Les bottes de Créole

DUCK BOOTS

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Duck boots have been around since 1912 when they were first dreamed of and materialized. L.L. Bean created this signature shoe out of rubber bottoms and a leather uppers, but since been replaced with a worn waxed cotton. The company's founder, Leon Leonwood Bean, first invented this boot for the general huntsman population of Freeport, Maine. In fact that is the only thing he sold in a little shop and through a 4 page mail order catalog for many years. The duck boot has been a staple in western society but, nowadays, has made a boom in the aesthetic-centric fashion industry. I recently listened to NPR cover a story on the humongous back order, L.L. Bean is trying to beat, for these duck boots. The story is linked here. 

Manager Royce Haines says L.L. Bean hired 100 new employees and added a night shift to meet the demand. The backlog stands at nearly 100,000 pairs [...] Maine's once-thriving shoe industry is now mostly gone, but these boots are still made here, by hand. The workers cut leather patterns out of a full hide, punch in eyelets for the laces and then triple-stitch the uppers to the rubber bottoms. Some of the demand is driven by fashion trends like "lumberjack chic," but L.L. Bean spokesman Mac McKeever says the boots have a broader appeal. Stier, pushing a baby stroller around the store, is wearing his pants down over his new boots. But the younger crowd likes to flaunt them. Women often wear them unlaced, over skinny jeans or tights. "Everyone's doing the whole wool-sock-out-of-the-Bean-boot thing, whether it's with jeans or leggings," says Hannah Perkins, a Mainer who has been wearing the boots for years. She says they are now very popular with her classmates at Susquehanna University.

 They look awesome, neutral colors go with everything in a closet. But my focus is more on functionality. Not to say that looks don't matter because they do, but in addition to looks, I always ask myself is it practical and does it serve a function? And yes, anyone living in south Louisiana knows how important rubber boots/rain boots/waterproof items are. It rains, it rains, and it rains. <<By that, I mean it's kind of just a big soup bowl of humidity, alligators, and water. (Like a seafood broth!) That boils the basic daily weather pattern down. And of course we have seasons, I have made these up based on my yearly activities and they include Mardi Gras season (Christmas- Mardi Gras), crawfish season (March-May), hurricane season (June 1st-November 30th), and festival season (late August- early December). Winter is wet here, odds are you'll fall in mud and soak your shoes during Mardi Gras.Ya gotta get some waders on if you want to fetch those crawfish cages and the pour is endless during hurricane season. The bottom line is, make sure you have some rubber boots, or in this case Duck boots, if you plan to stay even an hour in South Louisiana. And lucky for this gal, Ms. Marshal, her boyfriend bought her some lovely Igloo brand duck boots, that I had scavenged from the Lafayette Salvation Army Thrift Shop, from the first Bayou Teche Threads pop-up shop last week. And with them she will conquer the horse race tracks!
Merci Tony et Marshal for giving these lovely shoes a useful life!

Une Demi Tasse.

It is evident to outside on-lookers that there is a value that continues to exist in coffee. Within the local boundaries of relations and life, coffee is the common core.



"Comment ca va, beb? I got a fresh pot of coffee brewing."

"Viens ici! The coffee is just about done."

"You got time for a quick cup of coffee?"



But there is nothing quick about the art; grinding, scooping, boiling, pouring, stirring, brewing.
Like a single finger print, it varies from surname to surname, parish to parish; from the preparation to the presentation. When an online forum was initiated to a locally produced french table about coffee recollections, people had responded. This went on for hours, I was getting notifications out the wazoo! To my surprise there were a little more than 500 comments on a simple little question I had asked. This goes to show the truth of coffee, this simple yet important 'thing' is another root holding our culture down.

 "A coffee pot is called une grègue. The kettle we boiled the water in was une bombe. This is in the St. Martinville area."

"Making coffee was an art. You dripped a little, talked a little." 

"We always had afternoon coffee. And coffee for company any time of day. I always had coffee milk as a little girl. My uncle Kirby drank his coffee black. I used to ask him every time I served him if he wanted sugar, just so I could hear him say," just dip your lil pinky in there to make it sweet". My dad only wanted his coffee made in an old drip pot. Wish I had one now."

