Feeling Pretty Good!

   Every now and again, a person can feel pretty good about something accomplished.  I am feeling pretty good.  For the past few years, I have taken up a new hobby of repairing antique clocks.  This all came about because (after a stroke), my kids told me that I needed to learn something new...something totally new.  Being caught off guard, I spouted off that I was going to learn how to repair clocks since a broken clock was the first thing that caught my attention.  Well, they held me to that declaration and here I am.  I am still in the learning process but the walls, shelves and tabletops are now filled with antique clocks.  Keep in mind here that I did NOT say I was going to collect clocks but, again, here I am.  I have more clocks in my living room that most folks own in a lifetime.  These are mostly clocks that were deemed as "unrepairable" and practically given away or sold for a song.  (If I am going to rip something apart, I sure do not want to sink a lot of money into it first.)  

  Back about a year ago, I found a gentleman who had a clock for sale really cheap as it was broken.  I told Mark that I wanted the clock for an anniversary gift so he drove over to retrieve the clock.  Once there, the man showed him another clock that he deemed unrepairable and Mark brought it home, too.  I was elated!  The first clock was a simple repair and has been ticking along beautifully since but the second one was a puzzle.  When fully wound, the hands would whir around the face nonstop and the chimes would continuously ring until the springs gave out.  If the door was shut, the clock stopped abruptly.  Hmmm...it was interesting, to say the least.  This clock sat for an entire year simply because I found it amusing.  That clock was possessed!  

  Finally, I found the courage to tackle said clock.  Once I took it fully apart, I found the problem.  There is a part called a verge/clutch assembly that keeps the pendulum swinging and keeps the movement in check.  Alrighty!  Now to fix this thing.  Oops...the broken part was not to be found.  This clock was made in Germany but was no longer in production.  Parts became scarce or simply impossible to find.  I searched for a compatible piece and finally found one that was so close that I thought it might work.  It did and soon the clock was ticking along nicely.  Now to fix those hands.  It would have been simple enough to put new hands on the clock but I had noticed that the whole mechanism was in wrong.  After mending a bit of the woodwork on the inside of the case, the mechanism was refitted and the hands no long came in contact with the door!  Success!

  Needless to say, I feel pretty good about having the clock working.  Not only does this mean that another beautiful, old clock has been restored but it also means that I am keeping my word!  I am learning antique clock repair.  While I know that I will never reach "professional" level, at least, I AM learning!  Yep, feeling  pretty good right about now!

Things Are Better With A Hug!

   Back last month, I seriously thought my garden had met its demise.  A foot of snow covered everything...cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli and carrots.  It saddened me to think that all of the hard work put into getting a winter garden in would be killed by...what else...winter.  Snow and 14 degree temperatures are not a normal occurrence down this far south. Personally, I am glad it is not.  After the snow melted, I was surprised to see that most (not all but most) of the plants had survived.  Especially healthy looking were the carrots!  That blanket of snow did not seem to damper their ability to flourish.  What a difference in just barely a month!

  Today, being chilly, was a good day for a pot of soup.  I had made cheese bread yesterday so that just begged for a big pot of potato/broccoli/carrot soup only there were no carrots on hand and I sure was not making the trip to the store for one item.  So...potato/broccoli soup was started.  It still sounded wonderfully warming and delicious!  Midway into soup-making, I thought of my carrots in the garden!  On a whim, I dashed out the door and, sure enough, found carrots large enough to harvest.  I grabbed about a dozen and hurried back to add them to my pot of soup.

  While I was washing the carrots, I noticed that two of the carrots had literally "hugged" each other while growing.  They had twisted around on another in a tight spiral.  Sweet!  A thought occurred to me as I stirred the huge pot of soup.  Perhaps those two carrots were befuddled by the drastic temperature change last month and held onto each other for support!  Probably not except in my imagination.  I have a tendency to look for niceties whenever possible.  After all, all things are better with a hug!

  

Missing Aunt Helen....

   Somewhere down the line, Aunt Helen must have really made a great impression on me.  She had the ability to see beauty in even the most mundane of things, lived her life with a great deal of imagination and simply being authentic all the while being spontaneous and a bit quirky.  If something appealed to her, it was worked into her life without worry that others would sneer at her.  She wore flowers in her hair, used herbs and decorated her place with color, gardens and things from the past.  She pretty much "invented" that "Cottagecore" lifestyle about a half century before it even was given a name.   To say Aunt Helen left an indelible mark on my life is an understatement.  This is coming more apparent as I age and give up trying to meet the approval of others.  

  The Little Bayou House has slowly undergone a change from meeting the needs of my kids entertaining their friends to being all out eccentric.  If something appeals to me, it is added to the decor.  Granted everything has to be functional but a bit of quirkiness is the drawing card.  Folks realize this and often gift oddities to me.  "This was great aunt's teacup.  I hate to just throw it away but it does not fit with my place." or "Grandpa had this for years but I have no idea what it is."  Yep, Great Aunt's teacup and Grandpa's plumb bob have found a home.

