Sad Duck News

When Poppy and I got up this morning it was 2 degrees!!!  I don't remember it ever being this cold before!  Ever!   Neither humans nor animals around these parts are used to such weather!

Our poor, poor old male Muscovy duck was frozen to death in the pond this morning.  His mate was near death.   Her tail feathers were frozen under the ice, pinning her down.  In the picture below, she is on the left, after being rescued, and that's her feathers in the icy pond.  Poppy had already pulled the dead male out of the frozen pond. 

Poppy got a long handled brush, one he rigged up for cleaning the drain pipe in the pond. With the extra long handle he tried pulling the old female, but she was frozen tight.  Using the heavy brush end on the long handle he managed to break the ice around her enough so that the next time he pulled her, she broke free, leaving several tail feathers sticking up in the ice...

My heart is broken.  We got these two ducks in 2002 when they were just babies.

 According to info on line, the life expectancy of a Muscovy duck is seven years. This pair was going on 12 years old.  I am hoping the old female will be okay.  She did eat some corn earlier.  

Here the sun had come out and melted some of the snow...

With wild animals lurking during the night, being able to swim away has probably kept the ducks safe these many years.  Guess we will never know what happened last night.

It will take time to get over losing our sweet old male duck.  He was such a pet.  He liked Old Roy dog food and would waddle up to the kitchen window and stand there wagging his tail until we saw him.

Thank for your shoulder...

Love,
Henny Penny

Hardly the "big one"!

After all my complaining and poking fun at the weather people...we got about three inches of snow!

What gets me all riled up is how the weather people start predicting this huge snow storm, way in advance.  The "big one" is coming!  Get prepared!  Schools  and businesses go ahead and start closing!

 We rarely get a big snow event in this part of North Carolina, so everybody gets excited, especially the children.  The few sleds and shovels and boots available in local hardware stores sell out immediately!

Then when the snow doesn't arrive, the weather people begin playing it down. Well now it looks like this may be just a freezing rain event.  Maybe sleet and a few snow flurries mixed in.

Sometime during the night it did finally snow and by daylight we had about three inches. 

A few pictures taken while out feeding the animals this morning. I can always count on Poppy to throw himself into, well, leaves, snow.  Poppy's snow angel...

Were his feet a little too heavy?

From the back porch...

These were taken through the living room window screen and also the screen on the back porch.

Love,
Henny Penny

Big Snow Coming

Henny here, reporting from the little sewing room...on the upcoming snow storm...

Well, call me Jewel (my mother).  The fudge is made and all the bird feeders are full but not a flake of snow has fallen.  I've been from window to window watching, waiting.  It would not surprise me one bit if we didn't see the first flake of snow.  It has happened before, just this way in the 1990's.  Snow and ice predicted. Warnings, warnings, warnings! So I call my boss in Raleigh.  Sir, surely I cannot strike off toward Raleigh, 45 miles away, alone, when blizzard conditions could begin at any moment! :( Not to worry, he said.  Stay put and be safe.  Well, not one drop of anything fell from the sky that day! Not one drop!

You folks should have seen our local noon news.  Reporters are positioned from the mountains to the coast of North Carolina, waiting for that first snow flake.  State trucks loaded with salt brine, like Army tanks in a war zone, lined up, motors humming, ready to pull out with the first sighting of snow.  

Businesses have closed or, are closing early, same thing for the schools!  Reporting from the east coast we hear that Wilmington is a ghost town...no one on the streets.  People hunkered down, waiting.  But what if it don't snow!!! :)

Lucky Poppy!  His days off this week are today and tomorrow.  Poppy says the store will be "blown out" by the time he goes back to work on Thursday!  Panicked shoppers, pushing and shoving, hoarding and stocking up on groceries in case we are snowed in for more than one day!  But what if we starve!!!

I need to hush and stop making fun!  I am as bad as any other southerner...probably worse!

Bickett knows that Poppy does not like cat hair.  That's why he spends the day lounging on Poppy's side of the bed...

Is that Poppy I hear coming to the computer! Will he will be angry?

Nah, he's okay!

Me and Poppy are buds!

Better get busy.  I am headed out for one last round to check the animal's feed and water before we get snowed in.

Thank you for visiting. :) (I may be eating crow later).

Love,
Henny Penny

An awesome sky!

The sky was simply gorgeous this morning! Just totally awesome!

Colors were fading quickly...

Is it windy where you are?  Not a good day to be outside.  Wind gusts up to 35 mph.  It is supposed to warm up a bit today, but it sure doesn't feel any warmer!  Not with this wind! 

Bickett has the best idea on these cold days...

Dumperoo too, under the sewing table where there is a heat vent...

Sorry Roo!

The little farm in my kitchen window...

I need to come up with some new interesting big projects to do inside, instead of standing at the kitchen window dreaming about  building a fence or digging in the dirt. I get this way every January and it's worse in February. 

Thanks, if you managed to stay this long! :)

Love,
Henny Penny

A dusting of snow and Poppy's Birthday

There was excitement around here on Wednesday!  Poppy turned 60 years old!  No, that's not the reason he got the gun out! :)  

That nice scope on Poppy's rifle.  Well, it just happened to arrive by UPS on his birthday, which explains why he insisted I not buy him anything.  He finished attaching it to rifle about the time I finished icing the cake.  I never got the candles on the cake...we decided to eat a slice.  It was good too...still warm...crusty cream cheese pound cake with cream cheese frosting. 

Shelby, my sister the farmer, gave me the recipe.  She bakes these cakes and sells nice large slices at the farmer's market.   

I am almost afraid to say this...but let me show you our dusting of snow...

