach, ¼ cup baking soda and 4 cups of warm water – wipe on – let sit for 15 minutes – rinse – repeat if necessary.

Coat the front of your fridge with car wax to from a clear, odorless, smudge-free glaze – keeps those little fingerprints off!

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.

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.

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.