Way too much!

Whew! Have I been busy!

Poppy says, all the time, "Mel, you do a lot of stuff that you don't HAVE to do", and "Mel, you've got all these animals spoiled".  

Well, poor Mrs. Duck. All she wanted was a little of the chicken's laying mash and a little pot of water.  She thanked me over and over.

Then Wilder showed up and asked for a little pile of pellets and some whole corn.  Said he noticed that Bun Bun and the other rabbits, each get their own bowl of pellets. So what was I to do?

By the way, did you notice the food scraps in the pan by the bucket? Scraps for the chickens, and Weetie there pretending to guard it all for me. But I know Weetie. She is actually waiting for a chance to eat that spaghetti, mixed in with the scraps.  :)

Seriously, there is no sense in anybody finding as much to do as I do! Of course, Hurricane Isaias blowing through last Monday night didn't help any...

The wind and rain has turned the teeny tiny garden into a teeny tiny jungle...

I've simply got to pull up some plants and make a path.

Anyhow, we woke up Tuesday morning, after the passing of Hurricane Isaias, to a soggy wet yard full of sticks and tree limbs and our little front porch and everything on it, standing in water, including boots and Crocs. No damage, just a mess to clean up.

Plus, the wind must have blown down a bird's nest, a Dove's nest. I found this tiny baby Dove sitting on a cinder block near the compost bin...

I have been feeding the little Dove for five days, so it's looks have improved a lot. When I found  it, it's feathers still looked like little quills. Hoping the mother Dove will hear her baby and come to the back porch. 

To feed the baby, I am mixing wheat germ and cornmeal with warm water and adding strained chicken baby food. I fill the rubber end of a dropper and with his beak he sucks the mixture, much like a baby Dove drinks crop milk from it's mother.

Rarely does Poppy walk outside that he doesn't yell for me to, "hurry, and bring the camera"!

Got a picture just before this big Locust flew away.

and back to the teeny tiny garden jungle...

This has definitely been the best year we've had in a long time for tomatoes. Haven't had much luck with peppers or eggplant either, but...

all the rain we've had in the last week or so has brought the yard long green beans back to life. Why, we had four thunderstorms yesterday! 

Oh, did you hear? North Carolina had an earthquake this morning! In a town called Sparta...not so very far from here! How scary! Measured 5.1  Very scary!

Well, better go. Time to think about supper, and besides that, got animals waiting...

Once again, I will be around to catch up. Sorry for posting so much at once. Just had so much I wanted to share, and this is not all! But don't leave, I'm done for today. :)  Thank you for visiting, well, if you're still here. 

Love,
Henny

This and That

Hey again dear blogging friends.

I know, I'm back way too soon. Guess I'm just needing someone to talk to.

Usually a walk through the garden, teeny tiny as it is, lifts my spirits. There's always something special inside a garden. Wait til you see what it was this morning!

So when we walked past the garden this morning, I noticed an orange colored sunflower and went back later to get a picture.

Little did I know, there would be a little sunflower face looking back at me...

 Isn't she pretty? 

I'm not having much luck with peppers again this year but the sunflowers are sure spreading happiness down Henny Penny Lane.

Actually, it was these bees making the funny faces...

Such a pretty orange color, and here too...

sure glad for all the bees. 

Mrs. Duck Duck and Wilder the Wabbit...we passed along the way...

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Oh, several months ago, in a thrift store, I picked up this soap dish, thinking it would be perfect to hang over the old sink up at the garden... 

trouble is, I never got around to finding an old sink. 

So, yesterday Poppy put a screw in the side of the house over the outside faucet and hung my little soap dish.

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Way back in April I started work on a handful of little clothespin dolls. You may remember...

well, it took me a while...

but here they are...

Certainly not the cutest ones I've made. With no craft shows going on now, it's hard to get interested in sewing.

Sure appreciate your visit. 

Love,
Henny

PS... We got rain this afternoon! Can't tell you how thankful I am. It has been so hot and dry. On Monday it was 101 degrees here, and in the high 90's all week...miserable! and dry!

