(That’s from Jane‘s Holly. I’m going to save this letter and then when she becomes president, I am going to sell it on eBay for a MILLION DOLLARS.)
Dear Holly,
Thank you so much for sending Flat Holly to visit us. We had a lot of fun with her, and she’s awfully helpful for a flat girl!
She arrived on a Saturday, and we put her right to work, scooping litter boxes. We have a lot of cats, Holly, maybe your Mom told you. We have a few of our own and we also foster kittens for a local cat shelter. This means that there are a lot of litter boxes that have to be scooped at the beginning and end of each day. Flat Holly pitched right in and scooped and scooped.
Tommy inspects the scooping.
It’s the Fall and though our garden is winding down, we still had some gardening to do. Flat Holly helped us pick tomatoes to make fried green tomatoes. She also hung out amongst the dried corn stalks and played hide and seek with one of our cats.
Flat Holly of the corn.
We grow a lot of hot peppers, and after we harvested the ripe cayenne and habanero peppers from the garden, Flat Holly helped me dry the cayennes and then grind them into powder. I had to fashion a makeshift mask for her face. One thing you do not want is to inhale cayenne powder because it makes you cough like crazy. She also helped me slice the tops off the habaneros and put them into a bag for the freezer. We did a quick habanero inventory, and it’s Flat Holly’s opinion that we have plenty of habaneros. She’s right!
Fresh cayennes.
Cayennes ready for the dehydrator.
Powdering dried cayennes.
Pouring out the cayenne powder.
Fresh habaneros, right from the garden.
Freezer full of habaneros!
Since we had so many habaneros, I asked Flat Holly if she was up for helping me make a test batch of strawberry-habanero jam. She was, so we did. She was particularly helpful when it came to supervising the cooling of the canned jam, and checked to make sure the jam had jelled (it had!). While we were canning things, we went ahead and made and canned some jalapeno jelly too. Flat Holly was in charge of watching the pot to make sure it didn’t boil over, and she did the job well. We rounded out the day of canning by making and canning caramel-apple jam, which was the only non-hot food we canned while she was here.
Strawberry-habanero test batch.
Jalapeno jelly.
Caramel-apple jam.
There was a lot of hanging out with cats, and luckily Flat Holly seemed to enjoy all the cats. We were glad she’s a cat lover because there were many, many trips to the vet. With so many cats, there’s always someone who needs a trip to the vet. We made seven trips to the vet’s office while Flat Holly was here, Holly. I’m not exaggerating. She was willing to sit near the cat carriers and keep the kittens entertained during the many trips, thank goodness. Those cats do not like going to the vet!
Nap time with the True Bloods.
Play time with the True Bloods.
Nap time with Miz Poo.
Vet time with the True Bloods.
We have chickens, pigs, and turkeys, so Flat Holly got to meet them all. There was a disturbing incident where a turkey thought Flat Holly was food. It grabbed her by the arm and ran off with her, but we rescued her quickly. She sat in a nest box and chatted with a friendly chicken, and then helped us gather eggs. It wasn’t all work for her, though. We suited her up in a rain coat (which looks a lot like a Ziploc bag) and let her go for a ride on one of the pigs. It wasn’t much of a ride, since the pig only ran over to the trough to eat, but she seemed to enjoy it. She also met our dog, George, and went for a ride on him as well.
Making pig cookies.
Feeding chickens.
The offending turkey.
Doesn’t George look thrilled?
Gathering eggs.
Hanging with the hens.
Since we have so many animals, we often have to stock up on food for them. We ran to our local feed supply store and bought hundreds of pounds of chicken and swine feed. Flat Holly helped load and unload the truck – you wouldn’t think a flat girl could toss around fifty-pound bags of feed so easily, but she was surprisingly strong.
Her last day here, we were out running errands when Flat Holly pointed to a rocket standing proudly over Huntsville and asked what was over there. What was over there was the US Space and Rocket Center and Space Camp! We went over and wandered around for a little while, but the museum wasn’t open, so we didn’t go inside.
We’re returning Flat Holly to you relatively unscathed, though she might have nightmares about being abducted by that turkey. We hope she had a good time visiting us and she’s welcome to come back to visit any time, as are you.
Sincerely,
Robyn and Fred Anders0n
Previously
2008: “Paul Newman is dead too! What are the chances that… Oh.”
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: I’m a badass, that’s right.
