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

Mrs. Orb Weaver

Hey dear friends,

What a different gardening season this has been. A few flowers, well three to be exact, finally came up...

Wasn't sure what they were, but turns out this striking orange bloom is the mexican sunflower.

The butterflies just love them and so do I. Finally! Fowers in my garden!

Grass had almost taken over the garden so I've been clearing out. Flowers and butterflies have a way of lifting my spirits...

Yep, wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow load hauled out. Even pulled up the green bean vines and the wattle fence, but still getting plenty of peppers. These are the Pablano...

Oh, and a special little visitor showed up in my garden...

Mrs. Orb Weaver, or the black and yellow garden spider. She didn't visit at all last summer.

Oh well, soon all the gardening will be done and we will be going into fall, then winter, just around the corner. Winter's good.

I came across this playhouse picture and thought, oh wow! How different it looks now.

and this is now...

What a difference! There is lots about winter I love. We need the winter months. Just thought it would be fun to post both pictures. But for the record...Put me down for summer. :)

Well, now that I've talked your ears off, I will say goodbye...oh, but do want to close with pictures of the succulents. 

Remember the little $9.00 bag of cutting I ordered from Ebay a few months ago?

Thanks for looking!

Love, Henny

Thank you friends!!

for all the nice comments on my last post. I appreciate you all so much...I really do!

Oh my! Is it hot and humid where you are? 

You know, last winter I waited and hoped and wished for spring and summer...telling myself, "I will not gripe and complain about the heat, not this summer". I craved the feel of warm sunshine on my bare arms and the healing powers of the sun for my aching body. 

Have to admit, I have complained just a wee bit this month of July.  It's so hot and humid!!

The sweet little canary yellow bird cage hangs empty at the playhouse...

Poppy did the painting and that's about as far as we got...

I am too ashamed to show you the teeny tiny garden. We have had thunderstorms, lots of rain, and high winds which can wreak havoc on garden plants. However...

tomatoes are plentiful and some are kind of big...

and these Pablano peppers...

Back when the garden was just starting, our soon to be new neighbors, Steve and Loye stopped by and gave us four Pablano pepper plants. 

I've Gooled and found a simple recipe for Rajas; Pablano peppers sauteed with onions and garlic, that looks good. 

Well, we have been walking the dogs a little earlier these days because of the heat. Our boy Eli was sick yesterday...

Poppy asking him if he felt up to a walk this morning...can you believe our sweet Eli is almost eight years old now?

Eli did want to go. We had planned to be at the vet's office at eight this morning but whatever it was that made Eli sick, seemed to be gone. Obviously, he had eaten something that didn't agree with that big tummy of his. Vet told us to watch him today and bring him in if he gets sick again. 

Always ready for a walk...

Ellie says she has been ready!

looks like Smokey had a busy night...said he would just soon stay home and catch a nap...

Guess that's about it for now. Thank you for visiting. Be back soon, I hope!

Love, Henny