A very rainy day

Our first frost date is usually around October 15th. This year it's late arriving but by daylight tomorrow  we should have our first freezing temperature of 32 degrees. I dread it. I'll take sunshine and warm weather anytime!

When it rains like this, instead of finding something constructive to do inside...I walk from window to window, staring out at the rain.

It was simply pouring, as mama used to say...

Poppy was working at Food Lion that day last week when the heavy rains came. The house was quiet with just me and the dogs and the sound of the rain coming down. Kinda makes you want to build a roaring fire in the fireplace, doesn't it?

rain, rain, rain from the back porch too...

You know what we need here?? An old fashioned cast iron woodstove on the porch. Been my dream since day one! 

Looking a little dreary on this end of the porch too.

oops! missed the bedroom windows. Need to go back inside and take a look...

G

The kitty cats were here too, but under the bed in the sewing room, fast asleep.

Ellie watched from the front porch as the rain washed through the yard...

Guess thats it for my rainy day post, I started yesterday. It was cold when we got up this morning, 33 degrees! Lots of unsettled weather this time of the year, with the change of seasons.

Saw the doctor last Monday. He said in two weeks the cast can come off my wrist and I will then need a little physical therapy. Sure hope that means I can get back to work around here. :)

Thank you dear friends!

Love,

Henny

Rainy Days

Tuesday, before the rains came...

Oh friends, I need the sun to keep me cheerful and going and right now I'm feeling pretty desperate.

The pouring rains started yesterday (Wednesday) morning. So here it is 3:00 pm (Thursday) and the rain is still coming down. At 8:00 this morning there were 4 inches in the rain gauge. Who knows how much now and it's simply too wet and messy to go check.

Maybe I should back up and talk about our warm and sunny day, Tuesday; with the back door propped open and the animals wandering in and out...

Tuesday was a day filled with sunshine and colored leaves; camellia blossoms and shadows on the porch. 

and looking a little closer, a Christmas cactus too. 

Most folks who love house plants  probably have a Christmes cactus, but this one is kinda special...

This cactus came from cuttings taken from an old, very large, Christmas cactus that belonged to Poppy's mother. She had it for years and years and when she passed away, Poppy's sister Pat, brought it to her house.

One Thanksgiving Day down home, probably five years ago, Pat gave me cuttings from the old plant. It is now blooming, for the first time...

Did you notice Eli's feet? Old sweetie pie. He is a sweet blossom alright!

Oh, let me tell you. I brough in all those "frocks" from off the clothesline and plugged in the iron. What a job! Made me wish I had left them hanging in the sewing room, dusty and dirty. That was a lot of ironing!

but the dresses are fresh and clean now and back in the sewing room. I finished another apron too...

Little farm animals. Here's another apron I finished last night...

Something about this one I really like. It's just pink and cute.

So, the teeny tiny sewing room is back in business now...

           

My neighbor Ann, out taking orders for dolls and aprons, has been just the inspiration I needed. 

Wow!  Update on the rain! It stopped somewhere around 4:00 and I couldn't wait to walk outside. Guess how much was in the rain gauge? 6 inches!! Six inches!! The town of Rocky Mount, a little northeast of us got almost 10".

Sure looking forward to seeing the sun tomorrow. Hope you will come back.

Love,

Henny

 

Babies!

Hey Friends,

Here it is going on two weeks since my last post! Where do the days go anyhow?

Oh my goodness, have I ever got something special to show you... 

This adorable baby boy is Kendall, our new great grandson. Isn't he simply adorable! Kendall was born July 15th to our beautiful grandaughter Michaela and her fiance, Jacob. 

and since the day he came into this world, I must have said a hundred times, "he is so adorable"!

Been wanting to show you Kendall but didn't want to post pictures without his mommy's approval, so when Michaela said, "Grandma, post all the pictures you want to", Well, I was tickled to death. But I'll try not to post too many tonight. 

And in other baby news...The early part of last week I released the baby dove. Little did I know how tightly that baby bird had attached itself to my heart. My heart has actually ached for him...

So, here's what happened. I sat the young dove on top of a post just outside the kitchen window where we feed the birds. Most days there are three or four doves, along with dozens of other birds, that visit and eat there.

When the little dove realized he was free, he flew up into the trees, then he came back and lit on the ground and ate birdseed with the others. When the others flew, so did he. When night time came, I worried, but he was right back in the yard the next morning.

So he made it through two days and two nights on his own, or was he on his own? Suddenly there were eleven doves in the yard, all around the baby. They didn't chase him away or bother him, but seemed concerned about him. 

Then late in the day on the third day, I watched out the kitchen window as the birds began leaving the yard, just before dark. I noticed that one dove stayed. She sat perfectly still watching the baby dove, almost like she was talking to him. I couldn't believe my eyes when the baby dove walked up to her and when they were within inches of each other, she flew and he flew with her, out across the cut-over. I haven't seen either one of them again, or at least haven't recognized either of them.

I have been at the point of tears every day since, but Poppy says I am worrying for no reason, that the baby dove is safe, and with his mother now.  I am trying hard to believe that. Do you think Poppy is right?

Trying to keep my mind off the baby dove I began scrubbing the back porch...

Who knew a baby bird could make such a mess. It took me a good four hours scrubbing the furniture and mopping the porch floor, but that's okay.