2004: I
2003: In adults, I am anti-”bye-bye”.
2002: Day in the life.
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.
That was so cute and sweet Robyn. Very creative.
LOL thanks for a lot of chuckles on a really crappy day at work!
That warmed my cockles! I want Flat Holly to come visit!
That picture of Flat Holly with the little napkin mask TOTALLY made my day!
Ditto! Too funny Robyn..
That was adorable. I especially liked Flat Holly in her raincoat.
So cute! I love how creative you are. I bet Holly, the non flat one, will be thrilled.
OH, this was GREAT! The “raincoat” cracked me up!
I can’t wait to hear how the 3-D Holly reacts to her story!
All the other “flats” will be so jealous!
Holly IS thrilled and was quite interested in inspecting Flat Holly for the turkey bite. Then she said “EW! a turkey touched this…is there poop on it?” Then she wanted a kitten. And I hid everything.
OMG – so cute Robyn. You get an A+++ on this assignment.
I bet Holly the person will have the best adventure going! What an action packed week flat Holly had! Great pictures and commentary! Your talents are so numerous! I am drooling at the caramel apple jam ! I’ve never had it and don’t do the hot stuff. It sounds yummy!
That was very, very cool.
Wow. I feel terrible now. When I got Flat Stanley in the mail from my neice I took about 3 pictures. But that is so cute !!! LOL
I’ll bet Flat Holly had better adventures than anyone else in her class. And she’ll be able to reeeeaaaaaad them too!
You are such a good person.
I liked “Flat Holly of the corn”. Cracked me up.
That was sweet!
Love Flat Holly. She sure is a nice house guest. I love how she just jumped right in and helped you with all the chores. I am sending you pictures of Flat Stanley’s visit to us last year. He had some adventures but nothing as exciting as being attacked by a turkey.
“Flat Holly of the corn.” Brilliant!
Oh Robyn, I loved you before and I love you 10xs as much now!!! We got a flat Stanley from my niece last year and took him all over DC!
Seriously has to be the coolest Flat Stanley report ever. Holly was quite brilliant to think of sending it to you ;->
The mask and raincoat are classics.
Jane’s follow up that Holly freaked about the turkey? Also classic!
I loved this! The mask cracked me up.
And…..Flat Holly has more of a life than I do. 😀
that was cute. Flat Holly wouldn’t survive in this house. one of the cats would probably drag her off and hide her, never to be seen again (kinda like their toys LOL)
This is So Cute, and very creative. Can’t wait til my boys get to do a project like this.
too cute for words, Robyn! I’m sure Holly will love it! I know I did. You have a wonderful imagination and are so creative!
Oh my goodness. You did an amazing job. Holly is going to be thrilled!
Oh my gosh, I love it, Robyn. How fun to have been Flat Holly on her visit to Robyn (and Fred) Ranch.
I’ve never had a flat anything. How fun!!!
You’re awesome Robyn!
What a great time Flat Holly had with you!!!
Are you selling any caramel apple jam??? I can’t do the stuff with the peppers in it, but caramel apple is right up my alley!
I probably had too much fun with Flat Holly, too. 🙂
Yeah, I’ll likely sell all but a jar or two of the Caramel Apple Jam I have on hand – I don’t eat it that often, so what I’ve got would take me years to eat!
Well, sign me up for 2 when you want to sell!
You guys are the beast without the a!
I am thinking I might “need” some of that jam too! 🙂 I think no one else is going to outdo Flat Holly’s adventure. Unless someone got mailed to Australia, oh the possibilities then!
Bravo…well done, Robyn!
Totally got lost in Flat Holly’s fun adventures =)
Enjoyed the ride!
That was brilliant! I want to flatten myself and come visit!
I notice that you don’t have the recipe for the Caramel-Apple jam posted in Nom on This….is it available?
I got it off Suzanne McMinn’s site, here.
In my opinion, it’s better with chunks of apple rather than apple puree – but it all depends on personal taste, I think. 🙂
That was so fun! I read Jane and am familiar with Holly’s notes. You are right to save that one. Some day it will be worth millions. You’re so fun, I wish I’d known you when my kids were younger and doing this project. Heck, I’d like to mail myself to you so I can do all the fun things Flat Holly did.
you did a great job with Flat Holly. it was funny too!
Holly has an unusually bad case of rosacea.Hope it heals!
Robin… this was SO sweet. That little girl is going to have the best report EVAH!!