Bringing a smile...

To a lot of folks, the holidays can be a bit stressful.  To other folks, the season often can be a bit depressing.  Then there are others that merely thrive on all of the hustle and bustle of the season.  Today, I was beginning to feel a bit pressed for time.  I have not even begun my Christmas shopping.  As much as I love this time of year, I am behind schedule...why, I have not even finished decorating the Little Bayou House!  Egads!  What is to become of me?  Time and stress was starting to weigh heavy on my mind.  This would simply never do! My Christmas Spirit needed a boost!  I needed to be revived!  I needed to be kicked in gear!  I needed...ok...

This morning, I really did not want to leave my cozy, warm blanket.  It was all I could do to rise and shine or even just rise.  I knew I had to get going, though, as I had a thousand and one things to do.  I brewed the coffee a mite stronger and gulped down the first mugful.  I was going to need a good bit of this today so I poured a second mug and headed into the living room.  First things first..you know, that always seemed to be the logical order of doing things so I have no clue why that saying even seemed to ever be necessary..until today.  First things first, I turned on my old laptop which has now been relegated as a stereo/CD player!  Son has rigged the thing up to speakers so now I can have beautiful music without a huge, monstrosity of a system!   Anyway, once the cheery Christmas music started playing, things got much better!  There is nothing like a jaunty, happy tune of "Jingle Bells" to wake you up in the morning!  Actually, one of my most favorite albums was playing!  For any of you who have never heard this girl sing, I must tell you that you are missing out on the best voice ever!  Eva Black's self-titled Christmas album is one of those extraordinarily beautiful things that only comes around once in a very great while.  Now, I might be a bit biased here as I must admit that Eva is my niece.  She is a very talented young lady that gives her all in any project that she attempts.  Not only can she sing like an angel, she is a very talented artist that paints unique furniture pieces and is the most amazing photographer!  When the Good Lord was handing out talents, I think Eva was blessed with about a thousand times the normal share!  But back to her Christmas CD.  Her rendition of "Where are you Christmas" is one of those songs that stays with you for the rest of the day!  And..WOW!..."Breath of Heaven" is truly amazing!  Needless to say, by the time the laptop/stereo flipped to a different album, I was rearing to go!  I was so in the Christmas Spirit that I, too, was hustling and bustling!  Things were actually "beginning to look a lot like Christmas" in the Little Bayou House!  Thank you, Eva!

 Do yourself a favor..ask your favorite radio station to play just one of her songs..or better yet, find one of her albums!  You will not be sorry!  The album is "Eva..A Christmas Peace".

A Roof Over Their Heads

Sometimes when you spend a good deal of time watching the critters, you come across things that are a mite comical.  These instances cause you to ponder just what goes through the minds of animals.  Most of the time, their actions are purely instinctual and they will do what provides comfort.  In other words, animals just do what feels good!...Most of the time.  Then there are the times that their actions cause you to scratch your head and ask..."Why?"

A few days ago, I awoke early and prepared for my morning trek to the pier.  It was cold..nigh on freezing so I had to bundle up with warm clothing.  Ms. Ez, on the other hand, decided that her fur coat was just not going to get the job done so she stayed in her cozy bed.  I edged my way down the board path.  As I neared the pier, I could see that the tide was extremely low.  The north wind had done its job well!  I could also see that there were numerous blobs under the pier.  Hmmm?  Blobs?  Once I was up on the pier, I could tell that these were ducks.  A whole slew of the little Hooded Mergansers were clustered under the pier.  I thought that perhaps they were trying to escape the cold wind.  That would make sense!  Stepping closer and close, I tried not to scare the little birds.  They had flown far to get to my Bayou.  I was sure not going to make them feel unwelcome.  Soon, I was right on top of them.  I could peer through the planking and see the little ducks paddling around beneath me.  I could hear their "croaking" calls as they talked with one another.  Still not wanting to startle them, I eased down to a sitting position.  I was now sitting on the planking just above them.  (My bench was taken by Hurricane Isaac back a few months ago.)  I watched them between the boards.   They made no effort to skitter away at all!  After a bit, I was chilled and headed back to the house and a mug of hot coffee!  The ducks stayed!

About noontime, I looked out the door and noticed that the Hoodies were still huddled under the pier.  Ok...so I understood them being there during the night and early morning hours but the temperature had warmed nicely.  The sun was sparkling on the water and the day was nice.  Why were the ducks still huddled under the pier?  Surely by this time, it had to be colder in the shade of the boards than out on the sunny water.  I shook my head...goofy, little Hoodies!  Get yourself out there and enjoy that sunshine!  All day, the Mergansers stayed huddled under the pier.  Why?  I have no clue.  Perhaps they felt protected as they rested from their long journey.  Several times in the past few days, I noticed that they were back.  My pier seems to have become their "home away from home"...their shelter from the cold...their winter retreat.  I am good with that!  Welcome home, Hoodies...welcome home.

A Honey of a Gift!

I have let it be known to my family that I do not want any gifts this year that involve me having to find a place in which to put it.  The Little Bayou House is nigh on bursting at the seams with "STUFF".  I do not need nor want anymore stuff!  If something is to be brought into the place, it had better be food, craft supplies or seeds!  Why, at this point, I would even prefer a truckload of firewood or fertilizer!  These types things can easily be used up before becoming clutter!  It is not that I am trying to be picky nor ungrateful, there is just no more space available for cutesy, little knickknacks. I do not need anymore souvenir, ceramic mugs, holiday sweaters and for sure I do not need furniture!  I have not been donating stuff for the past three months just to have the house all filled back up with needless items!  Folks, put a little thought into your gifts!  Unless you want it donated to the local senior citizen's group or thrift store, please do not give me something that you mindlessly grab off the store shelf as you get caught up in the frantic gift-buying mania!  I would much rather you donate some foodstuffs to the local soup kitchen or give a jacket or blanket to the homeless shelter. Again, I am not trying to be ugly..just practical. I really have far too much and wish to downsize a bit!

