In and out here on Henny Penny Lane...

My little cupboard runneth over...

but I simply cannot bear to part with my collection of mostly, old dishes. Plus, some of my favorites are from blogging friends, Andee, Lynn, and cousin Pat. 

What got me started on this subject anyhow, was pulling the "spring" dishes from the old cupboard on the front porch and replacing them with "fall" dishes. Aren't the colors of "fall" beautiful!

and you know what? Never once did I get around to posting the old cupboard filled with "springtime". Where did "spring" go, and so quickly?

My goodness! It took near half a bottle of "Old English" polish to bring the old cupboard back to life. The daily settling of dust from the dirt path, or as Mama used to say, "cars going up and down the road stirring up dust".

Is it my eyes or is there a touch of blurriness in this picture.? Anyhow, here it is "fall". The rest of the porch could use a good cleaning, and I would love to find a couple of pretty pillows for these old rocking chairs. Maybe a stop by Goodwill before Line Dancing tomorrow??

Saturday morning, I talked Poppy into driving his truck out to Murphy's hay farm for a bale of hay. "I just bought you a bale of hay", he said! Well, that was orchard grass for Rosie Goat...now Randall Rabbit needs Timothy hay. So, we drove to Murphy's, not a far trip, maybe 10 miles or so. 

Oh my gosh!! Can you imagine owning a hay farm! If only I had a barn with a hay loft filled with sweet smelling hay. Anyhow, I pulled the hay bale off the tailgate of the truck onto my now much used pink wheelbarrow, across the yard and down the path...

to my makeshift hay barn...

a shelter with an old freezer chest with the lid removed :(

You know what's fun about going to Murphy's Hay Farm, besides all the hay, you never know what new animal will be there to greet you. You may remember the 2,000 lbs. bashful bull from several years ago...

and a few weeks ago was this adorable miniature bull...

and now greeting customers...

Oh, this fella is so sweet and gentle and slow moving...

I would love to bring him home...

I said to Mr. Murphy, I want the camel! He laughed and said, well you can get him! Now where in the world could we keep a camel! You may remember also it was Mr. Murphy who took all my beloved rabbits. Oh yes, he said, there's a big place here for rabbits and a house for them. "sigh".  Will I ever stop missing my bunnies? 

But then there's big loveable Randall Rabbit who has stolen my heart...

with his very own bale of Timothy Hay...

Have been meaning to tell you, Willow Wabbit has a new home. She just didn't work out here. She now lives with another black Flemish Giant, a male so I'm sure she is happy and cared for. The owner wants to raise more Flemish Giants. Willow was a digger. She had turned the entire rabbit lot into a maze of tunnels. I was so afraid of her digging out and something bad happening to them both!

Oh my gosh, how I've gone on and on. It's okay if you checked out several stories ago. I must have been starved for someone to talk to :) Thank you for listening. Love all my blogging friends! 

Henny

A little post to say, "I am still here!"

 and thankful too considering all the storms yesterday from Tropical Storm Debby! Oh my gosh! Our little Franklin County made the local news big time with three tornado warnings and two of those tornadoes touching down, with damage. One tornado touched down just east of us and the other just west of us and were only five miles apart. Scary! and any of you that have read my blog for any length of time know how afraid I am of storms.

So how about a picture with a little sunshine and shadows...

We were walking Eli and Ellie early one morning. Gosh, looks like early spring. The leaves were still not on the little trees along the cutover. Can you tell which shadow is mine and Ellie's? :) This is a picture I liked and just now getting around to using it.  I've simply got to do better at blogging. 

and another one...

another walk, this time around the pond. Hard to believe our little cabin is hidden behind the trees in the background and hard to believe this is even our little pond. Sometimes pictures show more beauty than what we actually see while walking. Huh? Did that make any sense?? 

and one more picture, saved for this post...

Don't know why I love this picture so much. Maybe the colors, texture, or just sweet Ellie? Anyhow, on to life here on Henny Penny Lane...

Remember the baby chicks I bought at Tractor Supply and brought them home March 16th? Well, those sweet chicks are now hens and have started laying...

Time flies, doesn't it! So, after going through terribly dry weather in May and June, the rains came in July and have been overwhelming. The teeny tiny garden! Too much water causes tomatoes to split and ours did! We enjoyed one big perfect tomato...

The center slice was just under 4" across. Mighty proud of this one! :)

Oh, and back in the winter months I bought tomatoes at Food Lion called "cocktail tomatoes". They were actually sweet and good. So I saved the seeds from one and started them in the greenhouse...

These tomatoes are larger than cherry tomatoes and smaller than regular tomatoes...and are delicious! I will be saving more seeds!

and while bragging on the tomatoes I might as well tell you how good the old timey half runner beans have been...

