It made me happy

Last evening at the edge of dark, I closed the chickens up for the night, and walked alone down the path toward the tool shed, then past the empty little wild bunny's pen, all the while thinking and hoping...

and there it was, a small bunny with those familiar two tall ears, on the dam eating clover.♡  Oh, no doubt, it was the little wild bunny. He looked up as I walked closer then went right back to eating. 

Knowing he survived his first night back in the wild, I went back to the house happy.

Did not have the camera with me, but on the way back to the house saw the sky was a pretty red. Of course, by the time I got back with the camera the red had faded.

Since that dry spell in June, we've had more rain. It was a surprise to see tender green beans on the vines again.

plenty enough to cook for supper. More than anything else in the garden, we hate to see the tomatoes go. We are getting okra now and even a couple more eggplants...and friends, I made eggplant parmesan and it was delicious! Seriously!

I still talk about how Poppy and I almost divorced over my trying to make eggplant parmesan two summers ago. The recipe was new to me, and complicated. It called for crispy fried eggplant slices (which took forever), and then sauce made from scratch. I was hot and tired and it took me hours to make the stuff. When finally, we sat down at the table to eat, Poppy tasted it and said, eeew, what is this! I almost packed up and left. 

Anyhow, we lived through it!

Better get busy...and thank you for not deleting me and my blog! :)

Love,
Henny 

Empty nest

The wild bunny is free now. I'm sure going to miss that sweet face. He slept curled up there just inside the entrance to his little straw hut. It felt like the right thing to do early this morning, but now, here at the edge of dark, it's feeling a lot like the wrong thing. I'm worried about him.

he stopped here briefly in the grassy area before disappearing into the woods...where wild bunnies live. We've been out several times to see if we could spot him, but we never did. 

Poppy reminded me of the quote that goes something like, "If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it is yours. If it doesn't, it never was."

pulling weeds and bamboo grass here, I nearly grabbed this big praying mantis. No wonder he is giving me that evil look. 

and pitiful looking, but here is the persimmon tree I bought last year at Walmart...half dead and on sale. Still looks about half dead, but it's growing persimmons.

been busy weeding and mowing...

and remember how I tackled this weedy mess a week or so ago...

here is the bed now, layered with compost, newspaper, grass clippings, and leaves...

can't wait to fill the bed with Iris again.

Thank you for visiting. Hope to be back soon.

Love, 
Henny

Playhouse, mine and the chicken's

When I first started piling limbs on that big old stump inside the chicken lot, Poppy said, all you're doing is making a place for a snake to hide.

But the chickens love this spot! It's fun to watch them. They are like children playing on a jungle gym.

Chickens get bored. Why sometimes I look out and all of them will be sitting on top of the stump. Right now there are leaves on the new limbs, but they will soon fall off.

The fun part of having animals is fixing for them. The weather has been too hot and humid lately...

but I want to work on the three bunny's homes again.

Do you like "before" and "after" pictures? 

I was looking for another chicken picture and happened upon this one of the greenhouse...

oh my gosh, how clean! and how plain! Seems like it was early spring here and the trees were still bare.

then came the long legged tower, and a little red dust from the road had settled on the greenhouse.

then the fence panels, and Poppy asking if I would ever get things right up here. :)

Lots of stuff! Let's see. Here, we've added the little latticework panel to fill in the gap between the fence and the greenhouse, and a little frog climbing the wall. 

Better go. Poppy will be here in about thirty minutes. The weather here today is gorgeous!! That awful humidity is gone, the sun is shining, there is a breeze. I have mowed, pulled weeds, raked pine straw, and dug up more Iris. 

Thank you for visiting.

Love,
Henny

The Eclipse at our house

It was a little eerie feeling here yesterday, not only during the eclipse, but waiting for the eclipse...

for Raleigh, coverage was 93%. We are just north of Raleigh.

it was a strange kind of darkness with amazing shadows...

Crescent shadows

wish my camera could have captured just how neat these crescents really were...

things got very quiet too. Poppy said, listen, there are no sounds.

Eli waited

more crescents in the driveway...

again, the shadows were amazing and this one was the neatest...

Poppy and I waited too late to get the solar glasses. Stores were sold out. Just for the fun of it, I checked on Craigslist yesterday morning and yes, there were plenty for sale...if you wanted to pay anywhere from $30 to $75.00 for a pair. Imagine that!

Well, this is how it was during the solar eclipse on Henny Penny Lane. Thank you for stopping in.

Love,
Henny

A little visit

Not much happening up at the playhouse these days. It's no fun playing in this hot humid August weather. Miserable!  That's what it is.

My plans are still to add a small table and couple of chairs, and something I can call a heater that will burn a stick of wood and heat a kettle of water.

It's been a fun summer up at the teeny tiny garden. Why, I must have potted up 200 plants, maybe more.

and lots of Beauty Berry bushes that are beginning to bloom, or grow purple berries.