Then a knock at the door!  Rap, rap, rap..how unusual to get a guest at the Little Bayou House!  I flung open the door to see my brother standing there.  His arms were full of stuff.  Oh, my!  Umm...how do I politely tell him that I do not want stuff?  As he handed me things, I begin to realize that most of this already belonged in my house.  First he handed me a box of empty canning jars.  These were once filled with jams or jelly.  We have a deal of sharing produce!  Then came an empty bake pan that once held a zucchini bread that I shared with him.  After that, there was a few picture frames that he thought I might be able to use for crafts.  Stuff..but not too bad.  I could handle this!  Then he turned toward his truck and muttered something about having to get the rest. Oh, geez...more?  When he returned, he smiled at me and said "Merry Christmas!"  I started to smile as well!  Without being told my plans for no useless gifts, he was giving me a perfect present!  Yes, it is early to be exchanging gifts but he and I understand each other's intentions!  Mark and I had given my brother a crate of sweet potatoes a month ago as his Christmas gift and now he was returning the kindness.  He was holding three quart jars of delightfully golden HONEY!!!  Wow!  This is the perfect type of gift for me!  As often as I use honey (and prefer local honey), these three quarts are an amazing gift!  I was elated to say the least!  I have a most wonderful brother..one who understands the art of gift-giving!  One who understands that the perfect gift is one that can be used...unlike some chartreuse and purple sweater with Christmas penguins holding a string of colored lights..or perhaps a large, fiber-optic daisy that plays "You are my sunshine!"...or  ...well, you get the idea.  Honey...the perfect gift for me!!

Christmas Past...

I was visited by the "Ghost of Christmas Past" today.  No, this was not some spirited being but rather a flood of memories of long gone Christmas seasons.  Since it was a rainy day here on the Bayou, Son and I thought that it might be the perfect time to do a little of that decorating for the holidays.  We pulled out many, many boxes of decorations.  I have accumulated far too many decorations over the past years thus making it difficult to settle on any one "style" of adorning the Little Bayou House.  Perhaps it was time to start discarding some of these ornaments and other decorations.  As I opened box after box, I realized this was easier said than done.  Each item that was pulled from a box had some sentimental string attached to it. There were the gourd ornaments that Mark and Joanna brought back from Arizona.  There were the handmade ornaments from Elizabeth and Robbie several years ago.  There was the "stained glass" ornaments that were made by Michael when he was in the third grade of elementary school.  Ornaments from Mom and Pop's house, decorations from aunts and uncles, decorations from grandparents and great-grandparents all packed in boxes..all waiting to be unpacked.  I have things from so many folks and so many places.

Some of my favorite things were placed in a small display cabinet.  These are all antique treasures from Christmas Past.  Most are light bulbs from early electric Christmas lights.  I have no clue whether these things will even light up but they are just too pretty to toss.  It was hard to choose from the hundred or so light bulbs and vintage ornaments in the box.  I only had so many spaces in the small cabinet and so many treasures that I wished to display. These were from a time when pride was put into the creation of even things like light bulbs.  The detail in some shaped like birds is unbelievable!  Also in this little cabinet are eleven small porcelain bells of my mother's. I always remember her carefully taking them from their box and stringing them on a long ribbon.  This was then strung in a doorway between the old farmhouse kitchen and the huge living room.  Why there are eleven escapes me.  I assume at one time there were a dozen and when my siblings and I were tykes, one was broken.  Probably at the hands of one of us kids.  The largest mercury glass ornament in the cabinet always fascinated me with its swirls of colors.  Several other antique ornaments fill the rest of the cabinet.  These are treasures.  If this was all of such treasures that filled the boxes, I would have room to spare but alas, it is not.  There are so many that I sadly would never be able to display them all.  Many stay stowed away in boxes.  

My adventure in walking down memory lane made me think of little book that I found last Christmas.  That, too, was on a rainy time here on the Bayou.  Wishing to settle in with a good book, I went to the book shelves to select a suitable volume to read when I discovered a small version of the "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens.  It had somehow been removed from its place with the other books on the shelf was sitting on the shelf near the Christmas Tree.  For the life of me, I could not remember ever seeing the book before.  How it wound up placed on the shelf near the tree was beyond me but it was the perfect bit of reading on a cold, windy and rainy Christmas Night.  Another "Ghost of Christmas Past"...another keepsake that is to be found among the weird and wonderful treasures of the Little Bayou House.

Easier Transition

I decorate for most holidays.  I have no clue as to just why I go through so much trouble as visitors to the Bayou are far and few in between but I do every year.  Just as one holiday is winding down, I will pull down all of the many, many decorations that adorn the Little Bayou House and pack those away for another year.  Then with renewed enthusiasm, I start to pull out and put up decorations for the upcoming season.  It is a lot of work..it is tiring but still I do it every year.  Why?  Why would I put myself through so much work for no apparent reason?  I have no clue but I do..year after year.  Today while I was trying to put together the artificial Christmas Tree for the dining room, I asked Michael just that question. Why?  I went on to ask if he thought there was some possible way to make the transition any easier.

We discussed the fact that already I leave the base garland up on the stairs year round.  The green Natchez Pine garland is always in place.  The white lights and pine cones never come down.  Each holiday sees just enough seasonal additives such as ribbon or ornaments to change it up a bit.  Just last week, there were fall leaves interspersed with the pine.  Now those are down and red berries took their place.  This is the easy transition and I was pondering what else could be simplified.  By this time, he had the base of the artificial tree in the stand and was attempting to put up the next section.  This is one of those pre-lit trees that is actually in four sections.  It is simple enough to put up so I was not referring to the tree when I was posing my query.  At that exact moment, he looked at me in all seriousness and said that he already had a jump on the season!  I stared at him and he pointed to the half of tree.  "An Easter Tree!" he proclaimed!  I had to start giggling when I peered at the tree.  While mounting the second section, two branches stuck high as if reaching for the ceiling!  "Rabbit ears!" again he proclaimed!  Hahaha! He was right!  There in the dining room was a wonderful Christmas Tree in the shape of a rabbit!  Bunny ears for Easter seemed like a great transition!  We shared a light moment with lots of joking and laughs.  Then it hit me..I do it for the few moments like this.  The shared giggles, the light-hearted banter, the love being shared by those who happen to be at the Little Bayou House at the moment.  That is why I do this!  That is why I spend hours..no days..making sure every inch of the Little Bayou House is transformed into some holiday wonderland..no matter what holiday.  I will probably continue to do this even when there is no one here..then...then I will do it for the memories.  For now, the music will play..the tree will be decorated..the house will be adorned for another holiday and I......I will smile.

Bayou Dogs and ummm...Not Bayou Dogs!

