Didn't quite make it to five years...

That's right. It was February 2018 when the girls at the goat farm gave me little Heidi. I went to buy another goat, but the girls said, you can "have" Heidi, just give her a good home.

My little Heidi passed away last Monday. The vet knew right off that Heidi was very sick

She had deformed jaw bones and deformed horns and probably, the vet said, some internal deformities. He said, you've done good if you have cared for her for five years. 

Heidi was a sweetie pie and I am sure missing her. Monday was a sad day.

Isn't it unbelievable how the days fly? It seems like I get nothing done any more. I've cleaned up a little around the garden and moved some plants inside...

We've had record low temperatures lately. Normally, by early November the front yard leaves are raked up and spread over the teeny tiny garden...a warm blanket for the winter, but not this November. 

Most of the leaves are off the trees now and I can't resist picking up pretty ones here and there, and aren't these huge Popular leaves neat. I kinda like this picture...

Anyhow, you know the old saying, "if you can't lick 'em, join 'em", well, that's exactly what I am doing with the leaves. 

In fact, I had raked one small spot in the front yard just before we had a big wind storm.   Then the guineas decided to wallow holes in the one little raked spot...it looked awful! 

Earlier today, I carried my rake and wheelbarrow down to the dam and raked up four loads of pine straw mixed with leaves. I then marched myself back up to the front yard and spread them all! "There you go", I proudly announced. Felt good too. :)

I'm thinking maybe Randall Rabbit and I are best friends now....

Would you look at the size of those back feet...

He's a big lovable sweetie pie rabbit...

and loves old cardboard boxes to push around...

Well friends, I mostly wanted to finish a little post today to wish you all a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Guess it will be just Poppy and me  here...He will hunt while I cook us a little Thanksgiving meal. 

Will leave you with a couple of  pictures taken from across the pond that I like.

      

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Love, Henny

Still out with the camera...

taking pictures of things you've seen a hundred times...

I'm sorry. It's just that this is the prettiest fall we've had in several years and I can't get over it! :)

We've had a week or more of cool cloudy days so when the sun came up early one morning last week and lit up the trees to the west well..."hold Ellie's leash", I said to Poppy, "I'm going back for the camera".

There was just so much color that morning...

There are lots of dogwood berries this fall, oh, and let me show you this one...

a dogwood tree this size growing in a flower pot! There's a story here. I saved this tiny sprig of a dogwood many years ago. It was growing wild, and in an "L" shape, out the side of a clay bank. Watching it and feeling sorry for it, I finally pulled it up and put it in a little pot. It must have been so happy to be able to straighten up and spread it's roots in dark rich soil. So I sat my little dogwood near the garden and left it way too long. 

Now the roots go deep and I dare not try moving it. Several people have asked if I would sell them the potted dogwood.  I'm afraid my heart strings go pretty deep there too.

and while we're up near the garden and greenhouse there is another plant to show you...

this is Cooper's ice plant (Delosperma) a succulent. My friend Karen and her husband Norm stopped by for a short visit. Karen brought this plant to me. Oh, there is a story here too. 

For 12 years Norm and I worked together at the same business in Raleigh. I retired in 1999 and had not seen or heard anything about Norm or his wife since then, until! You may remember the farm show and swap meet (maybe it was called the tractor show) that was held in 2020, just down the road, maybe 6 or 8 miles. I was a vendor there. Well who should walk up to my table but Norm and Karen. Wait, you may remember this...

That's Karen and me sitting in the Model T, taken at the tractor show. The shocker is, we are practically neighbors and have been for a long long time and had no idea. They live just down the road...6 or 8 miles. I'm so happy to get to know Karen better. They both are super nice people. 

and, on the subject of plants, Poppy brought me a flower today...

Seriously! You know, deer hunting season is in and he has been sitting in the tree across the road, overlooking the cut-over. He told me there were several beautiful bunches of white flowers growing there. Today he climbed down and picked one for me.  

The tiny flowers, close up look like little brushes...

after much searching, found out this is a Baccharis halimifolia

Common names: Consumption Weed, Coyote Bush, Eastern Baccharis, Groundsel Tree, High Tide Bush, Salt Bush, Salt Marsh  Elder, Sea Myrtle, and Silvering. Have you ever!! 

I think it is really pretty and would like one growing in the yard. Now to find a large vase.

Anyhow, back to my "loving fall" pictures...the teeny tiny pond...

and you know what makes our colored trees so unusual? Well, they're so darn tall you have to stand and look straight up to get a picture...

Anyhow, I could go on and on, after all, when I came in to load my pictures, there were 78 and that was from just one walk outside. Guess I had better say goodnight.  Poppy will be asking, "are we eating ice cream tonight"? 

Thank you for stopping by. Just one more. The color was a little better in this one. :) I've got to get over this!

Love, Henny