A teeny Tiny Table

Thank you friends for listening to my whining and worrying, then leaving me such sweet and helpful comments.  I appreciate you so much. Especially, knowing there are many folks out there on medications they had rather not be taking, but have no choice.  Still gotta make that hard decision of whether or not to take the Prolia shot. :(

Poppy says, "take the shot"! Poppy also said, "Mel, you've got to stop working around here like you are twenty years old. Stop trying to build a wall, Mrs. Trump"! 

Actually, he was referring to this little natural fence I've been working on. You see, I got the idea from Happyone,  you can see her blog here. Her natural fence is wonderful!

This area slopes down hill, so the fence is a little taller than it looks in the picture...

maybe I have used too many small twigs and sticks. Happyone uses lots of small saplings. Oh, she has this fence building down pat!

and in the woods, I came upon this...

Why, I see a teeny tiny table...

a teeny tiny table set with four soup bowls? Aww, the little soup maker ran away, losing some of her corn. I must have frightened them away.

This little mushroom table was just so cute. I couldn't resist adding a few dishes and dropping a little corn from my feed bucket. 

Oh, when I was a little girl, I could spend the day sitting on the ground in the fallen leaves, up against the sunny side of the house where the cold wind couldn't hit me, playing with acorns and stick dolls. There was nothing like those golden fall days and I was perfectly content to play there alone. 

It's windy and turning cold here, but it's pretty. All the colored leaves are falling today. Looks like they got together and planned it this way. 

Also, looks like this will be the last of the pink (Willie) til next spring... 

all the pink petals covering the ground were almost as pretty as the flowers.

and one sweet little rose...

It's pretty scary to think about leaf raking time, and it is now upon us. Will I even know where to begin? Maybe we will simply have lots more 'natural' areas in the yard and leave the leaves alone. :) 

Better get busy. 

Love,
Henny 

My Aching Back

Oh my gosh! Diggin around in a box of pictures, looking for some chicken pictures... This is me. The Henny Penny in person, in 2001 I think it was, modeling one of my first bonnet creations. How time flies! Was even wearing my wide wedding band back before the crazy arthritis in my fingers.   

Hey friends,

and back to reality...This has been a "limping around" week with an aching back, doctor appointments, steroid injection, bone density scan, reaction to cortisone with burning red face and high blood pressure, and if that's not enough, two doctors firmly suggesting that I consent to taking the Prolia injection for my osteoporosis. Other than that, it has been a pretty good week. 

Friends, I am afraid of the Prolia injection. Could any of you offer any advice, or encouragement? It would sure be appreciated. What to do? What to do?

and, outside...

This has certainly not been the best year for beautiful fall colors...not in our area!

We are seeing a little color, but lots of the trees have brown dead leaves or the trees are bare. Come to think of it, all of 2018 has been unusual, as far as our weather is concerned.

and peeking through the last of the roses, there are touches of color in the trees.

and we could see our first hard freeze next week...down to 29 degrees.

Not much of a post here. Guess I had better fill a feed bucket and hit the door. Hope to be back real soon.

Love,
Henny

Daughters

What a sweet weekend this was! Got to spend time with both my daughters. Poppy was away on a hunting trip.

Andee and I shopped all day Friday, and I actually bought some things. I sure did! Three sweaters, a shirt, and a new can opener; and not from a thrift store, mind you; brand new stuff! :) We even had pizza buffet for lunch. How fun is that!! Oh my, why is everything so fun and so funny when you're out with a daughter. 

Andee spent the night with me but had to go home on Saturday...then late Saturday afternoon Lynn came to spend the night. She stopped in town and picked us up something for dinner. We ate and talked and laughed. Then I said to Lynn, "there is a TV show that I love. It's called "Molly B's Polka Party" and comes on tonight at ten. Will you watch it with me?  Poppy will not watch it. I'm probably the only person east of the Mississippi who loves this show! Anyhow, we watched, and laughed and even tried dancing the polka. 