My son and daughter-in-law came to visit this weekend and as they usually do, they brought their pets.  I do not mind this as I like critters.  Mark and Joanna have a cat, Kiki, who stays in the spare bedroom so she won't get lost in the clutter of the Little Bayou House.  Joanna tells me that this is done so Queen Kiki will not ruin some of my "collectibles" but I think she is just being kind.  I do believe the cat might become lost in the clutter and not be seen for the next thirty years or so. Consequently, the cat stays in the spare bedroom and pounces on anyone that opens the door.  She is a very loving cat and demands that her subjects pet her at all times.  But this tale is about poor PJ, their dog.  PJ is a most friendly dog..he just about loves everyone!  He likes to be the center of attention which sometimes is just not feasible.  I am spoiled with Ms. Ez as she will lie around on the floor and watch more than intervene.  (Then, again, perhaps she is just lazy!)  PJ is a remarkably well-behaved dog which makes him even more welcome here.  He listens well to whatever I tell him and tries his best to obey.  I think sometimes he just becomes a tad confused with the different surroundings.  The Bayou is a different sort of life for him.

 Ms. Ez is a true bayou dog.  Over the years, she has learned to navigate around the hillside and pier. She loves being near the water and all of the critters that live there. She is not afraid of these critters and has actually befriended a few of them to the point that they no longer fear her.  She fits in well.  There are bayou dogs (which in other areas are called country dogs) and then there are the "not bayou dogs".  PJ is not a bayou dog..he is a city dog!  Mark and Joanna live in a small town but compared to life on the Bayou, they might as well live in New York City itself!  (Don't get me wrong..I have nothing against New York City and those that live there..it is just that I could not live there!)   Anyway, I noticed today that poor PJ is not cut out for life on the Bayou.  He does well with visits but would be like a fish out of water if he had to make this his home.  It would be like me moving to New York!  This morning, I let the dogs out to do their business.  They were directed to "go down the hill".  PJ looked at me with a bit of confusion but soon remembered from his last visit and dashed down the hillside until.....he met up with a flock of doves!  Ms. Ez loves her birds and they love her...the birds were terrified of PJ and, well, he was of them.  When they flew up not twenty feet of him, it so startled the poor dog that he immediately turned tail and ran back to my side!  Poor PJ!  He is not a bayou dog!  Then later, I left them outside to play but he wanted back in the house!  Ms. Ez kept bringing him sticks and balls so he would play but he sat on the steps and whined.  Poor PJ!  He is so not used to country life!  Why play with a stick when he could watch television?

Then last night, my heart just went out to this pup.  Ms. Ez was all snug on her bed and he was snoozing in his crate.  During the night after the fire died down in the wood stove, it began to get a mite chilly in the house.  A strange noise awoke me!  I listened..it came from near the dogs.  Hmmmm?  I could not see either of them in the darkness so I just told them to go back to sleep.  All stopped for about ten minutes and then..the noise started again.  Following my earlier method, I fussed at them to go to sleep!  This time a bit sterner!  Quiet!  Ten minutes later...aarrgh!  "Settle down!" I demanded!  The noise got worse!  It sounded a bit like someone was shaking the crate!  I grabbed a flashlight and searched for an answer.  I got it.  PJ was trembling with the cold!  The poor dog was literally shaking like a leaf!  I looked at Ezzy and found her still all snug under her blanket!  She will root around until she is completely under the small fleece blanket.  PJ, on the other hand, was on top of his blanket and freezing!   I opened his crate and spread the blanket over top of him.  "There Pup..go to sleep!"  He seemed appreciative and promptly dozed.  The shaking stopped as did the clattering of the crate.  I figured he was used to their central heating unit and the icy air of the Little Bayou House was just too much for him.  He would sleep well now!  Wrong!!!!  A half-hour later and he was out from under the blanket!  The clattering of the crate was strong with his trembling!  Again, I got out of bed to cover up a dog!  This happened four times during the night.  Finally at five in the morning, I decided to get up and build a fire!  After all of this, he still had not learned to stay under that blanket and had not learned to burrow back under if it slipped off during his sleep.  Poor PJ!  He is definitely not a bayou dog!  I have a feeling he is really thankful to be back in his own bed tonight!  I think he likes to come visit his country friend but is happy to get back to his city life!

Good Decisions

Sometimes things happen that call for a prompt decision.  It can be one of those do or die..use it or lose it..or just plain luck of the draw type things but a decision must be made and the consequences faced.  No, I did not have to make some dire decision but rather a very simple one.  It just so happened that I can say that I made the right one!  This morning, I awoke very early.  I had been up very late the night before and was really not in the mood to be bright and cheery.  I even pondered pulling the blanket a bit snugger around me and going back to sleep for a bit longer.  I rolled over and looked at Ms. Ez.  She was curled in a little ball and sound asleep.  She obviously had the right idea!  I should follow her example!  Then I looked out the window and saw that the sky was just starting to brighten in the east..it was going to be a gorgeous sunrise!  Do I force my way out of my warm bed to hike down to the end of a very cold pier?  Or do I snuggle deeper under the blankets?

Sunrise over the Bayou!

The sunrise won the argument!  I pulled on jeans and flannel shirt as I glanced at the outdoor thermometer.  Hmmm..forty-two degrees is not that bad!  Grabbing my jacket, I headed out the back door as I did not want to wake Ezzy or PJ.  (Mark and Joanna had come in last evening so Ms. Ez has her friend PJ as company!)  By this time the sky was starting to be a rosy hue so I knew I had better hurry if this waking at the crack of dawn was going to be at all worth the effort!

Sunrise on Biloxi Back Bay!

It was.  The trek to the pier was worth the effort.  Although the north wind made the chill well below the forty-two degrees, I felt well rewarded!  The sunrise was spectacular!  The decision to roll out of that cozy, warm bed to sit on an icy pier was the right one.  I felt energized by the vision before me!  It was going to be a good day.  No, it was not some earth-shaking decision but heading to the pier instead of lolling about in the bed was the right choice.  I was witness to a view that not many ever see because of that overwhelming desire to catch a few extra "winks" of sleep.  My sunrise...my very own sunrise!  Beautiful!

