Black Walnut Trees along Crabtree Creek

Poppy fills his pockets with black walnuts as he leaves the deer  stand and walks along the creek coming home...

Gosh, it's been 30 years since I picked up black walnuts there. Poppy has permission to deer hunt that property. Here's a smaller black walnut tree growing there too...

I want to shell some of these walnuts, and the hickory nuts too but talk about a job!! Wouldn't a taste of these wild nuts be delicious?

 And the tall hickory nut tree that grows along the path on our property...

I'm the one who gathers the hickory nuts...

Add a few ears of dried corn from the garden and...

it makes for a pretty, old fashioned picture. Do any of you love "old fashioned" as much as I do? Sometimes I think I should have lived back in the 1800. (didn't miss it by much, did I) :)

Look, I finally got around to putting up a few fall decorations and got to use some of the dried corn stalks from the teeny tiny garden...

The corn stalks were almost too tall. The dark red mum...

isn't it pretty! Andee brought it to me in September, and the buds have just opened up! I love how mums smell, do you?

I want to show you this tree root I found in the path. It must have fallen off a logging truck. To me, it looks just like a giant spider...

Can't you just see this thing on the side of an old barn or house...

Gives me goosebumps. What do you think, Willie??

So far this fall I haven't decorated the old cupboard, but I did find at Goodwill, the most perfect pitcher, it matches the big heavy dishes...

Hope you will pardon the dust. It is so dry here and when a car or truck goes up the path well, it's like a small dust storm settling over everything. Dust, dust, dust!!

Okay, I've gone on and on about stuff...everything is so pretty in the fall, even covered with dust, so here's few pictures from around the pond...

Guess I should have waited for the leaves to turn more, but I'll be back. :) 

Thank you friends. 

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

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

 

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. :)

Anybody remember ...

my ball of string?? I started saving the string off every bag of feed we opened starting back in 1989, well, it was probably 1990 before we actually got chickens, and the pretty black sheep Poppy brought home for me to love and care for...

The ball has grown so big I can hardly hold it, making the string hard to wrap.

My neighbor gave me a large mouth jar to keep it from rolling away. :)   "important stuff"...

I finally got around to making myself an apron. It's a cross-back and made from Holly Hobbie fabric...

and the back...

Since I've enjoyed wearing my long pantaloons lately, I figured a tee shirt, and apron would do the outfit up right. Believe it or not, these pantaloons I make with the wide legs and elastic waist are much cooler to wear than jeans in this extremely hot weather. 

and, if you're wondering where the Holly Hobbie fabric came from, well, Cousin Patty! She had yards and yards stored away. I was tickled to death to get it. I've made bags, ladies' aprons, and girl's aprons and now one for myself. Thank you, Patty.

and do you remember this...

The date on this pattern is 1973 and I found it in a thrift store a few years back. One of these days I might try and make the doll. My oldest daughter Lynn was 10 years old in 1973. Gosh! How time flies. Back then the little girls loved Holly Hobbie and now I love her. :)

Okay, more important stuff to show you...

Have you ever seen a prettier ear of corn!! (I'm kidding). This grew on a stalk of my beautiful Hickory Cane Corn! I'm just so tickled. And, it's just like Rose said...the shucks are so tightly wrapped at the top no bugs or worms can damage the corn. Hickory Cane Corn was grown for animal feed and for cornmeal, grits, etc. but can be roasted and eaten while tender and young. :)  Thank you, Rose.

I made a little video of my beautiful Hickory Cane Corn blowing in the breeze yesterday. I love the sounds too but didn't mean to go a little over one minute. If I sound proud, well, I've never been able to grow corn. Just think of all the decorating I can do with these stalks this fall!! :)

Well, once again I have talked your ears off and gone on and on about stuff. Thank you if you are still here.

This little green frog was about to move in with us, so we sat him in the birdbath just outside the front door...

Love, Henny