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!

Bringing Back the Parlor

  There is a saying around that could possibly be one of the most intelligent things anyone has ever said.  "What is wrong with the world today, is that no one sits on the front porch and talks anymore."  Probably more accurately, people yammer and not truly talk or listen. Gone are the days when folks would gather around (usually in the Deep South, that gathering was on a front porch.) and have true conversations.  The gatherings stopped, conversing became nil and the country went to pot.  (And if you do not know what that means, then you obviously have not been to a gathering.)

  The screened porches of the past served well as a meeting spot of sorts.  In the Deep South, it is where we kept cool and relatively free from bugs.  The only problem was that those gatherings had to come to a halt in mid-December all the way through March.  Cold weather and slow conversations do not mix well.  It was during those months that the frequent visits were moved to the parlor.  No self-respecting Southern Belle was without a "nice" parlor.  Ladies and gents warmed themselves by the parlor stove and the woes of the world were put in order. 

  So..since my screened porch is still in the wish stages, I have decided to bring back the parlor.  This is not to be confused with a living room where people lounge about staring at their mind-thieving cell phones.  There is just something about the mere mention of a parlor that brings to mind a deep connection of those who sit and converse.  

  Today, I decorated my "parlor" for Christmas.  Since Son helped me lug some my antique furniture into the room, I figured that I might as well go full 1800s with a decorating theme.  Heavy garlands were made, a tabletop tree was decorated and lots of lace doilies from my grandmother's chest were put into use. While it is still a work in progress, I am satisfied that the parlor would have pleased my grandmother. Now if I could only bring back the art of true conversation all would be right in my little world.

Screechers Are On The Loose!

  Several years ago, my niece, Kammie, described some of the critters of the Bayou as "Screechers".  This was a slip of the tongue as she meant to say "scary creatures" but combined the two words.  I liked this better than scary creatures so it became the name of a certain bunch of creatures. In the fireplace each summer, a growing number of chimney swifts make their nests.  Once the eggs hatch, the tiny birds start to make noises as the parent birds fly in to feed them.  All birds do the same only with the chimney swifts being confined in what, more or less, is a giant tunnel, the noise is loud.  Most folks would have immediately called an exterminator to rid the chimney of the birds but then complained of the bugs around the Bayou.  I rather like the birds, their penchant for biting insects and even their noisy screeching.  I love the Screechers of the Bayou!

  For the past several days, I kept telling Son that it sounded like one of the Screechers had fallen to the bottom of the fireplace.  To me, it sounded as if the bird was in the firebox and not the chimney.  I feared that the parent birds would overlook this little one and not feed it. Still, the bird did not seem to be weakening so, perhaps, my fears were for naught.  Then, this morning,  it sounded as if the bird was fluttering inside the house!  SON!!! 

  He and I (armed with flashlights) started searching the dining room.  My first thought was that the bird was inside the antique parlor stove.  This old cast iron stove is vented up through the chimney.  While I took off the burner plate on top, Son took off the protective grating on the front of the stove and set it to the side.  Nope, no bird inside the parlor stove!  Where was that thing??  Son reached down to pick up the grate to replace it when a frantic fluttering again took place.  The tiny bird had been clinging to the grating when he had removed it!  Now, the bird was on the loose inside the house!

  After about five minutes of (gentle) bird-chasing, the little tyke settled down near the newel post.  I reached down, picked up the bird and consoled it.  The bird sat calmly in my hand.  Son took a photo of it but refused to use the flash.  "It has been living in the dark all of its life.  The light will harm its eyes." he told me.  So, the photo was dark, the bird was put back in the fireplace and all was good.  As soon as I held my hand behind the stove board that covers the fireplace front, the little bird flew up the chimney to be with his siblings.  Probably by tomorrow, the birds will have all flown up the chimney and out the top.  This little one probably would have been ok on his own outside but it was best to let him be with the others for his first flight. Happy flying, Little Screecher!  Come back to see us now!    

