What's the Haps Wednesday {Decorating the Tree}

One of our holiday traditions is to decorate our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.

For years, I've wanted a beautiful themed tree with white lights.  You know the kind--all matchy-matchy downtown department store window worthy.

We pull out all of our old, worn ornaments that build our rag-tag tree.  Someone tells a story behind an ornament.  Then another.  And another.  Another remember when....  Another this one came from....

It's all embarrassingly Hallmarky.

At that point I know I will never have a matchy-matchy sophisticated tree because I can't give up the blue glass ball with my son's tiny preschool fingerprints in silver paint (he's almost 13).  Or the huge popsicle stick and pipecleaner reindeer he made years ago.  Or the salt dough ornament in the shape of a star--that he painted to look like Patrick Star when he was in his Spongebob phase.

~*~*~*~

I do sort of have a theme going though.  Over the years, I've collected angel ornaments.

It was an accidental collection, but I like it.

Some of my angel ornaments are inexpensive--dollar store finds.  The blocky one is from my grandma.

This one was a craft fair find.

The straw one also from my grandma.

From a co-worker

She's a Hallmark collectible from my husband.  2001 Hallmark One Little Angel.  I like her metal wings.

This one in blue is handmade.  I stole her from my mother in law's garage sale table.  I'll probably go to hell for stealing an angel.

This is one of my favorites.  Another collectible.  And another one from my grandma.  1995 Avon Birthstone Angel--September.  She's prettier than my crummy picture lets on.

And my favorite.  Most favorite of all.  And the oldest angel I have...the oldest ornament I have.  She's not a collectible that I know of, but I've had her since I was 3 or 4.  My Aunt Pam (my Godmother/nanny) gave her to me.

Her head and wings have been glued and reglued.  But she always gets a spot near the top front of the tree.
~*~*~*~

My tree will always be more Island of Misfit Toys than Martha Stewart.  I'm ok with that.

Do you collect ornaments?  Decorate an elegant tree or a patchwork one like me?

What's the Haps Wednesday {The Louisiana Arboretum}

Last weekend, we visited one of my favorite places.

The Louisiana Arboretum

It's part of Chicot State Park in Ville Platte, LA.
There are several hiking trails ranging from a paved 500 ft trail to an unpaved 1.5 mile trail.

Some of the trails overlap in the wetland area.

Many of the trails offer diverse landscapes such as flat, prairie-like land, hills, pine forests, river bottom land, and swampy wetlands.

That's probably what I like most.  A broad spectrum of landscapes and plants can be found in one area.

We chose the shorter wetland trail this time around, but still had to climb hilly sections and cross through piney woods.

Lots of mature trees can be seen here, like this Sycamore with it's shaggy bark.

The Arboretum sits on land that was once the path of the Red River over 100,000 years ago.  The route the river carved can still be seen on some of the trails.

But if you aren't into grand and elaborate, how about small and delicate?

Of course, the wetland area is always my favorite.  It is seasonally wet.  This time around there was very little water.  But we had fun trying to identify critters by their tracks.

We saw deer tracks, wild hog tracks, racoon tracks...

Oh, and this guy.

A Cottonmouth just waiting.

We seem to end up here in the Fall.

I've always wanted to visit the Arboretum in the Spring when the irises (my favorite flower) are blooming in the wetlands.

This time of year, I'll settle for another one of my favorites: American Beautyberry (Calicarpa americana).

More pictures from the Louisiana Arboretum

What's the Haps Wednesday {Gretna Fest 2014}

The first weekend of October, we headed to New Orleans.  It's prime festival time right now.

You gotta fuel up before a festival.

I'm currently on a major jones for roast beef po'boys.  Any po'boys, really.  One of my favorite places is Bear's at Gennaro's on Metairie Road in Metairie, LA (suburbs of New Orleans).  Too bad it's 2 1/2 hours away.

Bear's is a neighborhood kind of place and is next door to the oldest bar in Metairie--established in 1937.  While we were there, the bread delivery came.  If you've been around here for awhile, you know that I think bread makes or breaks a po'boy.

The artwork may not be beautiful, but Vic and Nat'ly are New Orleans icons.

Moving on to Gretna Fest.  It's held in (you guessed it) Gretna, LA, which is just outside of New Orleans.

One of my favorite things about this festival is that it's right along the Mississippi River.

 Nothing like goin' down to the river to have a good time.

A lot of local acts perform as well as classic rock bands.

I discovered a new local band: The Breton Sound.  I have to admit...it was the name.  Breton Sound is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico along the coast of Louisiana.  You know I like that.




We also sat back and listened to some blues from The Dana Abott Band.



Then one of my favorites: The Honey Island Swamp Band.  Sorry about the video.  (ok...not sorry)  I was dancing.


The crowd grew as Saturday night neared.

Fireworks to celebrate the 20th year of the festival.

And Lynyrd Skynyrd as the headliner.  The Boy's favorite band.

And what we all waited for...

  Gretna Fest 2013 1 |  Gretna Fest 2013 2 | Gretna Fest 2013 3

What's the Haps Wednesday {Just Add Water}

Remember Sea Monkeys?

Just add water and you could be one bad ass Poseidon.  In the comfort of your own bedroom.  Or kitchen.  Because mom would never allow such messiness stinkin' up your bedroom.  Miss Ruler of the Sea.

Only Sea Monkeys never, ever, ever worked.  At least not in my house.

We never saw much out of that Sea Monkey Kit.
Except some cloudy water.

Resurrection Fern during a dry spell.