The dappled sunlight on the clean porch lifted my spirits, but didn't take the pain from my heart.

and while I'm at it, I might as well show you the whole porch...

this old cabinet, where egg cartons are stored, needs a coat of paint.

and along the wall above the wood pile hang antique bridles, bits, and other things I don't have names for. :)

sure looking forward some cold winter days and watching this wood burn in the fireplace. Is there anything cozier than sitting in front of a fire on a cold night.

So this is my post, such as it is. It's too long and way too much to read, so thank you for listening. Hope to be back soon and hope you will come back too. And now I have a lot of blog reading and catching up to do. 

Love,
Henny 

Another little update

Poppy, thought he might get a nap on the back porch...

Looks like we need to trade in the old cast iron bed for a double size.

Does anybody know how long it takes for green bell peppers to turn orange?

these peppers were so crowded and so packed on four plants, there was no room for the smaller peppers to grow, so we went ahead and picked them green. I've frozen three quart bags, eaten a few, given a few away, and still the plants are covered. I really wanted orange peppers!

 Seems like just overnight the eggplants started growing...

Eggplants are beautiful!

and the Sun Gold tomatoes are amazing, both in taste and abundance. Nellie stopped by yesterday and we gave her a sack full. I love these little tomatoes!!

the okra has just started to come in...not quite enough to fry yet.

and plenty of sweet banana peppers.  We've had only one ripe large tomato. Sure hope we get more.

I can always count on old sweet Smokey to keep me company at the garden. 

he saw that big lizard who lives in the teeny tiny garden.

Okay, it's time for a change, time for something new and interesting. Posting about the garden is getting old. Maybe  I will come up with something new in the sewing room tonight.

Be back soon, hopefully.

Love,
Henny

A big thank you!

Thank you dear friends! Your  kind and funny and  sweet and understanding comments on my peanut brittle post, made my day. I appreciate you all so much. 

This note of appreciation was meant for yesterday, along with a little post, but there wasn't much else to talk about except maybe the weather.

These warm spring-like days suit me just fine...and each day brings us closer to spring.

The bright warm sunshine on the back porch was definitely enticing. Of course, all the animals felt the same way. Bickett was there first, then along came Eli, the big furry throw, who politely nudged Bickett off the bed.

Fine! said Bee. I'll just have another bite to eat.

me too, said Smokey.

Just set foot inside the laundry room and the cats come running...assuming I am there to pop the top on another can.

Poppy says I have them spoiled.

Have I told you before how much Bickett loves Poppy? Well, he does. Bickett doesn't like most folks and will bite, if you pet him and linger too long. Poppy says, Bickett, you want to play? Bickett runs under the stool and with his back feet, pushes himself out to hand fight with Poppy. 

I've simply got to get busy. Poppy just backed the truck in the driveway with two bales of hay to unload. I really need to be out there for things to run smooth. :) you know, kind of like Poppy helping me with the peanut brittle. 

Thank you.

Love,
Henny

Cleaning the back porch!

Got the back porch washed and clean again and I do hope we've seen the last of the pollen. 

Washed out all these pots and pans too, getting ready to sit out here and snap green beans from the garden. :)  All I need is the garden planted! 

The worst part of cleaning the porch is unwinding that heavy hose and dragging it around the side of the house and up the steps...then back again!

Spraying and watching the pollen disappear was the fun part. Afraid the little table and chairs are getting pretty worn. 

The new (to me) green flowered comforter came from a thrift store. Darn it, it's not hanging straight...I'll fix that!

Eli says it feels nice and clean.

And now my picture of the day...

Where I found Dumperoo. Kitty cat fabric. Thank you for visiting.

Love,
Henny

Finding more favorite ornaments

We are in the middle of a dark, gloomy, rainy afternoon...with a chance of thunderstorms. Guess that's the price we pay for this spring-like weather here in December.

This little artificial tree was collecting dust in the shop, so I brought it on to the back porch yesterday. It still needs something.  Funny how I see all that's wrong once I post a picture on my blog. That plastic pot needs to go!

While plundering around it the shop I found another handful of special little ornaments.

another kitty cat for the tree

and the heavy little squirrel that I bought at Restoration Warehouse in Raleigh in the 1990's. That was back in my days as a secretary. There is no such thing as a secretary now, is there?

and the okra pod Santa. I think this came from a booth at the farmer's market.

This year when the tree comes down I'm going to put things away with some order...label the boxes and put my favorite ornaments together.

We went to town this morning. Poppy got a hair cut while I went to Walmart. We both went in CVS to copy a few old pictures. That CVS store always makes me think about Ziggy. Remember Ziggy? Ziggy and I are a lot alike. Two different times now I have walked up to those automatic doors in front of CVS and had to stop because the doors would not open for me. The first time this happened, I felt a little embarrassed. Looking around, I saw there were cars in the parking lot. I thought to myself, maybe the store closed suddenly because of an emergency,  but then a lady walked up, walked past me to the doors, the doors opened and she walked in without even slowing down...I went on in behind her. Weeks later this same thing happened to me again.  Wouldn't this have been a perfect Ziggy cartoon? The doors opened right up for Poppy and me today. It's just when I'm alone...it's embarrassing! 

Not much of a post. Thank you if you're still here. Hope to be back soon.

Love,
Henny