Happy Roses

   A month ago, we had several hard freezes for this far south.  The temperatures dropped into the teens which seems frigid to us.  We are not accustomed to such weather!  The usual preparations were made for us to "hunker down" against the cold.  An extra stockpile of firewood for the woodstoves, lights in the pumphouse, bushels of citrus fruits picked and plants moved into the greenhouse (even though it was a makeshift shelter).  Normally since these freezes do not last long, I never think about moving rose bushes to warmer areas but I had a dozen or so cuttings in pots that were just starting to do well so, in they went.  I promptly forgot about them as they hid among the hundred or so other plants.  

  Imagine my surprise when I found that those tiny plants were not only thriving but blooming!  Yep!  Several of the small plants were showing their appreciation for the snug shelter by setting lovely blooms!  It was a welcome sight among the normal drear of winter.

  This week, the weather seems like spring so the plants will all return to the proper "summer" spots and I shall hope for the best.  The temporary greenhouse will be deconstructed and stowed just in case it is needed next year.  The plants will be on their own for the next ten months or so.  Hopefully, the overwintering will give these roses that needed boost to flourish.  Also, hopefully, this is not a "false" spring and I will regret my moves.  

Dead Tree? Brick Wall?

   I am tired, folks.  It seems that as I age, the workload increases.  Of course, a lot of that workload is nothing more than decluttering but it is taking a toll on me.  For some reason, my greenhouse became a dumping ground for anything that would not fit in Mark's shed or the storeroom.  With the coming (hopefully) of cooler weather, the greenhouse came to my attention.  I need a place for all of these potted plants. When I opened the door, egad!...I could not even step inside!  Everything from old windows to lumber had been stacked inside.  There was absolutely NO place for plants.  Yep, guess who got to clear out all of that junk...me.  For the past few days, I have been lugging stuff outdoors.  Now the yard has a mountain of stuff discarded from the greenhouse.  Personally, it could all make a complete disappearance to the dump but, the menfolk have other thoughts.  Everything hauled outside was met with "That is still good."  I am thinking that THEY need to find somewhere to put it...not me.  As long as it is not in my greenhouse, I do not care.  I am over it.

  Sometimes, folks, even in the midst of chores, you just have to take a few minutes to find a bit of enjoyment.  That happened early this morning.  I had been in the greenhouse since before daylight and was fully growling by the time the sun peaked over the pines.  Sad to say but exhaustion had already set in after only two hours of work.  It was then that I heard a familiar "laugh".  With that, it was time to grab the camera and have a bit of fun.  My friend the Pileated Woodpecker had come for breakfast.

  It is rather weird that termites have killed several of the large oak trees near the pier.  The woodpecker was treating himself to a hearty breakfast of those dratted critters.  Yes, this is a male.  An easy way to tell is to look at the face of the bird.  While both birds have a red crown, the male's extends all the way to the beak.  The female's stops about midway.  Also, the male has a bright red cheek stripe which the female lacks.  

  I love the Pileated Woodpeckers and the fact that we leave enough woods intact so they have a place to nest.  My chores were put on hold for a good half hour while I watched the one bird.  He stayed nearby for most of the morning and brought a much needed smile to my face.  It almost made me giggle aloud to think of how he rapped his head against the tree...sort of like me beating my head against a brick wall to get this place cleaned.  

Stood the Test of Time!

   The sorting of items from the upstairs stash continues with a box of Darling Daughter's stuff.  Keep in mind that this box contains things stowed since probably 1995.  At that time, she was "officially too old" for many of her "early childhood days".  (Yes, she really did tell me that.)  Items were boxed for "safekeeping" and placed in the window seat in one of the dormers.  There are three such seats that open for storage.  I had three kids so you can get the idea what treasures are stashed therein.  One for each kid.  Darling Daughter's boxes contain the usual girly things as she was very prissy....or completely tomboy depending on her mood.  Her interests had a vast range...still do.  But, as I was going through the boxes, I suddenly heard music.  Not music box music but rather a short trilling.  Hmmm...I pondered what was happening.  Thinking the music must be coming from some windup type toy, it was not too disconcerting.

