Cajun Corner - Vol. 4, No. 26

Cajun Corner – Vol. 4, No. 26 – July 13, 2012

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

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com, and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook. 

Visit our on-line catalogs at:

http://www.imprintit.biz/cgi-bin/cobrand/site.w?location=olc/catalog-home.w&top=catalog&frasmes=no&target=main&sponsor=000699

and www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery.

Could I be back on schedule?  Well, it is still Friday.

A really nice lady contacted me awhile back to do a monogram on a headboard cover.  We met this week.  She wanted the three letter monogram with one letter from this font and the other letter from that font and the last letter from another font.  After looking at the monogram, which will be 11” to 12” tall, she still wasn’t satisfied and asked that we get the monogram to form a circle.  No, she doesn’t want the letters inside of an embroidered circle.  She wants the letters themselves to form a circle.  The only way I know to do this is to digitize the entire monogram, which I did.  I actually created an embroidered circle the size required.  Then I placed the monogram inside the circle.  The monogram was then digitized to touch the width and height of the circle.  The digitized circle was then removed, leaving a perfectly round monogram.  Cool, huh?  I thought so.

My son called this week asking if I had made our great granddaughter a blanket, as promised.  I guess the family is getting nervous because our due date is the first part of August.  I told him that I’d get around to it.  Hank will be a granddaddy for the first time. 

We have a stock design for a baby bib which I did embroider but it looks teeny tiny and I hesitate to send it because it looks like something that would fit a doll.  Then I realized that it has been a long time since I’ve had a newborn.  In fact, it has been 40 years ago.  Nevertheless, they don’t stay that small for long.  Several months ago I found an online pattern for a baby bib and made a few to sell on Etsy.  With the new machine and the super duper hoops, a full size baby bib should fit in the hoop.  I set to work digitizing the baby bib using the dimensions from the pattern.  It wasn’t too hard to do.  First, I digitized a rectangle 11” x 9” with rounded corners.  Then I digitized a circle for the neck, 4” diameter.  Next were two small satin stitched lines from the upper part of the circle to the outer edge of the rectangle.  Finally, two eyelets were inserted, using the boring needles, of course.

When choosing the fabric it became apparent that one ply of fabric would not be thick enough.  Also, the bib should not be bulky.  Two ply of fabric was perfect. 

A sheet of tear-away stabilizer was hooped and the first round of stitching began for placement of the fabric.  Then another round of stitching was placed to tack down the fabric.  The fabric was then at a point to cut away the excess.  Finally, the satin stitching was laid around the bib and the neck hole began stitching.  There were a few adjustments required for the eyelets.  The bib turned out beautiful.  Next came the monogram.  We have so many different styles of monograms that it takes hours to go through them.  Most of the monograms I’ve never used.  I picked an art deco monogram for the first one.  It turned out so pretty.  Since there are two plies of fabric, the bib is actually reversible.

Creating these in-the-hoop bibs was so much fun.  The fabric stash was flying because I was going through looking for something cute for each bib.  Each bib has a different monogram.  These just turned out adorable.  I want to make more.

Bib making had to stop because I really did promise a baby blanket.  In fact, my granddaughter, Shakenia, said the colors would be purple and pink.  The fabric stash had the perfect piece of dark purple, cotton fabric which I laundered and folded and it has been sitting on a stool for several weeks.  This is MY great grandbaby.  I want this blanket to be different and beautiful.  While I was perusing the monograms, I ran across one that jumped out and said, “This is it.”  Once that was embroidered on the top fabric, I just wanted to stop and sew up the blanket.  It was, at least to me, breathtakingly beautiful.  I also decided that I’m making on for me, too.  The more I stared at it, the more I realized that I need this to at least hint that it is a baby blanket.  The search began in our children’s stock designs.  A cute little bird on a branch popped out and caught my attention.  I played around with the design a bit.  Some duplication was done.  In the end it was a row of birds on branches.  Four rows were embroidered; one on top, bottom, left and right of the name.  That’s where I’m at now.  I’m thinking about finishing the blanket.  The back will be a piece of tan colored muslin.  Then begin the quilting.  Guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens with it.