Pop's Poinsettia

Back in the day when I was but a kid, Pop used to grow all sorts of things.  That stood to reason..we lived on a farm!  Anyway, he was never one that would pass up a challenge to get some unusual plant to flourish whether it be in the fields or among the many flowers that he grew in the kempt yard.  One such plant was a Poinsettia.  I can remember that folks from all over would stop to see this plant.  They would ask if they could take a picture of it or have their pictures taken in front of it.  It was not that Poinsettias are or were that rare.  The plants can easily be bought in most any store around Christmas time.  It was just the sheer size of Pop's Poinsettia that lured people into the yard to have a look.  About midsummer, the plant would suddenly start shooting skyward!  It was planted on the south side of the large, screened porch and provided a good bit of shade.  By late fall, the plant would be every bit as tall as the porch itself!  By the time that I took notice of the plant, it had multiplied to be many shoots.  A good twenty or thirty stalks would rise up a be as big around as a shovel handle at the base!  They were huge!  The Poinsettia we are so used to seeing nowadays is but a wee facsimile of the true plant.  Pop's was a true plant.  Then, after the first freeze, the tops would all turn crimson!  The beautiful dark red bracts would contrast nicely against the bright green leaves.  (Those golden little globs in the middle of the red leaves are actually the flower part of the plant!)  I, like everyone else, was in awe of Pop's Poinsettia!  It was gorgeous!  And...when it turned brilliant red, it meant that Christmas was near!

All of the memories of Pop's Poinsettia came flooding back to me late this afternoon as Ms. Ez and I were on our daily hike.  After making our way to the pier and back, we headed around to the back of the house.  I wanted to grab a couple of Satsumas from the tree as a late evening snack.  After grabbing my fruit, I took the long way around to the front door.  This took me through the herb garden and across the tiny footbridge.  Once inside the Rose Garden, I caught a glimpse of red and thought perhaps the geraniums had spilled over through the fence.  It was then that I realized that the Poinsettia Plant was starting to change colors!  My sister-in-law had given me a small plant two years ago right after Christmas.  She had been at their church after the holidays were over and noticed that the Poinsettias that had decorated the sanctuary were being removed.  She hated to see them just tossed in the trash so she salvaged as many as she could.  Cynthia was kind to share one with me!  My plant was replanted in a larger pot and promptly forgotten (as I am so prone to do with most plants!).  It grew.   Neglected for two years, it is surprising that the plant is still alive and now..it is gracing me with a bit of wintry beauty!  I told Son that he needed to haul it inside for me so we could "temper" it.  He looked a bit confused but humored me on this one.  The plant needs a good bit of darkness (at least twelve hours each day for a month) to attain its bright colors.  (How Pop got his outdoor plant to do this is beyond me!)  Hopefully, this Poinsettia will be brilliant red by Christmas!  Granted my Poinsettia is far from the size of Pop's as mine is only about three feet tall but it is a start!  Maybe in a few years, mine can be a tree-sized harbinger of Christmastime!

Frogs or Ducks?

I spend an awful lot of my spare time down on the pier.  It is there that I can relax and ponder all sorts of things!  It is also there that I watch.  Nature never ceases to amaze and enthrall me which is why I enjoy watching it so much.  There is a never-ending show of critters about the Bayou!  The latest to make an appearance is the Hooded Mergansers.  Every year about this time, they will migrate in to ride out the cold of winter.  The Bay and Bayou will be filled with these tiny ducks!

I remember the first time I ever saw or rather really observed the Hoodies.  I was a teenager and was on a fishing trip with Pop.  He and I headed out one cold, foggy morning to catch some speckled trout.  Winter time is always the best time of the year to pull in the large trout and Pop was the best at finding them!  He knew every fishing spot in the Bay!  This particular morning, we had mistakenly headed to the boat at four in the morning instead of the normal five!  Pop had looked at the clock wrong!  He shook me out of a deep sleep to see if I wanted to go with him and, of course, I did!  Once we were out in the pitch blackness of the early morn, I heard a strange noise.  To me, it sounded much like a frog!  "Pop!  Why is there a frog all the way out here in the middle of the Bay?" I questioned.  He snickered a bit and shushed me.  "Sit still and you will soon see."

I waited and waited.  The sun started to rise but the fog was too heavy to see the shoreline.  The "frog" had now multiplied to many "frogs".  Their funny croaks had filled the area around us!  Then through the whiteness of the fog, I could see black dots swimming in the water.  Those crazy "frogs"!!!  Anyway as I said, that was the first time I had ever really noticed the Hoodies!  Before that day, ducks were ducks!  Then right before my eyes, ducks were suddenly not all one and the same!  I had discovered that there were many different types of ducks!  Beautiful, colorful ducks filled the Bay!

Since that foggy fishing trip with Pop, I have been interested in identifying the ducks that migrate to the Bay.  The Mottled Duck is the only group that stays to breed on the Bayou but come winter, the area is the home to many different types.  My favorite?  The Hoodies, of course!  They were the ones that got me interested!  Those pretty little ducks with the frog-like voices created such an intense fascination!

Just being thankful....

Sometimes a person needs to sit back and realize just how many blessings are filling his/her life.  I have many things for which to be thankful..far too many to ever sit and compile in some small blog post.  There is a thing going around that is called the "Month of Thanksgiving" where a person is supposed to daily list some blessing.  Personally, I feel this needs not to be a single month of thanks but a full lifetime.  If I ever decided to "count my blessings", I would ceaselessly count for the rest of my lifetime...and still never list them all.  So, that said, here are a few of my "favorite blessings" in or around the Bayou.

The wonderment of a beautiful sunrise is a blessing in itself!

Faithful, old dogs are a blessing to those who have them as friends. (Even when they are stubborn!)

The ability to use one's hands and God-given talent to create a thing of beauty is undeniably a blessing.

I am thankful for the beauty of nature that fills the Bayou!

The sunlight that streams through the treetops is a happy blessing!

The dark clouds that dump copious amounts of welcome rain bless not only us but all of nature!

The wisdom of experience, the kindness of a gentle heart and the love a family are the most wondrous blessings we have! (I love you, Uncle Alfred!  Happy Thanksgiving!)

A beautiful sunset to complete the day..a blessing from God for certain!

We have been blessed with the moon to light our nights and add a bit of awe as we look up in the sky at night.  "I see the moon and the moon sees me...God bless the moon and God bless me!"

Although I am not a wealthy person by far, I feel that I am rich beyond compare.  My life is as nigh on perfect as it can get.  My snug Little Bayou House, my loving family and most of all the Good Lord bring me much happiness and contentment.  There is peace about the Bayou..riches beyond compare.

Lavender Bay!

