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

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

Not much of a post...

walking past the garden again and Poppy asks, didn't you just take a picture yesterday...

well, I did and will probably take another one tomorrow.  :)

Hey friends. I am starting a post with absolutely nothing interesting to talk about except maybe the weather. According to our weatherman, we have just been through the hottest June, and hottest July on record.

Then August, normally out hottest most humid month, comes in followed by a cold front and we have enjoyed almost a week of wonderful cooler weather with temps in the 60s and 70s. 

Smokey has been stretched out on our raggedy old back steps...

Gosh, I didn't realize how badly these steps and screen door need painting. Another job added to my list...the list that keeps growing with very little getting checked off. When I think of all the work, I used to get done around here...

Anyhow, a few weeks ago Poppy said, wonder if there is a recipe for "raspberry pie"?? Well, I found a recipe, tried it...

and we have eaten a raspberry pie a week ever since. It is absolutely delicious, (got to have whipped cream), and wouldn't you think, good for you?? Best of all, easy to make. Here's the recipe...

1 c. sugar, 3 T. cornstarch, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 c. water, 4 c. raspberries, 1 T. butter

Over medium heat stirring constantly, bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Add butter. Cool then pour into baked pie crust. Refrigerate.

I am ashamed to say that I cannot make my own piecrusts. and at my age!! The one in the picture was a little Pillsbury frozen crust. My favorite though is this one...

to unroll and place in my glass pie dish. Looks much better, kind of like a homemade. :(  One more thing, Food Lion puts their store brand frozen raspberries on sale 2 for $6.00. One bag makes this pie. 

Poppy came in the other day saying I brought you a flower...

awww, well actually, it was stuck to my boot, he said. Have you ever seen such a tiny flower?

Hope you will visit again, if you've made it this far. I do appreciate you all.  

I will end this mess with little Miss Violet, trying on a new dress...

Love, Henny

Special note to Darlene...I am so sorry for not seeing your comment sooner. Please see my reply. :)

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!!

Home, home in the leaves

 Sorry things are a little messy around Randall Rabbit's home. Things seem to take on a ragged look in the winter months, don't you think? I was on my way down to feed him. If you look closely, you can see poppy through the wire fence.

awww, here we are...

The little veranda I had been building around Randall's house, Poppy saw as the perfect spot to sit and watch the deer at the end of the dam. He and Randall keep each other company. 

Seems Randall sees the deer first and signals to Poppy by thumping loudly.  Late yesterday, Poppy texted me to Look out the living room window. There were eight deer at the end of the dam. 

Taking a break. Apple peels are his favorite treat...

Randall sure is a sweetie pie. I missed the perfect opportunity to adopt a companion for him. Makes me sad to think about it. The Orange County Animal Services, about an hour's drive from here, had a large grey and white female, "spayed" rabbit that needed a home. I was ecstatic. This was late afternoon on Friday before the last big craft show. They are closed on Sunday, so I promised to be there Monday morning. Well, someone came and adopted her on Saturday. :(

Oh well, maybe it was for the best. So, while Randall helps Poppy hunt Smokey keeps me company...

Can't resist picking him up for a hug. He is so warm and cuddly these cold winter days...

His look says he had rather have the soft cushion back, so I got back to my work.

Well friends, just a little Randall and Smokey post. I have been in the Christmas decorating mood and hopefully will be back with a bit of a Christmas post. I actually got around to making an ice box fruit cake yesterday. Yum! So easy and so delicious!

Rian, hope you can visit and see our big boy, Randall. :)

Love, Henny

Oh yes, almost forgot, "Home home in the leaves...

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