Windchimes...Not For Me!

   Windchimes are not for me.  I do love the melodic tinkling that fills the air with each breeze coming off the Bay.  I do love the intricate designs of some of the better made chimes.  I do love the ingenuity behind those who can put together a chime that can send a listener into a calmer mood.  I do not love restringing those things once the weather has taken a toll on the piece.  That, my friends, is NOT for me!  I usually do not have a problem with repairing things that become broken.  As a kid, I was always taught to repair or repurpose damaged items but restringing a windchime this morning nearly got the best of me.  The style with metal tubes or bamboo pieces never presented a problem so I decided it was time to repair one that was strung with capiz shells.  That small chime set made me realize just how "fumble fingered" (Mom's phrase) I have become.  I could hardly tie the eight million or so knots that were required to get the goofy thing tinkling again!  

  In all fairness, I do have a good amount of arthritis in my right hand making it difficult to hold small things but I felt somewhat like a spider with fifty or so flipflopping bugs in my tangled web.  The fishing line that needed to be used was of the finest sort and those capiz shells are as light as feather.  (They also have sort of a chalky coating making them hard to grasp!)  Each time, I would poke that line through one hole, it would slip and slide right back out and occasionally poke itself into the wrong place. Tying the knots was another story as they had to be tight enough to not slip but not too tight where the paper thin shell would cut them.  Keep in mind I did all of this at five in the morning so the brain was probably still a bit sleep-skewed.  

  Still, about two hours after starting, I finished the job! It was one of those "can't quit" things because the cat would have surely made things a lot worse had I abandoned the task midways.  Had...to...finish!  Should I have just tossed the chimes and bought a new?  Nope.  My nephew brought the windchimes from the island where he lives.  The locals there make amazing crafts from what they have on hand and he knew I would appreciate the workmanship. I love the windchimes and the music remind me of my incredible nephew.  Besides, I am not one to trash something without attempting to repair it first.  This attempt nearly did me in, however!  Hopefully, I will never get a harebrained idea to use capiz shells for anything...ANYTHING!

Salvaged Plants

  Sometimes when gardening, the unexpected works best.  Expensive things can just get in the way while "recycled" or "repurposed" ones seem to fit the bill.  I have used many odd things as flower pots or yard structures.  Usually, these are donated by a hurricane and it is easier to make use of stuff than try to find a way of discarding it. 

  The same goes for plants.  I am finding more and more that purchasing seeds and plants is ridiculous as the seeds do not germinate or the plants die quickly.  Case in point.  Just recently, my nephew sent a surprise package of assorted tropical seeds and "starts" from Hawaii.  He lives on an island in the South Pacific and was passing through Honolulu when he spied the packets.  Knowing I am game to try most anything, he sent an assortment.  Sadly, most did not even sprout even though I followed the instructions to a T.  At about the same time, my brother salvaged a dead looking plant from the garbage and brought it to me.  He thought I may need the pot.   Well, I did but when I started removing the dead plant, I noticed that one small shoot appeared to still have some life in it.  This was one of the same plants that were in the parcel from my nephew.  Well, it could not hurt to try and salvage the plant!

  Needless to say, that plant is thriving!  The expensive ones are dead.  Perhaps the salvaged one just appreciated being helped and is rewarding my efforts.  Now I have a lovely Hawaiian Ti plant that is doing well surrounded by purple basil.  Nice!

Erik's Cookies

  Christmas traditions are carried on generation after generation.  Whether it be placing Baby Jesus in the manger on Christmas Eve or ringing Christmas Bells at midnight.  The customs vary from place to place and from family to family.  There are several "hand-me-down" favorites that have made it through the ages here on the Bayou.  We still sing carols from the small paper books that Mom used as she played so happily on the old piano back on the farm. We still bake until "the cows come home".   We still hang the old cloth socks from my childhood (not the newfangled stockings) from the mantel.   We still enjoy family time.  These will always be a part of our holidays.  There are a few "new" traditions that I started with my kids that I sorely miss since the kids have grown up and left the Bayou.  I miss watching Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye and Judy Haynes in "White Christmas" with my oldest son.  It was one of our favorite times together.  After he was "in the know" about Santa, he stayed up late to help me on Christmas Eve, then we would settle in to watch the movie together.  Watching the movie is not the same since he is on the island so very far away.  Some day..maybe...maybe.  Then, there was the tradition of lying on the floor and looking up through the Christmas Tree with my daughter when she was a tot.  We continued that even when she would come home from college.  That has gone the wayside, too, since she is married and in her own home creating their own happy traditions.  Some day..maybe...maybe.   The tradition with my youngest son was making new ornaments for the tree each year.  This, too, has ceased since he is grown.  Although, he is still on the Bayou, his ornament-making days seem to be something of the past...perhaps a fond memory.  Again..some day..maybe...maybe...

