Coffee Cups and Plastic Light Covers

  The conundrum for the day is....what do coffee cups and plastic light covers have in common?  To be more distinct, I am referring to the little flower-shaped plastic light covers that used to be on the strings of Christmas lights back in the 1970s and 1980s.  Any ideas?  Probably not since the connection is one that is specific to the Bayou or at least the Little Bayou House and its residents (particularly, my kids).

  The incident occurred years ago when they were young...probably too young to be doing what they were doing unsupervised.  This was nothing unusual as I pretty much let the kids be daring as long as it did not result in someone getting hurt, the house on fire or emergency vehicles showing up at the house.  Their actions in this case pretty much caused all three.  With my oldest son being about nine years of age and the other two perhaps about five and four, you can see where any one of the above would be cause for concern.  Lets just say that this is one time that I nigh on panicked.  

  We were doing what I am currently trying to accomplish...sort and pack Christmas decorations.  Each year, I try to toss any non-working strings of lights instead of storing them.  I had a huge wad of the plastic light covers that did not fit any of the newer strings so they were in the discard pile.  The kids were helping to gather them all together when Oldest Son had an idea.  "Hey, can I melt these on the stove and make something with them?" he asked excitedly.  "NO!  NO!  If you did that in here, you would asphyxiate us all with toxic fumes!" My answer must not have sounded demanding enough or perhaps he figured there should be another way to accomplish his intended task.  He gathered the light covers and poured them all in a bag.  I assumed they were going to the trash.  After a bit, the kids wanted to go outside which I appreciated. With no kids undermining my cleaning attempts, things would be much easier. "Yes!  Good idea!  Go outside and play!"  It never crossed my mind how quickly the day would change with that statement.

  About ten minutes later, Darling Daughter (being the five year old) came ambling inside.  "May I have a cup of water, please?" she asked being super polite. I handed her a coffee cup filled with water and watched as she turned to go back outside.  My question of why she was taking water outside was met with a very nonchalant.."Oh, the grill is on fire."  WHAT????

  I raced out the door to sure enough find that grill blazing!  Fire was shooting about five feet high and the smell of burning plastic was enough to suffocate any critter within the county!  Darling Daughter was going to fight THIS with a cup of water????  After yanking the kids away from the grill, I used the hoe to slam down the grill lid on top of the fire. Immediately, flames started shooting out the side vents like a blowtorch. The whole things was starting to crackle!  Uh oh...this thing sounded like it was going to take off like a rocket!  I turned to find the kids giggling like this was some circus act!  Oh, geez!

  It took about a good twenty minutes for the fire to cease roaring and come to a sputtering, slow burn.  Smoke filled the yard and barreled through the Bayou.  When I asked Oldest Son why he was lighting the grill, he merely answered "I did not want to smother you in the house when I melted the plastic."  Ugh!  When I asked Darling Daughter why she did not tell me the grill was on fire, she answered "That is why I needed water."  When I asked them all why they did not yell for me to come, I got "You always told us not to panic when bad things happen." Youngest Son, the four year old, merely said "It was a big fire!  A great big fire!"  Oh, geez.  Well, at least they did not panic....I did!

  So you can now see how a coffee cup and some plastic light covers hold a definite connection...at least in this family.  Oh, yeah....I am so relieved to say that there were no injuries, no devastation to the house due to fire and no emergency vehicles racing to save the day.  Thank goodness only the grill suffered massive destruction.  And Mom aged about twenty years that afternoon.

Talented Kids!

 The Second Annual Clue Hunt on the Bayou is due for its last run this Friday night.  I had intended to end it on the last day of October but since one of my favorite groups could not possibly attend that month, it spilled over into November.  This is fine since it gets easier and easier for me each time. The props are all complete, the mechanisms and locks all work and all of the final touches have been made.  By the time the last group arrives, I am so relaxed that I can fully enjoy myself as I observe the team go through the hunt.

