Window Charm and Charming Kids!

  It has been over four years since I have seen my grandkids so you can imagine just how elated I was when they arrived for the Thanksgiving holidays.  My oldest son, daughter-in-law and their kids came to spend five days with us which did, indeed, bring about the true meaning of the holiday spirit.  I only wish they could return for Christmas but I suppose that is too much to ask so I shall be happy about this visit!

  My handsome grandson is the typical little boy who would much rather be playing baseball, going fishing or playing some sort of video game than be bound by planned activities.  His MawMaw is only good at that fishing thing so most of his time was spent with PawPaw or his uncles.  They were more than happy to oblige his whims.  Most of my time with him was spent with early morning "snuggles" and his stories before the others got out of bed. That was a highlight since I got to know him as a seven year old and not a toddler.  He is full of ideas both serious and whimsical.  I am truly impressed with him and loved my "special" time.  My lovely granddaughter and I spent most of our time either cooking or crafting!  She has a love of creating which is right up my alley!  I turned her loose in the craftroom and told her that she could use any or all of the craft items found therein.  We spent hours happily among the beads, charms, canvases, paints and other supplies.

  I was truly amazed at some of her creations.  MawMaw kept her input to a minimum simply to watch her talents grow.  My assistance only came in the form of using the glue gun or other "not-kid-friendly" glues.  She did the rest.  After doing a painting, creating paper angel ornaments and a wearable headband, her thoughts went to the "jewels" she found in one box.  The box held everything from large rhinestones to light prisms.  Another box held broken jewelry that people donate to me.  She scavenged through the boxes and started putting pieces together until she created the loveliest "window charm".  Once she was finished, she presented the ornament to me as a gift.  My heart did a Grinch thing and grew three times its normal size!  

  This MawMaw cannot wait until the next visit.  I am sure the Grand Princess and I shall delve into more crafty things and even the Grand Prince asked to be taught a few things.  How cool is that?  Until then, I will hang onto memories and plan for the future.  Good times at the Little Bayou House...at least, for me.

Ghost Plants, Memories and Wistfulness

   Back when I was just a kid, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents.   I think being the tail end of a five kids, I was just too much for Mom to handle with all of the other duties of being a farmwife.  So...I would run down the road and up the long lane to my grandparents' house and spend the day or two...whatever it took for Mom to be ready to handle five kids again.  Taking care of kids, farm critters, produce, the house was a huge chore.  I loved being with my grandparents as it made me feel mighty special!  

  It was on one of those weekends with them that my granddad took me into the edge of the woods to show me an unusual plant.  I was enthralled by there being a plant that was ghostly white!  Granddad, ever being the instructor of so many things, took the time to explain how having a pure white plant was possible.  He told me how the plant did not depend on the sun to help it make chlorophyll but that it was a parasitic plant to a fungi that was actually in a symbiotic relationship with tree roots.  The plant would feed off the fungi that, in a sense, fed off the tree.  After that, it became an regular thing for us to go in search of the "Ghost Plants" also known as Indian Pipes (Monotropa Uniflora).  To this day, I still go to the "special" spot where the ghost plants grow.  Down beneath the brushy plants that surround some old oak trees, I can be found on my knees in a different world.  I can dream away the hour simply remembering the lessons Granddad took the time to teach to an inquisitive child.  

  Just recently, I found out that there are many, many people who have never seen these plants.  In fact, they had no idea that they even exist.  Perhaps, they did not have a nurturing grandpa that took the time to wander the woods with a tyke in tow.  Or, perhaps, they did but the lesson did not stick as they were not interested in such things.  Regardless, I am glad I did.  My time spent with my grandparents will always be held dear to my heart.  I only wish I had the same opportunity to impart to my grandkids such tidbits of knowledge about the wondrous things of the world.  Then again...perhaps...they would not be interested as they are bombarded with the material things like all other kids of this day and age.

Almost Time!

   For the past week or so, I have spent my mornings readying the gardens for the winter crops.  The tiny seedlings were in dire need of their permanent growing spots so there was a lot of digging, hauling mulch and watering.  Planting during a drought has its drawbacks but still cabbages will not grow unless given space...plenty of space.  So...for 10 days, I worked...hard.  I am tired but several hundred tiny plants are now situated where they are to spend the next couple of months.  Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, mustard greens, radishes, beets, chard and peas are all happily growing.  Now, I have a few minutes to breathe and tend to other chores!

