Have to comment on some current events.

Before I start, I am first saying that this post has nothing at all to do with my personal feelings or political views on gay marriage.  Any and all comments trying to create controversy about that subject will be deleted.

Several days ago, NY State legalized gay marriage.  Amid all the hoopla surrounding this, several of the larger NY corporations, led by IBM announced that after a time period (honestly I missed the exact amount, and since I'm already married I'm not looking it up for Y'all)  it will be discontinuing benefits for same sex domestic partners.  Keep in mind that they never had benefits for opposite sex domestic partners.  I understand why they had the benefits for DP's.  I also understand that in this world, sadly to say, marriage is more a legal and financial institution than a romantic one.  The 'til death do part thing has become a sham in modern times. (No I don't believe in no-fault divorce.  I do believe there are times when divorce is necessary, but with the no-fault laws in every state, you now there's an out when you take your vows - so how serious are the vows anymore) 

Now there is outrage  and I am confused.  People fought really hard to be able to have the rights, benefits and headaches granted with the marriage contract.  Now they have them.  It's not like these companies are saying you need to be married next week.  But if the choice for marriage vs living together is now an option the same as for heterosexual couples,  why is it such a controversy that a stop gap measure utilized because the option wasn't there , should be removed after the option exists??  Equality and fairness goes in both directions.  If I hadn't married Curt and had chosen to have a committed live in relationship with him instead, I wouldn't be outraged at not getting benefits .  I did marry him and I get his benefits.  If they do not chose to get married that is their option as well, but since it is now an option not a forced situation, the resulting benefits or lack therein are their choice as well.

Rant over.

Sensational Haiku Wednesday

Welcome to “Sensational Haiku Wednesday!”

Click here for info and background on this weekly event!

The basics:
Haiku is simple! It is 3 non-rhyming lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively (a great way to use your fingers!)

This week’s theme is: Living

You are born, then die

In between is what matters,

Love is all you leave. 

Dessert Anyone?

the other day I was going to make an apricot gallette  but didn't have enough butter for the crust.  ( yes butter is usually in the freezer, but I screwed up somehow)  I DID have some puff pastry shells so I baked them off and cut the apricots a bit smaller, and a small amount of sugar and some triple sec, then because it was too thin I added some tapioca and simmered it for a while.  I then spooned the apricot into the shell and added a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I don't bleed orange

For those who still entertained the thought.

At work on Saturday  night I went to cut the wrap off a pallet of belgian pavers (look like brick - not as hard to build walls with - still pretty heavy)  For whatever reason they weren't banded under the wrap.  Unbeknownst to myself and Paul, they have been coming that way for some time.  That's why they have been cutting the wrap partway.  Anyway, I cut the wrap, and the entire first row fell off the pallet down from 3 feet on the shelf and landed on my left leg/ankle ( I told you my left side was kind of useless)  so I have a bunch of cuts, scrapes and abrasions as well as a serious bruise on my lower leg.  And my blood was red, not orange.  Of course Tony doesn't drive an orange car anymore, but a red one....

I was going to post a picture, but it's kind of gross. 

List #2

Sorry- I did say I'd be posting more, but work fell apart this week.   On that note - if you could spare a prayer or thought to my friend Good Dan - his mom passed yesterday after a stroke on Wednesday.


Items I must have in the freezer to function in the kitchen.

1. diced onions - yes, I prefer to chop a fresh onion, but sometimes time/energy constraints require a quicker/easier solution.  So there is always a bag of diced onion in my freezer door.

2. roasted pepper strips - from Target - they have a bag of red/yellow/green grilled pepper strips - sometimes I use them as strips sometimes I chop them - I put peppers in 90% of my dinner's and once again fresh isn't always happening. 

3. salmon fillets - really easy, quick dinner- top it with some herbs and olive oil or lemon juice, make an extra have it over salad the next day for lunch.  I usually order mine from Schwann's.

4. chopped spinach bags- the bags are easier than the boxes.  I think the bag prevents freezer burn better than the box and it's easier to get a small amount out.  I use it in omelets, risotto dishes, dips, soups, pasta sauces. Very versatile, very yummy and an easy way to get some more veggie on the plate.

5. andouille sausage - it goes in a lot of my quick and easy default dinners - rice & beans ( pinto, red, pink, black)  okra and tomatoes over rice, jambalaya,  kale sausage & white beans, mexican chicken stew.   

