Today is the last day of February! Yay! March seems so near spring...I get excited and happy. It's hard to remember what the yard looked like last spring. Green!
What a difference!
I finished sewing two bonnets this week...
Way back, women wore bonnets with a wide brim to protect their eyes and faces from sun and dust. There were bonnets hanging from a nail near the door, at my Aunt Vastie's house.
I love the simple cotton dresses women wore back then. Dresses that were ankle length, with a petticoat worn underneath, and a bonnet for protection from the sun.
Two bonnets and an apron sold last week. Churches around the area have "old fashioned day" in the spring, so I get a few orders for that.
Thank you for visiting!
Love,
Henny Penny
The sun can fool you! It was warm and bright coming through the living room windows this morning, reaching across the room and into the laundry room where I was moving a load of white clothes from the washer to the dryer. The sunshine kept calling so I pulled the wet clothes from the dryer, put them into my laundry basket, got my clothespin bag from off the nail behind the door, and went outside. By the time the clothes were all hung, I felt like a chunk of ice and the clothes were frozen stiff. Burr!!! It was 29 out there!
Right now it has warmed up to 58, the clothes have thawed and are blowing in the breeze. Much better!
I'm still working hard on cleaning up the mess in the back the yard. In fact I need to be out there now getting my 50 minutes of weight bearing exercise. :)
Recently I found out that I have Osteoporosis in my back. My doctor tells me it is bad. After reading all the horrible side effects...I absolutely do not want to take those bone building medications. If my back is in such bad shape, how have I been able to work so hard all these years? Up until the doctor told me about my back, I thought nothing about unloading two or three, fifty pound bags of feed, or chopping down a tree, or digging up a stump that Poppy said would have to rot in the ground.
Oh well, I must be very very careful, take the right kind of calcium and magnesium, and eat right! Hopefully, everything will okay! :)
My pictures don't exactly match my talking here. When the new puppy gets here, hopefully, again, there will be something cute to photograph...and talk about!
Thank you for stopping by.
Love,
Henny Penny
Poppy and I took a little drive in the country today. We wound up in a small town called Micro, NC...and look what we found waiting for us...
Great White Pyrenees puppies. These are six weeks old.
Of course, we fell in love. There were three males left. We picked out this one...
We paid the deposit and will go back in a week to bring him home. Poppy and I still want a black Lab and just may get one when this puppy is older and trained...and spoiled! I am so excited!!! Poppy likes the name "Rambo", but we are still thinking about it!
Thank you for visiting.
Love,
Henny Penny
Don't know why there has been so much going on lately but I can't seem to catch up. As mama would say, the days just simply fly! Poppy was off work so went into town and bought a few groceries and picked up his new eye glasses. Late afternoon, Shelby and Jimmy came and we finished loading their truck and trailer with firewood from the back yard.
Remember the Lasagna gardening project I started last summer? I had outlined the spot with cinder blocks...yuk! Cinder blocks! Looks like another good place to get rid of some pine logs!
The hens love it and constantly have to be shooed out. Now, however, the sides are high enough so their scratching is not throwing everything out! I want to plant something that will bloom pretty by the post where the hens are but haven't decided what. Any suggestions?
Seems like with every post lately, I've had a bit of bad news. Since the start of 2014, we have lost "Fiona Ling Ling", the young male duck; old Mr. Duck; the dwarf guinea; and this morning old Mrs. Duck was dead. All except the guinea, were killed by a predator during the night. It broke my heart again this morning. Poppy and I talked and have decided to get another big dog. As long as we had a big dog or two in the yard, we never lost animals to predators. So, it's time for that big lovable Lab!
The duck that grew up thinking she was a chicken is all alone now. We also plan to find her another mate. Her tail looks like an electric fan...
For several hours yesterday there was a pair of Wood Ducks swimming on the pond. We put up a new duck box and are hoping the pair will come back. The box is on the edge of the pond facing the water. Spring is right around the corner!! :)
The sun was shining so warm and pretty on the porch yesterday...couldn't resist taking a picture. I am so ready for warm weather...
Friends, I hope you haven't given up on me. I've missed you all, and so very much appreciate your nice comments. I am looking forward to bright colorful cheerful spring photos...flowers, birds, butterflies!!!
Love,
Henny Penny
Gosh! Have I really been away for six days?
What a busy busy week this has been. It all started last Saturday. Carl, the amazing tree person, stopped by. You may remember the giant pine tree that has been laying across our entire back yard since last summer. Well, Carl cut it into pieces small enough to handle, so I've moving wood again!
I had a brain storm of sorts....as what to do with all those big heavy pieces of pine. I have rolled a dozen of these chunks from the back yard...up hill...to the goat's lot. Not so easy on one's back! Hoping the goats will enjoy playing on the logs and entertain me as I stand at the kitchen window washing dishes every evening.
