Almost a fire!

This is not a pot of stewed blackberries! 

Well folks, I've done it again! Almost burned down the house! Here's what happened...

I was bound and determined to finish up the painting out back. All that trim work around the porch, and the back steps and the rails. Poppy also had pointed out a place or two that had been missed. Working from 9:30 am until 3:00 pm, I was hot and tired, and had beads of sweat running through my hair and into my eyes. I hammered the lid back onto the can of cedar colored paint and walked into the cool air conditioned house. Oh man, wow! I reached for a fresh dry Viva paper towel to soak up the sweat and got myself a banana popsicle from the freezer. That's when I spotted the empty hummingbird feeder hanging by the kitchen window. Darn it, I meant to boil a little sugar and water earlier this morning.  There sat a little hummingbird on the edge of the empty feeder. I brought out the little pot used just for this purpose and put in 1/3 cup of sugar and 1 cup water and turned on the burner. 

Now I purposely and sternly told myself, DO NOT GO ANYWHERE! DO NOT GET INVOLVED IN ANYTHING THAT WOULD MAKE YOU FORGET AND LEAVE THIS POT. Friends, you may remember there are already two small pots buried on the property that Poppy knows nothing about.

Well, I hardly remember leaving the kitchen, but I proceeded right on into the bathroom to wash my hair and then soak in a nice long hot bath. See, I was now chilled from my clothes being wet from sweating and then eating a popsicle. The bath felt wonderful. There was a nice dry towel around my hair and a nice big towel to wrap myself in. There appeared to be steam floating in the bathroom which seemed odd. Especially since I had finished my bath and the water had cooled off. Anyhow, I opened the bathroom door and the smell of burnt caramel and the black rolling smoke almost knocked me backward.

Oh dear God, please, I prayed as I ran toward the kitchen, please don't let there be flames! Well the flames would have been hidden by the smoke. Seriously! I fought my way through the smoke to the burner, shut it off, grabbed a pot holder and the little pot and dashed through the living room and out onto the back porch! Where to put the pot, where to put the pot??!! Then I dashed through the house, opening windows and doors and turning on every ceiling fan and opening every vent. There was one hour left before Poppy would be home. That smoke had to be gone!

Black smoke rolled out of every window and door. My eyes burned like crazy but I managed to get myself dressed and take the towel off my head and comb through my hair. The hour passed and the smoke thinned out. All the windows had to be shut so the air conditioner could cool the house again. All was pretty close to normal when Poppy walked through the front door. What in the world is that smell he asked, looking around like there might be stuff all over the walls. Oh, I let a pot of sugar water get too hot, I said. Mel, you need to be careful, you are going to mess around and burn the house down.

It is a fact that our smoke alarm does not work. I've known this for some time and can dig up the pots to prove it. Poppy says it does work. He tests it by pressing the button.

Sorry to have gone on and on about this. I am very thankful that there was no flame, only smoke. I will say good night now. 

Love,
Henny Penny