Apologies, and remembering Daddy and Summerville...

Hello friends. I'm very sorry for being away so long...

Hardly a day goes by that I don't think about you. Poppy said just the other day, "every time I pull up your blog you still have pictures of those icicles from back in February."

"I've just been totally out of anything to post and then spring comes along and the big snowball bush blooms, well, you know me and the big snowball bush!"  :)  

Our teeny tiny house in the big woods is barely visible...

Every spring I am simply amazed at the size of this snowball bush, and the number of blossoms. Thank you for putting up with me. :)

So I set my buckets down there in the path to take a few pictures. Be still my heart! The Azaleas!

You know, I remember living in Summerville SC back in the late 1940s. In fact, I started school there and went through most of the third grade before we moved back to NC. 

Even at that young age, I fell in love with the beautiful giant Azaleas and trees with moss hanging from the branches. "I knew then that I wanted a yard with giant Azaleas" like those in Summerville and Charleston"!

Daddy was manager of a textile mill in Summerville. I don't remember much about the mill except the noise of all the big machines and that they used gray cones filled with thread of some sort. Occasionally daddy would bring home a stack of empty cones for us to play with. So much fun it was! The tips of the cones were different colors, to separate the kinds of threads, I suppose. 

Anyhow, guess what I did with one of my cones?? I filled it with soil and stuck a piece of an Azalea in it and buried it in a hole in the yard. It took root and grew! It sure did!

And, look way down Henny Penny Lane as far as you can see...

That's a home being built. It was probably 4 or maybe 5 years ago I posted that we would soon be getting new neighbors, well that is finally about to happen. Such a nice couple. We're glad they will soon be moving out here.

Oh, and I like this picture...

I went a little crazy with the camera. That's what spring does to me. 

Hopefully, soon I will post about the teeny tiny garden. The jobs around here seem to get harder and harder especially with my back problems, arthritis, and osteoporosis. Good grief! I'm not giving up yet! :) I managed to get all the leaves raked and hauled away again. Yay!!

Smokey, looks back as I tell him to be careful out on his adventures today...

One more little apology for such a long post about, of course, the snowball bush. But it is such a beautiful Spring! The wild azalea and the button bush too...

Thank you dear friends. 

Love, Henny

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter!!

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

Still Blogging from North Carolina

Hello dearest friends,

We haven't completely given up on the idea of moving to beautiful West Virginia...I just may be too busy to pack up right now and move :)

Been terribly busy in the teeny tiny sewing room...

Did I mentioned before how well the old fashioned bonnets are selling at the market? It is quite amazing. So, I sew for a couple hours most nights, making more bonnets.

I have added a new style bonnet...

This style has a ruffle in back and along the bottom of the bonnet brim. Inside is made the same as my other pattern...

Anyhow, for 32 years I've had an old blue bonnet hanging in my sewing room for decoration. It was a gift from my mother when we moved into our log cabin. 

Mama knew this elderly lady down home in Moore County, who made old fashioned bonnets and sold them for $5.00. (Funny, now I am that elderly lady making old fashioned bonnets.) Time sure flies.

So, one night in the sewing room the old bonnet caught my eye. Oh my gosh! Could I take that bonnet apart and make a pattern? I did! It worked! Here's another one...

Wait, I'm not done in the sewing room just yet...

No wonder 'cat food' is always at the top of the grocery lists. Yes, I mean you, Mokey!

Mokey and the bonnets...

Rare for me not to boast and brag and post pictures of the teeny tiny garden, round this time of the year, but you know what...

it's just not doing so good. Looks like the sunflowers may bloom soon. Looking forward to that. I took this picture of the garden while walking Eli and Ellie early one morning this week. 

Made several pictures on that walk...telling myself that I need to remember the joy felt when we finally got our little piece of land paid for and our dream home built...a little log cabin deep in the woods.

 Ellie and I lagged way behind that morning.

We looked up at the tall trees...

and into the dark woods where there is a little water hole...

Okay, I've probably way overstayed my visit. 

Oh, would you believe I am still line dancing. Yep, I've stuck with it and now can keep in step with the others...well, most of the time. That one hour, one day a week sure is fun. Actually, I have been staying over and trying a dance or two with the advanced class. Not quite there yet though. I've just got to get some pictures of us elderly dancing ladies to show you. 

Well, I will say goodbye for now. Thank you for looking in. Be back soon, hopefully.

Love, Henny

Not once, since February 2013

until now, have I gone a whole month without publishing a blog post. Feels like starting all over. 