6.  vanilla ice cream (Target Archer Farm's Madagascar Vanilla is my fav)  by itself - or as an addition great for dessert.

7.  cheese ravioli.  my grandmother's after school snack she made us was ravioli with butter and fresh herbs  - it's now one of Angie's snacks if she didn't get a good lunch.  also layered with the frozen spinach, portabella's maybe sausage & tomato sauce makes a fast fake lasagna.

8.  boneless skinless chicken breast - thaws quickly in a bowl of cold water and is probably one of the most versatile proteins.

9.  unsalted butter sticks - the urge to bake usually strikes without warning, and this used to be the one item I had to go to the store for, I learned and am now prepared.

10.  ice - LOL! 

Sensational Haiku Wednesday

Welcome to “Sensational Haiku Wednesday!”

Click here for info and background on this weekly event!

The basics:
Haiku is simple! It is 3 non-rhyming lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively (a great way to use your fingers!)

This week’s theme is: Joy

Weird things bring me joy.

say I'm not normal, I have

no competition!

Balcony Garden Post 2

As a continuation of yesterday's post, here is a picture down the rail.



And turning the corner.



And the two hanging hot pepper pots.





The peppers really need some solid sunny days.

And a shot of some oregano.

Balcony Garden Post 1

Or as Curt refers to it "the upper 40".  It still has about another week of work to get everything settled, but I can show you some of it.  I don't have a picture, but we have sliding glass doors. These open to the center of the balcony.  In the center area, we have 2 chairs and a little table.  During the summer, Curt and I will occasionally have a meal out there, but more often dessert or a snack.  We read out there, Curt plays with his electronic toys, I knit.  To the left, there is not as much sun - although after the power company trimmed some trees there is a fair bit.  To the right is an L shape section that wraps the south east end of the building.  It gets a lot of sun. Peppers and tomatoes love being there as do eggplants.  I start my cucumbers and herbs on that side but move them left by July 4th to protect them from summer's harshness.  

Speaking of cucumbers, here are my three plants and their trellis.  If you look carefully you will see I have a bunch of baby cuke's already.  I will probably knock 1/2 off, to help the fruit that will be left.



One of my tomato plants - a Bush Early Girl - is already up to my hip, and as you can see in this pic, has some little green tomatoes already.




My Container Choice tomato also has several flowers but no fruit yet.





My Miro-tom - the actual world's smallest tomato.





My "pet" as I couldn't get it last year - the Coyote tomato - a low acid yellow cherry. It is starting to bud - but no actual flowers yet.




 

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

Curt's going to have to wait a few weeks for his present.  Although he knows what it is- so it isn't like he'll be in suspense.

  NJ Beer and Food festival

Since he will clearly not be in any shape to drive home - and we know I'm never going to be the designated driver - We are spending a romantic weekend at the Alpine Haus (next door to the Resort - am working on arranging a car service)

 

Reading update.

This is the third and final book in  the Sugar Maple series.  I really enjoyed reading the first book.  The second book, took me a while to read, it did not really capture my interest.  I read this book because A. my friend Grace was nice enough to loan it to me and B. I just needed some closure.  I assumed , as in most literature of this type, that Sugar Maple would be saved by Chloe, but I didn't necessarily know how.  I assumed Chloe would end up with Luke - for at least a while.

This third book sucked me in.  It was well written and I just had to keep turning the pages.  A  trip to Salem, and many trials for Chloe led to a nail biting climax.  I am glad I struggled through book 2 to be able to read book 3.

Reading Update

As I mentioned a couple of month's ago, my library has a program that allows you to select a bunch of your favorite authors, and if the library acquires a new book from them you are automatically put on the reserve list.  This is the second book I have read through this program.  I didn't realize that Macomber had another of her Blossom Street series out.

As with the other books in this series, the book focuses on a character we met in one of the other books.  In this case it is Bethanne Hamlin, who we initially met when her husband suddenly left her for another woman.  Knitting helped Bethanne find both sanity and new friends to support her as she rebuilt her life.

Now, we rejoin Bethanne's life 6 years later.  Her party business has taken off and she is quite the business success.  Her oldest son is ready to be married, and daughter is working in the business as she finishes her Master's degree.  Bethanne's mother in law has planned the cross country road trip from WA to FLA for her high school reunion where her first love will be.  She decides to join her on a much needed vacation to regroup and decide whether or not to reunite with her ex-husband who is now divorced again and has realized his mistake.  Her daughter decides to accompany them after an unexpected breakup with her boyfriend.

