Sleeping Beauty of the Prairie des Femmes Road

Bayou Texhe January

Victorian Gazing Orbs

When photographing statues in Louisiana, you can't miss the mystical Victorian gazing orbz. 

Click here for the history of the Victorian Gazing orb.

Prairie Noel

Olivier Christmas

Seafoam Prairie des Femmes Mary

La Beauté avec un Coup de Main

Beauty with a helping hand.

Maris Stella of the Pixel

Mayor Vidrine Hotel de Ville Noel

There are 54 Christmas trees in Ville Platte's city hall. via Mayor Vidrine: "It's purty purty and all the big and little sha babies" need to come see and take pictures. Go see L'Hotel de Ville de La Ville Platte!

Bay Berry Wax 2

Going to get bay berries

bay berries from the wax myrtle

making bay wax

Click here for an old puck of bayberry wax with a red assassin bug in it.

Bois Croche

The Perfect Gift

 
YO this is Happy Blake

We have great gift i-deers for everyone especially deer hunters!

By popular demand and just in time for Holiday and deer seasons

We have black light flashlights, perfect for deer hunters to track down the blood trail for dat wounded deer. It's a perfect Christmas gift! We offer free gift wrapping and free delivery  within a 15-mile radius of Ville Platte.

All about Cherry Bounce

Cherry Bounce

 edited/transcribed from La Tasse Cafe

« Cherry Bounce is a thick sweet strong liqueur that people in south Louisiana make around the holidays.  You shake the wild cherry trees (merisiers) so that the berries, called merises or choke cherries, fall onto a sheet. You know they are ripe when they get very red, almost black on the tree. You collect them and make a cherry syrup that is mixed with alcohol to make Cherry Bounce. People say that the birds like to get a hold of the berries before people harvest them and that they make the birds act coo-coo, fly into widows, hallucinate and things, because the prussic acid in them is very toxic. The robins and the ciriers start wobbling and get "on high" comme dit bougre....or low, because they end up on the ground... »

 The Mercedes Vidrine cookbook features a Cherry Bounce recipe similar to this one:

1/4 gallon wild cherries
10 1/2 lbs of sugar
Whiskey

Place cherries (that have the stems removed and have been washed and dried) and sugar in a wide-mouth gallon jar with a good fitting lid and store for 25-30 days until the sugar has all melted and turned to syrup. The cherries will be black when the aging period is over.  

 Take an empty bottle of a fifth of whiskey and pour in some of the cherries and syrup until the bottle is 1/4 full. 

Fill the bottle with whiskey and repeat the process until you have used up all the cherries and syrup. Cover the bottles tightly and let them stand for a week before opening. 

Serve in crystal cordial glasses, or for a treat, over vanilla ice cream.

Tasse Expressions

Bonjour qui ti parles?

Ce café est rechauffée avec du bois croche, pas du bois grave.

Merci Miss Becky (le café est après se faire passer)

Becky après passer le café!

Tu m'attrappeé offguard là!

Arroser l'linge avant repasser!

Pour arroser les chemins pour la poussière.

Le soleil brille icitte a Mamou.. tu peux pas t'imaginer...

Apres deal avec...

Comme dit l'bougre...

Ils ont du gaz qu'a pas ethanol dedans!

Je suis assez bête de crois ça...

T'es comme un homme j'connais, c'est comme une lavette trempe, il flip-flop tout partout!

C'est Valmon, bord icitte!

L'affaire est bonne, hein?

Meilleur que ça moi j'connais pas qui je ferais avec.

Things I learned on the Tasse de Cafe Radio Program

It was a right of passage for the young boys to learn how to cook because when the men would go out in the woods and to the camps to fish and hunt, they would see who would be "the cook", that is, the best cook.

When the tourism bureau of nearby Saint Landry called the Chamber of Commerce of Evangeline Parish asking for help with a fishing trip at Chicot for a group of Louisiana chefs, they were in need of a guide, boats, local cooks... Miss C said "Hold it! Hold it! We seceded from Saint Landry Parish over a hundred years ago! I mean, no offense to Opelousas, but we need to get our people on this! I called Suzy of course and then I called Jesse, our Man of the Year, to cook, he was changing some tiles in our building! I called the Mayor, she was on the road to the ball game! Then I called T-Don, I called T-Don at Cabot! He came out there and did a lil version of the "Lil Donkey".

On peux gone!

Tout les trente-six du mois.

les socos bleus, les socos jaunes, les socos rouges...

