Just Because...Embracing The Weirdness

   I am at that age where I do things that suit me and not others.  Rather, I have come to realize at this late age that this is something we all should be doing.  The world has far too many ideas of what is "proper" or "accepted".  In "my" world, those have been tossed to the wayside.  Don't get me wrong on this as I am not referring to moral rights and wrongs but rather in our personal tastes...how we dress, how we decorate our homes, what we keep, what we discard, who we allow in our lives and who we decide are weighing us down.  It seems as if even those things are being decided for us which is something we should not allow.  How we live is no one else's business and we should keep it that way.  So...I am doing things "my way" and ignoring others opinions.

  Over the years, the Little Bayou House has been decorated in numerous ways to suit everyone but me.  I have taken in consideration how others see the place and how I would be judged if something was deemed odd.  Well, I am odd.  I admit to being a tad eccentric and a lot eclectic.  Let's face it...I am weird.  That said, I am embracing that weirdness as I follow the advice given to me years ago by one of Son's friends back when they were teenagers.  "Embrace your weirdness.  That is why we like you," he told me one time when I was feeling particularly down.  (By "we", he was referring to the others in a group of teenagers that were always at the place.) So, gradually I began to do just that.  The Little Bayou House (and I) have evolved into an anomalous entity full of color, oddities and moonbeams.  It suits me.

  Today, shelves were installed in front of some of the east-facing windows to showcase collections of colored glass pieces that have been stashed in cupboards.  Soon, the same will be done with the west-facing windows so the rising and setting of the sun can throw splashes of color about the room.  Mixed in with the glass will be numerous prisms and crystals so the walls will be of dancing rainbows.  It will be a magical mix of light and darkness and will be a happy place.

  Why?  Just because.  Why?  Just because we each need to express our individualism without worry that others will look down upon us.  That is something that is far too common and it is ridiculous to wait any longer to break free from the stigma of being different.  Let that difference glow...embrace your weirdness.

Monkey Wrenches and Home Canning

  Oh, the dilemmas!  Why does it seem that right when things start going smoothly, something has to throw a monkey wrench into the works. Earlier this week, I noticed that the freezer that holds fruit and veggies, was starting to act a bit weird.  Well, it has been acting a bit weird for a while but it was now acting weirder. Odd acting freezers are not something you want to leave to their own accord as they have a way of messing things up pretty badly.  I opened the lid to find that this freezer was jammed packed. Well, there was nothing else to do but pull stuff and can it.  I had been lazy in the past and just threw berries, grapes, pumpkin and pecans in the freezer instead of taking the time to make the jams, jellies and preserves.  It was time to stop being lazy.  So, for the past few days, I have been in the kitchen.  The dining room table soon was covered with a couple of hundred jars of goodies. Then came the realization that I could not just leave them there.  These things had to find a more suitable home.  Ok, so who needs bookshelves anyway, right?  The vintage books were removed from the shelves flanking the fireplace in the dining room, the shelves were cleaned, a few more shelves added and a pantry was created!  Yep, my dining room is now a pantry!  When you come to think of it, why not?  Jars of food can be every bit as beautiful and a lot more useful than a bunch of knickknacks lining the shelves.  I do have to find a place for all those books, however!

  Now back to those opening statements.  As far back as when I was a tot, I remember Pop talking about monkey wrenches.  Whenever he would be working on the old tractor and needed a strong wrench, he would tell me to go get the monkey wrench.  I was the gofer for a lot of Pop's tools.  The monkey wrench was my favorite even though it was heavy.  Now I find out that there is a difference in a monkey wrench and a pipe wrench.  I was always bringing Pop a pipe wrench.  He never complained and simply made do.  A monkey wrench is an adjustable wrench with straight jaws while the pipe wrench is adjustable but has a slight curve to the jaws. This makes sense as the curved jaws were made to fit around pipes and give a better grip.  I guess a tyke has no sense of such things! I always grabbed the one that was red!!!  To me, that red color should denote a monkey wrench since my friend had a stuffed monkey with a red jacket!  Red equals monkey!.  Who wants to tote around a plain, old wrench when a red "monkey" wrench is within reach?? Obviously not five year old me!  Great color!  Fun name!  The red pipe wrench was dragged to Pop!  Sorry, Pop!  I seriously just learned this!
  
  So I accomplished the chore set out in front of me AND learned something new.  Things can't be all bad.




 

The Project Was Shelved!

Occasionally, things do not turn out the way we plan them but sometimes that is not a bad thing! Take, for example, the work project that Mark started yesterday.  He has been quite busy this week making me a bunch of new crab pots.  I am elated about this as I love catching crabs!  (Almost as much as I love eating crabs!)  Anyway..yesterday I sort of cajoled him into making me a soft-shell box.  This is a neat little box that has a wire top and bottom with wooden sides.  Tied to one of the pier posts, it will float in the water.  The wire will allow the water to flow through the box.  A blue crab will be placed inside the box and will be plied with as much food as it can possibly eat.  All of this nice feasting will soon make the crab fat!  A fat crab cannot just go to the store and buy new clothes so it does the next best thing.  It sheds off its old shell and a new one will form.  Hence..a soft-shell crab!  While it is in this stage, the crab will be cleaned by removing any undesirable body parts to become ready for cooking.  A soft-shell crab cannot move so this cleaning is quite easily done.  Since Mark loves soft-shell crab poboys, it behooved me to gather as many as I can to be put in the freezer. 

Like I said, I convinced Mark to make this box along with the number of crab traps.  As I canned a mess of green beans, I could hear the saw and hammer being used.  I knew he was hard at work but I could not leave the pressure canner to see the box in progress.  Once I turned off the canner, I sneaked a peak!  Oh, my goodness!  Shelves!  All I could see were the neatest little whatnot shelves I could imagine.  (And you know that imagination of mine!)  I bustled outside and complimented him on these nice little shelves!  He stared at me a moment before informing me that these were not shelves but the soft-shell boxes.  No, no, no!  These were shelves and I loved them!  He looked a bit bewildered...do you really want these as shelves?  YES!!!  He then went on to tell me that he had not even measured things correctly nor had he been careful about the placement of the dividers.  "They are perfect!", I exclaimed! I could see the potential of the little roughly-made shelves!  "No, they are far from perfect." he replied.  I guess I might have looked a bit dejected because at this point he just handed me my "shelves".  Again, I was elated!!!  As I carried my treasures inside, Mark stood shaking his head.  I heard him mutter something on the order of  "Back to the woodpile."  Hee hee!  Poor fellow!

A bit later, he called to me, "Come see your soft-shell box!"  I happily went out to inspect the new box.  It was exactly what I wanted!  Most women dream of jewelry, I dream of crab boxes!  (Not really, that just sounded good at this point!)  Seriously, though, the box was perfect for what it was intended!  He asked if I wanted to go put it in the water.  With the box floating, we are now ready to start our farming of soft-shells.  If this works, more boxes can be added but right now the one with three compartments will provide us with plenty of meals!  What more can a lady ask?  I now have two adorable little whatnot shelves to paint, a soft-shell harvesting box and the promise of future meals!  Thank you, Mark!!!