I don't feel any older

Hey friends, I didn't mean to go away and stay so long. Guess today, September 14th., is good a day as any to do a post...it's my birthday! 

Normally, I don't mention my birthday, and probably would not have thought about it today except Poppy was sitting at the bar eating his morning cereal when he looked up and said, "oh, Happy Birthday". 

Did you have birthday parties, growing up? I remember one. It was when I turned thirteen. Oh, it was a blast! We were living in Robbins, just the best little town in North Carolina...and this is the very living room...

where I, and all my friends, sat on the floor playing, "spin the bottle".  So exciting...I got to walk around the block with Ronnie G. the cutest boy in class. There were lots of presents to open and it's funny, the gift from Ronnie was a small jewelry box made of wood with the mirror missing from inside the lid. I remember hearing mama say, it probably belonged to Ronnie's mother. That was fine with me!

Don't have any pictures  from that party, but this is me, twelve years old and only two months before my thirteenth birthday...

Can you imagine! Guess no one told me plaids and flowers don't go together, and where did that Chinese hat come from? No wonder I didn't have a boyfriend! Well, I was always more interested in dolls than boys anyhow. 

Oh, about the folks in the living room picture...

had nothing to do with my birthday, just wanted to show you where my party was held. This picture was taken after a big Thanksgiving dinner back in the 1950s and that was my Uncle Myron on the left, Cousin Clyde, Cousin John in the cowboy suit, and his dad, my Uncle Bill. The foot showing in the picture was daddy's. 

So, how about a shot of me in a bathing suit...

As I said, no wonder I didn's have a boy friend. :) Okay, enough about me and my birthday.  

Have another doll to show you...

Remember the Tomy, "Kimberly" doll? This doll came out the same year as the famous "Cabbage Patch" dolls, which is why "Kimberly" never made it that big.  But isn't she beautiful? 

Actually, I have two Kimberly dolls; found both in a thrift store several years ago...

and both dolls have ink marks that wouldn't come off. Had to make them some clothes too. Anyhow...

I've been busy making tiny dolls for the upcoming craft show. It's tedious work but I love it...

most of these are not finished. 

Well, thank you for visiting. Hope I didn't bore you with a post about me. Hope to be back soon...oh, to tell you about the succelents. 

Love,

Henny

 

A kitty, and other bits of news

Well, as it turns out, Christmas was wonderful. Hope yours was wonderful too. Didn't get to see all the children or the grandchildren, but Andee and Todd, without Madison home for Christmas for the first time, had dinner with us. Got to say, that made Christmas!

So first things first...Is there anything cuter than the face of big sweet kitty cat that's not sure what's going on...

I picked him up for a hug and Andee said, Mom, I've got to get a picture of that. Smokey wasn't sure about Andee and that strange looking iPad.

This big boy gives THE BEST HUGS!

"It's okay Smoke! We're gonna whip Andee for scaring you". :)

Around the first of December we ordered a Santa poster...the 24"x 36" size for the big wooden frame on the front porch. The sunflower looked out of place at Christmas. 

Well we waited and waited, we made phone calls, and eventually tracked the package to the Louisburg post office but no one could find it. 

Guess what arrived Christmas Eve, delivered by our regular mailman...

I was really looking forward to hanging this life-size Santa. At least it got here, and did add a little joy to the porch and old cupboard for Christmas Eve and Day...

Were you surprised by any unusual gifts this Christmas? We surely were. Let me back up a little first...

Poppy's daughter Windy, and her family, moved from Missouri to Virginia about a year ago. They bought a nice home with a big fenced-in back yard with ready made raised beds for gardening. Had no idea what big gardeners they were until just before Christmas when Windy sent pictures...

Oh my gosh!  How pretty, and is that Bamboo I see growing in the background? (actually, I asked if that was reed growing in the back, I didn't know there was a difference) :) I searched all last spring for a decent piece of Bamboo to make homes for the mason bees. When you guys come for a visit, you can have all the Bamboo you want, Windy and Brian agreed. 

Before Christmas, a UPS truck backed into the driveway. The driver jumped out, opened both back doors and struggled to pull out a big heavy 7' long box. Poppy helped get the box up on the porch. What in the world is this, asked Poppy. Obviously, something that will have to be put together, said the driver...by the sound of the wood clanking together inside the box.

We opened our present Christmas Eve...

A box filled with beautiful perfectly cut, 7' tall Bamboo pieces! Prettiest I've ever seen! Can't wait to use these in the garden next spring and try to create something really pretty. 

Speaking of gardening...I'm already dreaming and planning.

Good grief! No wonder Poppy is always saying, will you get to the point! You've all probably signed out by now. If you're still here, thank you for visiting! 

Love,

Henny

Patty and Holly, no, Holly and Patty

I've just got to say thank you for the nice comments on my last post, and Gale, who had never left a comment before...thank you so much! Your comment sure touched my heart.

The Holly trees are beautiful this year...

and were even prettier a few days ago. Poppy has reminded me every day..."you better get a picture of the holly berries before the birds eat them all".

