Cajun Corner - Vol. 3, No. 15

Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 15 – April 15, 2011


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

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Don’t forget to visit our catalog at www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.

Wow! It’s April 15th. Hope everyone has finished with their income taxes.

It’s been kind of a slow week, so I’ve taken this opportunity to do things that I’ve put off. For instance, I tried out some new techniques on Boudreaux. Sweet.

I started out with a discovery that I had a rip in the seat of my jeans. When I began Cajun Stitchery, I told myself that my uniform would be a t-shirt and jeans. Why? Because for 36 years I dressed in suits and business clothing everyday and I hadn’t owned a pair of jeans for years. Now that I wear jeans everyday, I guess I wear them until they are thread bare. What to do with a rip in my jeans? Of course, I embroidered a design over the rip. What design? The design I chose was a big pair of bright red kissing lips.

Do you know what cutwork is? Cutwork is a type of embroidery where a satin stitch is used and a hole is intentionally cut into the fabric. The edges of the hole have a satin stitch so the fabric will not unravel. Cutwork is an ancient method of embroidery and very beautiful. I’m sure everyone has seen cutwork. Boudreaux did some cutwork on a tote bag and a t-shirt this week. It’s hard to tell that it’s cutwork because the background looks like stitches.

Then I began making luggage tags. Remember awhile back I made some luggage tags that I wasn’t very proud of. I think I threw those away. I found some luggage tag designs in my designs folders. The designs were not that great but they did give me an idea. I have a friend who is heading to California in May, so, I digitized a luggage tag for her that says “California or Bust”. It is adorable. That was pretty simple. Then I digitized the shape of a mermaid and made 5 purple, green and gold luggage tags in the shape of a mermaid with the word “Nereid” embroidered. I feel confident that I have the luggage tag thing down pat. In fact, for this week only, if anyone wants a personalized 2” by 4” luggage tag with their name or monogram, I’ll sell 3 for $10. I haven’t photographed the Nereid luggage tags yet.
One of our neighbors moved this week. My neighbor across the street that loves to bake for me is gone. He was such a sweet guy. Apparently the house is being sold. Pray that we get good neighbors.

The garden is flourishing. We had some cabbage this week and it was scrumptious. Some of the baby snapdragons are beginning to flower. The roses and irises are beautiful. Sassy the Satsuma and Lucy the Lemon have been covered in flowers. Even the hyssop has beautiful purple blossoms. The honeysuckle and the jasmine are blooming. And the blackberries are almost ready to pick.

A couple of wrens have lived in one of our camellia bushes for the past couple of years. They work very hard on their nest and this week, three tiny, fluffy wrens popped out of the bush. Mom and Dad seemed to be urging them to fly; or, just leave home. It was fascinating to watch the mom and dad work with the chicks. I’m proud to say they are good parents and very attentive to the babies. The first night, they stayed in a clump of leaves in our iron plant out front. I’m not sure where they are now. I think they may have finally flown the coup. We still see mom and dad occasionally at the camellia bush.

George has been working hard at the house next door. I think we can almost see the end of the kitchen. He has done the electrical work; built, installed and painted the upper cabinets and is now working on the bottom cabinets. Plumbing may be the next phase. I’m not looking forward to the plumbing. Why? Well, there is a story behind the plumbing. Many years ago when we lived in Orlando our plumbing went out. It was a nightmare. We would flush and the sinks and tub would fill up. It turned out that a tree root had grown into the drain pipe. George had to dig the pipe in the front yard to get to the root to remove it. The plumbing continued to have problems and since the house was on a concrete slab and the plumbing ran underneath the house, we had two choices: (1) break up the concrete slab through my house; or (2) redirect the plumbing around the house. We chose option number 2. Plumbers are very expensive and at the time we did not have the money. So, George and a friend decided to do it themselves. In the end, they did a wonderful job and all of the pipes were replaced with PVC. But this endeavor took a couple of weeks to complete because everyone had to work during the day. Between the mess at the house and the cussing from my husband, I packed up my children and lived with my in-laws until the plumbing was finished. At least I will not have to move if George does the plumbing next door but I do not want to hear the cussing. He has mellowed quite a bit from those days gone by, but I do not want to take the chance.

By the way, thank you to everyone who sent in jokes this past week. I will be using them, one a week.

I have not heard back from the customer about digitizing the logo for the new krewe. I did digitize another logo for Camp Happy Sands. They lady said that she loves the logo and will get with her board this weekend and let me know their decision. The logo is heavy in stitches and the small logo would cost about $20 each, plus the shirt. Embroidery is not cheap. I have told her that I would not charge for the digitizing. Camp Happy Sands is a non-profit that provides a week long camping experience for underprivileged children during the summer months. We shall see what she has to say next week.

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, for sending the following joke:

Each Friday night after work, Bubba would fire up his outdoor grill and cook a venison steak.

But, all of Bubba's neighbors were Catholic.. And since it was Lent, they were forbidden from eating meat on Friday.

The delicious aroma from the grilled venison steaks was causing such a problem for the Catholic faithful that they finally talked to their priest.

The Priest came to visit Bubba, and suggested that he become a Catholic.

After several classes and much study, Bubba attended Mass... and as the priest sprinkled holy water over him, he said, 'You were born a Baptist, and raised a Baptist, but now you are a Catholic.

Bubba's neighbors were greatly relieved, until Friday night arrived, and the wonderful aroma of grilled venison filled the neighborhood.

The Priest was called immediately by the neighbors, and, as he rushed into Bubba's yard, clutching a rosary and prepared to scold him, he stopped and watched in amazement.

There stood Bubba, clutching a small bottle of holy water which he carefully sprinkled over the grilling meat and chanted:

You wuz born a deer, you wuz raised a deer, but now you is a catfish.
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French Phrase of the Week: L'art de broderie (The art of embroidery)

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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.