Bon Jour! Welcome to Cajun Stitchery’s weekly email and welcome to our family.
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We have a lot to cover today, so let’s get started.
First topic is a trip to Louisiana. A few months back when my cousin Kim came to visit, I kept telling her that aside from looking at all of the Theaux’s for her genealogy, she should also meet and look into the Landry’s. Mama and my Aunt Lil have told me such wonderful stories about being little girls with my great grandmother, who was always referred to as “Mom.” My great grandfather was Henry Landry. Mom’s maiden name was Felecie Romero. Both sides of the family have a rich history, but the Landry’s are, by far, the party animal side of the family. The Landry’s are the Cajun side of the family.
Nevertheless, I told Kim that I need to introduce her to some of the Landry’s. She said that she had a conference coming up in May in one of the Carolina’s and we planned that after her conference, she would fly to Pensacola where we would drive to Lafayette. Sounds like a good time and a good plan. I cannot take off very much time because when I’m gone Cajun Stitchery is closed and Cajun Stitchery cannot afford to be closed. So, I planned one day to drive to Lafayette, one day to visit, one day to return. I contacted my cousin Eddie to help gather some Landry’s for Kim to meet. Eddie replied that he would be glad to help and May was a good month for that. Besides, we wanted to visit with my Aunt Philo who is now 92 years old.
Kim left California for the Carolina’s early this week. I began making some solid plans. First, I contacted Aunt Philo’s friend, Paulette, to see if she would be in town for our visit. It turned out that Paulette is going to be in Daytona Beach the entire week. That’s okay. I will still visit my aunt. Since Philo is deaf, I don’t want to visit if we aren’t going to understand each other. If she can see, she was always able to read my lips and Kim says she is fluent in sign language. So, we are still okay with that.
Neither Kim nor I could get in touch with Eddie since that first message. That’s okay because I can get in touch with my cousin Roland. I called Roland and found out that one of his sons was recently killed in an auto accident in Naples, Florida. Roland said the son was cremated and they had a nice memorial service in Naples and last weekend they had another memorial service in Louisiana. The whole family attended. I was heartbroken. I am so keenly aware of the unfathomable heartache of losing a child, no matter how old he is. Roland, a true Landry, nevertheless wanted us to come. He said to let him know what day we would be there as soon as I knew, so they could gather some local Landry’s to meet Kim.
George had been vacillating about going. He really wants to go. If he goes, then we need to board the dogs with the vet. I called the vet and got the information that I needed. They will board the dogs; give them their shots and annual check up, all at the same time. But they need to know in advance when we will be leaving the dogs. We have to make reservations for the pups which I did not because I wasn’t sure what days we would be going to Louisiana.
I then contacted my friend, Sandy, to let her know that we were coming. Sandy and I have never met face-to-face. She was a good friend of Mama’s and has become a good friend of mine via email and the internet. I would love to meet Sandy face-to-face. Sandy replied that she would love to meet me, as well. She will be in town. One problem, though, Louisiana is having a flood and next week is forecast to be the worse of it because the Army Corp of Engineers is probably going to open the Morganza Spillway which will flood New Iberia and the surrounding areas. They may have to evacuate. She suggested that I watch the flood news and sent me a map of the flood area in the Atchafalaya Basin.
At this point, George and I started realizing that if Memphis is flooded from the Mississippi and they are dealing with mass devastation, and the river has begun flooding the State of Mississippi, and we have to cross the Pearl River in Mississippi and the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, not to mention the Atchafalaya, it may not be a matter of whether or not our destination gets flooded. It may be that we cannot get there through the flood on I-10. I began searching the internet for any news. The Bonnet Carre Spillway has already been opened to divert the water from New Orleans. The Advertiser in Lafayette is prominently reporting what to do if you are told to evacuate. The flood is headline news all over the area. The Louisiana governor said the Morganza Spillway will be opened and to expect 5-25 feet of flooding throughout the Basin, including New Iberia and St. Martinsville. Lafayette probably will not get flooded.
The last thing that anyone needs during an impending or potential environmental devastation is company from out-of-state. So, I tried contacting Kim. Kim will arrive in Pensacola late Sunday afternoon. Bless her heart, she’s in the middle of a conference and I’m emailing that we may not be able to go to Louisiana. She replied that we will discuss this when she gets here and see the situation at that time. I love a cool head. Of course, in order to make reservations to board the dogs, we have to give at least a little leeway. Besides, if she has work to do in Louisiana, she may want to fly directly to Lafayette, rather than Pensacola. No. She says her work is in Baton Rouge. The last I read was that Baton Rouge has already begun flooding.