The road trip is quite the adventure, as they meet new people, leave the mapped out planned route and just go with the road.

This was a really great relaxing read - I read it in my May funk - when I really needed to just open a book and escape.

Reading update.

First I read An Irish Country Village.  It is the second book in the Irish Country Doctor Series that I started a few months ago by reading the most recent book in the series. It is the continuing story of Dr Barry Laverty a newly licensed rural GP in Northern Ireland.  His irascible senior Dr, Dr O'Reilly, indomitable housekeeper Mrs "Kinky" Kincaid and his burgeoning Romance with civil engineering student, Patricia , who is trying to win a scholarship to study in Cambridge, England. All the characters of a rural village are there as entertaining as ever.  Each book only covers a couple months worth of time, so is a snapshot of life in the early 60's in Northern Ireland.  I've really enjoyed this visit - even though I usually stick to Ireland itself and not the 6 counties.

 

Sensational Haiku Wednesday

Welcome to “Sensational Haiku Wednesday!”

Click here for info and background on this weekly event!

The basics:
Haiku is simple! It is 3 non-rhyming lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively (a great way to use your fingers!)

This week’s theme is: Fortitude 

Started with her eggs,

Hot sauce now goes on most food.

Cast Iron Stomach.

 

dedicated to the Angie 

Lists

I'm a big fan of lists.  There is nothing as satisfying as crossing stuff off of a list.  Several people whose blogs I follow have list postings usually weekly.  It's amusing sometimes to see the topics for the lists they post, when they obviously are having trouble coming up with them.  So I've decided to  join in the list fun!  Today we will kick it off with:

My favorite lists:
1.  Vacation packing.  I make lists for Curt and Angie as well as myself.  It takes a couple days to create these lists as I edit.  Especially in the wintertime, there is always one extra days supplies - which has been handy more than once.  The Angie loves my lists.  Curt mocks them.  One vacation I didn't make him a list - and we were shopping for him several times that vacation.

2.  Race weekend.  My NASCAR friends will understand the extent of stuff necessary for a succesful race weekend.  Radios, batteries, tailgate food, in track coolers, rain gear, sunscreen, (yarn) (In Min's case if she is going with her mom - ruby slippers to get home) 

3.  Garden plants.  I start working out what I'm going to grow in January.  The list is finalized in April.  Aquisition starts in May.  

4. Angie's bucket list.  The Angie is the only person I know who started a bucket list when still in pre-school.  It started with things like specific roller coasters,  and places she saw on tv.  It has grown,  some of the things on it are kind of bizarre.  Driving a golf cart,  riding a bike (she refused as a child) I have to give her credit. She has also been methodically crossing stuff off of it as well.

5. Store walk.  This is a report that comes out at work.  It breaks down each department in the store into classes and subclasses of stuff.  It shows how your sales now compare to last year and to other stores in your district and market.  I like being at the top of this list.  I'm usually at the top of this list.

6.  The list of high scores on my games.  All of the games.  I like being at the top of these lists too.  

7.  The big dinner list.  This is for big holiday dinners when we host.  It includes everything from the menu, groceries for the menu, decor and a to do list (cleaning etc) before the "day"

8.  My Scorpio bitch list.  I was born on the cusp of Scorpio /Sagittarius.  I really don't believe in horoscopes , but personalities have a lot of coincidence.  I can be you best coach, friend, teacher, fan etc.  But there is a very narrow line - no real gray area - and once you cross it you are on the list.  It is just about impossible to get off the list.  If you make it to the top of the list you don't even exist.

9.  My knitting projects.  need I say more?

10.  And the best list of all is the shortest list of all.  My friends.  From the outside it would seem as though I'm a pretty popular person, but most of those people are acquaintances not really friends.  I have very few friends, because I'm just not that nice/trusting and most people annoy me, and because I really do love my friends dearly, and they are all so awesome each in their own way.  They each fulfill one of my social/emotional needs and when you have friends that great you don't need a lot.  

Succulents

Here's an update on the "Living Wall"  Two of the plants didn't make it through the  winter so I replaced them.  They seem to have taken very well.