 

Poppy goes to the dump, and A SPECIAL NOTE

Been a while since I've posted pictures of big sweet Eli...

Sometimes we wonder what life was like before Eli arrived. He certainly fills up every inch of space in our teeny tiny house, and in our hearts too, but not to worry...

so does little Weetie. Weetie just doesn't take up as much space...

Anyhow, it is so blame hot these days, I try to get things done in the teeny tiny garden as early as possible...

This is such a meager amount of produce, but I thought it looked kinda pretty in the basket.

Actually, all of sudden the kitchen counter is covered in tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash,

and the bean vines are hanging full of  yard long beans. I'll be the first to admit, "cooking is not my cup of tea" but...

I've been cutting these long green beans into short pieces and stir frying them in olive oil, red pepper flakes,

garlic, and a little onion, and it makes a really good dish!

Funny how it seems to take that first tomato forever to ripen on the vine, then all of a sudden you're bringing in more than you can use.

and look, the zinnias have started blooming...

Zinnias and Sunflowers! Don't you just love them? They add so much to a teeny tiny garden.

I ran out to get a picture of Poppy before he pulled out of the driveway, carrying our old microwave oven to it's final resting place...

We brought this microwave oven with us when we moved into the cabin in 1989. It's been a good one.

Well, I will end this with a wabbit or two...

"Chief, Son of Bun" enjoying an afternoon treat, and "Pinky Lee", next door, too. The two white rescue rabbits seem very happy, and are both getting fat. 

We had to squeeze two more condos into the 10' x 10'  rabbit lot, but that's okay. We have happy rabbits. :)

Oh, and a special note to Crystal.

I was looking at my "comments awaiting moderation" and there was a very nice comment from Crystal, dated June 15th that was never published. Crystal found my blog two years ago from Granny Marigold's blog, and that was her first comment to me. Please forgive me Crystal. Hope you will visit my blog again. Thank you very much for the information on harvesting and using horseradish. I don't understand why some comments are't published??

Love,
Henny

Finally! A post, such as it is!

Oh, dear friends, I need help! Since June 30th I have started post after post and haven't been able to finish even one of them. Feels like my brain has packed up and moved out. 

Maybe if I start with the big sunflower in the teeny tiny garden, instead of the hawk story...

This morning, I counted 19 sunflowers on this one plant, it still towers above the 8' garden fence...

By the way, do you like the new Blogger? There are some things about it that drive me crazy! For one, how do you remove a photo from your post? Used to, you would click on the photo and had the option to 'remove'. Now, the only way, is to back space until the photo disappears.  Today, I'm having problems loading pictures. I want the old blogger back!

Could be, this hot dry weather is affecting my brain. Seriously, we need rain terribly bad. Why, there have been thunderstorms and rain showers all around us, but not here.

Smokey says, "shoot, it feels good out here"! Well, Smokey, you need to wander up to the garden. Dry as a bone! and just when the big tomatoes hanging on the vines are beginning to ripen. I was out with the water hose at 8:30 last night, watering the garden. 

and speaking of water, would you look how the water in the muddy little pond has changed...

why, you wouldn't know it was the same pond! Sure wish it would look this way all winter.

AND THE HAWK STORY. Since the middle of spring, we have been fortunate enough to have a pair of Red-tailed Hawks, nest and raise young, in a tall oak tree on the hill above the pond...

Red-tailed Hawk's Nest

just to the right of the big mimosa tree...

When we first saw this pair of Red-tailed Hawks under the mimosa tree, we didn't realize they were a mating pair. Oh, they soared high above the pond, circling and screeching and then coming down to sit in the tree, or on the ground under the tree. 

The hawks have been with us daily for weeks now; courting, building the nest, the female sitting on eggs, the male hunting and bringing food to the nest, and then two baby hawks. 

The screeching was continuous and became louder as we realized there were four hawks now...two nestlings!

