Thought I would take five minutes...

and start a new blog post. This was at 7:30 a.m. It is now after 8:00. I got wrapped up reading other blogs. 

Anyhow, remember my little, "Old Motor Grader Road", museum? Well, even though the dirt path has been fixed and gravel spread...we still occasionally find old rusty farm pieces.

It's kind of like looking for arrowheads after a big rain. Bits and pieces keep coming to the surface. 

Know what this is? Hope someone does...

Look how rusty! It has a loop on one end and is sharp on the other. Poppy spotted this sticking out of the dirt along the ditch. 

You know what's funny about this new piece is that one evening on the Western, "Gunsmoke", Poppy saw a piece just like it hanging in an old barn. Mostly what I find are old rusty nails. :(

Oh and look at this...

It's barb wire. Very old, barb wire!

Here's a better look...

I can't even imagine how this must have looked at one time. Poppy says the wire must have been put up using a cedar tree as a post. The tree grew over the years, covering the wire, bringing it into the tree. Eventually the tree died and rotted away leaving just pieces like this. Can you imagine how many years that would have taken. 

We both laughed and laughed...Poppy said, "when was barb wire invented"? "Have no idea", I said, "Google it and find out". Poppy asked, how do you spell bob wire anyway? Is it just like it sounds?  b.o.b. w.i.r.e. ?  Hey, I was at least 50 before someone corrected me. :)

Got the neatest gift from Andee and Todd for Mother's Day...

a cast iron pie pan! There are lots of wild blackberries growing along Henny Penny Lane this year. Can't you just picture it? :)

Caught Poppy loading trash on the truck...

and as he went out, told Smokey he needed to go outside for a while...

That's okay Mokey, I'm coming to let you back in. :)

Guess I had better get busy. Need to feed the bunnies. We have storms predicted for late afternoon. yuk! 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

Next Week! Christmas!!

Hey Friends,

Well, it was a week Friday since my last post. Need to get going here, because I know me...I'll mess around and miss wishing you all a Merry Christmas.

Where have the weeks of December gone! Next week is Christmas! I've done a little bit more decorating.

My beloved old cupboard that sits on the front porch really needed a Christmassy touch...so I went gathering more cedar, pine, and a few holly limbs...

and tied a little of the greenery together for our tiny screen door made with chicken wire...

This door badly needs a coat of stain. It used to be a warm golden color. If you've never seen such a door as this, it's because, it was built by me. :) I sawed an old full size screen door in half, bolted the two pieces together, and added chicken wire., and it worked!

This was back when Eli was ten weeks old. He loved being on the porch but we were afraid he would wander off. I also enclosed the porch with garden wire. You can probably tell. :)

Okay, don't know how I got off on all that. I have something to show you...

Also don't know  how I got lucky enough to be one of four to win a beautiful hand carved ornaments...

from Far Side of Fifty.blogspot.com  Both Connie and her husband are amazing wood carvers.  

Can you believe how much this looks like those old glass ornaments! I love it! Thank you Connie. Appreciate that little scrubby thing too. Those things are great, especially for those of us without dishwashers...

and I wish I had taken a better picture of the card. Connie makes these cards and they are beautiful...

Connie has the neatest blog and posts something every day...something interesting! I could never do that. Some of her posts are hilarious and make me laugh. She's great and got a great husband too.

Got something else to show you...

A very special bunny rabbit from a very special person!

A Bunny that ice skates. He is so cute, and fits right in with the animals on the tree. 

Most of you probably know Deb from Just Cats.  She is such an animal lover and boy do the animals love her. Even the tiny little Chickadees will light in her hands. It's amazing. 

This bunny is more than cute, He is beautiful! I love him!

And friends, I'm serious about Deb and the Chickadees...

I love this picture of Deb in the snow with a Chickadee. (I didn't ask permission to post this picture. Hope you don't mind, Deb). It is so pretty! Thank you for another bun bun.

Well, before I go, here's an old picture from the 40's. 

                                    Kids on the right; Shelby(standing), me(center), Jackie(on the sled)

Taken probably some time around Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love,

Henny

Ducky Lucky, and a special gift

Poppy said early this morning, "the Duck must be waiting for you"...

Oh, she is. She knows there is laying mash for the hens in the bucket, so while I'm getting hay for the goats, she eats the laying mash.

Laying mash is very dry so after eating, she must hurry down to the pond as fast as her little flat feet will carry her, for a drink.

Poppy says all these animals are spoiled and too fat, and it's my fault. :(

We certainly did get the wind and rain as that line of storms rolled through last Thursday. A little over 3 1/2" of rain fell on Thursday, and then terribly high winds blew all day Friday.

I tried to tell Smokey it was too wet and windy to be outside but he said not to worry...

there's a dry spot just under the edge of the house.

Oh, speaking of the wind reminds me...in a comment on my last post, Victoria asked, "what direction is all the treeless space from us"? Not good! It's North! We now really feel that cold north wind. 

......................

Isn't it fun to get a surprise package in the mail?? Well, I did get one.

