It all starts tomorrow family! Come on out and celebrate with us!

Pooka Grand Opening week! Savenger Hunt #pookamania

Remembering Maya

This is a tribute to a great woman we all knew of and loved. Lets take a look back at her life,thank you Maya for your love and sharing your words with us.

Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Ann Johnson in St. Louis, Mo. Angelou attended high school in San Francisco, and studied dance and drama. At the age of 14, she dropped out of school and became the city's first African-American, female street car conductor. She later graduated and gave birth to her son, Guy, soon after.

In 1954 and 1955, Angelou toured Europe with the opera production Porgy and Bess. In 1960, Angelou moved to Cairo, Egypt, to become the editor of an English-language weekly newspaper. The following year, she moved to Ghana and taught at the University of Ghana's School of Music and Drama.

Angelou read and studied voraciously, mastering several languages, including French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic and the West African language Fanti While in Ghana, Angelou met Malcolm X and, in 1964, returned to America with him to help form his Organization of African American Unity.

Shortly after Malcolm X's assassination in 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. asked Angelou to serve as northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Angelou was devastated when King was assassinated in 1968. She wrote a poem entitled Abundant Hope for the 2011 dedication of the MLK Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Angelou's most famous work described her early life in Long Beach, St. Louis and Stamps, Ark. In one scene in the book, Angelou describes her rape by her mother's boyfriend at the age of 7. The man was murdered by Angelou's uncles. Angelou felt responsible for the death, and she was mute for five years.

In all, Angelou produced more than 30 best-selling works of fiction and non-fiction.Angelou appeared in the television adaptation of Alex Haley's Roots and in John Singleton's Poetic Justice.n 2000, Angelou received the Presidential Medal of Arts and, in 2008, the Lincoln Medal. In 2010, President Obama awarded Angelou with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Angelou has also won three Grammy Awards for her spoken-word albums.

Some of my favorite Maya quotes:

"I am a Woman Phenomenally, Phenomenal Woman that's me.
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them."

"We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated."

Summer Time!

Greetings Family!!  I think we can say that summer is finally here!!  Amen! After an unforgiving winter I cherish all the days of summer.  No matter how hot or humid or muggy…I am grateful.  I was driving to the train station this week and noticed the kids walking to school.  They were getting in those last days before summer vacation.  It just made me think how fortunate they are.  They have their whole summer off!  Oh how youth is wasted on the young.  I really get what that means now that I am not a youth lol!  A whole summer off!  Can you even imagine family?  We could sleep late every day, hang at the beach or pool, and read all those books you never have a chance to read.   I would travel or simply take walks in my neighborhood.  I guess I could finally give away the clothes and shoes I no longer need and really clean my closet.  I could volunteer at a hospital or shelter to help however I could.  I would finally create my backyard oasis…you remember that don’t you family!  I would re-learn Spanish  (whatever Dawn!) and learn French.  I would visit museums and attend every free art and music event in New York and New Jersey.  I would work my way through the wine trail at the vineyards in New Jersey.  I would have picnics with my husband.  I would take a cooking class and invite everyone to my oasis to sample my homework!   Or…I could simply sit on my front porch all day long. So family, as we head into summer remember when,  and try to fit some of those things into your schedule.  But I guess if we could really live on summer vacation we wouldn’t have a schedule.  Enjoy your summer family!!

Welcome to summer!

Morning Pooka Family!! Welcome to summer!  The season of graduations, dance recitals and bugs!!!  As I get older.20 yrs old to be exact (if Dawn is 24, April is 30 and Donna is 32 then 20 sounds about right for me) I'm learning that I can be a little OCD about bugs and Mother's Natures other creatures!  I've told you about the groundhog that lives in my backyard under our shed.  She has really made herself at home and now I know why.  Evidently she was under the shed this winter having babies because now I see 2 little ones making theirself at home in the backyard!  Since its summer and Taiye is spending more time in the backyard I got a little concerned about them being there so I googled to see if they are harmful and what to do to get rid of them.  I discovered that they are not harmful or said differently, not an animal that would approach you or attack.  They come out during the day, eat the grass and berries and then go back home at night to sleep.  Okay, I think I can deal with that for now but if I get tired of seeing them in my yard I need to go and buy some fox urine and spray it in the area and then they will retreat and find another place to live.  Where exactly am I supposed to buy fox urine???

My next nature's annoyance that have invaded my domain are ants!!! I wake up the other morning and find them in my kitchen cabinet! Ugh!!! Okay, I can handle this, so I get my flashlight and study where they are coming from and trace their route to some cracks in windowsill/splashboard.  I get my silicon gun and seal up all the holes (or so I thought).  The next morning I wake up and find they've found another entrance; where, I have no idea!  So I google it to find alternative remedies for ants extermination because I don't want to use store bought ants sprays since they are harmful to the water supply and the environment and I just don't want my kitchen cabinets smelling like ant spray. Good ole' Google gives me 12 ways to get rid of them naturally the first being vinegar water. Well family, I'm spraying vinegar all over my kitchen and windowsills.  I can't say that I've reached success yet because I still see them but I have 11 other ways to try and get rid of them.  I'll keep you posted on how this effort pans out family.  Until next time..Peace and Blessings!