Queen of the Small Gardens

  I have crowned myself as "Queen of the Small Gardens" being as that is the entirety of my realm for the next week or so.  No hikes.  No pier.  No heavy work.  Boring.  While some would be happy campers with this new arrangement, I am not.  It is not my nature to sit on my duff.  I need to be doing...doing anything...just doing.   This newfound laziness is rubbing me against the grain and, though I am the queen of this realm, I wish to escape.  That, my friends, is in the plans!  Escape!  Oh, the things I could do!

  Actually, I cannot complain about being confined to the small garden spaces as this is one of my favorite places.  I am adjusting to the change and am finding that I have overlooked so many things here.  My appreciation for even the tiniest changes is overwhelming.  To think that just a week ago, I had free run of the Bayou and all of its wonders and, now, I am discovering new wonders that are practically underfoot. Perhaps a wakeup call is needed to literally show us how to appreciate what we are given.  All is good.

  This morning, I found that the phlox were blooming and the althea bush was rewarding my "devining" efforts with an explosion of flowers.  To be honest, the phlox plant is one that my sweet granddaughter bought for her uncle.  Son has no idea of planting nor caring for flowers so the plant was placed in my care.  He was, however, elated to see the blooms and we had a long chat about Sweet Mary Ruth and her choice of gifts.  Both of us decided that they were the best gifts one could receive.  The althea bush was from a cutting from my grandparents' home so it holds memories as well. These two discoveries were the highlight of my morning.  Yeah, not much in comparison to some folks' day but highly exciting for the Queen of the Small Gardens.  I can be satisfied with what I find and elated just to be seeing a new day.  Life is good.  

My Little Photographer

  Photographing the Bayou and the wildlife found there is a passion of mine.  With the area quickly changing due to "progress" (which is questionable), I want to preserve as much as this way of life even if it only in pictures.  I do not have fancy or even new equipment.  My camera is a twelve year old camera that has seen better days, still, given the opportunity, it works.  The only problem that is starting to stand in the way of decent photographs is age...mine.  The hands are getting shaky, eyesight is getting blurry and the old legs find it difficult to get to some areas.  Oh, to be young again.

  This afternoon, my sweet granddaughter asked if she could use my old camera to take a photograph.  Well, that is all it took.  She and I started a hike!  Armed with the camera and a pocketful of batteries I was determined to take her to the back part of the property where earlier I had seen a bright red mushroom.  I figured that would be a good place to start looking for subjects.  Once she saw the mushroom, she was eager to find other "natures" to shoot.  We walked for almost an hour and she took over one hundred photographs before the sun started setting.  Back inside, I was impressed with how well she had done.  This tiny tot is only five years old and was able to grasp just how to use a lot of the camera's features.  She listened well when I would give her pointers and soon was taking photos from different angles to get the best picture. A lesson in lighting will be in the followup hike tomorrow if the rains hold off for a bit.

  So, I hope you enjoy the sampling of photographic works of my Grand Princess, Mary Ruth.   I see great promise not only in her photography skills but, also, in her love of nature.  

But first....!

  Several years ago, the Grand Princess was excited to see her first snow.  She and her mommy were looking out the window when she was asked if she wanted to go out and play.  She excitedly said "Yes!" then added "But first!  We have to get our boots!"  Her emphasis on the "But first!" struck a cord with her PawPaw and MawMaw.  We still have to start some sentences with that excited phrase albeit not nearly as cute as hers was.

  Today, I asked the grandlittles what they would like to do right after breakfast.  Oh!  They wanted to ride the horses, play with Mr. PJ. play with the cars, go to the pier and even pick up "firesticks" for the wood-burning stoves....BUT FIRST!  Lets pick peaches! (Peaches is another name for satsumas obviously.)  So as soon as the dew dried on the grass, we grabbed a basket and headed out the front door to make our way to the citrus trees.  I have never seen two people so happy to do "farm work" as sweet Mary Ruth called our harvesting.

  The kiddos learned to twist the satsumas until they became free of the stems and soon filled the basket full of the fruits.  Once it was filled, they brought it inside and proceeded to wash the satsumas.  Some were put on a platter for us to enjoy, some were boxed and brought to "Uncle Jimmy" (my brother) and, well, some were eaten on the spot!  Best of all, we had a great time making happy memories of being on the Bayou.  I am blessed!   

Breakfast Time for Gus and Cinderella

  My little granddaughter rarely gets to visit the Bayou but when she is here, she finds all sorts of things to do.  Like her old mawmaw, I think she enjoys being on the pier or in the greenhouse the best.  In the greenhouse, she tells me that she is going to "hunt for spiders".  Why?  I have no idea but it seems like a grand thing to do so...we do.  We hunt for spiders.  On the pier, she happily feeds the pelicans.  Our bait bucket is endlessly needing refilling but it matters not.  If the little girl wants to throw fish to the birds, so be it.  She can have any fish we have!  She even went so far as to name two of the pelicans...Gus and Cinderella.

  Even though Mary Ruth is not on the Bayou, the pelicans still come begging for handouts.  Each morning as soon as Mark and I head to the pier, the two pelicans come flying to the pier posts.  They know that breakfast will be served within a few minutes.  If we catch small mullet or menhaden, the fish are given whole but if we catch something "eatin' size", we clean the fish and toss the remnants to the birds.  Gus and Cinderella do not seem to mind.  They eat their fill then fly back to the posts to preen.  The pelicans are getting fat and happy!

