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

Explaining, once again

My dear blogging friends,

I fully expected to log in and find all my followers and friends had gone, but here you are, and a new follower too. Thank you! I do the dumbest things. 

For those of you who looked at my last post expecting to see me in a Model T, well, here I am...

in the blue bonnet. The deleted post was about my neighbors, Ann and Kristine, and me too, being vendors at a farm show and swap meet just down the road. It was held in a wide open field; several acres. In the pictures, neither of us were wearing a mask. I worried that we looked careless and unconcerned about the virus. Could not get the thought out of my head so I marched in here and hit "delete". I'm sorry. 

The old fashioned bonnets were a big hit. Not sure how well the bonnet goes with a 1957 MG...

Neighbors, Fred and Ann

Yesterday, looking out my little sewing room window...

The strong North wind blew across the cut-over bringing in much cooler temperatures and lots of rain. A day for staying inside.

The farm show did inspire me to get back in the sewing room. I've cut out a few aprons, thanks to Ann, who has made it her mission to drum up business for me. She wore that bonnet to the hairdresser's one day this week.

been a while since I've rummaged through fabric pieces in the sewing room closet... 

 Oh, a little gift from Andee...

and for no special occassion. Those are the best kinds of gifts.

Had a hard time finding a place to hang it. As mama used to say, "there's not room to lay a pin down around here". It did fit here, where I'll see it often. 

Our new hens are healthy and happy. We just love their sweet personalities. So different from our old flock, that has a little of that "game" blood. Still love them too...but tired of their pecking and picking fights. :) I'll take pictures soon.

Saying goodbye for now and hope to be back soon. Thank you for putting up with me. I'll be around to visit and catch up.

Love,

Henny

Dumperoo

 

 

  

A walk in the rain

Anybody wanna go play in the rain; maybe splash around in some big puddles? We've got just the place.

I carried the camera out with me to feed the animals this morning...

Here we go, down the steps with the bucket of feed...

and on down the path for hay that is stored in an old chest type freezer with no lid...

I ducked under the shelter and laid the umbrella across the mower then filled a bucket with hay...

Got the goats and chickens fed then walked around to the other side of the house for a look...

That's all the rich soil I hauled from behind the chicken lot. Thankfully, the newly placed bricks are holding back black mud.

Seems kinda foolish to fill the birdbath anymore.

Cedar trees hold lots of water...

Going on around passed the back porch, the pond is full and rushing over the spillway into the woods...way back there in that far corner...

Looks like those brick columns supporting the house are bracing, trying hard to keep the house from washing right down the hill and into the pond

meanwhile, on this end of the pond, the muddy water from off the side road pours steadily in...

why, straight down this hill under the muddy water are the stepping stones we use to cross over.

newly made streams rush through the woods from off the side road.

bringing in more and more muddy water...

and covering what's left of the teeny tiny pier...

So there, we've been all around the house. Thank you for walking with Weetie and me. It just feels good to show someone.

Hurry Weetie, let's go get a dry towel. 

We really do need a few sunny days now, just like you folks up north who are covered in snow. 

All this was early this morning. We've waited all day for a break in the rain for Eli's long walk, but there has not been one. Now we are going anyway. We'll bundle up and carry the umbrella and slosh up and down the muddy road.

Sorry for such a gloomy post. The weatherman says "tomorrow afternoon", look forward to tomorrow afternoon! The rain should end for a few days. Whew!

Dumperoo says "Hey" from a dry spot under the sewing table.

Love,

Henny

Rain, Rain. Rain

Can't help but laugh at this picture...

kinda looks like a crooked little house from an old-timey nursery rhyme, or maybe where Popeye would have lived.

Oh my goodness friends, it has rained all day long!!

and this flowering quince that grows out by the gas tank is simply covered in buds. Guess maybe it's confused again this year.

I'll believe it when I see it, but tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, no rain, and 70 degrees.  That's right!

Let me show you why my neighbor's free pine straw is so appreciated...

The straw turns this soft, mushy, soggy ground into a dry place to walk. Those little steps you see on the right lead to the chicken lot. 

Yesterday afternoon the rain stopped. Oh wow!! I announced to Poppy, "I am going outside and move. See how many calories I can burn off before supper". 

So I got the wheelbarrow and moved load after load of pretty dry pine straw. It felt wonderful!

That is dark muddy water and wet leaves you see in the back of the goat lot.

I swept out their little barn and spread enough straw to give them a little dry ground to walk on. 

Well It's 4:00 and still raining. Guess I'd better get the umbrella and a bucket and get the goats a little hay, then Eli will be expecting a walk up and down the muddy road. 

Poppy gets off work at 5:00 and thank heavens he is picking up fish plates for supper. What a nice break!

Love,
Henny

The weather and thinking back

We should have left the TV off this morning, but we didn't. It's a habit. Get that first cup of coffee and with the other hand pick up the remote control and turn on the local news and weather. It was the weather forecast I could have done without...the prediction of rain and thunderstorms, today through next Monday. That's right, through next Monday. The weatherman had that little smirk on his face too when he told us, like he enjoyed ruining our days.

One last Iris has opened and it can be our sunshine today! Try taking the shine out of this beauty Mr. Weatherman!

