Just Bouncing Along!

  The playroom for the grandlittles is just about complete except for the fact that I keep finding things to put in it.  Since I am in the mood to unclutter a bit, I have tackled the craft room.  That is the room that seems to collect anything that doesn't belong anywhere else in the house....or shed...or greenhouse...or storeroom.  Don't ask...it is just that terrible but I am making some bit of headway against the mountain of stuff.  I am determined so the chore is going nonstop.  Things ARE finding homes in other areas such as the garbage bin!

  Several long-lost or forgotten items were found with glee, though. Patterns!  These are mainly crocheted pieces that I saved to duplicate at some point.  Since things such as gardening, canning the produce and the all-important clue hunt kept me quite busy, the patterns were shoved to the far corner of the craft room.  Finding them has made me anxious to start my needlework once again.  So the cleaning must be knocked out in the next few days or I will probably get sidetracked again.  

  One of the crocheted pieces that I saved as a pattern wound up in the playroom.  Years ago, I was rather ambitious and made a lot of our Christmas gifts.  My oldest son (the dad of my grandlittles!) was nothing but a tyke of three years of age when I crocheted him a kangaroo and joey.  He loved it!  Don't ask why I decided on a kangaroo because I cannot give you an answer.  I just did.  And to beat all....it is gold.   Yep, times were tough back then and I used whatever I had on hand to entertain my little fellow.  He did not complain about having a golden kangaroo and I suppose that I did no lasting harm to his perspective of roos in general.  I will have to ask if he still thinks they are gold.  That would be terrible! 

  Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the little joey was still clinging inside his mommy's pouch.  Now any future crocheted kangaroos can be complete in being in the family way.  No roo is ever complete without a joey!  The grandlittles might find this piece a bit disgusting since it makes no noise, has no bright lights and does not dance around the room.  Toys, these days, seem to be required to be irritating to parents before they are marketed for children.  Gone are the days of imaginative play, the days of homemade toys and the days of peace and quiet!  The grandlittles might be bored crazy here at the Little Bayou House.  We have no TV, no near neighborhood children and no bells and whistles.  We do have tons of playthings that require imaginations!  On second thought, Mama Kangaroo had better learn to dance.

A Party of Memories

  The Little Bayou House has been transformed into some weirdly beautiful place for the Second Annual Clue Hunt.  Nothing, I repeat, nothing looks like it did just two days ago.  Everything that was not nailed down has found a new place to reside to make room for items that have long been stashed away in trunks, closets and cedar chests. Now the place is fitting to host the Edgar Allan Poe themed gala!  

  A few of the items put out for display were not intended for use during this clue hunt but, for one reason or another, they just seemed to shout out at me when I came across them.  One such thing was a doily made by Mark's grandmother.  Momie, as she was lovingly called, crocheted all sorts of fanciful doilies and I was the lucky recipient of a very special one.  This large, multicolored one was her favorite.  Her giving it to me made me feel as if perhaps, I was "her" favorite as well.  Maybe favorite is too strong of a word for this but at least I feel that she must have cared for me a bit.  I was (and still am) honored by the gesture.  I adored this lady and sorely miss her at times.

  Momie's crocheting was the envy of many folks.  She could take string from flour sacks and make beautiful table toppers!  Many of which she donated to her church to sell in their fundraisers.  Hers were always the first to sell and that speaks volumes of her work.  The doily that I now own is huge.  It stretches nearly three feet in diameter and is crocheted entirely out of "scrap" string.  She used remnant thread from other projects to make this one.  Hundreds and hundreds of stitches make up the rounds and these were done with the arthritic hands of a lady in her 90's.  

  I pulled the doily from the cedar chest and decided that it had been stowed away for far too long.  I thought of how Momie would be tickled pink to know that I still had it after all these years and how, now, it was going to be used during such a fun event.  She loved things like this party and would have been so excited to be a part of it....and she is.  With the use of such items, I feel that a lot of folks are smiling and enjoying the fun that is happening in the Little Bayou House!  

