Worrying and Patching up wreaths

Another rainy Monday here on Henny Penny Lane. What is it with Mondays lately anyhow?  I thought to myself...this is the perfect day to dust the shelves in the laundry room, or paint the bathroom or paint the hallway. But a thought is as far as it went.

Poppy and I, with Eli and Weetie, did go out looking for grape vines. We walked along the edge of the woods behind the pond and found several. 

When we cleared the land here in 1988 to build the cabin, Poppy saved all the wild grape vines and made wreaths. Two of these wreaths are still hanging on the front porch but have become dry and brittle. I'm wondering if we could save them by adding new vines.

See how thin and ragged. I love adding cedar and berries to the wreaths at Christmas time. Poppy has dozed off on the couch. When he wakes up I'll surprise him by having everything needed to work on these wreaths spread out on the living room floor. He will be delighted, I'm sure!

Look! There is a difference! Poppy supervised, I added the new vine.

More worrisome news on the teeny tiny farm. Little Jewel is missing again. This time I'm afraid it's serious. Last night at the edge of dark, like good, well behaved children, all seven of her youngsters returned to their little pen down by the pond. I noticed that Jewel was not with them. After locking the gate, I went back to the big hen house hoping she had gone back with the older hens, but not so.

Jewel was still missing this morning. Knowing her like I do she probably lost her life protecting a chick in trouble. I'll search more tomorrow.

Bless her heart. I feel so bad for her. She has hatched nine chicks since May. 

Remember this was her first.

Better get supper on the table. I put together a big turkey pot pie and stuck it in the oven at 3:30. It's golden brown and done now...and smelling good.

Thank you for visiting. Hope to be back here real soon.

Love,
Henny

My little start at decorating

Guineas are just about the nosiest little critters around...

The picture does not do them justice. I was sitting on the ground working on this wreath when the guineas came home. All sixteen of them. They surrounded me checking things out and darn it again, the camera was not close by. Half the birds wandered off when I got up to get the camera. It was the funniest thing! 

Remember all those cedar limbs stored up from the cutting and clearing I did across the road? Well, I made a fourteen foot garland today. Good gosh, was it ever a job. It was heavy too. Had to get Poppy to help me bring it inside and hang it over the mantle. I also started on this big wreath.

For some reason the garland doesn't show up that good in my pictures. Anyhow, it was quite an undertaking and I don't think I will be making and selling these live garlands!! Another one of my big plans gone awry. :)

Poppy brought me a handful of Holly with lots of red berries when he came home from hunting today.

So, this is my little start at decorating for Christmas. Got lots more to do.

Be back soon, hopefully.

Love,
Henny

A little after Thanksgiving update

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving Day has come and gone and here we are at the close of another day. There were last minute changes yesterday, leaving Poppy and me with only two guests for dinner, Poppy's nephew Josh, and Josh's girlfriend Samatha. It was a nice day.

Poppy had to work until 12:30 as you can tell by his work clothes...and please, excuse the cap and the open laundry room door .We could have done a little better with our Thanksgiving Day picture.

We had our usual...turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, collards, sweet potato casserole, broccoli casserole, blueberry salad, green beans, rolls, sweet tea and chocolate pecan pie.

Eli probably had more fun on Thanksgiving day than any of us. He said it was a good change having a young couple here, somebody who could actually run. He had a blast playing with Josh and Samatha.

Thank you all for the kind comments about our losing little Shae. I sure miss her. You know, she died during the night last Sunday. Late Sunday evening just before dark, I was standing in front of the kitchen window and noticed Shae. She was moving slow, but walked the entire perimeter of the goat lot. She stopped at BunBun's cage and stood for a minute looking in, then walked to her little barn and lay down. I can't help but wonder if she was saying goodbye.

It is surprising how calm Asa has been. She acts very normal, except for wanting more of my attention. This evening she stood up on her back legs, putting her front feet on my chest...like a dog will do. It was the sweetest thing.

then was coming  right on out of the lot with me. She seems fine, but we are still looking for another goat.

Thanks again for kind caring comments. I appreciate your friendship so much.

