Pies Pies and more pies!

My Goodness! Here it is 8:00 Wednesday night. If I hurry, I might get a little post done in time to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.

Been almost two weeks since my last post and I don't know where the days have gone. Isn't it always something?

Anyhow, this post is perfect for Thanksgiving. Remember my sister Shelby? Bet you remember her kitchen. This was taken a few years ago...

Well she is still into baking except this time it's pies, and a few cakes! She and my brother-in-law Jimmy no longer sell at the farmer's market every Saturday, but they do sell at a special farmer's market held every Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Here, you may remember Jimmy too...

this picture is from a few years ago too. Anyhow, Shelby called me last night. They were home from the market, dead tired and cold. Shelby said she was chilled through and through and was on the couch snuggled up in a quilt while Jimmy had gone out to throw more wood in the furnace, out near the smokehouse. Sounds rather cozy doesn't it...

As Poppy often says, "get to the point", get to the point! So, Shelby made from scratch...48 pies and 2 cakes...to take to the market yesterday! I mean 48 pies! 

A one man pie factory, right there in her kitchen!

These are some of her pie crust rounds, made from scratch, of course, chilled and ready to be rolled out...

and here are a few of the finished pies...

Shelby told me she used 14 pounds of butter, 9 dozen eggs, and 16 cups of pecans.

This is just amazing to me. I find it a job to make even one pie!

I didn't ask if she would be baking a pie for herself and Jimmy for Thanksgiving day.

Thanksgiving will be a little different this year. Lots of worries. But anyhow, hope all of you have a happy Thanksgiving. Stay safe and well.

Have had a few computer problems, but up and running again and hope to be back real soon.

Love, 

Henny

Rainy Days

Tuesday, before the rains came...

Oh friends, I need the sun to keep me cheerful and going and right now I'm feeling pretty desperate.

The pouring rains started yesterday (Wednesday) morning. So here it is 3:00 pm (Thursday) and the rain is still coming down. At 8:00 this morning there were 4 inches in the rain gauge. Who knows how much now and it's simply too wet and messy to go check.

Maybe I should back up and talk about our warm and sunny day, Tuesday; with the back door propped open and the animals wandering in and out...

Tuesday was a day filled with sunshine and colored leaves; camellia blossoms and shadows on the porch. 

and looking a little closer, a Christmas cactus too. 

Most folks who love house plants  probably have a Christmes cactus, but this one is kinda special...

This cactus came from cuttings taken from an old, very large, Christmas cactus that belonged to Poppy's mother. She had it for years and years and when she passed away, Poppy's sister Pat, brought it to her house.

One Thanksgiving Day down home, probably five years ago, Pat gave me cuttings from the old plant. It is now blooming, for the first time...

Did you notice Eli's feet? Old sweetie pie. He is a sweet blossom alright!

Oh, let me tell you. I brough in all those "frocks" from off the clothesline and plugged in the iron. What a job! Made me wish I had left them hanging in the sewing room, dusty and dirty. That was a lot of ironing!

but the dresses are fresh and clean now and back in the sewing room. I finished another apron too...

Little farm animals. Here's another apron I finished last night...

Something about this one I really like. It's just pink and cute.

So, the teeny tiny sewing room is back in business now...

           

My neighbor Ann, out taking orders for dolls and aprons, has been just the inspiration I needed. 

Wow!  Update on the rain! It stopped somewhere around 4:00 and I couldn't wait to walk outside. Guess how much was in the rain gauge? 6 inches!! Six inches!! The town of Rocky Mount, a little northeast of us got almost 10".

Sure looking forward to seeing the sun tomorrow. Hope you will come back.

Love,

Henny

 

Frocks and Marigolds

About 30 years ago Poppy bought me two nice metal rakes, rakes that came with a lifetime guarantee. Well, I wore them out.  Seriously! Too bad I didn't keep the receipt. :) 

So I bought another rake this week. A much cheaper, lighter weight, rake...

Never owned a big plastic rake before! It makes a nice wide sweep but doesn't grab all the leaves and debris like the medal rakes. 

Anyhow, I've raked leaves for three days now and barely made a dent in them, but can sure feel it in my back and legs. I'm beat!

I'm still cleaning up the teeny tiny garden too and today pulled up the marigolds...

"Wonder if the chickens would like marigolds", I thought? Then remembered! Do you remember Frank Perdue's TV ads? He bragged about the nice color of his chickens. He fed them marigold petals! He also produced his own chicken feed containing marigold petals...

Well then! I dressed up the raggedy old chicken lot by placing bunches of marigolds all around...

Of course, the rooster bragged that all this was his idea...

The hens hardly had time to eat with him calling them from one bunch of flowers to another.

Wonder where the four new red hens are...

close together as usual and  gathered around the feeder inside the little hen house.

Well, I didn't wear an old frock outside to work these last few days. I do have a few old frocks, but none so beautiful as those Tasha Tudor wore.

This one, Oh my gosh, was hard to make, for me anyhow. I am not a dressmaker! Three layers of fabric in the bodice!

two layers in the skirt. I love the buttons in back, but who could wear this out raking leaves! It looks uncomfortable.

I made this simple dress too. Little red checks. Not too pretty though...

I might could rake leaves wearing this one with an apron, maybe...

and this dress, my favorite, I found a Goodwill store...

I wore this one to the Duke Homestead Festival a few years ago where Shelby and I were vendors.

Oh, wouldn't you love to have a few of Tasha Tudor's dresses, or some like them? I would settle for just the pattern.

These dresses have been hanging in the sewing room for ages! When I started trying them on the dress form for pictures, I realized all three were dusty and dirty. I threw them in the washer. 

and hung them out to dry...made for a right pretty picture anyway...

Guess that's about it for now. It's near 8:00. Think I'll go dip us a cup of ice cream. Thank you for visiting. 

Love,

Henny
 

 

Fall Dreaming

Dear friends,

Thank you for the nice comments on my last post. I appreciate your visits so much!

Gosh, I felt like Tasha Tudor bringing in this big bundle of twigs...

 except I wasn't wearing an old frock and an apron. Remember the picture of Tasha carrying the bundle of twigs? One of my favorite photos of her...

If only my old frocks and aprons looked as pretty as Tasha Tudors did.

These are just a few of the sticks and twigs that fell during that windy day, last Friday. In fact, these were in the driveway and front yard...I've only just begun cleaning up the rest of the yard.

Got my coffee fixed this morning, and noticed there were still coals in the fireplace from last night's fire. A handfull of the newly gathered twigs and a piece or two of split firewood...

and we soon had another warm fire...Our coffee by the fire didn't last long. Eli can tell time you know, and when Poppy is home, that means we can walk all the way to the highway.

As we started out, the smell of the fire caused me to look back at the smoke coming from the chimney. Aw, I thought, that's it, my little old log cabin in the woods...or as close as I'll ever get. 

Actually a little log cabin in the foodhills of the mountains, a rugged old fence or two, an old barn, and few animals has always been my dream...funny I've always dreamed of having a tiny home tucked away somewhere deep in the woods.

So we walked...

and I, deep in my thoughts, lagged behind. Fall of the year affects me this way. I want a barn with a hay loft and a donkey. I really do. Maybe tomorrow I'll put on an old frock and wear an apron.

and appreciate my teeny tiny goat barn and the little red chicken house...

and try out the brand new rake I bought today at Tractor Supply...

now I wonder what these two are planning...

Didn't mean to go on and on. Hope you'll come back real soon.

Love,

Henny