If I hurry...

I just might get this, and one more post done before Christmas! I'll tell you what!  I've had "The Night Before Christmas" going through my head since the day after Thanksgiving!

Like outside trying to rake up a few leaves and going over and over in my head, "as dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle mount to the sky",

and, seeing the moon early mornings while out with Ellie lately, "the moon on the breast of the new fallen snow, gave a lustre of midday to objects below".  One of my favorite poems for sure! 

Moving on to more important things :) My scissors...

and this isn't all of them! There are scissors in the greenhouse and in the shop, in the kitchen, and laundry room, in my car, and a teeny tiny pair in my pocketbook! These 5 are in my sewing room. Opening the new pack of 2 yesterday (the smaller ones on the far end), made me think of my aunt Berlie...

That's her, 3rd from the left in the back row. My dear Aunt Berlie! I loved spending nights with her. She lived alone in a big old house that had an attic. I loved cutting out of an old catalog...we would go up in the attic and find an old Sears Roebuck catalog, bring it back down to the sitting room, where the heater was toasty warm, and Aunt Berlie would start looking through drawers for a pair of scissors. "I know there's a little old pair of scissors here somewhere", she would say. 

Scissors! we have so much of everything now, don't we?

Anyhow, Shelby and I, well now it's Shelby, Karen, and I were vendors at the Christmas Bazaar last month. Karen makes the most beautiful doll clothes...

Karen was bound and determined to have 50 outfits made before doing craft events. Her set-up was so pretty! Her husband Norm built the clothes rack...

and you know Shelby with all her baked goods and jams and jellies..

Customers always flock around her table. And a little glimpse of my stuff, such as it is, as mama would say...

So, a craft event really gets me going! I've been sewing just about every day since...making a few new things too!

Not much going on outside these days except trying to rake up acres of giant oak leaves! It's raining and cold today, still in the 30s as I write this. My little greenhouse, full of plants I hope to keep alive through the winter...

Need to end this but I did promise Smokey to show you this picture. You see, I forgot it last time and he especially wanted Precious to see it. You know Precious has her own blog. :) 

Thank you, Dear friends.  I appreciate you all so much. I always mean to reply to each of your comments. Where do the days go! Oh, my new Santa poster arrived this week and is hanging on the front porch. Anxious to get out all the Christmas decorations. :)

Love, Henny

Back from the festival

Hard to believe a whole week has passed since the Chicken Pickin Festival...

Shelby and I planned to take plenty of pictures of our set-up and of the people shopping but we were so busy, neither of us thought of it until half way through the day. Darn it!

Oh it was a fun day. Most of my aprons sold but guess what, not the grey calico. Lots of bonnets sold too. One lady bought one to wear while she was there.  Good advertisment for me.

Of course, Shelby's jams and jellies and her baked goods were a huge success. Shelby's business name is "Relish The Moment". Cute name, isn't it?

There were lots of vendors...in fact, vendors as far as the eye could see...

Some folks came with their lawn chairs just to hear the bands and watch the people.

I'm not good at taking pictures in a crowd. Guess these few are my best ever. :(

Oh my, is it hot where you are? We are under a heat warning now through next week. Scared as I am of thunderstorms, I'm hoping for a not too bad one that will give us some rain. The garden is dry!

Don't remember potting up this lily last year...

but I must have. Isn't it pretty? Seven bud on one stem.

and, never in a hundred would I have believed a head of broccoli would come from the teeny tiny garden...

I set out six broccoli plants thinking, we'll never see a head of broccoli growing here...but darned if there isn't five more, just like this one. I'm tickled to death. 

The little garden is doing fine but this is the first year ever that I can not get zinnia seeds to come up. Not even one zinnia! Have sowed two packs of seeds. Same with okra seed. I've planted the okra row three times and have only three tiny plants. 

I'll end this with a couple pictures of the pond. It is clear and dark...

just the way it should be. That's Ellie walking along side me.

Now that the dirt road out front has ditches on both sides and lots of gravel covering the red dirt, not so much mud runs into the pond...

Many many thanks to our, hopefully, soon to be new neighbor Steve, and his sweet wife. Steve has spent many hours working on this old dirt road. 

Guess that's about it for now. Sure appreciate your stopping by. 

Love, Henny

Going to a festival

Sure wanted to finish the mowing, especially up around the garden, but it simply got too hot...95 degrees and no breeze. We decided to come inside. Maybe tomorrow??

Lots to be done inside too. Shelby and I have a big craft event coming up this Saturday the 4th., thanks to Shelby and her efforts. So, I've been back in the the little sewing room...

Got several new colorful aprons made, plus that little group of dollies there on the dresser...

