Don't know if the scarecrow scared away any owls last night, but it did scare me early this morning. When I walked out the back door carrying the compost and caught a glimpse of a man on the steps, well, I almost dropped my bucket. Seeing him from the back especially, wearing that black hood, he looked real!
Think we could have gotten any closer? I'm no good at taking selfies. Looks like I need longer arms.
We haven't lost another guinea. It could be the scarecrow is working, or that the owls have found our neighbor's guineas. They live down in the bottom near the creek and have, or had, twenty guineas. I hope not. Poor guineas.
Here's Bun Bun's cage with the bedroom attached, the one I hauled all by myself from the goat lot down to the old dog lot. Kind of ragged looking but Bun Bun sure likes it better than the small wire cage he was sleeping in.
and this was moving day for Bun Bun's cage and all the attachments...an actual wagon train moving along.
Now, I'm looking for a better cage for Fiona, and speaking of Fiona, she has shown no sign of having baby bunnies. I'm probably the only person on earth with a female bunny that can't get pregnant. Crazy, isn't it!
This is the cutest rabbit hutch for sale on Craigslist...
They are asking $100.00 or best offer. I'm hoping it is still available and will consider the best offer I can make which will be $75.00. I've emailed them but have not heard back.
Okay, I go on and on about nothing and create a very boring post. I sure appreciate your not giving up on me and my blog. We just live a pretty dull life. Thank goodness for the sweet animals who live here! :)
Love,
Henny
Want to know why I made this big silly looking scarecrow this late in the season?
It is supposed to scare away owls. We've lost twelve grown guineas since the beginning of spring. Only three left of the fifteen best guineas we've ever owned. These were the guineas that were hatched late in the season last year and I cared for them all through the cold winter months.
I read on line that a scarecrow would frighten away owls, but you need to move the scarecrow from place to place occasionally.
Her head is way too big, but yesterday was Monday, Poppy went back to work, and I was busy busy! Too busy to re-do her head. She borrowed my cutest overalls, which look much better on her than on me anyway.
Before dark last night, Poppy secured her to back steps not far from the cedar tree where the three guineas roost, then hooked up a light to shine on her.
Don't usually hang clothes in the front yard but it was so darn hot yesterday, and this line, still up from the yard sale, was close to the front door...so why not! I did hang the sheets on the clothesline in the back. A neighbor stopped by and said, you need to take a picture of the quilts on the clothesline.
Been meaning to tell you that after adding lime to the pond, the algae went away. We are so glad! It looks much better and especially so after Poppy mowed. Eli likes it too!
Better get busy. Got more things to do and Poppy will be home at noon. Don't the days just fly!
Speaking of being busy....in Walmart, I spoke to an elderly lady, bout like myself, I've known since 2003. She has worked at Walmart what seems like forever! I said to her, I thought you would have retired by now. She said, "now why would I retire and sit home looking at four walls"? I just can't imagine! There has always been SO MUCH to do at home! Everybody is different!
Love,
Henny
I'm on a roll now, two posts in four days! Friends, it is awfully hot here...95 degrees at 11:30 this morning. Maybe I should leave my camera out on the porch. Every picture lately is fuzzy from the lens fogging up.
This little patch of black-eyed susans volunteered and came up here, and didn't they pick a good spot? Looking a little like fall with the maple leaves falling.
Most baby birds are gone from the nests now so poppy opened the door on this box to have a look inside. What a neat little nest. There were some long white Eli hairs woven in with the grass and moss. We were on our way to the garden to pick the tomatoes and cut the okra.
Guess I'll fry the okra for supper and come up with something to go with it. Hows that? Well I could oven roast another butternut squash along with an ear of sweet corn. Sounds good to me.
Eggplants from the garden. Mama never cooked eggplant back when we were growing up. I do remember her saying, "I can't stand an old eggplant"!
Poppy, on the other hand, grew up eating fried eggplant. His Mother sliced the eggplant and let the slices soak for a little while in salt water. She then dipped the slices in a rather thick batter of flour and milk and fried the slices in oil. Now, that's how I cook eggplant, and love it!
These little sweeties are determined to roost on this board instead of in their new snake proof box. It's the same every night...I catch them one by one and put them in their little house for the night. I've had it with snakes!!!
Not much of a post, but then there's not much to post about here on the quiet Sunday afternoon. Thank you for visiting.
Love,
Henny
Poppy and I worked outside, mowing and weeding, in this awful heat and humidity yesterday from 7:00 am to noon. We both looked like we were just before having a heat stroke when we decided to call it a day and finish the yard work early this morning.
Well, early this morning Poppy said, "how would you like to ride to Henderson instead of working in the yard"? Oh gosh, that sounds good to me! We needed a few things from Walmart anyway, and a bale of hay for the goats...I was tickled to death to get away for a while.
After all my complaining about the tomatoes, all of a sudden the vines are loaded.
These are called blue beauty. All of the tomatoes in the teeny tiny garden were grown from seeds sent to me from the blog "Texan". It's fun seeing the different varieties, most of which I've never heard of.
these cute ones are Pomodoro.
Anyhow, don't you love blogging? I saw this Dottie Angel pattern on Pom Pom's blog and fell in love with it...so I ordered one for me.
