Thanks Alot Alex!

Love,
The Mississippi Gulf Coast

See For Yourself, Feel What We Feel!

Turn it up, ya'll, this is the song we play every morning before we leave.

Get em', get em', get em' Captain!



Closed up tight. No seafood, no livelihood.

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words...........she's crying, poor baby.....

Soaking it up.


From behind a skimmer, you can see how it works in this picture.

These water spouts are making it extra dangerous for the clean up workers.

Your love and prayers have us wrapped up safe and sound.
We love you all!
Captain John and his Bumpkin On A Swing

Day 69~Our Day of Doom

The oil completely inundated our Coast yesterday. It even filled our bays. Captain John, and all the boats were sent home yesterday as this was happening, due to some red tape error in the location of the decontamination station. Poor planning, lack of execution, lack of education, lack of determination, I could go on, and on, about the problems, but what good would that do? I would imagine he has already said what needed to be said to the proper people this morning. It's a different feeling when it's washing in on our beaches, than some place even miles down the road. We lost, and that's not his style.
He was beside himself every second he was onshore yesterday. He wanted to do something so bad. He couldn't believe we had 69 days to prepare for this, and he was doing nothing as it came in.

Many Coast residents are very curious to know what this is? They are so secretive we want to know for ourselves. Where would you get something like this tested? Anybody have a clue. Alarming to say the least. Can you believe I still saw kids swimming in the water yesterday on Biloxi Beach, the closed Biloxi Beach. I think their parents should be arrested for child endangerment, playing with the oil, pretending it was suntan oil.

WARNING WARNING

THIS IS THE ONLY ONE I AM POSTING, I KNOW THIS REALLY UPSETS SOME OF YOU, BUT I WANT YOU TO FEEL IT FROM YOUR SOUL. CAN'T IGNORE IT, GOTTA KEEP THE FIGHT GOING! YOU KNOW IT'S STILL PUMPING LIKE OLE FAITHFUL OUT THERE, THIS ISN'T THE END!







Booms failed miserably. Silk ones, fancy ones, cheap ones, they all failed. The seas will be really rough for the next 48 hours due to Tropical Storm Alex passing below us. Big waves will only make this work. We need a new game plan, and new leaders to implement the game plans. Enough red tape. We all may know a Captain who went out this morning, madder than hell, with a lead, follow, or get the hell out of my way attitude. He doesn't like losing.


This little guy is freaking out, you forget about the little ones...

and what this is doing to them.

Picture taken Friday, there is still hope. We can pull them, we just gotta get to em'. They are hard to catch.

Let's end this post, with a brighter moment why don't we. Do you see him in the picture below?

Now living it up on his way to Seaworld..

Doing what we can do, is all we can do. Keep it going for me please, they are still out there.
Swim, Swim, Swim, Fly, Fly, Fly.............
Pray for My Captain.
Love,
The Bumpkin

An Update On Our Lives~We Love You All

Hi Everybody, I missed you guys. I am really busy right now, and I know I haven't been here like I should, but I'm really trying. Let me explain: As of this past Monday morning at 6am, our boat and Our Captain were hired by BP. Through the Vessels of Opportunity Program, a way they are compensating the Captains for lack of fishing, and it took them awhile, to finally get it that no one will fight this battle harder than our local Captains. Out of towners have been sent back to wherever they came from, and Our Captain, and all his buddies, are fighting it tooth and nail.
Assignment name? Are you ready? Are you sure your ready?
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okay here it comes
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TURTLEBOAT! You got tears in those eyes yet?