As a child, I remember loving the rain. That was back when folks kept their windows open in the summertime. I loved sitting near an open window watching the rain come down, making pools of water in the yard. Wading in puddles of water in a grassy yard feels different than wading in mud in the ditches. We begged mama to let us play in the rain and occasionally she did. We waded barefoot in mud puddles and I can remember mama yelling to us in that pleading sort of voice to "get out of those mud puddles, you're going to get worms!"

and here are the three of us along about the time we played in the rain and walked in the mud...

Shelby was the oldest and the ring leader! Mama had rolled Shelby's hair on pieces of paper sack the night before this picture was taken. That's why she looks so pretty.

then that's me on my tricycle. That's the very tricycle that I was on one sunny day, riding across the front yard as fast as my bare feet could pedal when the front wheel came off and I fell, hard. Crying I was, all the way to mama.

Mama made our dresses back then. I used to love standing behind the sewing machine watching mama sew, and probably asking her questions. If there was enough fabric left over, mama made my doll a dress too.

and then here's Jackie the youngest of us three.

It was several years then before our youngest brother Randall was born. Jackie was eleven when Randall came along.

While I'm at it, here's an old picture of mama and daddy back when they were young.

Talking about windows being open in the summer, back before everybody had air conditioners...I remember too, mama and us kids being in town or somewhere and it coming a big rain...I can just see us scrambling to get home and mama saying, "Lord, every window in the house is open and I bet it's raining in!" 

Guess I had better get up from here and get busy. Poppy will be home in about thirty minutes.

Love,
Henny

A little visit with very little news

The rain started here last night around bedtime. Pouring rain, and wind. The pier is under water again and we have muddy water running down the side road and into the pond. Just once, I wish we could go into winter with a not so muddy pond. Since July the pond has been dark and clear, clear enough that we could feed the fish and watch them. That's okay though, no big thing.

I should be busy scrubbing the kitchen cabinets or painting the hallway or shampooing the carpet. After all, this is what I've been waiting for...another rainy day. A day that I can't work outside. So, here's the rainy day, and look, I am so beat and worn out from raking and dragging off sheet loads of leaves...and from sawing and cutting trees and limbs across the road that my energy is zapped!

We have company coming for Thanksgiving. Poppy's nephew Josh, and his two sweet teenage daughters. So you see, I need to be cleaning!

I seriously feel like curling up in a big soft chair somewhere. Getting out of bed at 4:15 these last few mornings has taken it's toll too. Oh, speaking of crawling out of bed...as I did again this morning...it was dark, it was raining, it was chilly. I fumbled around in the dark for my socks and my two hair clips, then slipped on my sweater, which I leave hanging on the back of the chair in the bedroom. As I shuffled toward the front door to let the dogs out, OUCH!  I felt a terrible stinging on my right arm, then another painful sting. I ripped off the sweater, and of all things, out flies a wasp! A big red crispy slow moving wasp! If that alarming clock didn't totally wake me, that doggone wasp surely did.

Actually this is Bickett's bed in the laundry room. After Bickett gets up, Dumperoo takes over the warm spot.  

Okay, I am seriously getting busy now. Out shopping early this morning a big bottle of heavy duty "Mr. Clean" made it into my buggy. Sure wish I had that big fellow dressed in white here to help me scrub. I like "Mr. Clean". :)

Love,
Henny


Oh my...Miss Ann has asked that I let you all know that she now has a blog. It is called... bobbyanddash2boysblog.wordpress.com

Thank you dear friends!

Weather, animal, and neighbor update

Some days there is simply not a minute to spend at the computer. Yesterday was such a day. I enjoy and appreciate your comments so much and wanted to reply to each one! It's like a little visit with you.

It was looking a lot like fall as I backed the car out of the driveway on Wednesday.

Also looking raggedy around the yard with leaves falling and pots of dead flowers sitting around, and with the old hoot owl missing from the apple tree stump on the left. Poppy borrowed the owl to sit on a stump near his hunting spot, supposedly to keep the squirrels and crows away from his corn feeder. 

Yesterday the sunshine came back so I emptied flower pots and put away some junk from around the yard. Isn't it funny how something that looks pretty amongst the flowers of summer, will look like junk in the dead of winter, so I cleaned up a bit.

The teeny tiny garden and greenhouse are pretty much cleaned and ready for a long winter's nap. 

At the very top of my "to do" list...move that cherry tree, fig tree, and blueberry from inside the garden. Look how big these have grown, still in their pots, with their roots deep into the ground. Work that I created for myself! Three big holes need be dug, now!

There is a new pet in the neighborhood creating quite a stir. Neighbors from about a mile down the dirt path, Robert and Kristine, have adopted this sweetest white pony and named her Josey. These are the same neighbors with the wandering pig who used to come visit. You may remember my post about the visiting pig.

Here she is. Once this miss piggy began traveling and visiting the neighbors a little too much, Robert fenced her in. Talk about stirring things up in the neighborhood! We don't see much of her anymore. She was cute. Made everybody laugh.

Look who is out of her cage and playing with BunBun. It's Punkin!

I've never seen such running and jumping and kicking up their heels! 

I do love BunBun's big feet.

His other half is mighty cute too.

One last thing...Shae wants you to know that she is feeling better.

Shae being sick has caused me to learn a bit about goats...like, a good quality hay should be a goat's main diet, with the pellets being more of a treat. I thought the opposite was true.  

So Poppy is back at work today. I should end this and get to my work. The day is flying. Thank you dear friends.

Love,
Henny