  Surprisingly, the tinkling was not coming from a windup toy.  I found the culprit...err...trinkets.  Yep...plural.  There were four fairy wands!   Each of the wands had two tiny fairies that could be stuck on the end of the wand.  This end had a tiny light that made the plastic fairies glow when a button was pressed.  That pressing also released a tinkling of music...fairy-flying music... I suppose.  Aww, I remember those things!  They were gifts back when money was scarce.  I had bought them for less than a dollar each!  Let's see you get them for that now!  (Or any sweet toy for that matter!)

  It did not surprise me that the fairy wands were "treasures".  What surprised me was that the batteries were left inside the toys and after around 27 years, were good!  Usually, batteries go bad and then cause problems for the toy, itself.  Not these!  Three batteries came with each toy when purchased and were never changed even though the little girl played many hours.  Wow!  Those are some good batteries!  I checked..."Vinnic"...never heard of them but, if the company is still making the batteries this well, I sure will be on the search for some!  Testing the batteries showed that they were almost fully charged even though the fairy wands had been shuffled around in a storage box for so very long!  They truly "stood the test of time"!  Just imagine!  I will show my little granddaughter the fairy wands when she visits.  The four wands (sans the batteries for the time being) and the eight fairies might be entertaining for a little while anyway.  Not sure if these "retro" toys can compete with the newfangled, techy things of today but...maybe!  (Those are much better batteries in most toys of today, though!  These older toys had that going for them, anyway!)

Who needs lights?

   My little bit of decorating for Halloween meant putting a few pumpkins on the mantel in the dining room.  To be honest, that area looks like it has Halloween vibes all year so adding the pumpkins was all it took.  "Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate"...remember that poem from grade school?  That was going through my head when I placed the five Jack-o-lanterns in their home for the next few weeks.  "The first one said "Oh, my!  It is getting late!"  Yes, it is getting late...to be decorating and I have called it complete.  So, on to other things now!

  The five, glitzy pumpkins are from way back when the kiddos were young some 30 years ago.  Other folks would have tossed them a long time ago but not me!  They came complete with battery operated lights.  You can still get these at many different places but sure not for the $1 that I paid for them!  (I was amazed to still find the price sticker on the bottom!)  Now they are anywhere from $10 to $15!  I have treasures!

  I did not place batteries in the pumpkins as it does not bother me that they are not lit,  I thought that I would let them stay as they were instead of having to turn them on and off.  Well, that was the thought, anyway.  The setting sun had a different idea!  As I ambled through the room on my way to the kitchen, the pumpkins were all agleam!  The sun filtered through the trees, through the windows and hit the mantel in just the right angle to light my Jack-o-lanterns!  Well done, Mr. Sun!  Well done.

Smile of the Dragonfly

   Yesterday seemed to be a day filled with dragonflies.  It was odd since most were blue and most were happily flitting about the Frog Pond but nary a one near Puddle Pond.  It always delights me to be working in the midst of these darting critters.  I feel as if they are protecting me from mosquitoes and deer flies.  Plus, the dragonflies are just so pretty...voracious predators but pretty just the same.

  Now a quick question.  Have you ever taken a few moments to truly look at a dragonfly?  I mean truly...closeup...inspect?  They are wonderful creatures that are perfectly made for flight and catching prey on the wing but today's inspection is more personal.  Dragonflies all seem to have a huge smile!  (Yes, I know...human traits given to critters and all that.)  Still, they have the appearance that they are just plumb enjoying life!  

  Dragonflies supposedly symbolize living freely and, by the looks on their faces, it agrees with them.  Perhaps that is what it takes to be happy.  Being free-spirited can be a good route to happiness.  Let things go and just enjoy what is before you.  Dragonflies obviously have that down pat!  Smile, folks, it does everyone a load of good

It's Charming!

  As you can probably tell by now, I am not one that obsesses over perfection.  Things do not have to meet others' standards to be ok by me.  If I have a stack of books on the coffee table, no problem.  If the chairs in the living room do not match, why worry?  If there are waning blooms on a bush, so be it.  There are far too many other things to deal with for me to get my shorts in a wad fretting over things that truly do not matter.  In fact, it was those waning blooms on the crepe myrtle bush that actually brought a smile, this morning.  I am glad I have not trimmed them.  

