A "Wooden Stove" is not to be confused with a "Wood Stove"!

  Some folks do not realize the total amount of work that Son and I put into the clue hunts that we have each October.  Our planning starts the moment the last hunt is completed and the last team goes home.  It takes nigh on a full year to plan and execute the hunt.  A new story line is written, new clues are added, new puzzles created and new props made for each hunt.  While we may use some of the props again as decorations, we have never reused any clues or puzzles.  It takes an extreme amount of time and copious amounts of labor....both physical and mental!  We have already started on next October's hunt and will continue throughout the entire year.  Like I said, it is a lot of work but keeps my mind clicking like a well tuned clock!

  Last spring, I informed Son that I needed a wood burning stove for the hunt.  He looked at me in disbelief, stared a bit then said "Ok".  That was it.  No arguing, No complaining.  Just "Ok".  It was done.  He found an old grandfather clock in the back of the shed.  This had been given to us several years ago and was already dilapidated at the time.  It was not an antique nor even vintage, it was just a clock.  Still, it had some redeemable qualities, namely, a few hard wood doors!  Next he pulled an odd cabinet door and a few boards.  My wood burning stove was in the works!  An hour later, he called me to give approval.  Yep!  It was exactly what I wanted!  I was not planning on using this as an actual heating stove so the wood worked well!  I just needed it to look like a stove and it did!  He added a piece of plastic pipe for a stove pipe and a grating from an old grill.  Afterwards, the thing received several coats of black paint and we were good to go!  The stove was to be used in the greenhouse which was to become "Hattie's Shack" for the clue hunt.  

  Prior the first running of the hunt, I had the brilliant idea of "lighting" our stove.  I rummaged around in my Halloween decorations and found a battery-operated string of lights.  This were one inch in diameter pumpkins that gave off just enough glow to resemble hot coals.  We threw together a small burn pile and charred a few sticks and pine cones for that "touch of realism".  After putting it all together, I was pleased with the effect that the little stove lent to the shack.  It was perfect!

  Now the little stove will become a plaything for my grandchildren (and any other tots that visit) when they come to the Bayou.  Son is adding a few miniature cabinets and a play sink to the set.  This will all be fitted in a play area inside the Little Bayou House for safety reasons.  (Times have changed since I used to let my kids roam the Bayou without worry. This MawMaw is a bit overprotective of tykes nowadays!)  A set of tiny pots, a few dishes and some wooden spoons will be added once the area is set.  I am excited and only hope that my grandchildren will love it as well!  So much for those new-fangled plastic kitchen sets! On the Bayou, kids play with wood stoves and cast iron skillets!