Bon Jour! Welcome to Cajun Stitchery’s weekly email and welcome to our family.
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Don’t forget to visit our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com, catalog at www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.
What a week this has been, poo yie! We had several things to-do this week in addition to embroidery. Luckily, last week I did the quarterly sales tax for the State of Florida. I don’t think I could have managed that this week on top of everything else. First of all, we voted. Everyone should vote in every election, no matter how small. People have died so that you and I can vote. Don’t let their sacrifice be in vain. And women, well, we have absolutely no excuse not to vote. I love the early voting. No lines. No waiting. Do it in your own time. The only thing easier is to have the ballot sent to you – and, that can be done, too.
The next thing on my agenda was to renew my driver’s license. Luckily, we have a branch office within a block or two for the Escambia County Tax Collector and Division of Driver’s Licenses. I had to get this year’s tag and registration for my car, too. The tag and registration were not a problem. Renewing my driver’s license was an experience. Apparently there is a new law that everyone, in all 50 states, must provide a paper trail of their name, in order to re-new your driver’s license. I don’t know if all 50 states are doing this but Florida certainly is. I received the card to renew my driver’s license a few weeks ago. I kept putting it off because, frankly, we’ve been busy, and I was gathering all of the documents required. I had a certified copy of my birth certificate; I had a certified copy of my marriage license; I have my original Social Security Card; and I have 2 pieces of mail sent to me at my address (one was for the tag and registration and the other was for my license renewal). First of all, the nice lady explained that my birth certificate that I have used all of my life for such occasions is not a certified copy but rather a complimentary copy given by the hospital. Second, I needed to have a certified copy of my first marriage license to my first husband. Holy cow! Glad they didn’t ask for my first born, too. Hmmmm, my birthday is a couple of weeks away. What are the chances of the State of Georgia providing my certified birth certificate before my driver’s license expires? The nice lady did tell me that if I don’t get the certified copy in time, they will give me a 60 day temporary license.
Luckily, I have a certified copy of my first marriage certificate. It turns out that Georgia charges $25 for a certified copy of my birth certificate. You cannot order it online and must pay with either a cashier’s check or money order. Any remote idea of simplicity went out the window. I went to the post office, got the money order and mailed with the appropriate form. Now I wait. I did tell George to go ahead and get his birth certificate because if all drivers in all 50 states have to do this, I would assume that the price for certified copies of these items is going to be raised soon.
Then I checked my mail and found that we each had a notice from the IRS that we owed about $1,000 each. Well, isn’t that special. We are blessed to have the most wonderful CPA and friend, Dale Jones. I’m telling you that if you ever need a CPA, go see Dale. A few weeks back the IRS sent us a notice that they had lost one of our returns and would we please send them a copy. Can you say “inept?” Dale sent it. When we received our notices this week, Dale went down to the IRS and straightened them out. They just hadn’t received the copy of the return. We do not owe the money to IRS, but I do owe Dale a huge THANK YOU, a bottle of wine, and dinner at Chez Henshall.
Then I ran right into yesterday. October 21, 2010, would have been my youngest son’s 38th birthday. I usually get past his birthday and February 9th (the date of death) by staying real busy and just praying that the day will end soon. Yesterday I suffered from a broken heart. I miss him each and every day but yesterday hit me hard. Today I intend to bounce back.
On top of everything else, I realize more each day that I am my mother’s clone. It’s the little things. I’ve started writing the date and time that I open a pack of cigarettes to keep track of how many I smoke in a day. I write to-do lists by the dozen, as well as notes to myself on everything. But I did something this week that only my mother would have done. You see, last weekend we had dinner guests on Saturday and I made seafood gumbo. It was delicious. I never said I couldn’t cook. I just don’t like to cook. But I do exceptionally well with Cajun dishes. There is no way that you can make a good gumbo for a few people. You have to make enough for an army. Luckily, it freezes well. I sent a container of gumbo home with my guests but still had enough to store many quarts. I think George has had gumbo every day this week. I took a quart to my neighbor across the street. You remember he’s the one that likes to bake and has brought us cakes and pies in the past. He returned the container amid accolades of how good the gumbo was and he refused to share with his roommate. I asked him if he liked herbs. Then I took him into the garden and picked rosemary, stevia, lemon balm, purple basil, sweet basil and topped it off with a couple of bell peppers. We talked about how much I do not like to cook and how much he loves to bake. Then he took the bait and asked THE question: “What kind of cake is your favorite?” Ah ha! I just reeled him in and I’m expecting a cake any day now.
We have embroidered a lot of pillowcases this week. One order is for embroidery on a guitar strap. I’ve read that our embroidery machine will embroider on webbing. We just never tried. The guitar strap is made out of webbing and it embroiders as smooth as butter. We did a sample stitch out on webbing we already had. Remember when I lost my mind and went on a shopping spree at Cheap Trims? One of the things that I bought was a bolt of black, 2” wide, webbing. I took pictures of the stitch out and posted it on Facebook. We had several positive comments. Then I search for tutorials on how to make a guitar strap and, of course, there are many tutorials on the internet. I have just about figured it out and plan to make some and sell in our Etsy shop.
