Occasionally, when I sit down

 in the living room and sit for any length of time, say five or ten minutes, instead of resting, my eyes focus on the dusty old bottle collection, the deer mounts with cobwebs linking them together, maybe a tuft of white dog hair under the coffee table, or the dusty tail feathers of a turkey. But a day or so ago while in the living room, something beautiful caught my eye...

The Bobcat! I haven't told you about the Bobcat! It was over a year ago, our "soon to be new neighbor" Steve was on his way out and got just a few feet from turning into our dirt path and saw this Bobcat that had been hit and killed by a car...

Of course, Steve stopped to tell Poppy about it and the two of them went back to move the cat out of the road. The cat was just too beautiful to leave lying there so Poppy decided to have it mounted. We waited a full year for the taxidermist to finish. He said it was the largest Bobcat he has seen in this area, and it's a female!

This is the day Poppy brought it home in the truck...

We were curious to see what Eli and Ellie would think of a big, strange cat in the living room...

Eli went right up; Ellie growled a little but then the cat is looking straight at her. :) 

I was just so sad and heartbroken that such a beautiful animal had to die this way but glad she is here with us now and not left on the side of the road. 

Who knew we had cats this size in our woods!! I mean, I've been all in these woods around our house, by myself!! They say Bobcats are rarely seen but driving home from town a few days ago, one that looked a lot like this one ran across the road in front of my car, and in the same place this one was hit! Scared me to death! 

Sorry to have gone on and on. Want to show you this vine, growing on the garden fence...

So as mama used to say, it volunteered and came up. All this time waiting for pink or blue morning glories to open and what?? We have a mass of tiny red blooms...

Anyone know what this is?

One more thing and I will hush and go away...it's the beauty berry bushes I planted a few years ago. Look how they've grown!!

I wanted a hedge along the side road to block the view. Now I can work in the garden and not be seen. :)

Never in a million years did I think these bushes would grow this big and be so pretty. Don't know how I got one white mixed in. 

Okay, I have certainly overstayed my welcome. Thank you for visiting. Hope my posting about the Bobcat is acceptable and doesn't make anyone feel bad. 

Love, Henny

 

Apologies, and remembering Daddy and Summerville...

Hello friends. I'm very sorry for being away so long...

Hardly a day goes by that I don't think about you. Poppy said just the other day, "every time I pull up your blog you still have pictures of those icicles from back in February."

"I've just been totally out of anything to post and then spring comes along and the big snowball bush blooms, well, you know me and the big snowball bush!"  :)  

Our teeny tiny house in the big woods is barely visible...

Every spring I am simply amazed at the size of this snowball bush, and the number of blossoms. Thank you for putting up with me. :)

So I set my buckets down there in the path to take a few pictures. Be still my heart! The Azaleas!

You know, I remember living in Summerville SC back in the late 1940s. In fact, I started school there and went through most of the third grade before we moved back to NC. 

Even at that young age, I fell in love with the beautiful giant Azaleas and trees with moss hanging from the branches. "I knew then that I wanted a yard with giant Azaleas" like those in Summerville and Charleston"!

Daddy was manager of a textile mill in Summerville. I don't remember much about the mill except the noise of all the big machines and that they used gray cones filled with thread of some sort. Occasionally daddy would bring home a stack of empty cones for us to play with. So much fun it was! The tips of the cones were different colors, to separate the kinds of threads, I suppose. 

Anyhow, guess what I did with one of my cones?? I filled it with soil and stuck a piece of an Azalea in it and buried it in a hole in the yard. It took root and grew! It sure did!

And, look way down Henny Penny Lane as far as you can see...

That's a home being built. It was probably 4 or maybe 5 years ago I posted that we would soon be getting new neighbors, well that is finally about to happen. Such a nice couple. We're glad they will soon be moving out here.

Oh, and I like this picture...

I went a little crazy with the camera. That's what spring does to me. 