On Tuesday, Shelby and Jimmy, my sister and brother-in-law, you know, the real farmers, (my farm, by the way, is a pretend farm...not as much work involved), were here helping us clean up by cutting and hauling away the fire wood. We still have more, so they left the trailer and plan to come back this weekend. I have been meaning to go to the senior citizens center 'gasp' to use their exercise equipment. I figured 50 minutes of good weight bearing exercise right here in yard would be just as good? As long as I am pushing a wheelbarrow load of logs up hill to the trailer, unloading and doing this over and over, the senior center can wait. :)
Also discovered tonight that I can make a bonnet in an hour and a half. Everything from cutting it out to sewing in the tag!
Thank you for stopping by. Wanted you all to know that I am still around.
Love,
Henny Penny
Well the snow storm has come and gone. It was not so bad. We enjoyed watching the big snow flakes fall. The snow fell most of Wednesday, 3 or 4 inches, then we had some sleet and freezing rain. As is usual in this part of North Carolina, the freezing temperatures don't stay around that long. It actually warmed up during the night on Wednesday. There was some melting yesterday, then another round of snow. Now today, Friday we have blue skies, sunshine and 51 degrees! A little of everything packed into three days! The power never went off, so we still don't know how good the generator works. Now that we have one, we will probably never need it!
Poppy took a few pictures with his camera. My new camera has not still arrived. The pictures Poppy took look almost like...well I don't know...like a drawing maybe. I think his pictures are special!
The snow is quickly melting.
Am I ever ready for spring! The first warm sunny day I just might put a quilt on a lounge chair in the full sun and bask there for hours. Can you imagine feeling the warm sun on your face and body? That's my plan!
Oh, one more! I happened by the kitchen window and look what I spotted...
He makes me laugh! Who would have thought Poppy would be the one swinging! He's a good sport!
Thank you for stopping by.
Love,
Henny Penny
Hope the new camera gets here today! This picture is from 1995. Looks different around here now...
The snow is supposed to begin around mid day and snow all day, followed by sleet and freezing rain, followed by another round of snow tomorrow! Big chance of power outages!
Poppy and I have been through one bad winter storm here in the cabin. We were without power for a full week. We kept a fire going in the fireplace. We hung a quilt in the living room to block off the rest of the house and slept on the floor in front of the fireplace. We cooked on the gas stove. The biggest problem was being without water because of the pump not working. After a full week of this...seven long days, I was on porch getting another armload of firewood and heard the sound of trucks coming down the path...could it be!!! It was!!! Carolina Power & Light Company! I dropped the firewood. I waved and whistled and threw them kisses. The guys waved back to me. It was exciting stuff!
The next time we were without power for several days was totally different. It was hot humid September. Hurricane Fran hit big time. Trees down everywhere. Broken limbs, pine boughs and pine cones all over the house and hanging from power lines. The air smelled like chewed up pine needles. September in North Carolina can be mighty hot and sticky. It was miserable without the ac! Not even a fan to stir the air a bit.
When Fran hit in 1996, Poppy and I were finishing the pier on our newly dug pond. We were told that it would probably take a year for the pond to fill. There is no natural spring or water source going into the pond. We were told however, by the environmental people, that we have 40 acres of run-off, so no problem having a pond. We were prepared to watch the pond slowly fill. This picture was taken the morning after Hurricane Fran hit our area...
The pond was filled and over flowing...
The entire property was covered in tree limbs, sticks, leaves, and pine cones...
Talk about being overwhelmed! I did not know where to begin cleaning up the mess.
A couple of years ago Poppy and I invested in a generator. One large enough to run the entire house, should the power go out. And, this generator comes on automatically 30 seconds after losing power! We may soon find out how well it works!
I will miss the fun of bringing in wood, keeping a fire going, living by the fireplace, cooking simple, no TV, not having to take a bath because of no water, shucks! ;)...
Better get busy Thank you for visiting.
Love,
Henny Penny
Hopefully, my new camera will arrive today! Just before the camera died I was sitting on the couch taking pictures, of just stuff! Cameras are fun to play with now!
Bickett, interested in Poppy's dirty work boots...
And Weetie asleep beside me...
and Dumperoo in my lap...
Remember when we had to put a roll of film in the camera, take 24 pictures, then carry the film to the drug store to be developed. Then wait several days before picking up the pictures. Lots of times a roll of film would lay around the house a month or so before somebody would get around taking it to the drug store. By that time we would have forgotten what was on the film. It was exciting to get the pictures back!
Oh man! Guess what the big news is now? Snow flurries today...cold and snowing tomorrow...snow turning to sleet and freezing rain on Wednesday and into Thursday. Dangerous driving conditions...icy roads! Chance of power outages. Maybe some sun on Friday! :)
Thank you if you managed to read this far. Not much of a post. By the way, I am working on three new bonnets. Still considering an Etsy shop.