A friend suggested that we make and personalize Christmas stockings. Personalized Christmas stockings have always been available from Cajun Stitchery. I haven’t made any of the stockings and need to conceive something very original. There are a few ideas floating around in my head.
Right now I’m working on a special handmade purse. I don’t usually do this type of thing but this particular purse sounded intriguing and fun. It will take several days to complete.
Lately we have been enjoying the weather. The air conditioner is turned off during the day and the windows are open. As the sun goes down each day, George and I have a glass of wine by the chiminea. I’ve decided that we will burn all of our burnable garbage, especially the junk mail. We use it as tender for our fire. The ashes are wonderful in our compost. It’s like the circle of life. Not to mention the safety aspect. I certainly don’t ever expect anyone to go through my garbage, but it has happened to people. It’s amazing how much personal information your garbage gives and once you put it out in the garbage, anyone can take it. It is just safer to burn it. In fact, that is how soap used to be made. The old lye soap was made from leftover grease from cooking and ashes from the fireplace. Years ago, when we lived in Orlando, I decided to make soap and asked the owner of the corner restaurant that I frequented if I could have his leftover grease. Surprisingly, he said that he sells it each day to a soap company.
This morning I received a phone call from the lady who ordered the Moses Electric logo embroidered on shirts. She wants me to give an estimate for the logo and Cajun Stitchery purchasing the shirts. She said that Moses Electric loved the embroidery. She even asked if we embroider on caps. I love embroidering the heirloom and cutesy stuff but logos on business shirts is the backbone of this type business. You know we always say that no job is too small or large for Cajun Stitchery. This is a perfect example of why that is important. Most well-established embroidery houses won’t take orders of less than about 100 items at a time. We will take 1 item or 1,000 items. There really is no significant reduction in the pricing of items until you get around the 100 item mark. So, orders of less than 100 at a time are not easily filled, unless you can find an embroidery house like Cajun Stitchery who specializes in these types of orders. The customer with the Moses Electric logo said that she is so pleased that the company is interested in using Cajun Stitchery because she lives only a mile or two away and it is so convenient for her to drop off and pick up from us. Plus she doesn’t have to hassle with the heavy traffic on the other side of town.
We now have accounts with many different companies that carry the satin baseball jackets. They aren’t cheap but we can get them in several colors, including: black, purple, and pink. They come with a light lining, and also with a quilted lining. The jacket, alone, will cost around $50 (that includes the shipping but does not include the embroidery).
Christmas is coming and customers are doing their Christmas shopping at Cajun Stitchery. Get this out of the way as soon as you can. For all who have businesses out there, remember that we also sell gift baskets.
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 told Thibodeaux he was having trouble selling his truck, with 200,000 miles on it, for $1,500. Thibodeaux advised him to set the odometer back to 50,000 miles to make it easier to sell. A few days later Thibodeaux asked Boudreaux if he had sold his truck. "No," replied Boudreaux, "I decided to keep it. It has only 50,000 miles on it."
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French phrase of the week: J'aimerais commander 100 chemises, s'il vous plaît. (I would like to order 100 shirts, please.)
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From: http://www.globalstewards.org/ecotips.htm
• Tree-Free Home: As much as possible, create a tree-free home:
o replace paper napkins with cloth napkins
o replace paper towels with a special set of cloth towels/napkins (or cut up old t-shirts for great towels) - store the used ones in a small container in your kitchen and just wash and reuse
o purchase bleach-free, toilet paper that is made from the highest post-consumer waste content you can find (80% minimum)
o if you print documents, print on once-used paper and/or bleach-free, recycled paper with the highest post-consumer waste content available (or hemp/alternative-source paper, if you can afford it)
o reuse envelopes, wrapping paper, the front of gift cards (as postcards) and other paper materials you receive wherever possible
o read books, magazines, and newspapers from your local library
o create and use note pads from once-used paper
o leave messages for family members/roommates on a reusable message board
o make your own cards/letters from once-used products or handmade paper
o if you will be doing construction on your house, search out alternatives to using newly cut wood (no endorsement of any company intended):
Eco-Friendly Flooring Guide
straw bale
bamboo -- two sites to check out: Plyboo and Teragren
true (natural) linoleum
previously used wood -- one site to check out: Vintage Timber Works
cob -- three sites to check out: Cob, Cob Cottage, and EcoBusiness-Cob Building Resources
composite decking -- The Latest Trend in Decking
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 catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.
SALE OF THE WEEK (Good through Thursday, October 28, 2010)
SALE: Jacket plus embroidered initials or name $35.00 + tax/shipping
Sierra Pacific - #3301
Moisture Free Micro Fleece
Colors: black, forest green, gray, navy, red
100% Polyester. 5.6oz. Moisture resistant micro fleece. Convertible collar. Dyed to match piping. Barrel toggle drawstring waist. Open hem cuffs. Dyed to match zippers and nylon reinforced zippered pockets. Twill neck tape. Back yoke.
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