Hopefully, soon I will post about the teeny tiny garden. The jobs around here seem to get harder and harder especially with my back problems, arthritis, and osteoporosis. Good grief! I'm not giving up yet! :) I managed to get all the leaves raked and hauled away again. Yay!!

Smokey, looks back as I tell him to be careful out on his adventures today...

One more little apology for such a long post about, of course, the snowball bush. But it is such a beautiful Spring! The wild azalea and the button bush too...

Thank you dear friends. 

Love, Henny

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter!!

Look what's happened...

 since my last post!

Meet little "Violet", our new great granddaughter. Born May 25th. Remember the big wedding we attended last June up in West Virginia...The marriage of Madison and Hunter? Well, they wanted a baby right away. Can't wait to meet her in person!

Guess my other news won't be quite so exciting or nearly as cute...like my teeny tiny garden. Just have to show you how the beans are growing...

The little wattle fence is holding up fine. On the right is a sunflower that volunteered and came up and then there's four eggplants. 

and here's the onions, lettuce, kale and a few other things...

Tomatoes on the left. I've got a few odd plants scattered here and there...

Found one German Johnson tomato plant at Walmart. It had been dropped and was falling out of the pot. Of course, I felt sorry for it and brought it home, paying full price for it, of course. Anyhow, it's now the prettiest one in the garden. All others I started from seed in the teeny tiny greenhouse.

Well friends, I started this post early last week. Since then, little Violet has grown, the garden has grown, I'm older :) Anyhow, got a few more pictures...wanted to show you Randall Rabbit...

He can't wait for the treats in the bag, kale, apple peels, and grapes...

Randall is such a big sweet bunny...

Willow is doing fine too. She is still timid and will not let me pet her but trusts me more and doesn't mind stepping on my feet.

The playhouse and garden have been wonderful this spring. I could spend my days playing there but :( there are meals to cook and clothes to wash...anyhow this picture was taken from my little rocking chair in the playhouse...

and all those 7' red lilies! Growing and blooming from flowerpots. Sometime last year I dug all the bulbs and put them in pots and sat them inside the garden. Had no idea this would happen. Where in the world can I plant them! The deer eat them!

Poor lilies! Well friends, I must get busy. Have bored you long enough and there is more housework to be done. Andee and Todd are coming tomorrow to stay until Thursday. We are so excited...Lynn and Jason are coming for the day on Wednesday. Can't wait!

Thank you for listening. :)

Love, Henny

 

My dearest and best friends...

 Don't know why I've had such a hard time putting a post together lately. 

Anyhow, I was in the teeny tiny garden today and thought to myself...

"Hey, you could at least stop in and say hello and tell the best friends you've ever had how much you appreciate their friendship over the years".

So, here I am! "Thank you friends so very much"! I miss you and think about you just about every day.

Oh, there has been lots I've wanted to post about...like this beautiful spring. These few pictures were taken very early spring...

when the leaves were tiny on the trees, and everything seemed to be turning green, and I was going absolutely crazy...

Even in the back yard and around the...

Why, I think every yellow water iris was in bloom this spring...

and now those wild bushes that smell so very sweet are in full bloom all along Henny Penny Lane...

the black dot back in the driveway is Smokey, waiting for me to get my senses back and come home. Oh, the sweetness!

While I'm on a roll with spring yard pictures, here's the playhouse...

Oops, here's the playhouse! That's Smokey on top, again waiting for me. :)

For a little real news, Sunday before last I was on my way to Food Lion for a few groceries...I turned off the boulevard onto the little street that goes into the store parking. About half way down a truck came from a side street, failed to stop at the stop sign and crashed into the side of my car. Thankfully, I was not hurt, but my little SUV was badly damaged...

Lucky it hit the front quarter instead of my door which probably would have hurt me. My car can be repaired, and his insurance will pay. Yay for that!

Got to tell you about our mowing! What a job! Poppy with the riding mower and me with the push mower we finally, finally, got all the mowing done. 