"You ever wonder how they could afford all that coffee.?Everyone was so dirt poor but they always had coffee. Not to offer coffee to a guest was considered an insult. My Mom always bought Mello Joy.
Ron Guidry Anybody ever make camp coffee? Pot of water over the fire, pour grinds directly in water, bring to a boil, get it off the fire and let it steep?" 

"Ron, I have heard that called Cowboy coffee"
"I remember dad telling me about paying a nickel for a pound of coffee. He would choke on the price today." 

"Company in the afternoon started a regular ritual. "Y'all want coffee?" "Mais, if you have some made don't make some just for us". "Oh it won't take long". Water on to boil, drip pot readied. Then coffee, cups, cream, and sugar all passed around on a tray. I can't remember the last time I saw coffee served on a tray to each person, but I was a kid" 

"OMG Bryan Lafleur!!! -- Was this something in the Cajun Families Hand book???
"Mais, if you have some made don't make some just for us". "Oh it won't take long".
How many times has this scene played out in my life I can't tell you!!" 

"I can still see my grandmother's cups on the counter turned upside down on a tray always ready and never saved( put in cabinet,Lol). She was always ready, in case unexpected company came." 

"Unexpected company seemed fairly common," 

"Or EVERY time I go home to VP, I walk through the kitchen door, kiss everyone on the lips and then they say... 'fresh coffee...'" 

"No one minded because cajuns led lonely lives. There were often miles between houses. Company was the only way they received news of the outside world. Can you imagine an existence without Tv, cars, or any other way to communicate with the outside world?" 

"I've seen the ceramic coated ones but by far when I was growing up it was the aluminum.
Sandy Jarreau The enamel one is the only one daddy wanted. Wish I had one today. Mom would make the filters. We kept an old one as a pattern." 

"I still have a 2-cup aluminum drip coffee pot and 2 trays that coffee was served to company! I just can't part with them." 

"Sandy, you can still find those old enamel white drip style coffee pots. Have seen them at Guidry Hardware in Lafayette!" 

"My fondest memories of my grandmother was her getting up every morning and grinding her coffee beans and making her coffee with chicory... I have never known any other way... strong and nothing in it... I and my family are huge coffee drinkers all day and night... coffee pot is always on and ready for friends...coffee with every meal and ice tea for sipping during the day as well..."

Coffee is eminent. Coffee is not only a sort of life source to the working man’s soul but also a sure way for conversation.
Alright, enough of that history lesson... The mugs that you find at thrift shops are AMAZING. There is no way you can get that unique and original at Target or even World Market. I tend to always have a mug obsession because if when I find one that catches my eye and my interest, I can't resist. But obsessions somehow end up controlling the situations and I am guilty of that. When I was living at, what my roommate and I  called, 'the camp', at times I would have cupboards, that's plural, with an 's', full of straight up wonky coffee mugs. I had to learn to curb my appetite. GIFTS FOR ALL! I mean who doesn't like a good conversation piece?! *ahem* coffee and the mugs you drink it out of.

One local farm-to-table restaurant in Lafayette, Louisiana knows what I'm talking about. The Rusted Rooster, located on the corner of St. Landry & University Avenue, has a few fans (thanks Andrew Toups) that document the mugs that they receive their morning coffee in..

Allons ya'll! It's easy, cheap, and "unique". I'll have a few for sale at this Sunday's Local Vendor Market at Artmosphere Bistro. 

Ce Matin

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I tend to wear cowboy boots on the regular with nothing but skirts and blouses. One thing that I've learned for myself is that I absolutely loathe wearing jeans. They always feel like they want to strangle my legs until complete suffocation occurs. And on top of that, when I do decided it's time to try on some jeans for purchase, it is impossible to find the right fit right off the shelf that tailors (or at the least) looks decent on your individual shape. To that I toast, to hell with the jean pant material! I'm glad that it is socially acceptable for women to wear skirts, it gives me a sense of ease. It's funny to think of how all of life's experiences have shaped a certain notion within ones self. Thinking back, all of those happenings have made me into the individual I am today. 

Merci tout le monde!