Anyone who reads my blog knows by now how afraid I am of thunderstorms! This great fear was passed down to me from my dear sweet Mother.
That's right. Mama kept an overnight bag packed and at the first sound of thunder, she left her little home and went somewhere, anywhere, as long as she was not alone. Now I experience those same feelings. My first thought when it thunders, run!
We are under a severe thunderstorm warning at this very moment! The sky is getting dark, it is beginning to rain, and I hear thunder. Yikes! The power just went off and the generator has kicked in. Trying hard here to be brave.
Back before there were so many weather reports and doppler radar and such, it was just considered normal to have a thunderstorm. The TV didn't stay on all day back then so the only way we knew there was a storm coming was when we saw a dark cloud or heard the thunder. Now we are warned days ahead. Everything is severe now!
I remember mama and us children being up at Aunt Ruby's on a hot summer day. Us children playing, mama and Aunt Ruby sitting in the shade. Remember those pale green metal yard chairs? Anyway, a summertime thunderstorm would come up. I can just hear mama saying, "I believe it's coming up a storm".
I used like staying a few nights at Aunt Ruby's. She had a daughter named Clara Sue. Clara Sue had the biggest box of scraps ever! There were fabric scraps, rick rack, lace, old greeting cards, lots of paper...we made stuff. Clara Sue and me...
Seems to me like people stayed outside a lot more back then. We would cut a watermelon or cantaloupe and eat it outside. I remember once eating cantaloupe and I was going to throw the rind out of the front yard. I aimed too low and hit Ralph right in the head. Ralph was Clara Sue's brother.
Dear Friends, I started this post yesterday during the storms...trying to be brave and stay calm. I made it safely through the first storm, all by myself. Thankfully, Poppy got home as the second storm started, in fact he had to sit in the truck for a while because of the wind and hail!
There were several storms and tornado warnings and rain! Our rain gauge holds five inches and it was filled to the top. The power did not come back on until late, 10:30 or so. The new generator worked great, by the way!
The worst thing that happened during these storms was getting all that rain too quickly. The pond was running over! There was a female Wood Duck sitting on about fourteen eggs. Her nest was on the dam hidden in the weeds near the water's edge. The rising water flooded her nest and the eggs were lost in the pond. This morning the water had gone down some so Poppy and I took the net and scooped out some of the eggs and placed them in the waterlogged nest...probably too late. The poor duck has been swimming on the pond most of the day.
Thank you for tolerating my ramblings on this two day post. It helped get me through the storms!
Love.
Henny Penny
Today has certainly made up for yesterday! Eli woke up feeling much better and I worked in the garden for several hours. Got the rows all ready, now I need plants and seeds.
If it looks like I'm proud of this little spot, I am! This used to be nothing but clay. Big solid sticky clumps of clay. I used to get so mad trying to grow anything. I'm telling you, I could have made bowling balls from this stuff! Then I began adding leaves, mulch, old straw from the chicken house and from the goat's lot...anything I could find, even some cardboard. It sure paid off too. Now I enjoy planting a garden.
A patch of Ajuga in back of the greenhouse. I wouldn't mind if Ajuga covered the entire yard.
Oops! I started this post late yesterday and never got to finish.
Been busy today! Got a row of potatoes planted. Six tomato plants in the ground, and a couple of pepper plants. Sowed a patch of kale, and a hill of cucumbers. We have just a small garden...oh I almost forgot...and two rows of Mountaineer half-runner green beans!
Better get supper started. Poppy will be home soon. Thank you for visiting.
Love,
Henny Penny
What a day this has been! Poppy was back at work and I had big plans...clean the house, buy groceries, buy a hanging pot of Petunias, make rows in the garden, work in the yard some. But you know how it is...nothing goes as planned.
Eli can get up on our bed now, all by himself. He is just so cute...that was until last night, when all that cuteness turned into a big wet spot...on Poppy's side of the bed. I've spent part of the day at the laundromat. Lovely picture here. Well, I had to find something to do while waiting for that big washer to finish. Twenty quarters is what it costs to get that washer going!
