A little fall cleaning

Would you believe I finally got around to cleaning the front porch and putting out a little fall decor...

Something I've been talking about doing for weeks now but just couldn't get started.

so, beginning with the bottom of the old cupboard...

I pulled out all the canning jars and washed them. An old plastic tablecloth cut in half was perfect for lining the shelves.

It was Poppy with the brilliant idea this time. :) He said, "Why don't you just put the jars in your pink wheelbarrow and clean them with the hose. It's not like you're washing them to can in right away". So I did.

Then moved a couple of chairs around in the living room and bed room and decided to move this one out...

Oh my gosh, having this rocking chair on the front porch is wonderful! I just might sit more!

Okay, Poppy has his own chair and so does Eli. This needs to be labeled "Henny's"!

Had to move all the rusty items from off the table, you know, Poppy's collection of old metal pieces dug from the dirt road. These are now in the old wash pan under the table. That wooden bird cage looks a little off balance...need to change that.

By the way...wandered out on the porch and caught Poppy rocking and dozing, in my chair!

I've had this big poster size wooden frame, made from old barn wood, for years. In fact, had listed it for sale on Craigslist. 

Then the idea of framing a sunflower print for the porch popped into my head...and I love it, except for the glare...

Walking Eli and Weetie early this morning, we rescued these wild flowers. I love them growing along side the dirt road, but there were so many, some had spilled over into the dry dusty road. We need rain!

Guess that's about it. Need to get busy. Got a list of things to do before Poppy gets home at 1:00. The fish truck is coming to Spring Hope this afternoon and we have ordered 50 baby catfish for the pond. 

Hope to be back soon.

Love,
Henny
Tried once more to get a picture of the sunflower and the bee, without the glare...

Been mighty busy here

Hey friends,

Thank you for the nice comments on my last post. I've simply got to do better at replying. I really do appreciate your friendship. 

Let's see! Since my last visit with you all...

I've been prescribed glasses, bifocals even, which are only a nuisance. Why, I can see better without them...

had a hurricane hit... (actually, we had only  an inch and a half of rain and a little wind), thankfully!

spent two full days in Raleigh for doctor appointments...

attended a birthday dinner for Andee, at Lynn and Jason's home...

picked all the beans in the garden and pulled up the vines. Wish you could see the pot of beans cooking on the stove...

completely wore out my little yellow mower. The front right wheel is about to fall off. :( whatever will I do?? Poppy has been asking what I want for my birthday this Saturday and I've been telling him 'pizza', but after mowing this morning, what I want is a new mower...and soon! 

Meanwhile...

The newly planted knockout roses are blooming a little...I'm so tickled!

The chives are blooming too so I've put a few pots around the new bed.

and the newly planted grape vines are doing well...

I've replaced the dryer sheets with a couple of bandannas...

the dryer sheets filled the air with such a nice sweet smell, Poppy was afraid it would drive all the deer from the area, and deer season comes in soon.

You see, he has a tree stand awfully close to the new grape arbor...

From way up high in the stand, he can see to the end of the dam and into the woods beyond. He has never shot a deer from the stand, in fact, I don't think he has ever used it.

and while on the subject of Poppy...

here's a little story he told me when he got home from work today. You know he works part time in a grocery store. Well he was straightening up the luncheon meats and happened to look down at the floor and there sat a tiny little frog. Inside the store! In the meat department! He picked it up and said it looked fine except one leg was injured. Poppy carried the frog through the meat department and out the back door and down the steps from the loading dock, crossed the road into a wooded area and put the little frog in a safe place. This man has a big heart.

Oh, let me tell you about a rose bush I dug out of the ground.

It's a pink fairy rose. I've never posted a picture, even though this little rose has tried desperately to bloom every year since it was planted fifteen years ago. After mowing, I began pulling the bamboo grass from around the roots, then it hit me...DID THE POOR THING UP! So I did and all this was tangled in with its roots...

seven more fairy rose bushes, each with it's own root ball, enough ivy for three pots, a pile of monkey grass, and one pink spirea...all healthy and with good root systems. Don't know how that fairy rose ever bloomed at all. Finally got all these into pots and carried up to the greenhouse/garden.

I sure can go on and on about any thing, can't I? But I'm done  now, talking about the grapevines, for a while. :)

Love,
Henny 

That grape arbor, again...and a gift

Rare for me to post on a Saturday but I'm so darn proud of the grape arbor. 

Yesterday I worked for hours on the arbor, then cranked the old push mower and mowed grass for two hours.

I stood some tools against the porch wire, rooted a few cutting that had been in a bucket of water and placed them along side the tools, emptied the compost pot and chicken scrap pan,washed them out and left them to dry in the sun. 

Then, walking away, I thought to myself, that's looks kinda neat...

