Tag: Blast from the Past

Posted in Throwback Thursday

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

There will be celebrating next week here at the Acres, and You are Invited! In a rare occurrence, all four of my lovely granddaughters will be together with me! Emma and Eliza will be visiting from Monday through Friday

The dance floor will be set up so the Ees can do their party tricks. We’re going to the races on Friday! I’m excited to see ToyStory5 with them! We’ll eat green beans and new potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber salads, corn-on-the-cob, and fried chicken. Donut Bank for crullers and coffee every morning and ice cream every night for a bedtime snack.

I’d love to see you! Let me know when’s a good time for you and we’ll try to accommodate.

Though I’m so excited, I’m also a little bummed. For months I’ve been planning to go to the Dublin Irish Festival this weekend. Alas! It was not meant to be.

First of all, it’s going to rain the entire week-end. That would normally not stop me, but husband is suffering with an abscessed tooth. Just between you and me, I’d probably drag him along anyway if it wasn’t raining. But it is definitely going to lay down about an inch and a half of precip on Saturday, so we’ve opted to hand over our reservation to the daughter and her Irish dancers. They will be at an indoor Feis, so rain does not affect their plans. >sigh<

Don’t cry for me, dear readers! Though Casey will be busy with dentists next week, I’ll be wallowing (or as we say in southern Illinois, wallerin’) in the love of my grandies!

Last year we were able to spend a couple of hours at the Dublin OH Irish Fest before the NewYorkers’ visit, inspiring me to go for the full experience. We’ll try again next year.

Here’s what we did last year…

A paragraph & A photograph (or 2)

Peace

Posted in The Way-Back Machine

Flashback Friday

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

I hate that we missed Zydeco Night at the WC Handy Blues Fest…again. While we didn’t always make it on the Thursday when the Cajuns perform, we always drove across the river to Henderson, KY for at least one of the nights to hear Super Musicians, tapping our feet under the trees in Audubon Mill Park on the riverfront — until Covid. It’s now been three years since we’ve attended and we’re ready to go. Yesterday was too damn hot (96 feels like 104) for these two old folks, but a storm has blown through and cooled us off for the weekend, so I’m excited to be crossing the bridge tonight or tomorrow.

Let’s step into the WayBack Machine and set the dial for 2013, June, when we had a great time at Zydeco Night…and so did Flat Ronna…

up all night…

ON  BY JO MAYNE CASEY

I can’t sleep.  I tossed and turned, told my brain to STFU, finally got up and have exhausted every bookmark on this computer.   I have an appointment in the morning, so it’s too late to take a chill-pill…I’m doomed…

Here’s some pictures of last night’s Blues Festival headliners, Voice of the Wetlands Allstars.   The Allstars are a group of New Orleans musicians pulled together by Tab Benoit to raise awareness of the erosion of the Gulf Coast wetlands (beginning before Katrina, actually).

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The version visiting Henderson last night included Benoit on guitar; Cyril Neville belting some blues and playing percussion;  Johnny Sansone made the harmonica wail and played accordion for some zydeco;  legendary drummer Johnny Vidocovich; a remarkable bassist,  Corey Dupelchin;  Waylon Thibideaux playing an electric fiddle that was way cool;  and the cherry on the sundae:

 Big Chief Monk Beaudreaux brought it on home…

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Boy-child, his lovely bride, and their precocious daughter were with us.  The weather was Ohio River Valley Summertime, complete with sweat and chiggers…Olivia loved the waterpark and I sure wished I could have cooled off with her…

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Charley and Lana were with us, as well…

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casey and charley

But, as always, my Twin Cousin, Ronna Lynn Loppnow, was the Life of the Party…

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(Ronna lives down near Houston, TX and we don’t get to see her very often, so Lana and I try to take her with us when we’re having the Most Fun)

I guess I’d better try to get some rest…

Back here in 2022, I’m grabbing my lawn chair, bug spray, and Flat Ronna; we’re ready to Party!

Peace

Posted in Sunday Report, The Way-Back Machine

Rerun: When the trees fell

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

10 years ago on the night before the last day of school (I was still working as a school nurse), May 25, 2011 to be exact, a straight-line wind blew in from the southwest and tore off the tops of the very old, very tall trees that were standing in its path.

We had just mowed and straightened the yard and porch that evening and I was taking my after-supper-nap – not to be confused with the rest-up-for-bed nap – when Casey woke me up to tell me that there was something coming our way. I’d slept through the first siren, but the second went off shortly after I woke. It looked bad outside, black skies, pouring rain that was coming down sideways as it was hurled by the wind, and I took shelter (with Wink) in our guest bathroom…even Casey came back and stood in the doorway with us as we listened to the rumbling and howling of the wind. I was seriously freaking out when I heard the sound of cracking trees and the whooshing of falling branches over the room where I’d just been laying…

When it passed, we surveyed the damage… Step into the WayBack Machine and let’s revisit 2011…

weary

May 29, 2011

By Jo Mayne Casey 

it’s been a tough several days…i’ve gone from dazed and confused to feeling trampled underfoot (tee-hee).  anyway, now i know what i’ll be doing with my summer:

Before and After…Above 5/22/2011 Below 5/26/201111
AA

i feel the loss of those 2 trees acutely, but it’s so stupid to complain about it…manymany people have it a lot worse…still…i’m bummed.  definitely keeping busy, though. 

good news…

May 30, 2011

By Jo Mayne Casey 

we found the rocking chair..!

we’re definitely making progress…here’s a view from 5/26:

here’s the way it looks today:

of course, i use the term “we” loosely–you can bet that casey will not stop until this is cleaned up.  i’m not safe with a chainsaw, but i can handle a lopper and a rake.   we’re hauling the branches down to the woods (where, surprise, there’s a whole bunch of trees down) and starting a new hedgerow.  it’s all okay…

not quite, but almost

June 2, 2011

By Jo Mayne Casey 

except for the fact that i forgot it was thursday and missed a vbs meeting, it’s been a very productive day.  you see, all the gardens are fine and happy…it was only the front (west) of the house that was affected by the storm.   much like facebook, where you can lurk all day, i know that a lot of people have been driving by the house…first looking at the damage, then marveling at how fast casey is clearing it away.  honestly, watching the man wears me out…i’ve had to take all his naps for him…

one week after The Trees Fell…

all that’s left is to actually drop the trees, and the tree guys that we called the day after the storm Promised they’d be out this week.  i’m in no hurry, though; in fact, i hope they wait and let us take a day off tomorrow.   and wink, the first one out of the room when we heard the trees falling, claims he never was afraid…

It’s clear I was bummed by this event, but I’m here to say it again: I was Terrifically Bummed. The only thing that made me feel better was the idea that I would screen in the porch, which we did in 2012. All’s well that ends well.

We’re headed into a week of scattered thunderstorms…May all of Our Trees stay upright…

Peace