Saturday, December 26, 2009

A Merry Little Christmas



Autumn

Loryn and Londyn



our greatest gift


Santa Baby


Shyla
From All of our Littles, Merry Christmas
This year, we had four little girls, that is a LOT of PINK ! We played Sing your Heart, a Grinch who stole Christmas game.
Loryn got a pink robe and and LSU snuggly, and baking stuff AS SEEN ON TV!LOL A big top cupcake pan and a Perfect brownie baker and a bunch of mixes, sprinkles and a long sweater coat with a fur lined hoodie.
Autumn and Shyla got a bunch of Fisher Price Little people Prince and Princesses and a frog... pink castle, and wedding set , and horse and carriage.
Londyn got a bunch of pretty pink sleepers with little kitties or bunnies on them and she also got a Glow Seahorse that plays pretty music, so cute.
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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Growing by leaps and bounds!

Benny looks on while Dr. Achee checks out little miss! On well baby visit #2. Londyn saw her Doctor on Wednesday, Dec 23. She gained a whole pound! So she is at 6 pounds and 10 ounces, and she measured at 18 inches long. Her diaper area has healed a whole lot ( altough not completely, the sores were so bad) and she is eating 4 ounces at a time. Dr. Achee says we don't have to set the alarm to feed her every two hours at night and can just feed her on demand now. She will sleep at least 4 hours overnight. Makes for a less tired mommy.We don't have to take her back in until the first week of '10.
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Sunday, December 20, 2009

This is the Christmas Card we are sending this year

 

If you want one, send me your address!
I had planned on using some of the Photos of Loryn with the Disney Christmas decorations for our card this year , but the sudden arrival of a newborn changed that plan!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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Our Christmas Card Photo shoot- 2009

Combine a sleeping newborn baby and a an excited big sister with a Christmas stocking and you get this year's Christmas card.
The original idea was to put a naked baby into the stocking, but the inside of the stocking was too rough to place Londyn in without her clothes. So we put her into her little "My First Christmas Sleeper", and she insisted on curling up her legs so it made it hard to place her into the stocking. To prove how tiny Londyn is, this is a regular furry stocking off of the shelf at Walmart... Regular size, nothing special. She just fit!

 

 

 

 
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Thursday, December 17, 2009

Smilebox

Click to play this Smilebox photobook: Londyn
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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Baby's first day at home!



A 9 day old Baby girl arrived at our home today. She weighs just about 6 pounds fully dressed and is a very good baby, a good eater and sleeper, and hardly ever cries so far. My wonderful sis in law loaned me a bunch of baby stuff and then she and her sister took a trip to Wal- Mart and got every thing else I might possibly need!! Instant Baby shower! Thanks so much Missy and Angie!
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Sunday, December 13, 2009

Visit with Santa


Loryn went with Cousins Shyla and Autumn to visit Santa and to have lunch at McDonalds. Autumn is now at an easier age. Even though she doesn't talk yet( she is learning English and the Native American Language, Koasati, of the Coushatta tribe ) she was able to follow directions and even helped change into her Christmas outfit, and she was not even scared of Santa!
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Friday, December 11, 2009

Bamse, Kylling og Ælling er nødt til at tisse ...





Loryn loves to look at Danish Radio's ( the Danish TV station) Daily Advent calendar online each day. It features Bamse, Kylling, and Ælling ( Teddy, Chick and Duckling), popular Danish children's tv program characters. This is where our dog Bamse gets his name.
The advent calendar has the three friends involved in a game or print out activity and is only in Danish. I figure it makes a good interesting Danish lesson for both of us.

Each year she gets so tickled by today's game! I get tickled because I KNOW that this would never go over well in the USA, and outraged parents would scream that it is in poor taste, so it would never happen in uptight America! Check it out yourself! Click on Package #11! And feel free to try it out every day...A nice Danish lesson.
If any of you Danish speakers know of any other kids activites on the internet that might be a good Danish Lesson for Loryn ( and me) please share it with me!