That's right BP hired our Captain for animal rescue.
There's a reason we haven't told you yet though....nothing yet, just recoveries ( you understand the difference right, I'm sorry, ya'll but we tell the truth here remember). He's really trying, he wanted me to wait to tell you until we have saved at least one, but I can't hold it in anymore.
Our small vessel is camouflage think (Marine Corps to the max), and the sea turtles, as I have mentioned many times, come right up to it. They think it's a bed of seaweed floating, that contains food. Our hopes are way up there that this will work.
Today is day 5, nothing yet, but you can bet your bottom dollar, there is not a soul on this earth that would try harder than he is.
Long hours, before dawn, till after dark. Here's how it will work. John sees a turtle, bird, dolphin, otter, anything, and he contains it, rounds it up, you follow me, and IMMS comes and gets it, rehabilitates it, and then moves it to a choice of lots of aquariums in the nation. Pulling them out, yep! Say a prayer for Strike force 3 and the Turtleboat tonight.
Swim, swim, swim, fly, fly, fly.....to Captain John, to Captain John...
They are a lot of rules to this: I have to make adequate food to have on board for a full day for the crew, shade, sunscreen, first aid, lots of id badges, light clothing in color and weight. This is a small boat, with no ac, and the heat index today on the water is 110+. They check this all too, for example if they catch sunburn men on the boat, or no Gatorade, water, sugar, food, we are done, and The Captain is responsible. It's a lot of work for me too. Sometimes from 5am till 1 or 2 in the morning, because I work, and I can't do my stuff until the guys are in. I can do this, if we can just save one or two, or maybe three, or if we could find that pod of 200 could you imagine? The grocery shopping and toting alone can be tough, I mean I only have so much refrigator, so I have to go about every other day or so.

Rewards are plentiful, though My Captain is spoiling me rotten.

They also went around, our Captains, who know what they are doing here in these waters, and fixed all the booms, but ain't no tar balls anymore, it's rolling in again. I can hear the helicopters right now, must be close. Did you see the waves in Pensacola? That area, and Gulf Shores/Orange Beach/Perdido has taken a hard hit. Jimmy, Kenny, and Zac (Buffett, Chesney and Brown) are holding a Relief benefit concert there next week. Will you please dial in for those folks, their lives are devastated.

I also want to take a moment to remember Captain Rookie Kruse. There was no depression, drugs, alcohol, financial problems (yet), regardless of what the article I am about to link you to says about demons. The only demon was that our Gulf is dead. No kidding, dead.
Captain Rookie, was the one of the best Captains, and Fisherman, to ever walk the docks of Orange Beach, AL. He will truly live on forever in the memories of every passenger of his boat. Captain John and I are heartbroken, and I just want you guys to understand how real it is to these men. Due South, Captain Rookie, Due South! If you don't know it click HERE to read the story.

You know there's one thing about luck, good or bad, when it rains it pours.

Thankfully, our rain is a run of good right now. Guess what ya'll?

They called 7:30am this morning, and they offered him a permanent Captain's position on the boat he worked on a couple of weeks ago. Our lives have changed in a moment, from despair to elation. I am so proud, they gave the crew aboard the boat the option of who would be the new Captain, and they picked ours. So, I will officially say it.. I support the Oil Field, because it supports me now. Naysayers, save it, don't even waste your time. What would you do? We have two weeks to get a Captain trained for the Turtleboat, and we already have a few in mind, men that haven't gotten work yet? Guaranteed he will be from our waters.

I love you all, and I will squeeze time in to visit you all really soon, I miss being a part of your everyday lives, every single one of you!

This is suppose to be a really positive post, but there's just one little thing sticking in the back of my mind that I am worried about.

Not now, please not now? Next year, we will deal with it, but this year, we are a little busy. Okay, Thanks!

We love you all,

Captain John and his Bumpkin On A Swing

It's Finally Friday & We Have Something To Celebrate

My Captain is home, this is not the celebration I speak of. The Captain he replaced got a release from the doctor to return, but the good thing is, it went really well. A fellow Captain on the boat over said he's one of the best he's seen. The guys out on the oil rigs, were really pleased that he could hold the boat super steady while the guy with the crane loaded and unloaded. Usually they use tie lines hooked to the boat to do this. Our Captain can do it without the tie lines. Impressed the heck out of the guys on the rigs. He has also been labeled the Docking Master, by the other Captains, he can back it in on a dime. The other Captains, pull in sideways, and bump the boat around in the spot. The guy who owns the company he worked for called first thing this morning to tell him to stay packed and ready to go, he would hear from him asap.