Don't think I have ever had so many bonnets made at one time. The white bonnet with lavender flowers reminds me of my Aunt Berlie, and I really don't know why.  Maybe even more so, the apron in the first picture.

What do you think of the grey calico fabric? Kind of unusual, isn't it? Will it sell?

Have several gathering aprons with large pockets made too. Good for gathering eggs. Do I wear one? 

Well no! I emptied food scraps to the chickens and brought the eggs back in the empty pan. Maybe I should try one of my aprons!

I like this one with the cherries, trimmed in cherry red. My dear friend Diane in Kentucky...if you happen to look in, thank you again for all the fabrics. I am still using!

Anyhow, this big event Saturday is the Butner Chicken Pickin' Festival". Butner is a small town about a 40 minute drive from here. Had never heard of it before but this will be its 28th year and was advertised in "Our State" Magazine.  We're excited!

You know what? I am still tinkering around with the raggedy old 30 year couch in the living room...

After covering the seat cushions with the $1.69 piece of gold upholstery fabric, from the thrift store, I ordered these yellow quilted pillow shams. It helped the looks so much. Now I want to order two more king size shams for the pillows in back. Hey, it's comfortable. :) 

Guess that's about it for now. Thank you looking in. I did want to mention...

We have not seen the mother Wood Duck and her babies since that first day. Don't understand it. Just hope they survived and are safe somewhere. There is water, a creek on the other side of the dam at the pond. Guess we will never know.

Love, Henny

Seriously! Where do the days go?

It's been raining here for the last hour or so. We sat on the front porch. The rain brought down lots of little willow oak leaves. It looked like fall. Lifted my spirits.

Before the rain I was up at the teeny tiny greenhouse where the little succulents are growing and making themselves quite at home.

Can you tell they've grown? A few years ago, neighbor Ann gave me the faded, paint chipped, pots. Someone had thrown them out so Ann gathered them up and brought them to me. I think these pots are just right for the little succulents.

In case you're wondering about the junk under the pots...

Well, I had to move all the "old motor-grader road" museum items up to the greenhouse. Poppy said to throw them in the pile going to the junk man, but I simply could not part with them. For those of you who don't know...

the dirt path we live on used to be called "the old motor-grader road".  For a long long time, with every walk, we found old rusted metal pieces; plow points, nuts & bolts, tools, old bottles, etc.. I just can't part with them. Most pieces are probably over 100 years old. Maybe I'll hang a little sign on the greenhouse; "Old Motor-grader Road Museum".  :)

Who knew, I would love succulents so much??

Such pretty little plants...

Okay, enough is enough!

The Antique Tractor Show last Saturday...where I was a vendor...well, it wasn't as much fun as the last one. Not as many vendors, not as many folks walking around. I made a measly $58.00 after all the work and toil of packing, setting up, standing in the hot sun for hours...

The older gentleman with the Model T was there but had his wife along so we didn't see much of him. Last time he was buying bonnets and giving everyone rides. Hummm!

Here's a picture from last time...

Anyhow, here's some of the little dolls I made and carried to the sale...

and a group of homely looking little fellows...

Guess I will get up from here now and go put supper on the table. Don't know what struck me but yesterday I cooked collards, turnips, sweet potatoes, dried butter beans, and cornbread. Had plenty left over so will just warm it up. 

Thank you friends for stopping by. Seems like I had something important to post...oh!!! I just remembered!!! It's Poppy's brand new carport...

Never really wanted a carport but now that its here, it's kind of nice. I like it okay...Poppy LOVES it. 

Thank you!!

Love,

Henny

Watermelons, Georgia, and catching up

We put two of the watermelons on the wood pile then cut one for the refrigerator...

 The farmer who lives on Hwy. 39 about 10 miles from us opened his roadside stand on July 4th. We've waited all summer for this. He grows these watermelons in a field  behind his house. These are the best! Big heavy sweet watermelons!

Remember way back when country folks, during the summertime, would keep a watermelon or two laying on the ground under a shade tree? Several years back Poppy and I went way down in Georgia...never seen such long country dirt roads...so I could meet some of his kin folk. Poppy's brother Joe and some of Joe's family drove down too.

After driving for miles and miles down a dirt road, we pulled into the driveway of Poppy's Uncle Bob and Aunt Weeda's home. They were not expecting us, so we visited in the yard. After a while Aunt Weeda said, "there's a watermelon over there under that shade tree y'all can cut if you want to".

I looked through an old picture album and found these two pictures...

