An announcement and a declaration...

The announcement: My friends and sponsors, Cindy & Kevin Echtinaw have recently become the North American Distributor of Bildmalarna. This is a HUGE deal for them. Kevin designed their new website (do you sense his feminine side here? - all pastels). Their customer service is fabulous but even better, once a customer, always a friend. Hop on over and check out the kids. They would love to meet 'cha.

The declaration: I love Louisiana. Many years ago my husband and I visited Lake Charles, LA during Christmas for the first time. The lights on the big antebellum homes around the lake are dressed like Carnaval performers - all lights and sparkles. But better than that is the food. We discovered Paw Paw's Restaurant and fell immediately in love. Imagine our distress when Paw Paw died and no one wanted to take it over. The wildlife is amazing, the refuges are particularly wonderful, especially Sabine. I saw my first shrike and glossy ibis there. It's chilling to walk down a sidewalk with alligator slides on both sides. Ducks from the north are plentiful there during the winter. Red-winged blackbirds leave Illinois in late fall and arrive at Sabine in huge numbers. The Sabine website tells you all about this National Wildlife Refuge. The downside of Louisiana is the garbage in every canal along every road. We laughingly call it the styrofoam state. It's heartbreaking to see a great egret in breeding feathers standing on an old sofa in a canal surrounded by discarded bait containers and broken coolers. Everywhere you look there's trash. I can only image the fishing line that's laying around. Tragic. While in LA I learned to love Cajun music, especially Zydeco. I keep a cd in my cd player in the car all the time. It's also a great housecleaning cd - nothing gets me moving like the Creole Farmer's Stomp by the Creole Zydeco Farmers. I love listening to music from other cultures, but I have to admit, I'm really fond of Zydeco.

My rant today has nothing to do with my card. I had to make a short trip to the grocery store - and the Zydeco cd was in the player - and the sky was this fabulous color of blue with lots of sunshine - and the Creole Zydeco Farmers were giving me their best - and I just felt wonderful. And had to share, cher. Tomorrow I go back to cartridges:


Paper: My Mind's Eye Home; Stickers: Stampendous; Spica: Gold, Stamps: Tilda with Heart Package, Flourishes Summer on the Patio, Copics: E42, Y13, Y38, G24, YG25, E11, R21, E00, YR01, YR00, YR000, E30, E31, Y17, Y04, B60

Things I wonder: Why do I always have all the ingredients for a dinner recipe except one?