Two of the plants are flowering



I like the succulents so much - plus the perennial aspect of them appeals to me, so I planted 3 of the planters on the steps with them as well.







I took the pictures this evening, so the flowers which seem to bloom only in the daytime were all curled up already.

Through the fog.

At Pocono for NASCAR qualifying and the ARCA race today.  Just as Tony's luck would have it the sun started peeking out over turn 2 during his qualifying lap and slowed his speed down a bit :(  

The ARCA race was kind of good between the 17, 25, 31 and 41.  I was rooting for Tim George Jr.  As the race went on "fog" (seriously more like a dense cloud hitting the mountain top) kept rolling in, easing up a tad then coming back in.  There were 2 red flags (where the race is temporarily stopped) because the spotters were repeatedly telling the ARCA officials, their crew chiefs and drivers that they can't see from the middle of turn 1 until the exit of turn 3. 

This was my view of turn 1 (or more technically non-view) at one point



Not only could I not see turn one, I couldn't even see the exit of pit road!!

Here was my non-view of turn 3



As you can see the scoring tower was barely visible which is about the halfway point on pit road on the start/finish line.  I couldn't see the start of pit road much less turn 3.



This was directly in front of me.  You can see the garage, but not the haulers parked on the other side, not the infield, and definitely not turn 2.  Usually when you look over the garage you can see for 20 miles to the next mountain top!!  (if you're reading this Thom - I may need to use one of these pic's for your Muffed Target!)

It was Knit in Public Day today, and I did bring knitting as I anticipated a lot of wait time.  I finished one item and started a second.  It's a beer bottle cozy.  You'll see a better pic after I finish the set,

More Knitting

Another project I never shared with you was a series of tea cozies, also a NERDWARS challenge.  They were all done with the same pattern, but different yarns and needles.



The small one was made for a really tiny tea pot I have - but I misjudged the size of the handle.  Oh well.

Hey! Teach

While I was in a blog funk for 6 or 7 weeks, I was also in a knitting funk for most of May.  However, I did finish my NERDWARS dissertation for Tournament 1 ( Feb-April)  I finished the seaming the sweater with 4 hours left in the tournament.  Fortunately I blocked it before I seamed it, so it was truly done.  





I found the perfect buttons on Etsy for my sweater:


Since the Angie ( my personal model) was still away at school when these pictures were taken, A hanger had to do.

Sensational Haiku Wednesday

Welcome to “Sensational Haiku Wednesday!”

Click here for info and background on this weekly event!

The basics:
Haiku is simple! It is 3 non-rhyming lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively (a great way to use your fingers!)

This week’s theme is: Health

I'll drink to your health!

with a decidedly not

healthy kind of drink.

 

In my mid forties,

mortality is realized.

Time to do something!

 

Almost everyday,

hit the gym for cardio

and weight machine work.   

Best Book I've Read in a Long Time!

This was one of the best books I've ever read.  As in stayed up way too late reading, went to work late the next morning good.  My house became a temporary pig sty good.  My husband and daughter were forced... gasp... to feed themselves good.  I didn't touch yarn or needles while I was reading it good.  Barely made the gym some days good.


Of course, when I was about 2/3 of the way through, I realized how screwed I was.  It took about that long for the fact that the word Trilogy was on the book jacket.  Yup trilogy.  I need to get through 2 more books to put this one to rest.  And book 2 doesn't come out until 2012!!  (That whack job rescheduling the end of the world for October better be wrong, or I will enter the forever seriously pissed)  Then again that also somewhat implies book 3 in 2013.  So the Mayans better be wrong about 12 2012 - or see above pissed comment.


The story is of the 3 creature races, witches, vampires and daemons.  And their need to survive in an increasingly human world.  An old Alchemy manuscript, called back from oblivion , by Diana Bishop - descendant of a witch burned at Salem- who rejects her magic since her parents' murder when she was 7, draws the attention of witches, vampires and daemons all of whom have a belief as to what was in the manuscript.  Most do not have her better interests in heart.  One vampire whose attention she draws, Matthew Clairmont, has been around for 1500 years.  He has been searching for this manuscript for 150 years.  There is a ban on relationships between the different creatures for a thousand years.  Diana doesn't know this as she does not operate within the magical realm.  Through the course of the book they fall in love.


A found note from her parents, a page that was removed from the manuscript give a clue as to their destiny.  I don't want to spoil the book, so that's all I can say.  