  You have heard me mention Pop and his impeccable gardens.  The man worked hard to keep things neat as a pin.  You would have thought that some of that would have rubbed off on me but, while I find happiness in the gardens, mine are quite unkempt by his standards.  I leave the morning glories grow where they sprout, the jasmine has wandered far too rampantly and those crepe myrtles. oh, those crepe myrtles.  (And, yes, I do know the proper spelling is "crape myrtle" not "crepe myrtle".  It is a Southern thing, folks.  We figure those crinkly blooms look far too much like the "crepe" paper for the flower to be called anything else. Get used to it.)  The crepe myrtles just keep blooming even though they are down to spindly clusters now.  It matters not.  They are still providing color to the gardens.  I shall let them bloom.

  The crepe myrtle bushes that I have are all from cuttings from the old farm place.  Pop had a row across the front of the property along the roadside.  There were probably twenty or more of the bushes all in a straight row about ten feet from the road edge.  Each year, he would prune those bushes until they were beautifully rounded little trees and then the tops would burst open in a blaze of color.  Most were of a vivid pink but there was one...one lone purplish one that grew at the very end of the row and looked sort of like a misfit in the bunch.  (Sort of like me...the misfit of the bunch.)  Today's scraggly blooms were of the purplish hue and it stood out like a sore thumb.  Why?  Well, for some odd reason, I have only one purple blooming crepe myrtle.  All the rest are that hot pink.  I did not plan this nor did I plan on my purple crepe myrtle being on the very end of a row of nine bushes that edge the garden.  It just happened.  Obviously, when I took the cuttings only one purple slip took.  Then, since the shrubs were tiny when I planted them, there was no deciphering what the colors would be when the bush finally bloomed.  Like I said, it just happened.  That unique purple bloomer would drive some folks nuts!  I find it charming.  In fact, I guess that is pretty much the way I look at things...charming.  The stack of books, the odd chairs, the scraggly blooms...they are all charming and make me smile.  That is all that matters. 

The Little Begonia With a Huge Job

  Occasionally, something happens that just brightens the day without even trying.  Since the redoing of Little Bayou House has taken up most of my time as of late, the gardens are in a disarray...big time.  In fact, there is a great lack in gardens for the first time in many, many years.  Things have been left to their own accord which usually means weeds overtaking the preferred plants.  While this is true in about half of the garden and even the potted plants, this morning, I found one plant that was doing perfectly fine by itself.  

  Several years ago, my oldest brother brought down a huge angel-wing begonia.  "Here, this was Mom's.  You take it."  So, I did!  Excitedly!  The thing had a rough go here as the raccoons decided to repot the begonia without the aid of a new pot.  It was pulled up by the roots and tossed the wayside.  Yes, I replanted.  Yes, the coons "unplanted".  Several times over again.  After the third time and since the plant was now pretty well mangled, I tried one last time and stuck the thing in the greenhouse.  There, it flourished!  Earlier this spring, every plant was hauled outside and forgotten until today.

  While out washing the old dog, I spied the begonia and found it was doing perfectly wonderful!  Although a lot smaller than when my brother brought it to me, it was full of blooms!  Mom would be so happy!  She loved this begonia.  As I looked at it, the plant brought back a flood of memories of Mom and Pop.  Although this was Mom's plant, Pop would secretly take care of it, as he did with all of her potted plants.  He would sneak fertilizer to them, prune them and water them....all on the sly so Mom did not know.  (Or perhaps she did and just never said anything to spoil his secret.)  

  Things like that have a way of bringing fond memories and lots of smiles of long gone days.  Sometimes, that is just what is needed to help us trudge through when we get bogged down in our daily chores.  With renewed energy, I vowed to beat the heat and find a little time each day to get the gardens back to their former beauty.  The begonia deserves a place to be in its full glory...as do the other plants that I, more or less, have neglected for the past few months.   I just need to find the time and energy.  If that little begonia can overcome all of its tribulations to bring me a bit of happiness, I surely can return the favor.