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Hi ! I'm Nisse Lene,


I have a fresh set of nisse friends that just arrived from Denmark today. Since the family tree is not decorated yet, I thought I'd try to help place a few ornaments on myself. My new friends climbed up to see what I was up too!

Nisse Lene
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Saturday, December 05, 2009

LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW!




Our first snow of 2009, ( most likely the only one, too) was last night. After raining all day long, at 5:30 it began snowing big wet clumps of flakes. They melted upon landing, since the earth was so waterlogged already. At 6:30 they began sticking and we soon had every thing covered in white. When it snows here, it is wet clumps. I had never seen real snowflakes until I was in Denmark. I was amazed at the crystal designs on each flake. In Louisiana, they are not delicate, but look more like Sonic ice.

Our electricity went out at about 8:30 and did not come back on until we were in bed asleep under many covers.

This morning, I had to finish my homework before my class at UNO in New Orleans. When it was time to leave at 10am, Benny had to hose down my car and the porch steps. The snow had melted from most of the grass but the roofs were still covered in white. As I drove east, I noticed the snow stopped in Lafayette.
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Sunday, November 22, 2009

Surprise trip.


Posting along the road, about 3 more hours drive to Orlando, and Loryn still hasn't figured out we are going to Orlando. I guess tonight when we pull up trough the gates at Walt Disney World she get it. All I told her was that we we going stay at a hotel with a heated pool. Surprise!
Tee-Hee

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Still Crazy( about each other) after all these years



This is not a full trip report, but just a little update!
After arriving home, our Internet was broken most of the time and I had too much work and other stuff that I had to wait a while to post.
We had a great time on our Cruise. We enjoyed having bagels, cream cheese and salmon delivered to our stateroom each morning. We had meals and wondered around, relaxed and had a nap every day before dinner and the rocking of the boat over the waves made me fall asleep immediately, which doesn't happen at home, I assure you. My mom complained that I had to be rocked to sleep until I was almost 3. It must have carried over!
We took a small van outing to see the salt flats and Xcampo Mayan ruins at Progresso. At Cozumel, Benny rode the Go Karts, real racing karts, not the kiddie karts we have around here and I shopped at MEGA, a store kind of like Super Target.

But best of all we got to spend a lot of uninterrupted time together and enjoyed every romantic moment of it. I am so lucky to have Benny and look forward to the next ten years together!
We took a lot of pictures and also had pro photos taken as well. Here is our favorite. more later .....

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Sick Sick Sick

No photo...Unless you want to see the empty bottles of medications this household has been consuming this past two weeks...Benny has some strange infection below his knee and I have had the abscessed tooth from hell. Not to mention the slow death of my well worn Chevy Malibu, and Benny's valiant attempts to repair it and then the final realization it was time to say good bye and attempt find a suitable vehicle to replace it...It was discussed that once the transmission goes, it is over, and the transmission is on its last legs. So we are car shopping, something I wanted to until I had finished paying grad school tuition, but can't put off any longer. ( Can't forget the impending root canal, UGH!)

Friday, October 09, 2009

Fair Day


Fair day is so busy for us. Schools close and even though I still have to work, we have a lot to do. Earlier in the week we brought Loryn's Arts and Crafts to enter in the contests. We also register the animals we plan to show on Friday. We chose to bring two of the rabbits and a male, female and a trio (1 male and 2 females) of Cochins. When Friday arrived the thought of chasing chickens did not appeal to me so we just brought the rabbits.First, Loryn must be brought to the parade route to ride on the HHS cheerleader float. The trailer the Jr. High was to ride in was full of ants, so they ended up in the back for the pick up truck.Then I had to run to the Show barn and place her rabbits in the cages there, give them food and water. They I had to go back to the starting point of the parade to pick her up when they returned. I got back there just as the last float, marching band and the horses were going down the street. So I missed the entire parade and did not get any pictures.

