Happy Mardi Gras!

Mardi Gras Colors, originally uploaded by Calsidyrose.

We had Popeye's Fried chicken tonight, in honor of Mardi Gras.

I live in Belle Chasse from 2001 through July 2005. We celebrated the Mardi Gras season with a wreath on the door, neighborhood and charity parades, plus lots of Kingcake. We supported my son when his Band marched in the West Bank parades and caught our fair share of beads and other throws. On Mardi Gras Tuesday, however, we kept a low profile. A frozen "Kitchen Sink" daiquiri from the drive-through drink shop and a box of Popeye's chicken made the evening festive, which ended by viewing the Meeting of the Courts on the local PBS channel.

When Mardi Gras rolls around, I find myself missing New Orleans. We had Popeye's Chicken tonight, but no frozen daiquiris. We're off instead to watch my daughter play in a UIL Concert.

If you want to see more Mardi Gras ephemera, head on over to my Flickr Photostream--yesterday I uploaded a variety of images, including some more photos of the men of the Cajun Mardi Gras, as seen here:

Do you celebrate Mardi Gras? Or perhaps you have pancakes as part of a "Shrove Tuesday" event at your church. Leave a comment--throw me a little something, please!

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

(Let the Good Times Roll!)

Longing for Springtime

The Pet Show, originally uploaded by Calsidyrose.

This lovely image of children with their pets came from my stash of paper scraps. I don't know the illustrator because I pulled the image from an old discarded library book. The poem is sweet and the children are adorable.

Flowers from my daughter for Valentine's Day.

A tiny chalkware lamb found at a thrift store.

And a fountain in a swanky neighborhood near our house.

The Texas redbuds are blooming, and the flowering magnolias in my neighbor's yard are open. Along the canal near my house, I spotted the first tiny bluets and the white bells of false onion. The deer vetch has also begun to bloom.

Terquasquicentennial Texas

Terquasquicentennial Texas, originally uploaded by Calsidyrose.

I'm feeling proud to be a Texan! I'm not a native, but I consider myself a Texan after living here for five years!

And I'm back in the saddle after taking wa-a-a-a-ay too long of a break. I got frustrated with some of the changes that Blogger made to their posting process. I want to offer my readers big files for my photos, so from henceforth, this blog will be posted from my Flickr account.

I LOVE FLICKR! (Even more than I love Texas). If you haven't been to my Flickr photostream, you are missing out on a wealth of treasures. My photostream contains more than 5,000 images! That's 300 pages worth of ephemera, art samples, photographs and more! If you are looking for odd bits of scanned ephemera, postcards, textures, or other interesting flotsam and jetsam, head on over by clicking on my BigFunLabs header in the sidebar.

And look out for more fun from "El Rancho Not So Grande"!