Organize One Drawer

My foray into cooking Beef Rendang last week made me face a dilemma head on. That is,

What the heck all is in my spice drawer?????

I had envelopes and jars and zippies and tins and it was all a big jumble that I, over the three years we've lived here, would look at, fish around in and close with a promise to "deal with it" later.

So since it was only one drawer and I thought to myself, "how long could this take?", I tackled it. It took three days of tackling but it is done.

Those little jars up front are found at Michaels in the Brides aisle. They are gift jars and the perfect size for those spices you buy at World Market in small pouches. And as you see, they don't take up valuable real estate that large jars use.

I feel rather smug. Too bad all the other drawers are still all chaos.

Mug Rug

My sewing friend Linda Kay has been making these little mug rugs with her scraps of fabrics and yesterday while rooting around in my scraps of batiks I came across a handful of half-square triangles I had left-over from a project.

So, being the easily distracted person th OH LOOK!!! A CHICKEN!!! at I am, I stopped what I was doing and made two!

Thanks LK!!

Ramsey Bait Shop

There's a spot on Hwy 25, a few miles north of Covington that features several small buildings, a large gravel parking lot and one defunct gas pump. It's been there, morphing from one entity to another over the years.

The last thing it was was a restaurant that featured All You Can Eat Catfish dinners every Friday night. We never though of it on a Friday evening but we did stop in one afternoon for a late-ish lunch. We ordered the fried catfish (because I truly do love catfish when it's done right) and iced tea. The meal came with a slice of cake for dessert which caught me off-guard.

The tea tasted like tea. The catfish was fabulous and the cake the perfect topper to a surprising meal.

The joint closed a few months back and we watched over the course of a month or so as the interior was hauled out to the exterior and an awning attached and the place cleaned up. When the neon beer signs lit up, I chalked the place up to an ice house. Well, at least it didn't close altogether in these tough times.

So as we passed by it today, we said, "Let's pop in and find out what this is....."

Well, shut my mouth! It just got better! The same catfish is available at night, and fried chicken all day, egg sausage biscuits for the morning commute and BOUDIN balls! Man alive! I died and went to heaven.

Yeah, it has beer and bread and quick-pick items to save you a long drive to the groch but wait! It gets better again!

Bait. They sell bait. Lures. Cane poles and floats and weights. You wanna fish? No problem.

Rasmeys' Bait Shop. They're waiting for you

What Makes This Special?

They didn't get angry. They didn't curse. Frank didn't stomp off. Rita didn't cry. They didn't give up.

They laughed at their incompetence and kept trying. I love them. No wonder they look so good at 80

Twenty Years In The Making

When we moved home from working overseas 1989, I got a job working in New Orleans at a t-shirt printing company. It was there, in my last months that I met a man from Kenner with a fishing company (making lures and lead) who wanted to compete with Guy Harvey.

He liked those shirts but wanted to see more realistic representations of his favorite fish and hired the company to take a stab at it. "I don't want those dead cartoon eyes, either!"

I got the assignment and the next thing you know I am drawing and redrawing a speckled trout until I have it exactly right.

Then he said, "Now, turn the tail and make it look like it's chasing shrimp."

WHAT?!! Why didn't he tell me this 40 hours ago, right? Next thing I know, I have a pail of shrimp on my drawing table, and I am making them look like they're trying to flee from a turning speckled trout! This was the beginning of a long friendship with Pete Canal.

It's also how, after 20+ years, I have this T-shirt quilt finally completed. Every one of those t-shirts, I made; either through the old way of hand-made screens or as a painted canvas-turned t-shirt, all thanks to Pete. And also thanks to Pete, I actually have a copy of them after all these years in order to make the quilt.

This was the first: speckled trout. (If I knew that day when we started this project how long it would take to turn out, I am not certain I would have volunteered to take this assignment on. I am so glad I did.)

Here's where it gets interesting..... a few weeks ago, we were looking at the rebuilt camps along Lake Catherine and popped into a marina. Look what I found on the sale rack:

This is NOT mine but whoever made it, copied me. No one, including Harvey, was putting the bait in the design until Pete did it. (and they used shrimp. hello!?)

This one was so much fun to paint. I think I was living in Alaska at the time. The first large-mouth bass we did was a real hoot. I left the company I worked for right after the trout shirt came out and Pete hired me independently to create the next shirt: Large Mouth Bass (this is not it)(I have no copy and Pete's stock got damaged in Katrina) Pete wanted a LMbass chasing a frog through lilypads and brought over to our house both a dead bass and live (large) frog. When it was time to draw the frog, it escaped from me and started hopping all over the house. Man, can they jump! It took me, the girls and the guy next door lifting the sofa to finally catch the darned thing!