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!

Good Friends, Relatives and Unrelatives!

Today, I did something out of the norm...I ventured forth from the Bayou! My Sweet Daughter-in-law is visiting the Little Bayou House for a long weekend and today, she took me along on a drive to see some friends. Joanna and Mark's friends, Amy and Doug were in Hattiesburg visiting Doug's folks. Doug and Amy have the most precious baby girl in the world! So after loading Joanna's car with an assortment of things from the Bayou gardens, we headed up to their place. As soon as we turned on their drive, I was delighted! This seemed to be the most perfect place! From the moment I stepped onto their porch, I felt welcome. Connie and David (Doug's folks) opened their door and it was like I found where Southern hospitality originated. From the most delicious pound cake and perfect coffee to the conversation and laughter, Southern charm and warmth was clearly evident. Yes, it was a very good visit..a wonderful adventure...and did I mention the most precious baby?

When we arrived back at the Bayou, Sweet Daughter-in-law and I found a quite chilly house! As I set about pulling something together for a quick supper, she built the first fire of the season in the antique parlor stove. It was not long before she had the dining room toasty warm! When she is here, I never have to worry about stoking the fire..she always has it burning brightly! After we ate, she and I sat at the dining table looking over a mountain of old family photos..not our family..but someone's family from long ago. I cannot say just who these folks are but I am quite sure that they probably need a family so somehow I am it! The pictures are of people that are not related to me in any way..I just came in possession of the photo albums years ago and decided that they were just too interesting to discard. So..Joanna and I spent the evening staring at picture after picture of unknown "adopted" family members. These are albums of old photos from the Civil War Era and are some more of the dust collectors I have! I must admit..they were doing their job well as they were properly covered in a thick layer of the stuff! Sweet Joanna just wiped the albums off and very patiently peered at the unidentified soldiers, sad little girls in pinafores and stern old ladies with their hair pulled taut. This was the most interesting assortment of "unrelatives" if ever I saw one!

For me, today proved to be quite amusing! It is a rare adventure indeed when I leave the Bayou much less have such a pleasant time. I look forward to tomorrow and a new adventure!

Midnight Snack

The evidence of a midnight snack is there. Well, maybe not exactly midnight, but the fact remains that there is definitely some nightly noshing going on in my yard. Littered under the large hickory tree are the telltale signs of flying squirrels' mealtimes. It is easy to tell that these are the remnants left behind by the Southern Flying Squirrel as no other squirrel can open a rock-hard hickory nut in quite the same way. These tiny rodents will gnaw a perfect oval hole in the end of the nut and leave what resembles a wooden "cup". The edges are left smooth and the shell empty. The other squirrels just simply rip the thing to pieces. It intrigues me that something so small can do this. Just as a matter of explanation..flying squirrels do not actually "fly". They have no wings just a flap of skin called patagium. This flap stretches from the ankle of the front leg to the ankle of the back leg. When the squirrel wants to "fly" from one tree to another it launches itself into the air, stretches its legs outward and glides with these flaps! Pretty efficient mobility!

Finally! Today, the old parlor stove received its final touches of restoration. This beautiful old cast iron stove had been severely damaged during Hurricane Katrina so I am elated that it is now ready to be reinstalled in the house. The before picture shows the intensity of the rust damage caused by salt water that was blown into our house by the storm. Now, after much laboring the stove has regained most of its beauty. I say most since there had to be some replacement of parts that are not original to the stove. The back legs were completely gone and try as I might, I could not find any that matched. As luck would have it though, the same storm that caused harm to this fine old stove gave me the replacement legs. A piece of some other iron

stove washed into our yard from "who knows where". We removed the broken legs, replaced them with found ones and then scraped and buffed away all the rust. With a new grating and a new cook plate, it is finished! The results..a beautiful, functional cast iron woodstove! Now with some new stove piping and a bit more elbow grease during installation, this beauty will be ready for the first cold spell of winter!