My plan was to be at "Town and Country Supply" when they opened this morning. Those baby guineas need medicated "Start n Grow" chick feed...asap!
Before leaving, I checked on the babies, and oh, there lay one on the ground, cold and dead. At least it looked dead. It had somehow gotten out from under the mother during the night. I picked it up and felt the faintest movement. It was cold. I put it under my shirt over my heart and came in the house.
I put a soft cloths in the microwave to warm so that I could keep a warm one around the baby. With one hand I mixed a little sugar in warm water and using a Q-tip, put drops to it's tiny beak. I kept doing this and the baby began to move. Then I noticed it's throat moved, like it swallowed.
Having no place warm to leave this baby (in the excitement over the guineas yesterday, I dropped the heat lamp and it broke), I started the car, turned the heat wide open, put the broken heat lamp in, got myself and the baby (still wrapped in warm cloths) in and drove to "Town and Country". Holding the baby close to me with one hand, I carried the broken lamp, (cord dangling), and my purse and went in.
I must have had that "I need help" look because the store owner and a lady buying horse feed asked if they could help. I briefly told them the story. The lady said let me hold the baby while you get what you need...the store owner took the lamp, replaced the broken bulb, got me 5 pounds of chick feed, and put it in the car for me. I paid, thanked them several times, and took the baby and left.
The store owner said to me, "we have some of the nicest customers you'll ever meet...because they are animal lovers"! He is so right about that!
Driving home, the heat in the car was so hot I thought I would roast! It was all I could do to drive and hold on to that now, lively baby guinea!!! It is fine! I can't tell it from the others!
Thank you for listening! Happy Halloween!!
Love,
Henny Penny
Oh my! If you have ever tried to catch a guinea, then you can imagine how hard it would be to catch a mother guinea with five babies. I did just that! In fact, I even coaxed the papa guinea into the pen...
Just this past Monday, Poppy said, "there is a guinea setting on eggs in a brush pile near the edge of the woods...the best thing we can do is break up the nest. It is too late in the season for baby guineas". They have a hard enough time surviving in warm weather. Winter is just around the corner and guineas make terrible mothers...they lose their babies by roaming so far from home. They lose their babies in tall grass and to predators. Well, we didn't get around to breaking up the nest, thankfully! Anyway, I happened to look out the kitchen window and there was the mama guinea with five babies!! I ran outside just as Weetie, our dog, picked up one of the tiny babies. I yelled, and she dropped it! I ran to the shed, got a cage, put hay in the bottom, and believe it or not, caught the five babies without being attacked by the parents! This is rare! I have been attacked by a guinea before! Thinking, if I could get the babies to the pen, the mother would follow me. However, when I turned to pick up the cage, every baby had escaped through the holes in the wire cage. Once again I caught all five and carried them to the pen in my hands...with mama and papa close behind!
I am still not believing all this happened the way it did. Guineas are strange characters!! Maybe that's why I love them so!
Thank you looking at my blog!
Love,
Henny Penny
I am so excited to have a new follower. "Far Side of Fifty, a beautiful blog that I enjoy and look forward to reading every day! Thank you so much!
That hard freeze a few nights ago finished off the summer garden. I was out today pulling the dead plants and spotted the sweetest little violet hiding behind the dead okra stalks...blooming...here in late October...
I just couldn't throw it out...
There were also several yellow butterflies out today on the pineapple sage...I didn't get a very good picture. Every time I got the camera set the butterfly moved! One last hoorah I suppose before winter sets in.
Are you coming in here with that bucket?
I was counting on having plenty of half runner green beans to can this summer but the beans just didn't do good. After all that rain we had...we then had a long dry spell! I am down to about four quarts of canned beans...maybe next year!
All those peppers I brought in before the first freeze did make a few jars of hot pickled peppers.
Had to run into town to pick up a prescription for Poppy this evening. The setting sun and clouds were beautiful...
Not much of a post. Thank you if you managed to stay this long! :)
Love,
Henny Penny
First, before telling you about the swing...I am so excited and want to say "thank you" and "welcome" to my new follower, "The Dancing Donkey". "The Dancing Donkey" is a great blog that I thoroughly enjoy and look forward to reading every day!
Poppy surprised me Thursday morning by coming home with a board to build a seat for that darn swing I've dreamed about, talked about, posted about, seemingly forever! It is now finished and ready for swinging!
So what's the first thing I do...almost kill my foolish self by falling out of the swing!!! Seriously!!! Now we know why it is better to drill two holes in each side of the seat for the rope. Like this image from "Wikipedia"...
This way the seat will not tilt backward or forward. Foolishly, holding onto the phone instead of the two ropes, I sat down in the swing and it tilted backward dumping me out onto the ground with a thud! Flat on my back! I lay there looking up into that tree wondering, am I seriously injured? Finally, getting my breath back and trying to stand up, Poppy comes running outside asking, "what happened to you"? "I fell out of my new swing"! What a sight this must have been! Thinking about it now makes me laugh and laughing hurts with this sore back!!
