Home, home in the leaves

 Sorry things are a little messy around Randall Rabbit's home. Things seem to take on a ragged look in the winter months, don't you think? I was on my way down to feed him. If you look closely, you can see poppy through the wire fence.

awww, here we are...

The little veranda I had been building around Randall's house, Poppy saw as the perfect spot to sit and watch the deer at the end of the dam. He and Randall keep each other company. 

Seems Randall sees the deer first and signals to Poppy by thumping loudly.  Late yesterday, Poppy texted me to Look out the living room window. There were eight deer at the end of the dam. 

Taking a break. Apple peels are his favorite treat...

Randall sure is a sweetie pie. I missed the perfect opportunity to adopt a companion for him. Makes me sad to think about it. The Orange County Animal Services, about an hour's drive from here, had a large grey and white female, "spayed" rabbit that needed a home. I was ecstatic. This was late afternoon on Friday before the last big craft show. They are closed on Sunday, so I promised to be there Monday morning. Well, someone came and adopted her on Saturday. :(

Oh well, maybe it was for the best. So, while Randall helps Poppy hunt Smokey keeps me company...

Can't resist picking him up for a hug. He is so warm and cuddly these cold winter days...

His look says he had rather have the soft cushion back, so I got back to my work.

Well friends, just a little Randall and Smokey post. I have been in the Christmas decorating mood and hopefully will be back with a bit of a Christmas post. I actually got around to making an ice box fruit cake yesterday. Yum! So easy and so delicious!

Rian, hope you can visit and see our big boy, Randall. :)

Love, Henny

Oh yes, almost forgot, "Home home in the leaves...

Leaves, windstorms, clouds!

Willow oak leaves are all over the front yard again...third time this season!

So, I decided to start in a different part of the yard and rake the leaves between the house and the teeny tiny goat barn, Rosie's home...

I raked and raked and raked all the way down to the chicken lot, pulling away a bunch of leaves, and feeling mighty pleased with myself for making such a good start. I love seeing the green grass appear from underneath.

Well, 2 days later that big cold front dropped down bringing most of you snow and bringing us only high winds and cold temperatures. The wind woke us up in the middle of the night, Wednesday night with sticks and limbs hitting the house.

Needless to say, the nicely raked side yard is a mess! I will start over! Have to keep telling myself, "no, matter how bad it looks, all those loads of leaves I pulled away are still gone," so all is not lost.

Filling in here with a picture of the little sewing room where there were supposed to be pictures from the big Christmas craft event last Saturday...

I was supposed to come back and post about it, but it all happened so fast, and we were so busy, taking pictures never entered my mind. Anyhow, I'm sure you've seen enough of my bonnets and aprons and bags. Speaking of bags! Since the boho bags were such a hit at the last craft show, I had 14 made for this event...and would you believe, not even one bag sold! You just never know.

A few months back I did a lot of cleaning out the teeny tiny sewing room. Got rid of a lot of clutter and dust, but told Smokey he could stay...

along with miss Ellie, stretched out where I need to get to the ironing board...

a jumbled-up post I know but Poppy has taken a few neat sky pictures while deer hunting down near Randall Rabbit's lot. Poppy's chair sits backed up to the lot so he and Randall visit, watch for deer, and look at the sky as the sun sets just before dark...oh, and where am I? Inside getting supper on the table and keeping Eli and Ellie from barking. 

I think the pictures have a lonely look. Back when I was very young there was a painting that hung in the living room at home. It had the same colors as in these pictures but even more red in the sky, there was no blue at all. It had woods in the background, a lake, and there were two men in a small boat. That painting always looked lonely to me. Oh well...

Here's one more Poppy picture. The little squirrels are fussing over who gets to sit at the wheel of the tractor...

Not much of a post but if I delete it, no telling when I will get around to doing another one. Going to warm up supper now. Thank you for stopping by. 

Love, Henny

Dearest friends...

I know you all are probably thoroughly fed up and tired of my blog. Really, who want to follow a wishy-washy blog? Fact of the matter is it used to be fun to take pictures with my little $99.00 camera, load them on the computer, write a post, and pull pictures as I needed them. Now to use a picture I must send it from my iPhone to Poppy's iPhone. He then mails it to my Gmail, so that I can download it to the computer. Loading all the pictures from iPhone to computer doesn't work for me either...I can never find them. Oh fiddle sticks!

Meanwhile back in the jungle, or woods...

Poppy has been putting out pieces of apple for the deer. Look who found them...