Connie over at  farsideoffifty.blogspot.com was doing some cleaning out...a big sort, I believe she called it, when she came across this cute little apron...

it is simply adorable...

looks old fashioned, doesn't it? It looks simple enough that I might can make a pattern like it. It is so cute! but that's not all...

little scrubby pads that she makes. These things are wonderful! I've had one for a while that Connie made. Poppy is always borrowing it to use on things like the car...because it won't scratch. Now he can keep the old one. :)

and like I told Connie, the little card with the Lady Slipper is a gift in itself...

Connie paints these Lady Slippers and makes her own cards. She is so talented.

Better get up from here and get busy! Started this post yesterday...here it is Monday morning and lots to do. 

Thank you for visiting.

Love,
Henny

Thank you so much, Connie.

A bunch of stuff

You know, I really did do a pitiful job of posting about the Vintage Market Days in Raleigh. Simply pitiful. Why, the only sweet part of the whole post was Andee and Santa. So next time, if I can't do a better job, I won't post at all. Whew! Glad that's off my chest! 

So, I will bombard you today with a bunch of stuff...like a slew of Santas...

Don't know why I ever stopped making these little Santa dolls. They sell really well at craft fairs. Shelby asked me about them, So I buckled down and made ten of them. Five little couples, to take to the "Santa Christmas Bazaar" this coming Saturday.

and let me show you a really beautiful, really special gift that came in the mail to me from Texas...

from a very special blogging friend, Barbara. Barbara doesn't have a blog, as far as I know, but we met through my blog, and now we visit by email.

She said her Mother and her Grandmother both did the handwork on this little apron. I love the lace. It goes all around and it so dainty and beautiful.
Barbara said she is doing some cleaning out and thought I would appreciate this old apron...and she was exactly right. I love it! Thank you Barbara! 

now, down the chicken path...

it's easy to see who rules. Do you think he could have found a higher perch to speak from?

Hard to tell if this is father or son. The one baby chick raised here this summer turned out to be a rooster, the spitting image of his dad. So far, they seem to be buddies. So far, no fighting.

So, while we are down this way...

the sun actually came out yesterday morning. Now, these scrubby oak trees are nowhere near as pretty as, oh my gosh, some of the trees I've seen on other blogs.  But seeing the sun  shining through, warmed my heart so beautifully!! I mean, we haven't seen the sun in over a week. 

 I love the shadows too.

Winter came way too soon

and my last picture...

At the edge of dark Poppy comes in from hunting, and what a big welcome he gets. That tail moves so fast it's nothing but a blur, and not to worry, Little Weetie gets a belly rub too. Poppy calls her Fatty Watty. 

Guess that's about it. I'll be in the sewing tonight, folding and packing for the craft bazaar. 

Thank you for your comments on that last sorry post of mine. 

Love,
Henny 

A blurry walk through town, and sweetest gifts!

"Gall-lee"!  friends, is it busy where you are this last week before Christmas! Where do the hours go?

A Christmas wish of mine has been to walk down main street in our little town of Louisburg...

one night near Christmas and look at all the decorated old homes (just a few here) and such awful pictures...

and the college...

Picture borrowed from the internet

Picture borrowed from the internet

the courthouse...

Picture borrowed from the internet

then cross the Tar river bridge where you can see way down the river, and in the night sky, see Santa, his sleigh and all the reindeer all lit up and bright and beautiful...

it was a little scary looking down at that black water. I thought this would be such a good post, but all my pictures came out fuzzy. My little camera does not take good pictures at night. What a disappointment.

Anyhow, our walk through downtown happened because of Andee and Todd. Andee called and said, "Mom, let's do it"! They both are so sweet about things like this.

But you know what? With or without good pictures, it was very special to me. It was cold outside, it was a beautiful night and every place looked like Christmas.

Something else to show you...

The sweetest little bun bun has traveled to us all the way from Fox Grove in Canada to Henny Penny Lane...

he is adorable, and we are tickled to death to have him.

Why, he fits in just perfect, everywhere! 

But says he likes standing tall here with these three tall skinny snowmen, and all these other tall skinny folks.

 and like me too, mama? 

Thank you Deb, so much! Hard to imagine any little critter leaving you and Fox Grove and all the special attention they get there. 

Here's another sweet gift from a friend I met through blogging...

A crocheted dish cloth...something I am always searching for. An apron pattern, of all things! This apron is cute enough to wear to town. I intend to make one too! and Sandy embroidered the cute cup and saucer on the dish towel...and a Christmas pot holder...A pot holder I won't be ashamed to pull out of the drawer on Christmas day. :) Thank you Sandy in New York!

and how special is this!

See those gorgeous large pillowcases with red cabbage roses. Sharon's mom, you probably know Sharon from here, sent those to her years ago and Sharon is now giving them to me. Sharon has sent me gardening books, decorating books, and even a subscription to The Cottage Journal. Remember the Autumn issue of that same magazine...the one that arrived in the mail and I went crazy over, wanting my kitchen to look exactly like the kitchen in that magazine? I dropped everything that morning and took off to Goodwill! :) Thank you Sharon!

Oh my goodness! I've got to get up from this computer and get busy!! I've finished the bonnets, the aprons, and the doll clothes for the lady and she is coming this morning to get them. Guess I'll worry myself to death before she gets here, that she won't like them. 

Okay, I'll hush now! Except, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Aren't blogging friends simply the best!!!

Love,
Henny