Down Henny Penny Lane...

early this morning, I asked Poppy to hold onto Ellie while I made a picture of the sky. It was so pretty! and even better with these three walking up ahead...

Poppy walks Eli, while Ellie skips along with me. Ellie and I laugh at the two slow pokes as we take three or four steps to their one. 

The unsettled looking clouds are probably from Hurricane Ida as she moves north. We are in a slight risk for high winds or an isolated tornado later today. What we need most right now is rain.

I'm feeling mighty proud this morning! Well, actually  it's nothing to be proud of, but you know how I have always said, "I am not a pickle maker or a jelly maker", but would you look at this...

two jars of fig preserves,  made by me, that actually turned out right.

After thirty two years of living here, we finally have two fruit trees that give us fruit; a fig tree and a pear tree.  Lots of figs this summer...

but not many pears. There are three or four pears on the tree I'm keeping an eye on. Oh, and talking about preserves and canning...

last week when I posted pictures of the peppers, I forgot to mention the three jars of pickled green beans on the shelf...thanks to "Granny Marigold". She posted about canning pickled green beans. Well, I got all excited and found a recipe online and made these three jars. "Granny Marigold" offered to send me her recipe, which I would love to have. Thank you!

Might as well show you one more jar of delicious looking...

HONEY! This is a quart of "Blue Bird" honey, made by bees just a quarter mile on down Henny Penny Lane. Our soon to be new neighbor stopped by yesterday and gave us this early Christmas present. Steve is a bee keeper. We are so excited about Steve and his wife building their new home and moving out here. 

Well, back to our walk...

Actually, this is a different picture from the first one, Poppy and the dogs were a little farther down the road and the sun was brighter. Just had to take two. The sky was so pretty.

and about this pot sitting in the yard... 

it's a big old pot that sits near the kitchen sink to hold food scraps, used paper towels, napkins, etc. for the compost bin. After emptying it this morning I sat it here in the hot sun. The sun dries it completely. It almost looks bleached. Don't you love the sun for making things smell clean and fresh?

Funny, I had other things in mind to talk about when I sat down  to do this post, but will just go with this for now. Promise to get away from the garden and food stuff next time. :) Working on more clothespin dolls and bonnets, and have another special doll or two but will save all this for next time. 

Sure appreciate your visiting.

Love,

Henny

 

A few pickles and a stack of fabric

Tired out after a nice long walk around the pond in this hot July weather.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Like most holidays Poppy is working so we won't be doing anything special today. I kind of enjoy watching all the celebrating and fireworks on TV anyway.

Reading the words "sweet land of liberty" this morning reminded me of a funny story. Many years ago my first cousin came home from school and asked, "mama what is liver tea"? "I don't know", she said, "I've never heard of it, why"? "Because", said my cousin, "every morning we have to sing a song about sweet land of liver tea".

Yesterday, I made my one jar of pickles from the cucumbers off my one cucumber vine in the teeny tiny garden...

Actually, the pickles are not in the jar yet. I do not claim to be a pickle maker, but I do like this easy way to make myself a jar of pickles.

Slice and layer in a mixing bowl...cucumber, onion, garlic, and fresh dill.

Bring to a boil...two cups white vinegar, two cups water, one cup sugar, and three tablespoons of salt. Let mixture cool then pour over cucumbers. Cover bowl and put in refrigerator for three days. 

Pack in jar(s). Will keep in refrigerator for three weeks.

Our neighbor Ann stopped by a few minutes ago and gave me this stack of fabric. She surely did! I thanked her over and over and then said, "stay right there"! I ran inside, got two dozen eggs out of the refrigerator and put them in a bag, then ran them out to her. I mean, this is a lot of fabric! There are at least least four yards in some of the pieces! I am tickled to death over this fabric!

Need to get busy. While Ann was here, our other neighbors from down the path stopped by for a visit. Good to have nice neighbors! 

Love,
Henny

Making Preserves

One word, "Citron"!

Remember the 1967 movie "The Graduate" with Dustin Hoffman. Remember the part where Mr. McGuire says to Benjamin, "one word, plastics".  My favorite line. Dustin Hoffman was hilarious in that movie!

Anyway, "Citron"! Citron preserves. Look! I've actually made two jars of citron preserves...

Am I proud of these or what! It was a sticky job for only two jars but wow, am I proud of these two jars! It really wasn't a mess until I let the pot boil over, just a little. Thankfully I saw it before too much went down in the burner.

