Computer troubles

Bun Bun...

Haven't been on the computer this weekend. The computer has been acting weird and throwing up strange warnings so I decided to keep my distance! :) Of course, it all started fifteen minutes after "The Computer Guy" closed for the weekend. As we say down here in the south, I'm fixing to call him right now!

"Thank you" to three new followers...Chris Carter, fleaChic.com, and Marielle Collins. I'm always excited that someone would even take time to visit my blog as there are so many really great blogs out there. So thank you.

A Guinea or two...

Better make that phone call...Thank you for stopping by.

Love,

Henny Penny

From Bickett to the Beach!

Is there anything that will mess up a good day like having to get dressed and go to the grocery store first thing! When Bickett runs out of Fancy Feast, there is not a moment's peace. He is from room to room complaining...

Nothing to do but head off to Walmart. The goats were out of hay anyway, so I made a stop at Town & Country Supply.

Back home, my "to do" list calls. I want those steps and trim work painted, but this time of the day, standing on those steps is like walking in the hot sand on the beach in the middle of the day! Unbearable! All of a sudden, it feels like July around here! Mind you, I am not complaining. Spring was a long time coming. I want to enjoy every minute.

Have you ever blistered the bottom of your feet on the beach? I remember back in the 50's, we would spent two weeks at Folly Beach in South Carolina every summer. Daddy rented a house on the water but it was still a ways to run to get down on the beach. 

Daddy didn't come down on the beach a lot. He played golf or went out deep sea fishing. I will never forget the times he did get in the water. He would come out in his bathing suit, or swim trunks, and barefooted. Busy having fun, we would see daddy coming our way. He would start off walking but after a few steps his tender feet, from never going barefoot, would start burning. He would run and dance around, picking his feet up real high til he got to the edge of the water. It was funny and made me laugh. This was Daddy in the 1950's...

There used to be lots of pictures taken at Folly Beach during those summer vacations, none of which are mine.

Poppy asked me just this morning where I would like to go for a few days this summer. Folly Beach sounds good to me. But would it look like it did in the 50's? Would it make me sad?

Here it is after six! Better get supper started!

Love,
Henny Penny

Teeny Tiny Garden Update and Eli the Guard Dog

The garden is actually growing and looking better. Just hope I don't do something stupid and kill everything.

That reminds me of a story. Back in the 1970's when Lynn and Andee were small, I decided to plant a garden out back. Mama and my step-dad Bill came to help us get started...actually, they worked all day and got the garden planted. We were living in the Sandhills of North Carolina at the time...very sandy soil. I remember Bill saying, "you're going to have to change the color of the soil here if you want to grow anything". Anyway, with the garden planted, mama and Bill went home.  The more I looked at that garden the messier it looked, to me. I wanted everything smoothed out and even, so I went to work with the rake. Friends, I never lived that down! Mama said, "I've never in my life seen anybody rake a garden as soon as it's planted". Of course, nothing grew. A bean or two came up where the okra was planted. :(

So there! Hopefully, I've come a long ways since then...

That sickly looking plant, third one up, is an Eggplant. Why can I not grow an Eggplant? It will sit there looking ugly and flop over dead in a few weeks. It is the same every year.

And now, Eli the guard dog...at work :)

Eli truly is a house dog. We are looking forward to him sleeping with us, but he loves to go in with the goats. Whatever makes him happy!

Weetie is still the real guard dog around here...

Thank you for visiting. I need to get out back and paint the steps and trim work. Can't wait to see how much better it will look. 

Love,
Henny Penny

Bits of news

Looks like once a week may be the norm for posting now. Just can't seem to get back to the computer. With Eli full time and trying to get the garden growing, plus all the mowing...well you should see the "to do" list I almost completed on Saturday. This was one tired crew by the time supper was finished. Did not know Poppy had the camera...

Gosh, I washed all the living room windows and screens. Then drug the water hose up on the back screened-in porch and cleaned the pollen and dust from the walls, the floor, all the screen wire, and the furniture. But wait, that's not all...I sanded and painted the rails on the back steps...

The steps and trim work still to be done. I weeded the blackberries, then hauled three wheelbarrow loads of mulch from the garden area to a flower bed in front, and then cleaned out the goat's barn. This was after doing the housework, the laundry, and feeding the animals!

Have you ever seen such a patch of Lemon Balm? 

Finished up the mowing in this area near the woods and the place smelled just like fresh lemons. 

Eli thinks if he gets here first, it can be his chair, not Poppy's...

This old sweetie pie is growing. We put Eli in with the goats today and he loved it. He wanted to play with them but the goats seem to think he was a bit silly...

Now the sweetest news of all. I have a Great Grandson. "Greyson" was born Friday the 16th. He weighed 9 lb. 1 oz.  You may have seen this already on Lynn's blog, amothersjournal.com . I can't wait to hold him...

Thanks for stopping by. 

Love,

Henny Penny

Poppy and the swing

Dear friends, you may remember the post I did a while back about the swing...oh, how I wanted a swing. The rope kind. Hanging from a high limb. In fact, I had chosen the perfect limb. Then there was a post with a picture of the rope that we ordered. On and on I went about this swing. Poppy came home one evening with a brand new board to build the seat. The swing was finished. You may also remember my post telling you how I fell out of my new swing, landing flat on my back, and how I lay there thinking I was all broken up, but as it turned out I was fine.