I really really love the three different calico prints in "View C", but thought I would try making the little tunic in solid white, from a piece of fabric I found at the thrift store for a quarter. Here's how it turned out...
It's nice and cool to wear around the house. Now I want to try the calico.
Finally, after all these years of sewing, I broke down and bought one of those cardboard cutting things that open up...I have accidentally cut a slit in many a bedspread or comforter trying to cut out a pattern on the bed.
of course, Dumperoo thought I brought it home just for him.
Now how am I supposed to lay out a pattern!
I'm seriously thinking about getting a pillow and joining Eli on the other end of couch. He has another teddy bear too...
I'm hoping to be back soon!
Love,
Henny
Okay, I've been given a turn on the computer. Imagine that! Now what to talk about?
I did want to show you how cute the little guineas are. This has been an awful summer for predators, and look at this...
a copperhead inside the chicken lot...a not so pretty section of the chicken lot! On my way out to check on the animals, something I do several times a day, I saw one of the ducks in a trance. She was watching this copperhead.
It was about time for Poppy to get home so I kept an eye on the snake too. It stayed in this same spot for an hour. Can't tell you how good it was to see Poppy pull in the driveway.
What a group!
and Rosie too!
Last Monday I worked all day moving Bun Bun's big heavy cage down to the dog lot. You know, where there's a will, there's a way! The hardest part was getting it up on the cart and out of the goat lot, but little by little I did it! Bun Bun loves having his home back.
Bun Bun was telling Feona she would love his old place, and it has a nice extra room attached. Sorry There's not a picture of the new set up. I'll get one tomorrow.
Don't know what's gotten in to Bickett. Bickett, the kitty cat who bites. Lately he has become sweet and lovable and always in front of the camera.
and Mr. Royalty! Can't forget old sweety.
Well, somebody is probably waiting for the computer, so I'll sign off for now. Thank you for visiting.
Love,
Henny
Is it my imagination, or has this print changed?
Has it really been six days since my last post! Where do the days go!
I promise, this old quilt was not pinned on the clothesline just to make a pretty picture, but it did make a pretty picture, didn't it?
The quilt hangs on the back of a rocking chair in the living room. Every morning while drinking my first cup of coffee, I sit and think about how dusty that old quilt must be, so this morning I hung it out on the line. I was out feeding the animals and noticed how pretty it looked.
You know how Poppy just can't resist messing with Bickett. I've told him before, you know the old saying, "let sleeping dogs lie", well the same applies to cats.
but no, Poppy can't walk past without scratching B's ears and waking him up.
It is funny. Bickett loves getting this attention from Poppy. He thinks they are big buddies now.
There was so much I wanted to talk about but here it is almost 10:00. Maybe tomorrow. Poppy says, "I don't know why you don't work on your blog in the middle of the day when it's too hot to be outside". I've been terribly busy lately. Terribly busy, even during the heat of the day.
So, ending here, I will try to write a better post tomorrow, in the heat of the day...if I can catch a time when Poppy is not on the computer!
Love,
Henny
This guinea hen was wise and built her nest in the monkey grass a few feet from our front door...unlike the little guinea hen who lost her life a few weeks ago while sitting on her eggs in the ditch along the dirt path.
I've built a little enclosure around her with some old chicken wire, so when her babies hatch, they can be safe. I know from experience that mama guineas can not raise babies. Why, the first thing she will do is lead the tiny little things through wet grass and lose them, one by one.
Hope this idea works because I do not want to take the babies away from her, not after watching her sit patiently through these hot days, and through thunderstorms, and pouring rain. She deserves to enjoy and raise her babies. Pardon the mess, by the way. The yard is starting to look pretty scraggly about now.
and speaking of scraggly, here's some pictures of that old bamboo grass I've been complaining about...pictures requested by Linda over at "Linda Letters" blog. Thank you Linda...
that's monkey grass trying to bloom through the veil of bamboo grass. Anything that can out-grow liriope, has got to be strong and invasive.
here, climbing the birdbath.
and taking over the tall phlox and obedient plants
and believe it or not, this was an Iris bed planted along the driveway. I should be ashamed to admit how out of control this has become. See why I think a bulldozer is the best solution?
Finally and at last, red tomatoes in the teeny tiny garden...and as mama would say, "such as they are".
I've seen worse looking tomatoes, but these are tastless. We had bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches last night. We cut the biggest, reddest tomato in the bunch and it was watery tasting, not sweet at all.
Before next spring, we want to have the soil tested in the teeny tiny garden and find out what needs to be done to grow sweet tomatoes. Wonder if it could be from all the leaves I dump in the garden during the fall and winter months, maybe that puts too much acid in the soil. Sure need to find out.
Why, the very first year we had a garden here on Henny Penny Lane in the early 90's, the tomatoes were huge and very sweet. I remember proudly carrying a sack full of our tomatoes to my boss in Raleigh. The next day, he said to me, "Melba, you may think that I am just saying this, but those are the best tomatoes I have ever tasted. Ever!" Sure made me feel good.
and the kitty cat picture today...
Smokey stretched out on the kitchen floor.
and surprise, surprise, surprise the teeny tiny garden grew two pretty squash like I've never grown before. I'm going to try roasting them for supper tonight, using a simple recipe I found on line.
Hope to be back soon.
Love,
Henny
