August 24th, my last post! And I was doing so well!

Anyhow, I've so much to tell you and show you! Oh, but don't get excited. It's just simple little things that make me happy. :)

Like Fall being here and all the pretty pine straw that fell on my path behind the playhouse...

only leaves here but this reminds me of an old outhouse. :)

and down behind the house...I love the Fall shadows...

Gosh, since this picture was taken, it really does look like Fall. Leaves have covered the brick path.  

Anyhow, moving on with some extra special news. Okay, I've been searching everywhere for a spayed female rabbit. A companion for Randall Rabbit. 

So, a few days ago I did the usual checking at Orange County Animal Services and there they were...two little female bunnies needing a loving home. I called my daughter Lynn! "Lynn", I asked. "If I brave the traffic on I-85 and drive to your house, will you go with me to adopt two bunnies from Orange County Animal Services"? You see, Lynn lives in Durham, about an hour's drive from me, and Orange County Animal Services is about a fifteen minute drive from Lynn's. "Sure I will Mom". She said...

This is Princess, and here's Princess's mother, Star...

Both Bunnies are living on the back porch for the time being since both had been spayed the day before I adopted them. They needed extra care and be given pain medication for two days. The funny part is, my intentions were to adopt one bunny. "Bring home only one rabbit", Poppy said loud and clear before I left that day. So, while at OC Animal Services and Lynn and I were locked inside the little visiting cell enjoying the bunnies, one of the workers popped her head in and said, "we will make you a deal if you adopt both bunnies", two for the price of one", she said. The bunnies are mother and daughter. Awww, I couldn't adopt one and leave the other. :(

Here's me holding mama rabbit...

Arriving back at Lynn's she asked if I could stay long enough to see her little garden and workshop. Of course I could! Friends, Lynn can take nothing and turn it into something fantastic. If you will, take a look inside Lynn's workshop...

and this last picture reminds me of a page from the "I Spy" books. Can you find Lynn?

To learn more about Lynn, go to "abitofbirdsong . Her junk journals are amazing! A recent picture of my lovely blue-eyed Lynn...

I will end all this madness with Smokey and the dogs! It was sprinkling rain...says Smokey...

not to be outdone, Eli and Ellie teamed up for this shot...

Well, friends, hope we are still friends after putting you through all this. I use way too many words. :) Thank you. I will be catching up with you all. Thanks again.

Love, Henny

Sometimes I ...

 just feel like going back in time so I pulled out my old homemade pantaloons and muslin apron...

the feeling was wonderful except when I turned to hook the gate Poppy had followed me with the camera. "Oh, good grief", I said but continued on to enjoy the day, in my little old-fashioned way. :)

The teeny tiny garden looks pretty good and has grown since these pictures were taken last week...

Instead of the usual wattle fence I love to build, Poppy ordered garden stakes for me. I am weaving twine in and out...that's fun too. Will have to take new pictures. 

Anyhow, see the little row of corn back against the fence? It seems to be doing well. Let me explain. Last summer a blogging friend to many of us, Rose, at Pics & Pieces, asked if I had ever tried growing old timey Hickory Cane Corn. She said when she was young that's what they grew, and they also planted cornfield beans along with the corn. 

So, searching online I found Hickory Cane Corn and Cornfield Bean seeds for sale and ordered both...

I just ran up to the garden. Whew! Here's a close-up...

and here's the little row of corn today...

and, while I'm at it, might as well bore you with one more of the woven bean fence...

Oh, my goodness! We've waited all winter for this! So, keeping with my old-fashioned feeling, I went behind the house and pulled our two old rusty lawn chairs to the front...

I like them here, do you? Why I remember chairs just like these sitting under a big shade tree at Aunt Ruby's house. Poppy and I found these chairs at the landfill a few years back and I just had to have them. :)

Have also been busy dividing and repotting root-bound plants and potting up cutting. "When are you going to start selling some of these", Poppy asks. Well, I've thought about putting a little note on "Nextdoor"... Eggs, Plants, Bonnets, & Aprons for sale here. Sounds fun, doesn't it? 

But we'll see. You know, because of the deer, I have given up on growing roses in the yard. Given up!! All the roses are now in pots inside the garden gate with no more worries...

Well friends, thank you if you are still here. I sure can go on and on about things. I will leave you with a picture of Eli and Ellie. You know, Eli is going on 11 years old now and his age is really showing. We can no longer take our long walks to the highway and back. His back legs just won't hold up. He is still our sweetie pie though, our special Eli. 

