Thankful of the rain!

  Folks, when it is dry, don't burn.  It only takes a wee bit of commonsense to understand that fires have a way of spreading during dry weather.  Let one spark lift up into the wind and devastation can be the result.  Just don't.  If there is a burn ban issued, don't even use that cute little outdoor fireplace.  Your entertainment can leave folks homeless or even cause death.  Just don't.  If the leaves crunch underfoot, don't burn trash (even in a container.)  Your yard cleanup could result in hundreds of acres of forest lost due to wildfires and thousands of animals horribly killed.  Just don't.  One tossed cigarette, one small fireworks (bottle rocket), one careless act...puts firemen in extreme danger.  Just don't.

  This past weekend, a fire raged through the woods not far from us.  Scuttlebutt has it that someone decided to burn leaves even though a burn ban was in effect.  Acre upon acre scorched as the fire went crazy with the high winds.  Flames shot nigh on seventy feet into the air.  Homes, churches and businesses were threatened to be caught up in those flames but, thanks to the brave firefighters, were saved.  It was a careless act that should never have occurred.

  Last night, it rained.  This rain was a blessing, not only for the exhausted firefighters that were still watching "hot spots" but to all of us who have wooded areas.  Watching the videos of the fire just to the west of us, caused an uneasiness to settle in as it could very well have been here.  When I heard the first raindrops pelting the rooftop, I said a prayer of thanks and know full well that prayer was being repeated the Coast over.   I have always been thankful for the rain but, in times like this, it has never been more beautiful. 

The Change

  Well, now!  That is a change!  I was recently bemoaning the fact that we had no winter, so to speak, then last night, Mother Nature decided to intervene on my behalf.  I awoke to nigh on freezing temperatures!  This did, indeed, pleased me...for the most part.  Other than the fact that I had to make multiple trips out to the woodpile to stoke the old stove, I thoroughly enjoyed the coziness of the Little Bayou House.  The old wood-burning stoves both chugged along happily and kept the place toasty warm.

  This morning, sitting in the comfy rocking chair while sipping my mug of hot coffee, it occurred to me that I would probably not enjoy having the "luxury" of central heating.  I NEED that comfort of watching the flames in the fireplace regardless of the extra work of gathering, splitting and hauling the firewood.  There is something mighty soothing about watching the flames flicker and hearing the fire crackle.  

  Of the two wood-burning stoves in the Little Bayou House, the parlor stove is my favorite.  This tiny cast iron stove was made in Florence, Alabama way back in 1871 and is still in perfect shape!  This stove allows me to remove the front grate so I can enjoy viewing the flames.  The other is enclosed. It warms but the visual aesthetics are missing.  My uncle gave us the stove before he moved from the Coast to live near his daughter in Missouri.  My oldest son was helping Uncle Alfred move some stuff around before his move when they came across the old stove.   It had been stored under the house for years and when Mark found it, Uncle  Alfred said  "Ooooh!  Get that thing out from under there and take it home!  That thing is still good!"  Piece by piece the iron stove was hauled to our house.   My uncle then came to tell us how to put it all back together again.  As a gift, this was amazing.  I cherish it even more since it came from my uncle!  Each time I light the fire, thoughts of our visits and, later, our phone calls, come to mind.  

  All of these happy thoughts and sweet memories came flooding in all due to a change in the weather.  Yep.  This kind of change is good!

The "Smoke Screen"

One thing about those "controlled burns" that the Forestry Department does just north of us is that it makes for some interesting photographs. The other day, when the smoke thickened over the Bayou, it gave a golden glow to the clouds hanging in the noonday sky.  The smoke acted sort of like a filter to the sunlight and blocked out most of the brilliance. This was the first time in several years that the smoke from the burns did not give a "star" effect to the sun.  Instead, it just looked like a big, white ball and the clouds, though darkened, were golden.

  While standing there looking at the sky, my oldest brother and I both had the same thought.  The smoke hanging in the air reminded us of the "look at the eclipse through a smoked glass" directive that we were taught way back in grade school.  At that time, it was deemed safe to peer directly at the sun (or eclipse) if you did so through a piece of glass that was covered in soot (or smoke) from a candle.  Another way was to use a piece of undeveloped film.  Well after generations hurt their eyes by "following the rules", it came to light (pun intended!) that these methods were not safe!  Imagine that! It seems that basically, if you wish to check out the sun, you need some special equipment or a welder's mask.  I figure that I am ok without looking directly at that big ball of fire.  I let the camera do it for me.  Point and shoot.