First the Robins came...hundreds of them filling up on the red berries before moving on. Now the Cardinals fill the holly trees but that's okay.

Back when we cleared a spot in the woods to build the cabin, we intentionally left all the holly trees and all the cedar trees...

and in the dead of winter when other trees are bare, the hollies and cedars are dark green and beautiful. The green trees in the background are hollies and cedars too.

You probably remember my cousin Patty, don't you? Patty, who gave me the old cupboard, and the old pie safe, plus many many other things too numerous to mention...well, Patty called me last week...

by the way, this is cousin Pat and her husband Mike, (the nice looking couple on the left).  Anyhow, Patty said, "every morning I get up and get started on something. This morning I decided to sit here and read this old church cookbook."  

It's one of those cookbooks put together by members of the church. This church is located in a small community called Ether ...

near where my mother Jewel, and Pat's mother Agathel, were born and raised...along with their sisters, Aunt Bass, Aunt Berlie, Aunt Martha, Aunt Ruby, Aunt Macie, and Aunt Eva, oh and brothers, Uncle Henry and Uncle Charlie.  these folks...

Front row is Aunt Eva, Jewel (mama), Aunt Martha, Aunt Bass

Back row is Aunt Macie, Aunt Agathel (Pat's mom), Aunt Berlie, Aunt Ruby, Uncle Henry, Uncle Charlie

So the old cookbook contains recipes and tips from relatives and friends from all those folks. The main thing Pat called about were the hundreds of tips and ideas listed in the back of the old cookbook. "I've just got to share these with you", she said. Some are really good, some a bit strange, some funny...

Not sure how easy these will be to read...Oh, I would be overwhelmed if someone put all this in front of me to read so please...

Some of these are pretty amazing. It's easy to tell there were no microwave ovens around at the time. Patty thought this would make a good blog post...and I agree. 

Better get up from here...looks like some of the sweetie pies around here played too hard today...

Sorry about the raggedy old couch, it's just so darn comfortable. One of these days we may get a new living room suit. :)

Love,

Henny

PS.. Debby, just saw your comment for the first time too. Thank you so much!

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 

Back to work

Well, Christmas has come, and gone in a hurry, but wasn't it fun! Hope it was a merry one for you all. I've got pictures to show you and the chew bread recipe, in a minute.

But first, now that Christmas is over I could hardly wait to get outside and work! Thank goodness for steroid injections!! 

Wednesday I worked four hours putting up a retaining wall to stop our chicken lot from completely washing away. Why I've been expecting to see hens lose their footing in all this gushing rainfall and go with the current under the fence and down the hill!

Should have taken a before picture, but as usual, forgot...

Oh my gosh, you should have seen the "before". The bridge was totally hidden under black soil from the chicken lot.

I shoveled and hauled away six wheelbarrow loads of dirt off the little bridge!! The 4" x 4" post helped me keep the spot level. 

From old pieces of scrap tin, I cut sections and hammered them into the ground along the fence line. Then drove Rebar into the ground to support the tin and then wired the Rebar to the fence. There! That should hold it!

Hopefully, the bridge will dry out now. It has been treacherous walking back there for Eli and me...well, for me anyhow.

and next on the list of jobs...

get some of these leaves raked up so I can use this beautiful pine straw from our neighbor Fred. 

Wednesday, I did rake leaves for about three hours...before the rains came back. Do you know this is the wettest year on record for us? 

Okay, I've got Christmas pictures, except nothing about the pictures looks like Christmas...

except for our smiling faces. This is my daughter Andee, son-in-law Todd, and home on college break, granddaughter Madison, and her friend Paul. 

Having them here simply "made" Christmas for Poppy and me!!

Rosie said there would be no picture taking!!

 Rosie is a little rough-neck!

we must have spent an hour playing in the goat lot!

Madison tried out the swing.

Little Weetie  enjoyed all the attention. What a fun Christmas for her!!

See, nothing here looks like Christmas, and yet inside there was a fire going in the fireplace and the entire bar was covered with foods...we had three crock pots going, one with spicy meatball, one with seasoned new potatoes, and the other with little sausages...there was potato salad, ham, deviled eggs, a vegetable tray, yeast rolls, cheesecake, chocolate pecan pies, fudge, chew bread, Christmas cookies and more...and I forgot to take a picture!

and here's the recipe...

brown sugar chew bread

1 stick butter

1 box light brown sugar

1 tsp. pure vanilla

3 eggs

2 cups self-rising flour

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Mix in order given

grease 9 x 13 pan

bake at 350 degrees 40-45 min.

(until toothpick comes out clean)

do not over bake!

Seems to do better if you sift the flour before measuring 

Guess I need to get busy. Got to go to town for a few things before I can work outside. After today, we have four more days of rain coming! and yesterday we got another three quarters of an inch!

okay, the rare and unusual picture! One with Poppy, and me too! :)

Thank you for visiting.

Love,

Henny

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!