So here's our little ole log cabin, not quite as deep in the woods as it once was...

down Henny Penny Lane where the two, not very bright, Guineas guard the place and compete with Eli and Ellie as to who can bark or scream the longest and loudest warning alarm for every thing that moves...

and the chickens, well we're down to one big feeling rooster and six humble hens and getting a few eggs every day...

The playhouse still stands but needs a good cleaning, especially the rusty contents of the "Old Motor Grader Road" museum...

and back in March I started vegetable seeds in the teeny tiny greenhouse that actually germinated and thrived and are now planted in the teeny tiny garden. Sorry I don't have a picture of the garden yet, duh, how slack of me. I will be back with one.

Can you believe single garden plants, even at Walmart this spring are close to $5.00 a piece! I had to start seed. Could not afford to spend that much on plants. Remember back when you could buy a six pack of vegetable plants for 3.99?? Boy have things changed!

Oh, I do have a picture of the rose bush Andee gave me for Mother's Day three years ago. It grows in a pot inside the garden gate. It bloomed beautifully this Mother's Day...

Doing fine also are Rosie the goat, Miss Ducky, and Randall Rabbit. Guess my best news today is to tell you that our sweet Ellie is doing well. We still have vet appointments with blood work and pills to take twice a day but she is like her old self again, maybe even better...

Here are Eli and Ellie early this morning...

Of course, that's Eli in 'his' chair and Ellie on the old couch.

So if I still have a few friends out there, thank you for looking in. Oh my gosh! Smokey will never forgive me. I've forgotten him. Let me find a picture to add before he reads this post...

Here he is! He says there's plenty of room for both of us at the sewing machine. :(  He's my boy!

Love, Henny

We made a trip to town today...

 and why I have to keep putting off buying that new pair of jeans 😉

What's this? A line forming already just outside the pantry door?

Somebody might as well open another bag of birdseed too. That old saying, "eating us out of house and home", pretty much fits us here...

Got all kinds waiting in line at feeders.  We moved these two hanging bird feeders from the front porch to just outside the kitchen and living room windows...

Actually, two little birds have flown into the kitchen window lately. Our thinking was, hanging something there might prevent it from happening again...

Now there is a constant flutter around the window with birds waiting their turn to grab a sunflower seed.

And the little hanging pot at the living room window gives Poppy something to watch besides the TV...

Nothing going hungry around here. Wait until you see just inside the freezer door...

Shame on us! But who could resist! Tillamook is on sale at Food Lion for 3.99 and Breyers is on sale, buy 2 for 8.00 and get a thid one free. Wow! Another reason I need to wait about buying that new pair of jeans. 😞

Anyhow...I've been meaning to update you on Randall Rabbit...

He is now 8 months old and growing really big. What a sweet bundle of fun he has become. I need to get a little video of him showing off when I go inside the pen. He does bunny flips and is so cute! We added a panel to the front of his cage...such a cozy little home...

and his cozy little home home is safe and snug inside a 10' x 10' chain link pen, reinforced with rabbit wire and complete with an enclosed roof. Why most any bunny would be proud of such a fine home. Just check out the coziness inside...

with lots of hay to play in and nibble on. Why, I just might spend the night with him one of these nights. 

and our old "Miss Ducky" is happily sitting on two duck eggs, and has quite the story to tell...

Miss Ducky is very old. She is a Muscovy with Angel Wing, a cosmetic condition where the wing feathers twist as they grow causing them to grow out from the body instead of lying flat. She has never been able to fly. 

She has outlived all the ducks we've had and seems very content to live alone on our little pond...

Well, content except for the fact that she wants a baby duck of her very own...Miss Ducky has been sitting on a nest near the pond ever since last spring. We didn't think much about it until one day when she was off, and we saw that she was sitting on a pile of large acorns. Acorns! She had to have gathered them and put them there.

Anyhow, after telling the sad story to my friend Carla, Carla gathered two real duck eggs from their yard and brought them to us. The next time Miss Ducky was off her nest, Poppy took the acorns away and replaced them with the two eggs.  We seriously doubt that Ducky will hatch them but we'll see. For now, she is very happy and terribly proud which makes us happy too.

Well friends, I've gone on enough about the foolishness around here. How's the weather been where you are? We have had days and days of rain and the days without rain are cloudy. Very little sun shine...

But February is here and we're now getting closer to spring. Just can't wait to see blue skies and green grass again, and Mr. Sun!

Okay, don't know how this other duck picture got here but if I delete it, all different font sizes will appear in my post. Thank you for visiting.

Love, Henny