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

This came as a surprise!

Sitting out here enjoying the rain and the breeze as hurricane Michael drew closer... 

thinking, this is as bad as it's going to get, so I'll make a little video. Something to blog about...

Well, as it got later and darker, the winds got stronger and louder.

Friends, I know very good and well that the bit of damage we got is nothing compared to the devastation in Florida and even in other parts of North Carolina...

it was just so unexpected...

Around supper time on Thursday, in fact, I was in the middle of cooking supper when the power began going off then coming back on, over and over until finally we had no power at all. Heavy blowing rain, tree limbs, pine boughs, and pine cones began hitting the house and littering the porches and yard.

I've never known Poppy to be as nervous and worried as he was during all this wind. He felt like a tree might hit the house at any moment.

and one did fall! How lucky we are, this tall cedar landed dead center between the house and the shop...

All this happening at the edge of dark made it even scarier. I hate not being able to see what's going on.

We were out first thing the next morning to see how things looked. Lots of new stuff litters the ground, to be sniffed out.

and around the corner, a maple tree split and fell into the pond...

This old tree should have been cut down years ago but was home to a Pileated woodpecker and a nest of baby squirrels, so we left it. :(

looks like Poppy is missing one of his fishing chairs...

That's not an animal in the water, it's the end of a brush Poppy is using to clean the leaves off the drain pipe. 

Come Friday, the early morning sun sure looked pretty.

I have hauled off load after load of sticks and tree branches and pine cones, and haven't even made it to the back yard yet. 

Our good neighbors Kristine and Robert who live, (as our other neighbor Miss Ann says), "down in the bottom," called and said they would like to have the big cedar tree that fell during the storm. Absolutely! You are most welcome to it, we told them! Kristine makes beautiful crafts using only natural things from the woods.  

So Kristine and Robert got here early yesterday and we started hacking away at the big cedar tree...

Robert used the chainsaw

Poppy used the four wheeler to pull some of the big heavy logs. 

Kristine used her very own chain saw with jaws that close around the tree limbs. A much safer saw for women to use. Now, that's what I need! She cut most all the limbs from the big cedar. I forgot to take a picture. But here, she is showing me how the saw works on a smaller tree. 

By the time we got to the bottom of the tree with the root ball still attached, Robert's chainsaw was dull. Probably a good thing as they were tired and needed a break. 

So they left for home with the second truck load of cedar, and will come back later for the rest of the tree. What a big help this was to Poppy and me!

Sweet Weetie watched from her cool bed in the monkey grass.

Well, I've talked your ears off and probably bored you to tears with all the pictures, but maybe you will come back. :)

Love,
Henny