Love, Henny

Dear me, how time flies!

Seems like I ended my last post with something about coming back with Christmas decorations. :) Anyhow, glad February is here. We had some really cold days in January...

Rare to see icicles like these around here. These were on the fig tree near the back porch...and the teeny tiny pond froze over...

and miss ducky was not able to swim for a couple of weeks. makes me wonder how ducks, geese, birds, survive north of us where it's like this all winter?? 

Anyhow, I do have a special Christmas picture to show you, well very special to me. Remember our great granddaughter, Violet, born last May 25th? Well, her parents carried her to see Santa. Here she is at 7 months old...

Not one bit afraid of Santa, in fact, looks like she thoroughly enjoyed being with him...So much so that Santa read her a book. :)

 Violet has the sweetest personality. Here's one of the latest pictures from Andee. Grandma Andee and Violet...

Sorry, I don't have a recent grandpa and Violet picture. I'll have to ask for one. 

So, Eli and Ellie have both had birthdays...

Oops! A little lop-sided picture. Poppy must have been rocking the recliner when he took this one. :) Ellie turned 4 in December and Eli turned 11 in January. Our sweetie-pies. 

Love how Ellie crosses her front feet...

Such a smart girl, and she is doing great with her Addison's Disease...as long as we keep her prescriptions filled. It's the steroids that keep her going. Miss Ellie takes 13 pills a day. We love her so much. She is worth every penny. We love Eli just as much.

Isn't it amazing how quickly things change. Take the country road we live on for example. I have always dearly loved a country dirt road, especially a path with the roadsides and ditches filled with wildflowers and bunnies. This morning as we started our walk with Eli and Ellie, the sight of the road made me sad. What happened, I asked Poppy...

Of course, I realize it's winter. Things will look better come spring. But a week ago during the cold frigid weather there was a guy cutting and sawing all along the path...even chopped down a small holly tree and a few young cedar trees. :(  No longer looks like a country path but the beginning of a four-lane highway.  Heaven forbid! 

Guess I've worn out my welcome today. Thanks for listening. 

Love, Henny

A little post to say, "I am still here!"

 and thankful too considering all the storms yesterday from Tropical Storm Debby! Oh my gosh! Our little Franklin County made the local news big time with three tornado warnings and two of those tornadoes touching down, with damage. One tornado touched down just east of us and the other just west of us and were only five miles apart. Scary! and any of you that have read my blog for any length of time know how afraid I am of storms.

So how about a picture with a little sunshine and shadows...

We were walking Eli and Ellie early one morning. Gosh, looks like early spring. The leaves were still not on the little trees along the cutover. Can you tell which shadow is mine and Ellie's? :) This is a picture I liked and just now getting around to using it.  I've simply got to do better at blogging. 

and another one...

another walk, this time around the pond. Hard to believe our little cabin is hidden behind the trees in the background and hard to believe this is even our little pond. Sometimes pictures show more beauty than what we actually see while walking. Huh? Did that make any sense?? 

and one more picture, saved for this post...

Don't know why I love this picture so much. Maybe the colors, texture, or just sweet Ellie? Anyhow, on to life here on Henny Penny Lane...

Remember the baby chicks I bought at Tractor Supply and brought them home March 16th? Well, those sweet chicks are now hens and have started laying...

Time flies, doesn't it! So, after going through terribly dry weather in May and June, the rains came in July and have been overwhelming. The teeny tiny garden! Too much water causes tomatoes to split and ours did! We enjoyed one big perfect tomato...

The center slice was just under 4" across. Mighty proud of this one! :)

Oh, and back in the winter months I bought tomatoes at Food Lion called "cocktail tomatoes". They were actually sweet and good. So I saved the seeds from one and started them in the greenhouse...

These tomatoes are larger than cherry tomatoes and smaller than regular tomatoes...and are delicious! I will be saving more seeds!

and while bragging on the tomatoes I might as well tell you how good the old timey half runner beans have been...

Thanks again to Shelby for finding a cousin in the family that had saved these seed beans over the years. These were Mama's favorite beans and probably her favorite part of the garden. I always think of mama when picking beans...

A few quotes from mama while helping her pick beans...

"Try not to tear the vines all to pieces, I'd like to get another mess to cook".

"Watch out for old snakes. Shirley saw an old copperhead curled up under a bean vine".