  As I was taking a break from planting, I wandered back to check the citrus trees. While the grapefruit trees have seen better days, the others are doing fine.  My poor grapefruit trees were treated to some bad soil (my mistake...never trust anyone to bring good dirt....it does not happen).  My next chore will be to pull back the tainted dirt and clear the area, put in some of my mulch and hopefully save the trees.  The satsuma, navel orange and lemon trees are loaded with fruit, however!  They did not receive any side-dressing of the bad dirt.  While looking at the fruit, I could hardly resist from pulling one to taste.  I kept reminding myself...not yet!  Let them get sweeter.  It was hard!

  If all goes well, the citrus fruit should be ready to harvest just when the grandkids finally get to come to the Bayou after all of these years.  The plan is that they will be able to come for Thanksgiving.  I sure hope so.  Hopefully, they will not mind helping their old grandma pick the fruit like they did four years ago.  It has been a long time.

Marsh Staring

  I am not sure what is up with the old dog, Mr. PJ.  For the past few months, he has had one ailment after another and has given me reason to believe that his time was near on several occasions.  One time, in particular, was worrisome but after a quick visit to the pet ER, he seemed to rebound a bit.  His health worries trouble me but equally as troubling are some of his moods.  He seems down...sad...lonely even though, both Son and I dote on him daily.  He sleeps next to my bed, hovers next to me while I do chores and gets lots of petting and hugs, yet, somehow, he seems to think something is askew.

  Our hikes have been shortened to slow walks for him to do his business.  Even then, I usually have to help him back to the house.  He does, however, want to linger at one spot each day.  Down by the marsh edge, he sits and stares into the brambles.  I cannot see a thing that is appealing in this tangle of marsh, vines and brush.  He must, however, as he will linger here for a good half hour, if I allow it...and I usually do.  It makes him happy and gives him a short rest before continuing back up the hillside. 

  What is he staring at?  Why this one spot?  What is going through his mind?  Something Son noticed may bring light to the situation.  Maybe memories are here, at least in PJ's mind.  Directly across the Bayou from this spot, there is a new home and the family has small children.  Occasionally, their chattering and laughter can be heard echoing across the marsh.  Perhaps, Mr. PJ is reminiscing about "his" children?  Since I am fostering the old dog for my son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren while they are living on an island far from here, I do believe he misses the children more than anything.  Those voices and giggles may trigger a happy memory and he associates it with this particular spot?  Who knows?  But, if it makes him feel better, then we shall sit and stare into the marsh together.  I'm good with it.

The Little Fishermen

  It is always a good thing to instill a vast array of interests in children.  "Get them interested in a lot of fun activities and they will stay on a good track," Pop used to say.  There must be some truth in that as it seemed to work with my kids.  They were introduced to so many things that other kids never get the chance to experience.  Farming and fishing were two activities that seemed to pique their interest the most!  While none of the kids became actual farmers like Pop, all three enjoy gardening and all three do enjoy fishing.  Now that love is being passed on to a new generation.

  The grandlittles are visiting the Bayou.  Even though they are still toddlers, they are being exposed to the love of fishing by their parents and both sets of grandparents.  I suspect that by the time they are in school, these kids will be catching fish with the best of them! 

  Today, I watched while my son and daughter-in-law took the kids to the pier.  Almost immediately, the little ones wanted to "throw the net over to the water".  They had seen their daddy do that and knew just what the net could do.  When he threw the net, it covered a school of mullet.  In just a couple of throws, sixteen mullet were hauled onto the pier.  Both little tykes wanted to catch fish, too!  They tried their best to figure out just how to throw the net but, being as the net is six feet long, it was way too big.  They will grow into it.  All too quickly, these two will be throwing the net, casting a line and pulling in "the big one".  They will also learn to love and respect the water.  They will learn patience and determination.  They will learn the fine art of knot-tying and lure selection.  They will learn life skills not taught in school and....they will learn of an enjoyment that can last a lifetime.

  

Just a "horse of a different color"

  Back in the spring, my brother was doing a bit of housecleaning and loaded up stuff to bring back to the Little Bayou House.  Canning jars, dishes and one pot were items that had found their way from here to his home down the lane.  One item that did not travel from here to there was a horse.  He brought a spring type rocking horse down the lane so it could be used by another generation of children.  The grandlittles will be happy to see "Clyde", the horse, when they visit.  So I gladly adopted the horse and welcomed it to the fold.