Sometimes things that are ordinary can turn extraordinary in the blink of an eye!  Take this evening for instance.  Ms. Ezzy and I were taking our usual hike around the hillside.  Nothing stood out as being any different than any other hike...it was nice but not what I would call extremely exciting.  We looked at sorts of things that were interesting...well, I looked...Ezzy sniffed as dogs are prone to do.  She seemed more excited about the rabbit poop than the osprey in the dead pine tree but I suppose that is a dog thing as well.  Then, as habit takes us, we made our way to the pier and that is where the change to extraordinary took place!

As the two of us stepped up on the pier, I noticed a pelican sitting on the other end.  I assumed that the bird would take flight as soon as he realized that we were venturing his way but he seemed unconcerned about our presence.  We were about ten feet from him before he decided that Ms. Ez's sniffing was making him uncomfortable enough to soar low over the water to my brother's pier.  There was nothing unusual about a pelican on the pier.  I have seen far more than my share and the evidence left behind nightly proves that they like to roost there!  Like I said..the pelican was not the extraordinary event...what I noticed after he left was.

It was not until the dog and I made our way to the far end of the pier, that I took notice of the unusual colors around me.  The water was purple!  Yes!  Purple!  The sun setting in the west had cast an rare purple hue upon the waters of the Bay.  The pelicans and ducks were but silhouettes on a lavender wash!  This made me feel as if I was in some mystical place where the waters change colors and the sky is always acting like a kaleidoscope!  It was most breathtaking and mystifying!  I am used to seeing the reds and oranges of the sunsets reflected on the water but this purple was majestic to say the least!

It never ceases to amaze me just how things can change so quickly.  Moments after I took the photographs, the Bay returned to its natural sunset hued self and all was back to normal.  If I had not been on the pier at that exact time, I would have never experienced the magical moment that I had!  Folks...get outside and be a part of this amazing thing called nature!  You will not regret it in the least!

Happiness is where you find it....

I have said it before that sometimes you just have to smile.  There are so many things around us on any given day that could bring wide grins to our faces if we would just allow the happiness to flow.  I find some of the most mundane things totally elating!  There are things around the Bayou that most folks would either shrug at and walk on past or would find remotely repulsive...I find them fascinating and wonderful.  These things bring smiles to my face and joy to my heart.  Son always says that it does not take a lot to make me happy and I guess he is right.  Bayou life is not for everyone but those of us who can find the beauty and joy in simple things, find the situation down right perfect.  This is our little "land of paradise"!

Today while we were in the garden, Michael made the proclamation again.  His words made me realize that I had a broad grin on my face while grubbling around in the dirt. I was happy!  What better reason is there it smile than being happy in what you do?  Actually, I was bubbling over with a bit of happy...the ginger plants had made wonderful roots!  I use a lot of fresh ginger root in both my cooking and in my home remedies.  It is one of those all-usage herbs that can go from spicing up stir-fry to seasoning a pie to healing most every ailment the body can have.  A ready supply of fresh ginger root right outside the doorway should be reason enough to make anyone happy!  It does me.

Another smile brought on by the herb garden was the overabundance of chives!  There are bundles and bundles of the oniony-goodness spilling over into the basil!  The tops of each plant was covered with black seeds!  Handful after handful of these seeds were picked and brought inside.  These will be planted in spring in hopes of extending the herb garden.  The chives will overwinter fine in the garden but I did not want to lose all of the seeds as I plan on creating more herb gardens.  It will be much easier just to plant new seeds than to transplant existing plants.

After a full day of smiles in the garden, I had one last smile late in the evening.  The sunset over the Bay was gorgeous!  What a perfect ending to an absolutely wonderful day.  A happy day filled with smiles..smiles made entirely possible by being able to find beauty and fascination in all things.  The Bayou life suits me just fine.

Garden Lanterns

Out near the Boysenberry row, there grows a few Japanese Lantern plants.  Usually, these are hastily ripped from the ground because most folks consider them to be invasive.  I consider them pretty!  So they stay.  So far with regular mowing and trimming, I have not seen more than a dozen plants at any given time.  I remember how Pop never let them grow in the corn field for fear that they would simply take over the area.  He would use his hoe on every plant that dared to sprout in that field!  Pop's fields were impeccable..unlike my small gardens.  I have a tendency to let weeds live if they provide me with some interesting flowers or seed pods.  The Japanese Lantern plant provides both!  

Most of the Japanese Lantern plants make small unobtrusive flowers but gorgeous fruit and seed pods.  The "lantern" is actually the covering of the small "cherry" that is hidden inside.  It is a protective housing for the fruit!  The paper-like covering does indeed resemble some ornate lantern.  Usually, this lantern will turn orange or bright red as the nights start to chill.  For some reason even though we are having quite cool nights as of late, my  lanterns are still green.  I am thinking that since the plants are literally under the Boysenberry hedge row, they are protected.  The frost may not have hit them yet.

This next spring when the new plants start to sprout, I am pondering if I should transplant a few into the flower gardens.  There they can be better tended and will receive fertilizer and more sunshine.  Perhaps then, I shall have the orange lanterns late next fall!  My poor pop!   He is probably looking down from Heaven and is shaking his head at me.  I can hear him now..."You better hoe those weeds out of that garden!  You will never get anything decent to grow!"  Pop...I am sorry!  I sort of think these are decent!  Or..maybe pretty!  Or..maybe interesting?   Anyway, if I am lucky and can find a few of the seeds once they mature, I will save a few for next spring.  This might prove easier than trying to untangle the roots of an existing plant from the roots of the berry vines. If I can isolate a few plants to a designated garden, I will feel better about clearing the originals from the Boysenberry vines.  Then I can have my pretty lanterns and will feel better about keeping my hedgerow clear of weeds!

By the Light of the....Sea Nettle?

Ms. Ez and I headed to the pier late this evening to watch the sunset.  We had watched it rise this morning and thought it was the thing to do to watch it set again.  We had to make sure the sun went to bed..no staying up late for it!  Anyway, all joking aside, while we were on the pier, we watched all sorts of activity going on around us.  The pelicans were diving for mullet.  Their loud splats could be heard from all directions.  They were obviously feeding heavy to pull them through another cold night.  There were masses of ducks on the Bay having migrated in from the North.  I counted six different types just among those that were near enough to identify.  Most stayed a good distance out from the pier as they were not sure of our presence.  Ms. Ez being a Labrador Retriever might have sent red flags up to the duck population.  Perhaps the ducks thought that we were hunters waiting to shoot at them.  Not so..the only shooting I planned on doing was with my camera...and Ms. Ez?  She would have argued that the water was too cold for a swim!  This is no hunting dog for sure!

