It Is Me

  The rains from Hurricane Nicholas have reached the Bayou with a vengeance.  This is fine with me as I needed a break from outdoor chores and, at the same time, needed time to do some indoor ones.  The past few days have seen me painting all of the trim work in the dining room.  This includes painting the stair rails which, to be honest, is a task I deplore!  Painting those spindles is a pain.  I have no choice but to paint since they were painted before we installed them some forty years ago.  That is one of the bad parts about using reclaimed lumber.  You have to deal with paint, nail holes and all of the dents and dings of time.  Still, that is what makes the Little Bayou House comfy.  The quirkiness of the whole place brings a smile...at least, to me.

  The bad thing about all of this rain is our internet is spotty.  The lines are still down since Hurricane Zeta and do not appear to be something the cable company is keen on repairing.  So, we deal with it.  It is nice that our power lines have been repaired since that hurricane was almost a year ago. That thought crossed my mind as I turned on all of the odd lamps in the living room. The soft lights gave a certain coziness to the room and blocked out the darkness brought on by the thunderstorms.   By odd lamps, I mean just that.  Every lamp in the room is one that has some weird appeal to me.  There is the old Victorian, hand-painted glass lamp, a floor lamp from my uncle that now is draped with several masquerade masks and some feathers, a desk lamp that sports a beaded rose and an owl feather and yet another floor lamp that is a marriage of the base and lamp itself.  The base is an antique one from my grandparents that had somehow lost the light and the lamp is a hanging, beaded light from my daughter's room when she was a teenager.  Of course, that meant it had to be purple.  The stand is draped with an odd assortment of antique jewelry, a Christmas ornament and some cloisonne` bells.  It makes me happy so the quirkiness stays. 

  Recently, someone remarked that the oddities in the Little Bayou House made it inviting.  Well, maybe but not many folks venture down here.  The eccentricities go unnoticed and perhaps unappreciated by any but me.  Another person queried why I filled the place with things like this and my only thought was "Because it is me."  Like it or not, it is me.

  

Prettily Creepy! (Not to be confused with pretty creepy)

  When you are doing something like a haunted house or, in my case, a clue hunt, decorations demand a bit of thinking.  It is wise to plan out things far in advance then visit flea markets, thrift stores and garage sales since you never know what you might find that can be revamped into just what you need to set the mood.  While my theme for the clue hunt this year was not creepy and did not take a lot of time, it still needed items that I do not normally keep at the Little Bayou House.  Mark took me to thrift stores just about every week and we sifted through mountains of stuff to find just the right things to use.  A masquerade ball requires "pretty" things not creepy.  So, I went with prettily creepy!

  Last night, something was added to my decor without my intentions.  A floor lamp stand had been fitted with a hanging, beaded lamp from my daughter's room when she was a teenager.  Yep. I still had it.  The lamp was needed to bring ambiance to the "parlor".  While I did put the lamp in place, I did NOT actually know how nicely the thing would fit.  The lamp added a bit of flair to the room but the shadow added the ambiance!  Quite by accident, I discovered that the lamp would cast a remarkable shadow into the darkened hallway when positioned in just the right spot!  Ohh!  Creepy!  Or not...I think it is rather pretty!

  Shadows are some of those things that can set the mood for any type of Halloween decorations.  Shadows flitting across the porch wall and windows bring dread.  Shadows in the corners of a room causes the light in the middle of the room to be a bit cozier.  Shadows of lamps in the hallway...are just a happy accident!

A Happy Marriage

   There is one thing about being married to the same person for a number of years....you get used to each other.  Not that this is a bad thing...just the opposite.  It is a good thing.  After nigh on forty years, you can say that you truly begin to know the other person. You understand what they mean with just a portion of a sentence, know when is a good time to broach a new idea and feel when to give them their space without intruding.  Mark and I are pushing that forty year mark in our marriage.  We are comfortable with each other and that, my friends, is a basis for longevity in a marriage.   How did we get this far?  We never gave up. We are in this for the long haul.  That said, marriage of items can be the same.  The union can be a comfortable fit. Two thing can "just go together" whether their beginnings were one and the same or not.  When matched up, it seems as if the pair was meant to be and should never be put asunder.