So on to our celebration. Guess what. Guess what.
When he got in the truck at the dock last night, this is what he said:

"Baby, Baby, Guess what? It was about 5am this morning and I was about 5 miles east of Mobile Bay. I was just chugging along, drinking a cup of coffee, and enjoying the morning. I look about 1/4 mile off the bow, and I see 8-10 dolphins all in a line like a football team riding a wave headed straight for me. When we passed they turned around and rode my wake all the way out to the rigs, feeding off the fish I stirred up. In total Baby today, I probably saw 250-300 dolphins, playing and feeding, and I also saw 8 big green sea turtles, swimming around the boat at the rigs. All I kept thinkin' was Swim, Swim, Swim, Fly, Fly, Fly, it worked, it worked. We have to call the bloggers, do you have their phone numbers?"

How cute is that? He was ecstatic. Big ole' tough Marine Sniper, that excited to see his dolphins, really pulled at my heart strings, and the little part about them following his wake, I love it.
Apparently after more discussions, he determines, there was not much oil seen yesterday, although for the last three days it's been a lot of oil, but the currents changed, and were heading the opposite direction. We are sure hoping, that they have figured out to move away from the oil to stay alive, as I told you before, when the oil was surrounding us, we saw none for days, noone did. This is fabulous news and gives me hope. He again stated the sharks are really bad right now, and if any of you are in the waters near the spill, please don't forget this warning. He couldn't have brought me better news, so let's keep praying and wishing okay everybody. Swim, swim, swim, fly, fly, fly.

Did ya'll see the riot on CNN at the local job center over the jobs that are available with the oil spill. It was ugly, Robyn Meade showed it this morning. This happened about 10 miles west of the Captain and I, people are desperate for jobs right now, it was already bad enough, and now these people are getting really mad. They better stop trying to steal the jobs from the mad locals. It could get real ugly. Mississippians don't take kindly to being kicked when we are down.

Alright on to this weeks favorites.

Favorite New Blog Find: Lemons and Laundry, adore Marcie, she's such a lovely blogger. It's one of those happy little places to hang out in the bloggy world. She takes great pictures, like this one below. Now this is my idea of doing laundry. Make sure to click HERE to read one of my favorite posts, titled Trash The Dress, click the follow button, and tell her The Bumpkin sent you. Another thing about Marcie, I love, she started a spark in me last week for........Kate Spade Summer 2010 collection

Favorite Beach Tote This Week: I thought instead of a Handbag, we would do a beach tote this week. Kate Spade, this is so Bumpkin.

This Week's Shoegasm: Love these, also from Kate Spade.

Favorite Fashion Photo of The Week: Love the dress here, and the editing makes her so mysterious to me.

Favorite Recipe This Week: From Paris Pastry, Lemon Butter Cookies, in French known as sables. This is going to be my Sunday morning project this weekend. I have to bake early (4am ish early), or the oven will run us out of the house in this heat. Click HERE for the recipe.

Favorite Dustjacket Attic Image This Week: I hope to get a little of this in this weekend.

Favorite Animal Photo of The Week: I just can't put it in to words, what this picture does to me.


And to leave you with a laugh today, from a Robyn Alana Engel's blog Life by Chocolate. A fellow 40-something blogger, who is single and still trying to find her prince charming. At our age, it's gets a whole new spin, the dating dilemma does. Need a really good laugh? Check out the eligible bachelors for Ladies like us by clicking HERE. Robyn, a social worker, has a serious side too, she can reach out and grab your soul, with her stories of what she sees daily in her line of work. I love me some Rawkn Robyn.
So what's on the agenda for you guys this weekend? I have the little pool party to attend, spend some time with The Captain of my Love Boat, and guess what I'm not doing, poop scooping. Thank you to the powers that be, for that one.
Love,
The Bumpkin