  Clyde was a bit ragged about the edges, so to speak, so he got a good cleaning.  Just so you will know, never use bleach and a scrub brush on a painted rocking horse.  The results were not good.  Most of the paint wiped right off that silly horse!  Now I definitely had a bit of work to do. The horse would have to be repainted before the grandlittles could ride it.  Well, one thing then another got in the way of the task.  Spring planting, summer canning, the fall clue hunt all took up more time than I had so the horse remained colorless.  Then, we got word that the grandlittles would be heading to the Bayou for Christmas.  Whoa, Clyde!  We had to work fast!  I did the only thing I knew that would save the day....

  I called Darling Daughter, Elizabeth!  She always manages to make everything right!  First, we discussed what the horsey should look like then we dove right in to painting.  She was on one side while I did the other.  After a bit, we swapped sides and continued work. She and I can work on the same project and never get in each other's way.  (I must say that Elizabeth does an incredible job painting eyes but, then again, she is an artist...I am a wannabe artist.)  After several days of painting and then clear-coating, Clyde looks so much better! He is now a "horse of a different color"!  Success!  Elizabeth and I had so much fun repainting the horse that we now wish we could find more worn-out rocking horses that need refreshing.  

  Clyde is ready for the grandlittles' visit.  He is beautiful and will be able to gallop in all his glory!  How fun for the kiddies and how fun for Elizabeth and me!  I imagine Clyde is having fun as well.  He has sat idle for some twenty years and will now hear the giggles of little children once again.  That must feel good even to a plastic horse.

Success!

  The many hours of work (and play) have proven to be quite the success.  The converted bedroom to playroom seems to be a hit with the Grandlittles along with their parents.  The room has apparently become a "meeting place" for everyone in the household as the Grand Princess, Mary Ruth cooks imaginary food for us on her woodstove.  Today, we had a lovely meal of strawberry tea, ice cream spin tops, coffee and baked lemons.  I admit that it was delightful and the baked lemons were divine!  This was a new food for me even in playland.  I have never had baked lemons before but it does make me ponder if there is such a recipe.  Perhaps MawMaw should check a few cookbooks and perhaps MawMaw can learn a thing or two from the Royal Grand Princess.

  Baby Mark especially loved a tiny wooden wagon that held assorted blocks and spin tops.  Included in this mishmash of things there are a couple of dreidels.  I have no idea where or when I acquired these but the Grand Prince seemed enamored with the things.  He seemed to be happy as long as his daddy was spinning the dreidels on the hardwood floor.  I did make one rather abrupt discovery with these, though.  Dreidels spinning on hardwood floors at 5 am are deafening!  Which is rather funny because they are hardly noticeable at 8 am.  Same dreidels, same floors.....no discernible noise at midmorning.  The Royal Grand Prince thoroughly enjoyed shoving a few of the other toys about the floor until he found a book to eat.  Such fun!

  All in all, I think the room is a success.  Mary Ruth has fully claimed it as "her" room and the contents as "her" toys.  She is absolutely right....it is and I would not have it any other way.  Now if I can just get her mommy and daddy to take "her" toys back home with them, all would be well!  In the meantime, I will breathe a sigh of relief and sit back to enjoy time spent with these beautiful babies!.....oh, and with their parents!

Shall We Cook?

  The story continues.  My days are filled with trying to transform a bedroom into a playroom of sorts in time for the grandlittles visit.  This is not as easy as taking out furniture and putting in toys.  Taking out the furniture was simple and took less work that trying to think like a tot.  My feeble, old brain has not had to deal with toddlers in a long time.  I am not sure what they find entertaining.  

  Today, I decided that the old set of play dishes and cooking pots might occupy the two tykes for a short while.  They have a grand play kitchen at home which has all of the up-to-date appliances and such.  It is such a pretty little thing!  I wish my own kitchen was so nice!  The play things that I have for the kiddos date back twenty five years or so with the exception of the stove.  Even though that looks old, it is new.  Son made a great faux wood-burning stove for the past clue hunt and has now downsized it to work for toddlers.  Yep, here on the Bayou, the kiddos will cook on a woodstove!  

