When Halloween Got Sick!

  Halloween is meant to be fun.  It is meant to be a bit scary.  It is meant to be so chock full of candy that you get sick to the tummy but Halloween, itself,  is not meant to be sick.  Ok, so that seems to be going in the direction of how some folks decorate or celebrate the holiday but it was not meant to be a prim and proper chastisement to others.  Nope.  I really meant that Halloween got sick...nauseated...and puked all over my entryway..literally.  Actually, that was Son's description of my decorations this year.  The "Man of Few Words" stated "Looks like Halloween ate too much candy and threw up out here."  Well...sorry!  Poor Halloween.

  Actually, I did intentionally "over-decorate" if that is even possible for the holiday.  Each October, we have a grand time with the Annual Clue Hunt on the Bayou.  This is the sixth year that the clue hunt will be held and I am late!  Our first running has been postponed until this next week but back to those decorations.  During this hunt, we needed "color stations"...that is all I can tell you at this time!  One of those color stations just happened to be orange!  Woohoo!  Orange!  Halloween!  Yep!  A myriad of Jack-O-Lanterns would adorn the entryway!  Every orange item in the house (which just happened to be Halloween themed!) was pulled into the entryway and plopped in any available spot.  To top things off, orange glitter seemed to rule...much to the vexation of Son.  He hates the stuff! While I am not particularly a fan of glitter, it seemed to fit in perfectly with this total orange-out of a room.  All I can say is....I cannot wait to do the purple station!  Again...woohoo!

How Did You Get In Here?

  Earlier today, it was time for me to start a new project.  The redoing of the living room was dragging on and eventually came to a screeching halt.  There are a few things left to do before the makeover is complete but those things cannot be completed just yet so there is nothing for me to do except start something new.  I figure since I am redoing one room, the others should follow.  So, the entryway is the next place to receive a bit of much needed attention.  Of course, the first thing to do would be empty out the space.  It seems that this small room is the catchall for whatever is in our hands as we enter the house.  Stuff is dropped there with the good intentions of putting it up properly "in a few minutes".  The trouble is...those few minutes drag on until we plumb forget about our misplaced items....so they stay until the room is quite cluttered.  Time to purge!

  As soon as the chore was begun, I had a visitor.  Thankfully, this was not a human visitor as that would mean that my tasks would be put on hold but rather this was a critter guest and an unwelcome one at that.  A large Eastern Lubber Grasshopper had somehow found his way into the Little Bayou House and had taken up residence in the entryway.  When I discovered him, he was perched proudly upon the window frame overlooking the few potted plants on the ledge.  He even had the nerve to poop on that window frame!!!  Ok, rascal!  You are out of here!  My purge of stuff from the room included the critter!

  These grasshoppers are the bane of the garden.  They can munch an entire garden to the bare ground in a few days.  Spring sees thousands upon thousands of the eggs hatching and fall ushers in the mating season of any adults that escape my attempts to eradicate the bunch.  I try my best to clear the yard of the critters only to find them now moving into the Little Bayou House!  Help!  Go away, grasshopper!

Things Are Like June Bugs!

  Granted the entryway in not huge.  It is not even big.  In fact, it is rather small.  Which is fine because the house is small.  It would be ridiculous to have a large entryway on a small house.  Still, I think we may need to enlarge the entryway a bit if the current situation lingers long.  Right now, the entryway is not a point of entry.  In fact, I am not sure anyone could squeeze through the room to enter the Little Bayou House.  It is filled...completely...from top to bottom. I had just eliminated all useless stuff from the room and decorated it for Christmas.  It was adorable.  A red rug was on the floor, two small chairs were under the window and a canning jar of red berries sat on the window ledge.  Now, the chairs are gone, the rug moved and you cannot see the berries except from the outside looking in.  

  Early this morning, my son-in-law called from out of state.  "Mom!!!"...when he uses this tone, I know something is upsetting him.  "I am out of town and my chairs are being delivered.  Is there any way that you or someone can go meet the guy?"  The chairs were to be delivered to his dance studio. Sure...no problem.  I asked Son and he made haste in getting to the studio.  Without a key, though, there was not a way to put the chairs inside the building.  An hour after he left here, Son called me.  "Can someone come down with a truck to help move these chairs?"  That someone...was me.  Ok...so I have not driven in quite some time and was not even sure if the old truck would start.  It did...I did...and chairs were brought here.  Just about the time we got all thirty chairs (4 per box) into the entry, my brother came down with two more large boxes that had been delivered to his house.  These, too, were for the dance studio.  So, those were added to the pile.  Now...the room is filled to capacity and there is no way for anyone to enter or exit the Little Bayou House unless they head to the back door. 

