A bed in the greenhouse??

First, thank you all for the nice comments on my last post. I feel bad for not replying to each one, but especially to those of you without blogs. Those with blogs, it's easy to visit and say thank you. Anyhow, I sure appreciate you all!

In my last post I told you that Eli is going on 11 years old. I was wrong. He will be 12 in January! We were in the vet's office with him yesterday and the chart on the door says that Mr. Eli, in human years, would be 92. 

Something about this picture I really like. The early morning sunrise cast such pretty colors on the old dirt road. Eli had stopped to rest, and I was asking him if he was ok. Sort of looks like an old painting, doesn't it?

The teeny tiny garden and all the potted plants are keeping me pretty busy. Poppy says I need to put myself a bed up in the greenhouse. Humm, now that's a thought...

But look, are these pictures neat...

and this one...

This is an ice plant. My friend Karen brought me a pot full last summer and I started more pots.  Oh, and while we're up at the garden, remember the old washing machine tub I use for potting soil...

and the trash can lid Poppy found lying beside the road?? Well, the lid doesn't fit tight and when it rains the soil gets wet. 

Walmart had a display of plastic tablecloths for $4.38. I bought one of the large size ones, folded it in half and cut out a circle. Sewed some binding along the edge and...

Dry soil! Also found these clips at Walmart...

Oops! Wrong picture! These clips...

Making and clipping little pleats along the bottom keeps the cover on nice and tight.

and here's a little idea...

I cut several pieces of old green clothesline wire and bent them into "S" hooks. Makes hanging things easy, like my little garden basket. 

So, that's about it for this time. I will leave you with a picture of little miss Violet. She turned one year old on May 25th! 

She is such a sweet baby and smiles all the time!!

Thank you, dear friends!

Love, Henny

Sometimes I ...

 just feel like going back in time so I pulled out my old homemade pantaloons and muslin apron...

the feeling was wonderful except when I turned to hook the gate Poppy had followed me with the camera. "Oh, good grief", I said but continued on to enjoy the day, in my little old-fashioned way. :)

The teeny tiny garden looks pretty good and has grown since these pictures were taken last week...

Instead of the usual wattle fence I love to build, Poppy ordered garden stakes for me. I am weaving twine in and out...that's fun too. Will have to take new pictures. 

Anyhow, see the little row of corn back against the fence? It seems to be doing well. Let me explain. Last summer a blogging friend to many of us, Rose, at Pics & Pieces, asked if I had ever tried growing old timey Hickory Cane Corn. She said when she was young that's what they grew, and they also planted cornfield beans along with the corn. 

So, searching online I found Hickory Cane Corn and Cornfield Bean seeds for sale and ordered both...

I just ran up to the garden. Whew! Here's a close-up...

and here's the little row of corn today...

and, while I'm at it, might as well bore you with one more of the woven bean fence...

Oh, my goodness! We've waited all winter for this! So, keeping with my old-fashioned feeling, I went behind the house and pulled our two old rusty lawn chairs to the front...

I like them here, do you? Why I remember chairs just like these sitting under a big shade tree at Aunt Ruby's house. Poppy and I found these chairs at the landfill a few years back and I just had to have them. :)

Have also been busy dividing and repotting root-bound plants and potting up cutting. "When are you going to start selling some of these", Poppy asks. Well, I've thought about putting a little note on "Nextdoor"... Eggs, Plants, Bonnets, & Aprons for sale here. Sounds fun, doesn't it? 

But we'll see. You know, because of the deer, I have given up on growing roses in the yard. Given up!! All the roses are now in pots inside the garden gate with no more worries...

Well friends, thank you if you are still here. I sure can go on and on about things. I will leave you with a picture of Eli and Ellie. You know, Eli is going on 11 years old now and his age is really showing. We can no longer take our long walks to the highway and back. His back legs just won't hold up. He is still our sweetie pie though, our special Eli. 

Love, Henny

Apologies, and remembering Daddy and Summerville...

Hello friends. I'm very sorry for being away so long...