Then I called Roland to let him know the situation. Like a true Landry, he says, “it’s not going to flood here.” Then he begins to explain the levy system that was constructed after the 1927 flood. Hmmm. He said that the government isn’t going to close I-10 and I should be able to get there. Hmmm. Roland lives in Youngsville, between Lafayette and New Iberia.
As it stands today, I don’t know. Common sense tells me not to take chances and intentionally travel an area that I know is already having problems. George doesn’t want me to go, especially since my trip back to Pensacola would be me alone, if he doesn’t go. On the other hand, my heart wants to go play with the family in Louisiana. Who knows what will happen between now and Sunday?
As a sideline from calling the veterinarian, it dawned on me after talking with Leigh Ann that I should make the dogs coats with the Cajun Stitchery logo embroidered on the side. I love animals and I know that dogs are built to work. Some dogs are hunters; some are workers, some herd, etc. Evie has always had chores. She cleans the floor and frequently is a pre-washer for the dishes. Stinky doesn’t have chores – she’s a princess. I decided that their new jobs will entail advertising for Cajun Stitchery. You know what they say; the two biggest attention getters are babies and animals. So, I made Evie a coat with the Cajun Stitchery logo on either side. I haven’t made one for Stinky yet. They need to wear their coats to the vet’s. Maybe we’ll pick up some business there.
Over the past year or two, some of the girls have been giving collapsible market baskets for gifts. The market baskets are cloth with a collapsible aluminum frame. They get the girl’s name or initials embroidered on the side of the market baskets. They get these baskets from a really cool store in Gulf Breeze. Well, that’s not right. They should get them from Cajun Stitchery. That is, if Cajun Stitchery could offer them. We can now. Browsing around on the internet for wholesalers, I found the baskets and oh so much more. I did find a place that carries the baskets that the girls have been giving. But I found another place that carries the baskets, but better. I can get either. The girls told me they pay about $30 for the baskets that they have been giving. I can do that, too. I found a really cool wholesaler in Georgia that sells the baskets in zebra, leopard and a multitude of other prints. These baskets are lined with a zippered inside pocket, and I can embroider on them. The cool thing is that I can sell them for $30, too, including the embroidered name/initials. This wholesaler also carries the insulated market basket with zippered top to keep your items cool. I can sell the insulated market basket for $35. They have bunches of other cool stuff. I have already placed an order with them for a variety of items. One of my girls has already ordered the 3 piece rolling luggage with telescopic handles ($200), rolling insulated cooler with telescopic handle ($40), insulated market basket ($35), and lined market basket ($30), all in zebra print. The pictures and descriptions appear to be a high quality. Something else they have that really caught my eye was an entire line of fleur de lis items.
Believe it or not, as I was typing the above, the first shipment from my zebra wholesaler came in. The luggage will be coming in a separate shipment next week. The rolling cooler in zebra print with hot pink trim, came with black trim and the wholesaler is sending the correct one. A fleur de lis wallet that I ordered was out of stock and not included but this stuff is beautiful. I cannot embroider on all of it. For instance, the insulation on the insulated market basket with zippered top would be compromised if I embroidered on it. But I can embroider on the lined market basket and the rolling cooler with telescopic handle. I even got myself a treat. I bought a hounds tooth lined market basket that I will be embroidering our logo upon. There are some really cool wallets and purses. I’m including the professional pictures of most of these items but honestly, some of these pictures don’t do the product justice. It’s mostly laminated fabric. It shines! Email me if you want to place an order or have any questions.Memorial Day is coming up at the end of May and I’ve listed several patriotic items in our Etsy store. For this week only – through next Thursday – I will embroider “USA” in red, white, and/or blue on your jeans or a shirt or other embroiderable item for $5.00. This is really a good sale because our minimum order is $9.45.
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Thank you Kathi for sending the following joke:
Thibodeaux called the airlines information desk and inquired, "How long does it take to fly from Baton Rouge to New Orleans?" "Just a minute," said the busy clerk. "Well, said Thibodeaux, "If it has to go dat fast, I tink I'll just take da bus."
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French Phrase of the Week: The following was taken from LSU.edu regarding Cajun french differing from other french:
In Louisiana when we jouer à la pelote, it is typically a game of baseball, football or soccer that we are referring to. Careful, though, because for our French-speaking Canadian neighbors, la pelote refers to female genitalia.
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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.
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