It's simply pouring

Thank you Linda P. for following my blog. Gosh, and for all of you who are following, that did not get a thank you, I apologize. I know just enough about computers and blogging to keep this one barely going. I appreciate your friendship so much.

As mama used to say, "it is simply pouring"!

and not only is it raining, it is dark and dreary, and very windy.

not much better looking out the the living room window.

We are feeling the effects of Hurricane Matthew right now, and according to the forecast this wind and rain is supposed to continue on through the night. I'm not complaining as this nothing compared to what the folks south of us have been through.

My fear, living here under all the trees, is that one will fall on the house during a storm. Right now the ground is saturated in water...

 Dumperoo said I could hide out with him.

and speaking of Dumperoo...there he is under the cutting board.

I see you Dumperoo!

This apple print girl's apron is now in the shop 

Friends, I just walked out on the back porch to have a look and believe it or not, heard a tree falling. I got the umbrella and walked down to the bunny lot. A tall dead pine tree had fallen and hit the ground about five feet from the bunnies. 

Sorry to have gone on and on. Hope to be back here soon.

Love,
Henny

Looks like somebody lives here again

Poppy said he didn't think he would mow again, now that fall is here. Says he needs time to hunt and time to work at the deer processing plant.

Mama used to say, "I just despise to see a house with the weeds and grass grown up around it, like the people who lived there have died". 

I agree with mama, so yesterday after straightening up the house and feeding the animals, I put gas in the little yellow mower and started mowing...

here...

and here...

and here, as far as the eye can see, and then down the dam by the pond...

walking, walking, walking, pushing that mower.  Then I raked up every speck of grass clippings...three heaping wheelbarrow loads and gave it to the chickens.

Actually, my plan was to finish cleaning out the Iris bed in the back...

Can you guess which half is finished? :) Had to put a piece of fence up to keep the chickens and guineas out for now.

Violets and Ajuga have taken over.

Maybe next spring the Iris will bloom pretty again.

I potted bunches of little Ajuga plants and still have a bucketful. Same with the Iris. After replanting 35 to 40 Iris, I still have a cardboard box of tubers left... 

Always a sweet kitty close by...

Where did this day go? Here it is 9:30 and bedtime again. 

Sure hope all the folks in the path of Hurricane Matthew will be safe. 

Love,
Henny

Answering a couple of questions :)

I have a new follower! I know, I can't believe it either! :) Thank you, Mari.

Deb, at Just Cats, asked how Bickett got his name...

That's right, Bickett,  Deb was asking about you. 

It was on a Sunday morning in October of 2005. I slowed to stop for a red light at the intersection of Bickett Blvd. and a main highway in town and saw a tiny black and white kitten in the middle of the road. 

I stopped the car and jumped out, waving my arms to stop a van that was headed our way. I picked up this poor little dirty kitten and holding him close to my heart, got back in car and drove away.

These are not good baby pictures of Bickett, and the dirty tee shirt is on my grandson who had been fishing. But, you can see Bickett's little nose and eyes were dirty. The vet said right off that he had ringworm. This kitten needed me.

I shed some tears over this kitten. You see, Poppy did not want a cat! We had dog, lots of dogs, but no cats. It just happened that Mama was spending a few days with us, and she said to Poppy, why don't you tell her she can keep that kitten. I don't know why, but he said okay. Poppy always loved my mother anyway. 

And here's Bickett today, eleven years old and practically running things around here. I love this cat!  So, Bickett got his name from the boulevard where I found him. Thank you Deb for asking.

Mildred, at Mildred's Blog asked if I would use my pretty new teacup for drinking tea, or cider, or hot chocolate...well, you know what? I would really love to be a hot tea drinker. I try so hard to love it. It just seems so ladylike to have tea in a pretty teacup in the afternoon and you ladies who do drink that hot tea, well, it looks absolutely delicious. 

I've always wanted to have a tea party or go to a tea party, but gosh, I wouldn't know how to act.

Growing up, the only kind of tea we had was a pitcher of sweet tea. We did drink coffee. Even as a little girl, mama would fix me coffee, with a little coffee in the cup and lots of cream and sugar.

So, I do drink the occasional cup of hot tea. I like mine with honey. :)  Thanks for asking Mildred. 

Better get away from this computer and get all the animals situated for the night. 

Love,
Henny

Sunshine, a teacup, and "B" takes a walk

The sun came out this morning after several gloomy, rainy days and it has been simply glorious! My kind of day! It felt so go to work outside in the sunshine, cleaning up dirty pens and buckets and feeders...everything was splattered with dirt from the three inch heavy rain storm we had just yesterday.