Burlap and Lace

  I have often said that I am more of a flannel shirt and jeans type of woman than a pearls and lace type.  I am just more at ease in comfortable clothing that can take a beating.  Not that I have anything against dressing nicely, it is just more my style.  This "style" spills over into my home decor as well which might be a good thing in a sense. Being the only female in the Little Bayou House, I cannot imagine frills would go over too well.  My husband and son might just call a halt to lace, rose-covered wallpaper and frou-frou knickknacks filling the space.  So, instead of that, I have gone with a more rustic decor.  No problem by me!  I am used to having fishing gear, antique tools and sisal rugs.  

  This past week, I decided that the dining room needed a bit of brightening.  I cleaned all of the shelves that flanked the fireplace which made things look better but a bunch of antique books still look a bit drab.  I needed new curtains!  I pulled out several fabrics to drape over the rods to "eye" the look.  Nothing looked right.  My son, Michael, put a nix to any bright fabric.  Hmmm...what to do, what to do?  I asked his opinion.  "Burlap."  Burlap?  "Yep, burlap."  Well?  I looked around and found some at the building supply place and asked my husband to pick up some for me.  Mark came home with four huge rolls of the stuff!  I could make curtains for every room in the house! I was still a bit dubious about how this was going to look but both guys seemed to think it would be fantastic!  So it was a go. Burlap curtains would adorn my dining room windows.

  After I cut, hemmed and hung the burlap, something looked a bit off.  My dining room looked a tad like what I remembered as the barn back on the farm.  Feed for the cows, hogs and chickens came in burlap sacks.  When Pop would empty a sack, he would drape it over the fence railing.  These would be used for any number of jobs later with the main one of hauling fertilizer.  Egad!  I just created a barn in my dining room! Sorry, guys, but I need to soften this look a bit.  Scrounging around in my cedar chest, I found some antique crocheted pieces from my Great Aunt Ruth.  These were originally handmade to go on the back and arms of a sofa.  These would be the perfect touch!  I just draped them across the top of the rod.  My curtains were finished and they looked really...well...different! They have the rustic look to please the guys but a bit softer look to satisfy me. Plus I was able to display Great Aunt Ruth's handiwork! It seems like the perfect decor!  I love the look when the outside light filters through the curtains! (I think the lights will always stay turned off!) Ok...so it is not burlap and lace but close enough.  Burlap and crochet is fine by me!

Crocheting love!

I am a happy person! Christmas has come to the Bayou a bit early as my daughter arrived today. Her smile has brightened the whole place..her laughter fills this old house..her presence brings joy to my heart. Christmas has come to the Bayou.

A thought! Have you ever considered crocheting? The art of binding together the pieces of yarn just by slipping a loop into another? With a simple tug on a loose end, the entire thing can slip away. I am glad that mother/daughter relationships are not like that! My daughter and I were both crocheting afghans to give as Christmas gifts. As we crocheted, we talked and giggled over every subject imaginable! We discussed yarn, stitches and designs. We discussed books, music, college and smelly, old dogs. "We took the world apart and put it back to suit ourselves" to quote a wise uncle of mine. At the same time, we each put several inches on our afghans..watching them grow larger and larger. Some times crocheting is not just an art of knitting together yarn loops to make blankets, it is a bond between mother and daughter. In our family, the art of crocheting has been passed down from mother to daughter for several generations. The time spent crocheting together helps to bind our relationship and make it stronger. A simple stitch..a good time..a beautiful art form, it doesn't get much better.

Her afghan is a lovely Granny Square pattern in blues and browns. It has such a nice "earthy" feel to it..so soft and warm..almost homespun! Hers, being a Granny Square grows as she adds rows around the perimeter..stitch by stitch..inch by inch. Mine, on the other hand, is a experiment to see if I could learn to make insets. I did! The red and blue yarn that I chose has a bit of glitz to it with some sparkle threads added in the yarn. Two totally different looks made with basically the same stitch..made by busy fingers lovingly creating gifts for family members. The tradition carries on..from mother to daughter..year after year.