About that grape arbor...

Poppy said from the very beginning, "this is your big idea. I am staying out of it". But guess what, he sawed the tops off the cedar trees for me this morning. It would have taken me a week to get the job done...standing on the ladder and using a hand saw.

I had cut most all the limbs off the three cedar trees using one of those expandable tree limb cutters with a saw on one end.

Poppy also helped me get the wire tightened from post to post.  That was hard to do!

I've brought several bucket loads of rich soil from the goat lot, chicken lot, and compost bin. Doesn't look like much here, but the holes are deep. I plan to fill in the entire area with rich soil and mulch. 

Time flies, doesn't it! Here it is bedtime, but I want to show you a nice surprise that came in the mail...

Apron patterns. These came from a really sweet blogging friend, Pam,  at the red brick house on the right...or... pmrader.blogspot.com Pam sews too, and makes beautiful aprons. She has a neat blog too.

and look at this one...

I LOVE apron patterns! Thank you so much Pam! Shelby and I are doing a craft event here in Louisburg on October 5th. Would love to get one or two of these new ones made.

Could go on and on, but better say goodnight. Next thing I know, Poppy will be ready for bed.

Thank you friends.

Love,
Henny

Note to Angela...Thank you for the tip on clipping a dryer sheet to the Rose of Sharon bushes. After finishing the grape arbor, I clipped three dryer sheets to the wire to keep deer from running into the new wire. Thank you!

My Brilliant Idea

Dear friends,

Let me apologize for making my "brilliant idea"  sound like, well, a brilliant idea when really it's not that great. Sorry for keeping you in suspense. 

So, here's that brilliant idea... 😌

There are three cedar trees, all the same size, growing side by side at the edge of the pond just behind the dam. 

These trees have the woods behind them and the wide open pond area in front, causing the limbs to grow straight out across the dam reaching toward the sun.

We are constantly having to cut these cedar limbs so we can mow the dam and walk without having to duck under them.

So we decided, once the weather cools off, we will cut down all three trees. That's when the idea hit me! 

A GRAPE ARBOR!

We have tried for years to grow grapes, and other fruits too. Years ago we set out a row of Muscadine vines at the edge of the yard, along the path to the chicken lot...

The vines grew and grew and covered the fence...

Oh, I loved how the vines created a covered pathway, but every year we got only a handful of puny little grapes. You can probably guess the reason why.  NOT ENOUGH SUN!

So, very sadly, I pulled all this down; vines, posts, wire, everything!

From the kitchen window we could see the little red chicken house again, and we could see clearly all the way to the woods. It's was amazing...

The new arbor will be built on these three cedar trees, with lots of sunshine!

I've cut off most the limbs. Now Poppy needs to cut off the tops with the chainsaw. Then add the wire and plant the vines. That's it!

I felt like a murderer chopping down those old grapevines but, from those old vines, I have rooted several new grapevines in pots. I have given some away and sold some at craft events and still have plenty left.

Also felt like a murderer chopping on the cedar trees, but at least we will put them to good use. 

I worked on this spot for an hour this morning, cleaning and clearing from around the trees.

Thank you for putting up with my nonsense. 

Love,
Henny

A little note to Pilar...you asked about the Rose of Sharon. Well the deer will not leave them alone. The little bushes try hard to bloom but the deer keep eating the leaves off. I have decided to replace each Rose of Sharon with a Beauty Berry bush.  Have done four or five so far. Will post a picture soon. Thank you Pilar.

A little note also to Linda and Carla about the new home for the lilies. Well, I'm thinking about it. I've put a few in the back flower bed with the iris, and I am digging a new bed along the path in back. Thank you. :)

Stuff here on Henny Penny Lane

Here I am, dragging back again after all this time. I've missed you all so much. Where do the days go, anyhow?

Things have been pretty hectic around here lately...and I just haven't been able to get my thoughts together for a post.

Wish you could hear the rain pouring down right now. Sounds like another gully-washer. There's lightning and thunder too and we are under a severe thunderstorm warning.

Oh! Could be the rain is sounding a little different because of the new tin roof. That's right, a brand new roof...and tin!

I'll show you first, the cabin with the old shingled roof...

and, a different angle, but the new tin roof...

Actually, these are called metal roofs now, but I like a tin roof. Log cabins need a tin roof. 

These new metal roofs come in all colors now. We decided to go with brown. I walked all around the house trying to get a good picture to show you, but the brown color just doesn't stand out that much. Maybe that's a good thing.

Oh gosh, I've started all kinds of projects around here, and in the midst of this hot sticky humid weather! 

Here's one...

Remember all the lilies I planted around the birdbath and was so excited to see them bloom, especially the stargazer lilies.

Well, the big tall red lilies were beautiful but the stargazer lilies were so weak and spindly, they could hardly support the puny little blossom.