I brought the bedspread home wet and hung it on the clothesline to dry. After finishing at the clothesline, I walked in the chicken house to gather the eggs just in time to see a black snake slithering away under the straw floor. Now Poppy will question why my pistol was not strapped around my waist so I could shoot the snake. Crap! Maybe I won't even mention the snake and hope it slithered on out the same door it came in!
So on with the day. Eli has had an upset tummy and has thrown up his puppy food three times. If not better by tomorrow, the vet wants to see him. I cleaned up the last pile of vomit and noticed that it was raining. I ran to the clothesline for the bedspread. Turned out to be a brief passing shower so I carried the bedspread back to the clothesline.
Actually the day has been fine. Just one of those days where you run your legs off but never accomplish anything! Hope every one of you had a good day!
Love,
Henny Penny
Honestly, I can't believe I have been away for six days. It's sure not that I am getting bunches of stuff done around here, in fact, everywhere I look the work has piled up!
Tender new weeds growing in the garden where there should be tender new vegetable plants...and not even one garden row has been started.
I am so ashamed. There are 12 nice comments on my last post, which makes me so proud, and not one reply have I posted...and one is from a new follower, Chris. Thank you so much Chris! Also, I appreciate all the help with identifying the white flowering tree. It really must be from the Viburnum family as you suggested. Far Side, thanks for the link to carolinanature.com. Thanks Peg for the research you did.
Thankfully, the low temperatures we had did not hurt the plants...you were right Red! The Snowball bush blooms are still green but larger...
And the pink Azaleas could not be pinker...
A big bumblebee moving in and out of each blossom...
The guineas found a spot
dry enough for a dust bath. Can you see them...
We had a fine Easter Sunday at Shelby and Jimmy's farm yesterday. The day turned out sunny, and was warm enough for dinner on the ground. We set up tables outside. It was good to get most the family together again...
Pictured from left...my daughter Lynn, Grady (Michaela's boyfriend) and my grandaughter
Michaela, my daughter Andee, Shelby, Shelby's daughter Stacie, Cousin Pat cutting up fruit at the sink, and Shelby's grandaughter
Abigail. There were probably twenty others not pictured. Sure wish I had taken more pictures!
On the drive home Poppy and I stopped by the grocery store to pick up milk and spotted this this Roman Chariot ??? :) The guy driving the van was wearing a leather jacket and wearing a Roman helmet. Never know what you might see around here...
Friends, here it is bedtime. Today was Poppy's last day of vacation, so it is back to work for him tomorrow. Maybe I can get back in the routine.
Now that I've finished this post, once more I will catch up with reading my favorite blogs. Thank you for your nice comments.
Love,
Henny Penny
Most of the time you just can't beat the weather here in North Carolina! But some years, spring arrives a little too early! The fruit trees have bloomed. The Azaleas are almost in full bloom. It has felt like summer these last few days...
This Chocolate vine is covered in buds and smells delicious...
Then we have a cold front come through!!! We woke to thunderstorms this morning. The sky is hazy and stormy looking in the pictures. The weatherman says it could drop as low as 31 degrees tonight! That's freezing! A few years ago we had a hard freeze after everything was in full bloom. I remember the Hostas
were frozen and when they thawed, the yard smelled like rotten cabbage. It was awful!
Sharing pictures in case everything freezes tonight...
Anyone know the name of this tree? It is wild and was growing here when we bought the property. This is the same tree the Cardinals flock to in the wintertime.
The Snowball bush has lots of blooms that have not turned white yet...
Been meaning to tell you that we have a new female Muscovy duck. Since our old duck couple were killed earlier this year, we have been searching for a friend for our duck, "Shelby". You may remember the story of the duck from Shelby's farm who grew up thinking she was a chicken.
"Shelby' is on the left and her new friend "Nellie" on the right.
