It sure is hard to find time to get on the computer. Here it is almost bedtime again!
We were up at 5:00 am and by the time Poppy left at 6:00 to work at the deer processing plant, I had made the bed, folded and put away two loads of laundry, emptied the dish drain, cleaned the litter boxes, and swept the floors.
At 7:30, after feeding the animals, I raked leaves for one whole hour. Hardly made a dent, but at least the three king size sheet loads I hauled off won't be back.
I stood the rake by a tree and came inside, picked up what was left of my cup of cold coffee, and my camera, and ambled over here to the computer, thinking I would load a few pictures and attempt to halfway write a post. Anyhow, that's when Poppy walked in the front door. He was at work for two hours. Not many deer, he said.
The rest of this day has been spent making pies, wrapping packages to mail, addressing a few cards, cooking supper, and washing a huge pile of dishes.
This picture is from last December. The guineas were watching as I made a huge wreath for the yard. Predators had killed all but two of this group...
Good gosh, is there time to tell you about the guinea? By the time I back up to explain the whole story, well, lets see...
It was just before daylight Monday when the owl flew in and killed one of our last two grown guineas, the female. He grabbed her her right out of the big cedar tree. It was awful.
The light colored female guinea was killed. Their baby was killed a few months ago by a neighbor's dog.
I worried all day about the one male guinea, left alone. Last spring we had thirteen guineas and one by one, predators have killed them.
We do have three young guineas that I raised over the summer. These three young guineas are tame. They stay in the chicken lot all day and roost safely in an enclosed pen at night.
sweet babies
It was getting dark Monday evening and I watched as the one lonely male guinea paced back and forth looking up into the cedar tree. He knew what had happened to his mate and he was afraid. He wandered into the woods and back a couple of times looking lost and hopeless. It was sad to watch.
That's when I started calling...having never called a guinea before, I was saying, come on little guinea, come with me. I coaxed him into the chicken lot, then into the enclosed guinea pen by throwing a few pieces of lettuce into the pen. The young guineas love lettuce so when they started eating, he joined them and I quickly shut the door. By this time it was pretty dark outside.
I still don't believe this guinea listened to me and followed me. It was the best feeling knowing he was safe inside the pen with three other guineas. Later, I slipped outside with the flashlight to check on them and to my surprise all four were huddled safely together. It was the happiest feeling.
Okay, I should delete this and start over but Poppy needs the computer...men! So, please overlook my "Dick and Jane" writing style. :)
Love,
Henny
Dear friends,
A brand new bunny rabbit arrived here on Henny Penny Lane late yesterday. She is adorable and has come to live with us. I have fallen in love with her.
She left behind, the little "Mouse House", her sweet family and kitty cat friends, and flew here to North Carolina all the way from Canada.
With these hints, I bet you know who sent me this little bundle of joy. That's right, it was Deb at www.justcats-deb.blogspot.com Thank you so much, Deb. I don't know how you ever parted with this bunny. Thank you for picking her out just for me.
We will call her buttons, and she will always have a special place in my heart and on our Christmas tree...♡
Oh, and I really want you to see her cute little carrot overnight bag she brought along. The close-up is a little fuzzy...
A sweet bunny who arrived at a perfect time. I was feeling mighty sad yesterday over the loss of another guinea...killed by an owl. I do have a guinea story for tomorrow.
Thank you friends, for visiting. Thank you Deb.
Love,
Henny
Poppy says this is the prettiest tree we've ever had. To me, it looks the same as it did last Christmas, and the Christmas before that. Anyhow, I'll take the rare compliment, just in case it was meant for me.
and here's the little bird that sits in the top of the tree. ..
the same little bird Poppy and I bought when we were dating.
Can one have too much gold? I suppose, like this picture taken without the flash...There's something about it I kinda like though.
I waste more time fiddling around with stuff...standing and staring, pulling things out, and putting things back...no wonder there's no time for baking Christmas cookies.
speaking of cookies and such, our neighbor Ann gave me a big bag of pecans a friend of her's picked up in their yard. I've been cracking and shelling these nuts since yesterday. It's a job! and rough on your hands!
moving right along :) ...
This stained glass angel was on the mantle with the cedar and deer, the carolers and Santa, but she just didn't fit in so I've moved her to a window all her own.
my angel is not as perfect as she once was. She was a gift from one of my bosses back when I was a secretary in the 90's. His wife was into making stained glass and she made some beautiful pieces.
Smokey and Bickett doing a little exploring.
Guess that's about it for my little post today. I appreciate your visit. Now it's back to shelling pecans.
Love,
Henny
Shelby and I met in Wake Forest yesterday to straighten out our money, and transfer her jams and jellies from the trunk of my car to her van. She paid half the rent for the table at the craft bazaar and I gave her the money she made on the jelly, so it's done and done and we're happy. Got to visit a little while too.
There are two Goodwill stores in Wake Forest. We spent a little time in each one and still found time to eat our usual little "happy meal" at McDonald's. Neither of us bought much in Goodwill. I did find this...
for $1.99. I love carolers. (Thought about you Vicki. Did you finish making the carolers?) These were still in the box...probably cheap but I still love them. Got them standing on the mantle.