Beacons of Happiness

You just know the seasons are changing by the way the sun sets.   We are just barely into fall and I have come to the realization that winter is nigh on knocking at our door.  Times are changing..changing for whatever its worth..hopefully for the better.  Instead of my usual trek to the pier to watch the sun settle down behind the pines, I observed it from indoors this evening.  Feeling a bit weary from life's trials, I opted to sit and watch the light play through the windows.  One particular window put on a show spectacular.  This window has a broad shelf in front of it that over time has collected a number of glass baubles.  Each one is a different shape, size and color.  All of this set the perfect stage for the extravaganza brought on by the sun's last rays.  It occurred to me while watching this, that winter was not long in coming.  You see, when the sun sets in winter, it filters through these glass objects and sends showers of colored streaks along the opposite wall.  Only during fall and winter is the earth in the right position so the sun can shoot beams through the thick stand of trees on the west side of my house.  One path lends itself to being the channel for these rays to hit perfectly on this shelf.  All other times, the glass sits as just that..colored glass.  But..as fall progresses into winter, these same pieces become beacons.  Beacons of Happiness that liven up my dining room.

I had to smile in spite of my self as I watched the light.  This was one of those small things that can lift one's spirits and lighten the load tremendously!  My son, Michael, often marvels over the fact that I can be thrilled over the most mundane of things.  He always says "Mom, it sure doesn't take much to make you happy."  And in a way, maybe it does not..but, in another, perhaps more than anyone realizes.  After all..just think what it took to perfectly align the earth and sun in order to shoot beams of light those millions of miles through a tunnel of trees.  And to make those beams unfaltering in their direction so they hit the glass in the perfect spot.  Once the light hit the colored glasses, it had to be reflected just so to make the colors vibrant enough to have sent multi-hued shafts spilling across the darkened room.  Nah...it sure does not take a lot to make me happy.  I smile at the thought..at my own "Beacons of Happiness"!

Your Smile for the Day!

Several years ago, Mark and Joanna gave me a little sign that proudly states.."Smile..it confuses people!"  I love that little sign as it states a true fact with a bit of whimsy!  Most folks, if they see you smiling for no apparent reason, do believe either you are up to some mischief or are a bit wacky in the head (or both!).  That said, I try to do it often!  Actually, I have a lot to smile about..a wonderful family, comfy home, true friends, plenty to eat, devoted pets and my Bayou!  So I smile!  Smiling is good for our health and it promotes a good feeling to not only those receiving the gesture but also those giving it.  It has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that people who smile and laugh are healthier and live longer than those who go through life with a scowl upon their face.  So I smile!

"Smile and the world smiles with you!".."Wear a smile, one size fits all!".."Smile..sunshine is good for your teeth!"..all of these quotes should be used as bits of advice to each of us.When you think about it, the state of the world today might be a lot better if only folks would genuinely smile more.  It is hard to be rude, disrespectful and just downright mean if you are sporting a true-felt, happy smile.  As Mother Teresa once said, "Peace begins with a smile." I am so thinking this brilliant lady was on to something!  Down here in the Deep South, we all give smiles and a happy "Hello!" to everyone we meet.  If the courtesy is returned it is usually met with a full conversation filled with a lot of "Bless your heart".."You Sweet Thing!" and "My word!" exclamations but the friendliness is always there. The other day, I was out and about paying bills and picking up a few things at the local dollar store when I started noticing how contagious smiles are. It seems as if you smile at someone even if they have the most dour look on their face, they have to return the gesture.  I must say, though, that a person can definitely tell who was born and reared in the Deep South as others just don't "feel" the part!  Perhaps they are absorbed in deep thought or maybe society has some folks afraid to be friendly with one another.  Who knows?

I do think that the world would be a lot better off if only more folks would make the effort to be a bit friendlier.  (My sweet sister-in-law greets everyone, friend or stranger, with a broad grin and a hug.  Now just how much more Southern can you get!)  Maybe if the world made the effort to be a tad more "Southern" and expressed a bit more hospitality, peace could be attained.  Again...who knows?  So, in doing my part..here is your smile for the day!  If you can look at a bright, yellow sunflower and not feel a tad happier then, well, you just ain't trying hard enough!  Bless your heart! You just might need a hug, you Sweet Thing!  My word, cheer up and smile!