Love,
Henny

Sadness on the teeny tiny farm

Gosh! It feels like a week since I sat down here at the computer!  Maybe I can get a quick post done.

Yesterday was sad. Our sweet little Shae, better known as Baby Goat, died during the night, Sunday night. In September of 2009 we drove almost to the South Carolina border to buy two little goats...a birthday present to me from Poppy.

You know, Shae has been sick, even though the vet could find nothing wrong with her. Her blood work came back normal, no fever, no worms, but she has steadily gone down hill since I noticed something was wrong. 

She was about a year old here. Both goats were young when we brought them home. 

I buried Shae on the hill just above where she is standing in the picture...just outside the goat lot.

I've been calling around and looking on Craigslist for another small goat. Little Asa, also better known as Baby Goat will be mighty lost and lonely without Shae.

Thank you all so much your comments and ideas for the living room windows. I went shopping on line and Penney's is having a really good sale right now on Roman shades...free shipping, and 25% off the already marked sale price! Poppy said, order the shades, if that's what you want. I'm thinking I will do just that but keep the curtains too. Changing things out occasionally is fun anyway.

I like the idea suggested too of having a longer curtain rod, but since we have wall to wall 'stuff', deer heads and turkey tails, there is not enough room to move all the brackets further out.

It is a constant struggle here...I lay down a lace tablecloth and he covers the lace with guns and camo gloves. At least the camouflage coats and bags hide the dust and scratches on these old dining chairs.

Late Sunday afternoon I went into a cleaning frenzy in the teen tiny sewing room. What struck me to clean out was a piece of blue fabric that came off the bottom of a stack. It had such a musty odor. I've had some of those pieces of fabric seemingly forever. Even kept several pieces of old ugly polyester double knit...really ugly stuff. Why it had almost become a challenge to see how much fabric I could collect.

Gosh, what a difference! Lots of these fabric pieces were really small, and most of the pieces were just plain ugly and I was tired of seeing them.

Once I saw a bumper sticker that read, "The one who dies with the most fabric wins".

 While cleaning out, this turned up. I started embroidering these squares years ago. This would make a sweet little quilt.

Maybe I will get busy and finish this.

Better get things done. Tomorrow...should be extra busy! We have company coming for Thanksgiving and I want to get a lot done tomorrow.  Thank you for listening again. I'll be over to visit and catch up. 

Love,
Henny

Really strange skies, and, I need your opinion

Late yesterday, at the edge of dark, after that storm front moved east of us, the sun began trying to shine through the clouds. Everything outside took on this strange pinkish, orange glow...with fog forming low to the ground. Take a look...

I went crazy with the camera,

taking sixty some pictures. Please don't go, only a few are posted here. :)

Aren't these wild!

It was a little depressing to me. I'll take normal sunshine and blue skies any day.

Okay, enough of this gloom...

This morning I took down the living room curtains and from the back porch gave them a good hard shake to remove the dust. The sun beamed into the room and oh my, put me to thinking. You know how dangerous that can be!

How would it look to hang roman shades, or even regular shades, but with a valance? I love the light!

Here's the other option...back to the normal look with my homemade curtains. I also like the warm feeling that curtains give. What do you think?  I really would appreciate your opinion.

These are the bedroom windows with fabric roman shades and valances.

You may remember  several months back when I took down the big full curtains from off the french doors in the dining area and hung those bamboo shades. I hated that look. Hated it! I felt like I had moved to Panama. Not for me!

This is the other living room window behind Poppy's chair.

Okay, I'm off the hang our newly painted sunshine face to our newly painted shop...

Thank you kindly! Something new to worry and stress over now...curtains or roman shades. Decisions, decisions, decisions! :)

Love,
Henny

A little visit with very little news

The rain started here last night around bedtime. Pouring rain, and wind. The pier is under water again and we have muddy water running down the side road and into the pond. Just once, I wish we could go into winter with a not so muddy pond. Since July the pond has been dark and clear, clear enough that we could feed the fish and watch them. That's okay though, no big thing.

I should be busy scrubbing the kitchen cabinets or painting the hallway or shampooing the carpet. After all, this is what I've been waiting for...another rainy day. A day that I can't work outside. So, here's the rainy day, and look, I am so beat and worn out from raking and dragging off sheet loads of leaves...and from sawing and cutting trees and limbs across the road that my energy is zapped!