We have a maple tree down by the pond that was damaged back in 1996 during Hurricane Fran. The top was broken out, but we left the tree alone. 

Last spring a big pileated woodpecker moved into a hole in that maple tree. We have enjoyed watching this bird as it flew in every night around 6:30 and left out early every morning around 6:30.

During a rain storm last week a big dead limb broke off that maple tree and landed in the edge of the pond.

Poppy pulled it out of the water.

Soon after, a mushroom began growing where the limb broke off, and has kept growing. It almost looks like Mr. Woodpecker had an awning installed, except his hole is further up the tree.

A few days ago we saw two pileated woodpeckers on the tree. He, or she, must have found a mate.

Thank you for visiting.

Love,
Henny 

A little Henny Penny Lane farm update

Well, here we go again, bedtime, and I haven't posted a single word. Where do the days go!

You would never know it from the picture, but Poppy and I both are feeling better. I have one more day on the antibiotic. 

The days are busy. Always something happening.  We lost another guinea on Wednesday. A young female. A neighbor's dog caught her and injured her pretty badly. I sure tried to save her, but it just wasn't meant to be. 

Then yesterday a male guinea came home with an injured leg. We are down to five guineas. 4 males and 1 female.

Look how the little wild bunny has grown. It's time to turn him loose. I've just got to do it.

He trusts me a little more now, but still, this is a wild rabbit, and he needs to stay wild. I want him to survive when he is own his own.

and here's half of the Iris rhizomes all dried and wrapped in newspaper...just like the online instructions said do. Now I've got to keep them in a cool dry place. Guess that will be under the bed in the sewing room...the only place I can find where there's not something. As mama used to say, "there's not room to lay a pin down around here".

Better get up from here and get all the animals situated for bed. I will be around to catch up. :)

Love,
Henny 

Old cookbook and a poem

Mama's old Watkins Cookbook...

and Mama, back then...

I remember when the Watkins man used to stop by our house with his Watkins products. I'm sure that's how mama got the cookbook. She also had a set of beautiful glass ovenproof bowls she bought from the Watkins man. The middle size bowl was perfect for making her banana pudding...Daddy's favorite dessert.

Poppy is feeling much better...however, I woke up sick yesterday and had to see our doctor. Whatever this crap is, it's awful! headache, fever, sore throat, aches and pains...So, I too am on an antibiotic. 

Anyhow, with us both being sick, I was reminded of a little poem. A poem that mama kept in this cookbook.
                   .....................................
When pa is sick, he's scared to death
an' ma an' us just holds our breath;
he crawls in bed an' puffs and grunts,
an' does all kinds of crazy stunts.
He wants "Doc Brown" in mighty quick,
for when pa's ill, he's awful sick.
He gasps an' moans, an' sort of sighs,
he talks so queer an' rolls his eyes;
Ma jumps an' runs an' all of us,
an' all the house is in a fuss.
An' peace and joy is mighty skeerce-
when pa is sick it's something fierce!

When ma is sick, she pegs away,
she's quiet though, not much to say;
she goes right on a-doing things,
an' sometimes laughs, or even sings,
she says she don't feel so extra well,
but then its just a kind of spell,
she'll be alright tomorrow sure,
a good old sleep will be the cure;
an' pa he sniffs an' makes no kick,
for women folks is always sick'
an' ma, she smiles, let's on she's glad,
when ma is sick, it ain't so bad.
                                     (author unknown)

Actually, my sister Shelby found this old poem many years ago. Mama loved the poem, probably because it reminded her so much of daddy. She always kept a hand written copy folded and inside her old Watkins Cookbook.

Love,
Henny

Digging in the back yard

Yesterday I dug up that big weed patch in the back yard...the one with the struggling Iris in the middle...

and in the center of the weed patch found a half dead Hydrangea fighting for it's life...

I read on line again how to start the "lasagna garden" no-till no-dig method. First a layer of newspaper, then a wheelbarrow load of waste from the goat lot and barn, old hay and dropping from the bunny cages, then topped with some rotted leaves. I still need to add a layer of green and some compost.

Funny how many years it has taken for me learn that you can't buy a plant, stick it in a hole in the ground, especially in this clay soil, and expect it to grow.  

buckets and buckets of Iris rhizomes...

I've potted several and given away a grocery bag full. The rest have been trimmed and spread out to dry for a couple of days in the sun, then be stored in a cool dry place. Got this info on line too.

Peppers! Here we go again...

but look! Can't help but be proud. These are from the seeds I saved from those tiny little colored peppers you buy in the grocery store. So cute, and taste so sweet!!

and on a sad note...the guy who bought mama's car came yesterday and picked it up. A really sad feeling swept over me as I watched him drive away. I had to make myself get busy and think about other things. 

Poppy has finished the antibiotic and is feeling much better. Thank you for your nice comments.

Better get busy.

Love,
Henny