  This afternoon as yet another thunderstorm darkened skies and the Little Bayou House, one such marriage sparkled its happiness throughout the gloom.  What started out life as a kerosene lamp that was given to my folks as a wedding gift is now a permanent fixture in our house.  After my folks got electricity in the house, the lamp was relegated to the attic.  There it sat for some fifty years.  Now, it is in a union with a shade that was from one of the first families to settle Biloxi.  Pop worked for several years as a handyman for the family and they often gave him things to discard.  One such item was a very old, jewel-encrusted, filigree brass lamp shade.  Although she never used the shade, Mom kept it because it was so unusual. It, too, wound up in the attic.  It was my bright idea to introduce the two and what a happy pair they became!  Son wired the glass base with a small electric bulb so it is now functional.  The bejeweled brass shade balances nicely just above the shoulders of a glass hurricane chimney.  Supposedly, there were prisms hanging from the rim of the shade but since those are long gone, a beaded fringe suffices as the finishing touch.  Once I find prisms, the fringe will be removed and the shade shall return to its original beauty.  

  To me, the union of lamp and shade made for a "happy marriage".  The lamp brightens the corner of the buffet nicely on storm-darkened days and doubles as a nightlight when company visits the Little Bayou House.  Two parts that were nothing before the marriage are now a unique lamp.  The pieces are a comfortable fit.  The marriage is a happy one!

Another Gourd Lamp!

Again! Again today, we had no sunshine! Our temps were in the mid-thirties with high winds and more sleet or rain. Not the usual weather that we encounter here on the Bayou. So what did I do?? Felt miserable and cooped up inside. I don't suppose I would do well ever living in a place where I would be snowed in..I get "cabin fever"! I just don't know you folks do it in places that get masses of snow. I am spoiled with mild winters! But rather than bemoan the fact that my gardens were desolate and the pier was too slick to tread upon, I took advantage of my forced indoor stay. I worked on another gourd! It is a good thing that my brother keeps me well-supplied with these from his garden! This is another gourd lamp..if you recall, my dog, Ezzy, sort of had a run-in with the last one. This one is to be quite elaborate with lots of what my niece called "bling"! First step in any gourd-making process is to choose the gourd. As strange as it may sound, I tell people that if I hold a gourd for a bit, it will "tell" me just how it wants to be decorated. By this, I mean the shape and feel of the gourd will inspire the design. I am always thrilled when I have a "free-design" piece and not one that someone has particularly requested. The free-design ones always get the brain in imagination mode..the wheels start turning and then..WHAM!..I am off and running! This gourd "said" it needed the so-called bling!

Looking through a quilt pattern book, I chose a very simple design. This was my first attempt at anything sort of geometric and I did not know how difficult it might be to apply to a gourd..better keep it really easy! I drew the pattern on the gourd. In looking at it, I realize that it is a tad bit lopsided but hey..gourds are lopsided! And this is hand-made! And I guess I might have been a little careless as I was rushing to get this part over and done with! (You can choose any of the above excuses that you like..it is actually a little bit of each of them!) I started poking holes or actually in this case..burning the holes! An old soldering iron fit the need right well and made the perfect size holes! I wanted to fill these holes with different colored beads and a few marbles. I thought this might give this lamp a stained glass effect. (Ha..Tiffany Lamps indeed!) Actually, Tiffany Lamps have always astounded me..the colors intrigue me to no end. Back to my gourd..I made holes all day! I am still making holes! I just hope that by the time I finish poking all these holes, there is enough gourd left to hold it all together!

Enough holes were poked to give at least some semblance of a design so I added a bit of paint here and there just to make the pattern stand out a bit when the light was not in use. Over all of this, I will have to apply a coat of clear finish to protect the paint and help seal the beads. I knew I would have to paint more but I just could not wait! I really wanted to see what this lamp was going to look like! In my mind's eye..it was going to be gorgeous! That is the whole trouble with me and these pieces..I have limited amount of patience! I want instant results! I want to see my finished lamp! I glued some beads in place and a marble in the center. Oh enough of that..I swiped one of the light cords from the Christmas decorations and stuck it up from the bottom of the gourd. Later, a new cord and lamp socket will be wired in place from the top of the gourd since this is to be a hanging lamp. For now though, this would suffice. I darkened the room and fumbled around for the cord's switch..holding my breath, I flipped the light on. Magic happened! It was just what I had imagined! A happy light that may not illuminate a room but will brighten someone's evening with a cheerful glow!

The gourd has a lot of work yet to be done. More holes..more paint..more beads. (I sure have learned to appreciate clear-drying glue!) It is far from being complete but I am satisfied that it will be just what I envisioned! Now all I have to do is poke about another zillion or so holes! Tomorrow's post will hopefully contain a picture of a completed gourd lamp! But for now..I think I will throw another log on the fire and make a cup of hot chocolate!