So a few years later, we make another LMbass chasing sac-a-lait. This one was painted.

The very last shirt we made together was in 1999 I think. Alligator. No, he didn't bring me a live alligator but I bet he would've , if I'd asked it of him, he is that crazy.

I loved this one. I think it is fitting that we ended on a high note.

Pete has all of the originals. I think we did a pretty decent job of this. All the shirt we have have held up to repeated washings without losing their ink. The shirts he bought were always of high quality.

I get a kick when I see someone wearing one ... besides us.

So two years ago, I contacted Pete about getting some of the shirts because for whatever reason, I was missing some. I have pellon copies but I wanted the actually jersey for this and as luck would have it, I had such a terrific selection of batiks, I was able to trap all the images with a complementary fabric to get them all the same size.

I just finished the quilting 2 days ago and now have the binding on.

Speaking of AWESOME...

here is an opportunity that doesn't happen often. YOU, yes you, get a chance to vote on the cover of the Rolling Stone

And of course, if you don't know any of these names, just watch this video and go vote 5 stars for this : Satellite

so, all good to go? Go click on that link above, scroll down the page and look for Leila Broussard and you'll see 2 words below her name. Masquerade and Satellite. You should see 5 outlined stars as well. If you click your mouse on the stars, you can choose the number you think she is worthy of. I, naturally, chose 5. I think she and this video are BRILLIANT.

WHAT A VOICE! SHE'S FROM LOUISIANA!!!!!

Now, the video was made by another woman from Louisiana, Molly Green and she is SO talented. After you vote, hope over to YouTube and look for Molly Green

I know... you want MORE. I don't blame you!

Great Sunday!

Yea!!!! The Oriental Leslie BOMb is finished!!!!! Okay, I still have to quilt it, true......

ANd the Red White and Blues is complete as well. Yes there is only the simple single border but really, there is enough going on with the color scheme, any border fabric would just scream.

I had fun finishing this silly project I bought to make as long ago as last year (or was it 2 years ago.....) The Stick Chicken!
too cute. I have already made the Cat Stick but have it at the shop as a sample.

Speaking of cute....
Q. Usually she hangs out in the sewing room, taking up space on the ironing board. Shasta beat her to it today.

Shasta has been trying to be helpful as well. Here she is scrambling a quilt-top I was attempting to pin a border on. Such a help.

And to top the day off nicely, I made a loaf of seeduction bread. Very close to the loaf you buy at Whole Foods. Except lighter.

Frivolous

As I messed around yesterday, I worked on the bindig of the Seasons quilt. That lead me to searching(!) for an appropriate needle with which to do this job. This shouldn't be a moment of aggravation for a stitcher, but alas, with me it always is.

SO I stopped and made meself a little needlecase.

Now that I have this, I hope to find my needles more swiftly in the future. The little label is one of many my brother gave me for Christmas a few years back.

Well, THAT worked!

Actually, the past post had nothing to do with making feel better. I DO feel better but the cold lingers on. et's just say, "It's not slime.. it's MUCUS!"

and I stay busy working not on the piece you saw below but a new sample for the shop, Six Halves Make A Whole Starburst. All batik and very pretty.

I have also been hanging small finished projects in the sewing room to make me happy. Old friends hanging around and speaking.

I started sewing the binding on the Seasons quilt, using fabric I have in the stash and honestly, it looked wrong. So I frogged it off and will buy a better color choice Tuesday at the shop. You know, I just thought, I have put this much into this piece, why frame it with an awkward binding?

Kat came home sick as well and after doctoring her up with King Ranch Chicken, (thanks Meredith) she perked up. Yesterday we fired up her Breville pie maker and made both pot pies and pecan pies. So cool. Too bad they are out of stock everywhere. I bet they will make a return visit to the William-Sonoma shelves but it might be a while.

Pretty soon, we'll start seriously addressing the planting of seeds for the spring gardens and I already have been collecting the seeds for this. We are still harvesting carrots, beets, brussel sprouts and kale. We ate rutabagas in the pot pies and they are delish.

The leeks I am happy to report are growing despite of the bitter cold nights. I planted 26 and they all remain, so far. The artichokes are a different story, however. I think we have lost the first one totally now unless it makes a come-back when the earth warms up. The other two are hanging in there but don't look as healthy as I hoped they would. Oh well, no ones said this would work but I am going to start RIGHT NOW with growing new ones in the hopes that we might get a few heads.

