August 24th, my last post! And I was doing so well!

Anyhow, I've so much to tell you and show you! Oh, but don't get excited. It's just simple little things that make me happy. :)

Like Fall being here and all the pretty pine straw that fell on my path behind the playhouse...

only leaves here but this reminds me of an old outhouse. :)

and down behind the house...I love the Fall shadows...

Gosh, since this picture was taken, it really does look like Fall. Leaves have covered the brick path.  

Anyhow, moving on with some extra special news. Okay, I've been searching everywhere for a spayed female rabbit. A companion for Randall Rabbit. 

So, a few days ago I did the usual checking at Orange County Animal Services and there they were...two little female bunnies needing a loving home. I called my daughter Lynn! "Lynn", I asked. "If I brave the traffic on I-85 and drive to your house, will you go with me to adopt two bunnies from Orange County Animal Services"? You see, Lynn lives in Durham, about an hour's drive from me, and Orange County Animal Services is about a fifteen minute drive from Lynn's. "Sure I will Mom". She said...

This is Princess, and here's Princess's mother, Star...

Both Bunnies are living on the back porch for the time being since both had been spayed the day before I adopted them. They needed extra care and be given pain medication for two days. The funny part is, my intentions were to adopt one bunny. "Bring home only one rabbit", Poppy said loud and clear before I left that day. So, while at OC Animal Services and Lynn and I were locked inside the little visiting cell enjoying the bunnies, one of the workers popped her head in and said, "we will make you a deal if you adopt both bunnies", two for the price of one", she said. The bunnies are mother and daughter. Awww, I couldn't adopt one and leave the other. :(

Here's me holding mama rabbit...

Arriving back at Lynn's she asked if I could stay long enough to see her little garden and workshop. Of course I could! Friends, Lynn can take nothing and turn it into something fantastic. If you will, take a look inside Lynn's workshop...

and this last picture reminds me of a page from the "I Spy" books. Can you find Lynn?

To learn more about Lynn, go to "abitofbirdsong . Her junk journals are amazing! A recent picture of my lovely blue-eyed Lynn...

I will end all this madness with Smokey and the dogs! It was sprinkling rain...says Smokey...

not to be outdone, Eli and Ellie teamed up for this shot...

Well, friends, hope we are still friends after putting you through all this. I use way too many words. :) Thank you. I will be catching up with you all. Thanks again.

Love, Henny

My dearest and best friends...

 Don't know why I've had such a hard time putting a post together lately. 

Anyhow, I was in the teeny tiny garden today and thought to myself...

"Hey, you could at least stop in and say hello and tell the best friends you've ever had how much you appreciate their friendship over the years".

So, here I am! "Thank you friends so very much"! I miss you and think about you just about every day.

Oh, there has been lots I've wanted to post about...like this beautiful spring. These few pictures were taken very early spring...

when the leaves were tiny on the trees, and everything seemed to be turning green, and I was going absolutely crazy...

Even in the back yard and around the...

Why, I think every yellow water iris was in bloom this spring...

and now those wild bushes that smell so very sweet are in full bloom all along Henny Penny Lane...

the black dot back in the driveway is Smokey, waiting for me to get my senses back and come home. Oh, the sweetness!

While I'm on a roll with spring yard pictures, here's the playhouse...

Oops, here's the playhouse! That's Smokey on top, again waiting for me. :)

For a little real news, Sunday before last I was on my way to Food Lion for a few groceries...I turned off the boulevard onto the little street that goes into the store parking. About half way down a truck came from a side street, failed to stop at the stop sign and crashed into the side of my car. Thankfully, I was not hurt, but my little SUV was badly damaged...

Lucky it hit the front quarter instead of my door which probably would have hurt me. My car can be repaired, and his insurance will pay. Yay for that!

Got to tell you about our mowing! What a job! Poppy with the riding mower and me with the push mower we finally, finally, got all the mowing done. 

 

Down near the pond I mowed with the push mower. When Miss Duck refused to move so I could finish the last spot, Poppy came along, picked her up, I mowed the grass under her and Poppy sat her back down.

