Fun at the Fair

I can't say exactly what it is about the State Fair that Shelby and I love so much, but it ranks right up there with Christmas and Santa Claus. Perhaps it brings back memories of our childhood. I remember the excitement of seeing the lights from the Ferris wheel in the distance as we got close to Raleigh and the State Fair grounds...

The State Fair is the only place I know where the crowds don't bother me. I love it!

That's Dorton Arena in the background. On the first day of the fair the gates open at 3:30. Shelby and I have never been on opening day. It was nice. Everything was fresh and clean and the foods smelled delicious. It was around 9:00 pm when we decided we had eaten about all the Fair food we could hold, so we started on the long walk to the car. We are always sad to leave and hope that we will have another year together at the State Fair...

My favorite ride, the merry-go-round! Shelby said, "we'll ride if you want to". I really did, but just couldn't picture myself climbing up on one of those hobby horses. That's Shelby in the green sweat shirt.

Another favorite of mine, the Bluegrass Bands...

And, of course, the sweet donkeys. I simply must get busy building a fence for my donkeys......

We also looked at the amazing fruits and vegetables and admired those with the winning ribbons...

Wish I had enough of these Persimmons to make a pudding... Vicki?

The waterfall in front of Dorton Arena...

One of our favorite stops was here. These guys, well two girls and three guys were amazing...

Okay, enough about the State Fair. It definitely was good to get away from the house for a few hours and especially good to laugh and talk and spend time with Shelby. Wish we had more time together.

Thank you for visiting.

Love,
Henny

Torrential Rains and me!

Just wondering this morning...do you all have trouble finding the time you need to get on the computer? It's been three days since my last post! Already! So I sit down here at the computer wanting to reply to the nice comments but then I also want to read all the new posts and leave you comments. Honestly, the chaos around here yesterday has left me out of sorts, to say the least. Take a look at the pond...

The ducks were actually swimming on this side of the pier!  

Eli was sick and vomiting Tuesday night. We were very concerned because he has been on an antibiotic and pain medication. He was neutered last Thursday. So my plan was to get Eli in the car and be at the vet's office when they opened the doors at 8:30 yesterday morning. As it turns out, Poppy had to be at work early so everything was left up to me.

We were having torrential rains from that line of storms that had just reached our area...hence the flooded pond. Holding an umbrella I managed to open the chicken house door and take care of things as best I could. I then locked up the house and with a leash on Eli, headed to the car. ..he was fine until I opened the back car door. Eli backed up, sat down in the pouring rain and said, "I am not going back to that vet's office! Never again!" He would not budge! My back, the tail of my skirt, and my feet were soaked! Back inside the house, I called my neighbor...I'll be right there, she said. Neighbor "Windy" (great name for the day) arrived with a pack of sandwich meat. I crawled into the back seat of the car with Eli's leash and a piece of meat. Windy gentled pushed from behind...Eli jumped in! Whew! 

I thanked Windy and we were on our way. Once at the vet's office, it took a crew to coax Eli through the front door. Well, all is well that ends well. Eli and Dr. Davis are friends again. Eli may have had a reaction to the antibiotic, so he is off that. An x-ray showed nothing serious, perhaps a piece of label from a yogurt carton. I need to be more careful. He is now on a medication for nausea. It was close to noon when we pulled back into the driveway at home. I looked a lot like a dirty wet mop and pretty much felt like one too. The rain continued on until 7:00 pm.

Gosh, I had best get busy. Today is opening day at the State Fair. The gates open at 3:00 today and Shelby and I plan to be the first in line! :) We do love the State Fair! Thankfully, Poppy is here to babysit. In closing...would you just look at this...

I missed the best one...Smokey snuggled in Eli's fur. Smokey would have to feel pretty confident to roll over like this with a polar bear standing over him...

Thank you for visiting and for listening as I go on and on! 

A very very wet day indeed...

Love,
Henny

Chocolate Vine and Smokey

Back a year or so ago I ordered a chocolate vine, Akebia Quinata. Lynn used to have one growing in her yard. Lynn's vine was huge and beautiful. I wanted a huge and beautiful vine on my arbors. Clematis vines are pretty while they are blooming, but not so pretty the rest of the time. The chocolate vine stays green all winter...

Anyway, this morning while standing in the doorway talking to Shelby on 
the phone, I thought to myself, what in the world are those awful looking white things hanging from my Chocolate vine! I've never seen anything like it!  It looks like some kind of Halloween decorations...

This next one looks like a giant white peanut...

I got on the computer and looked up Chocolate vine. It says that occasionally these vines will produce fruit. The Chocolate vine is kin to the kiwi. How neat is that? It's funny because the biggest healthiest vine has no fruit, but the vine that has been slow growing and looked a time or two like it might die has produced these big healthy fruits.  The fruits are edible but not very palatable.

"Smokey" is a little bundle of joy. I could sit for hours and watch him playing with the falling acorns, or watch him hide and jump out at Weetie...

Eli loves him too. It won't be long before these three; Eli, Weetie, and Smokey are snuggled up together. I'm hoping before winter time.

Better get busy. Here it is supper time again! Thank you for visiting.