Uncle Bob, Aunt Weeda, and cousin Johnny. All three have passed on now. 

and their little farm house. We didn't visit with them long, but went on to other places. There were miles and miles of old country roads Poppy wanted me to see. Poppy and his brothers and sisters were born in this little section of Georgia and would probably still be there if his Dad had not been killed in a truck accident. Poppy was four years old when his Mother packed them up, all five kids, and moved back to North Carolina, into a small two bedroom house next to her parents. 

Time sure flies, doesn't it! and the days are so busy...I've had dreaded doctor appointments, the garden to look after, and the dogs...

one being a big overgrown puppy who loves to tear up socks but she is such a sweetie pie. We've had dry weather, then all of a sudden a storm that drops five inches of rain in just a few hours...

and did you know that Guineas do not have sense enough to get out of the rain? See them in the bottom left corner of the above picture and sitting on the fence below...

There are more than enough shelters for them to get under but they refuse.

Shelby and I enjoyed the Bee Jubliee held in June...think it was the 26th?? Anyhow, here we are...

Don't know how in the world Shelby keeps all these jams and jellies made...and there were boxes and boxes stored behind us, plus she brought the usual baked goods. Shelby's goods are always a success. 

It was lots of fun and the best part was spending the day with Shelby...so much to talk about and so many good laughs. 

Oh my gosh! Here it is 9:45. Poppy will be headed this way, yawning and cutting out lights. Guess I'd better end this. I will be around to visit and catch up. One of these days I'm going to blog the right way and stay caught up. 

Love,

Henny 

Oh, and the computer was in the shop for a couple of days this week! :)

Thankful for our crowd on Thanksgiving

We had such a good Thanksgiving Day...hope you did too.

Oh wait, let me back up to last Saturday and the "Santa Christmas Bazaar".  Friends, it was the absolute BEST craft event ever! Way too busy to take pictures, but I did get a couple of pictures near the end...

Shelby's jams and jellies, and that's my table behind the stacked jars...

Here, most of Shelby's baked goods had sold.

We both sold lots of goods, in fact, I sold aprons that, well, I thought would never sell and would have to go in the Goodwill box. You just never know. 

So, back to Thanksgiving Day...

It was an extra special day because...

For the first time ever, Poppy's daughter and her family, and both my daughters and their families were here together. That's Andee, me, Poppy, Windy, and Lynn. I decided to bite the bullet, close my eyes and be in the picture. (actually, the sun was blinding). :)

Had to search to find this one...

Hey, does Poppy look proud? This is Windy, Brian, and Grandson Luke. Luke is 15 years old, 6' 2" tall, and plays football!!

more of the group...

On the left, Poppy's daughter and family; center Andee and husband Todd; group on the right, Lynn's family (with three missing).  Actually the two guys in back of Lynn's family are Jason, Lynn's fiance and Jacob, Michaela's boyfriend... and on the far right, well that's Madison, Andee and Todd's daughter. Whew!

Ah, I like this picture...

Daniel was one of those missing from the group picture...that's him with his mom Lynn, and  my Great Granddaughter Addie.

Had to search for this picture too. Thank you Andee.

Daniel, my first grandchild. 

and here's the other big guy missing from Lynn's group...Grandson Joseph. Addie is his daughter.

On the pier, Grandsons Daniel, Joseph, and John. The other guy is Jacob with Michaela. Here's proof that the old pier is still sturdy after all these years. Poppy built the pier in 1996, with no one but me to help. Glad I didn't see those babies hanging over the edge. Looks like Michaela was holding onto them tight. The little boy is Greyson, Addie big brother and my Great Grandson.

Michaela, Addie, and grandson John in the background.

If there is a dog around, he will be found in Madison's arms. Like her mom, she adores dogs. Of course, Weetie was in heaven.

Andee, Todd, and Madison

Excuse me, but did any of you notice the leaves! The leaves! As far as the eye can see! Actually, the leaves are kinda pretty on the ground at Thanksgiving...it's Christmas time when the leaves begin to look ugly. 

and speaking of Christmas, I am excited about decorating now that Thanksgiving has passed.

Here's a little "before" picture of the lonely looking living room fireplace and mantle...

Hope to be back soon with a warm glow with bright and shiny cheerfulness.

But, alas, this morning we have wind and downpours of heavy rain bringing down als0  the remainder of the brown oak leaves.  It's terribly dark and cloudy and gloomy...

a day fit for nothing but snuggling up on the back porch cot.

 of course, some prefer a warm corner inside.

Okay, I've overdone it today. Too many pictures. But remember what I said after the big flop of a post about Vintage Market Days?

So, this is my happy Thanksgiving Day post! Oh wait, one more...

Completely forgot to take a picture of all the Thanksgiving food, but here's load six of the pots and pans to be dried and put away. Worth every dirty dish!! :)

Love,

Henny