  Back to the weird sky, though!  The smoke continued throughout the day and into the early evening.  Then, it disappeared as quickly as it came.  I know the controlled burns are for safety reasons and I appreciate the men and women who make the effort to protect us so I tolerate the smoke.  There were times back on the farm when we did the very same thing to the fields that had become overgrown.  Pop would set backfires to burn trails through the grass before setting the full field afire.  There were also times that he would intentionally burn through crops to protect the barns and farmhouse from woods fires that were quickly bearing down on the old homeplace.  As kids, we were all armed with pitchforks and wet burlap sacks to beat down the flames.   It is crazy how things have changed.  Farm kids had to do a lot of things that kids nowadays would never dream of doing.  In a way, I think it was to my advantage.  I learned a lot of things from these experiences.  Things that are probably going the wayside now.  Things that a lot of folks will never experience.  

First Fire of the Season!

  Fall has just hit the Bayou and I have already made the first fire of the season in the old wood stove.  The old, cast-iron parlor stove never looked so inviting as it does right now.  The glowing embers give the entire room a bit of ambiance that it lacked just yesterday.  This stove is one that my dear Uncle Alfred gave to me just before he moved from next door.  He and I were big buddies so when he offered the old stove to me, I was quite honored. "Crawl up under the house and on the west side there is a stove.  You might have to dig around a bit to find all of the pieces but it is there and should be in good shape." he told me. Thankfully, my oldest son was still at home and did not mind going up under the big house.  Granted there was an ideal crawl space under the house that allowed plenty of movement.  My son toted out piece after piece and Uncle Alfred helped me to assemble the stove in his front yard.  We worked until he was satisfied that all the parts had been found. The stove has sat proudly in my dining room since that day and I would not have it any other way.  Every time I use it, I think of this dear old man and my buddy!

  Now, back to that fire and why it has been lit even though our temperatures were in the triple digits this afternoon.  No, I am not daft.  No, I did not have a fit of sudden chills. I just wanted the ambiance that only the old stove could offer.  I promise that it did not heat the Little Bayou House any hotter than it already was!

  The lighting of the old parlor stove is a "parlor trick".  It is merely a string of orange Halloween lights, some bubblewrap and a few twigs from the yard.  I needed the "look" for the upcoming Clue Hunt on the Bayou.  The dining room has been transformed into a study so the fire was a must.  Obviously, there is nothing better than curling up in a comfy chair in front of a fire place while reading a good book.  Fireplace with glowing embers...check.  Comfy chair....check.  Good book....check! The stage is set!

  I am sure that in the coming weeks, the parlor stove will be called into actual use.  Since nothing has been done that cannot be "undone", I am good to go.  In the meantime, I will light my "fire" and dream of cold, winter nights.....and a good book!

When the key was found, she was unarmed.....

  Huh?  Yep!  When the key was found, she was unarmed.  Doesn't make much sense, does it?  I did not figure it would to most folks but it made perfect sense to me.  I found the key.  

  Yesterday, we had a thunderstorm that dumped several inches of rain in just a matter of minutes.  As torrential rains have a tendency to do, it washed quite a rut in the ground as the water poured off the rooftop. This occurred on the north side of the house where work had recently been done.  The ground was bare and already soft so when the deluge hit, it merely washed dirt a bit further down the hillside.  It was in this rut that I found the key!  

  The key was once our house key.  Years and years ago, the first Little Bayou House caught fire and burned to the ground.  Nothing was salvageable.  As matter of fact, very little could even be recognized.  We lost everything but, the fact remains, that we still had everything important.  We were safe.  But...that key.  After some thirty-five years, to find the old house key and to actually recognize it is quite amazing.  I stood holding that key when another fragment caught my eye...an arm. Yep, an arm was protruding from the soft sand.  I reached down and gingerly picked up the tiny porcelain piece.  Ahh, I remember that!  Just days before the fire, Mom had given me a box of antique porcelain "pincushion doll torsos".  These tiny figurines were sweet little pieces that were handmade.  Mom told me that they were around a hundred years old at the time she gave them to me. Wow!  She had asked if I could remake the pincushion part for some of them.  I never got the chance.  Today, I found that broken piece and wondered whatever became of the rest of the dolls.  

  I stood holding that tiny arm and an old rusted key and a thousand memories flooded my brain. What if the house had never caught fire? What if I (being very pregnant at the time with my first child) had been in the house when it did ignite?  What if....what if?  Things would have been very different.   