La Prairie des Femmes

When I came to the Prairie des Femmes I was a girl, unbelieving and spoiled as any Sacred Heart queen of Evangeline Parish could be in those days, the 1990s. I doubted even the name of the prairie, my new home. Was this la Prairie des Femmes? She was so far flung, the fields were so brown and barrren, the houses, trailers and shacks dotted along the coves. The houses were mostly older, some shacks, and modest trailer or modular homes. There was one big house but it was at the front of the road at Frozard, Olivier Plantation. My future husband knew that I would like that our new home had an old French name. A mysterious name. She had history. But that, you couldn't see... There was not one piece of paved road in the prairie, and most of the road that snaked back into the open fields coiled around a muddy bayou and her steep banks. The road slithered off into the prairie, still hugging the oxbow woods, a scrappy but untouched woodland that roped and roamed along the road that day. How could this place be called la Prairie des Femmes? I barely believed him that first visit out here, when the land was grey, all of the golden rod had browned. He asked me if I liked it. It was like showing a woman a mirror and reflecting herself back at her. It existed. We were there. There was downpayment. It was far. It was wild. It was barren. It was fruitful. It was peaceful. It was dangerous. By and by, I talked to people who knew of the story of the Prairie des Femmes, and I accepted, after seeing the old name on the map, that this new place was my home. 

A Weather Question

November 2014

We used to figure out the temperature in Ville Platte out by taking the temperatures in Alexandria, and hour north of town, and Lafayette, an hour south, and finding the number that was in the middle of them. I was entertained to hear them talking about this same system on La Tasse this week:

"The weather says it was 32 in Lafayette, 31 in Elek, and 28 in Ville Platte, now can you explain that? Moi j'connais pas mais des fois...tu peux figurer... Elek c'est dans une bassière, ça fait, ça restes plus froid là bas des fois.  Mais pour figurer...on prends la température à Lafayette et la température à L'Alexandrie et on va dans le mileu tu connais? On est un peu près halfway entre les deux places..."

Temp in VP according to this method? 76.5 F !

No More Birds

The Tasse de Cafe Radio Progam often asks public questions such as: Do you remember 1946? Was it a good year?  Do you remember White Rose Petroleum Jelly? We got any celebrity birthdays today? Do you know how old Ozzy Osbourne is today? How much did it rain last night in Vidrine as opposed to Belair Cove? What is a zouienne? How does one say hickey en francais? Do you remember Ferlin Husky? Why do thermometers read different temperatures, even when they are next to one another?Anybody remembers those things?

Most of these questions are answered by the faithful callers at one time or another, but there is one that has been hanging around. Where have all the birds gone? People call in to say how years back there were many birds in the trees, robins and cedar wax wings and little fou-fous, blue-jays, etc. and that now you don't hardly see them any anymore. They say, "y'a pas d'caille! y'a pas d'bee-egg! y'a pas d'kill-dee...just some mockingbirds and crows!"

"I called about the birds. We had a beautiful blue-jay in the back yard. He showed up on Thursday, I saw him on ma patio, oh! I was so excited. Well, on Sunday morning, I get up and come outside on the patio to have a cup of coffee, ma white cat had em. That was it, no more bird now! Il l'attrapé et pis il l'épluché!"

Then there is this exchange: Buck-a-Dial "Faux Pas"

More Bird Notes:

Charatte   
Le Geai Bleu et le Killdeer 
Random Bird Notes   
Gumbo Tchoc
The Cardinal Blues 
Bird Sounds of the Prairie

Mais

Exit 11 Prairie des Femmes

Merci Bayou des Hommes 

oil platform map

Journal 2001-2004

Café Chauvage

Mot du Jour... dessus ça là-là. Mark... Jétais pas trop sur, j'étais pas trop décidé... y'en a si tant des mots on aime parler pour mais, j'ai choisi "coffee"
 coffee?
Mais, la tasse de café!

ouais! les...coffee beans...les grains de cafécoffee can, un cafetière
un cofee cup,
une tasse?
cope- de café,
I would say une tasse
et, uh, ouais un tasse de café...ok, on va prendre, on v'aller plus, plus ça z'autres en connait pour dessus ça icitte là-là.
et y'an a d'autres..allons 'oir...uh, coffee grinder!
-mouleuse?
-ein moulin à café
-ein moulin!
le coffee grounds
le marc à café
 et coffee milk- mais, tu connais ça, un café au lait
t'en a bu plus qu'un goblet de ça!
I think I have yeah...when I was much younger
yeah, now how bout coffee spiked with whiskey?
heh! big smile on his face.. well, what is it charlie?
un pousse-café!
I've heard that before!
un pousse-café! hehehe tu peux dire (?) quclquechose d'autre...
ohh j'vas dire qui, on habitude de faire ça, mom, mom aurait, alle auriat rôti ses coffee beans-les 'coute, ça sentait dans tout le voisinage!
 Alle avait fini ça-la, c'était notre tour  on moulait ça dans un tit moulere-là, mais 'coute! Ça aimait leur café! C'est du café different! On va aretter droite là-là Marc, parce que ça dit, le wild coffee plant- indigo! J'connais pas. Uh.. j'connais pas comment tu appelles ça.
j'connais y'un parole pour les plantes- pour les coffee weeds! dessus ça là-là. allons 'oir si on peux trouver ça peut-être, et si ça

To Redell

She's so moody

Loom at the old Lafayette Hardware

      

Arrowheadin

Grand Coteau Classic

Ville Platte Cheer

Ville Platte Where you at Let me hear Dat Hand Clap I remixed featuring Mayor Vidrine and the VPHS cheer squad

 

Prepare memes

La Toussaint et les bénédiction des cimetières

La Toussaint et les bénédictions des cimetières  
Transcribed from La Tasse de Cafe' Radio program 10-27-14

Pour l'église Our Lady Queen of all Saints 

Samedi le premier de novembre
à le cimetière Gates of Heaven
en arièrre de l'église,  

bénédiction après la messe de quatre heures.

Dimanche à une heures de l'après-midi 

ils vont benir le cimetière de T-Mamou, 

et là à trois heures de l'après-midi 

ils vont benir le cimetière du platin. 

Ça c'est à travers de Our Lady Queen of All Saints.

Et là pour l'église de Sacré Cœur et Saint Joseph  

bénédiction de le cimetière  

samedi le premier de novembre à douze heures de midi 

et au Evangeline Memorial après la messe de quatre heures. 

La bénédiction de le cimetière de Belair Cove 

et là à cinq heures de l'après-midi, 

samedi le premier de novembre 

à le Vieux Cimitière de la Ville Platte.

Dimanche le deux d'novembre 

après la messe de huit heures et demi 

ils vont benir le chagrin 

et le cimetière de Saint Joseph à Belair Cove, 

après la messe de dix heures à Sacre Cœur 

ils vont benir le cimetière de Sacré Cœur 

et dimanche à midi le cimetière de l'anse de Tate. 

Soyez sur de gardez ça en idée!

Tasse Expressions: You got ya whistle in Basile

When my daddy would hear someone whistling, he would say, he got his whistle in Basile. Il a eu son siffler à Basile. I told that to my children my whole life, "you got ya whistle in Basile!"

C'est fraiche, ça refraiche.

Mais ça c'est Dot à nous-autres, ça?
Hein!? 
Ça c'est Dot à nous-autres?
Ouais!

Le vent de Basile... le gros Vents d' grand Basile!
(the wind comes from Basile in March, April... from the southwest...a dry wild, with dust, a pleasant wind...also called les vents de carême?)

Daddy and all his friends would gather at daddy's every afternoon and drink coffee under the pecan tree, and exchange lil expressions:

Cher! Ça c'est trop de sucre pour dix sous! 

Fais-attention, lâche pas la poule parce que tu va peut-être attrappé le guime.  

Tu peux pas montrer les nouveaux trick à un vieux mulet.

Pareille comme tu dis, tu peux amener le cheval à l'eau pour boire mais tu peux pas le faire boire. Ça c'est pour sûr!

A Word from Hill on Jarred Roux

Hill: Coute! Vous-autres après parler pour du roux? Y'avais Gerald qu'té après dire qu'il sauvait de l'argent à faire son roux à lui-même? J'connais que j'ai jamais fait un roux depuis Kary à commencé à faire son roux. C'est aisé et tu peux pas le faire meilleur! Je pense y'en a pas un tas du monde qui peux le faire meilleur que ça! Mais j'connais pas mais...je me rapelle bien que lui et son Papa, defain Arcange, ils ont essayé pleusieurs batch avant ça fait comme ça voulait, tu connais? Ça fait, j'ai jamais fait depuis là il a commencé à faire...à venrde du roux comme dit le bougre!

Jim: C'est un tas plus aisé quand tu ouvre le bocal-le, la jarre!

Hill: Si tu arrives là-bas-là, et il est après le faire, et tu les vends chaud! Jack, il se dissolve un tas meilleur, tu connais? Ohhh Lord! C'est bon affreux! Je pense tu peux te sauver de l'argent, mais... avec le roux que moi j'use... ça fait pas rien que je paye un ti brin plus...

Hill: Listen! Y'all talking about roux? Was it Gerald sayin he saved money by making his roux himself? I know that I've never made a roux since Kary started to make his roux. It's easy and you can not do better! I think there aren't not too many who can do better than that! But I don't know but... I recall that he and his dad, the late, Arcange, they tried several batches before it made as they  wanted, you know? So, really I haven't made any since they started making it- since they started selling it, like they say...

Jim: It is a lot easier when you open the jar - the jar!

Hill: If you arrive there and they are making it, and you buy them hot! Jack, it dissolves a lot better, you know?! Ohhh Lord! It's awfully good! I think you can save your money, but... with the amount of roux that I use... it's nothing if I pay one lil strand more...

 

Queen Evelyna of the Chateau Pecan Sololiquy

We was crossed up dat time! How y'all doin?
Y'all looked at dem pecan trees? I just been talkin 'bout em, I got a lot of trees at my house, dey hadn't been bearin, neither, too much, now maybe ma son when he go out dere to where ma house at, I'm at the Chateau, you know, but out there they have a lot of pecan trees that haven't been bearin for several years, there, too good. They useta make a lot but they told me there's a certain time... I tell you, if you treat em, they got a way you put that.. uh, whatcha call dat stuff around da tree... lime! And dey said it would make but you put dat around dere, don't put it right at it, the tree, but you gotta treat em, but I think they round in October I believe.. or January 1, whatever it is, but I mean, das what they put around em to make em bear! But lately my trees ain't been makin many and I got a lot of trees around out there.. round where I stayed out there... Bayou Chicot...Where the Wittington store was there, I got a grey trailerhouse ova dere, right dere, across the road on the right, dey was on the left I was on the right, that's where I lived right dere, ma family's still dere. But anyway dat pecan tree, dey say some years dey don't make good! Every other year, das what dey say! So I said dey got a way to treat em! Even I see the man talkin with Gary Arnold, got em talkin 'bout dem trees, you put dat lime around em, but you put it so many inches from da tree, and you make a lil' round hole, you know you make a lil hole and den put dat down in dere and den cover it up, den, if it's dry you water it. But if it rain, you know, that'll make it go down into the ground but nowaday, mine don't make hardly nothin no mo'. I beem needin some pecans, but my son dere, he ain't tole me nothin' dis year but he probably go out dere in a few days. And then some of the trees are too old, when dey get too old I don't think they bear too good no mo'. Yeah, it's like us old, when you get arthritis, you know, that makes it difficult! Y'all have a good day I'mma let y'all go! Take care now.

Thing they should sell at the Prairie des Femmes Store

I went there once on la Fete de la Chandeleur to grab nearly all of their eggs and milk because we were short for crepe making at Beau Chene High School. I think I also bought a Mexican coke. They should sell basics like that at the Prairie des Femmes store, and other stuff like bags of Creole Rose rice and cans of Rotel, white cherry icees and boudin balls and boules rouges in big glass jars on the counter, of course, but if I had my way, this is what they would also sell at the Prairie des Femmes store (on the old Indian footpath that is now Hwy 93) but because that spot is built on an ancient mound site, everyone around here says nothing takes there and stores can't stay in business. No business, no matter how successful, lasts more than a year or two at that location. 

1. powder puffs of thistle tops used to apply powder of the crushed Cherokee rose
2. fresh pucks of wax-myrtle wax 
3. bay and beeswax candles
4. cypress blood, tincture of cypress sap, bottled and corked
5. Spanish moss in a can, match included 
6. iron tines of the plow for t-fer making
7. hats and fans of the latanier for ladies to keep cool in the summertime
8. smudge sticks of indian sage, lemonbalm, rabbit tobacco
9. dried teas of herbe a cabri, mugwort, mongrea
10. sasafrass root
11. file' powder
12. comb-in prairie des femmes honey
13. pecan shell berceuses pour les ti-catins
14. dried French mulberries by the lb
15. fresh mulberries, dewberries, blackberries in season
16. white mulberries of the Bayou Bourbeau in season
17. elderberry syrup for the winter and dried elderberry flowers
18. wooden beads and raw leather for leather work
19. Laguiole knives with the bee and goat punch
20. black taribi, cabresse
21. bousillage soap bar
22. red powder made from the crushed shells of lady bugs
23. job's tear and chinaberry rosaries
24. blow guns of lilas parasol
25. shovels
26. seeds
27. Poo yaille fertilizer
28. hammers
29. basins and buckets of all sizes
30. rolls of thick brown paper
31. cast iron cookware
32. a directory of the names of local traiteurs on a cork board
33. Louisiana literature and music
34. quilts
    
35. A Prairie des Femmes Field Guide
36. ceramic shards from the field, embossed with gold
37. plantain t-fer salve
38. homgrown fruits and vegetables
39. lemonbalm tingture
40. loose manglier tea

Don't try to pull in or turn around at the old Prairie des Femmes store, though! They got the driveway lined with nail boards.