After digging everything out I realized what poor soil was there.

After a trip to town I emptied bag after bag of Miracle Grow Garden Soil, set our four knock-out rose bushes I had rooted, and filled in with pine bark mulch. 

Hate to tell Poppy but I need several more bags. I sure do. Heck, I just might turn the whole front yard into flower beds. That would be fun. wouldn't it?

Then just today I came up with a brilliant idea. Seriously! Got started on it right after feeding the animals this morning, but look, here it is going on ten O'clock. Poppy will be coming this way soon, sleepy and yawning, and ready for bed.

Thank goodness, it's a post...such as it is. So, I will be back soon to tell you what else I am working on. It's brilliant! :) 

I will be visiting and catching up. Hope we are still friends. :)

Love,
Henny

Eli's 'after' picture and other things

Thank you so much for the comments on my last post. 

Thank you to Sue, a new follower. 

A morning glory volunteered and climbed the garden fence...

a skimpy looking little vine, but I'll take it. 

Just about every summer I plant a morning glory seed but never see one grow.  

This blue bird box has attracted more than a vine this summer...

Back in early spring we were tickled to see a pair of blue birds going in and out, busy building. Wasn't long before the little female moved in.

Early one morning when Poppy was walking Eli, he spotted a five foot black snake wrapped around the pole with it's head right at the entrance to the box. Poppy's quick action saved that little family.

As soon as the Blue Bird family moved out, a big spider moved in. I guess he can stay, for a while, or at least until next spring. Hopefully he will eat plenty of insects from the garden. We have sure had a bug infested garden this year!

Oh, but look at these...

The driveway and the goat lot were full of these Eastern Yellow Swallowtails. I was making myself dizzy trying to get a picture of them flying...it's almost impossible! I took picture after picture and captured only 2 or 3 butterflies. But then...

some of them lit on the ground.

and as promised, here is that 'after' picture of Eli...

Oh my goodness, he smells so good and feels like a big plush comforter...

When I ask if Eli was a good boy, the groomers say he is the best! We love the girls at The Animal House!

our walk around the pond

Oh, look what Weetie got in the mail...

Poppy ordered her a brand new bed, Weetie says it just perfect.

and I have a little cat story...you know how cats enjoy teasing us...

Poppy yelled, "Mel, hurry! Come look at Smokey"! Well, there was smokey, way up on the roof of Poppy's shop, meowing like he needed help. We dragged the tall ladder over to the shop and I climbed up. Of course, Smokey stayed just out of my reach, staring at me. 

We decided to leave the ladder, which was almost as tall as the shop and Smokey could come down by himself. So, as I started down the ladder, Smokey ambles over to the edge of the roof,  jumps to the nearest tree and beats me to the ground.  

Cats delight in making us look foolish, don't you think so? :)

Here it bedtime, and too late to sew tonight. I've made a new skirt for the sewing table, but I'll show you next time. 

Thank you for visiting.

Love, 
Henny

PS: Granny Marigold, the bunnies are fine. I need to do a post about them. "Chief, Son of Bun" is a digger, and has dug a tunnel in his part of the lot. :)

Hey! From all the animals and me too!

Mokey and me, well, the others too, thought we'd better check in and say we're still alive and kicking....

mostly, I'm busy sewing while Mokey kicks around under the bed in the sewing room...

Oh, Woo Woo and Weetie are fine too...

Oops! That was Eli and Weetie.

and Poppy and Eli too...

Poppy always says, "Eli looks so comfortable, I would love to snuggle up and sleep with him".

Bet you've never seen Eli looking so dirty. If we can make it to Thursday, he has an appointment with the groomer. I promise to come back with an 'after' picture. :)

Doesn't look quite as dirty here...

where Poppy was trying to hide his bear, stuffed there between them. It's no wonder the furniture stays worn out.

That old foot stool has taken a beating over the years. Remember this one from 2014...

Do you dream crazy dreams? I do. In a dream last night I was carrying Smokey in my arms like a baby. I was wearing a skirt and high heel shoes and felt myself falling. We hit the ground but neither of us were hurt, but then I could not get back up on my feet because of the high heels and Smokey being too heavy. Wonder why I didn't kick my shoes off and lighten my load by putting Smokey down?? Dreams!

Smokey or Mokey, as we call him, loves for me to carry him around like a baby, like in this old picture...

He is such a sweetie pie.

Woo Woo, on the other hand...

 LOVES to lay in my lap but will not let me walk while holding him. He also loves to lay on my fabric and cutting board.  Aren't cats strange?? 

Well, my plan was to do a little post to say we are still here, but I've turned this into an animal post. 

Oh, a special thank you to a new follower, Judy. Thank you!

Love,
Henny