When returning the book to the library, I had a chat with the librarian, who had also read the book.  She is with me in the "we didn't know it was a trilogy argh!" boat.

Now I am finally reading Spun by Sorcery, which my friend Grace was kind enough to lend me months ago!  Hopefully I can return it to her next week!

Catching up....

A couple of weeks ago, I had my anniversary in the big orange Box.  My 20th anniversary.  That implies way more stability than I ever thought I'd had.  In a way, the fact that I've worked in 8 different buildings (4 different positions in the 6 1/2 years I've been in this building) and I don't even know how many positions I've had.  I've been attached to 10 out of 11 merchandising departments. All the ops departments except for bookkeeping.

There are a few perks attached to longevity, but not as many as in places where longevity matters.  I get first dibs on my vacation time.  I got a 2k bonus check- which turned into 1100 after the government got there share.  I got a handwritten note from the ceo (well it was handwritten and it looked like a man's writing...)

But the biggest reason I stuck around?  Especially with all the crap they've been dishing out lately??




I get 200 hours of vacation time.  5 weeks vacation time.  and 48 hours of sick time.  That's a week plus a day.  So 6 weeks and 1 day of paid time off.    I really can't beat that anywhere.  So I stick around.  Although after the week I had last week, it may be time to head for store number 6...

Sunday Stealing ~ The Team Jeffie Meme

written by Thom - June 4th, 2011 at 5:28 pm

Please read: We have a bit of a twist to Sunday Stealing this week. We steal from blogs living or dead. It doesn’t matter to us. But the meme we stumbled across this week was the last post the man, Jeff, ever posted. It had a preamble from his wife, Amy. She explained he was in a terrible accident and directed people to her “Team Jeffie” website. We did a bit of searching. What happened to Jeff? We thought before we just go ahead and publish. But that did not seem right. Instead, we decided to find out if Jeff was okay and if his wife minded our theft. We wrote to his wife, Amy asking that question. Amy first wrote:

If you point to anything, please point to the Team Jeffie page here on Facebook (facebook.com/teamjeffie) — if you flip back through the entries from the past six months, you’ll begin to get a sense of how horrific these months have been. Especially for the months of December and January, when our only goals were ‘survival’ and ‘eventual consciousness.’
Prior to his accident, Jeff was an extraordinarily gifted engineer. In the past six months, he has relearned to breathe, to talk, to feed himself, to walk. We have learned, much to our astonishment, that if he perseveres with his therapy, there is a good chance that he might resume his engineering work — not now, not soon, but eventually.
Imagine a man who loves audio work so much that he was back mixing live performances when he still needed a walker, and still struggled to speak clearly all the time. (I should note that his skills survived the accident. It was amazing to see.)
Jeff, his family, his friends, and I have been through a lot. We are very real people going through a horrific life event, and we need genuine support and care, not curious onlookers.
We were extraordinarily introverted before the accident, and the months since have been doubly traumatic — not only are we going through this, we’re having to go through it with zero privacy.
Whatever you say … please be kind. That’s all I can ask.
We wrote her back to say that her words would introduce our meme. Today, please click on her Team Jeffiesite. Just say “hi” and wish him well. We’re hoping that those you with the time could also help our new friends Amy and Jeffie. Let them know they’ve got new friends that care. We hope we’ve been kind. God bless them. God bless you, our friends!
Bud Weiser
Welcome back to Sunday Stealing. Sunday Stealing originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard of the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we also have our rules. First, we always credit the blog that we stole it from and we will “fess up” to the blog owner where we stole the meme. We also provide a link to the victim’s post. (It’s our way of saying “Thanks!”) We do sometimes edit the original meme, usually to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, sometimes to select that meme’s best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from either this new meme or recently asked questions from a prior featured meme. Let’s go!
Today we ripped off a blogger named Jeff from the blog Sliding Constant. But, it was probably stolen there as well. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft’s thieves might take some time. Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!
Cheers to all us thieves! Sunday Stealing ~ The Team Jeffie Meme TRUE OR FALSE Q: Kissed someone on your friends list? TRUE
Q: Been arrested? FALSE
Q: Held a snake? FALSE
Q: Been suspended from school? TRUE
Q: Sang karaoke?FALSE
Q: Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t do? TRUE
Q: Laughed until you started crying? TRUE
Q: Caught a snowflake on your tongue? TRUE
Q: Kissed in the rain? TRUE
Q: Sang in the shower? TRUE
Q: Sat on a roof top? TRUE
Q: Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? TRUE
Q: Broken a bone? FALSE
Q: Shaved your head? FALSE
Q: Played a prank on someone? TRUE
Q: Shot a gun? TRUE
Q: Donated Blood? FALSE
LAST PERSON… 1. You hung out with? Paul
2. You texted? Curt
3. You were in a car with? Paul
4. Went to the movies with? Curt & Angie
5. Person you went to shop with?Curt
6. You talked on the phone? Angie
7. Made you laugh? Ramos
8. You hugged?Don
IN THE LAST 48 HOURS HAVE YOU… 1. Sang? No
2. Listened to music? Yes
3. Danced Crazy? Does a weird victory dance count?
4. Cried? No
FIRSTS ….. 1.Who was your first prom (or homecoming) date? Tommy
2. Who was your first roommate?Mike
3. What alcoholic beverage did you drink when you got drunk the first time? Beer
4. What was your first job? Saddle breaking horses
5. What was your first car? 1969 VW microbus
6. When did you go to your first funeral and viewing?My great grandfather's Sister. I was 7 or 8.
7. Who was your first grade teacher? Mrs Bobby (although now I think she was really Mrs Robert)
8. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane? IN to TX
9. When you snuck out of your house for the first time? When I was 9 or 10.
10. Who was your first best friend? Tommy
11. Who was your first Best Friend in high school?Martin
12. Where was your first sleepover? Mikey's house
13. Who is the first person you call when you have a bad day? Curt
14. Who’s wedding were you in the first time you were a Bridesmaid or groomsman?never
15. What is the first thing you did when you got up this morning? Tried to decide if it was still Sunday.
16. First time you tied your shoe laces? No idea, most mornings even now, I walk into work, hold up my foot and Moe ties them for me.
17. Are you Facebook friends with your first crush? not on facebook.
18. Who was the first person you met from the blogosphere? not sure. 
19. What was the first music album that you bought?don't remember.  best guess is Skynnard
20. Who was your first celebrity crush? Leonard Nimoy as Spock
Thank you for playing this week on Sunday Stealing! Please leave a comment or link when you have posted. Feel free to stop back and visit other player’s posts. See you next Sunday!

