My muwth ith pugger dup!

My muwth ith pugger dup!......Translation..My mouth is puckered up! Ha! Anyone who knows me will realize right off what this is all about! I could not wait any longer. I had to eat a persimmon! I should have known better as I do this almost every year but the raccoons were getting my little wild persimmons on a nightly basis. I was so sure that I would not get to taste any of the succulent little jewels that on today's hike, I could not resist! I plucked the softest, reddest fruit that I could find and wiped it on my shirt! This little beauty was perfect! The sweetness was there (even though a frost would have nearly turned the fruit to sugar!) I popped the little orb into my mouth! Ahhhh, now that was delicious! For anyone that has never eaten fruit straight off the tree..you do not know what you are missing! There is no comparison to the grocer's stuff that has been in storage for months. This is the best way to enjoy any fruit! Of course, there were the multitude of huge seeds that had to be removed at some point and there is just no dainty way of doing that! Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the little bite so much that I scanned the tree for another! The rest seemed to be a little too green..a little too "unripe"! I pulled another from a low branch. Ok, so this one is not soft..it is not red. It was still quite firm..not the squishy ripeness that I knew meant a sweet fruit. Still..my mouth watered! I was determined to eat another persimmon! I broke this one open and peered at it for a few minutes..trying to build up enough nerve to eat this not so ripe globe! Well..I try to never waste anything and I did already pick this one..so, into the mouth it went! At first, it seemed as if this was going to be ok. Sure, it was not as sweet and juicy as the other but it was not bad. I pulled out the seeds (I told you that there was not a dainty, polite way of eating the little wild persimmons!) Well now..dat wuwth nod ath bad ath I tought! Oh, yes it was! This little unripe persimmon was making my mouth pucker up quicker than a spoonful of alum! I am not sure what it is but there is something in unripe persimmons that just does not agree with free speech! Oh, how I regretted my decision to eat that thing! I tried to rid my mouth of any remnants of the persimmon but there were none to remove. It was all my imagination that my mouth now felt like it was packed with the driest cotton ever! Aacck! I will never be able to speak again! I will from this point on, walk around with my mouth puckered up like a fish! I would have to eat all my meals through a straw! Help! ..... After a short while, the effects of the unripe persimmon began to wear off and I was ok again. And a little wiser, I would hope! Until next year, when I get impatient and decide that the raccoons and 'possums were getting my share of the fruit!

The large seeds in a ripe wild persimmon!

And now...a bit of Bayou Art! I was asked to paint a few little gourds to be used as ornaments! These were to be like some that I had given my sister last year as a Christmas gift. I paint these tiny gourds to look like whimsical Bayou Critters. So out came the paints and the imagination soared again! Three tiny gourds soon became happy, little owls! I am pleased at the outcome and hope the sweet lady that wanted them will enjoy them for years to come!