Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Spoons & Chicken House Fires

I was going to post about spoons. I've been missing a spoon to my everyday stainless. I really thought I'd thrown it away in a senior moment. When the kids were little, I wouldn't have been suprised to find it in the yard or the playhouse. We didn't have a sandbox. Too many outdoor cats, if you get my drift.

I don't very often have eight people at my table and my guests don't really care if the silverware matches. What they do care about is that the food is good and plentiful. That's a story for another time. I've been fussing about that spoon for a while, so today I cleaned the drawer and there it was with the baby spoons. Hooray!

Before I got to the spoon post, I had to go look out the window to see what the dog was so upset about. I smelled smoke, but that's not unusual. I have a neighbor down the road who burns his trash. Then I noticed that my neighbor to the north had a garden hose trying to put out a fire in his shed.They had a heat light inside for their puppy that may have started it. They didn't need my help and it was too far gone to do anything but keep the wind from spreading it. By the time I got my camera, the fire department arrived to knock down the flames. There was just a smoldering 50 year old chicken house to douse.


and I know this because my husband and I owned that place for the last 20 years. I sold it to a young family a year ago. I just got tired of being a landlord to people with an excuse for everything. The place originally belonged to a lady who raised chickens and dressed poultry for her living. There were 4 falling-down chicken shacks and we tore down all but the best one, leaving it for a storage shed.






We had very strong winds again today, so it was lucky that the young woman was home and saw the fire. Even if she did call her husband instead of the fire department! It could have been very bad as the wind was blowing in my direction.

My husband was a volunteer fire fighter for 20 years, so he worked with a lot of these fellows. They sure do a good job. Most people don't know how little they get paid. Mike used to be out all night for $8.00 and have to shower and go to work when he got home. He carried the bodies of people he knew out of burning homes, suffered frostbite in freezing temperatures. Sometimes, they don't come home as many firefighter's widows know.

6 comments:

Nancy said...

Firefighters are the unsung heroes every day. God Bless them!

All of the firefighters in my area are volunteers. Spring is a busy time for them because some people still try to burn off fields. The wind comes up pretty quickly and catches many unprepared for the resulting flames.

Anonymous said...

I have tremendous respect for firefighters. I am glad your neighbor was at home today.

Back when we had family dinners at holidays, inevitably a piece of silver got tossed when the plates got cleaned off. Glad you found yours.

Hope you have a good evening Mary.

June said...

Glad you found your spoon!
And I'm glad there are people brave and energetic enough to go out at a moment's notice to douse fires.

But . . . but . . . what happened to the puppy????

Aunt Dinah said...

Congratulations on finding your spoon. Two smallish kitchen knives have gone missing in my kitchen within the last year, and it drives me nuts. I suspect they either got thrown out with the peelings or fell in the trash can unnoticed. Now I try to set knives away from the peelings and have moved the trash can a bit. I wondered what happened to the puppy too! Hope he/she is okay.

tipper said...

Yes-firefighters are for sure heros!! Neat pics-glad the fire didn't spread-and glad you found your spoon!

Far Side of Fifty said...

Great photos! Volunteer Fireman are such great guys..and women too! I was a volunteer for many years.. Far Guy was too..it is hard work putting out fires and clean up at the Firehall afterwards..washing hoses etc.. they all need more recognition than they get:)