Once again, I can't get the decorations to looking right.
These tall skinny wooden snowmen are from a thrift store too. All three for one dollar. The short fat Santa must go! He needs to be hanging on the tree.
I've added a bright red apron to the little shop today, even though it doesn't look true red in the picture.
Also put this Christmas print apron in the shop.
We have very cold weather coming and by Saturday morning, could windy and 23 degrees. That probably sounds like a warm front coming, to some of you, but it's pretty chilly for North Carolina.
Better get busy. Here it is 3:30 and you know it's dark now by 5:30.
Bunnies sleep in the middle of the day, so I wait until afternoon to feed and water them. Need to get that done. Poppy brought home two big bales of hay, so all the animals have warm beds and plenty to eat.
and speaking of eating, here's what's cooking for supper tonight...field peas with snaps, corn bread, and fat back frying, for seasoning.
I still need to boil some cabbage, fry a couple of pork chops, and bake us a sweet potato. That should be plenty.
Take care and thank you for visiting.
Love,
Henny
It's dark and dreary and raining here today...a steady, cold rain, and surely not a good day for doing anything outside.
Last year about this time I posted about the holly trees...
and how beautiful and covered in berries they were...
we had never seen this many berries on the trees, ever.
Yesterday I walked in the woods gathering Christmas greenery for the house and of all the many holly trees on our little piece of property, only two berries were found. Only two.
I broke off a piece or two of holly for the front door and added some cedar...but without the pretty red berries. Glad we enjoyed the beauty of the holly trees last year.
Remember last spring after all the trees had leafed out and were growing...and we had that unusual cold snap? It seemed to be right here in our area. That one freeze did a lot of damage.
There were no Mimosa blooms this summer and none of the fruit trees bloomed. All the little figs died and fell off the tree and there were no blueberries on the wild blueberry bushes. The leaves on the Hickory tree turned black, and now, no Holly berries. It has been an unusual year.
Better get off here. I've been doing a little decorating today, but I won't get things right til just before Christmas...
Love,
Henny
Dear friends,
It's looking more and more like there will be no pictures of family gatherings or craft bazaars and such that include me. Strolling around taking pictures is too much like being on stage. I am a mouse. I've always been a mouse. Sneaking around, keeping quiet...never wanting to be clearly seen. Yep, that's me.
I unintentionally frightened a gentleman at the craft bazaar. He was bending down trying to read the labels on Shelby's jam and jellies when he saw my eyes looking back at him. I was sitting behind the table, hidden by the little stair-steps filled with jelly jars.
I did get one sweet picture...
This is Paula, the Pastor's wife. She was very nice and had the sweetest smile. Sorry that my one picture is blurry. She bought the bonnet and matching apron and said she just might wear them to work one day over her scrubs, for her patients. Paula is a Registered Nurse. Bet she is a good one, don't you?
Shelby's jams and jellies were a big hit, and many jars sold. I sold all my small dolls, a couple of aprons and a few bag holder. I left the bazaar happy, so all is well.
None of my little angel garlands (cut from empty chicken feed sacks) sold, but then, most of the time I kept them covered, thinking folks might laugh at them. :( I did give one away.
Hopefully, I am not as awful as I make myself sound. Rarely do I sit at a craft sale. Standing is much better and smiling at folks has always been easy for me. Mostly I just act like an idiot when someone hands me a twenty dollar bill and I have to give them change.
Better get busy this early Monday morning. Eli has an appointment with the groomer...and speaking of the old sweetie-pie.
"I really really want to try that fruit cake too, okay?"
Love,
Henny
Standing here at the kitchen window this morning thinking about you and the blog.
Oh, I do appreciate your comments so much and wanted to reply to each one. Feels like a conversation when I read and reply.
However! I've just spent another day away from home. Good grief! Have you ever known me to do so much traveling? :)
Shelby had a good idea. "Lets get together and bake fruit cakes", she said. "I'll get everything we need at Costco, and you come over here. It will be fun". and it was!
We got the cakes in the oven...three hours at 275 degrees. We had three hours to spend, so we drove to Costco and had a big slice of pizza for lunch, then went by "Everything but Grannies Panties", a really neat thrift store in Durham.
Darn it! Once again, no pictures but as a reminder, this is Shelby a couple of years ago, in her great big kitchen built for baking.
I did manage to get a picture of another bowl of stuff. :(
Anyhow, I don't have long to tarry here. The church craft bazaar starts at noon today. I've got to get busy; get the animals fed, the house straight, the car loaded, and be at the church around 10:00.
This means I will be gone most of today and all day tomorrow. There will be pictures this time, if I have to pay somebody to take them for me! (got to make a little money first).
Back to the kitchen window, I wanted to show you the three little cuttings of Christmas Cactus. Poppy's sister, Pat gave me them when we were there last Sunday. Pat had three huge Christmas Cactus in her sun room...really huge! She told us they were the same plants that belonged to their mother. I'm sure hoping these will root. That would be neat.
and my little bun bun sleeping in the window...
Okay, I'm going to work now. Thank you dear sweet friends.
Love,
Henny
The light colored female guinea was killed. Their baby was killed a few months ago by a neighbor's dog.
sweet babies