Love,
Henny

Computer to sewing room and back

Here I've been at the computer for over an hour. I sat down to put a little post on but started reading all these blogs that I love. After reading, I want to leave a comment and well my time at the computer is gone. What's a blogger to do? Ask for my own laptop for Christmas? But wait, I can't do that, my Christmas list is already made out...

Metal T posts (43)
Fencing (3) 50' rolls
Donkeys (2)

Just guessing (and kidding) at the number of posts and fencing feet, but seriously, I've come up with a smaller area on our property to fence in for a small pasture.

Now that Poppy is selling his huge collection of racing stuff on eBay my blogging time is limited...

I'm seeing a lot more of the back of Poppy's head lately. Last night while he sat at the computer I worked in the sewing room finishing up some dolls...

I need brown yarn. Too many blonds and redheads in the bunch. The dolls are coming right along. Four large and four small dolls are almost finished, needing just hair and faces added.

The weather has changed from cool and sunny...perfect for working outside to, well, unusual. Friday night late we had thunderstorms and got an inch of rain. Yesterday it was hot, 82 degrees and very humid with thunderstorms in the afternoon. Today is cooler, dark and gloomy with rain showers.  Good grief, I sound like a weatherman. Have I told you about the play I was in back in grammar school? Well, picture the shyest kid in school. ME.  In the play I was the weather reporter. My part was to stand in front of a map with a pointer in my hand and say, "there will be scattered showers". When my part came up I looked out across the auditorium at all the parents and said, "there will be shattered scours today". Mama and daddy laughed about this for years!

Better bring this to a close. :) Thank you for tuning in.

Love,
Henny

           

Yard work and naming the kitty

I don't know what struck me the last couple of days but I've actually marked off some things from my old "to do" list! Yay!

I have loaded eight heaping wheelbarrow loads of mulch and put it in the yard, I've set out two purple butterfly bushes, one golden butterfly bush, and one Sweet Betsy bush. That meant digging four big holes. I then filled the holes with compost. These poor plants have been in pots forever and were root bound. The pot holding the Sweet Betsy had to be slit with a knife because of sprouts and roots growing through the holes in the bottom.

With some of the trees removed from the back, letting in more sunshine, the camellias growing along the back porch have really come out...

Guess who is feeling right at home now, coming up the path to the front porch...

And, would you look at this...

I  missed getting the best shot of the guineas checking on the kitten. By the time I grabbed the camera the guineas were wandering off. I need to hang the camera around my neck...

Sorry, the grass needs cutting really bad now. :[

Drum roll please...and the kitten's name is..."Smokey".  Thank you for the suggestions. Poppy picked the name Smokey. Hey, do you blame me for letting him pick the name? Things are coming right along.  I do so love the name Dorian though.

Thank you for visiting. Sometimes it is hard to find time to reply to the nice comments you leave but I do appreciate having you friends so very much!

Love,
Henny Penny

Another kitty update

Have I mentioned that Poppy is on vacation this week? Yeah, deer season again. Actually, you can only hunt with a black powder gun right now, around here anyway. So far he has brought home nothing but a bunch of ticks.

Oh friends, I have held the little kitten. I have picked him up and held him close to my heart. He purrs and snuggles so close to me. He is starved for attention. As long as I am sitting on the shop steps, near where he eats and sleeps, I can pick him up. But, if I'm walking toward the shop and he see me he runs. We've come a long ways though...

I really believe that the guineas brought this lost kitten here. His cries were so loud and so pitiful for two days. There is some sort of attachment between this kitten and the guineas. Last Friday when I found the kitten behind the old dog house, between the dirt path and the goat lot, the guineas had just come from that direction. Now, anytime the Guineas walk through the yard the kitten runs to meet them. It's so funny how the guineas all stop and stretch their necks out to greet him. So far, I haven't had the camera with me but I hope to get a picture of the kitten and the guineas. Animals are smart. Nothing surprises me anymore.

The guineas sunning...

Not much of a post today.  :) Thank you for visiting. 

Love,
Henny

Oops! One more. This big Heron was visiting with the ducks this morning...

Cracking Hickory Nuts

Monday morning and all is fine, including the new kitten. He was up early wanting to be fed and was probably a little lonely too. I'm sure he misses his mama. Poppy came home from hunting around noon. I saw him down on his knees holding his hand out trying to get the kitten to come to him. How sweet is that?

Well, I'm back at the computer. Where has this day gone! Here it is almost 5:00. Poppy has gone back into the woods. I've just put on a pot of chicken chili. It's been cool here all day. Soup sounds good.

Have you ever cracked and eaten a hickory nut? The tallest tree on our property is a hickory tree.

Poppy says this tree is 100 feet tall. This year is the first year the hickory nuts have been fit to eat. But good gracious, is that tiny little morsel of edible meat inside worth the work?

The squirrels are having a feast. Most of the nuts in the pot look like they were dropped by a squirrel from high up in the tree. I was picking up a few nuts when Poppy walked up and asked if I was planning on making a hickory nut pie. Can you imagine?

Growing up, we used to crack hickory nuts with a hammer. Poppy said, "hand me the nut cracker". Yeah right!

Next he said, you might as well add "nut cracker" to the grocery list. :)

Eli is about to outgrow the porch swing...

Speaking of Eli, he has been in with the goats for a while now. Guess I had better go check on him.

Thank you for visiting. Hope to be back soon.

Love,
Henny