Hardly a day goes by that I don't think about you. Poppy said just the other day, "every time I pull up your blog you still have pictures of those icicles from back in February."

"I've just been totally out of anything to post and then spring comes along and the big snowball bush blooms, well, you know me and the big snowball bush!"  :)  

Our teeny tiny house in the big woods is barely visible...

Every spring I am simply amazed at the size of this snowball bush, and the number of blossoms. Thank you for putting up with me. :)

So I set my buckets down there in the path to take a few pictures. Be still my heart! The Azaleas!

You know, I remember living in Summerville SC back in the late 1940s. In fact, I started school there and went through most of the third grade before we moved back to NC. 

Even at that young age, I fell in love with the beautiful giant Azaleas and trees with moss hanging from the branches. "I knew then that I wanted a yard with giant Azaleas" like those in Summerville and Charleston"!

Daddy was manager of a textile mill in Summerville. I don't remember much about the mill except the noise of all the big machines and that they used gray cones filled with thread of some sort. Occasionally daddy would bring home a stack of empty cones for us to play with. So much fun it was! The tips of the cones were different colors, to separate the kinds of threads, I suppose. 

Anyhow, guess what I did with one of my cones?? I filled it with soil and stuck a piece of an Azalea in it and buried it in a hole in the yard. It took root and grew! It sure did!

And, look way down Henny Penny Lane as far as you can see...

That's a home being built. It was probably 4 or maybe 5 years ago I posted that we would soon be getting new neighbors, well that is finally about to happen. Such a nice couple. We're glad they will soon be moving out here.

Oh, and I like this picture...

I went a little crazy with the camera. That's what spring does to me. 

Hopefully, soon I will post about the teeny tiny garden. The jobs around here seem to get harder and harder especially with my back problems, arthritis, and osteoporosis. Good grief! I'm not giving up yet! :) I managed to get all the leaves raked and hauled away again. Yay!!

Smokey, looks back as I tell him to be careful out on his adventures today...

One more little apology for such a long post about, of course, the snowball bush. But it is such a beautiful Spring! The wild azalea and the button bush too...

Thank you dear friends. 

Love, Henny

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter!!

Dear me, how time flies!

Seems like I ended my last post with something about coming back with Christmas decorations. :) Anyhow, glad February is here. We had some really cold days in January...

Rare to see icicles like these around here. These were on the fig tree near the back porch...and the teeny tiny pond froze over...

and miss ducky was not able to swim for a couple of weeks. makes me wonder how ducks, geese, birds, survive north of us where it's like this all winter?? 

Anyhow, I do have a special Christmas picture to show you, well very special to me. Remember our great granddaughter, Violet, born last May 25th? Well, her parents carried her to see Santa. Here she is at 7 months old...

Not one bit afraid of Santa, in fact, looks like she thoroughly enjoyed being with him...So much so that Santa read her a book. :)

 Violet has the sweetest personality. Here's one of the latest pictures from Andee. Grandma Andee and Violet...

Sorry, I don't have a recent grandpa and Violet picture. I'll have to ask for one. 

So, Eli and Ellie have both had birthdays...

Oops! A little lop-sided picture. Poppy must have been rocking the recliner when he took this one. :) Ellie turned 4 in December and Eli turned 11 in January. Our sweetie-pies. 

Love how Ellie crosses her front feet...

Such a smart girl, and she is doing great with her Addison's Disease...as long as we keep her prescriptions filled. It's the steroids that keep her going. Miss Ellie takes 13 pills a day. We love her so much. She is worth every penny. We love Eli just as much.

Isn't it amazing how quickly things change. Take the country road we live on for example. I have always dearly loved a country dirt road, especially a path with the roadsides and ditches filled with wildflowers and bunnies. This morning as we started our walk with Eli and Ellie, the sight of the road made me sad. What happened, I asked Poppy...

Of course, I realize it's winter. Things will look better come spring. But a week ago during the cold frigid weather there was a guy cutting and sawing all along the path...even chopped down a small holly tree and a few young cedar trees. :(  No longer looks like a country path but the beginning of a four-lane highway.  Heaven forbid! 