Yesterday, our precious puppy, Sam, was neutered.  George took him to the vet’s in the morning and we picked him up around 4:00.  He now weights 68 pounds and still growing.  He has his own bottle of pain pills.  The vet tech said he was the singer in the kennel yesterday.   Dogs are pretty darn resilient.  He came home and wanted to play.  He did sleep and lay around more than is normal for Sam.  Today, he is back in full force.  At one point today, I looked out the window and found Sam and Evie laying side-by-side outside.  That has never happened.  I had to take a picture but when I went outside the camera lens fogged up.  I kept wiping it and it kept fogging up.  I did get one or two clear pictures, though.  I guess Evie decided she would be his nurse or mama.  They have certainly bonded.

The canopy finally came down yesterday.  Every time we were ready to take it down and bring it inside, it would rain.  One of our neighbors claimed the canopy was causing the rain. It is down now and by golly, it rained this evening.

Have a wonderful 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. 

Thanks to Marshall Larrivere for the following:

What Makes 100%?

What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?

Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%.

How about achieving 103%?

What makes up 100% in life?

Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:

If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then:

H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 =98%

And

K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 =96%

But ,

A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 =100%

And,

B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T
2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 =103%

AND, look how far ass kissing will take you.

A-S-S-K-I-S-S-I-N-G
1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 118%

So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty, that while Hard work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, its the Bullshit and Ass Kissing that will put you over the top.
Now you know why some people are where they are!

Thank you to Sandy Goodman for the following:

A successful attorney parked his brand new Lexus in front of his office, ready to show it off to his colleagues. As he was getting out, a truck came along too closely and completely tore off the driver's door.

Fortunately, a cop in a police car was close enough to see the accident and pulled up behind the Lexus with his lights flashing.

Before the cop had a chance to ask any questions, the attorney started screaming hysterically about how his Lexus, which he had just purchased the day before, was completely ruined and would never be the same, no matter how any car body shop tried to make it new again.

After the lawyer finally wound down from his rant, the cop shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe how materialistic you lawyers are," he said. "You are so focused on your possessions that you neglect the most important things in life."

"How can you say such a thing?" asked the lawyer.

The cop replied, "Don't you even realize that your left arm is missing? It was severed when the truck hit you!"

"OH, MY GOD!!!" screamed the lawyer.

"My Rolex!!”

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.

Cajun Corner - Vol. 4, No. 25

Cajun Corner – Vol. 4, No. 25 – July 7, 2012

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

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com, and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook. 

Visit our on-line catalogs at:

http://www.imprintit.biz/cgi-bin/cobrand/site.w?location=olc/catalog-home.w&top=catalog&frasmes=no&target=main&sponsor=000699

and www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery.

Did you miss me?  I know.  I should have emailed last week to say there was not going to be a Cajun Corner.  I really thought I would write one but Friday turned into Saturday and before you know it, it is today. 

The week before the 4^th of July was very busy.  You see, we planned a party for the 4^th under our Live Oak tree.  A simple 4^th of July party turned into quite the ordeal.  Since we knew it would be hot during the day and guests were invited to arrive between noon and 1:00 p.m., we decided to put the Cajun Stitchery canopy up for additional shade.  Since we were doing that, we might as well use the Cajun Stitchery folding tables for the food.  Since we were going to put the food outside, we needed some sort of cover so the bugs, birds and critters would not devour our food before we could eat it.  I decided to make a food tent.

I think I mentioned the food tent idea in the last issue.  The pile of old blue jeans were ripped apart and cut and sewn to make a huge role of six inch wide bias tape.  George built the frame for the food tent our of PVC pipe.  He actually built two of them; one for each table.  The fiberglass screen came in the size of 48” wide and 84” long.  We placed the screen over the frame and I fiddled around with it, placing pins where needed and up the stairs I went to see Doris in her sewing machine capacity.  Up and down the stairs in my off hours were spent creating the tent.  The screen wasn’t long enough and I had to take part of another role of screen.  That’s what we bought it for.  Once the screen part of the tent was sewn, the blue jean bias tape was pinned and then stitched around the bottom.  The pieces of the blue jeans which are the seams were perfect for ties.  The front of the screen was cut up to the middle to create a flap opening for getting the food.  Then the flap required more bias tape.  It looked very nice.  I ran out of time in the middle of attaching the ties.  We did put the food tent out and I pinned ties where needed.

