Big Leather Couch

Well, some words. This past winter, Nancy and I bought an AeroGarden. It allowed us to start growing herbs.

All honesty, a few messed up big time and we bought more to replace them. But by the spring, we had 2 healthy basil plants, one thyme, one sage, one mint, one Italian parsley and one very sickly oregano plant. Well, they have thrived outside - the oregano plant has turned into a monster! - and now we are never without fresh herbs while cooking.

We did get another oregano plant and some pineapple sage from the store, and that is also keeping us supplied

Nancy has always had this terrific basil plant - heck, bush, some sage and some chives she has transported for a number of years, so we are pretty much set.

Next spring vegetables! Peppers! Plum tomatoes! Cucumbers! Squash! Eggplant! and probably a few more items

Check em out...(clickie to biggie)

Sunday evening the storms moved in. Lightening and thunder and general fugliness. And it has not stopped since then.

Heavy rains, thunderboomers, tornado sirens...we have lived them all since Sunday here in the mid-south.

And to think that two short weeks ago while spending the weekend in New Orleans with friends the sun shined brightly, the temperatures ere in the low 80's and there was not even a speck of humidity.

And that caused us to have a stellar weekend...

Wanna see?

OK, here ya go...Remember clickie for biggie.

There are MANY cemeteries in NOLA	I liked the way the sun made a halo on this mausoleum.	The homes in the Garden District are stunning
White Ghost Shivers - They are from Austin, but were playing the streets of NOLA this weekend. A mix of jazz, swing and ragtime with a little vaudeville thrown in for good measure.	Tanya & Dorise, these two young ladies are extremely talented. Tanya on violin seemed to me to be the inspiration of the character "Annie" (played by Lucia Micarelli) on the HBO show Treme.	This is a cajun-zydeco band we fell in love with. The T'Canaille Cajun Band. We saw them twice, they had extra washboards that hung on your shoulders so the audience got involved too!
the remains of a Muffaletta I devoured on Saturday	Blackened Redfish with Jambalaya - was soooo good!	This made me laugh. Jesus and Moses "Action Figures"!!!
Andy messing with a tree that had these bumps all over it.	Immigration Statue down along the Mississippi.	St. Louis Cathedral in all its splendor.
The infamous Cafe Du Monde. The beignets were incredible!	Cool old signage. Did not eat here though.	If you love unique architecture, NOLA is for you.
Every balcony had a personality. Some more so than others.	You can dance with strangers - even silver ones - all you want!	The ironwork is incredible complex indeed.
My best gal and best bud! Nancy loved them and they her!	Another balcony with personality!	Janice and Nancy just strolling along
Preservation Hall - Preserving the Jazz legacy for future generations.	Inside Preservation Hall. No flash, no video, no audio allowed. Fun...ALLOWED!

Hey all...thanks for coming back and taking your seats on The Couch. Looking to get back to a 5 day a week posting schedule, so I hope you join me...2011 has some obstacles, but at the same time it promises to bring some new interesting achievements...I am not one for New Year's Resolutions. Personally, I do not believe in them. If you want to do something, you just do it. You do not wait until one special day to change your life.

I am looking to do that every day moving forward. Getting back in some sort of shape is on the list of goals. I am also looking forward to growing my relationship with Nancy. I hope that the brand for Music On The Couch continues to grow further. It would be nice if I could rope off time to finish all the video transfers from Matt's youth which is on VHS at the moment. Speaking of Matt, it is planned that he come down and spend some time with us this summer. Something to look forward to indeed.

Before we do all that, I want to reflect on the last few weeks...because they have been special, even though I was a bad partner.

You see, on December 29th, we celebrated:

As I drove from Boynton Beach, FL to Cordele, GA, Nancy got to answer all the wishes sent to her via email and Facebook, sitting in the passenger seat. We then went to dinner at a nice place called The Olde Inn on Blackshear Lake, just outside of Cordele.

The next day, we finished the drive home and spent a relaxing New Years Eve watching "Sherlock Homes" and "Blind Side" and eating all sorts of little noshes.

But before that, on December 22nd, Nancy and I did the 14.5-hour drive straight through. 3 stops for gas/rest room/ driver change breaks. I did the first 5.5 hours, Nancy did 6.5 hours and then I did the last 2.5 hours. At the end I had to promise no more than 12 hours in any one day ever again! LOL

The time with Mom Joan and Dad Vince was great. They and Nancy got to spend some quality time getting to know each other better. I tried to help dad with his multiple address books and getting them to the iPad. I did not do so good with that based upon his desires, so he is rebuilding it all. OOPS.

Nancy and I got to go to the ocean ... but only one day, because it was 40 degrees the whole time we were there and the wind was blowing so strong...it was COLD!