  All of this influence came flooding over me recently as I sat in my great-grandmother's rocking chair just reminiscing over times past.  Things spilled from the cobwebbed corners of my brain where they have been stored just waiting for the opportune moment to bring a smile.  Thoughts of Aunt Helen soon took over and the heart filled to the brim with the special moments that I was able to spend with her.  These visits were far and few in between since she did not live nearby and was often halfway around the world but our connection remained even into adulthood.  I miss her greatly.

If Only It Was Green

   I am one of those folks who will reuse or repurpose something until it literally is no more.  Take my canning pot, as an example.  Once the enamel got a bit chipped, it started rusting rendering it not the best for canning.  Since I had three of the same pot, I simply got down another from the upper shelf and relegated the rusty one to be used in the greenhouse.  There, rust does not matter.  Plants are not choosy when it comes to containers.  So, the pot found a second life in the art of gardening.

  The other day, I grabbed the pot that had been sitting upside down on the greenhouse floor for some time.  I needed it to haul the fine compost to the garden.  I filled the large pot time and time again and carefully deposited the mulch under the broccoli plants.  With the last emptying, I had to start giggling!  There, on the inside of the pot sat a blob of dirt from the last time the pot had been used.  It was the perfect silhouette of a movie character...one of the most loved characters in the recent history of all movies...Grogu...better known as "Baby Yoda".

  Yep, I had been carrying that pot for the last hour without ever noticing that image!  After seeing it and having a fit of giggles in the middle of the garden, I figure there had to be a reason that Baby Yoda came to visit.  In this old, messed-up world full of insecurities, bitter divisiveness and downright hostility, this puppet dude is the one thing that most folks agree on...he is adorable.  So, finding his image in my garden (and I admit to having an overactive imagination) gave me the inspiration to plant more, share more and care more.  Now...if only the image in my pot was green!...with big, sad, puppy-dog eyes and the innocence of a babe...I would be in awe.  As it is, though, this is just little blob of dirt but the thought of Baby Yoda did brighten my day.

Little Blooms of Hope

   After the snow and icy weather last month, February has come in as if to say "Hey!  I am spring!  All you plants need to perk up and look alive!"  Well, a lot of the plants and trees are like "Really now?  We are hurting and you want us to be perky?"  So...most continue to look dismally harmed.  The citrus trees really took a beating.  There is not much of a way to protect 20 to 30 ft tall trees and, yes, the grapefruit trees are that tall.  The orange trees are around 10 ft tall but were not "coverable" either. The cold was a bit much for all of the trees and the damage is showing in the form of brown and dropped leaves.  It is saddening that such beauty that the snow brought to the Bayou has dealt a blow on what is here year round. 

  As I wandered the hillside surveying the damaged trees, my heart gave a little leap of happiness seeing a tiny cluster of blooms.  Not everything had perished!  No, not citrus blooms (thankfully) but rather the paperwhite narcissus.  These cold hardy plants were not daunted at all by the 14 degree temperatures and have now brought hope back to the gardens.  I know it is beyond most folks thinking that I can find immense joy in the simple bloom of a lily that is a annual occurrence but, to my way of thinking, any bit of beauty means there is hope that things will soon be back to normal.  Paperwhites are said to represent the coming of spring so maybe soon things will not seem so grim.

  The cleanup of damaged gardens is in full swing as is the cleanup of fallen leaves.  The leaves will be ground and returned to the gardens as mulch.  Hopefully, what was seen as damage can help with the regrowth.  Also, hopefully, this bout of springlike weather will not encourage the off-season blooming that often happens after ice storms.  I would have preferred that February had stayed chilly and let things have a dormant stage before pushing them into a premature revival state.  Slow down, plants.  Take your time.  Let the healing be the number one priority.

The Right Name...

   I have a confession.  Until just recently, I have known the black-headed geese that visit the Bayou as "Canadian Geese".  That is what my grandpa called them.  That is what Pop called them.  Just about everybody around here called these geese by that name.  Not only that, we were taught that name in school when we were to identify birds.  Yep, they were Canadian Geese, alright...everybody said so.  What was a kid to think?  Then, a couple of years back, I found that the name is a big mistake.  The real name of this bird is not "Canadian Goose" but...Canada Goose.  There you go.  A mistake has been corrected.  Actually, I corrected myself two years ago when it was brought to my attention.  I am careful now to call the stately birds by their correct names.  Just imagine going your whole life with everyone never getting your name right?  Also, who says you cannot teach an old dog new tricks?  It is never too late to learn folks...never too late.

  Speaking of these lovely birds, the other morning saw a number of them visiting the shore near the pier.  The sun was just peaking above the pines on the opposite side of the Bayou when I heard their clamor as they came to a splashdown just to the west of us.  As with any wildlife that chooses to grace me with its presence, I was enamored.  The birds stayed for as long as I was on the pier giving me plenty of opportunities to photograph them in all their beauty. 

  Folks, take the time to soak in as much beauty and tranquility as you can as it can change in a drop of a hat.  Things as simple as a goose flying in to greet you can become something of the past...a memory...in a matter of minutes.  Enjoy each moment...and NEVER STOP LEARNING.  The Canada Geese will appreciate the thought, I am sure.