Old Timey

My sister Shelby and I met in Wake Forest on Friday...First, she had three heaping grocery bags of freshly cut okra to give me...three heaping grocery bags!! My friend Nellie was tickled to death to get two of the bags. 

Secondly, Cousin Patty had sent more boxes of stuff for Shelby to go through, keep what she wanted, then deliver the rest to lucky me. :)

Think I've mentioned before that Cousin Patty and her husband Mike sold their beautiful home on the lake and have down-sized since moving into a smaller place. That's why Patty gave me the beautiful old pie safe and the old cupboard.

This time items were smaller, but special...

This is not just an old worn out apron with a hole in the center; probably from drying her hands, this apron was worn by our Aunt Berlie. 

Some of my first blogging posts were written about Aunt Berlie. I adored her.  I looked forward to the weekends that mama could drive me to her house to spend a couple of nights. (This was in the early 1950's)

Aunt Berlie would say to me, "Melby, I bought us a new puzzle to put together". Oh, we would get to working on a puzzle and stay up way too late. Why, I remember it being 11:00 one Saturday night when Aunt Berlie looked up at the clock. We had to hurry and get to bed. We were going to Sunday School the next morning. 

Mama had packed my Sunday dress, my Gigi Perreau hat with the ribbon in the back, my black patent leather shoes, and little white gloves even. I can just see Aunt Berlie smiling as we walked in the the church door. She was glad to show me off, and I loved every minute of it. Of course, Aunt Berlie didn't drive, so she called on a neighbor to take us to the church.

Back to the apron. Patty had attached this note...

which I plan to keep on the apron. I want to make a pattern from this old apron and make some like it. The old aprons looked comfortable, didn't they?

This old oblong tablecloth didn't fit our new round table, so I cut it down and made a square cloth, with enough left over for a dish towel. And just look at this old tablecloth...

it doesn't fit our table either but I would never cut it.

and this picture is perfect for the small space over the ironing board in the teeny tiny sewing room...

this too from Patty......

There used to be kittens around the old barn and outhouses at Aunt Berlie's. She would say, "you can have them all if you can catch them, but be careful, they will scratch you".

Back when I was collecting old granite ware...never mind the dust on the pantry shelves...

I could not resist bringing home old 'slop jars' (top shelf far left), also a reminder of nights with Aunt Berlie. 

Aunt Berlie lived alone in a big house. There was an outside toilet, but we dared not go out after dark. A slop jar was kept just under the bed, in case we had to go during the night. 

Why, folks had been known to disappear going to the toilet late at night. There was an old tale back then in that part of the country of a woman who's husband went to the outhouse during the night and never returned. Scary stuff. 

No doubt, my love of old fashioned things came from Aunt Berlie. Things like a little fenced-in garden with a gate that hooked. Aunt Berlie had one. I remember going inside with her, to pick a few green beans, and closing the gate behind me. 

Aunt Berlie reminds me of the English Fairy Tale, "The Teeny Tiny Woman".

I've surely talked your ears off, but posting this has made me want to get back in the sewing room. It's been  months now since I finished the new sewing table skirt and chair seat cover...have I even shown you?

Green is not a favorite color of mine but there was enough pink in this that I kinda like it.

Thank you friends, well if you're still around. :) Hope I haven't frightened you away.

Love,
Henny

Catching up

Didn't plan to be away so long. Where do the days go anyhow, and how will I ever catch up?

Maybe I should begin with the fish wagon. Seems like in my last post, I mentioned waiting for Poppy to get home so we could go meet the Fish Wagon in Spring Hope...

Well we did, and was waiting there when the big truck pulled in and stopped.

Poppy there on the left waiting to pick up our one hundred baby catfish.

A handsome dog was at the wheel! and a cutie in the back seat.

All these little catfish are now swimming in the pond. Well, except for three or four that we lost.

Back in 1996 when the pond was stocked, 50 catfish were included. 

Now when we feed them only three or four big catfish show up to eat.

Hopefully, all the little catfish will fit in and grow big and healthy.

 Also going on here...after setting out roses around the birdbath and adding mulch...

it made the adjoining beds in front look awful...

So I have been busy for three days now, digging up all this Liriope that has taken over the front yard, leaving just the variegated you can barely see over on the far right. Also pulled up all the old pine straw and replaced it with pine bark mulch. 

By the way, I have gone crazy over Chives! These have been so pretty this summer, but see all the ugly Liriope!

All three beds in front are cleaned out, redone, and pretty. and I am worn out! I will take pictures for next time. 

Oh, guess who made a bed in the new mulch...

while Poppy wasn't looking..

Eli says, "I don't care. It felt good".

Guess that's about it for now. Thank you friends, if you've managed to read this far. :)

Thank you new followers. I appreciate your friendship.

Love,

Henny

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