 

Down near the pond I mowed with the push mower. When Miss Duck refused to move so I could finish the last spot, Poppy came along, picked her up, I mowed the grass under her and Poppy sat her back down.

Like everything (and everyone) around here, she is getting old. :)

Maybe I should stop here. This has been a busy stressful day and bedtime is getting close. Hope to be back soon.

Love, Henny

 

Are your days busy?

How can there possibly be so much to do on a teeny tiny farm? Whatever would I do with a real farm!

Anyhow, my days are full. Did you know a fireplace screen makes a great drying rack for green beans...

I wasted half a day trying to build a drying rack with old screen wire then happened to notice the fireplace screen and it worked! 

Funny, when I stood the screen up against the tree, Smokey thought it was playtime...all for him.

Silly kitty! The beans frightened him so he found another place near by to sun...

Can you tell I haven't started raking leaves yet? All these little willow oak leaves will be raked up and put on the garden, hopefully, if I remain able. I am bound and determined to improve conditions in the teeny tiny garden before next year. The garden was awful this summer. Simply awful! 

Oh, I finally got around to adding a little more Fall decor to the old cupboard...

I stopped by Goodwill on my way to line dancing last week and found the pitcher. Andee sent me the cute little welcome mat for my birthday...

and the matching flag that hangs up at the playhouse...

Oh, and those green beans drying in the sun...well I've never had any beans worth drying and saving until now. These are old timey heirloom half runner beans...seeds passed down over the years by my Mother's family. Thanks to Shelby for asking around and sure enough a cousin had a bag full stored in her freezer. Shelby and Jimmy grew a couple of long rows of these delicious beans...plenty to eat and plenty to save for seed. Shelby gave me enough beans to plant a couple of rows too. 

By the way, what is your favorite color of the Fall mums? Oh, I love them all! But if I had to pick just one, it would be the deep reds. My son-in-law Todd brought this pretty mum to me for my birthday...

Good grief! I am so embarrassed. My last post has a misspelled word...right up there big as day in the title. That was supposed to be "Community" rock pile.

Okay, I could go on and on. There are spiders and webs and animals to talk about...I need to post more often. 

Thank you friends...if you are still here.

Love, Henny

Well, it's not a pick-up truck load...

 like some folks I know bring in daily from their garden...

Actually, I just think the colors are very pretty, well, and I appreciate the vegetables too, but it's certainly not the best garden I've ever grown. 

You may remember the year I went to the garden and was greeted by the giant sunflower with a pretty face looking down at me...

A closer looks showed it was just the bees, and I thought my sunflower had come to life...

Oh, and one of my favorite oddities in the teeny tiny garden was the leek that grew and grew and attached itself to my heart...

and I was there in the garden when the beautiful leek removed it's night cap, revealing a head full of tiny flowers. I've tried since then to grow another leek but with no luck.

Anyhow, I was up bright and early yesterday morning and on my way to the farmer's market. 

The fact that the weather is so very hot these days worried me a little, but I carried a small cooler filled with crushed ice.  There was an amazing breeze all day that blew through the big open doors, making the day seem much cooler that it actually was...

Not a good picture and my table looked better from the front. Just wanted to show you a little of the building, it's huge. Big enough for ten or more vendors on each side and behind each vendor is a large roll-up door. Lucky me, when I look out here's my view...

A small but beautiful garden, maintained by the Master Gardners at the market. Didn't make much Saturday, but had fun. Oh, look at this sweet lady trying on one of my bonnets...

The farmer in the green shirt came by my table, picked up a bonnet and asked, "mind if I let someone try this on"? She looks adorable, doesn't she. She bought a bonnet and apron from me the first time I was a vendor there. 

Good grief! 9:15 already! Poppy will be headed to bed soon. Guess I need to get up from here. I will leave you with Mokey again...

Yeah, he asked if I thought he would be a good ornament for the bird bath. :(

Thank you for visiting, oh, and thank you for the nice comments on my last post. Once again, I meant to get back and reply to each one. Time flies!

Love, Henny