Day 6 of Melatonin

Well, I have to say it appears to be working. I get deeper sleep and stay asleep longer now. I have been taking it consistently at 8:45 and fall asleep immediately but I think that is my normal self anyway.

The one thing troubling is the vivid dreams. They are what I used to experience and I rarely remember them after a day but if I awaken in the night because of one, I lay there thinking about them. A couple of times I had to get up. I am making a concerted effort to NOT get up. But if the dream is unnerving (and two HAVE been) I find I am afraid. So I get up and walk around.

So, dilemma... which is worse: 1. lack of sleep or 2. scary dreams?

In my life, I have found that if I remember to add the request of no dreams or sweet dreams (if I MUST dream) in my prayers, the request is ALWAYS answered. Isn't that weird?

I'll say (or think) "Ok God... I really need to not dream tonight so if you could work that out for me, I would really appreciate it, but if I have to dream could you at least make it not scary?"

Works every time it's tried.

Another side effect of the Mel is high energy levels. I wake up raring to go... don't know where that might be but by golly, I'm ready!

I am also ready to get the holiday preps underway. I want to slide into Christmas stressless. Well, who wouldn't?

I am not going to make my targeted project in time, alas. I have only the borders to go on the 2nd Leslie BOM, the Christmas one but at the rate of speed, I will not finish all six, quilted, before Dec.31. Ain't gonna happen. The Blue and Gold is done (not quilted) and I have the fabric lined up to complete the tops of the Oriental and RW&Bs but I still have blocks to make for the Brights. Boo. OK I must give myself slack and think if I get 2 more completed (not quilted) by New Years, that will still be an accomplishment.

And at the end of the day (year) the deadline was imposed by me alone with no reward for completion nor demerit for failure. I refuse to think of NOT sewing EVERYTHING as a failure but, rather, sewing lots of stuff a success.

It really is all about perspective and balance.

On that note: here is the status of the veg garden

Closest to you is the kale, arugla, more kale and Chard

The back bed has beets and carrots! Carrots!!

Left: kholrabi, lettuce and cabbage, collards, brussells and raab

Right: Kale, spinach, broccoli

Can you tell we like kale? And lots of it, please!

Doo Doo Doo ---- Lookin' Out My Back Door!

One of our concerns when discussing the placement of the barn was that of blocking the beautiful view of the land behind us. It isn't ours but we sure like the vista.

We struggled with the exact place til we settled on where the concrete was poured. And once the framework went up, we saw this. What a picturebox. In fact, this "frame" just makes the whole thing into a work of art.

And here you can see the worktable I will use when cleaning the veggies and potting new plants. The red colour is terrific. The trim is grey as is the steel roof. That hole above? the hayloft.

The cats hang around, waiting for Steve to leave so they can go scope out the insides.... places to hang out in the future.

The left side will remain open for the tractor and mower and the right side is the workshop. It will have a garage door.

I am thinking that in the event of a hurricane.... this might be the place to be. It's built Ram Tough this barn and there are no trees above it. Or around it, for that matter.

Le Barn

It's well on the up.

Squeezo Tomato Press & Kasbahouse

Okay because I think it is as important to stand up for companies as much as it is to hold them responsible, I post this information.

The Squeezo Tomato Press saga that began a few months ago is officially over.

To recap: John purchased it through an online site and paid quite a lot to have it shipped quickly. (I don't believe I ever wrote the name of the company. I really wanted to give them a chance to make this right.)

It sat in Dallas at a FedEx facility for 5 days. When it arrived it was faulty, which caused me to have 2 complaints.

The company that manufactured the item sent out replacements parts and as I wrote, was very helpful. The Squeezo is worth it's price. (so far.... check back in 5 years)

The company that facilitated the transaction said they would reimburse the added cost of expedited shipping once THEY sorted it out with FedEx. So all in all, everyone acted responsibly and everyone got what they wanted. Not WHEN they wanted it but that is LIFE.

I received our credit card statement yesterday and they did exactly what they said they would. So, I am pleased to report that Kasbahouse online is where all this went down. It is a lovely to look at website if you are into kitchen stuff.

If you are looking for a "press" for soft fruits, consider the Squeezo Tomato Press. Made in the USA. Quality stuff.

I Love My Car

Even when it is filthy. Can a car be said to be filthy?

It had been close to 2 years since I gave it a thorough scrub, inside and out. When we woke to 67 degrees, I told myself, now's the day to attack this project head on.