  The tiny pots and pans were bought for Darling Daughter years ago. She had no interest in such things and played with them only a few times.  It was Son (being just a little over a year younger) who decided that he needed to be a "chef".  Since the play stove was in Darling Daughter's room and she refused to have him cooking there, the thing was moved to my kitchen.  In fact, the stove was moved INTO a kitchen cabinet!  We have one large pantry cabinet that fits in the corner of the room.  A couple of bottom shelves were removed and this made the perfect spot to create a play kitchen.  The cupboard was large enough to house not only the play stove but also a tiny table and two chairs.  Son was content to stay in his little kitchen while I worked in mine.  It was great as I knew exactly where he was and what he was doing at all times.  (So...there you have it.  Put your kid in the pantry and let him cook.  It is great!)  

  Now these little metal pots and pans will be housed in the corner of the playroom (which just happens to be Darling Daughter's old room.  How ironic that she banned the stuff from her room when she was a child only to have it return years later!)  A small shelf of my great aunt's was hung next to the stove to hold tiny plates, cups and saucers and bowls. Tomorrow, Son will build a pot rack for the other side of the stove and the "kitchen" will be ready for the great chefs to come!  What fun this has been!  

  Oh...and the little rocking chair?  That is my oldest brother's little chair that he used some sixty years ago.  Wow!  I wonder if other folks hang on to so many neat things.  The Little Bayou House is filled to the brim with these interesting items and it is so good to be able to use them.

A Stroll Back in Time.

  My excitement about the grand-littles coming to visit is growing with leaps and bounds.  At first, I worried that they would not have enough toys to be entertained for the week they are here.  It HAS been a long time since the Little Bayou House has had wee visitors.  Now, however, I am beginning to think just the opposite.  Perhaps there will be too many toys for them.  No, I refrained and did not go out shopping!   I merely started clearing closets, window seats and cabinets.  I found a whole plethora of toys, albeit, they are all vintage.  Surely, the kiddos will not mind playing with toys that their daddy and aunt and uncle played with as tots.  Surely, they will not mind playing with toys that their MawMaw had as a child.  Surely, they will not mind playing with things that their great-grandmother used as a source of entertainment.  Surely...I hope. Anyway, as it turns out, I have enough toys to actually create a "toy room"!  Darling Daughter's old bedroom is now in the process of being turned into a temporary playroom for the kiddos!

  Several of the items that I hauled downstairs to clean were, indeed, things that my mother had as a child.  One is a doll bed that my granddaddy made for my mother when she was a wee tot.  The little bed has survived not only her childhood but mine and then my daughter's as well.  This thing has been passed down several generations and now another can enjoy it.  The bed has numerous coats of paint on it and is in need of a good cleaning but it is still as sturdy as the day Granddaddy built it.  He knew how to build things for sure!  In my mind, I have an image of him in his workshop with limited tools and wood.  He mainly used old crates for his woodworking.....and this was far before this "pallet" building craze.  Back in the day, it was the norm and not some novelty.  I will, however, have to evict the cat.  She loves snoozing in the doll bed!

  Then there is the small doll buggy(?) for the lack of a better word.  I assume this is another of Granddaddy's creations as I have never seen another like it.  He was great at designing things that were highly useful. Once again, as a toddler, mom used this..then I did..then Elizabeth..now Mary Ruth can. Mom and I both had only one complaint about this toy.  If you were not careful when pushing it, you could wind up with the wind knocked out of you!  Never run with this toy! If, per chance, you were whizzing along at high speed and hit the rug, oooof!  The pole handle would shove into your gut and knock you for a loop!  Also, the blue metal seat had edges that could be a tad painful if you fell atop them. Perhaps this one will have to be used with close guidance if the Grand Princess wishes to push her dolly around the house.  

  The safety issues with the doll buggy brings to mind the idea that we do mollycoddle our kiddos these days.  We are so afraid that they will have a bump or bruise that we try to fully "childproof" our houses.  I found myself doing just this in view of the upcoming visit. I worried about the stairs, I fretted over the cold floors and I anguished about the mucky waters of the Bayou.  In the midst of one of my near panic attacks, Son said two words that squelched my fears.  "We survived."  In that statement the "we" referred to my three kids.  Yes....they did.  No....I did not worry near as much.  And....I am much calmer now that the man of few words uttered those two.  So...have fun, kiddos!  I will keep a boo-boo bunny in the freezer and some colorful adhesive bandages in the cabinet.  The grandkids can have fun with the old toys...if their parents do not put a nix on that idea.