Tonight we get our first hard freeze. Not much left in the summer garden but peppers, so I picked everything...
Poppy left early yesterday morning going down home to see his nephews, Josh and Joey. It is hard to believe that a month has passed since his brother Joe passed away. Anyway, I am home alone for a couple of nights.
Where does the time go??? I simply must get busy! :) Thank you for looking at my blog!
Love,
Henny Penny
Sadly, our day at the North Carolina State Fair has come and gone for another year. Does every state have a fair? Do you folks get excited about going to your state fair?
As Shelby and I left the fair grounds Wednesday and started on our long walk to the car, we both felt sad that the day was almost over. Actually, we did not walk to the car this time. We rode in a Cycle rickshaw. That's right, a rickshaw! Several were waiting just outside the exit gate, offering tired Fair goers a ride to their vehicles. Shelby and I looked at each other and said nah, we'll walk, thank you. Obviously, one of the rickshaw driver noticed our questioning look. He followed us a few steps and talked us into riding! It was FUN...and we were TIRED!
Our reason for choosing Wednesday at the Fair, The Military Bands...
A few stops along the way. The sweet donkeys...
Now I want a cow too...
No doubt, I weigh about a pound or two more today than I did Wednesday, before the fair! Have you tried the bucket of batter dipped, deep fat fried vegetables? Shelby and I had planned to add this to our list of foods to eat at the Fair every year...that is until we got to the grease in the bottom of the bucket! It took a lot of walking before we could enjoy the fried dough and NC State Ice Cream!!
There was so much more to see and enjoy than what is shown in these few pictures. We somehow missed seeing the cloggers and a few other things. Hopefully, we will have next year.
Better get busy. Supposed to be a hard freeze tonight and there are lots of peppers in the garden to pick. Thank you for looking at my blog.
Love,
Henny Penny
We had wonderful sunshine yesterday but temperatures low enough for wearing my old soft, patched flannel shirt. I've got to buy a new flannel shirt but can't find one I like. Speaking of patches, that reminds me of the gift the ladies gave me when I retired in 1999. Everyone in the office knew how excited I was to be staying home to garden and care for animals, hence the overalls...
Each patch has the name of a designer in the department. I was their secretary. The top patch, John, was our boss. My complete outfit...flannel shirt with rips, frayed cuffs, and patches...
Anyway, the sun felt so good yesterday I carried the bantams with me to the garden to pick greens, and let them have free range. How much harm can two tiny bantams do?? Actually, they did nothing but lounge in the sun, as cute as can be...
A little shade...
Then, of course, "Big Boy", being the show-off that he is, strutted around crowing...
and ruffling his feathers...
Remember the oil painting of "Big Boy", done by the Artist, Pam? It sits beautifully in this bookcase in the living room. Love this painting...
Okay, again, as mama would say, I've simply got to get busy! Hope to be back real soon!
Love,
Henny Penny
Anytime I mention something I want, I mean want really really badly...Poppy says, "you are always wanting something"! Maybe so, but the "somethings" I want are usually small and inexpensive. Never would I ask for a new car, diamond jewelry, a boat! These things do not appeal to me. If you want to make me happy; bring me a kitten, a puppy, a poor dog needing a home. A baby bird that has fallen from it's nest. A bunch of wild flowers picked from the side of the road. An old graniteware kettle or 50 feet of rope to build a swing!!
I don't ask to go on vacations and stay in fancy hotels. If you want to take me somewhere special; drive me to the mountains to see the colored leaves in the fall. Stop at all those little stores, the ones built on the sides of the mountain roads that have jugs of apple cider, jars of honey, and bushels of apples for sale...maybe some handmade quilts hanging outside, and inside, the smell of a wood stove burning.
This time, however, I want something really special!! Something that could cost upwards of 300.00...maybe even 500.00! What I want is a miniature donkey. :) That's right! Even a, "not so miniature" donkey would be great. A donkey that I can hug and feed and lead around the yard.
"Image from Wikipedia"
From what I read, it is best to get a jenny, or female. These are more expensive and harder to find. There are some males for sale at places like Craig's List...I feel sorry for the males. What is wrong with having a male donkey for a pet. I simply want a sweet donkey! Poppy says "IF" we get one it has to be miniature and female!! We had this big discussion last year but never got the donkey. Over time, the idea faded some...but it's back, big time, and I want a donkey!!!
Okay, as the "Food Lion" Lion says on TV, "that's just my two cents!!! Hope Poppy comes home in a good mood today, cause I'm going to do some talking!!
