Tempting Fate!

   I have to admit that Bat, the Bayou Prince Cat, amused me when he decided to take a nap in the old cast iron pot.  Obviously, the pot was toasty warm which made it the perfect place for a snooze on a chilly day.  Well, he is at it again!  This evening, I lit a fire in the old cast iron wood-burning stove.  This is an antique cookstove that has top plate burners and a working oven.  The oven warms nicely but unless the fire is kept stoked and the door closed, it never gets overly hot.  It stays nice and warm but not "burn to the touch" hot.  While in use, I keep the oven door open so the heat can enter the room.  The oven door being flat open almost on the floor also provides a convenient place to stack a few "fire sticks" as my granddaughter calls them.  It only takes a handful to keep the old stove going for some time.  Mr. Bat has decided that the open oven is an "open invitation".  That silly cat moved into the oven as a napping spot! I am really going to have to watch him this winter so he does not decide to jump on top of the stove!  THAT does get really hot...hot enough to burn his paws.

  Never before has any of our bayou cats taken a liking to sleeping inside the oven but this cat is way different than any of the others.  He is far more inquisitive and far more adventurous.  Given a half of chance, he will attempt anything.  He is one goofy daredevil and is going to find himself in a heap of trouble some day.  He has already been bitten by a cottonmouth (dry bite, thankfully), chased by the eagle (smart enough to dive under the pier) and has taken a swim in the Bay (his doings).  His nine lives are going to be used up quickly if he does not start being a bit more careful.  Sleeping inside an oven may not be helping matters much!  Oh, Bat!  You are one silly cat!

Warmth on a Cold Night.

  Tonight...it is cold!  The temperatures have taken a dive to below freezing. While that does not seem like much to a lot of folks, down here in the Deep South...it is COLD!  We feel it.  Even with heaters and fireplaces going, there is a chill about the Little Bayou House.  Maybe the old house has some drafts.  Maybe Mother Nature is feeling playful and is giving us an early dose of winter. Maybe it is age catching up with me.  Maybe all three.

  As soon as November rolls around, there is one thing that has been of top priority for the past few years.  November is the time to pull my "special" blanket out of the cedar chest. My sweet niece, Eva, made a lovely throw blanket as a gift for me.  It is double ply with warm fleece on one side and thick, soft Sherpa fleece on the other.  Trust me...this thing is warm!  The small blanket has seen me through several winters already and I am sure to use it for years to come.  (That is, if I can keep my son-in-law from sneaking it out of the house!  He loves it as much as I do!)

  Not only is the blanket, itself, warm, the thought behind it is.  What warms the heart, touches the soul.  Ms. Eva is talented, beautiful and graceful.  She has a pure heart and gives without expecting anything in return.  I am often inspired by her amazing spirit and pure love.  Yep, I am blessed to have such a sweet niece.  Heartwarming thoughts on this bitterly cold night.

Frogs Need Friends, Too!

  Every now and again, it is sort of amusing to pull a fast one on your friends.  A simple prank can lead to a lot of laughs.  Today, I sort of did just that.  While in the garden early this morning, I found a tiny critter friend trying its best to find a warm spot to spend the day.  A tad of cooler weather had hit the Bayou and the summertime critters were finding it hard to cope.  A little green tree frog had climbed up on the ruby lily leaves to bask in the warm sunshine. 

  About the same time I found the little frog, a friend came calling.  Darlene has not been to the Bayou in a few weeks and she needed a little "fishing therapy", as she calls it.  That sounded like a good idea but, first, I wanted to show her the frog.  "Watch this!" I told her. "I have a little friend!"  I eased my hand down to where the frog was resting.  As soon as I placed it near the frog, it climbed into my open hand.. "Oh, my gosh.  Now you are making friends with the frogs!" she exclaimed. 

  Yep, the little frog and I had an understanding.  I would not hurt it and it would keep the garden free from pests.  Nope, I had not trained the frog to climb on my hand.  In fact, I cannot even be sure that I had ever seen this particular frog before.  Other than the frog trusting me, there was a bit of "magic" in the incident.

  The little tree frog was cold.  While the sun was warming it some, the leaves were still holding the coldness from the night before.  My hand was warm and the tiny frog knew that, by climbing aboard, it would warm faster and could escape quicker if need be.  My body heat was being transferred to the little critter.  After a few seconds, I tried to put the frog back on the leaf.  It was having no part of this action and climbed back onto my hand immediately.  Ok, my little prank was backfiring!  I now was stuck holding the frog!  It took a good five minutes before the frog was willing to leave my hand and go back to basking.   By this time, it had warmed itself grandly and was now able to purely enjoy the sunshine.  Its good to help a friend.....even critter friends.

Hot Peppers!

  Our weather has been absolutely perfect, if you ask me.  It warms nicely during the day but the nighttime sees temperatures near freezing.  I love it!  While that might be so, I am not too sure that my garden shares my sentiments.  So, feeling sorry for the bell pepper plants, I was nice and covered them with blankets.  So far, this has worked.  I am still picking bell peppers in mid January!  At this time of year, I am delighted to have any fresh produce so the pepper plants are treated with kid gloves, so to speak.  

  I was upstairs doing a bit of painting near the window on the south side.  The warm sunshine was streaming through the glass making it the perfect spot to paint yet take advantage of a gorgeous view.  This window overlooks the garden and beyond that...the Bayou and Bay.  It makes for quicker work if I am happy while doing it.  I made the remark to Son (who was cutting trim boards for the windows) that I needed to remove the blankets covering the peppers.  "Tonight is probably going to be the last of cold nights, so the blankets can be stored back in the greenhouse," I reminded him.  At that very moment, he pointed out at the garden. "You have hot peppers," he said.  This made me giggle.  Sure enough, though, the peppers were probably quite warm just not "hot" as usually used in connection with peppers.  They were warm from having a "heater" near them! 

  Some time after I let Ms. Nycto, the Bayou Princess Cat, out for the morning, she had decided that the blanket covering the peppers was her bed.  She had snuggled up to take a nap in the warm sunshine.  While this is all fine and dandy for the cat, I suppose my pepper plants were feeling a tad squished! Ms. Nycto is quite a hefty princess!  Oh well, it could be worse, I suppose.  She could have been smashing the spinach!