Cajun Corner - Vol. 3, No. 31

Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 31 – August 5, 2011

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

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit our catalog at www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook.

Last Friday on my way to the July Krewe meeting my car started making some loud and unusual sounds.  I was about half way to the meeting, so I forged ahead.  One of the girls followed me home that night.  The car drove fine all the way home.  Nevertheless, I took the car to the shop on Monday morning and I had to get a new alternator.  It’s not so bad considering that the car is 16 years old and this is the first replacement alternator.  Now she purrs like a kitten.

Our krewe meeting was all about our upcoming annual Splash Party.  The Splash Party will be held on Sunday, August 28^th, beginning at 2:00 p.m., at Paradise Bar & Grill on Pensacola Beach.  Mark your calendars.  It’s going to be a real s-p-l-a-s-h.

One of my girlfriends dropped by on Tuesday for a visit and loaned me a book that she found in her father’s stuff.  The title of the book is “Gumbo Ya-Ya.”  It is mostly about New Orleans but includes some Cajun topics.  The book is about the folklore of the area.  I haven’t read the entire book yet, but it has lots of pictures and the stories that I have read are really interesting.  One chapter is on street criers.  It reminded me of my youth in Lafayette.  I remember the Hot Tamale man.  He had a little cart that looked like an ice cream cart and would sell his hot tamales on the side of the street.  Those were the best hot tamales I’ve ever tasted.  In the book, several of the jingles are listed:

Oyster man!  Oyster man!

Get your fresh oysters from the Oyster man!

Bring out your pitcher; bring out your can,

Get your nice fresh oysters from the Oyster man!

George is so spoiled with the homemade bread.  He likes it better than store bought.  So, I have agreed to make the bread instead of purchasing bread.  It’s not too bad because all I do is put the ingredients in the baking container and press the button to make bread.  Three hours later a buzzer goes off and the bread is done.  At least I know all of the ingredients in this bread and I can pronounce them, too.  Outside of that, I am over the cooking thing, at least for now.

This past Wednesday Cajun Stitchery was closed.  I attended a pool party in Navarre with several of my girlfriends.  This group of girls is the SOBs (Sisters Of the Beach).  Usually the SOBs have only one annual event and that is our brunch in December.  It makes the front page of the Island Times every year.  It was a perfect day for a pool party because it was so hot and the pool water felt wonderful.  I really think we need to have an annual pool party.

Today I attended the WBL (Women’s Business Lunch) meeting.  These are all pretty spectacular business women and I enjoy networking with them.  At each meeting a business card is drawn from a basket and that person gets to have a 5 minute live commercial at the next meeting.  Today Cajun Stitchery was chosen.  This is going to take some planning and a lot of thinking.  I NEED YOUR HELP.  If you have ever purchased from Cajun Stitchery, please send me an email telling me what you like (and don’t like) about your experience doing business with Cajun Stitchery.  I really need some candid input.  If you have never done business with Cajun Stitchery why not?  Honest.  I need the input.  During our educational segment of the meeting, one of the girls said we should ask:  One a scale of 1-10 (1 being poor, 10 being great) how would you rate our service during the past 7 months?  How would you rate the quality of our products during the past 7 months?

A young lady contacted me this week to do some custom embroidery on a baby blanket.  It turned out lovely.  I asked how she found me and she said she did a search on the internet for local embroiderers.  I have searched and searched and still cannot find me without sticking in the name Cajun Stitchery.  Nevertheless, I’m glad she found me.

This week has not been entirely play.  There has been a lot of computer work.  I’m ready to get back to my machine, Boudreaux, and embroider more.

Lately I’ve been seeing caps with some really neat things on them.  One had a design but it was off to the side of the front.  Another had frayed edges.  I’ve learned how to embroider on the back of caps now.  The Senior Xtremer caps have their website embroidered on the back.  I’d love to do some multi-media type things with embroidery and rhinestones or beads.

I hope to have some razzle dazzle rhinestones ready for our booth at the Pensacola Beach Arts and Wine Festival in October.

SALE:  A fleece scarf in the middle of summer.  No.  I’m just thinking ahead to Christmas and throwing out some ideas.  This scarf with a name or initials monogrammed would make a nice Christmas gift. 

6780 Augusta Full Length Athletic Fleece Scarf

• 9 oz. 100% polyester fleece
• Matching color serged hem
• Smooth printable surface

Colors:  athletic heather, black, light pink, navy, red, and royal blue

Price:  $15.00 plus tax or shipping, if applicable (embroidered name or initials included in price)

CHRISTMAS is around the corner.  Unbelievable, I know.  Get that Christmas shopping done now and enjoy the holidays.

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. 

The following is taken the book Gumbo Ya-Ya, Chapter 9, The Cajuns:

“It is like this” Theophile Polite narrows dark eyes that glitter hotly in the Louisiana sun, “we Cajuns are damn fool, us.  Most of the time we are poor, then we catch lots of muskrat, sell the skin, and we are rich.  Some Cajun make plenty money now, stay rich, but most time is not like that, no.  We spend all our money quick.  Boom!  Like the big storm she hit the little boat, everything is gone from us.  My family live always since two hundred years on this bayou, and always we is poor.”

Theophile’s bronzed forehead wrinkled angrily, “One time a mans comes and wants me to work for him, that fool!  Paillasse!  That is insult for me, hein?  We Cajun stand always on our own two feets.  Any mans works for nother mans he is low.  Me, I do all right.  I trap them big rats.  I fish for the shrimps and the oysters.  Marie, she has eleven children, all living, nine boys.  We are still amoureux deux colombes, us.  If a mans got him shrimps and oysters for his gumbo, and his wife and him still is loving each other like two little sweetheart doves, what more he want I ask you, hein?”

Thanks to Paulette Provost for the following:

Catholic Heart Attack

A man suffered a serious heart attack while shopping in a store. The store clerks called 911 when they saw him collapse to the floor. The paramedics rushed the man to the nearest hospital where he had emergency open heart bypass surgery.
He awakened from the surgery to find himself in the care of nuns at the Catholic Hospital he was taken to. A nun was seated next to his bed holding a clip board loaded with several forms, and a pen. She asked him how he was going to pay for his treatment.
”Do you have health insurance?” she asked.
He replied in a raspy voice, “No health insurance.”
The nun asked, “Do you have money in the bank?”
He replied, “No money in the bank.”
”Do you have a relative who could help you with the payments?” asked the irritated nun.
He said, “I only have a spinster sister, and she is a nun.”
The nun became agitated and announced loudly, “Nuns are not spinsters! Nuns are married to God.”
The patient replied, “Perfect. Send the bill to my brother-in-law.”

================================================== 

Cajun French Phrase of the Week:

Ou ce que t'es parti? =Where are you going?
Ayou tu va? Where you going

Taken from:  http://www.acadian-roots.com/cajun-names.html

===============================================

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.