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!!

Dear me, how time flies!

Seems like I ended my last post with something about coming back with Christmas decorations. :) Anyhow, glad February is here. We had some really cold days in January...

Rare to see icicles like these around here. These were on the fig tree near the back porch...and the teeny tiny pond froze over...

and miss ducky was not able to swim for a couple of weeks. makes me wonder how ducks, geese, birds, survive north of us where it's like this all winter?? 

Anyhow, I do have a special Christmas picture to show you, well very special to me. Remember our great granddaughter, Violet, born last May 25th? Well, her parents carried her to see Santa. Here she is at 7 months old...

Not one bit afraid of Santa, in fact, looks like she thoroughly enjoyed being with him...So much so that Santa read her a book. :)

 Violet has the sweetest personality. Here's one of the latest pictures from Andee. Grandma Andee and Violet...

Sorry, I don't have a recent grandpa and Violet picture. I'll have to ask for one. 

So, Eli and Ellie have both had birthdays...

Oops! A little lop-sided picture. Poppy must have been rocking the recliner when he took this one. :) Ellie turned 4 in December and Eli turned 11 in January. Our sweetie-pies. 

Love how Ellie crosses her front feet...

Such a smart girl, and she is doing great with her Addison's Disease...as long as we keep her prescriptions filled. It's the steroids that keep her going. Miss Ellie takes 13 pills a day. We love her so much. She is worth every penny. We love Eli just as much.

Isn't it amazing how quickly things change. Take the country road we live on for example. I have always dearly loved a country dirt road, especially a path with the roadsides and ditches filled with wildflowers and bunnies. This morning as we started our walk with Eli and Ellie, the sight of the road made me sad. What happened, I asked Poppy...

Of course, I realize it's winter. Things will look better come spring. But a week ago during the cold frigid weather there was a guy cutting and sawing all along the path...even chopped down a small holly tree and a few young cedar trees. :(  No longer looks like a country path but the beginning of a four-lane highway.  Heaven forbid! 

Guess I've worn out my welcome today. Thanks for listening. 

Love, Henny

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...

Leaves, windstorms, clouds!

Willow oak leaves are all over the front yard again...third time this season!

So, I decided to start in a different part of the yard and rake the leaves between the house and the teeny tiny goat barn, Rosie's home...

I raked and raked and raked all the way down to the chicken lot, pulling away a bunch of leaves, and feeling mighty pleased with myself for making such a good start. I love seeing the green grass appear from underneath.

Well, 2 days later that big cold front dropped down bringing most of you snow and bringing us only high winds and cold temperatures. The wind woke us up in the middle of the night, Wednesday night with sticks and limbs hitting the house.

Needless to say, the nicely raked side yard is a mess! I will start over! Have to keep telling myself, "no, matter how bad it looks, all those loads of leaves I pulled away are still gone," so all is not lost.

Filling in here with a picture of the little sewing room where there were supposed to be pictures from the big Christmas craft event last Saturday...

I was supposed to come back and post about it, but it all happened so fast, and we were so busy, taking pictures never entered my mind. Anyhow, I'm sure you've seen enough of my bonnets and aprons and bags. Speaking of bags! Since the boho bags were such a hit at the last craft show, I had 14 made for this event...and would you believe, not even one bag sold! You just never know.

A few months back I did a lot of cleaning out the teeny tiny sewing room. Got rid of a lot of clutter and dust, but told Smokey he could stay...

along with miss Ellie, stretched out where I need to get to the ironing board...

a jumbled-up post I know but Poppy has taken a few neat sky pictures while deer hunting down near Randall Rabbit's lot. Poppy's chair sits backed up to the lot so he and Randall visit, watch for deer, and look at the sky as the sun sets just before dark...oh, and where am I? Inside getting supper on the table and keeping Eli and Ellie from barking. 

I think the pictures have a lonely look. Back when I was very young there was a painting that hung in the living room at home. It had the same colors as in these pictures but even more red in the sky, there was no blue at all. It had woods in the background, a lake, and there were two men in a small boat. That painting always looked lonely to me. Oh well...

Here's one more Poppy picture. The little squirrels are fussing over who gets to sit at the wheel of the tractor...

Not much of a post but if I delete it, no telling when I will get around to doing another one. Going to warm up supper now. Thank you for stopping by. 

Love, Henny

Dearest friends...

I know you all are probably thoroughly fed up and tired of my blog. Really, who want to follow a wishy-washy blog? Fact of the matter is it used to be fun to take pictures with my little $99.00 camera, load them on the computer, write a post, and pull pictures as I needed them. Now to use a picture I must send it from my iPhone to Poppy's iPhone. He then mails it to my Gmail, so that I can download it to the computer. Loading all the pictures from iPhone to computer doesn't work for me either...I can never find them. Oh fiddle sticks!

Meanwhile back in the jungle, or woods...

Poppy has been putting out pieces of apple for the deer. Look who found them...

So sweet! Hope he's careful under all the deer hooves stomping around. Yes, deer hunting is in full swing around these parts. Poppy seems more interested in helping the deer than he is in killing one. Wonder where that came from?? :)

Many pictures have I taken with plans for various blog posts.  Here's a few from my "funny mushroom" post that never happened.

 The mushroom that winked at me...

and the lovely mahogany one, standing in the soft green moss...

and the lumpy bumpy mushroom, that came from under the straw...

Not quite the collection that was in my mushroom post from a few years back. 

and, oh my goodness! Leaves, leaves, leaves! I've cleaned out the teeny tiny garden and covered it with little willow oak leaves raked from the front yard.

Oops! wrong picture. I wasn't quite finished here. But I dare not try and change anything! The garden is actually completely covered in a warm blanket of leaves now and ready for winter. Oh, but this...

Late in the season, one Cosmos came up in the garden and covered itself in buds. Hoping so much that the buds would open before the first frost, and they did...

Winter has been slow coming this year. We still haven't had the first frost.

Remember my make believe "covered bridge on Henny Penny Lane"? :) Had to get a picture while the truck was gone...

Does kind of look like a covered bridge. I can dream. :)

All the little farm animals, such as they are, are fairing well..

Miss Ducky for one...

Eli and Ellie, two more...

and "me", trying to relax my legs after a few hours in the garden...Smokey never misses a chance to take advantage of a soft bed...

Well dear friends, guess that's about it for this time. Truly, I do understand if you've had it!! :) I shall return. Shelby and I have a big craft fair this Saturday. Hopefully, I can post about it. :)

Love,

Henny

PS: Randall Rabbit sends his love, and so does Rosie. 

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