After the sun had set and the night sky was growing quite dark, I noticed something with a faint glow in the water near the pier.  Investigating, I soon came to recognize a familiar shape.  Jellyfish!  Sea Nettle!  Stinging Nettle!  All one and the same, a bright, rosy-red blob undulated in the water.  The tide was falling so the critter was going along for the ride.  Any tiny ripple in the water caused to Jellyfish to glow a bit.  Last night I talked about the not-really-glowing eyes of animals but tonight was different.  Jellyfish do give off light..they do not just reflect.  This blob of stinging tentacles actually glowed enough for me to take pictures in the waning light!  I was able to photograph the Sea Nettle as it floated in the water!

I watched for a bit while the Sea Nettle drifted by the pier.  Once it disappeared under the planking, I decided that it was high time for me to make my way back up the board path to the Little Bayou House.  I needed to gather a small handful of kindling on the way as I knew that by now, the house was growing cold. Ms. Ez and I hurried up the hill snatching twigs as we hustled!  Well, I did...she chased a rabbit.  If only I could train her to get the firewood.....hmmmmm?  Idea...ponder..ponder....

The "Glowing" Eyes!

I was out late this evening and had a thought occur to me!  Wow!  Contrary to some folks idea, this is not that far-fetched...I do occasionally think!  No, seriously.  I was photographing a rabbit in the yard just about dusk when I noticed that the flash of the camera made the rabbit's eye glow.  Nothing unusual about that as rabbits' eyes "glow" when hit with a light source.  Usually, a bunny's eyes will glow red.  I learned that much way back in the day when we used to "spotlight" hunt rabbits. (Yes..I know that is illegal now but eons ago when I was a youngster, no one had thought about making a law against it.)  Anyway, the camera's flash just gave the rabbit's eye a sort of bluish white glow.  My thought..or question as it may be, was "Why?".  Just what causes some critters' eyes to glow?

 

First of all, this is not actually glowing.  Contrary to what all horror movies have taught us, ANIMALS' EYES DO NOT GLOW IN THE DARK!!!  They reflect light in the dark!  There is a vast difference in glowing and reflecting!  Anyway, I decided that after all these years, I needed to learn why animals' eyes do this.  After a bit of research, I found that it is all due to a reflective surface behind the retina.  This reflective surface is called Tapetum Lucidum (Which might be a great name for a rock band by the way!  It is one of those terms that just rolls off the tongue if you can pronounce it at all!  Tapetum Lucidum!)  Back to eyes and reflection...this reflective surface is there to help the critters see better in the dark.  It reflects any bit of light around and sort of magnifies it.  This allows critters to use every bit of light available.  Not all animals have this Tapetum Lucidum which accounts for why not all critters will shine back at you.

That, in itself was interesting to me..why?  Why do some have it and not others?   And which ones do?  It seems that the only logical answer to why some have it, is the fact that nocturnal animals have a need to see at night.  Well, duh, that seems to be reasonable!  Nocturnal animals are the only ones that really need to see in the dark! I suppose that diurnal critters do not need it much as they sleep at night. Although, it really would come in handy on those early morning treks to the pier!  Then I started looking at which have it and which do not.  According to most "experts", deer, rabbits, cats, dogs, raccoons, cattle, horses and ferrets all have the Tapetum Lucidum.  Their eyes will "glow".   Squirrels, hogs and kangaroos do not so they must sleep during the day!  Brilliant!  Except....I beg to differ with the so-called experts!  Aha!  How about those Flying Squirrels??  Those critters are definitely nocturnal!  Then again, perhaps they cannot see too well at night either at the rate they pelt the rooftop of the Little Bayou House with acorns all night.  Either they are clumsy, cannot see in the dark or just have a penchant for keeping me awake into the wee hours!    Seriously, Flying Squirrels eyes do reflect light.  Just go outside and shine a light up in any hickory, oak or pecan tree and you will more than likely see something staring back at you!  Now as for those kangaroos..there are not many of those hopping about the Bayou so I will just have to cede to the experts on that but at least we are all in the know about the "glowing" eyes and Tapetum Lucidum!

Winter Garden?

Son and I spent the morning digging out a section of ground to use as our winter garden.  We have decided to move the winter crops into the Rose Garden for safe keeping.  The hillside has more than its share of rabbits and now a nice number of deer that would love to have a late-night snack of spinach or cabbage.  The Rose Garden is fenced so it is unlikely that the rabbits or the deer will feel comfortable invading the area.  Ms. Ez has easy access to this plot so she does a nifty job keeping it critter free.  By "digging out", I mean literally digging out..we lifted all of the soil from an area about two feet by thirty feet, placed a black liner down, refilled with dirt then fertilizer.  This was all done as an attempt to keep the voles from attacking the root systems of the plants.  Their tunneling ruined about all of the roses so some method of blocking them was needed.  We did this under the herb garden and it thrived!  The voles did not tunnel through the plastic to the roots.  Hopefully, the cabbages, carrots, beets, spinach and assorted other greens will fare as well.

While we were working up a sweat with the shovels and hoes, I made an offhand remark to him about getting the hotbed ready for early spring.  To that, Michael replied that the "hotbed was already planted".  Sure enough, there was a quite healthy tomato plant and two pepper plants already taking up residence in the hotbed.  Hmmmm...Thanksgiving tomatoes seem to be on the menu for next week!  The one plant has a dozen or more nice sized green tomatoes almost ready to ripen!  Along side of the tomato were two smaller Habanero pepper plants that were laden with little orange blobs!  The peppers did not surprise me at all but that tomato was amazing!  I have had the peppers overwinter in the garden and have managed to pull a few tomatoes through while in the greenhouse but never just right out in the open.  With winter setting in a mite early this year, the plant should have died weeks ago or at least been damaged beyond hope.  But, no, this one was not giving up its job of producing some delightfully plump tomatoes!

With this plant still producing, the preparation of the hotbed will have to wait.  I am in no hurry to start seedlings yet anyway as this needs to be done in February.  By then, I am quite sure that the tomato plant will have met its demise and the plot will be free and clear.  In the meantime, I suppose I really should concentrate more on this winter garden!  The cabbages are in the ground and the other seeds will be planted in the morning.  Michael has one more area to dig and vole-proof.  Then..Ms. Ez can keep her guard over the plants!  Hopefully, we shall dine on fresh veggies throughout the cold months ahead!

For the want of better camera skills....