Thursday morning was dark and rainy too, so Poppy and I drove to Henderson. We needed a few groceries and he had some prescriptions to pick up. Hey, we should go in the Salvation Army thrift store, seeing as how we are here anyway, I said...trying to make it sound fun. Poppy doesn't enjoy thrift stores like I do. So we did and...

Guess who finally found a teacup and saucer! "She, who never finds teacups at thrift stores"!

There is a tiny chip on the saucer, but that's okay, I found it and I'm keeping it. Anyhow, it was only .49 for each piece and the little birds are so pretty...Little Wrens maybe?

Bickett ambled out the front door this morning, meowing that he would be right back...

Wait, that's him coming down the road now...

Bee, you missed the driveway.

I did?

Wow, walking makes you tired!

Guess I need to start supper. Poppy will coming in from the woods soon...well around 7:00. That makes supper time late. Oh well, what difference does it make.

Thank you, if you're still here.

Love,
Henny

A really weird story

Dumperoo watches for Poppy or me to sit down for a minute, then takes advantage of a nice soft lap to snuggle in.

Poppy sits in the swing while I cook supper, but this time Eli beat him to it. What we need around here is more animals. Actually, that would be fine with me. :)


Here's a really weird, but true, story...

You all probably know by now that Poppy is a hunter. Deer season is just around the corner, in fact, black powder season comes in next week. Anyhow, Poppy has been busy busy getting things ready, pulling out hunting clothes, boots, caps, various scents, gloves, masks, coats...you name it...stuff that will cover the cedar chest in our bedroom until next spring when turkey season comes in.

Anyhow, back to the story. Last Friday he told me he would be back in a little while, that he was going to ride his four-wheeler around and check out his deer spots. 

Before I could turn around good, he was coming back in the front door. Said when he cranked his four-wheeler, it made a horrible bumping and knocking noise and would hardly move when he tried to back it out from under the shelter. He had to really give it the gas to get it to move any at all. Poppy got on the phone and called Scott, a mechanic who works on four-wheelers . Bring it in Monday, Scott said.

So, Monday morning I am out helping Poppy load the four-wheeler onto the trailer hooked up to the truck. I was given instructions on how to immediately turn the crank to tighten the winch as soon as the four-wheeler was on the trailer. All loaded, done and done, Poppy pulled away...and I had a minute's peace. :)

We didn't hear from Scott until yesterday. The motor is okay said Scott. The problem was a big black snake living inside there, and when you cranked the motor, well, you shredded that black snake to pieces. Oh my gosh, I said, poor black snake. Poor poor black snake. Bet you, that was something a mechanic rarely sees.  Okay, enough of that story!

While plundering around in the sewing room, I found several pieces of cute Halloween fabric. This will be my newest addition to the bonnet shop...

It turned out kind of cute and I couldn't resist making a small one to match. Maybe I should make more matching sets.

Deb, over at justcats-deb.blogspot.com , I told Smokey that you have been asking about him, but he was too sleepy to sit up for a picture. 

Love,
Henny

Around the teeny tiny farm

Penny eating Kale...

Did I tell you that she was already named Penny when we picked her up? Nadine, who sold us the bunny, said her son had been calling her Penny. It's a perfect name for her, don't you think?

We have a little guinea family...the mom, the dad, and one baby...

Late in the day on Sunday, I noticed the baby having trouble flying up in the tall cedar tree so I brought out the old bent up ladder...

It's amazing how the baby knew exactly what to do...

Wasn't long before she was right up there next to her mom.

Haven't spent much time up at the little playhouse under the long legged tower lately...

and I still have the two old windows to hang up there...somewhere?

Seems like my energy and excitement over gardening fizzled out in early July. I've promised myself, if the Lord is willing, that things will be different next summer.

I want flowers, lots of flowers, growing along with the vegetables in the garden. So, I've got about seven month to dream, and plan, and work on improving the soil in the teeny tiny garden. I did get most of the garden cleaned up yesterday except for that big Basil plant and the row of okra.

The beauty berry turned out pretty in spite of the dry weather...

and pretty wild flowers are blooming around the pond...

I don't know what the pink flowers are, but the little vine with white flowers is a Hemp vine and it grows all along the water's edge. I'm wondering if it could be rooted in pots, it is such a pretty little vine.

and look who was waiting for me.

Thank you for visiting. Hope to be back soon.

Love,
Henny