Love,
Henny Penny
Just look at those knots!!! Who would have thought!!! We're getting there little by little. Not much to look at now but all I need is the seat and it will be a swing. Poppy said the board I had planned to use for a seat is too narrow. (Wonder why he thinks that???) Tomorrow I'll run up town to Rustic Building Supply...for sure they will have the perfect board for a swing seat.
We had sunshine today! It felt so good to piddle around in the yard. After getting the second rope tied onto that high limb for the swing, whew! I moved more pots of rooted cuttings into the greenhouse and cleaned up a bit in the yard...threw away a couple of leaky chicken waterers and moved a few pots and tools into the shed.
Speaking of the shed...that little red building back there is the shed. You know how the chickens are with me, no matter what I'm working on. Well, a couple of years ago, I was outside and constantly bringing tools and stuff from the shed to use. Finishing up, I put everything away and went inside. The next day or so I needed something from the shed and when I opened the door, out walked an old dominicker hen. She headed straight for the water bucket! Good thing I needed something! Now I am careful to check inside before closing that door!
The North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh opened yesterday and I am so excited! Shelby and I plan to be there when the gates open next Wednesday, the 23rd.! Every year we spend the day together at the State Fair. We both LOVE the Fair!!! What do I plan to eat that day??? Two ears of roasted corn dipped in butter, one candy apple (and bring home two extra), a large cone of NC State buttered almond ice cream, a deep fat fried blooming onion, and a plate of deep fat fried dough sprinkled with powdered sugar. :)
One of our first stops, after our first ear of roasted corn, is a building full of farm animals. The baby pigs are such fun to watch. This is not a good picture (from last year) but reminds me of a little pig story from our crazy days on daddy's farm...
I've posted before about how none of us kids knew anything about farm life when daddy bought a farm and decided we would all become farmers. One of the animals daddy brought home for the farm was a sow, that later had a bunch of baby pigs.
After the baby pigs were born, daddy came in one day and said there was a runt in the litter, that it would not survive if we didn't take it from the mother and bottle feed it. That's when Shelby took it upon herself to rescue that baby pig and bring it to the house. She waited until she saw that big mama pig way across the pasture, then she quietly slipped in, tiptoed to where all the baby pigs lay sleeping, reached down and grabbed the runt. Little did she know how loud that runt, and all the other baby pigs would squeal! It sounded like they were being murdered which immediately alerted that mama pig! Well, Shelby ran as fast as her legs would carry her, holding tightly onto that squealing baby, with that huge mama pig almost at her ankles by now! Shelby climbed the fence and jumped over, still holding to the little pig! You don't know your own strength until your life depends on it! Shelby never slowed down! She did not run to the house, she ran in the opposite direction toward one of the ponds without looking back, and hid that little pig in the woods. She feared for her life and I suppose, felt like that mama pig might have come on through the fence! After things quieted down, Shelby brought the pig home! Daddy said later that that old sow would have eaten Shelby if she had caught her!!!
Now this is where I come in...with my doll cradle and blankets and baby bottles. I got to take care of this baby pig...after Shelby had done all the work and had almost been eaten by a sow!
This little runt ate like a pig!! :) She grew and grew and grew and became quite a nuisance. She thought she should be with the family all the time. When we were in the house she would come up on the back porch and with her entire 300 pound body, rock back and forth, bumping against the screen door saying "uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh" wanting in. It drove mama crazy!
I couldn't say for sure what happened to this piggy. Neither do I remember her name. This was the late late 1950's. Lots of changes were in store for all of us. I believe this pig went to live with our neighbors, and well, I just really never want to know more.
It was yesterday when I started this post. Today we have rain again. Thank you for stopping by.
Love,
Henny Penny
Lately, I have been busy sewing and crafting again! That's right!!! There is a craft fair coming up on November 3rd and it is being held at the Western Wake Farmer's Market. The same market where Shelby and Jimmy, "the farmers", sell their goods every Saturday. Once a year this farmer's market holds a craft fair along with the regular activities at the market. So, after hearing all about it from Shelby, I signed up. This means I will get to set up my tent and tables next to Shelby and Jimmy. I am so excited!! This has encouraged me to get back in the sewing room!
Last year while I was still selling bonnets, aprons, and dolls at the farmer's market in Wake Forest...I had a brain storm! When I was young, mama showed me how to cut out paper dolls that were holding hands. Since I had quite a collection of paper chicken feed bags from "Southern States"...I can't throw anything away :)...I decided to take these bags apart and cut paper dolls from them. There are three layers of paper in each feed bag. That's a lot of paper to work with. I enjoy drawing, cutting, and coloring these paper dolls and young children are fascinated with them...
Girl paper dolls, boy paper dolls...teddy bears, trains, and angels...
The trains need to be colored red!
A few girls aprons for the craft fair...
and ladies...
Guess I had better go...I am supposed to be shampooing carpet. Got the carpet vacuumed and the furniture moved out of the way...and here I sit at the computer!!!
Love,
Henny Penny