  Son came up behind me as I stood there pondering things.  He noticed the single tear that gently rolled down my cheek and just put his hand on my shoulder.  Nothing was said. Nothing could be said.  I handed him the key...the key to nowhere...and we went to the garden to pick tomatoes.  I am glad things are not different.  I like them just the way they are.

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.

Bittersweet

  Sometimes things can be a bit bittersweet.  Memories evoked by a found item can be both profoundly good but, at the same time, terribly heartbreaking.  Such confusing emotions spilled about yesterday. When Son was crawling about under the house doing the bug extermination chore, he called out that he found something that might be of interest to me.  After his finding of the previous residents' cesspool (at least that was some thirty years old and not fresh!) under there, I was a bit dubious.  I had doubts that anything found amongst the dust under a house could be of any value.  He proved me wrong. The item had value just not of the monetary sort.

  As soon as he crawled out from under, Michael handed me a fork and that piece of silverware caused a flood of emotions to well up inside of me.  I recognized the fork.  It was one of a set that Mom had given to me when Mark and I first married so many years ago.  It was not new even then.  This was from an antique set that had been gifted to her years before. Why was it under the house, you might ask.  Well, it was not there by any doings of mine.  Just a few years after we were married, our house caught fire and burned to the ground.  We lost everything we owned except for a rattle-bang car and the clothes on our backs. Everything...everything was gone in an instance.  Everything except for the two of us and the unborn child that I was carrying.  This was most devastating but two months later, all was right with the world.  Our little baby was born and wiped out any bad thoughts.  Still, losing everything was hard.  We had to start completely anew. Our entire house had been furnished with special items given to us by family and friends.  This is unheard of today with young folks as most do not want "hand-me-downs" but Mark and I looked at the the items as treasures gifted with love.  We were happy with used furniture and mismatched dishes.  Each item had a story to tell and was dear to us.  Things like the silverware from Mom and Pop could never be replaced.  

  I held the fork for a few moments and thought of Mom and Pop, of the first house we had and even of the first few years of our marriage.  I thought of the changes that had taken place in our lives and how through it all, we stood firm.  It is funny how a fork..a simple piece of charred silverware can get one to thinking.  This fork with half of its silver-plating melted, with its tines twisted and with ashes still embedded deep within the metal brought back so many bittersweet memories.  I have decided that I cannot part with the thing even in its terrible condition and have an idea of just how I will salvage it.  Perhaps that, my friends, will be another post at another time.  Right now, I am still pondering and remembering.

Its Toast!

  Yep, its toast.  It bit the dust.  It plain out died...well, sort of...maybe...probably, well, there is no maybe about it..it is dead. Before dawn this morning, I was in the process of making me a bit of breakfast when the calamity struck.  I had just plopped two slices of bread into the old toaster and turned to stir my coffee. Wham!  Psssssst!  Pop! The room filled with the most acrid smoke imaginable!  Oh, my!  I spun around toward the toaster to be met with flames.  Alrighty then!  This was not my favorite way to start the morning!  

  I pulled the plug on the flame-spitting, smoke-spewing monster and opened the back door.  The cooling breeze helped alleviate the stinging, cough-inducing smoke so I was able to examine the toaster.  Yep, just as I had imagined...that old thing was toast!  It was definitely a goner. The cord near the plug was nigh burnt in two and the rubber around it was soft and mushy. (Also, stinky!) 

  This morning's incident was a minor nuisance although, it could have been far worse. While this could have been a disaster with the overhead cabinets heating up pretty fast, it made me feel a lot better about my habit of unplugging all small appliances.  I think sometimes Mark thinks that I am a mite crazy for putting the toaster up in the cabinet after each use but I always worry about things just like what happened today.  We already lost one house due to a faulty plug in a clock radio.  There was no need to get lackadaisical.  (Oh, and do not think that just because you have new appliances that this cannot happen.  The aforementioned clock radio was brand new!)

  The incident, also, made me realize that we need new smoke detectors.  The one nearly directly above the toaster never even sounded even though the room was thick with black (and did I mention stinky?) smoke.  Installing a few new ones will be on the agenda! Meanwhile, my bread finished toasting on the old cast iron skillet which just so happens to be my preferred method anyway.  

***SO CHECK THE PLUGS ON ALL APPLIANCES, TRY TO REMEMBER TO UNPLUG ANY NOT IN USE AND....DO A CHECK ON THE SMOKE ALARMS!!!  Right now...go do it...get going...do not procrastinate!***

 

 

Good things come in small packages!

