From Greenhouse to Bean House

   With limited level gardening space, one must become creative when expanding the food plots.  The steep slope that radiates from the Little Bayou House in all directions leaves very little flat areas in which to make rows for plants.  Even putting up the little metal-framed greenhouse that my sweet sister-in-law sent me presented a problem.  Son decided to go with the slope making the tunnel head down the hillside to the Bay.  Since it was to be a temporary fix to keep the potted plants from freezing, I had no qualms about letting him do whatever he pleased as long as those night-blooming cereus plants stayed warm.  Surprisingly enough, they all survived our temps that plunged much further down than we ever expected.  The plants did ok and I was satisfied.

  A couple of weeks ago, that summer garden-planting bug hit and that is where things went amok. I had more plants and seeds than garden.  Even though people claim to want a garden, it is hard to give away plants once they are seeded. So, the problem of too little space had to be fixed with a bit of ingenuity.  As Son and Mark were taking down the greenhouse before an impending wind storm, it hit me that the large (now) empty space was usable for something!  Mark built some nice sized boxes to run along the sides of the (once) greenhouse and we filled them with soil and compost.  A bit of sisal twine was laced between the metal pipe framework and our greenhouse was now a bean house with two rows that are twenty feet in length! 

  The bean plants seem to be happy in their improvised home and this freed up a bit of space for another twenty or so tomato plants and about that many more pepper plants.  It is purely a case of make do with what you have by repurposing.  By the time the framework will need its top reattached for the winter, the beans will be long gone. Now that is thinking!  Double duty gardening!

Creative Talents

   Son often comes to my rescue when I am in a quandary about how to achieve something.  His method of observing, contemplating then attempting is to be admired, to say the least.  He never dives into things headlong like his old mom.  I have a tendency to start midway into a project then become confused when the end result is not to my liking.  Not him....think it through BEFORE beginning, gather necessary supplies and tools, then and only then, delve into the solution!  His method has proven logical and was, once again, put into use with my home/Christmas decorating.

  I have often stated that I was born in the wrong era.  I feel a certain awkwardness with the current trends and prefer things from centuries past.  This year, I gave into that mood and decided that the living room (with all of its antique furniture) needed to be somewhat Victorian.  Yeah...the Little Bayou House is an oddity but it makes me happy.  One of the needed changes was from the simple, canvas curtains to rich, velvety draperies complete with embroidered sheers.  Not a problem.  This change was easy with fabric and curtains from other rooms but I also wanted tiebacks.  I tried the lovely satiny rope and tassel things but did not have enough on hand.  Son came to my rescue!  He created my tiebacks and I could not be happier.

  For those who do not know me, I am somewhat of a "clutterer" as I save things that may have a possible use.  While Son was scrounging about the place to find components of "Victorian tiebacks", he came across my stash of some things salvaged from discarded items.  He suddenly changed from scrounging to creating!  Using a wood backing, he quickly attached a ceiling fan blade bracket.  This was attached to the window frame with the wood hidden behind the curtain!  Yippee!  There was a tieback!  Three more were made and his old mom was one happy camper!

  I am fully thinking that we should all follow his example and think a bit before jumping into action.  (Me, especially!)  That observing and thinking sort of go out the window when I face problems.  Son's method serves him well and I have my "quasi-Victorian" Christmas room!  I feel perfectly at home!

The Cookie Mallet!

  Down in the Deep South, we try our best to pass along kindness to others and we repay kindness done to us.  It is one of those things that we learned from an early age.  Be nice to folks.  It never hurt anyone to show a bit of kindness and returning a favor is just as important as doing one in the first place.  More oft than not, folks do not expect anything in return but, you can bet your bottom dollar, they are tickled pink to see something come their way.  It was when I was "returning a kindness" that I made a happy discovery.  A couple of days ago, Son had to repair the pump on the well.  The air volume control went a bit haywire and started spraying water out of its side.  We called around in search of the part but could not find one handy so he went to ask my brother for help.  Son was duly instructed on how to jury-rig the pump until the part could be ordered.    That bit of kindness saved us a lot of trouble and we did not go without water.  So...it was my turn to share a kindness.