I take a lot of pictures.  Most days, I will snap around eighty to a hundred photographs of everything from the sunrise to the sunset....and all sorts of things in between the two.  I just find nature and life in general quite fascinating and, thus, feel the need to record all that is around me.  There is just too much happening out there in my little portion of the world that a lot of people never see or perhaps never want to see.  Folks are far too involved in this so-called rat race thing that a lot of living is passing by without them ever realizing it.  So, that said, I suppose I have appointed myself the task of photographing everything that I deem worthy of recording...and that is, well...everything.  Life is just far too amazing to ever let any of it just slip by without being observed.  Maybe someday, I will take an earth-shaking picture that will change all of humanity but I seriously doubt it.  I will merely be happy if one of my photographs brings just one smile to one person.  That...would mean that my efforts have been successful.

Yep..all of those white dots were gnats! They sure are hard to photograph!

Today while on our trek around the hillside and down to the end of the pier, Ms. Ezzy and I were engulfed by hoards of gnats.  It seems that the warming of the sun had made them all slap-happy and they were determined to show us just how elated they were to see us.  (That..or they were just very hungry and viewed the us as a potential easy meal!)  Anyway, it occurred to me that taking a picture of gnats is probably not something high on many folk's priority lists.  Perhaps it should be...then, again..perhaps not. Still, I tried.  I found that even with my best efforts, gnat photographing is not easy..especially when they are swarming.  The speed at which these little rascals were moving was far quicker than my camera shutter.  No matter how I tried, the gnats seemed to be blurs or at best streaks.

When you enlarge the picture, the gnats start to look like strange alien beings!  Their movement through the air makes them take on all sorts of shapes when photographed!

After wasting a good bit of time...err..taking a lot of pictures, I decided that this might just be a lost cause.  The world would never have a clear picture of a gnat!  I know that this fact might be upsetting to a lot of folks but it just cannot be done!  At least with my camera and photography skills, it is a definite challenge!  Once inside, I looked at the pictures that I took and was not in the least "pleasantly surprised" at their quality.  I enlarged one of them enough to see the individual gnats and stared at the blips in the picture.  I have seen these somewhere before!  Thinking back several months..or maybe years ago, I seem to recall some profound "new" species of bug found in some remote cave by some amateur spelunkers.  Their "new" bug had a great resemblance to my gnat.  The "aha!" moment hit me...I suppose I could pass these pictures off as a new species to any gullible folks out there!  My common gnat appears to be some weird and wonderful critter!  Some seem to be multi-legged while others have strange wings.  Why..even a few of them look a lot like the starships in some science fiction movie!  My photography skills may lack but the imagination sure does not!  Gnats...those ordinary pests that we all wish would just go away, look like small wonders of the world when viewed in this way.  I do believe I should attempt this feat again some day!  Perhaps in the future, I will figure out a way of getting a clear picture of the bug but in the meantime, I think I will just enjoy the sheer beauty of them in blurry flight!  (At least, they were not biting me!)

Weed trimmer reborn!

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am hard on lawn equipment.  Give me any piece and I will use and abuse it until it is literally falling apart!  I have done this to hand tools, lawn mowers and weed trimmers.  Each piece is lucky if it makes it through one season without being totally mutilated!  Handles of hand tools seem to break with no due stress but it does not end there...I have been known to break the metal blades of hoes and shovels!  Lawn mowers seem to lose their blades, wheels and even gas tanks when in my use!  Weed trimmers...don't even get me started!  I blame it all on inept workmanship during the making of the trimmer...it cannot be all my fault!  Things are just not made like they once were!  That's it!  Inept workmanship in the factory!

Anyway, that said, not all is lost!  After breaking my second weed trimmer in as many seasons of use, Michael started taking the tools apart to see just what was the problem.  Perhaps he could salvage the unit if he did a bit of altering on parts.  That did not happen.  There was no hope for either machine..I had killed them both.  BUT!  Inside he found some great wire! I was watching him tear into the machine and noticed some bright copper wire!  Forget repairing the weed trimmer..that wire was now destined to the craft room!  I was so elated...Michael not so elated.  He had to struggle to unwind the wire from some weird part of the weed trimmer.  The wha-cha-ma-call-it inside was wound with yard after yard of copper wire but was also armed with some sort of metal housing.  Stupid factory folks had to make it nigh on impossible to unwind their wire!  However...Michael did!  And I now had spool after spool of assorted sizes of copper wire all waiting to become some magical art piece! And it did....

After much working, I was able to turn out a relatively nice-looking brooch!  It is in the shape of a seahorse and is about five inches in length.  The really neat thing about this piece is that with the exception of the pin backing, the entire piece is "recycled art"!  All parts are reclaimed materials that would have normally wound up in the trash!  Salvaged art!  What more could you ask?  This beautiful seahorse brooch was destined for the dump had the vivid imagination of an artist not seen the possibilities in a old weed trimmer, a moth-eaten, beaded sweater and two beads from a broken necklace!  I think my project might just be the beginning of something new for me!  I might just start raiding broken lawn equipment for possible jewelry items!  So see...all well that ends well!

Time to be friends...

I have watched Mama Otter since the day she brought her pups out to play for the first time.  She was leery of my presence at first and she would bark at me.  She would act a mite threatening but I suppose she thought that I might harm her little ones.  Nothing could be further from the truth!  I have no desire to hurt any of my Bayou friends and especially not anything as cute as an otter pup!  These little rascals are downright adorable! Yeah, they raid the bait from my crab traps, they devour all the minnows that I use as fish bait and they can literally tear anything to shreds but they are cute as buttons.  Their antics are amusing and I do believe at this point they know that I find them so.

Yesterday, Mark and I were on the pier when I spied Mama Otter near my brother's pier.  She was diving under the water to catch her supper.  Each dive produced a small mullet that she would toss into the air before eating.  It had become a game that she was thoroughly enjoying!  We could hear her crunching her catch as she floated on the water.  After a bit, she had her fill of fish and started foraging around the pier posts.  My brother has a piece of a pier that is actually not attached to the posts other than being tied in place.  This section floats up and down with the tide.  Mama Otter found that she had easy access to this section and would slip up on it in search of fiddler crabs.  She was smart enough to know that the crabs would scurry under some marsh debris that had washed up on the pier.  She pulled at the marsh clumps to uncover a crab.  It would then be grasped and crunched in a single movement!  She is definitely quick!