Dollar Tree was our source of decorations and we were red, white and blue everywhere.

The menu was going to be barbeque beef sandwiches, hot dogs, potato salad, and apple pie with vanilla ice cream.  The recipes came from allrecipes.com.  George did most of the shopping during the weekend while I was working on some rush orders for Cajun Stitchery.  Tuesday was filled with cooking and cleaning the house.  I was still working on the food tent Tuesday night.  Wednesday morning arrived and the bbq sauce was made. 

I had seen some real neat ideas for watermelon on Pinterest.  George got 2 watermelons and Wednesday morning I began carving the watermelons.  The first one was to cut the rind of the watermelon into the shape of a basket.  I used a magic marker to draw the lines and then carefully cut the shape with a knife.  Then all of the fruit was scooped out.  It turned out really cute.  The watermelon was then filled with watermelon pieces, cantaloupe pieces, and blueberries.  To top it off, I added toothpicks with little USA flags on them.

The second watermelon idea also came from Pinterest.  The idea is to stand the watermelon on end, cut off the top, scoop out the fruit and fill with ginger ale mixed with the watermelon juice.  I looked at that watermelon and knew there was going to be a disaster if I stood that thing on end.  Instead, the watermelon was placed on its side and an oval lid was carved out of the top.  The fruit was scooped out and the lid replaced.  I decided to wait until the party began before adding the ginger ale.

Guests were bringing bean salad, coleslaw, baked beans, potato chips, and a neighbor brought over a cake with the icing design of the US flag.

The canopy and tables were placed under the tree.  The food tent was placed on the longer table.  As the guests began to arrive, so did the rain.  In all we had 16 people in attendance.  Most were in my kitchen.  By the time we were ready to eat; we just ate in the kitchen and had a wonderful time.  A few were sitting on lawn chairs under the canopy.  After we ate, the rain subsided.  We spent the rest of the afternoon under the canopy.  Never even put the food outside.  Everyone just went into the house to get food when they wanted some.  There was so much food and everyone loved the barbeque beef.  There simply was no need to cook the hot dogs.  Insofar as the watermelons were concerned, we all ate some of the fruit but the watermelon with the ginger ale turned out to be unnecessary and one watermelon too much.  We have bags and bags of fruit in the refrigerator.  In fact, George and I have eaten leftovers every night since the party.

It was a fun party.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  I totally forgot to tell everyone that we had vanilla ice cream for the pie.

After everyone left, George and I just kind of crashed in front of the television for the evening.

Thursday brought a couple of customer appointments and an order for labels.  George decided that the canopy and food tent should stay outside to dry in the heat all day.  It isn’t good to pack these things away when they are wet.

When I awoke on Friday we were having quite the lightning storm.  The canopy and food tent got wet, again.  Our power went out and was out for 11 hours.  George and I played cards and took lots of naps.  There really wasn’t much else for us to do.  Although we were anxious to get the power back on, I think our bodies needed the rest.  Despite all of the naps of the day, at bedtime we both fell fast asleep without a problem.

Today, the canopy and food tent were still outside drying.  Sure hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow.

The shabby chic, ruffled purse with flowers and rhinestones that was listed in our Etsy Store for $10 has been sold.

Have a wonderful 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. 

The following was found at http://www.history.com/shows/swamp-people/articles/the-atchafalaya-swamp.  I thought it was interesting:

Sprawling over a million-acre swath of southern Louisiana, the Atchafalaya River Basin is the largest swamp in the United States and one of the country's most ecologically varied regions. Its wetlands, bayous and marshes are home to 300 species of birds, 90 species of fish and shellfish and 54 species of reptiles and amphibians, including the great American alligator. It owes much of its haunting and mysterious beauty to the towering, moss-draped bald cypress trees that thrive in its swamp waters.