  Learning from Mom, all of my aunts and my grandmother, baking is the best way to let folks know you appreciate them.  There is just something special about home baked goodies!  Knowing my brother loves cookies, I decided to bake up a batch for him.  The dough for peanut butter cookies was mixed and I had all of those cute little balls rolled when I realized the time consuming part was next.  Pressing the balls down with a fork always bores me.  Press this way...press that way.  Why?  If the whole process is merely to smash the cookie flat and leave some little ridges to add crisp, there had to be an easier way.  Thoughts of what to use started rolling about in the brain.  Potato smasher??  Spatula??  Duh!  Meat tenderizer mallet!! Yep!!  Now that is using the brain!  Here was using a bit of ingenuity to get the job done!

  Who uses one of those things to mutilate meat anyway?  Just buy a decent piece of meat in the first place.  Those little pyramid shaped mounds on the metal worked like a charm and, in just a few moments, the entire sheet of cookies was flattened!  The hash marks were perfectly spaced and the cookies were evenly flattened.  Keep in mind that I GENTLY pressed the cookie dough!  I did not smack it like you would using a hammer.  GENTLY!!   Good job...but would they crisp well with this method?  

  Yes, indeed!  The mallet trick worked well.  The cookies were soft with a slightly crispy top.  (Actually, these were some of the best peanut butter cookies that I have ever made!)  I quickly packed a container full of cookies and trotted myself over to my brother's place to return the kindness.  He was thrilled by the act and happily started munching his cookies.  Favor returned and I now have found a use for a dysfunctional kitchen utensil!  Cookie Mallet for the win!

                                           

A Bit of Warmth...

  I am one of those weird folks who does not mind using whatever I find to remedy a situation.  It is not in my nature to run buy whatever is needed.  I usually can find a substitute for any given missing element to a problem.  It all goes back to having a bit of ingenuity and being able to survive without outside help if the need arises.  I figure what Pop taught me so many years ago still rings true today.  If something is broken...fix it.  If something needs doing...do it.  If something is needed...get it.  Nope...no buying back on the farm.  We used the brains instead of spending hard earned money.  

  This morning was downright chilly.  The skies were still grey and a slight drizzly rain fell from the sky.  With the north wind blowing a gale, the Little Bayou House was cooling down quickly.  Son had split a lot of wood for the cast iron wood stoves but I had a different idea of what to burn.  Earlier when I had the old dog out, I noticed that thousands of hickory nuts had fallen under the tree on the east side of the house.  Yep!  I was going to burn hickory nuts!  This is nothing new for me, however, as I have been doing it for years in the old stoves.  The nuts put out a lot of heat, burn long and smell great!  It was the memory of all three that had me scooting out in the misty morn to gather a five gallon bucket of the nuts.  That would last me all day and well into the night.

  The burning of hickory nuts would probably not be the smartest idea in an open fireplace as they do occasionally explode and send shards about the place but the cast iron wood stove is completely enclosed so let them pop away!  Once the fire was started and the nuts caught, the slow burn started and the Little Bayou House warmed and smelled nicely!  That, my friends, is thinking!  Pop would be proud.

All In Her Head

  Years ago, I was very ill.  After countless visits to several doctors, one had the nerve to tell me that "It is all in your head"....meaning that I was imagining things.  I am glad that I did not listen to him since it turns out that it was my heart...not my imagination.  Once I got the right doctors, things went well and I made a fast recovery but it could have been a very different story.  The new doctor said had I listened to the other fellow, I would have died within a month. 

  Still to this day, the quote "It is all in your head." irks me to no end.  The thought that having things all in your head is a bad thing, (the way the doctor had meant it), is all wrong.  To my way of thinking, it should be the other way around.  Having it all in your head should refer to the cognizant thought processes without which our daily business could not be faced.   It should refer to ingenuity, intelligence. wisdom and, yes, imagination.