Yes, I'm Still Alive. Thanx All Who Were Asking.

I was just in a serious blogging funk.  Actually a serious tech funk.  I didn't feel like blogging, my Ravelry posts were way down, and then when my phone went all screwy, my Tweets were non-existent as well. A lot of people commented/e-mailed/texted/Im'd/Pm'd their concern about my absence.  So thank you all.  It's nice to know I was missed.  

Anywho, on to more fun stuff.  Yesterday, Curt and I rode up to the Crawfish Fest at the Sussex County Fairgrounds.  We hadn't been there for several years because it had been conflicting with the NASCAR race at Pocono, where we haven't missed a race in many, many years.  A girl's got to have priorities you know?  The whole concept of the fest is pretty cool.  It started as a crawfish boil for less than a hundred people, who missed LA (the state not the city)  We discovered it when it got bigger and moved to Waterloo Village.  It has since gotten bigger, and takes over the Fairgrounds every summer.  This year they had 2 stages, a dance hall and of course the food.  After stuffing ourselves, We got crawfish, crawfish pie, crawfish bread, crawfish etoufee, jambalaya, alligator sausage, spicy fried chicken, bread pudding, and rum pralines and put them in tupperware in the empty cooler we brought. ( I call it reverse tailgating)  They were out of boudin links and gumbo by the time we were "shopping"  Angie didn't come with us, so she was eagerly anticipating the return of the cooler.







Besides food, the other big draw is the fact that a lot of New Orleans music comes up for the Fest. (Thus the 2 stages)  Curt was really anticipating Tab Benoit.  After he played we went up, curt bought a tshirt and cd, and then we went over to the fenceline where Tab signed the CD for Curt.










Although it was cloudy all day, there were only a handful of raindrops, so even though I didn't even out my shoulders in the weird tan I'm getting working outside, I can't complain about the weather.  One last note.  Apparently there is a restaurant in Austin, TX called Green Mesquite.  I must go there one day. Mostly to buy this t-shirt I saw on a guy: