A Dixie Lady Deer Hunter

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

A Chick-fil-A Treat

Pretty little Emma!

Emma having fun playing at the Chick-fil-A play area.
Three generations - Emma, Suzi and myself.
Emma with her Mom in the play area.
My youngest daughter, Suzi with her Godfather, Ricky.

Yesterday at noon we all met up in Clinton at a Chick-fil-A Restaurant to visit with Suzi's Godfather and family who drove up from Lacombe, LA to see Emma. Ricky was ordained a Deacon for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, on December 13, 2008. We are all so proud of his accomplishment. Ricky and his wife, Lynn, were amazed that Emma could count to ten and not be two years old yet. We really had a wonderful time and took a few pictures of this special occasion. Charming, Just Charming!

Circle-The-Cat



If you are bored and want something to do....


Monday, June 29, 2009

Dave's New Cam Pics




My hunting friend, Dave, who lives in Indiana said that he went out to both woods this past Saturday morning awash in mosquito repellant to check his cameras and was rewarded with a total of 47 pics. Here are a few that he shared with me.








Dear Heavenly Father,
Please help me to be the
man my dog
thinks I am... Amen

D. Robert (Dave) Quick
MY DISCUSSION FORUM:HFH DISCUSSION FORUMS
Don't tell GOD how big your storm is.
Tell the storm how Big your GOD is!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Little Miss Emma

Emma sitting in her swing after she got wet in the kiddyring sprinkler!

A swing for Emma that he made in their front yard in the live oak tree.
Step-Grandpaw Sheldon getting ready to water the flowers that he got from his well.

Maw Maw Midge getting ready to swing Emma.

Emma wanting to play with her cousin, Ian.

Granddaughters Lucy and Emma enjoying a game at Paw Paw's.

Yesterday, I got to see my youngest granddaughter for the first time in almost a year and my has she grown. After spending the day with her, she is still a little afraid of me and by the time she leaves I should be able to hold her. I can still get the kisses in. She is staying with her Maw Maw and step-Grandpa in Richmond, LA, so she is around them more than me. The family got together here in Vicksburg for the first time around noon yesterday and we all enjoyed that. It was so hot here at 100 degrees. Later I went over to Louisiana and helped babysit her while my daughter and her hubby (Dennis) went to his 25th class reunion at the Tallulah Country Club. I'm only putting a few pictures on here....I doubt if I can get all 18 I took on one post. I got a little carried away...but that's what Gran Gran's do!

Saturday, June 27, 2009

A Mississippi Visit

My youngest daughter, Marian 'Suzi', with Emma and her hubby Dennis (who works for the FAA in Washington D.C.) are visiting for a week from Virginia. Dennis is also here for his 25th Class Reunion in Tallulah, LA. I am looking forward to spending time with my daughter and precious granddaughter, Emma. She has been practicing saying "Gran Gran" and gets it out as "Gan Gan" and that's close enough for me! Emma will be celebrating her second birthday on July 25th. Suzi is a stay-at-home Mom and is a good Mother and I am very proud of her as I am of all my daughters. Charming, Just Charming!

Friday, June 26, 2009

To You ~ Have A Great Day!


There comes a point in your life when you realize:
Who matters, Who never did, Who won't anymore,
And who always will...
So, don't worry about people from your past, there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future...
I'm giving these flowers to you today and wishing you a great
day!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Wasp Spray?


Addie, my friend in Dallas, TX, sent me an email last night of using Wasp Spray as a weapon. She wonder if this would be considered a lethal weapon? She never would have thought it! Sounded like a good idea. She had a neighbor who is a receptionist in a church in a high risk area who was concerned about someone coming into the office on Monday to rob them when they were counting the collection. She asked the local police department about using pepper spray and they recommended to her that she get a can of wasp spray instead. The wasp spray, they told her, can shoot up to twenty feet away and is a lot more accurate, while with the pepper spray they have to get too close to you and could overpower you. The wasp spray temporarily blinds an attacker until they get to the hospital for an antidote. She keeps a can on her desk in the office and it doesn't attract attention from people like a can of pepper spray would. She also keeps one nearby at home for home protection. Thought this was interesting and wanted to pass it along.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

A Celebrity Luncheon

Vicksburg native Ellis Nassour, left, conducted the interview of Debbie Reynolds, center, in New York a week ago last Monday at the Friars' Club celebrity lunch at which Reynolds was inducted as an honorary member. At right is Mary Louise Nosser of Vicksburg, who was in New York to attend the 30th Annual Mississippi Picnic in Cental Park the day before. Nassour is an author and playwright. Nosser is a licensed guide in the Vicksburg National Military Park.
Charming, Just Charming!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

A Fun Birthday/Cookout

My grandson, Ethan, with a neighbor's puppy, Rumpus, the Basset Hound.

Rumpus stepping all over his ears!

Granddaughters, Lucy and Victoria trying to cool off in the pool.

Lucy, second to the youngest of my five granddaughters.

Carl's Birthday cake.

Ian laying on his camo pillow intently watching a video of cows, chickens, rabbits, etc. His mother is my granddaughter, Victoria.

I intended to post this yesterday but got side tracked. Carl really had a nice 19th birthday with a hamburger cookout. Jamie, Ian's Dad, grilled out on the deck but it was so hot that everyone ate inside. Afterwards, some of the grand kids and invited friends jumped in the pool to cool off. Even the water was hot....but at least it was wet. It was good to visit with family and to see my great grandson, Ina, again. He will be two years old in November and a little pistol.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Look Alikes











My girlfriend who lives in Dallas, TX, sent me these look alikes and thought you all would enjoy a good laugh to start the week off.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to Bob, my husband, Greg, my step-son and standing with them is my step-grandson, John Gregory. Wishing all Fathers a very Happy Father's Day!

Happy 19th Birthday Carl


I have another grandchild whose birthday is celebrated today. Carlton "Carl" is 19 years old. In the top photo shows us together with his 5 point buck that he harvested on a Youth Weekend Hunt at Jasper Bottom Hunting Club in Claiborne County where I'm a member. The deer weighed 150 lbs. and he used my .270 Ruger to make the nearly 100 yard shot. The bottom photo shows Carl hunting with me at his Grandpa Bob's camp at Homewood Hunting Club in Claiborne County. In fact, both camps are back to back. Carlton is interested in learning the technology associated with the design and development of video games. He has enrolled at the Benjamin L. Hooks Job Corps Central (formally known as the Memphis Job Corps Central) in Memphis, TN, and will learn a trade as a Computer Service Technician. Since this is Father's Day, Carl has been without a Father two days before his 4th birthday. It has really been a challenge for him, his Mother and two sisters to live without their husband/father who was tragically killed on June 18, 1994. Grandpa Bob and I want to wish Carl the very best on his birthday and for a bright future ahead in computers. I love you, Gran Gran

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Happy 25th Birthday Sonya

Today my oldest granddaughter, Sonya Michelle, is 25 years old and it's very hard for me to believe. She is now living in Magee, MS and had served in the U.S. Navy at Great Lakes, IL and from there was stationed at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA, where she became ill and was honorably discharged. She had signed up for 6 years and had planned to be a linguist. Since then she has attended Mississippi State University at Starkville and the University of Southern Mississippi at Hattiesburg. She plans to return to Southern Mississippi to continue her studies to be a linguist. She is fluent in French, German, Spanish and now learning Chinese (Mandarin) on her own. Sonya also has taken theater where she performed in plays at both colleges. When she was living in Vicksburg she would perform on stage at the Vicksburg Little Theatre. She also took the Hunters Education Course and had planned to hunt with me until she moved away. We would go to the deer camp and practice shooting with my .22 rifle and was hitting the bulls eye! Of course, when she was in the Navy, that paid off knowing she could already shoot well. Wishing her a very Happy Birthday and a bright future in languages. Gran Gran loves you very much!

Friday, June 19, 2009

In The Park


Year 30 of the Mississippi Picnic was held last Sunday in New York City's Central Park. Representing Vicksburg was Mary Louise Nosser. With her are event founder Rachael McPherson of Monticello, Gov. Haley Barbour and Ellis Nassour, playwright and author, who grew up in Vicksburg. The event is held annually to bring former Mississippians together in New York and to promote the state for business and tourism.
I'm proud to say that I have known both Mary Louise from working at the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers together and Ellis from high school. We have all stayed in touch all these years. Mary Louise and Ellis are also related. I did not realized that this event had taken place until I read it in Wednesday's paper. Looks like everyone really had a great time and promoted our great state of Mississippi!

Fried catfish, hushpuppies and sweet tea, oh my!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Defending Vicksburg In The Outdoors


Fishing from a pier at Eagle Lake

~The Vicksburg Post

The place to be....

Once again, Kristine at Outdoor Bloggers Summit (OBS), has given us another challenge in writing about preserving and defending the great outdoors. Being a Vicksburger all my life and an avid deer huntress for the past 24 years, Vicksburg is one of the best places to be for avid hunters and anglers to live. Recently there was an article that was in the paper about being a sportsman in my hometown. In its June/July issue, Outdoor Life Magazine shines the national spotlight on the area's outdoors resources, ranking Vicksburg 145th on its list of the top 200 towns in the United States for sportsmen. For Vicksburg native, Louis Lambiotte, says that each year passes with more than four season changes.

“There’s dove season in September, bow season in October, waterfowl season from November through January, then there’s turkey season in March, bass fishing all summer and then you’re right back into the fall hunting season,” said Lambiotte. “It’s definitely a passion for me — I love to fish to relax, and I get so excited about hunting I’ll actually lose sleep over it.”

With its prominent position on the Mississippi River and its close proximity to the Delta — as well as an abundance of nearby wildlife management areas and oxbow lakes — locals such as Lambiotte have long known that Vicksburg is one of the best places in the country for avid hunters and anglers to live.

“Vicksburg is really a hub city for hunting and fishing,” said Eddie Buckner, owner of Delta Outfitters on U.S. 61 North, formerly Hadad’s. “We have the best of both worlds. We have the Delta to the north and the hills to the south. We have very liberal hunting seasons, good public and private hunting grounds — and on top of that, we have great fishing opportunities with all the oxbow lakes. It’s pretty hard to beat.”This is just the second year Outdoor Life Magazine has ranked the top 200 towns in the country based on quality of life statistics, access to hunting and fishing locations, variation and quality of species and gun control laws. Just two other towns in Mississippi made the list — Pascagoula at 123rd and Greenville at 190th. Vicksburg slipped from the 112th spot last year, mostly likely due to tougher quality of life criteria, which accounts for 40 percent of each town’s final score.

“We changed the equation a little bit this year when it comes to the quality of life categories, and doubled the weight of three of those categories,” said Outdoor Life Senior Editor John Taranto. “The way our equation is set up, you’re going to see a lot of Western cities on the list, where the cost of living and unemployment rate are relatively low and the number of species and trophy potential are very high.”

Lewiston, Idaho — a town of 31,000 bordering Washington — received the No. 1 distinction on the Outdoor Life list. The entire list with calculations of all the criteria is available online for download at outdoorlife.com. While Vicksburg received less than desirable marks for quality-of-life issues such as population growth since 2008 (-2.8 percent) and its unemployment rate (8.7 percent), it scored a 9 out of 10 for the state’s gun laws, a 7 for fishable species, an 8 for proximity to public accesses and a 6 for trophy potential.

Joe Campus of Pensacola, Fla., has been coming to the Vicksburg area about twice a year to hunt deer and waterfowl with local friends since the mid-1990s. He also owns land in Alabama, but said the hunting and fishing is better around Vicksburg.

“We kill some nice deer in Alabama pretty regularly, but every time I’ve gone to Vicksburg I’ve killed a really nice deer,” Campus said. “And hunting mallards among the timbers in the Delta on a sunny day — that’s as good as duck hunting gets for me. There’s just something about the Delta and that whole area around it that sets it apart from everywhere else.”

According to the Mississippi State University Extension Service, the deer population is estimated at 1.75 million — giving Mississippi the highest deer-per-acre density in the country. Only Texas has a greater number of deer. Vicksburg and the Delta also are located on the Mississippi Flyway, a north-south migration route used by about 40 percent of all North American waterfowl and shorebirds.

About 20 percent of the state’s roughly 3,000,000 residents are regular anglers, according to a 2006 report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Public accesses abound in the Vicksburg area, beginning with downtown’s City Front landing for the Yazoo Diversion Canal, which provides access to the Mississippi River. Public landings on Eagle Lake, Lake St. Joseph, Lake Bruin and Chotard Lake are within a short drive of the city. About a half-dozen state wildlife management areas comprising more than 60,000-acres are within 30 miles of Vicksburg, as are the 60,000-acre Delta National Forest, the 65,000-acre Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge and the Panther Swamp NWR. All provide abundant opportunities for public hunting, fishing, camping, hiking and wildlife viewing.

Also located near the Eagle Lake community, about 30 minutes northwest of the city, is Tara Wildlife, one of the nation’s premiere turkey and deer hunting destinations. The private wildlife conservation boasts 12 miles of Mississippi River frontage and 17,200-acres of oxbow lakes and bottomland hardwood forests.

“Each state basically has a 60-day season, but if you hunt in Mississippi and Louisiana you can hunt 72 days instead of 60,” he said.

Along with all the seasons Lambiotte looks forward to each year, hunters in the Vicksburg area can also partake in crow, rabbit, squirrel, bobcat, opossum, raccoon and frog hunting. Last year, Warren, Yazoo and Issaquena counties were among just seven in Mississippi opened for private land alligator hunting, and they’ll be among the 13 counties eligible for this year’s season — which will be Sept. 18 through Oct. 4.

There has been a steady rise in interest in hunting and fishing - as well as a rise on spending for the outdoors - especially among women and children.

Nearly every business in and around Vicksburg, from the many manufacturers to the five riverboat casinos, have been deeply affected by the national recession, leading to hundreds of employee layoffs and some plant closures. However, Buckner said the outdoors supply business he purchased two years ago has thus far been recession-proof. Ultimately, he feels the abundance of natural resources and public accesses in the area — as well as a rich heritage of hunting and fishing among its residents — are providing his business the insulation it needs to prosper during hard times.

“My numbers have gone up considerably from last year,” he said. “I think it’s due to a number of reasons, but mostly I think people just need to have an escape from their daily lives, and hunting and fishing is that escape for a lot of people. When you’re out hunting or fishing, you can forget about all your worries in the world. I think people will always value that here — hunting and fishing are just a way of life in the South.”

What more can I say about living here in Vicksburg - I'm defending and preserving my hometown and having the great wild outdoors at my doorstep!

Some Tombstones at Cedar Hill

City Vault - Circa 1858

You can see the wall crumbling and twigs trying to grow on top of the roof.
Note the air vent. (Click on picture to enlarge)

Marker over the door.

151 years can take its toll.




One of two chairs sitting on either side of a family plot.


The last of some pictures I took this past Sunday of some family tombs at Cedar Hill Cemetery which is one of the oldest and largest cemeteries in the United States. Our plot is directly across the road (Lover's Lane) on the west side of the cemetery with the view of the back of the vault. I have always seen this vault but never took the time to check it out or ride through the cemetery and take pictures. Cedar Hill is also the final resting place for an estimated 5,000 Confederate soldiers and the plot is known as "Soldier's Rest." My Son, Mother, Father, maternal Grandfather and my Ex-in-laws are all buried here in this cemetery.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...