Then I brought her home so I could go to work and then after I visited my last child, Benny and her both drove in to town and meet me at the Walmart parking lot so we would not have to park two cars. It had started to rain and a cool front passed over so the weather was cool. We met Lindsey, Loryn's best buddy and her family so they got to ride a bunch of the rides together.


We took a tour to see what kind of ribbons Loryn won on her arts and crafts. She won 4 1st place blue Ribbons, 2 second place red ribbons and 2 third palce white ribbons. Only one item got a green ribbon fro honorable mention. And she got 1 in class on her doe, Butterscotch, and Toffee, her buck got a reserve champion rossette in the Dwarf rabbit division. When the checks were handed out she got $54 in preimum money!


Dinner was shared from the local food booths. Hathaway FFA made us a great onion blossom with Cajun sauce and we got a BBQ hamburger as well. First Baptist Church had some great smoked turkey legs and we shared a funnel cake from the midway. Good thing I had a salad for lunch!


After 9pm once we got home, I realized I had left my car parked at Walmart...Oh well, it will still be there tomorrow!~

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Sunday, October 04, 2009

Germanfest October 2009

Alongside the Acadian French Settlers, we share the Cajun Prairie with many German Catholic Families. Although the phonebook is full of Boudreaux, Thibodeaux, Fontenot and LeJeune families, we also have the Hensgens, Theuissen, Heinen, Habetz, Frey, Bollich,
Zaunbrecher, Bruchhaus, Hetzel and Berken families as well. Robert's Cove is a nearby small farming community that celebrates its German heritage each year the first weekend in October at the St. Leo Catholic church. Loryn and I decided to take a trip to nearby Acadia Parish to attend GERMANFEST. She had fun on the fun jumps when we arrived. Afterwards we headed to the gift shop and to have a look at the museum. Every where they were keeping up with the LSU football game, either on TV or radio. We heard the last final minutes and touchdown while we were looking at the museum. We saw a lot of German national costumes, but also a lot of LSU t-shirts as well.
The Beer tent was full of the young people and the main tent was filled with the older folks listening to music from the Alpenmusikanten Band. Loryn loves dancing to the Chicken Dance!



At dinner time, Loryn chose a soft pretzel and a wurst on a stick and I got the sampler platter with beef and potato stew on rice, Sauerkraut with wurst and Apple Kuchen. It defiantly had a spicy Cajun accent!
The menu included :
Sampler plate Sausage on a Bun or Stick, Beef or Potato Stew, Sauerkraut, Sauerkraut Potatoes and Wurst, German Potato Salad, Hot Dogs and, Authentic German Desserts.
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Saturday, October 03, 2009

Hometown Dirty Little Secret is brought to national attention

Is there a serial killer in my small home parish?
Just over a month ago, the body of the eighth murder victim was found just over Parish lines along side I-10. The other bodies of the young ladies were found in deserted country gravel roads. All of these women led "RISKY" live styles, as they lived on the streets and had drug addictions. Some of the women were not even reported missing when their bodies were found weeks after death in some cases. Despite their drug habits, these women were sisters, and daughters and friends of people. I did not know any of them, but the fact that they were drug addicts does not mean that their lives were not worthy, or that they deserved to die.
Recently, a crew began filming a documentary on the "serial killer" . Local TV news channels have run several news stories on the murders.

Lake Charles news

http://www.kplctv.com/Global/category.asp?C=154324&nav=menu66_1_5

Lafayette News clip
http://www.katc.com/player/?video_id=610&zone_id=8&categories=8

Recently CNN covered the story.


Several Blogs speak of the murders:
one is...
http://jdpkiller.wordpress.com


A multi agency task force has been formed to investigate the mysterious deaths of the 8 women from Jeff Davis. It recently releasted this news release:



The multi-agency task force comprised of Acadia, Calcasieu and Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff's Offices, Jennings Police Department, 15 th & 31st District Attorney's offices, La State Police Region 2 CID investigators/ Lake Charles, La Attorney General's Office, and the FBI continue to aggressively investigate the murders of several women from the Jennings area.