  This morning, both pelicans awaited us.  We were a bit late getting to the pier again this morning so the pelicans were a tad antsy.  They wanted their breakfast.  Mark threw the net and caught about a dozen nice sized mullet.  These were cleaned for our elderly friends and the entrails tossed to the birds.  Cinderella decided to stay on the post nearest me.  Ok, so a few photographs were in order.  With each picture I took, Cinderella posed.  She turned her head this way and that.  She preened her feathers.  She wiggled her tail.  At times, she even seemed to smile for the camera.  Not once did she attempt to flee.  I think Mary Ruth has tamed these birds!  I know they await her return to the Bayou.

The Helper

  Sometimes all it takes is a bit of help to make a chore seems simple. My daughter-in-law bought some of the prettiest green beans from a vegetable stand near their house.  Since we did not get a chance to eat them right away, she thought it might be a good idea to freeze them for a later date. I volunteered for the job.

  While I was pouring the beans into a large bowl for washing, my sweet two year old granddaughter, Mary Ruth, was thoughtful enough to offer her help.  She pushed a kitchen chair up to the sink making it easier for Mary Ruth and her MawMaw set to work.  She helped me by turning on the water, filling the bowl and then washing each bean....one by one. Those were the cleanest beans that I have ever seen!  

  Our job did not end there, Mary Ruth was then taught the proper way to break the stems from the beans and pull the string down each side. The next step was to snap the beans into small pieces.  She thought this was great!  Breaking things is extremely fun...obviously!  We heated water, parboiled the beans, dowsed them in ice water and packed them in a freezer bag.  Well, we packed most of them in a bag. Mary Ruth decided that she loved to eat crunchy beans so a nice bowlful was set aside just for her enjoyment!  My enjoyment? Spending time with this adorable little girl!  Memories were being made by an old lady and tiny little girl!

Called back into action

  Years and years ago, I was given the old highchair that Mom used for all of her kids.  This chair had been in the family for quite some time before we sat in it.  Generations of tots were propped in the chair to learn the finer points of dining.   It made me happy to have the chair back in the house.  My sister had it for a while and she returned it when she was  making a move to their new house.  The chair had seen better days so a bit of work was necessary to restore the thing to a useful state.  I stripped the finish from the pieces, glued the parts back together and then put on a new coat of varnish.  My darling daughter even managed to find the very same decals that Granddad had put on it when he refinished it at one point.  The chair was back to its sturdy self and ready to cradle a few more babies in safe comfort.

  Now my beauty of a granddaughter has come to visit the Little Bayou House.  She is at the perfect age to sit in the highchair and enjoy a meal. The piece of furniture is being called back into action once again.  I decided to wipe any dust bunnies from the chair before she arrived and a flood of memories bombarded my brain.  I thought of how this chair saw hard times when meals were lean and how it saw the good times when only the best was set upon the tray.  I recalled first birthday parties when the chair was bedecked with ribbons and other holiday meals when the chair was shared by several different cousins.  The tykes ate meals in tandem, one after the other, so each would have a turn sitting in this old chair. Back in the day, things were made well enough that they were passed down from one generation to another.  The pieces actually became fixtures within the family.   It saddens me to think that things nowadays are not made of the same quality.  I cannot imagine the mostly plastic things being family heirlooms.

  Dusting this old highchair brought back another memory that threw me into a fit of giggles.  One of my brothers (who shall remain nameless at this point!) would drag the highchair into the hallway late some evenings.  There this tall, lanky teenager would entertain all of his siblings with crazy, made-up-on-the-fly songs while he strummed on an old banjo. The instrument had only one string so his talent laid purely in his ability to be a comedian.  His songs were usually about when he was going to be elected as President and how we were all going to move to the White House.  Needless to say, that never happened but the entertainment at the time was the absolute best!    We would all be in our beds listening to him go on and on about how we would be the best First Family ever!  Our peals of laughter probably were heard in the next county but that was quite alright.  It was good, clean fun...family fun and the chair was part of it.  No ordinary chair would have ever inspired him to carry on in such a way.  It was great.

  Now the chair will see happy times once again.  Mary Ruth will carry on the tradition of having a few meals while surrounded by the memories of those that came before her.  Family..that is what it all about.

Travels

Sometimes things sure make you thankful for home!  We were traveling back to the Bayou from Georgia today.  All was going well.  With the exception of considerable time spent waiting on road construction, the trip was easy.  Mark and I passed the time talking of our granddaughter and the fun times we shared with her.  That was the whole point of this trip!  The little one named filled our days with smiles and our hearts with even more love than we ever thought possible.  Our daughter-in-law is the perfect hostess and made us feel right at home.

Granddaughter teething on her mommy's water bottle.

As we rode along, we also started discussing the flora on the roadside.  One bush in particular caught our eye.  I proclaimed it to be Sumac..Mark hoped not.  He is highly allergic to Sumac and the mere mention of the plant makes him itch!  I wanted to stop and snatch a few seeds to plant in the gardens here on the Bayou but, well, Mark put a nix on that idea..no Sumac is to be  planted intentionally!  Little does he know that I have been babying a small local bush behind the house!  Someday, it will be gorgeous! I did not even get any pictures!  Just as he said that we could pull over to a side road and look at the trees, the skies began to darken.  Uh, oh...we had better just move on down the road and forget about the Sumac!  This did not upset Mark too very much I am sure!

The cloud soon decided that it was necessary to dump torrential amounts of water on us!  I was so thankful that Mark was driving and I did not have to pretend that I could see the road. He handled the storm like a pro and drove us safely home.  I loved being with Joanna and Mary Ruth but after riding through a storm like that, it does feel good to be back in my element..back on the Bayou!