For hundreds of years, the Basin's human dwellers—from the Native Americans who harvested its timber to the present-day Cajuns who hunt alligators in its murky depths—have subsisted on its many bountiful resources. In the second half of the 18th century, the region became a refuge for several thousand French colonists who had been expelled from Acadie, part of present-day Nova Scotia, for refusing to swear allegiance to the British crown and church. Known as the Acadians, the settlers adapted their way of life to the changeable nature of the Basin's wetland environment, where water levels fluctuate depending on the season, by favoring houseboats and campsites to more permanent homes. Many began growing sugarcane and other crops in the fertile bayou soil, while others made a living as loggers, hunters, trappers or fishermen.

The Acadian community grew and prospered, eventually giving birth to the distinctly Louisianan "Cajun" culture, known throughout the world for its food, music and unique dialect. Today, the Cajuns make up a significant part of southern Louisiana's population, and many continue to embrace the lifestyle and traditions of their ancestors.

In spite of the region's natural bounty and unmistakable splendor, swamp living has never been easy for the Cajuns and other residents of the Atchafalaya Basin. For instance, the disastrous Great Flood of 1927 decimated many communities, sparking a mass exodus that dramatically reduced the region's population. But to many people born and raised in the cradle of the lush and majestic Atchafalaya, the dangers and challenges they face are an accepted–and even welcome–part of life.

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

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.

4th of July Party - Under the Live Oak

George and I decided to have a 4th of July gathering at our house.  It all began at a Memorial Day party at a friend's home.  One of the guests said that she had never seen our Live Oak.  The hostess was talking about how beautiful and large our Live Oak is.  I said, "Let's have a 4th of July party underneath our Live Oak."  Thus, plans for this occasion began. 


We have never been big on grilling outdoors.  We have nothing against grilling; we just never got into it.  We do own a grill but use it only when we have hurricanes or are without electricity for an extensive length of time.  Heck, I hardly cook at all.  Whatever food we plan on serving will have to be prepared and cooked in my kitchen. 

The first thing to do for the party is planning the menu, right?  It is the 4th of July, so, I want an Americana/Patriotic theme.  What is more American than BBQ, hot dogs, potato salad, and apple pie?  I headed for Allrecipes.com and found a recipe for BBQ beef sandwiches, apple pie, and pastry shells.  Pinterest was helpful, too.  They had a watermelon that was made to sit flat on a table.  You scoop out the innerds and pour in ginger ale and the watermelon not only flavors the ginger ale but acts as the container, as well.  I love that idea.  There was also another watermelon idea where you cut the watermelon to look like a basket and scoop out the pulp and fill with the balled pulp from the watermelon and a cantaloupe, and add some blue berries.  It is really cute.  Maybe not exactly red, white and blue, but close.  Throw in some hot dog and hamburger buns and condements.  That should do it.


Next are the invitations.  How many people can we accommodate?  Who do we want to invite?  Of course, everyone at the Memorial Day party, since they were originally invited.  There were 8 of us at the Memorial Day party.  I have to invite our neighborhood group because, well, we have a terrific neighborhood.  Add 8 more.  I have two very dear friends who are single women and I wanted to invite them because I like them and they may not have anything to do on that day.  Also, they would fit in well with this group.  The invitation list grew to 18.  The invitations were sent, either orally or via email.  Nothing formal here.  Actually the original list was for 14.  As time went by it grew to 18.  All except for one responded that they will be here for the party.  The one is a maybe.


A quick trip to Dollar Tree early on got a lot of decorations, sparklers, plates, bowls.  Since the group has grown to 18, we will probably have to visit Dollar Tree once again for additional items.

Since the party will begin around noon to 1 p.m., this is going to be in the heat of the day.  The nice thing is that it is under the Live Oak which makes the temp drop about 10 degrees from the blazing sun.  George and I decided that bubbles will be a fun and cool thing and we want to get party favors of bubbles for the group.  I'm also thinking that cardboard fans may be in line, as well.

