Quirkiness in full swing!

   To be honest, it has taken more days than I wanted to take down the Christmas decorations even though not nearly as many were in place as in years past.  The holidays came and went with little fanfare other than the delightful visit of my oldest son, daughter-in-law and grandkids.  If I could have had them here without all of the hullabaloo, things would have been far more perfect.  Still, I did what was expected and, albeit, minimal, the place was decorated.  Then...the virus struck (or was brought to us) and I endured 8 days of fever.  I had no other symptoms...Son (younger) was not so lucky.  He ran the full gamut of symptoms so taking down decorations was solely up to me.  

  It was while I was on a ladder removing garland that a thought occurred.  I was musing how happy it was to bring the Little Bayou House back to its mysterious, magical place when the mind began to wander to those who have stark, vacant homes.  I could not live that way.  White walls, few (if any) decor pieces, and always matching furniture has to be boring.  To my way of thinking, it would remind me of living in an institution where all points of interest have been removed.  There is nothing to stir the mind.  My mismatched conglomeration of oddities evokes curiosity.  In turn, curiosity evokes creativity and creativity brings productivity.  If you cannot lead a productive life then what is it worth? 

  Granted, each of us have our own ideas of how things should be and none of us are wrong.  The only "wrong" thing is when others try to force their ideas down your throat by either bombarding you with unwanted advice or by trying intimidation to achieve their goal.  Thank you very much but...no, thank you.  The Little Bayou House shall remain a "house of curiosities" where the weird and wonderful things come to reside and be appreciated.  In fact, I have often been dubbed as the "Keeper of Weird and Wonderful Things" and I happily accept that title.  If that bothers others...so be it.  You keep being you and I shall keep being me...quirky, curious, creative and productive...all of those things that go hand in hand.  I refuse to live a bland, stark life to please anyone!

Ten Things Learned From A Purple Chair

   It is no secret that the Little Bayou House is quirky which means...I am quirky.  I have been called everything from weird to eccentric and I have to admit, they all fit.  But...that is me and I need no one else's approval.  At this fine age, I am fully allowed to just be me.  

  The other morning it dawned on me that the two thrifted glider rockers that sit among the other odd pieces of furniture were in dire need of some help.  Both were decked out in the lovely off-white fabric that was so popular when the chairs were originally sold.  The chairs were grimy looking and just not the right "era" for my mindset.  In their favor, they were super comfortable so something had to be done to salvage them if possible.  Out came the only fabric that I had on hand and some tools.  I recovered both chairs turning the once lightly padded rockers into upholstered rockers.  I could not be happier with the results.  The workmanship with arthritic hands may not be the best but the chairs "fit" now.  Son dubbed me as the "Glider Rocker Purplizer" for my efforts since the only fabric I had on hand was a lovely shade of purple!.  (Could be worse, I supposed.)  I did learn a number of things with the onset of the task.

1.  Never let fear of failure impede your dreams.  You can always began anew.  If fear was a logical emotion we would never learn to walk, talk or anything else as a child.  Fear is only there to  stir the adrenalin and make us strive harder.

2.  Do not procrastinate!  If you want something done...just do it.  Do not wait for others because it will most likely never happen. Just do it.

3.  Purple is a lovely color for anything.  It evokes a  sense of calmness yet a sense of the mysterious.  It also "goes" with just about anything given the circumstances.  

4.  Let your inner weirdness free and do whatever makes you happy.  One friend said she had purple porch furniture but had to change it because her husband did not like it.  Why?  I figure if I am the one doing the work, I should be able to do whatever it is I wish.  (Just a note here, Mark loves the chairs!)

5.  Glue guns are friends.  Staple guns are not.  At least in my case, the first was much easier and held things in place until the fabric could be permanently secured.  The staple gun wreaked havoc on the poor hand and the staples did not hold.

6.  At the same time, glue guns can be EVIL!  Aside from the obvious burnt fingers, I will be pulling glue strings for the next ten years.  Everything from the chairs to my hair have a gossamer webbing.

7.  Don't let your brain convince you that some projects can be done in a "couple of hours".  At least, plan on a few days.

8.  Take breaks from any task to rejuvenate that first enthusiasm.  The project will go much smoother.

9.  Have the patience of a saint.  You will need it.

10. Once complete, pat yourself on the back and tell yourself "Job well done." Then...sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor.  Remember...YOU did this.  YOU set a goal and achieved it.  

  While purple rockers are not everybody's choice of furniture pieces, they are mine.  Before setting to the reupholstering, I checked around to see if new chairs could be reasonably purchased.  Nope.  I refuse to pay up to $250 for single chair. (Yep, purple chairs highly similar to these are expensive!) Since my chairs were both thrifted ($15 and $20) and the fabric was free, the major cost was glue sticks, time and patience.  For less than $50 I now have two chairs that bring a smile to my face and a sense of satisfaction to the soul.  They fit the Little Bayou House and me perfectly...all of us are a tad unconventional.  