Thanks again to Shelby for finding a cousin in the family that had saved these seed beans over the years. These were Mama's favorite beans and probably her favorite part of the garden. I always think of mama when picking beans...

A few quotes from mama while helping her pick beans...

"Try not to tear the vines all to pieces, I'd like to get another mess to cook".

"Watch out for old snakes. Shirley saw an old copperhead curled up under a bean vine".

"Lord, Mary said she could sometimes smell an old snake".

Mama was something! I miss her every day. 

Well, I guess that's about it for now. Thank you for looking in. I miss blogging and miss you, dear friends. I've simply got to do better. 

Love, Henny

Instead of posting this morning...

 I should be reading your posts and leaving you comments, and I will do that. I just first had to say "thank you" for looking at baby Violet and leaving me such nice comments on my last post. Each one is truly appreciated. I meant to come back and reply to each one...hope you will forgive me.

The days are full and busy...do any of you ever catch up or get ahead? Oh, but it was wonderful having Andee and Todd home for a couple of nights last week. On Wednesday (last week) Lynn and Jason, and my granddaughter Michaela and husband Jacob came for the day too meaning I got to see sweet little Kendall, my great grandson. It was such a fun day. 

With company coming I had to clean out the teeny tiny sewing room and boy! did I ever clean out! Almost looks empty...

Got rid of lots of dust and clutter and moved things around a bit...actually turned it back into a bedroom.

Then come Saturday, Shelby and I had a craft event to attend so that meant pulling out stuff I had just put away. It was the Bee Jubilee in Oxford. Oh my gosh, what a hot day! It was sunny and like 98 degrees, and what a tiring job! It was fun though and best of all, made a little spending money. :)

Speaking of hot! How about hot and dry! We have been weeks, weeks! without rain and temperatures in the high 90s! I've been keeping the garden alive with the water hose. 

Mr. Sunshine and the big sunflower...and the bean vines are covered in tiny green beans...Oh, if only it would rain!

It was very foggy this morning. Probably because there were rain showers around yesterday but none, not one drop came over us. 

Look how brown and dead the grass is! I mean, a few weeks ago it was green all around the garden. 

It has been one thing after the other! Last Sunday Poppy went to wash his hands and yelled, "Mel, there's no water"! Oh, good grief! Had the well gone dry from the drought? Turns out the pump had gone bad. Thankfully, we found a company that would come help us out even though it was Sunday. Cost us a whopping $1,600.00 but we have water again, and a new pump and new wiring! 

Back to the garden...guess where this little fella hides when he sees us coming up the road...

In the garden! He is tiny and goes right through the fence. I couldn't help but think about Peter Rabbit in Mr. McGregor's garden. I've got to come up with something...he is eating the leaves off the small okra plants. Okra! of all things! And there is kale growing nearby!

Guess I should stop here and say goodby. Could go on and on but I should save a little for next time. Thank you, thank you for stopping by. Oh, so many of you commented about the name "Violet". Isn't it sweet, and her middle name is Lorraine, and that's my middle name. Named after me. I am so pleased. 

Love, Henny

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

 

Just in time...

 

The teeny tiny garden is growing and my grasshopper trap is woven and hanging on a post. :)

On our walk with Eli and Ellie I saw a patch of small leaf long stem Plantain. Just had to stop and pick a handful and bring them home.

Thinking of mama, I wove the long stems threw my fingers trying to remember just how she did it. Anyhow, this is how it turned out. I will be sure and let you know if it catches a grasshopper. :)

Baby chicks...

Not really babies any longer, these chicks have moved into the lot with the big chickens.

Cutie pie! All of them are cute, and so friendly. Poppy says, "because they think you are their mama".

but the cutest are the two black Marans with feathers on their legs. 

Speaking of the garden, so far, so good? The beans are up, and I've built the crooked little wattle fence, such as it is...

While up at the garden taking pictures only five minutes ago, would you look at this!

a guy from Duke Energy spraying weed killer under the power lines. The mist was blowing my way, I could smell it!

and here's his truck...

If my plants all die! Well, what can I do?? Always something!

Better get busy. Need to get the animals all fed and settled in early since they're calling for a chance of thunderstorms this evening. Oh, I feel so bad for all the people in Iowa where so many tornadoes hit. My heart goes out to them. I can't even imaging going through that. 

Hope to be back soon. 

Love, Henny

Been working on the old cupboard, with springtime dishes. Be back with pictures. (hopefully)

Shoot! I meant to show you the pretty lettuce growing in the garden. I usually can't grow lettuce!

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