We have company coming for Thanksgiving. Poppy's nephew Josh, and his two sweet teenage daughters. So you see, I need to be cleaning!

I seriously feel like curling up in a big soft chair somewhere. Getting out of bed at 4:15 these last few mornings has taken it's toll too. Oh, speaking of crawling out of bed...as I did again this morning...it was dark, it was raining, it was chilly. I fumbled around in the dark for my socks and my two hair clips, then slipped on my sweater, which I leave hanging on the back of the chair in the bedroom. As I shuffled toward the front door to let the dogs out, OUCH!  I felt a terrible stinging on my right arm, then another painful sting. I ripped off the sweater, and of all things, out flies a wasp! A big red crispy slow moving wasp! If that alarming clock didn't totally wake me, that doggone wasp surely did.

Actually this is Bickett's bed in the laundry room. After Bickett gets up, Dumperoo takes over the warm spot.  

Okay, I am seriously getting busy now. Out shopping early this morning a big bottle of heavy duty "Mr. Clean" made it into my buggy. Sure wish I had that big fellow dressed in white here to help me scrub. I like "Mr. Clean". :)

Love,
Henny


Oh my...Miss Ann has asked that I let you all know that she now has a blog. It is called... bobbyanddash2boysblog.wordpress.com

Thank you dear friends!

Horses in the neighborhood!

Have you ever heard the old saying, "if you dream about snakes, you've got enemies"? Well, last night I dreamed that as I walked around the side of our house, there lay the biggest black snake I've ever seen. My neighbor Ann killed the snake by stabbing it to death with a knife. I was sad for the snake. I simply must stop eating chocolate/peanut butter ice cream before bedtime!

I was sitting here wondering what to post today when the phone rang. It was Kristine, calling from from the path. She and Robert had stopped in front of the house to show me their newest horse, and darn it, I can not remember his name. You met Josie, the white horse, in an earlier post.

Look at this sweet face, and I love the shape of his head! I've been afraid of horses forever, well since I was about sixteen anyway. It was back then that a horse ran away, with me on it's back. A frightful experience!

Yep, that runaway horse gave my entire family something to laugh about for years. There's a post written about that very nightmare called 'horseback riding'. That was the end of  my riding horses! 

Horses are such beautiful creatures. Kristine talked me into walking up really close to these horses. Close enough even to rub their noses and smell that horse smell. I love the way horses smells, the same way I love puppy breath.

Robert and Kristine live in a neat little place much further down in the woods even than where we live. These are good neighbors.

I was excited about raking leaves again today, and got started around 10:00. Poppy worked at the deer processing plant so when he got home at lunchtime I stood the rake against a tree and we ate lunch together. We were up at 4:30 this morning so I am feeling pretty worn out right now.

I dumped three loads of leaves inside the garden and still have more to add. Oops, somebody closed Eli up inside the garden. I'm mighty tired tonight, but there is absolutely nothing that makes me as happy as working outside. 

Okay, it's feeling a whole lot like bedtime right now so I will say goodnight.

And, a special thank you to my newest follower, 'Happyone'. Thank you!

Love,
Henny 

More chickens

On Saturday, a friend from up the road a piece brought us three young hens. Aren't they pretty?

For the time being, or until they feel at home here, I've put them in with the little hillbilly couple inside the bantam lot.

We were actually in need of a "few good hens". Okay, why do I find that funny. Anyhow, our bunch of chickens are getting on up in age and have just about stopped laying.

Our little Jewel, bless her heart, has added eight chickens to the flock since May.

This was the chick she hatched back in May.

Then in September she hatched eight more baby chicks. Hopefully, all these will be hens. That's not very likely though. Isn't it funny how all of her chicks turn out to look like their dad, Mr.  Rooster and none look like her.

NEWS FLASH!!

I have now raked the first leaf...

I really meant to rake just the path. That was at 10:00 this morning...I was still raking up leaves when Poppy got home at 3:00. What a mess!

Guess I had better get busy and find something to cook for supper. Hope to be back soon. 

Love,
Henny