Guess I've worn out my welcome today. Thanks for listening. 

Love, Henny

Home, home in the leaves

 Sorry things are a little messy around Randall Rabbit's home. Things seem to take on a ragged look in the winter months, don't you think? I was on my way down to feed him. If you look closely, you can see poppy through the wire fence.

awww, here we are...

The little veranda I had been building around Randall's house, Poppy saw as the perfect spot to sit and watch the deer at the end of the dam. He and Randall keep each other company. 

Seems Randall sees the deer first and signals to Poppy by thumping loudly.  Late yesterday, Poppy texted me to Look out the living room window. There were eight deer at the end of the dam. 

Taking a break. Apple peels are his favorite treat...

Randall sure is a sweetie pie. I missed the perfect opportunity to adopt a companion for him. Makes me sad to think about it. The Orange County Animal Services, about an hour's drive from here, had a large grey and white female, "spayed" rabbit that needed a home. I was ecstatic. This was late afternoon on Friday before the last big craft show. They are closed on Sunday, so I promised to be there Monday morning. Well, someone came and adopted her on Saturday. :(

Oh well, maybe it was for the best. So, while Randall helps Poppy hunt Smokey keeps me company...

Can't resist picking him up for a hug. He is so warm and cuddly these cold winter days...

His look says he had rather have the soft cushion back, so I got back to my work.

Well friends, just a little Randall and Smokey post. I have been in the Christmas decorating mood and hopefully will be back with a bit of a Christmas post. I actually got around to making an ice box fruit cake yesterday. Yum! So easy and so delicious!

Rian, hope you can visit and see our big boy, Randall. :)

Love, Henny

Oh yes, almost forgot, "Home home in the leaves...

Leaves, windstorms, clouds!

Willow oak leaves are all over the front yard again...third time this season!

So, I decided to start in a different part of the yard and rake the leaves between the house and the teeny tiny goat barn, Rosie's home...

I raked and raked and raked all the way down to the chicken lot, pulling away a bunch of leaves, and feeling mighty pleased with myself for making such a good start. I love seeing the green grass appear from underneath.

Well, 2 days later that big cold front dropped down bringing most of you snow and bringing us only high winds and cold temperatures. The wind woke us up in the middle of the night, Wednesday night with sticks and limbs hitting the house.

Needless to say, the nicely raked side yard is a mess! I will start over! Have to keep telling myself, "no, matter how bad it looks, all those loads of leaves I pulled away are still gone," so all is not lost.

Filling in here with a picture of the little sewing room where there were supposed to be pictures from the big Christmas craft event last Saturday...

I was supposed to come back and post about it, but it all happened so fast, and we were so busy, taking pictures never entered my mind. Anyhow, I'm sure you've seen enough of my bonnets and aprons and bags. Speaking of bags! Since the boho bags were such a hit at the last craft show, I had 14 made for this event...and would you believe, not even one bag sold! You just never know.

A few months back I did a lot of cleaning out the teeny tiny sewing room. Got rid of a lot of clutter and dust, but told Smokey he could stay...

along with miss Ellie, stretched out where I need to get to the ironing board...

a jumbled-up post I know but Poppy has taken a few neat sky pictures while deer hunting down near Randall Rabbit's lot. Poppy's chair sits backed up to the lot so he and Randall visit, watch for deer, and look at the sky as the sun sets just before dark...oh, and where am I? Inside getting supper on the table and keeping Eli and Ellie from barking. 

I think the pictures have a lonely look. Back when I was very young there was a painting that hung in the living room at home. It had the same colors as in these pictures but even more red in the sky, there was no blue at all. It had woods in the background, a lake, and there were two men in a small boat. That painting always looked lonely to me. Oh well...

Here's one more Poppy picture. The little squirrels are fussing over who gets to sit at the wheel of the tractor...

Not much of a post but if I delete it, no telling when I will get around to doing another one. Going to warm up supper now. Thank you for stopping by. 

Love, Henny