The task force continues to seek information from the public, and will continue to share as much information as possible with the public about these investigations without jeopardizing the investigation or prosecution due to recent media coverage and news releases, resulting in enhanced public awareness and combined with the sustained efforts of the task force, it is likely that the offender may have altered his behavior, habits and/or practices.

The following are additional examples of such changes possibly made by the offender:

Te offender may have recently left the Jennings area, possibly in an abrupt manner, with no indication of prior planning.

The offender may have recently discontinued his contact with the area of Jennings formerly frequented by the victims.

The offender may have recently altered his physical appearance.

The offender may have altered the appearance of his vehicle, e.g., having his vehicle painted.

The Task Force encourages anyone with information to contact them at 337-824-6662. Even if it is thought that the information is unimportant or has been previously reported to law enforcement, please call: " Yours may be the call that saves lives."







Saturday, September 26, 2009

Loryn's first visit to Tivoli 9/22/99

September

I love these photos of three year old Loryn and Benny ridding the Merry-go-round at Tivoli on our first visit.

"Der var Engang"



onceuponatime

Loryn and my very first full day in Denmark, September 9, 1999, was spent by going to Roskilde to apply for the marriage license. We shopped at Netto and then played in this little park with this mural, Once Upon a Time, on the wall.

Loryn's first Girl Scout blog post


 


Loryn attended Open Studio and created her own art work. I posted her own blog for her GS photos. Check it out.CLICK HERE
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Laundry day in Denmark circa 1999

Wash Day Blues
Journaling says:Laundry duties in Denmark took a little getting used to. Crawling down the rickety stairway into the dank basement, which also served as the bath, I encountered a side loading washer that had it's own water heating system. It practically boiled the clothes. A tumble dryer was not available so I asked Benny to put up a clothesline, which I loved to use on beautiful sunny days. I love this photo because it captures two things: the fact that Benny and I both love to wear the color blue and the way the northern light filtered through the trees in the side garden. Unfourtunately the hot summer turned to cool autumn and then colder winter and I had to hang the laundry in the dank dark basement. Benny placed a heater and a fan to help things along, otherwise the blue jeans took almost a week to dry. Greve Denmark Fall 1999.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Roasting with Rosie Barbeque Festival




So who is Rosie? Rosie is the Roseate Spoonbill, the local tourist commission mascot. It is a large pink bird with a spoon shaped bill seen locally. Our parish seat, Jennings hosted the second annual Roasting with Rosie Bar-B-Que Festival today. Loryn's Jr. high Cheer team was going to compete in the Cheer contest, but major rains were predicted and her team pulled out of the competition.
But we went anyway to sample some ribs, brisket and chicken.
The BBQ contest is divided in to the pros, and local taster's choice teams. The taster's choice contest allows festival goers to vote on their favorites. Local vendors and restaurants also sell carnival foods.
Southern Bar-B-Que Sauce, a local hometown favorite has just joined as an Official Sponsor of the LSU Tigers as the official BBQ sauce!
Southern BBQ sauce has been made in Jeff Davis Parish for over 50 years, but it has always been a local thing, and it is good to see it getting statewide, even national exposure. I've done my part! Southern BBQ sauce has been in Danish kitchens for 10 years now, as we bring it as a gift, instead of wine!
Growing up, hamburgers were always served hot off of the BBQ pit and in a warm puddle of sauce on white Evangeline Maid Buns.


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Tuesday, September 08, 2009

IRL...In Real Life


This photo is very special. It is the very first photo taken of Benny, Loryn and I...Ever. You see, he had just stepped off of the airplane in Lafayette, Louisiana on June 12, 1999 for a visit with the girl in Louisiana he met online. I handed the camera over to a stranger and the photo was snapped quickly. Gee, we look so young.. and thin! Loryn was not yet 3. I always laugh at this photo...It is SUMMER... In LOUISIANA... and he was wearing wool pants and long sleeve shirt. I had to bring him shopping very quickly as he planned to spend 3 weeks and it is WAY TOO HOT to wear long sleeves and wool pants on some days in winter, much less in JUNE. He learned quickly!