So sweet! Hope he's careful under all the deer hooves stomping around. Yes, deer hunting is in full swing around these parts. Poppy seems more interested in helping the deer than he is in killing one. Wonder where that came from?? :)

Many pictures have I taken with plans for various blog posts.  Here's a few from my "funny mushroom" post that never happened.

 The mushroom that winked at me...

and the lovely mahogany one, standing in the soft green moss...

and the lumpy bumpy mushroom, that came from under the straw...

Not quite the collection that was in my mushroom post from a few years back. 

and, oh my goodness! Leaves, leaves, leaves! I've cleaned out the teeny tiny garden and covered it with little willow oak leaves raked from the front yard.

Oops! wrong picture. I wasn't quite finished here. But I dare not try and change anything! The garden is actually completely covered in a warm blanket of leaves now and ready for winter. Oh, but this...

Late in the season, one Cosmos came up in the garden and covered itself in buds. Hoping so much that the buds would open before the first frost, and they did...

Winter has been slow coming this year. We still haven't had the first frost.

Remember my make believe "covered bridge on Henny Penny Lane"? :) Had to get a picture while the truck was gone...

Does kind of look like a covered bridge. I can dream. :)

All the little farm animals, such as they are, are fairing well..

Miss Ducky for one...

Eli and Ellie, two more...

and "me", trying to relax my legs after a few hours in the garden...Smokey never misses a chance to take advantage of a soft bed...

Well dear friends, guess that's about it for this time. Truly, I do understand if you've had it!! :) I shall return. Shelby and I have a big craft fair this Saturday. Hopefully, I can post about it. :)

Love,

Henny

PS: Randall Rabbit sends his love, and so does Rosie. 

I will get over...

  The fact that it's Fall!  

Seems like every direction I look there are beautiful colors that need to be captured in a picture! Keeps me busy running in for my camera...I mean my iPhone! 

But first, there is also a special picture from Poppy, so look for it...

So I have pictures, such as they are. Now I've seen the gorgeous colors you folks up in the beautiful mountain areas have, and also you the northern states too, and mine aren't that beautiful, but...

 here's a few from around the house and yard and woods...about as far away as I travel these days. Easy to see why I get excited. :)

Several years ago, it was in the Fall, I remember my sister Shelby saying, I wonder if I'm going to die soon because the colors have never looked this beautiful to me before. Kind of how I'm feeling now.

Miss Ellie wanted to get in this one. Eli and Ellie like being in the goat's lot...as long as Rosie, the spoiled goat, is locked inside her teeny tiny barn. Can you believe Rosie intimidates these two big livestock gardian dogs? 

Oh my gosh! The amount of leaves on the ground have tripled since taking this picture a day or two ago plus I've raked this front yard once already.

and have I shown you our weather vane?? I don't think so...

been meaning to, and we've had it two or three years. While wandering around with the camera, looking up into the trees, the rooster caught my eye.

Oh, and when the sun shines through the oak trees in the back yard, well...

makes me want to go sit on the back steps and feel the warmth of the sun.

Can you spot the fat kitty cat...

Thursday when we carried Ellie in for bloodwork, Smokie came along too for his 3 year Rabies shot. The doctor said he weighs 14 lbs. but I'm thinking maybe the scale was wrong. 

Yep, here we are waiting for the doctor...

Smokey said what bothered him most was the cute bobtail cat that sat and stared down at him. So embarrasing!

I apologize for all these pictures and so much talk. Now as promised here's Poppy's picture. Can you spot the deer??

So very glad Poppy had rather take her picture than shoot her.

 

Once again, thank you friends for stopping by...for putting up with me. 

Love, Henny (and Eli)

The little Parsley plant

Last March when I started a few seeds in the teeny tiny greenhouse, I put a parsley seed in a bit of potting soil. It sprouted and grew to about the size of a toothpick.

After the garden was planted, not wanting to leave the tiny little parsley plant to die, I dug a hole at the end of a row and planted it there, then forgot about it. 

Cleaning up the garden lately this big green healthy plant growing under the edge of a  bunch of zinias caught my eye. Could that be Parsley! Is that the tiny spindly litte sprout I stuck in the garden and forgot.  

It's Parsley alright. So big and pretty! The weatherman was calling for a hard freeze Friday night. With a shovel I scooped up the whole plant, roots and all and put it in a big bucket, watered it good and put it in the greenhouse. 