Embracing the Weirdness

  For the past couple of days, I have been painting the windows in the living room.  A few years ago, I had a wild idea to paint the things red.  Albeit a barn red, I soon grew tired of having "color" so this time I opted to go with black.  Black is one of those colors that hides a multitude of mistakes such as nicks and scratches in the wood.  Plus, I figured that going with black, I could change the room on a whim without too much trouble.  Great idea, right?  Sure, it would not be too difficult to cover the red since black is a darker color, right?  I should be able to make a neat job with just one coat of paint, right?  Nope.  It did not happen.  By the bright sunshine of day, the windows looked fine but at night with indoor lighting, I was able to see the brush strokes, missing strokes and pure old lack of paint.  I did a horrible paint job.  So, there was nothing to do except apply another coat....and then a third.  Even after the third coat, that red was insistent on being seen.  So....I gave up.  I accepted the streakiness as a bonus!  

  As I finally came to the realization that my paint job would never be "perfect", I also came to the realization that it does not matter.  By most folks' standards, I am far from perfect.  The Little Bayou House is never going to be perfect.  For that matter, the Bayou, itself, is not perfect....nor is the world.  But!  You know what?  I do not care.  So why should I be bothered with streaks in the paint?  If red wishes to shine through the black like some beacon through the fog, so be it!  If I wish to have a bit of quirkiness in the place, so be it!  I have a lovely niece who paints some of the most unique pieces of furniture.  She always seems to go with a "distressed" look.  Her finished pieces are amazingly beautiful so I figured that I, quite by accident, distressed my windows!  

  Getting back to being perfect, that is something that I do not strive to be.  I am me.  I have come to embrace my weirdness even when it seems to spill over into my decorating sense.  (Which, by the way, I never have claimed to have.)  So, the streaky black and red windows shall stay because I am sure not going with a fourth coat of paint!  My house, my windows, my streaks, my weirdness...it is all good.

Channeling Our Inner Weirdness

  Whenever you get two creative people together things are bound to happen.  Get two creative people that have a quirky streak in them and weird things are bound to happen.  Darling Daughter and I fit the bill on both ideas.  While we love to create, we have a bit of inner weirdness that comes blaring out in our creations.  This is not bad since we are doing what we like.  Others might not see it as such but who cares? Not me.  I have decided to embrace that inner weirdness and let it come to the surface in flying colors!  This inner weirdness has served me well in the past with the Clue Hunts On the Bayou.  I sort of like the unexpected eccentricity that adorns the Little Bayou House during those times so I figure that I should just keep it as such at all times.  I know there will be those that question my sanity but, once again, who cares?  Not me.

  The upcoming clue hunt's theme centers around an old time alchemy lab and all of the weird and wonderful things found there.  Of course, any respectable alchemy lab is full of fanciful bottles so Elizabeth and I set to work to fill shelves with bottles.  Not just any bottles but decorated bottles.  Since my clue hunt budget does not allow for me to just run down to the local shops and buy such props, we make them. The fancy shops shan't get our business!  As we were transforming the bottles, I could not see sticking them away in some cabinet for the next few months.  Instead, these repurposed bottles now adorn the mantelpiece in the living room.  Yep, there will be those folks who question my sanity AND my decorating tastes (or lack thereof) but, once again, who cares?  I surely do not.  

  Every bottle that we have used, found, begged, borrowed or fished out of the trash is being transformed into a thing of weirdness or maybe it is beauty!  Yes, beauty!  Actually, I think they are pretty.  We have added cords, bits of broken jewelry, spoons (yes, spoons), furniture knobs, corks and even stones to our bottles.  What good alchemy lab would be without such?  Pictured are just several of the  many we have completed but an interesting lab needs hundreds so we will be busy for a while.

  While these are being made specifically for October's clue hunt, my inner weirdness says do not keep stowing away the props.  Hey, I might as well leave them year round and enjoy the results of all of our hard work!  So, from this point on, even more weird and wonderful things will be on display in the Little Bayou House.  Personally, I like it that way!

Totally Out of Character!

  Long ago, I was told that it was ok to be a bit different than the rest of the world.  Back when they were in high school, one of my son's friends told me to "Embrace your weirdness...It is what we all like about you." Well, its good to know that I am weird!  (Thanks, Christopher!)  Anyway, it made me realize that I have to be who I am and not worry about being accepted by others.  This was a strange lesson for a kid to teach an adult but, hey, better late than never!  So, that said, I embraced my weirdness and became someone that I liked.  One of the things that this realization did for me was to open up a whole new freedom with my artwork.  If I wanted to paint something realistic....I could.  If I wanted to paint something "off the wall"....I could.  I was not aiming to please anyone but myself and the way I felt at the moment.  

  This evening, I sat down to do an owl painting for the upcoming clue hunt.  I seriously thought of going the realistic mode and grabbed a bunch of paints from the bin.  Ok!  This should be great!  Only with bad eyes and equally bad lighting, I had mistakenly picked purple paint instead of brown.  Well, there was only one thing to do!  Take a hike on the wild side!  So, I did.  My owl turned into something that I might have found in a color book from my toddler days.  Bright colors dominated, strange lines demanded attention, heavy brush strokes ruled.  The owl is weird but, in a strange way, quite sane.

  Every now and again, we all need to let loose and do something quite out of character.  It feels good.  We all have a bit of weirdness in us but most stifle it beyond recognition.  We are afraid to step out of the comfort zone and do something a bit wild.  My weirdness leads to some pretty interesting art pieces but I like it.  Thanks, Christopher!  Your advice holds true!