Monday, September 07, 2009

Photos we sent to each other-1999


Sorry, they are not really great photos. It is amazing the change in technology in only 10 years. Benny scanned and sent the photos from his winter ski holiday and he also took some photos of himself at his computer in his house in Greve, but I no longer have them ;) I scanned in some of the Easter photos and also sent my school teacher photo, which is also not on this hardrive.
Loryn's little tykes swing set was brand new then. I still have it in the back yard. Benny wants to remove it, but I am holding out, hoping we'll have a little one to use it soon.
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The Story of Us Part 1

In 1998 I suddenly found myself a single mom. After 7 years of marriage I was forced to file for divorce. If the ex had Loryn for weekend visitation or when my parents had Loryn after her bedtime, I began dating. One guy I dated used ICQ to message, so I downloaded it to my computer.

I would spend the evenings after Loryn was asleep on this new ICQ (I SEEK YOU) , a message feature on my computer. February 5, 1999, I was bored, I had stopped seeing the local ICQ guy and I used the random chat feature. Like a slot machine I kept hitting random chat , by passing all of the middle Eastern guys looking for sex chat until I noticed a guy from Copenhagen, Denmark named Benny ! INSPIRATION! Maybe he could look up my long, lost Danish exchange student. I began bugging him daily if he had any luck looking up her number. Really, that was the only reason I had to talk to a guy in Denmark.
I said- "Here is her last known information, her parents' names and addresses and her last address , Please find her."
We chatted every day on ICQ until about Mid March. Eventually he did find the phone number of the long lost Exchange student ( post about her to follow soon). We soon were talking every day for about 2 hours. We set up Net meeting, a bit like skype, but with out pictures, I guess. We just logged in on net meeting as I went about my daily afternoon and evening routine. I taught kindergarten and picked Loryn up about 4 pm and brought her home, and she would run around and play and I would fix her meals all the while Benny would be listening in to the chaos that is toddlerhood. He did have to sleep, so it was not around the clock, and I remember there was quite the problem getting net meeting working on some days.
I remember his questions of what is that noise? ( Electric can opener) Why is she upset? (She is hungry.) Why is she crying ( She doesn't want to be still long enough to change her diaper) I think he pitied me... or Loryn , I don't know which. :) It really wasn't like I was sitting on the computer typing, I just had the net meeting going while I went about my regular business...Laundry, snacks for Loryn, kitchen duties. I wasn't ignoring Loryn in anyway, in case you were wondering. In case you have not read earlier posts, Loryn was later diagnosed with Autism, but at 2 and 3 she was a VERY difficult , non-verbal toddler with significant developmental delays in speech and communication.
Benny would get off of work his time 4pm and would nap in order to be up at just before midnight Denmark time for our nightly chats. Weekends he spent at the KGB ( Kobenhaven Gokart Bane) where he worked as a youth school teacher, but he met me online and if net meeting was not working, he would look for me on ICQ or just send me an email. I remember one day, I bought a long distance phone card at Wal-Mart and called him out of the blue on his regular phone for the first time.

I was casually dating many local guys and would tell him of my dates he one day told me he really wished I would not date anyone else but him...EXCUSE ME?. That must had been in April, because one of the last dates I went on was with a guy that helped me with my taxes.
I told Benny I could not promise him that...for someone I had never met, But really, I don't think I went out on any dates after that...After all , all my time was spent talking to Benny.
He hinted around about the LONG vacation time he had available in the summer from his job at Phillips Electronics in Copenhagen. So I suggested that he come for a visit. After all, my parents were next door, so If he was a crazy stalker, I was well protected. So he planned to come to visit during his long summer vacation. By early May he had his tickets purchased to fly from Copenhagen to Lafayette, Louisiana. In his mind, he was coming to meet the woman that was going to be his wife. I on the other hand was still a bit jaded after a failed marriage and divorce...It took meeting him in person to convince me... after all, any thing else is just crazy, right?