"Lord, Mary said she could sometimes smell an old snake".

Mama was something! I miss her every day. 

Well, I guess that's about it for now. Thank you for looking in. I miss blogging and miss you, dear friends. I've simply got to do better. 

Love, Henny

Hello Dear friends...

You know what? As usual lately, I was about ready to end my blog but checked in and saw all the comments from all my best friends and even noticed a new follower. How could I say goodbye! You make me happy! Thank you!

Saturday was an extra special day. Got to see both my daughters...

Andee was home from West Virginia so the three of us met in Wake Forest. Guess you know that's Andee on the left and Lynn on the right. 

We don't get to see enough of each other and when we are together the days go by way too fast. 

In other news, I've been wanting to make something new and different to sell at craft shows and the farmer's market. What do you think about Boho Bags?? 

Most fun is picking colors for the lining.

Not sure Bonnets, Aprons, and Boho Bags go together. :) Actually, this is my favorite type bag to carry...lightweight and will stay put on your shoulder. Have made only three so far. 

Speaking of bags, I was in the check-out line at Walmart. When I reached in my bag to get my checkbook, the man in line behind me said, "you're the only woman I've seen who carries a lightweight pocketbook. My wife's pocketbook is so big and heavy, she could kill someone with it".  Actually, the bag I carry is a little smaller than these I'm making. Would love to find a pattern like mine.

Anyhow, it's August! Not my favorite month for sure. It was 98 hot and sticky degrees here today. No fun being outside. I've always preached, once the Fourth of July is past, also is passed the fun of spring and summer, and I start looking forward to fall. 

Miss Ellie says it feels good to just stay inside on the raggedy old, pieced together, couch...

Ellie seems to feel good again, almost back to her old self. It has taken some time to get her medications just right with this Addison's Disease. We have to go in for bloodwork every few weeks. She is such a sweetie pie.

Eli appreciates being inside too on these hot humid days...

in his very own chair, I might add :( One of these days we may get a new living room suite. He's our big boy...our guard dog. 

Are you feeding the hummingbirds this summer?

We have two feeders up, one at the kitchen window and one at a living room window. It is amazing how much sugar water these tiny birds drink. I boil sugar water every single day and fill both feeders every single day! It's almost a full time job but worth the trouble. :)

Started this post last night...so I will end here this morning. Today is line dancing day...Yay!! 

Someone had asked if I ever got my cowboy boots from Amazon...well, yes, but they didn't fit just right so I returned them. I did buy myself a pair, locally, and danced in them before the summer got so hot. Will take some dancing pictures soon. :)

Love, Henny

Get well soon, Diane

 

Not once, since February 2013

until now, have I gone a whole month without publishing a blog post. Feels like starting all over. 

So here's our little ole log cabin, not quite as deep in the woods as it once was...

down Henny Penny Lane where the two, not very bright, Guineas guard the place and compete with Eli and Ellie as to who can bark or scream the longest and loudest warning alarm for every thing that moves...

and the chickens, well we're down to one big feeling rooster and six humble hens and getting a few eggs every day...

The playhouse still stands but needs a good cleaning, especially the rusty contents of the "Old Motor Grader Road" museum...

and back in March I started vegetable seeds in the teeny tiny greenhouse that actually germinated and thrived and are now planted in the teeny tiny garden. Sorry I don't have a picture of the garden yet, duh, how slack of me. I will be back with one.

Can you believe single garden plants, even at Walmart this spring are close to $5.00 a piece! I had to start seed. Could not afford to spend that much on plants. Remember back when you could buy a six pack of vegetable plants for 3.99?? Boy have things changed!

Oh, I do have a picture of the rose bush Andee gave me for Mother's Day three years ago. It grows in a pot inside the garden gate. It bloomed beautifully this Mother's Day...

Doing fine also are Rosie the goat, Miss Ducky, and Randall Rabbit. Guess my best news today is to tell you that our sweet Ellie is doing well. We still have vet appointments with blood work and pills to take twice a day but she is like her old self again, maybe even better...

Here are Eli and Ellie early this morning...

Of course, that's Eli in 'his' chair and Ellie on the old couch.

So if I still have a few friends out there, thank you for looking in. Oh my gosh! Smokey will never forgive me. I've forgotten him. Let me find a picture to add before he reads this post...

Here he is! He says there's plenty of room for both of us at the sewing machine. :(  He's my boy!

Love, Henny