From the very beginning, the mimosa tree seemed to be the central meeting place. We don't know what happened, but the screeching of two nestlings changed to one. It became obvious that only one baby hawk had survived. When the one fledgling began to leave the nest, it was to that bottom limb of the mimosa...

and call that loud continuous screeching, for food. The adult was never far away. Many times we saw one of the adults bring a mouse or other small animal and light under the tree and the young hawk would jump down to the ground to eat. It was amazing to watch.

Here's a picture of the young hawk waiting for food...

Sorry the picture is fuzzy. I was sitting on the back porch.

Oh, if only there were more pictures to show you. I do have a little video; it's not the best, but you can hear the baby in the mimosa tree calling for food, and if you watch closely, near the end, you can see him fly from a bottom limb to a higher limb. 

One funny story...Poppy was standing on the dam fishing one day when one of the adult hawks flew right over his his head carrying a mouse, dangling from his claws. That was when the two babies were still in the nest. Poppy could see the movement and excitement in the nest over the mouse.  Poor mouse. :(

Guess I've gone on long enough. Thank you for looking in, if you're still here. 

Gosh, I am so far behind, but I look forward to visiting you all and catching up. Sometimes I think it's this virus, and troubles in the world that's got me down. Hope things get back to normal soon. Never thought I would see the day that everyone wears a mask. 

Love,

Henny

the nest

Whirling butterflies, Pretty Ladies, and more

Well, posting more often would keep me from having waaay too much to tell you, when I do post. 

Thank you for the nice comments on my last post. I apologize for not getting back to reply...it always amazes me that you actually come back. Thank you!

Want to see one of my very favorite perennials? Well, this is Gaura, or Whirling Butterflies...

It sways and dances in the breeze, and even when there is no breeze, the weight of tiny bees cause the flowers to bounce up and down. I love it. 

My daughter Lynn grew these in her old garden several years ago. She used to say to me, "Mom, don't ever buy just one perennial", so I went all out last year and bought three Whirling Butterflies. Walmart had them reduced. ..

I really want to buy more perennials and eventually, extend the flower garden the length of the path. Now there's a job! There is a pink Gaura too which has reddish stems and very pink flowers. 

By the way, can any of you tell me the name of this flower...

You know how I often mention my Aunt Berlie in my blog posts, well, these flowers grew in her yard many many years ago. Mama got cuttings from Aunt Berlie's yard; then another many many years later, mama gave me cuttings from her yard. Would love to know what it is. 

Again this year, I've added  a tiny oasis inside the hot garden...

just a place for lizards, frogs, and little snakes, to get a drink and cool off. Not very pretty, I know. I'll probably change it again, but already there is a frog living under that first saucer. 

and now, the best part...

Remember a few weeks ago, when I started a post about my online, West Coast friend's cute granddaughter...

and unbeknownst to me, someone hit the "publish" button and sent my unfinished post on it's way! How embarrassing that was!

Anyhow, hopefully, no harm was done, and my friend then ordered matching aprons, one for herself and one for her granddaughter...

Can't tell you how excited I was to get this picture of them wearing the aprons. Gosh, the two of them certainly make the aprons look pretty, don't they! Such beautiful ladies. Thank you so much!

Poppy and I have been threating for months now to pull up the pavers at the front steps and re-build the little patio. It had become moss covered, and sunken in places so the rain puddled at the bottom of the steps... 

It was a messy job for sure...

Kept me busy running back and forth to the shed for more tools, and hauling two wheelbarrow loads of dirt from across the path...then we spread ten bags of sand, leveled it all, and replaced the brick pavers...

Looking much better, isn't it? 

and today, we are still adding fine dry sand; brushing it into the cracks. This patio is far from perfect. Neither of us claim to know how to lay pavers and build a patio. :) At least, next time it rains, maybe we won't step down into a puddle.

Well, I'm still not done, but you probably are so I will wait until next time to share the hawk story, the pond, and the mushrooms. 

Thank you friends, and thank you to a new follower. Wow! 

Love,

Henny