Before Lynn left going home Sunday morning, she said, "Mama, can I do a little video of your sewing room? You can put it on your blog."  I said, "Oh goodness, Lynn. What about all the dust?"  So, here is the video of my dusty little sewing room, which I must say, makes me sound much smarter than I really am...

Thank you friends, for visiting and for putting up with me. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Darkest night...

the old cedar chest...and a scary kitty cat...

Hey, it's pretty neat living in a house that can look a little spooky at times...comes in real handy at Halloween...

especially with a little adjusting of the colors. 

Not a Halloween night passes that I don't think about how Poppy used to scare the life out of me. It would be pitch black out here in the country...

when I would pull in the driveway on Halloween night after working all day and driving that long drive home from Raleigh.

Sometimes I would sit in the car with the doors locked for a while, too scared to get out. 

Poppy had the most horrible mask. Wish it was still here so I could show you, but the rubber face finally got all sticky and gooey and one of the eyeballs fell out. What a relief that was!

But, he would wear that mask and put on an old dark plaid robe and his big brogans, unlaced, and carrying an ax, would be hiding somewhere in the yard, ready to jump out when I got out of the car. Really glad we have outgrown all that! :)

So, this is about as scary a post as I can come up with. Speaking of scary, I have an appointment with the back doctor today. Yes, it's been aching again, and most of you warned me to "be careful" and "take it easy". Hopefully, I have just hurt my back...chopping down trees and moving cinder blocks...and it will get better. :)

Love,
Henny

Mystery solved

Remember when I built that brush pile inside the chicken lot...a place for the hens to hang around, and hide under...

well, it sure is working out fine. This was early morning too, just barely light outside. 

and look who gets the seat at the top, of course. He doesn't have a name yet, he was hatched just this past spring. Poppy says we need to find him another home, but I think not. Why, every teeny tiny farm needs a rooster!

We haven't heard a rooster crow at the crack of dawn since "Big Boy" left us.

The mystery was solved when I cut into one of the melons from the teeny tiny garden...

 Poppy was right, it is a citron melon.

Sure was hoping the seeds would be the pretty red kind.

like these from three years ago...

Funny how some of the melons have the red seeds and some the tan color.

and...

Four little jars of citron preserves, put up by me! Whew! I'm not much of jelly maker, but darn it, hopefully, it's not too late to learn! 

I am already thinking about next year's garden. Shelby gave me a jar of her pickled okra and a jar of bread & butter pickles she made, and both were delicious.

Wanted to show you Heidi and how much weight she has gained...

Poppy says I over feed all the animals. :( Her fur has gotten all soft and fuzzy. She feels like a giant powder puff. Such a sweetie pie.

Then there is this little pig...

I'm afraid both Heidi and Rosie have gained a little too much weight. Must be something in the air around here. 

Hard to believe another day has come and gone. Here it is bedtime once again. Hope to be back soon.

Love,
Henny

Dreaming, and other stuff

All in a day's time we went from summer to winter. This happened Sunday, when a cold blustery north wind spent the day here, dropping the temperature into the low 30's by Monday morning and causing a frost to cover the teeny tiny garden.

Knowing this frost was in the forecast, I pulled the pink wheelbarrow just inside the gate and began picking...

the last of the peppers and the okra, all the zinnias, including the ones that didn't look so pretty, then clipped the little purple gomphrena blooms. Remember that one volunteer plant that showed up late in the season? Also found three fat melons in the tangle of vines.

I'm not much at flower arranging, so just stuck them in a vase.

and hung three little bunches of these to dry,

along side the peppers I've been stringing up. 

eew, not a good mix of colors

Speaking of color, isn't this pretty? I have no idea what it is. Such a long skinny stem. This is growing in the woods just down the dirt path a ways.