  This year's theme was Edgar Allan Poe and what kind of hostess would I be if I did not at least have a portrait of our gentleman of honor? Although I love to paint, for the life of me, I cannot do portraits.  The faces of anyone I try to paint become so contorted that the person is most unrecognizable!  So...I called upon my kids!  My daughter, Elizabeth, has this knack for doing uncanny likenesses of folks. Whether she paints or sketches, her work is phenomenal!  She agreed to do Old Edgar.  I was thrilled and anxiously awaited her presentation. While she sketched away, my son, Michael, decided to build a frame for the portrait.  All was well.  I was satisfied that this would be one of the high points of the clue hunt.  

  Sure enough, everyone who sees the portrait is amazed.  The sketch of Edgar Allan Poe is nigh on perfect to my way of thinking and the rustic frame that Michael built seems to accent it beautifully. Old Edgar greets every group that comes to the clue hunt.  This wonderful piece of artwork will most likely stay on display for a good while!  How do you stow something like this away in a closet?  I can't.  I guess I must find some appropriate nook in the Little Bayou House for Mr. Poe to reside. There he can look slyly at all who enter!

 I do believe that I have the most talented kids in the world!  These two both live near and can help me on projects.  My oldest and his wife live several states away but I know that if they were closer, they would have lent a hand as well. Both of them are just as talented as is Elizabeth's husband, Robbie.  Wow!  What are the odds to have so many creative kids in one family?  Mark and I are so very blessed!

Dreary Day..Wonderful Kids!

It started out as being heavily clouded so my morning trip to the pier provided no beautiful sunrise. How in the world am I supposed to wake and be rearing to go with no sunrise? It tried..but just could not make it through the clouds. It was not really raining but it was enough to make me decide to stay inside. I tackled some deep cleaning as I am expecting company later this month. Along with the deep cleaning in the guest bedroom, I decided to rewash the bedding even though I have had no visitors in this room since Christmas. Well, maybe one and she is the reason the bedding needed washing! Ms. Put lays claim to this room on cold nights. By the time the washer cut off, a thick fog had rolled in off the Bay. I normally hang sheets on the line to dry simply because I love the way line-dried laundry smells! There is not a lot of sense in trying to line-dry anything in the pea-soup type fog! I tossed them in the dryer. Now, most people would have done this without batting an eye. A dryer is one of those things that most of us just take for granted. I am so blessed and drying the sheets today just reinforced feeling. You see, right before the holidays, my dryer started making the most horrible noise. It sounded sort of like a dozen live chickens had been thrown in with the wet clothes! There were more squeaks and squawks, bumps and boinks than I could tolerate and then..smoke! The stench of burnt rubber and billows of smoke engulfed the laundry room! Aacckk! I ran to flip off the power to the laundry room and call for my youngest son to come in from splitting firewood. He looked at the dryer and said that it was not on fire but the thing was pretty much shot. Something at that point told me that my dryer had met its demise..dead..kaput! So, I used the clothesline! I love hanging clothes on the line! Just not in freezing weather! I had all good intentions of buying a dryer...some day. When my oldest son and daughter-in-law came for the holidays, they noticed that I was hanging clothes outside and came to my rescue! These two sneaked out and bought me a beautiful, new dryer! They are so good to me! I am so blessed! I still hang clothes on the line..but on wet days like today and freezing days like we have had, I not only have warm, dry clothes, I have a warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from knowing my children care so much! Thanks to these two wonderful, young people, Mom has it a bit..no a lot.. easier! Thank you, Dear Ones!

As I said, the fog rolled in and blocked out the sun for the rest of the day. There was no sunrise on the eastern horizon and there was no sunset on the western horizon. Heavy clouds blocked one and heavy fog blocked the other. Somehow, I think this might have been some underhanded plan to make me clean house and steer clear of the gardens! I have been already planning my Spring gardens even though I know we will still have some more cold weather. I actually bought some packets of seeds with intentions of starting some plants in the greenhouse. These can be protected until the weather cooperates and they can be transplanted in the gardens. This past week, my son and I cleared the gardens of everything except the cabbages, mustard greens, Brussels sprouts and carrots. We even laid in a thick ply of manure..both cow and chicken. Yes, I do "organic" gardening. (And I use that term loosely!) I know I am pushing Spring and I promise that I will heed the wise words of my dear mother. She used to always warn of an "Easter" freeze. This will indeed put my garden in late! Easter is not until April 24th! I will definitely have to rethink this early seeding stuff!