Thanks for stopping by. I can't decide if I want to pull out all the old sheets in the house and try covering some of the blossoms in the yard or just say "the heck with it"! The temperature is beginning to drop even now!
Love,
Henny Penny
You can't imagine how it surprises me, and excites me, to look at my blog and see two new followers. The blogs I follow are great! Great pictures and interesting to read. I have laughed with you and cried with you and learned a lot from reading your posts! So thank you all very much for putting up with my boring blog!
Where do the days go? Six days ago I put a new post on, and then caught up reading other's blogs. Now I am behind again!
Nothing major has changed in my life that would explain where my time is going...well nothing but a new puppy and these warm sunny days! "A new, big, overgrown puppy"... yep! That's probably it!
Little Weetie has to get up out of Eli's reach to have any peace and quiet these days...
Thank goodness, Eli gets tired and sleeps a lot!
Well let me tell you...Poppy's vacation started yesterday and turkey season comes in today. Poppy is in the woods as I speak hunting turkey. One thing we need is another turkey tail on the wall!!! Yesterday was spent helping put up his new pop-up playhouse, not a playhouse, a little house to hung out of ?...
If you walk way down this cut-over path, there is a stream at the bottom of the hill...
It was quite a day. I didn't get much accomplished...and probably won't for the next few days! :)
Dumperoo and Bickett stay out of site pretty much these days...waiting for Eli to grow up a little...
Thank you for visiting. Hope to get back in the routine soon!
Love,
Henny Penny
Dear Friends,
Looks like spring is here!!! These are the three peach trees that I swore were Almond trees last spring...even laughing because our county extension agent said Almond trees would not grow around these parts. Imagine my shame as I picked several ripe delicious peaches here!
If raking builds muscles in the back, and those muscles help support an Osteoporosis weakened spine, then my back should..."should" hold up a while longer. Let's hope so. It is a constant battle around here between me and these trees...they see me raking and when my back is turned they smile and drop more leaves, and this is the wrong time of the year to be raking leaves! I keep telling myself, "enjoy", this is the perfect exercise"! I have now raked all the way to the greenhouse...
Tiny Quaker Ladies...
Baby Eli is growing and changing. Every day these big feet look a little bigger! He had his second visit to see Dr. Davis last Thursday. He had gained ten pounds and now weighs twenty five pounds at ten weeks old!
He is like a big lovable stuffed animal, has lots of wet kisses, and reminds me of a baby Polar Bear. Poppy has taught him to sit and to shake. I am having a little more trouble with the leash thing...he can be stubborn! Any suggestions will be appreciated!
Speaking of bears...we are having strange happenings around here at night! Could it be a bear! At 2 am Friday morning Poppy and I were awakened by the awful noise only six screeching, screaming Guineas could make as they flew in fear from their roosting tree into the darkness of night. We jumped out of bed. Poppy grabbed the shotgun and I got the two spotlights and out we went into the night. Poppy walked holding the shotgun in one hand and shining, shining, shining the light up into the trees and into the woods with the other hand. Everything was still and quiet...nothing was moving...when BAM!!!! Poppy fired a warning shot into the air...man, he could have said something! Every hair on my head stood up. I mean it scared me to death. I was not far from him and certainly not expecting a shotgun blast! The predator must have run down the dam because a nesting wood duck flew off her nest and into the night also! At daylight, we found more signs of a wild animal lurking around. A hole was ripped into the wire cover on the compost bin and the wire entangled with brown animal fur. Three nights straight, the chairs on the pier have been moved and turned over. Scary stuff! Poppy has set up two cameras in the yard. This should be interesting!
We are loving this spring weather...
Sorry I'm talking your ears off. Guess I've been away too long. There is lots to do these days. The garden is waiting to be worked and planted, and with Eli under foot! Anyway, thank you if you are still here. Hope to be back soon. I'm going now, need to catch up on some blogs I love to read!
Love,
Henny Penny