Poppy and I don't do much playing of the lottery, buying tickets and such, but this morning he handed me a twenty dollar bill and said, when you in to town to get your flu shot, stop somewhere and get us ten lottery tickets...so I did. 

The Mega Millions! 1.6 billion!! Can you imagine Poppy and me with that much money! I did hear that you are more likely to be killed by a falling coconut than you are to win the lottery. :)

Do you ever think about what you would do with all that money? I would definitely give every person in the family, one million, that would be my first mission. Then I would fence in our little five acre property so Eli could run free. My next mission would be to build a big beautiful barn with a hay loft filled with sweet smelling hay...and buy those two donkeys I've always wanted. Heck, I would probably just buy a big farm with all that included. Oh good gosh! 

a little look at how much prettier the pond color is, going into winter this year...not the usual muddy. Yay for that!

Love,
Henny

Several half people

The State Fair was fun, but I've got to tell you friends, and apologize again, "I did not ride the hobby horses". That little half person on the far right is Shelby!!

my intentions were good and sincere, but getting there and looking at the stirrups on those horses and thinking, "can I really get my foot in that stirrup, and pull myself up, holding onto that metal pole"?  and "What if I fall", I kept thinking!! How embarrassing would that be!! but...

I'm not giving up yet. There's always next year, if the good Lord is willing.

Anyhow, Shelby and I enjoyed our day at the fair. We had the usual fried dough, corn on the cob dipped in butter,  a muscadine slushy, NC State ice cream, and, well, that's about it. We love the walking, watching people, and just enjoying a day together.

Dorton Arena and the waterfall...before the crowds arrived

So, Shelby and I were at the fair on Monday, then, believe it or not! Poppy and I went back to the fair on Wednesday. We met Andee and Todd there.

Wednesday at the fair was Military Day...

and the parade...

aww, that half a person there to my left is my sweet Andee. Actually, I was going to post a picture or two that included me, but honestly, my self-consciousness totally ruins every picture! Seriously! If someone could have caught me unaware there was a camera, a picture may have turned out okay, but smiling for a picture, well, I can make some of the worst facial expressions. 

Don't you love a parade? I do! Especially a military parade.

and about this next place...

The night before the fair, "The Tar Heel Traveler", a feature on our local news, did a story about this pie company from Minneapolis, called "Minneapple Pie". They serve a hot fried apple pie with a big dip of vanilla ice cream and apple syrup drizzled over the top. Hey, that half a person on the right is Poppy!!

Anyhow, we walked and walked searching for this pie place, when finally, Todd spotted it!! We ordered four...$8.00 each! It was delicious!!

Okay, then we visited the "Antique Farm Machinery" and would you look at this tractor...

Have you ever in your life seen a prettier tractor?? Hey Willie, should one of us try buying it?? Willie is our Italian blogging friend, who leaves the neatest comments!! 

and this cutie-pie...

we were in line to sample a free "House Autry" hush puppy and there stood Miss Moore County. Why Poppy and I both grew up in Moore County.

Did you know that way back in the 1960's I was a contestant in the Miss Moore County beauty pageant? That's a fact; selected by the senior class to represent West End High School. Friends, I was, without a doubt, the most bashful contestant to ever set foot on a stage. I forgot to smile. A total flop, just like my piano recital was in the 1950's when I walked out on the stage wearing my beautiful red gown, sat down at the piano, and did not hit one right key. Pitifully, the teacher motioned me to leave the stage. No wonder I have issues!

Back to the fair...

these weird little creatures were fun to watch, especially their dancing!

and now some whole folks...

Poppy and Todd.

and...

Shelby holding one of her great granddaughters. Shelby was at the fair on Wednesday too with some of her family.

Two more of Shelby's great granddaughters and their beautiful mother.

and a little short video of the cutest thing at the fair...

Gosh, you've probably all moved on by now, but I've just got to say "thank you" to two new followers. I appreciate your friendship so much! Thank you!

Love,

Henny