This is me last fall, trying out the new swing...

Well a few weeks ago I sat down in the swing, gave myself a little shove off with my feet and as the swing swung forward, something told me to hold tight, seems I felt the tiniest slip of some kind. No sooner had the thought entered my mind than the rope on the right side untied itself from that high tree limb, dropping me down on my right side and the tumbling rope hitting me right on top of the head. Has this swing been jinxed?

Once again, we brought out the tall ladder. It was no easy task getting the end of the rope over that high limb! Poppy's very words, It is tight this time.

So yesterday, after mowing and weed-eating...hot and tired, Poppy sits down in the swing. A hand on each rope, he backs up as far as the swing would go, lifts his feet and sails forward. As the words, "you might want to hold on tight" were coming out of my mouth, that same rope, same right side, came tumbling down. Poppy hit the ground and the rope hit him on the head. As I was saying, you might want to hold tight in case that rope comes loose again!  

You know it's hard not to laugh. No one was watching when I fell twice. I marched straight down to the shed and hauled that tall ladder back. Poppy says the knot is right this time, for sure. It won't come loose again. Would anyone like to give it a try?

The roses are beginning to bloom...

Thanks for visiting. Sorry about all the pictures. It's just so good to see color again! :)

Love,
Henny Penny  "The sky is falling, the sky is 
                                falling"!

Eli and the garden are both growing

This little plant, the one with the bloom, has lots of names...Sweet Betsy, Carolina Allspice, Sweet Shrub, and Mama always called it a Bubby Bush. The little blooms smell sweet and spicy and make me think of mama. I really need to find a spot in the yard for this plant and get it out of this pot...

Spring was mighty timid about getting here and just as she was settling in, summer came busting through! It is 91 degrees today. I am not complaining. It is beautiful and sunny and wonderful outside.

Poppy is off work so we are mowing the yard for the first time this spring. I had no idea just how snaky looking the yard had gotten. Man, what a job, and we are not finished, just tired out!

I had to take a picture or two. The yard looks so much better. Actually, I didn't get much of a picture of the mowed yard. Duh!

I worked on Bun Bun's cage today also. To me, this sweet bunny doesn't look like he has had the best of care. Some folks around this area think you can pick up a rabbit by it's ears. They sure do! One of Bun Bun's ears flops, like it was injured. One thing for sure, he will get the best of care here!

Everything in the teeny tiny garden is coming up, even the okra. I am surprised! The garden is not that great looking yet. I will get better pictures later, hopefully. :)

Eli continues to grow and grow. Sorry about the TV in the background. It normally gets turned off after the morning news...

Oops! I hear the mower again. Never let it be said that I sat inside while Poppy worked in the yard!

Thanks for stopping by.

Love,
Henny Penny

Mama

Since tomorrow is Mother's Day, I am posting some of my favorite old pictures of mama. Here she is holding me in her arms and Shelby is standing by her side...

Taken at Natural Bridge, Virginia...

I love mama's very feminine dress here...

I'm sure she would not approve of this one, but isn't she still beautiful...

You may have seen these pictures before. I think about my Mother and miss her every day.

Happy Mother's Day.

Love,
Henny Penny

Our front porch is a dog lot

That's right. Our front porch is now a dog lot...

Actually, this fence is temporary. We hope to get this porch screened-in soon. For now it is a place for Eli to play while I am busy in the garden. Just can't trust him running loose. I'm thinking Eli would be happy spending time with the goats when he is older. 

Old folks, bout my age, used to say, we sure need a hard freeze this winter to kill off some insects. Well it didn't work this winter. The ticks are worse than ever. Seriously. There are deer ticks and big ticks. Sometimes I think Poppy and I have become immune to tick bites. We were discussing this afternoon, who had the most bites, and I think it's me. I can count 15 around my waist alone and I know it's ticks that are biting because I pull the dirty little pests off.

Oh my, look what I have. Got it today from a friend...

He, or she, is just a little ball of fur. Haven't come up with a name yet. Sweetie pie fits but I call everything around here Sweetie pie.

The garden is coming right along. In fact, all the green beans are up. I started on the wattle fence. Poppy and I ate the last of the canned green beans this week, so I'm hoping for a good crop this year. Hoping for about three canners full.

I don't know much about a wattle fence, but enjoy doing things like this. If the beans do good and climb the fence, I will proudly take a picture. :) Keeping the garden simple this year...okra, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, (1) eggplant, green beans, kale, and cucumbers. Not even going to try squash or zucchini, because of the squash bugs, which will probably get the cucumbers too.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Love,
Henny Penny

Water Iris

In the yard with the camera again...

When we built the pond in 1996, Poppy and I went to Lowes garden center and bought one, just one, yellow water iris. Today iris surround the entire pond. 

The bull frogs were noisy last night. One in particular was louder than the others. Mama used to say the old frogs are saying, "under the root, under the root". Then another would say, "what'da ya chew, what'da ya chew"?  And a frog would answer, "tobacco, tobacco, tobacco".   Good memories.

Eli and Poppy hung out in the living room last night...

Whilst I made a custard pie. Not the prettiest pie I've ever made. Looks like the man in the moon...

Poppy got the first piece...

Thanks for stopping by.

Love,
Henny Penny