It seemed to me like the preserves were not getting thick so I called Shelby. She makes jams, jellies, and preserves daily, DAILY! I would be crazy! Anyway she told me how to check and tell when the preserves are ready. The trick is to keep a saucer waiting in the freezer. To check the preserves put a teaspoon of the boiling mixture on the saucer and then return the saucer to the freezer for two minutes. I did this probably three times. It works! Did I mention how proud I am of these preserves?

I filled the two hot jars, put the rings and lids on and processed them in a boiling water bath for fifteen minutes. Both jars sealed...

While on the subject of citron, look how pretty the seeds are. These look like watermelon seeds except red...

Once upon a time many years ago my Aunt Berlie picked enough wild cherries to make a jar of jelly. One small jar of jelly! Aunt Berlie being proud of that jar of jelly was holding it up to the light, admiring the clear red color when the little jar slipped right out of her fingers, crashed on the kitchen floor and broke. Can you imagine the feeling. 

Another bit of news today...I was rushing around trying to get out the door and to my early morning dentist appointment. Eli was stretched out between the dining room table and the living room, blocking the way into the kitchen. As I tried stepping over him either I lost my balance or Eli moved...or both and I started to fall. There was no stopping at this point. I was on my way down, and hard. I didn't want to fall on Eli and hurt him. But in the shuffle I somehow wound up on the floor and Eli on top. I moaned and groaned a bit. Both knees were hurting.  Eli seemed fine and before I could get back on my feet, he gave me two wet licks across the face. Weetie, worried too was trying to get between Eli and me. What a mess. I'm okay and did make it to the dentist.

Thank you for visiting. Where have the days gone this week? 

Love,
Henny Penny

Canning and listening for a train whistle

My wish for growing green beans in the teeny tiny garden this year is coming true. I picked enough beans Tuesday to can another seven jars yesterday. That gives us fourteen quarts so far...

The tomato vines are covered in tomatoes but none are ripe yet except for this small, not so pretty one. The peppers are doing great. I'm growing my first, and favorite, orange bell pepper and I just can't wait to pick one. 

The beans already need picking again. With this hot humid weather again today, and a chance of storms, plus Hurricane Arthur heading up the North Carolina Coast...well, the beans will have to hang there until late tomorrow. 

Hope watermelon is not bad for dogs. Eli loves it and apples too. Maybe he just loves anything we are eating...

Notice the spot of yogurt on the table leg? Who know what will have to be replaced in this house by the time Eli is full grown.  But he is so sweet and so smart and so worth the trouble. Bickett says he is not too sure about all that...

Do you ever have one of those day where you have lots, maybe too much to do and you just don't want to do any of it! That's me today. I'm in one of my traveling moods. Good thing there are not any railroad tracks near by, because like my Uncle Lloyd back when he would hear a train whistle blowing in the distance, I just might drop my hoe right here in the field and take off running and catch that train.

Better hang around here and get to work!

Love,
Henny

Green Beans and Red House

I kept myself busy snapping beans yesterday as the painters opened can after can of Redwood stain and slathered it on the dry thirsty weathered cedar logs.

How did I sleep last night, you ask! Well, as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out like a light...mentally exhausted from the stress of the day. Worrying about the painters suffering a stroke in this 94 degree heat. Anxious about how the red color was looking but afraid to see.  Struggling all day with the dogs as Weetie has decided she just might bite strangers who come onto the property and Eli, on the other hand wanting to meet those strangers in the yard, see what was in those cans, and stand up on the ladders. So, back to how I slept...at 1:30 am I sat straight up in the bed as a loud voice in my head warned, "you have a red house, a red house! There is no turning back! This red house is yours! The neighbors are driving past, pointing and laughing, saying why would they pick that color?"  I tossed and turned and came up with all kinds of solutions as to how we could change the house color back to brown. How can everything seem so horrible in the middle of the night?

Okay, everything is not ruined, and that ugly splotchy pinkish-red first coat in the picture is gone. Folks, I was feeling sick. There will be pictures. The second coat of stain is going on right now.  I hate to show you the house just yet as I have noticed that as the stain dries it becomes darker. Whew! Here's just a peek. Still the first coat and excuse the mess..

With that said, I can get back to the green beans. After snapping and washing there were enough beans to process a canner full...seven quarts. Oh, and adding to the stress of yesterday was this pressure canner full of hot steam, rocking on the stove. I can picture that thing exploding one day. Things like that happen in my kitchen, you know.

And the beans turned out good. Every jar sealed...

Thank you, if you have managed to stay around this long.  :)  Hope to be back soon.

Love,
Henny