The little greenhouse is not heated except for a heat lamp, the kind used for baby chicks, with a red 250w bulb. Anyhow, it worked. That was two days ago and the parsley is still pretty. I've dried five trays of parsley in the dehydrator...enough to fill one spice jar. Yay!

Oh my gosh! The leaves, the leaves, the leaves...here they had just begun to fall...

Hard to tell where the driveway ends and the path begins...it's that time of the year!!

and there have been some really pretty colors around the pond this fall...

I love the gold in this big old hickory nut tree that grows just outside Rosie's lot...Sorry I have no picture of Rosie. She is so fat! Rosie tries to eat every leaf that falls in her pasture,  and so far has done a pretty good job of keeping up.  :)

I apologize for all the pictures. I've taken so many and just need to share them with folks I love. Thank you for looking. :) Oh, and I have a few "hello" pictures from the animals, plus a little Randall Rabbit video...

another one of the pond with miss ducky...

Isn't it hard to believe that our Eli is ten years old!  He loves being out in the sun these cool days. Sunshine makes his sweet face even sweeter...

and of course our baby Ellie. Ellie is doing well on her medications. She goes in once a month for bloodwork...so far,  so good...

and now here's Randall Rabbit. What a big sweet bunny this boy has become...

Have I mentioned that I want another bunny?? Well, I do. Not just for me, but for Randall. There are some for sell in Wake Forest for only $20.00...not as big as Randall but are considered large rabbits. The problem is finding a way to get her spayed. My gosh! Why is it so expensive!

I've heard there are places that will help with the expense of spaying and neutering pets, so I am checking around. I have a Christmas craft show coming up November 18th. Hopefully, it will be a good one. Haven't mentioned all this to Poppy yet. So don't tell anybody. :)

and now the Randall Rabbit video... (especially for you Rian) Hope I remember how to load one...

Not the best post I've ever done. Thank you friends for stopping by. Our computer is dying...of course, it's about time for a new one. The screen is jumping up and down as I try to type. It's like trying to type while riding on a four-wheeler! :)

Love, Henny

My Goodness, friends...

Thank you for the many many comments on my last, "what we older women should wear" post. 

Look, just so you will know, I did order that pretty shirt and the cool cowboy boots. The shirt arrived, and guess what...It doesn't look good on me. sigh! Of course, I ordered an extra large and the tail of the shirt hits just above my knees. 

Anyhow, maybe the boots will get here soon and if the boots fit, and if I can walk in them, I will show off my feet. :) 

I really had my heart set on that pretty shirt. Funny how the shirt looked totally different on me than it did on that gorgeous 5' 11" model. Imagine that! :)

Sure was fun reading all your comments. Thank you so much! and Connie at Crafty Home Cottage, you're right, I did ask! and you answered, and I totally agree with what you said. 100% Thank you!

Smokey got comfortable beside me on the couch after supper. Said he liked all the pillows I use to cover up the old worn out couch...

We just couldn't resist a little photo shoot...

Have I told you that Smokey can say "ma ma"? Well he seriously can. Poppy and I taugh him...

When he weaves around our feet meowing for somebody to open a can of food, we say to him, can you say "ma ma" and he changes his long drawn out meaow to two short "meow meow's". It's the sweetest thing. I just have to pick him up and hug him, he is saying "ma ma".

Hard to believe, here in the middle of February we are still struggling to get the leaves cleaned up...

With my back problems and then shoulder pain too last fall, I really got behind. The leaves are actually too much for a leaf blower. I'm right behind poppy with the rake and a giant tarp...pulling the leaves away.

In Randall Rabbit news, I've added an old wooden chair to his pen...

gives him something more to jump on and gives me a place to sit andvisit with him. 

Tomorrow is line dancing...I can hardly wait. Guess I will be dancing in my old boots again.

Oh, would you believe there is a 96 year old lady who line dances with us?? She is actually in the advanced class. Her name is Helen and she turned 96 on December 21st. How encouraging is that! 

Here it is Tuesday night, I've been to line dancing, bought groceries, cooked supper and washed the dishes...and now finishing up this post. 

Line dancing was really fun today, must say it was the fastest hour of the day. Carla and I plan to start staying for the advanced classes which start as soon as the beginner's class ends.  Every Tuesday a few new ladies start the class and a few drop out. So for those of us who have been there long enough to know the more simple dances, it tiring listening to the instructor start all over...when we want to be dancing. :) 

Okay, I'm sure you've heard enough, if you're still here. Thanks again for all the comments. Hopefully, I'll be around in my new boots soon...hopefully, I will be able to walk in them. :)

Love, Henny