  Now, I have sort of inadvertently stepped into another tradition.  For the past few years, a certain nephew has always gotten a plate of his favorite cookies.  Erik proclaimed that the Plum Dot cookies are the "best ever cookies".  His fondness for the baked treats lead to me baking two batches each year...one for all visitors to the Little Bayou House and one batch just for Erik.  In fact, I now call these "Erik's Cookies" when I start to bake.   His ooohs and ahhs over the baked goodies are all it took for this old aunt to make sure that he has his very own supply.  That young man knows how to smooth talk an old lady into baking for him but, then again, he is mighty special to me!  

  Today, the tradition of baking "Erik's cookies took place.  Not a one of the cookies made it to the treat table as they were secreted away so they would be ready to be presented to Erik.  No one gets to eat off that plate!  Tomorrow, the second batch of the Plum Dot cookies will be baked and those will be placed among the other trays to be sampled by any and all who stop in for a visit.  Christmas traditions on the Bayou say that you will not go away hungry!  Last year, I fretted that I would have to alter the recipe due to the fact that I had used my very last jar of plum jam.  How thankful I was to see that the plum trees outdid themselves this summer.  Sixty-three jars of plum jam line the shelves so it was easy to reach up, grab one and fill the cookies for Erik!  (Just so you will know, the recipe for the Plum Dot Cookies is on the Cooking on the Bayou page on this blog.  Happy baking!)

On The Hunt...

  Some folks go their whole lives without really being aware of what is around them.  Not too long ago, I had a nephew tell me that the largest bird in this area is the Osprey.  "Have you ever seen one of those?" he queried.  Yep, well, I sort of live in the midst of them.  "They are huge!  They are the biggest birds around here!" he remarked.  He was so excited about his find that I almost did not have the heart to tell him that we have Bald Eagles which are much, much larger than the Osprey.  As fate one have it, right at that moment, an eagle flew over the Little Bayou House.  Enough said...he is now in awe that he has seen a "real, live eagle"!  This young man has lived here all of his life and is just now noticing eagles?  Wow!  But...it does not surprise me as his sister was so happy when she found that I had blue "pigeons" in my yard a few years back.  Surprisingly enough, she was referring to the blue buntings that were migrating through the area.  Those tiny birds are long stretch from a pigeon.  The sweet girl had never been told that there were other birds besides the pigeons she had seen on the streets in town.  What a shame.  I guess parents are not teaching their kids about nature.  I did.  Our kids loved being able to roam about the Bayou and woods and paddle the waters of Back Bay.  By being outside, they learned to love nature.

  This afternoon, Mark and I sat on the pier just enjoying the view.  A few pelicans were diving for mullet when suddenly Mark made the comment that the eagle had just caught a fish.  Sure enough, a bald eagle had a quite large fish in its talons and was heading back to the nest site.  Seeing the eagles dive for fish is a sight like none other.  They are powerful birds that can haul a huge fish out of the water, take flight and carry that fish for quite a distance without ever struggling.  With their excellent vision and accurate aim, the eagles rarely miss their mark.  With the Bay so full of fish at the moment, nary a predator should go hungry and that eagle had enough food to feed itself and perhaps its young.  Mark and I are truly blessed to have a front row seat to observe nature at its finest.

Baby Volcanoes!

I used to babysit a lot of my nieces and nephews. It was fun and a good way for me to look as though I was doing something productive when actually playing! I had taken one of my nephews who was around six years old for a walk down by the bay. We were "exploring" which meant "hanging over the side of the pier to see what was under it"! Fun stuff there! It must have been very fascinating to him as we stayed there for what seemed like hours..in reality, probably only minutes but with the blood rushing to my head, I lost all sense of time. Anyway, in the process of dangling upside-down, we discussed what we saw. Mud! There is no shortage of that here..that seemed to interest him to no end..I guess it is a "boy" thing. There was an occasional minnow and perhaps a crab, but then he spied them..."Baby volcanoes!". Huh? Baby volcanoes?? What in the world? He pointed exuberantly! "Baby volcanoes!" Then I realized what he was so excited about. There on the pier post were clusters of barnacles..his "volcanoes"! I explained to him that these were not volcanoes but rather a tiny creature that somewhere down the line was kin to crabs. He looked at me like I was slap nuts. I went on and told him how they made their shells to protect themselves. That they lived in them just like we do houses. Without missing a beat, he asked "Why do they live in volcanoes?" I explained it all again and I thought he fully understood it this time..then hours later, he told his mother.."Mom! We saw baby volcanoes!" Oh, geez! I thought I had done so well explaining some sea life.

This memory sort of smacked me upside the head today! It is funny how seeing something can jog a memory from years ago. As I was out wandering around by the Bayou, I came across a large board that had several clusters of barnacles on it. It had obviously been in the water for some time to have acquired these as it takes a while for the little critter to build its shell house. I stood looking at the barnacle covered board. The barnacles had encrusted themselves onto the board and were impossible to remove. Anyone who has ever tried to scrape them off the bottom of a boat can attest that it is quite a job. The shells are razor sharp and can leave nasty cuts. I decided to leave the board where it was.

Baby volcanoes! I still not sure where in the world this name came from or why he thought barnacles looked like "baby volcanoes" or maybe on second thought..I can. The imagination is a wondrous thing! Still, it is a happy memory of time spent with a cute little fellow! I might just start calling them this..Baby Volcanoes!