Everything comes out, out the pockets, the drawers, the cup-holders, the trunk. Out out out. I found things I thought I'd thrown away. Stuff I didn't know existed, like cell phone chargers... where do they all come from? And why are they in MY car?

Then the vac steps up and hoovers grit out of nooks and crannies. I use a ShopVac too to really get suction power and a tapering wand for tight places.

Then the soap and water to take away dust all over the inside. It occurs to me that if this had been a daughter's car, I'd have been all over her nagging at the state of it! But this was my mess! I could hear my mormor tsking at me.

Then, just before the sun was gettting just a little too hot to take, I cleaned road dirt and grime from the gaskets and seals around the doors and trunk lid. When the sun moves past the house, I'll go back out and actually clean the body.

I was admiring the car and thinking how lucky I was to have this one, how reliable it's been and still, despite Katrina dings and door-flings, it looks remarkably fresh.

I saw my neighbor and wandered over to discuss a tall post that appeared overnight in her backyard and the subject changed to cars and this new one I keep seeing out my sewing room window as it moves down the road. I thought it might be hers, but no. And then she said this:

"I had a window break that would not pass inspection for a brake tag so I was going to get the glass replaced but Tom did it for me. He put a new car under the glass."

I love that sense of humor.

How To Be Alone

Absolutely Spectacular

The Questing Beasts or

In For A Penny, In For A Pound!

how hard can this be, she asked herself.....

After spending 1 1/2 hours mashing tomatoes thru a sieve, I thought a food mill would be an excellent purchase. These swift extractors take out the seeds and skins and leave behind lovely pulpy tomatoey goodness and are much easier on the wrists and forearms. (ain't gettin' any younger, she mumbles under her breath. Aging faster is more like it!)

I scoped out reviews on-line (Please, Please PLEEZZZZEEE Mr, Obama! Don't take our intertubes AWAY!!!!!) and referred to John's good judgment.

Out we went in pursuit of a grinder. Target, no. World Store, no. Local Hardware/Surplus store, yes but not what you think, Feed n Seeds (2), no. WalMart, no (really?) SimpleeGourmet, no (but you ought to go have fun in there anyway!) Groceries, no. B, B and Beyond, no. HOW HARD IS THIS GONNA BE???????? she asked herself!

How is it POSSIBLE that we live within 40 miles of everything KNOWN to mankind and yet stand here, "completely surrounded by no" food mill!!!!!????

We live in an agricultural parish. People GROW tomatoes 'round these parts like nobody's business. We read each other's minds at one point and said simultaneously, "I'll bet there are LOTS/Hundreds(!) of these things in any number/some of these houses in a 7/10 block radius gathering dust in some pantry/shed or attic!"

THAT was spooky!

Grrrr.... I grumbled as we rumbled back home. "I'm going to ******* ( a city 20 miles north of us and even more country than this) and look around" said John.

Not ME! I thought. I'm gonna let my fingers do the talking and take advantage of technology before it's too late.

But the rains came right about this time so we both hunkered down and John, in between lightning flashes, managed to connect with an outfit and ordered THIS Squeezo for us. I love that it is all metal and Made In America!!!! Finally........ and because he sees the desparation in my eyes as the tomatoes steadily pile higher, he asked for express delivery.

Hoo-rha!

Good Example vs Terrible Warning

I tend to accumulate clutter. Don't we all? But you want to know when it's bad?

When you have 420 photographs on your camera chip and want to drop a few pictures on your blog. It takes me 25 minutes to weed thru the entire lot every time I take shots of the garden and DL the ones I want to the computer. I KNOW I really MUST stop this madness and download them all, delete the files from the camera and cull my way thru the ones on the computer.

I was tempted to just buy a new cheap camera in an effort to bypass this necessity but that would only mean that I have yet another camera taking up valuable real estate in a drawer or closet which is, again, more clutter.

(I have 538 message in my email Inbox. I'm not bragging here! This is more of the clutter of which I speak.) (You should see the fabric room)(maybe not)

Clutter clutter clutter. "Clutter is nothing more than postponed decisions" and ain't THAT the truth. Even the WORD clutter takes up space!

I have so much to do, I can hardly think of it and yet... I must stop spinning out of control and take the camera in hand to DEclutter the beast.

I am doing this because the insurance adjuster is here and I just heard that the wood floors may have to be entirely replaced and I am trying not to swoon.

I find I have this overwhelming need to control something that is "out of control": ah yes the camera. I didn't think the battery would hold out long enough to download and remove all the photos and movies I have stowed away on that massive data chip. But it did!

And now it is empty save for the photo I just took of John eating the first plum from our tree. (happiness!)

And I am going thru all the photos, one by one and either placing them in the appropriate folder on the C drive or tossing it out in the Bin. Really.

Control what you can and try to stay in control. It's the second half that is my constant downfall.

Now, about that INBOX.......

Oh My Aching Back!

I bought the Gypsy Sit Upon at the shop yesterday in great hopes that it will help me work on the ol' stomach muscles... it certainly doesn't hurt that it also alleviates back pain because it forces me to not slump towards the computer or sewing machine. It's an air-filled pillow that makes any shift in position cause another shift in center of gravity so the person sitting on it is in constant movement and rebalance. Pretty cool, really.

I am heroically attempting to get caught up with the BOMS the Sharp Needles began in the fall. I am actually making 6 simutaneously in different color schemes and have the Christmas and Swedish themes done thru the 4th month. Here are the two new sets:

If you compare the two sets you'll notice that the half-square triangles block are arranged differently. I think I like the Flying Dutchman better, but every time I convince myself of this, I change my mind...... they both work. I have four more to go so I will (probably) continue to make both blocks.

I have ripped out seams several times in the construction of the two on the right in order to make perfect points and I appreciate the accuracy all the more.

Linda Kay and I have begun our new series of Beginning Quilting classes and if nag the students to be as accurate as possible, it is only right that follow my own emphasis. True.

Now I have to show this:

Is that not the most whimsical pincushion ever?

Is this not sweetest cat? I think so!

Have a Great Day!

Down Comes Christmas

I may well be the last person to take down Christmas decorations. I drag my feet on this every year. Not because I don't like the WORK of it, it's saying good-bye to the season and celebration. I always look so FORWARD to Christmas-time and family gathering. I love all Autumn and really, Christmas so barely falls in Winter..... From October onward I just come alive.

And then it's New Year. A clean slate but wiping it down with disinfection is tough on me. No, getting myself to DO it is tough; the actual act itself is really therapeutic for me. And I thought about this yesterday afternoon as I began undecorating the tree.

It's a slow-go. I haul out the various boxes and with no particular method pluck ornaments off, wrap them in tissue or repackage them in their original containers. It's a RITUAL, I learn. I do this every other year. This tree is the 'ornaments' tree and I alternate with a silver bell tree on even numbered years. All of the ornaments I took down yesterday have either been given to us or made/collected by one of us through-out the years and I'm going back more than 30 years here! They fill 3 plastic bins. They'd all go in one if I just chucked them in...but I wrap them all carefully.

And whether I am wrapping them for storage, or unwrapping them to hang in November, I trip down memory-lane every time. We got this one from Julie when we lived in Brunei, this one came from Grandma when you were born... we painted these with Inka in '98. You bought Marley in New York the year you played in the Christmas Carol as a memento. It's wonderful and as I said, therapeutic because I DON'T just chuck them in a box and dump them in a closet. I linger over it, like Slow Food. And remember.

Barbara gave us those when she lived next door after her house was wrecked by Katrina. Fain sprayed those gumtree balls from our old house silver and gave them to us. Oh look, the Okra angel. (really) One by one, down them come.

And I tell myself, only 22 months to go before I get to see them all again. Like old friends. Next year, I will polish the silver-plated bells and retie all the colored ribbons. Those go back to 1976. Really old friends. It takes a long time.

It's a pretty tree.

Wicked is the Weather -Up-Dated

and I am braving out in it to purchase, hopefully, tickets to the show in March. Or April.

With great anticipation. However.... the weather has been brutal these past few days and I don't relish the idea of driving across Lake Ponchartrain to get to the Mahilia Jackson Theatre before 9am. This is the time they begin selling tickets to the plebes and with luck the line will be short. Cold yes but short.

What is maddening is they have not posted the price of the tickets anywhere so this may turn out to be a total waste of time and bust. If we wait til they are on sale at Ticketmaster (at noon today), the seats may well be all gone. We are wanting to go for the 2pm matinee. The theatre isn't huge and I suppose any seat will be good (with binoculars) but will they be available at all after this morning is the real question. So I will go. Because, honestly, who can resist this:



"think if it as personality dialysis!"

PS saw the Sherlock Holmes flick...... heeheehee good fun!

Up date: Done and done. Four tickets for April 4. The theatre looks very nice... if the seating is as good as the drawing shows, we should have a good view of the stage. Very thrilling.

The line was very long and the wait seemed forever and it was entirely indoors. I had expected to be standing out in the cold. But here's a most surprising thing: The theatre offered gratis coffee from Cafe du Monde and donuts! to us. How nice was that?