With the onset of this wintry-like weather, my son, Michael, and I are busy every day stocking up the wood bins.  Not only do the bins inside the house need refilling several times a day but the wood rack outside becomes depleted rather quickly.  Regardless of the chill, rain or wind in the air, this is a must-do chore.  Probably if we were not so picky about how we get the firewood, this would not be a daily task.  He and I refuse to cut just "any" tree.  If the thing is not dead or diseased, we refuse to cut it.  We found a fallen hickory tree last month that needed to be used so while Mark was home, the chainsaw was brought into action.  He cut the thing into lengths to fit the stoves so now we just have to split it when we need hard wood.  Still, I need smaller limbs to stoke the fire.  Without kindling from fat knots or twigs found in the yard, those hickory chunks do not want to burn.  The two of us set out today to do a bit of trimming on the trees in the yard.  During summer, we found numerous trees that had limbs draping down low to the ground.  These made it difficult to use the lawnmowers without getting smacked in the head!  Those had to be trimmed along with saplings that came up at the base of some of the larger trees.  The only tools needed were a hatchet, snips and pruning saw.  This was my kind of cutting!  I enjoy trimming up things in the yard.  It makes that spring cleanup a lot easier!

After about two hours of cutting, we loaded our "wood" into the wheelbarrow and headed back up the hillside.  Two barrows full of tiny wood was added to the wood rack and a third was parked by the front door.  Here it would be easy to retrieve during the evening hours.

I like the tiny twigs.  Contrary to most folk's idea, these things can really put out the heat!  Since I do not have a regular fireplace in use, the twigs are perfect.  The woodstoves both can be chocked full of the twigs to produce a hot fire.  Once these burn down and become coals, the stoves each maintain the heat for some time.  A well-timed chunk of hickory can burn for hours!  I love to see the stove get full of those red-hot embers!  Yep, bring on the cold!  We are ready with our twiggy firewood!

The Fire-breathing Dragon..or a demon in disguise!

I am sorry that there are no pictures with this post.  My normally excited picture-taking mind was a bit clouded by an incident that occurred this morning so the camera sat idle.  I had gotten up early and headed to the kitchen to put the coffee pot on to brew.  As soon as that was in order, I made my way through the house turning on different decorative lights and such.  One of the things was a candle warmer that was in the bathroom.  This held a jar-type candle that gave off the most delightful smell.  The aroma of herbs filled the air with this one candle!  After making my rounds, I threw in a load of laundry.  Leaving the laundry room, I heard the most awful racket!!!!  It was disgusting!  My first thought was Ms. Ez..oh, no!!! She couldn't be!  This sounded far too loud..not unlike a hippo with digestive problems.  (And I mean that in a huge way!!!)  Sputtering could be heard all the way at the other end of the house!  Ugh!  The dog must be quite ill! That was my only thought as I raced through the kitchen and into the dining room!  It was then that it hit me!  This was not the dog (thank goodness for huge blessings!) but was probably something far worse!  Smoke!  Thick black smoke met me in the hallway!  I rushed into the bathroom in time to see the candle warmer spit sparks and flames from under the bottom!  By this time, I was choking.  The foul smelling smoke was so thick, I could not breathe.  Holding my breath, I unplugged the fire-breathing dragon!  It was still smoking..and sputtering..and now burning!  I had to get out of that closed in room!  Grabbing the offender by the cord, I hurried into the kitchen where the thing got doused in dishwater!  Phew!  Now what?

My next thought was.."I am going to be asphyxiated right here and now!  Windows..doors..must open..everything!  Yep, I was like a wild woman flinging open every thing possible and with each..gasping for fresh air!  Whew!  Ok, a few fans were placed in strategic places to blow the fumes outside and all was well.  The fire-breathing dragon was now in the bottom of the sink..drowned!  I had overcome this demon!  Then son came into the house and asked if I was cooking something awful!  Uhhhh...NO!  But something almost cooked me!  He took the candle warmer apart to see just what happened to it.  Once the bottom was removed, charred pieces of stuff fell out.  It was unrecognizable..no wires..no heating element..nothing..nothing but soot.  Michael made me giggle, though, when (my computer tech son) said "Well, it looks like we just went wireless!"

So, folks, those nice candle warmers that are touted to be much safer than a lit candle?  They are not.  At least this one was not.  This thing could have burned down the Little Bayou House with me inside!  So now the candle sits back in the bathroom with a nice little book of matches next to it.  I will still use the candle just the old fashioned way..with a lit wick.  Hey..I have gone wireless!