st. paddy's parade

 

When I wrote the dates for the Sisters' Trip 2013 down on my calendar and realized we would be traveling together on St. Patrick's Day, I decided then and there that we would need proper gear to wear for the occasion.
A quick down the dollar aisle at Target and we were in business. I spent the better part of a twenty dollar bill stocking up on scarves and hats to be worn on our trip and at my girl's annual St. Patrick's tea party.
I did not know for sure where we would be "wearing o the green" but I knew we'd be on our trip and be together so I couldn't resist the opportunity for a little sisterly dress up. After all, playing dress up with these girls has been one of my favorite things to do for more than a half century.
I mentioned to the Baby Sister at one of our planning lunches that Natchez might just have a St. Patrick's parade. I knew that there was a fairly large population of Irishmen who settled in Natchez, Frederick Stanton, who built Stanton Hall being one of them.
Sure enough, when we go to the visitor's center to pick up our Pilgrimage tours tickets we also pick up our travelers guide and learn there is a St. Pattys parade right downtown on Saturday night/St. Patrick's Day Eve. The time: immediately after mass (which we were told would be "6'ish.") The route: from the Catholic church downtown to the gazebo on the River.
We'd regretted all day missing a wedding in the Pergola at Monmoth the evening before. We were not about to miss another Natchez event. That evening, we were sitting curbside, in full St. Patrick's regalia when the parade rolled through.
At the corner where we parked we discovered a darling little children's shop that we decided we had to come back to before we departed on Monday. We also discovered how easy it is to chat with folks, admire their children and their pets at a St. Patrick's parade in Natchez, Mississippi. People to pictures of us and we took pictures of them and we even took pictures with some of them.
One of the sisters posted pix on Facebook. There were lots of funny comments made about our hats, especially but one of the comments was not funny. It was from one of my handsome Louisiana nephews who lives in Baton Rouge. The message said that if I was in NOLA or anywhere close to it and did not call him, I was on his bad list.
So what's an auntie to do? I was already on the bad list of several friends and relatives, some of them very close ones, who wanted to know why I didn't call or otherwise make plans to see them. I could not stand the idea of being on any more of those lists and besides this one had planned a big reunion last fall that we were unable to attend for work related reasons so I was already on his list. That, plus the fact that I love him more than my luggage, as they would say on "Steel Magnolias."
I called him. Immediately upon his message being read to me by one of my sisters.
 

restaurant recommendations

 

One always does well to take their recommendations from experts. When we arrived in St. Francisville and met up with my nephew, we asked him where we should have lunch.
He suggested the Oxbow because "their Mimosas are to die for."
I am telling you, that what is to die for is the shrimp and corn soup. And the crab au gratin.
and the... well, everything we tried.
Of course, when my nephew, who comes from a family of folk with gourmet tastes and who is a gourmet cook in his own right recommends a restaurant, it is a safe bet it will be fantastic.
We stayed over for dinner and he took us to a place in Morganza that looked to be an old gas station.
The food therein... how to put this...

things i like

 

chapeau

 

One sure well to tell the time of year at my house is by the kind of hats are hanging on the rack just inside the front door. The weather of late would not be a true indicator. It is mid April and still reaching freezing temperatures some nights. I wore  my heavy coat twice this week.
Still, I know it's time for warm weather because straw hats are hanging in the little entrance hall.
In the fall and winter, the hats are woolen or felt. I like the way they look, hanging there. But my daughters and I actually wear them, too! Even if it does temporarily mess up the decor.

"Gwandad, I am too comfy to move"

My grandbaby has been saying that she was going to start sleeping in the room adjacent to ours, rather than with the Hub and I for a lot time now. Most nights that she spends at our house, right up to bath time, she talks about it. By the time teeth are brushed and bedtime stories are read and prayers are said, she has changed her mind completely.
I asked her the other day, when she was finally going to do it. The room she would sleep in is all set up with her aunts' dolls and books as well as her own. A big doll house, fully furnished.
I set up slipper chair that belonged to my mother-in-law, with a throw and a side table for me to read to her from.  Her clothes are in the closet and the bureau. Lace curtains at the window. It is a pretty room and she loves it. But she has still never slept one night in there.
She has never mentioned boogie men or monsters under the bed the way my kids did. Instead, she just says straight out, "your bed is comfy."
And so it is. I can't argue with the child. Some days, the hardest thing I do all day is climb out of that comfy bed to face the world.
One recent morning, the Hub was trying to rouse us both up to greet the day. He is an early riser by nature and does not quite get why I am not. He thought his granddaughter was going to be an early riser, too. Actually, she was for a time. But it seems she outgrew it. My mother says pretty much the same thing about me. (She also says that as far as she knows, I have never slept through the night one time in my life. Also probably true!)
I laughed out loud when the Hub/Granddad said to my darling grandbaby, "you have got to get up. You have school today." She opened one eye, turned to look at him through it and said "Gwandad, I am too comfy to move.
Word.

Spring-itizing?!

"In the spring I have counted
one hundred and thirty-six

different kinds of weather

inside of four and twenty hours."
- Mark Twain



I am not sure what one calls the act of packing away cold weather gear and bringing out the linens and seersucker. Trading those on closet shelves for heavy hats, gloves, woolens. tweed. corduroy.
We use the ter


m "winterizing" when we speak of covering and securing things in late fall for the coming winter months.
What is it called for Spring?
You know, that time when  knit and felt hats packed away and replaced by straw hats on the coat rack in the foyer.
The time when sandals sit on the shelves occupied for months by boots.


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Finals gear for my girl

 

My baby daughter is gearing up for her second round of law school finals. That is what I had in mind when I was gathering things to fill her Easter basket. Her Dad has always say that one can "do about anything with the right equipment." Her Easter basket contents, part of which are pictured above, are my contribution to the "right equipment."
I will be adding to her stash with additional purse sized Kleenex, refills for her good pen(s), gun range-endorsed ear plugs, gum and mints just prior to her first test.
Those-- and the fervent prayers of her Mama, I hope, will serve her well in the coming weeks...