Cajun Stitchery has its own canopy tent, which just happens to be blue, as well as, 2 tables with matching blue tablecloths. 

We have about 9 chairs.  We will need to get more chairs but can also ask our guests to bring their folding lawn/beach chairs.  We all have them.

Several of the guests are insisting on bringing something.  With these additions, the menu has grown to include baked beans, coleslaw, 3 bean salad, and chips.  Maybe I'll make a bean dip, too.

To Be Continued...

Cajun Corner - Vol. 3, No. 40

Cajun Corner – Vol. 3, No. 40 – October 7, 2011

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

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com, and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook. 

Visit our on-line catalogs at:

http://www.imprintit.biz/cgi-bin/cobrand/site.w?location=olc/catalog-home.w&top=catalog&frasmes=no&target=main&sponsor=000699

and www.companycasuals.com/cajunstitchery.

The Pensacola Beach 4^th Annual Arts & Wine Festival is now history.  Not a bad event at all.  It was very windy.  We ended the weekend with a profit.  It wasn’t as much as anticipated but a profit is a profit.  Yay!!!!  This was the first festival that we have been allowed to leave our tent/canopy/booth overnight.  When we arrived on Saturday the wind was so strong that about all George and I could do was hold onto the tent.  Our sweet helper picked up some concrete blocks and rope on her way to the festival.  That saved the day for us.  I really liked the improvements that we made to our booth this year.  At the end of the day, we loaded up everything except the booth and the attached signs.  The following morning when we arrived, the wind had destroyed the tent next to us and they had to use a spare tent that they had.  Other tents were blown all over the parking lot.  But the Cajun Stitchery tent stood tall and proud.   George and I have already begun discussions about some additions and changes for next year, but we were mighty pleased with the look this year.

Monday was spent resting up from the weekend, organizing and putting away everything from the festival.  Tuesday I was finally able to begin embroidering.  Wednesday a friend arrived from Orlando and will stay with us until Sunday.  Thursday I began embroidery on screen.  It has been a busy but pleasurable week.

Oh, you picked up on my embroidery on screen, didn’t you?  Wondering what kind of screen could be embroidered?  This is another embroidery technique that has been around for awhile but I finally got to try it out.  The screen is regular, fiberglass, window screens.  Since embroidery doesn’t fade, then it stands to reason that if screen is embroidered, it shouldn’t fade, even out in the weather.  Now I didn’t say it wouldn’t get dirty.  I would imagine that you should be able to hose it down, like you would any dirty screen.  There are so many possibilities for screen embroidery, such as, windows, screen doors, fireplace screens, etc.  For my initial screen embroidery, I have chosen a screen the size of one of my window screens.  Since my windows have 6 panels, I am embroidering Christmas motifs to show through each of the 6 panels.  George is going to frame the screen after the embroidery is done and we should be able to put it in the window during the Christmas season.

Since this is two sided embroidery, the bobbin color is changed as the top thread color changes so that you can see the design from either side of the screen.  So far I have only completed one design and I hope to get the others finished in the next few days.  I am sure I will be showing pictures once completed.

Every time my friend from Orlando visits, we try out new embroidery techniques.  She is an embroidery machine technician.  We have the same passion for our embroidery and just have a ball together.  I even sang my little rap song for her.  Let’s just say that she was amazed.

Most of this week has been spent organizing all of our items and organizing our Etsy store.  I am and will be running sales on Etsy from now through Christmas.  Half price on cell phone pouches.  Once I get around to it, I plan to list more “You Have a Booger” hankies.  They apparently make great Christmas presents.  Of course, this year we also have men’s handkerchiefs.

The garden.  We picked our first eggplant of the season yesterday.  The cayenne peppers are definitely the winner crop this year.  Those plants just keep on producing peppers.  We are almost ready to begin harvesting cucumbers.  The surprise of the season is watermelon.  Earlier this summer George bought a watermelon for us at a roadside stand.  We saved the seeds, which is our custom and planted a few seeds in pots on the deck.  The seeds germinated but summer turned into fall and we thought we would just have the plant with no fruit.  One day I noticed a watermelon on one plant that was maybe an inch in diameter.  We certainly were excited.  Now we have 2 more growing.  Who knows, maybe we will have watermelon for Halloween instead of pumpkin.   We are still harvesting all kinds of peppers, tomatoes and green beans.  The okra is still alive and producing. 

Three years ago we planted snapdragon seeds in a pot on our deck.  The snapdragons were beautiful.  Here’s the thing, snapdragons are annuals.  They only live one year and die.  To get more, you have to plant more seeds the next year.  Well, our snapdragons are still alive after 3 years.  I thought this past summer that they were gone for sure.  Guess what?  They are back.  I certainly don’t mind.  Snapdragons are beautiful plants and beautiful flowers.  We planted snapdragons in several locations this past spring and they are all growing and producing flowers.

CHRISTMAS is around the corner.  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. 

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

Thank you Marshall Larrivere for the following:

Boudreau was driving down Canal Street in a sweat

because he had an important meeting and couldn't find a parking place.

Looking up to heaven he said, “Lord take pity on me. If you find me a

parking place I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of ma life

and give up ma White Lightnin'!”

Miraculously, a parking place appeared.

Boudreau looked up again and said, “Never mind, I

found one.”

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

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.

Wine Coasters, Canopies, and Fans -- Oh My!

Today was such a busy day.  It seems as though I just live on the phone and computer.  But this is a good thing, because it generates business.

The patches and placemats are finished, unless we decide to do more placemats.  Now we are beginning the wine coasters.  I'm sure pictures will be posted on this blog before long.  I had made some wine coasters earlier this year but my girlfriends objected because even though they do fit the wine glasses that I have at home, they do not fit the larger based wine glasses -- at least not without a struggle.  So, we now have a new digitized version that I believe will fit the larger based wine glasses.  It was funny today because I digitized one wine glass coaster for 5.25" and once it was stitched out, it was huge.  The one that I think we will stick to is 4.25".  We should go into production within the next day or two.

We did purchase the canopy for $20 from Winn Dixie.  I have to laugh.  George decided that we better put the canopy up in the back yard and learn to put it up and take it down with ease before the event.  Good idea!  He put it up and it looked nice but felt kind of flimsy.  We left it up in the back yard and went about our business.  George had to go to Lowes and while there he called me.  I ran downstairs where I had left my cell phone and as I answered the phone, I looked out back and the canopy had flown onto the deck.  Phone in one hand and still talking to George, I ran outside to straighten out the canopy.  Finally, I just had to tell George that I couldn't talk with him because the canopy was flying around.  I manipulated the canopy back into the back yard, but the wind was still blowing and I found myself stuck, holding onto the upper side of the canopy.  I am only 5 foot tall and the canopy is much taller than I.  If you can imagine that I was outside, on my tiptoes, holding onto the canopy while the wind was blowing and the canopy kept wanting to fly away.  Then George arrived home.  We took the canopy apart and sat back and laughed.  Now we know why they included the stakes and cord with the canopy.  However, the canopy will be sitting on pavement at the Arts & Wine Festival.  Any ideas on how to stake the canopy to pavement?  We're thinking about staking to a bucket of sand or dirt.

Remember the blog on hand fans?  I haven't forgotten that and am still on my quest.  The solution may have presented itself.  Before I write about it, I need to make one.  If it works, we are in for a lot of fun with hand fans. 

While on email today, Yahoo changed to the new and improved version of email.  This happens occasionally.  This new and improved version has applications.  One of the applications is PayPal.  The application says that you not only can send money via email/PayPal but can receive money.  My nemises has been trying to get my web page up and running so that I can put the PayPal links with items that I'm selling.  Obviously, that hasn't happened yet.  Now I can sell via email and get paid via PayPal.  Woohoo!  If you are interested in purchasing anything from Cajun Stitchery, please email me at cajunstitchery@yahoo.com and we can take care of everything from start to finish, including the payment.  Like everything else, there will be a learning curve.  So, be patient with me.