Love,
Henny Penny
Dear Friends,
I just realized that it was a year ago on February 4th that my Daughter Lynn said, Mom, I think that you would enjoy having a blog! "Me" with a blog! But I can't write and I know very little about a computer! Anyway, with Lynn's help, I became Henny Penny here at Henny Penny Lane...and I am loving every minute!
The very first picture I posted was of our log cabin. I went on to say something dumb sounding about how I had wanted a blog for a long time.
Also in that first post I mentioned living in a log cabin on a hobby farm with chickens, ducks, guineas, cats, dogs, and a couple of silly goats, and that surely I must have a few good stories and pictures!
Here, one year later. I have enjoyed, more than anything else, reading other blogs and meeting all you special friends.
I've learned a lot but have probably just about driven Lynn crazy in the process!! If so, she has never shown it. She has laughed a time or two at some of my questions!
My camera has stopped working. Worn out I suppose during this year of blogging. :) Poppy came right in here to the computer and ordered another one for me...exactly like the old one...so I will be back in business soon!
Thank you for reading my blog.
Love,
Henny Penny
When I opened a new bag of cornmeal last night to start supper...I thought about mama...
It was that silver band that keeps the bag closed. When mama opened a new bag she would say, "who wants this pretty little ring to wear"? This was many years ago when I was small and under her feet while she was busy cooking. Well I just loved being the one to wear that pretty little ring. It always fit just right. Doesn't fit so good now...
Anyway, lots of things bring back sweet memories of mama.
I fried salmon patties for supper. Growing up mama made salmon patties a lot and we usually had macaroni and cheese, stewed cabbage, pinto beans, and cornbread to go along with them.
A few years back I came across this recipe in an old Progressive Farmer magazine. The recipe was a little different from mama's so I tried it. These are sooo good! Of course, mama's were really good too!
1 lg. can salmon
10 saltine crackers, crushed
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 tsp. black pepper
1 lg. egg (I add 2 extra egg whites. Makes the
patties extra crispy)
mix, and fry in oil.
While I'm over here at the stove...you know what makes a perfect spice rack? An old bread box with the door removed...
I had looked everywhere for a shelf to fit here. Lynn just has an eye for things like this. She found it in a thrift store. Took the door off and painted it and it's perfect!
Poppy just informed me that we need to get up at 4:30 tomorrow morning. Better start wrapping things up!! :)
Love,
Henny Penny
There may soon be a new grapevine wreath in the works! It warmed up a lot yesterday so early afternoon I went outside. What in the world could I find to do?? Overgrown grapevines!!
I did some serious pruning! These vines had grown up and over the posts and wire, forming a tunnel along the side of the chicken house.
With all the trees we cut last summer, the chickens, bantams, and the grapevines should get a lot more sun. The green on the door proves how little sun was getting through...
Have to look close now to see the posts and wire and grapevine. It looks so open! After all my complaining about leaves...I have been raking and hauling leaves back into the yard. This section of the yard washes really bad!
Always something to do. Poppy says I make work! :)
Lots of vines for making a BIG wreath!
Lets hope I pruned the grapevines the right way and we get a bounty of grapes this year!
Friends, I am sure you have seen enough of this side of the yard. I suppose I need to get out more...visit some places...take some interesting pictures. :)
Thank you for stopping by.
Love,
Henny Penny
Reading a post this morning on hiawathahouse.blogspot got me to thinking about some of the dangerous things my sister, brother, and I got into growing up. Back then children played outside more, with whatever was available. The crazy ideas we came up with!
Jackie, Shelby, Melba
Once upon a time I almost chopped off my brother's big toe with the ax. Seriously! We were very young. I'm thinking maybe four and five years old. Had I been older and stronger, his toe may have been chopped off. Only bits and pieces of this story do I remember...like a wood pile, the ax, the back yard...and telling Jackie to put his foot on the block, that it felt good. I struggled to pick up the heavy ax, but somehow lifted it and let it drop, on his toe! I remember the screaming, and crying and excitement of mama or daddy, or both, running out. This story was told many many times through the years! His toe healed, by the way!
Shelby, the oldest and the ring leader was full of ideas. Once she tied a wire from tree to tree in that same back yard where the toe chopping took place. I suppose she was dividing off the back yard for playing, you know, my space, your space! After putting up the wire she went running to the house, ran into the wire, fell, and broke her arm. I do remember her blaming me, telling Daddy that I was the one who put up the wire, causing her to fall. The story didn't stick though! :)
Then there was Jackie, again! He and two other boys tied a rope on a tree limb. All three climbed the rope and were hanging on...Jackie being the last to climb and was hanging on the bottom. The rope broke! All three fell, Jackie hitting the ground first and the other two boys landing on top of him. Jackie's arm was broken in two places. This required surgery and a pin placed in his elbow. Jackie's arm was never normal again. He could never completely straighten his arm.
With a little thought I could write more of these stories. These were probably the most talked about.
Thank you for stopping by!
Love,
Henny Penny