  Just this morning as I was marveling at a spiderweb being illuminated by the morning sun, a thought started worming its way into the brain.  If things were not "all in our heads", how does the spider know how to build such a perfect snare?  If you have ever noticed, not many mother spiders go out of their way to teach their offspring a thing or two about web-making, catching food or escaping predators.  This all has to be learned on their own.   Most of us tend to think of spiderwebs as something we would rather not walk into and become entangled.  The thought of a spider crawling up our back is not overly desirable.  But that spiderweb is a remarkable thing and the spider used all of whats "in its head" to spin the fabulous creation.  How does the spider know to make a web in circles?  How do the spiders in the marsh know the changes in tides?  Why do some spiders make platform webs, others dangling webs and others cone shaped?  Because it is all in their heads.  They have thinking brains that help them to figure out the best method of catching their prey.  Spiders also can adapt their methods when put in a different situation.  Take an orb spider that makes a perfect hanging web.  If nothing is flying into the web, they have the ingenuity to drop a few "fishing lines" or dangling webs to the ground to catch crawling bugs.  Whereas they usually wait for a hapless moth to fly into the web and then just leisurely walk over to munch it, with the dangling webs, they literally reel in their catch!  A rather ingenious method!

  So, the next time someone makes the snide remark that something is "all in your head", thank them!  Tell them "Yes!  I have that and a whole lot of other brilliant things floating around in there!"  Just do not listen to them and think that is the end of it....or it may be.  In the case of my illness, I used what was in my head to find someone who could and would help me.  So, I am glad it was "all in my head"!

Its Doesn't Work That Way

  Fishing is a way of life when you live on a bayou.  Seafood is a staple in our diets and catching it fresh is a necessity.  Even though, we depend on the waters to supply a good portion of our daily meals, our fishing gear is pretty basic.  A good fisherman does not need fancy gear.  A lot of folks may ridicule how we live and how we fish but we get the job done and do it well.   Our fishing is for fun and food not to put a big show for others.  So, the basic gear is usually a cast net to catch bait, a sturdy rod and reel and a couple of packs of "accessories" such as hooks, sinkers and swivels.  Oh, and a scoop net for when you catch a big fish and a good, sharp fillet knife.  That is about it.  There is not even the need for an expensive boat.  The pier works fine.  Even with the simple gear, we catch our fair share of fish and even have plenty to share with our elderly friends.  

  That said, sometimes that gear can present problems.  Just yesterday, I had to use my fishing pole in a way in which it was never intended. The day started out like any other.  I threw the cast net five times from the end of the pier.  Here the water is deeper and larger mullet run near the pier.  Those mullet were to be bait and shared with my friendly heron(s)....another story for another day.  Still, I needed a few smaller mullet just in case the fish were not biting the six inch long ones.  So, I walked up the pier to the "cut".  This is a place where the marsh is cleared into a tide pool of sorts.  The otter runs were carved to the main Bayou which feeds the area with fresh water and plenty of little fish.  The first throw went well but the second was when things went awry.  I threw the net as usual but as soon as it left my hands, I knew something was terrible wrong.  It did not "feel" right.  It was then that I realized that the rope draw line on the net was slack.  Hmmm?  I pulled the rope thinking the net would follow.  Nope, my perfect circle of netting stayed in the shallow water.  All that came was the rope handline.  The large metal swivel that connects the rope to the bag strings had broken leaving the net far out in the water.  Well, now!  That would never work!  Ponder, ponder.

  It took just one cast of the reel to snag the net.  Gently, ever so gently, I pulled the netting toward me.  I did not want to risk ripping the fine webbing.  Once, I got the net in hand, it was an easy task to haul it on the pier.  I even had 10 little mullet still caught in the net!  Now comes the chore of mending the cast net.  I am glad Pop taught me many things about living on the water, about how to live simply yet happily and about how to use a bit of ingenuity when needed.