Now I know this is the last thing you snow-bound folks up north would be interested in, but this is excitement for us...We have had school closings and everything because of this dusting!!  :)

I have great memories of playing in the snow when we were growing up.  Seems like we had more snow back then.  Big snows and more often.  We would play until the fingers of our gloves were icy and frozen stiff, and our noses red and running.  The three of us, Shelby, Jackie, and me.  We would run inside, tracking snow and ice which quickly turned into puddles of water on the floor.  Mama, always patient, would put our coats and gloves and wet boots near the heat to dry.  Mama's hot chocolate was the best, made in a pot on the stove with powdered cocoa, sugar, and whole milk.  We were usually begging to go back outside before our gloves were completely dry.

Shelby, Jackie, me, and sitting on the front of the sled, our friend from next door.  Seems like her name was Mary Eloise...

I Need to thank my sweet niece, Vicki, for sending me the old picture.  Jackie, also sitting on the sled, is her dad.

Better get supper on the table.  Poppy is due home in about thirty minutes.

Thank you for visiting.

Love,
Henny Penny

Weetie and the bucket, Poppy and the swing

Weetie the guard dog!

Any time I leave the bucket, the hens come along and turn it over. This drives Weetie crazy!

So, no more...

Have you heard that we have snow coming in late this evening!  Hard to imagine right now! It's warm and sunny.  Perfect for swinging...

Poppy got to swinging so high his feet hit the bird feeders.  Had to stop and rearrange everything...

No snow in these clouds...

Or these...

Me at my worst.  I made the mistake of laying the camera down.  Poppy dared me to post these too...

Well, if you've got work to do, you wear your old work clothes. Right? :)

Thank you for visiting.

Love,
Henny Penny

Our Living Room, 1967

Life during the 1950's is my favorite subjects to post about.   Wish there was always a new story to write about my childhood days.  I need to put on my thinking cap more.

The late 1960's, or 1965 through the 1970's, to me were some of the ugliest years.  The styles, colors, furniture...of course, at the time I liked them.  For example, me, in my clown dress with my ultra teased hairdo.  The green drapes and stylish gold, brown, and green swivel rocking chair.  1967...

It took work to keep this hair style.  I slept in those large brush rollers every night so I could look like this every day! :)

Some of you know Lynn, from amothersjournal.com.  No doubt, she was watching "Romper Room" or "Captain Kangaroo".  Lynn would jump up, put her hand over her heart and say the "Pledge of Allegiance" with Miss Sally on "Romper Room"...

Andee was two years old and way too busy being cute to be quiet and watch Romper Room...

Gosh, remember when telephones were placed by a comfortable chair.  You had no choice but to sit down a minute, if someone called.  Now phones are actually attached to folks heads so they can talk nonstop!  Give me the old days!

Here Andee was taking notes.  I can't believe I let her sit on the back of the couch with a pen in her hand...

As much as I loved the 1950's,  these were the most special years.  I would love to have my little girls back and do this all over.

Yesterday, I worked on the back yard again. The first day I worked five straight hours.  The next day four. Thursday two and yesterday I struggled to make it one full hour.  Tugging and pulling on limbs the size of small trees is tiring!  Sure makes crawling into bed at night a pleasure.

Thank you!

Love,
Henny Penny

Our little herd of animals

An update on our little herd of animals here at Henny Penny Lane.  The baby Guineas are healthy and growing.  That is, except for the tiny one that refuses to grow.  Oh, it is still around.  It eats and acts like the others.  It just has not grown any...

The small Guinea's head, beak, and coloring is like that of an adult.

The chickens remember that I come out around 4:30 every day to put "Big Boy" back in the goat's lot.  I have to hurry down the steps before they all get up on the porch to greet me, with their wet dirty feet...

The ducks too know that it's time for me and the bucket of feed...

I do have a bit of bad news.  Some of you were around and helped name "Fiona Ling Ling", the little ugly duckling that appeared on our pond one morning...

He had grown into such a big pretty boy.  He was killed one night by a wild animal.  It broke my heart.

The old Muscovy couple (11 years old) are still around.

The two goats are spoiled and too fat...

The blue sky and sunshine are calling to me.  It has warmed up from the 28 degrees earlier, so I am out to work on this yard again!

Thank you for stopping by.

Love,
Henny Penny

A little snow

 We woke up to snow this morning...as mama would say, "such as it is".  I remember how much mama loved seeing the snow fall.  We lived only a few miles apart, but she would call and say, Melba, is it snowing there?"  When it snowed, mama would either parch peanuts in the oven or make a pan of fudge...or both!

Yesterday was warm and sunny.  This morning, 35 degrees and snowing!  It is now 10:00 am and the snow is gone, all melted!! This is North Carolina!

Trying hard here to get a good picture of the Cardinals.  Half of them fly away when they see me, but several keep their place in line waiting to get to the feeders...

Well, you all know Walmart!! The store we can't live with and can't live without! Yesterday I found a great deal on sunflower seeds.  A 40 pound bag for 18.97! The heaviest darn 40 pound bag I have ever tried to put in the car.  So, I get home, open the bag, anxious to fill all the feeders, and the sunflower seeds are all wet and have sprouted inside the bag. This explains the weight!  And probably the great deal!  Now this morning that heavy, awkward bag, has got to be returned to Walmart...eight miles away.  I dare not interrupt anything by asking a clerk for help with the heavy bag.  :)

Anyway, looks like the sun is coming out.  I am excited about working outside again.  The big mess of downed trees and limbs on the left side of the yard is calling  me.  Got to hurry off to Walmart and get back.  

Thank you for visiting.

Love,
Henny Penny