Like everything (and everyone) around here, she is getting old. :)

Maybe I should stop here. This has been a busy stressful day and bedtime is getting close. Hope to be back soon.

Love, Henny

 

Are your days busy?

How can there possibly be so much to do on a teeny tiny farm? Whatever would I do with a real farm!

Anyhow, my days are full. Did you know a fireplace screen makes a great drying rack for green beans...

I wasted half a day trying to build a drying rack with old screen wire then happened to notice the fireplace screen and it worked! 

Funny, when I stood the screen up against the tree, Smokey thought it was playtime...all for him.

Silly kitty! The beans frightened him so he found another place near by to sun...

Can you tell I haven't started raking leaves yet? All these little willow oak leaves will be raked up and put on the garden, hopefully, if I remain able. I am bound and determined to improve conditions in the teeny tiny garden before next year. The garden was awful this summer. Simply awful! 

Oh, I finally got around to adding a little more Fall decor to the old cupboard...

I stopped by Goodwill on my way to line dancing last week and found the pitcher. Andee sent me the cute little welcome mat for my birthday...

and the matching flag that hangs up at the playhouse...

Oh, and those green beans drying in the sun...well I've never had any beans worth drying and saving until now. These are old timey heirloom half runner beans...seeds passed down over the years by my Mother's family. Thanks to Shelby for asking around and sure enough a cousin had a bag full stored in her freezer. Shelby and Jimmy grew a couple of long rows of these delicious beans...plenty to eat and plenty to save for seed. Shelby gave me enough beans to plant a couple of rows too. 

By the way, what is your favorite color of the Fall mums? Oh, I love them all! But if I had to pick just one, it would be the deep reds. My son-in-law Todd brought this pretty mum to me for my birthday...

Good grief! I am so embarrassed. My last post has a misspelled word...right up there big as day in the title. That was supposed to be "Community" rock pile.

Okay, I could go on and on. There are spiders and webs and animals to talk about...I need to post more often. 

Thank you friends...if you are still here.

Love, Henny

Comminity Rock Pile

 Who would've guessed Tropical Storm Ophelia was headed straight for North Carolina! "Not I, said the Little Red Hen".

Winds were terrible Friday night and all day Saturday. No damage here but man, the yard and porches were simply littered in dead tree limbs and green leaves.

Guess I'll wear out another wheelbarrow cleaning up the mess...

This was the first of many loads...Poppy carried the bigger pieces away by hand...The joy of living in the woods. :)

Anyhow, about that community rock pile...

Actually, my friend Carla's husband drives a dump truck. Occasionally he brings a load of not so perfect gravel to be spread on the dirt road. Turns out this load had too many big chunks of cement...

so the rock pile, once much bigger, keeps disappearing. Folks slipping in and carting off enough to repair holes in their driveways and such...

so I'm thinking to myself, why not slip over and cart off my own few loads of gravel...maybe build something pretty...

Not even one car passed by and caught me loading up my little pink wheelbarrow.   :) But I have an advantage...see the grey showing under that center board, right side, on the gate? That's the rock pile...just a stone's throw away. 

I built a little patio, joining the greenhouse and playhouse even extending  into a little entrance way...

I kinda like it, do you? Is there anything any more fun than building something pretty?

Remember the old green tub, part of an old fashioned wringer washing machine? Holds the potting soil...

well, it was sitting atop an old rotten pallet about to fall in...what to do? plus I needed it to be a little higher...so off to my stash of wood pieces, bricks, and cinderblocks. 

Perfect! There leaning against an old saw horse...a big, brand new, wooden pallet my neighbot Windy had given me about a year ago. Headed back up to the garden for a saw and the wheelbarrow.

Whew! quite a haul from down near pond! Anyhow, stacked there is the pallet sawed in half...and...

my new, sturdier, taller, easier to reach table! Actually, to me it doesn't look as pretty as the old dark pallet but in time this too will weather and age. And now I see part of the problem...I forgot to spread out the runners on the chocolate vine. That would sorta cover the new boards...

Boy I can sure go on and on, can't I. Bet you've all ssigned off. Anyhow, if not, thank you for visiting. Sure appreciate you all.

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