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Thursday, April 16, 2015

A Poppy Post


Our teeny tiny farm

Sometimes I read back over a post and realize that my wording has made Poppy sound like a lazy bum. He is not that at all. You see, Poppy still works a full-time job.

Poppy loves hunting so he takes two of his hard earned vacation weeks and does just that. One week in November he deer hunts.


and a week in April he turkey hunts. 


Thanks to Poppy the little red hen and her friends have their own house complete with a fenced-in yard.


The goats enjoy their own teeny tiny barn, all fenced in and what a sweet little gate I open and close throughout the day.


and it was Poppy who measured off  24 x 48' and built my teeny tiny garden with a gate. There is something magical about opening and walking through a garden gate. My very own garden gate...just like my Aunt Berlie's.


I suppose it is because of Aunt Berlie that gates are so special to me.

The gate to the chicken lot.

This gate to the goat lot.

It was on a Saturday morning that Poppy said, let's ride to Raleigh and buy you that greenhouse. Then he worked for two weekends putting it up.


He built the pier in 1996 right before Hurricane Fran hit and overnight filled our newly dug pond with rain water.


and the little red tool shed we ordered from Sears in 1989. Poppy put it together, building a floor inside and adding shingles to the roof and after all these years it still looks good.




then the little foot bridges in the back yard Poppy built so we would not have to jump across the wet weather creek that runs through the property.


Oh, and you may remember my bright idea of adding a Bantam lot onto the back of the chicken house. This project I intended to do this all by myself.


how tickled I was to see Poppy coming to my rescue with his nail apron tied on and bringing a level and his saw and hammer.

Poppy has worn out three chain saws over the years.  There is no telling how many trees he has cut down and cut into firewood. 


It was Poppy who put a cover over our front deck turning it into my favorite little country front porch. Then a couple of years ago he added a tin roof.

However...through all this, all these many years, I have been by his side every step of the way, through every building project...picking up nails and screws, running back and forth to the shop for tools and drop cords. Bringing glasses of tea and lemonade, and a few band-aids along the way. I've made sandwiches and jars of ice water, and packed lunches so we could stay outside. 


The difference in the two of us now is that Poppy wants to maintain...I want to keep building and adding and changing, making the place prettier and prettier. Whew! Wasn't that a load to get off my chest! I'm wondering if any of you are still reading. : )  Thank you!

Love,
Henny 

17 comments:

  1. What would we do without our knights in shining armor? Poppy is a keeper for sure, and I love all of your gates!

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  2. I never got that he was lazy, from any of your posts. Your place looks fantastic!

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  3. I didn't think for a minute he was the lazy type. To have a beautiful hobby farm like the two of you enjoy it takes lots of hard work, and I admire that you both work side by side.
    I think us ladies always have more projects than the men-folk, especially as they get older, they tend to want to sit back and enjoy their hard work.
    I see it's turkey season......I've told mine to stay in the woods ;)
    ~Jo

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  4. I always read to the end! Your story about Poppy's handyman work is wonderful. Since there seem to no longer be people called handymen to do smallish building jobs and little fixes for pay having one actually living with you is a gift plain and simple. You are so lucky to have found him. I agree with Terri that he definitely is "a keeper".

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  5. You are two of the hardest working people I (don't) know!
    Funny, we're opposites: My hubby is the adder-on and I'm the maintainer!

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  6. It takes a lot of work to make a place as purty as yours! You both have made it a beautiful farm and home, and I just bet you will always be adding to it. After all, where are the donkeys??!

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  7. What a great team you two are! I think you and Poppy are both valuable beyond compare! And tell him, I think all his talents are awesome!

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  8. Having the opportunity to make your own place is very satisfying. Some of these critters will tie you down unless you have somebody who can look after them when you want to go away.

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  9. You are both handy! It takes a lot to maintain all those buildings and fences and gates! :)

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  10. After reading your post, I'm wondering if Poppy has an available brother, or cousin.....I'd like to have my very own Poppy....You are a lucky couple !!

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  11. Nice post. Poppy is a good man - I too am wondering if he has any relations over here in UK perhaps ?
    I don't like the word 'B***' - over here it's not very complimentary and I certainly wouldn't use it to describe your lovely hubby !
    The animals all look happy and well cared for.
    You make me smile when you describe things as 'teeny tiny' and 'small' - here in UK your place would be HUGE !

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  12. Your post never make Poppy look like a lazy man! We have a tendency to worry about every thing. I Love every post that you blog about. Thank you! Love you forever!

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  13. Great post. Poppy is a very busy man and I can tell how very proud you are of him. I hope you both have a wonderful weekend... :)

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  14. Boy Poppy has sure done tons of things to make your little farm a beautiful place to wake up to every day! I've always wanted chickens. Maybe just to love but the fresh eggs would be wonderful too! Poppy made the huge pond? Wow I can't even imangine how much work that was! Are there fish in your pond? How long did it take to fill? And does it just naturally take care of itself? Take care and pet all of your furry and feathered friends for me!
    Hugs,
    Darlene

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    1. Hey Darlene, Actually we hired a man to build the pond. Poppy built the pier. The pond does pretty much take care of itself. There are fish in the pond. We have to add fertilizer which does something to help feed the fish. Right now the pond is muddy from all the rain we've had. Hopefully the water will clear up soon. I always enjoy hearing from you.

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  15. besides a lovely hubby, you have an amazing property. You must be so proud of both of them.

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