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Sunday, June 15, 2014

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

23 comments:

  1. Sorry you burnt your pot I need to make some sugar water for my humming birds to. I have burnt things in my house to but I have not buried any pots yet. I love you and please be careful!

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    1. I'm almost to afraid to put a pot on the stove any more! :) Love you too.

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  2. I have quite the mind movie of you wrapped in towels running through the smoke filled house carrying a pot of blacked goo. Pretty funny, since all's well that ends well. But the hummers are still hungry.

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    1. I'm sure it was a sight! I did feel the feeder later. :)

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    2. Oops! I did not feel the feeder, I filled the feeder. :)

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  3. Glad you are okay: I used to fill the house with smoke from burned bread under the broiler..now i sit there on a chair til it is done:)

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  4. I've done this more times than I care to admit. Sometimes with sugar/water for the hummers and a few times with boiled eggs. And my husband is the fire chief.....oh dear...... I can tell you a secret though to help with the next time, should there be one (hope not). Boil some vinegar on the stove, but please don't leave the kitchen while doing so (HA). When the vinegar smell disipates, it will take the smoke odor with it, even out of coats in the hall closet adjacent to the kitchen. And the smell of exploded eggs even if they are dripping off the kitchen ceiling. Don't ask me how I know this...... On the other hand, I could be a great commercial for Farberware stainless steel cookware. All the pans except one (which melted into the burner) have cleaned up and no trace of burned particles anywhere - they were a wedding gift 34 years ago and still look new!

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    1. Arlene, That makes me feel much better! Years ago my sister put eggs on to boil and then went out to work in the garden. The eggs exploded. I had to call her and tell her about boiling the vinegar. We had a good laugh. That is so funny about the pot that melted into the burner! Well, not funny, but I had to laugh. Thanks for leaving me a comment.

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  5. Sorry about your pot and all the smoke, but when I came to the part about the pots buried in the backyard, I laughed out loud.
    All's well that ends well, and now that you've tested your smoke alarm, you know to replace it. And we won't tell Poppy how we know . . . . :-)

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    1. Poppy fixed the smoke alarm tonight. Then we tested it and it worked.We had not noticed that the little red light on the alarm was not burning. Guess a little good came out of all this. :)

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  6. Oh, so familiar. My problem is turning the burner up high to get things going and then forgetting to turn it down to let them simmer. Once I burned a pot of pinto beans so badly that I couldn't just dump them in the garbage because of the smell so just went out in the back yard and buried them. I was outside doing something, and my son who was about 7 or 8 at the time ran out and alerted me to fact that the smoke alarm going off. Many years later we still often mention the time I had to "bury the beans". It makes for a good story if nothing else. How does the saying go? If you can't be a good example you will just have to be a horrible warning.

    Glad to hear that you and the house came through it unscathed.

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    1. Oh Victoria, I'm glad to know there are others who do things like this. That is so funny about the pinto beans. You can't help but laugh once it's all over and the house didn't catch on fire!

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  7. I know I shouldn't laugh but it sounds like a cartoon! I'm just happy that it wasn't more serious.
    Jane x

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    1. Oh Jane, I'm sure I looked just like a cartoon character running through the house with a burning pot! :)

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  8. Daggone Henny! This is exciting enough to make a mini-movie. I am so glad it turned out well, for I have done the same thing many times. Many, You are always make me laugh with your escapades but this one is a close one. You need to get Poppy to build you a little freestanding stove outside and you cook some outside and not worry. Some of my friends up in the far mountains have a canning woodstove outside under a little porch with metal roof away from the house, worth a shot! XOXO and much love, Terry

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    1. I love the idea of a little freestanding wood stove outside. Wonder if I should start begging tonight or wait a while. Gosh, it sounds like others have done things like this too. Women just have too much to going on all the time. Love you terry!

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  9. Ooh, deary me.
    This sounds like something I would be guilty of doing, and sadly to say, the older I'm becoming the more likely...lol
    Glad to read everything was OK after that scare.
    Lesson learned I would say.
    ~Jo

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    1. Oh, I think getting older is a major factor! :) I really need to slow down and think!

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  10. Oh this made me laugh:) I'm like FarSide, bad at walking away from stuff under the broiler. But I'm also bad at putting a pot of fruit for jam on high, and then going down stairs to the family room to check my email or whatever. Well you know what it's like when you get on the computer, one thing leads to another. Then I'm making a mad sprint up the stairs as I hear the pot boil over. I don't think I've ever quite had an experience as bad as yours though:) Glad it ended well.

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    1. Oh Karen, sitting down at the computer! Where do the minutes go after you sit down at the computer? And, it scares you to death when you realize how long you've been there, and think, did I put a pot on the stove! I laughed too once everything was over. My sister makes jams and jellies for the farmer's market and she has done the same thing. She has some horrible messes to clean up! :)

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  11. I do one work at a time. I can't concentrate in anything while cooking. I may misplace something!

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    1. I must start doing that too! Before I really do some damage! :)

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