While we watched Mama Otter, I wondered where she left her pups.  This time, they were nowhere to be seen.  I have a feeling that Mama Otter noticed Ms. Ez on the pier with us and gave her pups strict orders to stay put in the safety of the marsh.   Even though, the dog would never hurt the otters, a mother's instinct is strong.  She knows that most dogs would chase the little ones. Perhaps soon, she will learn that Ms. Ez would be friends with her family just as I hope to be.  Friendship is one of those things that takes time to develop...especially when it involves those who are normally enemies.  Dogs, otters and people...unlikely friendships can develop!

A diner called "The Hole"

I recall that over the years, several folks described certain restaurants as it is just a "hole in the wall".  This description was meant that the place was just a tiny, homey place.  This was usually a place where you could feel comfortable all the while eating some really tasty home-cooking.  I know of several places that fit this description perfectly...the diner is just a hole in the wall.  The food is good and the company is always better.  Yep...that is my kind of place!  None of this fancy-smancy, "high-end", hundred dollar a plate places for me!  Give me a good bowl of red beans and rice with a sides of coleslaw, cornbread and maybe a glass of sweet tea....woooo, I am totally happy!

Sometimes the restaurants are not even for humans.  Mark and I were out and about the hillside when we came across a "hole in the wall" diner that was for the critters.  It was literally a hole in the wall..err..tree limb.  At first, thought the tiny woodpecker was excavating a winter home for itself.  The tree limb would provide adequate protection from the cold north wind and the cold rains of winter but this was not the case!  This was not a home..it was a diner!  The bird would poke his head in the hole and rummage about a bit then emerge with a large bug.  The dead tree was obviously infested with critters and this bird was getting his supper!  If I am correct, this is a Downy Woodpecker. It is the smallest woodpecker in North America.  Even with its small size, it is quite able to drill large holes in trees.  Downy Woodpeckers will also forage bugs that infest reeds and even wood siding on houses and buildings.  They have no problem drilling holes wherever there is a food source...tree, grasses or houses!

This little fellow was drilling away in the tree.  The hole was already large enough for the bird to completely crawl inside to catch its prey.  In and out..in and out he went.  Each time he ventured inside, he would exit with a bug!  The Diner was obviously well-stocked and he was getting his fill! Later on, the bird might just decide to seek shelter in this hole but for now..it was just a hole-in-the-wall diner.

The Woodpile

The nights are getting chillier so the woodstoves are becoming a necessity again.  Mark and Michael replaced the stove-piping that serves as a chimney on the big stove in the living room so it is ready to go.  I built my first fire of the season last night and it felt mighty nice!  The little parlor stove in the dining room will most likely be lit this coming week as another cold front is predicted to move in on the Bayou. The Little Bayou House has no heat other than these two woodstoves so it is quite mandatory that we keep the woodpile well stocked.

Several weeks ago, my brother-in-law and sister needed to cut a lot of small trees from their place and I was fortunate enough to get two truckloads of this wood.  Since my brother-in-law had no idea what size I needed, he cut most of them a tad long for our stoves (ok..a LOT too long!).  This is not a problem, though and I was just extremely happy to see that truck drive up the lane!  This week, Michael and I sorted and stacked the wood.  Large pieces were tossed aside and he will split them before adding them to the stack. He does this the old-fashioned way!  Even though we have a hydraulic woodsplitter, Michael loves to use the axe!  He will split wood for hours on end!   Great Uncle Alfred once told him that getting firewood warms you twice..once while splitting it and then again when sitting in front of the fireplace!  So now, Michael always reminds me of this when he heads out with his axe in hand! While Michael was stacking the wood, Mark cranked up the chainsaw and cut some of the long pieces into ten inch lengths.  This is all my stoves can hold but as small as these chunks are, they warm the place nicely!  A handful of these small logs will last for several hours! So far, we have two woodpiles that are quite large but there is still a goodly amount to be stacked.  I suppose we will be working for most of this next week..cutting, splitting and stacking until there is enough to last the winter.

 I was thinking about how warm our little woodstoves keep the house and how I love it each time I build a fire.  Not only does it keep us warm but the smell of the wood burning gives the place a nice homey feel.  The old woodburner in the living room usually has a pot of stew on top and some sweet potatoes in the Dutch oven!  Life just doesn't get much better! It seems that Old Man Winter is visiting a tad early this year but from the looks of things we will stay warm. Bring on the cold..the woodpile is growing by leaps and bounds!

Parting with treasures...

Once in a while, you have to part with things that mean a lot to you emotionally.  With the Little Bayou House nearing the packing point of clutter, I felt that I needed to start sorting things and getting rid of some items.  I have been working at this for over a month now and here in the past week, I am finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel! Most of the discarded stuff has been donated to a senior citizen's group for an upcoming rummage sale and the remaining is destined for the Humane Society to help with their funding.   However, discarding a few of the items just tore at the old heart strings.

One thing that was hard part with was a homemade artist cart.  Mark made me this cart years ago when I was first really starting to craft.  At the time, it was roomy enough to hold all of my paints, brushes, scissors, glue and even a roll of paper towels for cleaning up after a project.  I loved my little artist cart!  Then..my crafting exploits blew up into a full-fledged hobby and my supplies burgeoned as well.  My creativity outgrew the little cart. Even though the cart is made from scrap lumber, I hated to let go of it just because Mark was so sweet to make it for me.  In a quandary, I pondered what to do.  Do I keep the little paint cart just for sentimental reasons or do I let go of feelings and discard the cart?  Ponder..ponder.   Then the solution came to me in a sudden burst of brilliance!  I will ask Darling Daughter if she would like something that her daddy made!  She is an avid crafter just like me and since she is just beginning to amass supplies, the cart would hold most of her stuff!  She might just be overjoyed to accept my offer!  An overwhelming sense of relief wafted over me with this idea!  I could just pass the cart on to Elizabeth with no feelings of guilt!  The cart would be well used and I could have the extra space!

When I asked Mark to build the cart for me, he had no clue as to what I wanted.  He told me to make a model so he could see exactly what I needed.   Using cardboard and glue, I created a tiny model and he followed my lead.  His full-scale cart was perfect!  He even put a tiny drawer in it to hold any small items that   would fall through the shelves.  On top, he drilled numerous multi-sized holes in a (removable) panel to hold paint brushes.  With the bristles pointed up in the air, I never had to worry about smooshed brushes!  A handle on the side and wheels under the bottom allowed me to pull the cart around with me or push it back in the corner for storage.  The cart served me well for as long as I needed and now could serve Elizabeth for years to come.