Coffee Cups and Plastic Light Covers

  The conundrum for the day is....what do coffee cups and plastic light covers have in common?  To be more distinct, I am referring to the little flower-shaped plastic light covers that used to be on the strings of Christmas lights back in the 1970s and 1980s.  Any ideas?  Probably not since the connection is one that is specific to the Bayou or at least the Little Bayou House and its residents (particularly, my kids).

  The incident occurred years ago when they were young...probably too young to be doing what they were doing unsupervised.  This was nothing unusual as I pretty much let the kids be daring as long as it did not result in someone getting hurt, the house on fire or emergency vehicles showing up at the house.  Their actions in this case pretty much caused all three.  With my oldest son being about nine years of age and the other two perhaps about five and four, you can see where any one of the above would be cause for concern.  Lets just say that this is one time that I nigh on panicked.  

  We were doing what I am currently trying to accomplish...sort and pack Christmas decorations.  Each year, I try to toss any non-working strings of lights instead of storing them.  I had a huge wad of the plastic light covers that did not fit any of the newer strings so they were in the discard pile.  The kids were helping to gather them all together when Oldest Son had an idea.  "Hey, can I melt these on the stove and make something with them?" he asked excitedly.  "NO!  NO!  If you did that in here, you would asphyxiate us all with toxic fumes!" My answer must not have sounded demanding enough or perhaps he figured there should be another way to accomplish his intended task.  He gathered the light covers and poured them all in a bag.  I assumed they were going to the trash.  After a bit, the kids wanted to go outside which I appreciated. With no kids undermining my cleaning attempts, things would be much easier. "Yes!  Good idea!  Go outside and play!"  It never crossed my mind how quickly the day would change with that statement.

  About ten minutes later, Darling Daughter (being the five year old) came ambling inside.  "May I have a cup of water, please?" she asked being super polite. I handed her a coffee cup filled with water and watched as she turned to go back outside.  My question of why she was taking water outside was met with a very nonchalant.."Oh, the grill is on fire."  WHAT????

  I raced out the door to sure enough find that grill blazing!  Fire was shooting about five feet high and the smell of burning plastic was enough to suffocate any critter within the county!  Darling Daughter was going to fight THIS with a cup of water????  After yanking the kids away from the grill, I used the hoe to slam down the grill lid on top of the fire. Immediately, flames started shooting out the side vents like a blowtorch. The whole things was starting to crackle!  Uh oh...this thing sounded like it was going to take off like a rocket!  I turned to find the kids giggling like this was some circus act!  Oh, geez!

  It took about a good twenty minutes for the fire to cease roaring and come to a sputtering, slow burn.  Smoke filled the yard and barreled through the Bayou.  When I asked Oldest Son why he was lighting the grill, he merely answered "I did not want to smother you in the house when I melted the plastic."  Ugh!  When I asked Darling Daughter why she did not tell me the grill was on fire, she answered "That is why I needed water."  When I asked them all why they did not yell for me to come, I got "You always told us not to panic when bad things happen." Youngest Son, the four year old, merely said "It was a big fire!  A great big fire!"  Oh, geez.  Well, at least they did not panic....I did!

  So you can now see how a coffee cup and some plastic light covers hold a definite connection...at least in this family.  Oh, yeah....I am so relieved to say that there were no injuries, no devastation to the house due to fire and no emergency vehicles racing to save the day.  Thank goodness only the grill suffered massive destruction.  And Mom aged about twenty years that afternoon.

A cup of coffee or a tomato sandwich?

   Cutworms seem to love my baby tomato plants along with every other tiny plant that sprouts in the garden.  After losing a dozen or so, I decided that something had to be done about the nightly disappearance of my plants.  Since there was no way that I was going to dump a bunch of chemical insecticides on my heirloom tomato plants, the critters were just going to have to leave!  The use of insecticides sort of defeats the purpose of saving my own seeds, if you ask me!  So, I sat and pondered the problem as I drank my first mug of coffee. Hmmm...coffee?  Well, that seemed to be the answer! No, I was not going to invite the cutworms in for a sip of caffeine nor was I going to douse the garden with the stuff! I had a different idea! Mark bought some really nice disposable coffee cups this past month. Personally, I cannot stand to use anything but my favorite mug so to me, those things were readily available for use in the garden.  I cut the bottoms out of a couple dozen of the cups and made little fences for the newest tomato seedlings that were to be set in the garden.  I figured if I made the plant a bit difficult to reach, perhaps the cutworms would find an easier source of food.

  After setting out about twenty tomato plants into the garden, a bottomless cup was pressed into the soil over the plant.  Now each had its own little fence!  Of course, anyone visiting the garden might find it a tad strange that there are coffee cups in the tomato cages but, hey, it is well worth a try.  My Aunt Marie and Uncle Alfred used opened milk cartons in their garden to not only protect the tomato plants from late freezes but also keep bugs at bay.  With the lack of milk cartons, paper coffee cups would have to suffice in my garden!

  In due time, my plants might just provide me with a nice, plump tomato or two for my lunch!  If this works, tomorrow, I will set out another thirty to forty plants and cover them all with bottomless coffee cups. Since these are the waxed cups, I should be able to wash, dry and store the cups for future use.  There is no use in just tossing anything that can be recycled!  Ahhh, yep, a good cup of coffee always makes me think a bit clearer!  Coffee cup fences...who would have thought?