But in my yard and around my neighborhood, just adding water leads to this

This is a Resurrection Fern.  An epiphyte--a plant that lives on another plant, like our quintessential southern Spanish moss.

Resurrection Ferns "dry up" during hot, dry periods--like summer.  Just add water and...poof!  They come back to life.  Instant plant.

Another "just add water" plant

The Red Spider Lily that no one seems to have planted growing in my yard and all over town.  Also called Surprise Lily or Rain Lily.

This plant grows from a bulb and is triggered by damp, cool conditions.  It signals our Fall here.

After a long, hot, pretty dry summer, just adding some cool temperatures and water is always welcome.

What's the Haps Wednesday {Bootless}

When I was a little girl, I wanted to go to Pilottown, Louisiana.

from weatherunderground

The idea of this place fascinated me.  A place where riverboat pilots (who I pictured as scruffy, cussing, Mark Twain look-a-likes) lived, waiting to board ships coming in from the gulf so they could navigate the route upriver.  A place built on piers because there is little to no solid ground.

(In case you were wondering, pilots are no longer stationed there since Katrina.)

I always saw Pilottown as the end of the world.  Or, at least, the end of Louisiana.
I still kinda want to go there.

To the tip of the boot.

On paper my state is shaped like a boot.
But it turns out the tip of the boot is gone.  The bottom is worn away too.

This article, "Louisiana Loses its Boot" by Brett Anderson, while long, is an interesting read about the ever-changing shape of Louisiana and how my boot is no longer a boot.

In some ways, I like the ephemeral nature of South Louisiana.  Can't be pinned down or defined.  One day it's one way, the next another.  Subject to wind direction, seasons, rainfall, the pull of the moon.

"Louisiana has perhaps the most complex
coastline of any state in the union. 

It’s not just a coastline but a coastal zone
that has many inland lakes 

that are part of coastal change.
Any map you make of the Louisiana coast 

is obsolete the day you make it.
It’s an exercise in futility."

from "Louisiana Loses its Boot" by Brett Anderson

In some ways, I like this indefinable nature.  The ever-changing.  The elusiveness.

But the catch is that I want the ever-changing to change back from time to time.  I want the tide to come in and transform everything.  Wash over.  Cover up.  Then I want it to fall and expose what was there before.  Just the way it was.

Change that is fleeting.  Does such a thing exist?


When the tide falls and the boats pass and the storms quiet, things are not the way they were.  Shores are eaten away, replaced by water.

~*~*~*~

In his article Anderson also points out that

"...smart phone screens are programmed to spit out the granular information we need to get from point A to B. We don’t look to them to give us the large-scale views of border, land, and water of accurate paper maps. And so it’s becoming harder and harder to communicate the most urgent crisis facing Louisiana."

from "Louisiana Loses its Boot" by Brett Anderson

Coastal erosion and wetland loss is something I pay attention to.  I know we lose a football field of coast every hour.   I can quote the numbers and research.  Yet I never stopped to consider--to picture--what this physically looks like.  I've been so focused on the dismaying numbers that I never considered what those numers look like in reality.  What the numbers translate to.  That my boot is not really a boot anymore.


More about coastal issues in Louisiana...

What's the Haps Wednesday {Gumbo Weather...maybe but probably not}

Louisiana is buzzing right now.  There's talk of that first whiff of Fall this weekend.

When I think of fall, this song always, always pops into my head.
"This Time of Year"
One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite bands (Better than Ezra) off of one of their best albums (in my opinion)




So anyway, this Fall weather.  At first our local forecast was lows: low 60s.  Highs: low 80s.
Now that's a cold front to us!

Cold fronts mean that we can go outside again for extended periods of time instead of just dashing from the air conditioning in the house to the air conditioning in the car.

Cold fronts also mean gumbo.  We even call it "gumbo weather."

Then it was lows: mid 60s.  Highs in the mid 80s.
That's pushing it for gumbo making.

Now it looks like it'll be only a few degrees lower than our current temps.
We may just turn that AC down and make gumbo anyway.
But probably not.

(Click the pictures for recipes)

Guinea Gumbo	Post Holiday Turkey Gumbo
Red Bean Gumbo	Gumbo Z'herbes
Crab & Shrimp Gumbo	Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

What's the Haps Wednesday {My Old House}

When it comes to houses, I like quirky and old.

I live in an old house in my town's original settlement.  My favorite things about the house are:
1. The very wide (tall) baseboards and window trim that you see in older homes

2.  The original hardwood floors--even if they are gouged & beat up because it's someone's story

3.  The old fashioned crystal and iron door knobs.

4.  The telephone nook.  I'm really glad no one removed it during the various remodels that have taken place.  My great grandmother's house had one of these and I was always drawn to it as a child.

Even a space for a phone book.

Another architectural feature I like about older homes in my area is la garconniere.  
La garconniere is a loft in the attic of a house.  This is where the unmarried sons slept.  Since they were expected to rise early to work the fields, their quarters were accessed by an outer staircase so they wouldn't disturb the rest of the house.

This photo was taken at Vermilionville, an historic village in Lafayette, LA.  I have seen a few of these staircases here and there on older homes throughout Acadiana.  I've also seen new houses--built to look like historic Acadian homes--that feature a garconniere.

Notice the blue ceiling on the porch?  The color is haint blue.  It's an old southern custom to use this color to ward off spirits who have not left the physical world.

One day, I'd like to paint my porch ceiling haint blue.

That, plus this Greek talisman I have hanging on my front door should keep us safe from any Ta-Tailles.