   While Darling Daughter is worried about the boxes cluttering the entry, I am finding it rather humorous.  In a weird sort of way, it is poetic justice.  At the advice of a very dear friend, I have been trying to declutter.  It is a slow process and I admit that I have a tendency to rue tossing anything.  Still, I was trying.  I figure that even one item out is an act of decluttering so my process seems to be an one item now and again "purge".  I am just not cut out for this massive deal but I was making progress.  Now....boxes!  Lots of boxes!  Lots of huge boxes!  Everywhere!  

  I am beginning to believe what my grandmother used to say is true.  She always said that "things" were like June bugs.  June bugs are those small beetles that fly around at night and pound themselves into every light in the county.  Down here in the Deep South, June bugs are also called Nine bugs.  This name is given merely because "If you catch one and open the door to toss it back out, nine more will come inside."  So, my "things" are like June bugs...I open the door to discard stuff only to have nine more things come inside.  There is no winning!  At least, this stuff is not mine and it will find a permanent home at the studio and not stay in my entryway.  It is all good.  So. quit your fretting, Darling Daughter.  It is not bothering me in the least!

Tell Me It Is Not So....

  Yesterday morning, I was up early and cleaning house with a vengeance!  I had a mission!  I wanted to get everything finished by noon so I could play with clue hunt decorations.  Chores first...play later...good idea.  One of the early morning tasks included sweeping out the entryway.  This tiny room is now the preferred sleeping quarters for the Bayou Queen, Ms. Put.  The old cat has her fickle ways and chooses some of the oddest places but the entryway is hers now.  So, I clean up after the aged cat and do not complain as she has been with us now for almost twenty-two years. 

  So as I am sweeping, I accidentally hit the outer door with the broom.  (I am not the most graceful of people.)  The slight impact of broom to bottom of door created a mess.  Egad!  A pile of critters fell from the inner part of the door.  Termites were eating my door!  Yep, the door, of all things, was infested with the terrors of anything wooden.  While the rest of the room had been completely gutted and rebuilt, we made the mistake of reusing the door.   Duh??  If the walls had termites, chances are the door did, as well.  Yep, it did. Yep, I found them.  Yep, I was not happy.  I called Son.  "Hey!  We have a problem!"  He came out tapped the door, looked at the mound of termites that were now crawling about the steps.  "Well, now." he said...nothing more...nothing less.  The next thing I knew, my door was on the burn pile.  No door...termite infested or not...was blocking the mosquitoes from entering the house.  Ugh!

  Son did spend the next couple of hours making a door.  I asked if we should take a ride to the home supply place and buy one but the man of few words merely asked "Why?"  I guess he deemed it easier to make a door than to drive a mile.  Needless to say, I am pleased with my new door.  The entryway looks bright and cheery.  All the door needs is a new door tread and for me to paint it all.  Things will be as good as new. Termites...BE GONE!  Geez, how I hate those things!  Yep, there truly is at least one critter that I abhor!  Termites...the bane of my existence!  Or at least of my house's existence!

The hardworking man is working hard!

Mark is at it again!  Sometimes things just do not go the way you want them to and then they need to be fixed.  Case in point..our entryway.  This tiny little room is perhaps one of my favorites of the entire house.  It is the first place folks see when they come to visit the Little Bayou House and is always the first room I choose to decorate for any holiday.  It is just a most welcoming little room!

The remains of the old entryway to the Little Bayou House.

Well, our welcoming little entryway had some most unwelcome guests recently.  Things on the Bayou got a tad out of hand with critters invading most everything in the past few years and our entryway was on that list of invaded places.  Mark was doing a bit of usual maintenance on the house when he discovered the problem.  He takes the time to teach Michael the finer points of construction when some project  needs tending so this was the perfect opportunity.   Trust me when I say that the man can work magic when it comes to any carpenter work!  He and Michael ripped out the north side of the room and very patiently even changed the windows for me.  I liked the old windows but wanted a change.  Even though there was a bit of rotted wood, this side was not bad.  It had held up well despite being battered by hurricanes in recent years.   The south side had not fared so well.  Once Mark tore out the wall I heard a loud...Uh oh!  I do not like uh ohs at all!  He had found termites!  Well, Mark was just not satisfied changing a few boards..he ripped out everything!  He was bound and determined that he was to do it right!  The man is a genius when it comes to this sort of thing!

Some of Mark's handiwork!  He built new window casings for old windows from his folk's house!  I so wanted these windows somewhere in my house and now he has built this!  I love it!

\Now, I am happy to say after two days of work, my entryway is looking much better!  I have new..or  rather old windows..that came from Mark's folks' place.  I know it might be a tad strange but I love these windows.  Every time I walk through this room, I will feel that warm feeling that I always had with my wonderful mother-in-law and father-in-law.   I have a part of their home in mine now!  Once again, Mark is making the Little Bayou House secure from the elements..and the critters of the Bayou.