By this time Loryn’s father had disappeared from her life, and I knew he would not be a father to her. She was a difficult toddler and had so many developmental delays. She eventually became so distraught when we did visitation exchange that my ex stopped visitation all together. He left the state with out a forwarding address.
Benny came over to visit and every one quickly fell in love with him, my parents and family thought he was wonderful. And he was so patient with Loryn. We became engaged and we discovered that it was easier to get married in Denmark and get a green card for Benny to move over to the USA. The Labor Day weekend in 1999 and Loryn and I moved to Denmark for 4 1/2 months. We were married at his childhood church on October 30, 1999. We moved back to my home in Jennings just before the turn of the millennium, 2000. I will blog about the time I spent in Denmark later.

Saturday, September 05, 2009

Down On the Farm

There are a few new residents in the hen house. Loryn was excited to see that one of the broody hens had a few chicks peeking out from under her. I love the coloring of these babies. A rusty brown one and a pale gray one... They are so cute! Our roosters are feather footed cochin bantams so they are little and we have an assortment of hens... Rhode Island Reds, Aurcauna, barred rock and bantams and little bantum cochin and silkie's too.



Walking out of the hen house I took a quick picture of the back of our house. The structure on the far left is the "tree house" my brothers and I played in when we were little. It is not safe to play in now, and Benny and Loryn have been talking about repairing the structure. Benny removed the ladder rungs on the tree house many years ago to prevent Loryn from climbing the 3 story structure.

Just past our gray house is the gray rice dryer, you have to enlarge the picture to see it. Benny built the deck in the back of our house, which is not quite finished yet. The weather got to hot for Benny to finish. I hope as soon as it gets cooler, he can finish. It is usable, but missing the final railing. We really enjoyed using it during the spring . It has solar lights all around it and we have a fire pit we sit around roasting hot dogs and marshmallows. The weather lately has been really much dryer and cooler so we sat out and had a wienie roast on Thursday night. After we had to turn on the lights when it got dark, the bugs came out in full force, so Benny was bitten quite a bit... The mosquitoes really like him best, he is so sweet!

Lately the view from my living room window is that rice truck. The farmer using the dryers now parked the truck uncovered one afternoon so I snapped a picture. When I was growing up the farmers did not use 18 wheeler trucks. The rice truck back then were much smaller. The family farm had to replace the ditch culverts last year so the farmer using the land could get his 18 wheeler in to haul rice. My aunt's were not so understanding why they had to spend money on culverts, but the old ones were over 50 years old and just were not suitable for the weights of today's farm equipment.
Loryn seeks out wildlife of all kinds. She knows the location of every banana Spider on the property and will let me know when they have moved their web, which they do often.
She also found the praying mantis while we were at the hen house and begged me to take a photo of it...so there you go.


Benny does try to spend time on his gokart on his days off. He found parts he needed , like a seat at gokartparts.com, and stalked the UPS man, hoping his package came early enough so he could have them on his week off last week. They did not come until afterwards so her had to wait another week to work on the gokart. So here is is at the point where he is figuring out the steering system.
And then I called him in a panic on his last day off. My power steering in my car when out as I was arriving to visit one of my little students. So he left his gokart to escort me home safely, figured out what was wrong, when to get the part and took me out to lunch! Plus he changed the oil in my car , too. He is so handy and can fix anything worth fixing... which is the main reason I am driving a 12 year old car. The car that won't die... I really want a new car, but not a car note yet, so I hope he can keep it going a year more until I am finished working on my masters. One semester is like 3-4 months worth of car notes... So when I finish grad school, I can get a new car, I guess!
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Sunday, August 30, 2009

4 years ago...



4 years ago, New Orleans was underwater after the levees broke from the water surge from Hurricane Katrina.In remembrance I thought I would share pictures I took while in New Orleans in June, 2006, less than a year after the storm.

The first collage shows damage in the area leading towards St. Bernard Parish to the southeast of downtown New Orleans. New Orleans was not the only area hit, as coastal Mississippi, and Louisisana were in ruins afterwards.

The second set of pictures shows the many many FEMA Trailer parks, some RV camper type trailers, the other very BASIC mobile home type. They were made quickly and of substandard materails and made the residents sick.

The third set of Pictures shows the French Quarter, very much untouched by weather damage, however, this is in JUNE ...note the lack of people, usually the French Quarter is swarming with people.

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Friday, August 28, 2009

Gingerbread pancakes

I made these for Christmas breakfast last year. Good with warm cane syrup!

I also love Pumpkin pancakes, too. I think they also work okay in the waffle iron. I prefer waffles to pancakes, but I am the only one in the family with that opinion.

GINGERBREAD PANCAKES

3 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup brewed coffee
2 1/2 cups white unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
4 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

In a large bowl, mix eggs and brown sugar until well combined. Add buttermilk, water and brewed coffee, and stir to combine. In another large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Stir in the melted butter.

Grease a griddle or heavy skillet. Heat griddle or skillet over medium-high heat and then add the batter, by ladle-fulls. Cook until little bubbles appear around the edges of the pancake, and then flip. Cook on the second side until golden brown and cooked through in the middle. Serve immediately.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Targil Seasoning

 



Loryn often goes camping with grandma and grandpa at local Louisiana state parks during her holidays from school. On one such trip they went to Targil Seasoning and Butcher supply in Opelousas. They blend their own Cajun Spices and sell a varity of Cajun seasonings, kitchen supplies, and general merchandise/hardware. Loryn brought her camera and took so many pictures, she wanted to show me what they had in this huge store. I found the combination of things she chose to photograph very interesting.
 



She loved the many shapes of wilton cake pans. The castle is one we have and uses for her 9th birthday party.

 


There were also a wide sellection of antique gas pumps and farm empliments.
 
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Saturday, August 22, 2009

Acadian Village Photos

 

 

 

 
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Acadian Village Photo Collages





These photos were taken at Lafayette's Acadian Village, many year ago. I believe Loryn was about 7 years old. Acadian Village is a compilation of several old Cajun Buildings that were saved and placed into a walking museum setting. There is an old Blacksmith's shop, a general store, a garden, and Acadian style houses as well as an actual old Catholic church. They are placed together on the opposite banks of the "bayou", with bridges to go across. The Cajun house is usually a shotgun style house. Made of Cypress, they are always placed on pillars to allow the air to circulate during the hot humid summers. The houses have the typical Boy's room upstairs. There is a set of stairs on the front porch which lead the the attic where the boys could sleep. They could come and go at all hours of the night. However, the girls room would always be behind the parent's room. that way they could keep track of the girls comings and goings at all times. A double standard, no?

Friday, August 21, 2009

Rainbow from my front door

 

 

 


These photos were take about 3 years ago... nothing has changed except the girl...She has gotten older.
This is the view from the front of my house...Yes, I live right next door to a grain dryer. right now is the Noisy season...Rice harvest means wet rice must be dried before storage. Have you ever rode on an airplane, right on the wing, and listened to the constant roar of the jet engines? That is what it sounds like at my house right now. In my bedroom, all day and all night....You get used to it....It is white noise.
The gas burners and electric fans blow warm air into the silo and remove the moisture from the rice...otherwise it would rot.
These photos also prove I live in the flattest place on earth...no dips or swells. Flat as the eye can see....
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After the rain

 


Yesterday it RAINED, hard, or soft, all day. Today we have a bright sun shiny day. In honor of the rain stopping, I'm posting this....rainbow for you to enjoy.
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