Wednesday 30 April 2014

May Day

It's the first of May and I am so happy for the nicer weather we're enjoying. Also, it's lilac time, and lilacs are one of my favourite flowers. Unfortunately my very old lilac bush is over 25 ft. high and we can no longer cut any flowers because they're all on the top! SO... this morning while on my walk I snitched a small branch from one of the bushes in the park. I did feel a bit badly, for about a minute. But I'm sure you understand that I just had to have my own little bouquet to put into my cute little lilac "suitcase" ( from Dollarama).



Monday 28 April 2014

Goslings

I've been watching for just such a scene as this and this morning there it was!  I couldn't get too close because geese are very protective of their babies and will actually attack you if you get too near so I did the best I could with my zoom.  There were seven goslings in this family group.  I hope to see more families in the coming days, including ducks.



Sunday 27 April 2014

A Quiet Sunday

What strange weather we have had today. Some sunshine, then showers, then hail, and back to sun again. The breeze was very chilly and I'm afraid it did my tulips and daffs no good at all.  Luckily I took this picture yesterday. 
 Because it didn't warm up much I had a very relaxing day inside, doing not much at all. Finished reading one book, started another. Browsed some favourite blogs and just had a nice, quiet Sunday. 



These cheerful yellow flowers are "Leopard's Bane" or, DORICUM. They are among the oldest flowers grown just as ornamentals as opposed to those grown for practical purposes such as herbs.
They are very easy to grow and they spread, but don't become invasive.




This Clematis is the very first of mine to bloom and this year is very full of buds. It is a shorter one than most and its name is "Willy".  Its flowers are very pale pink with a hint of yellow inside. 



Hope your Sunday was a good one and that your week will be too!

Thursday 24 April 2014

Thursday's thoughts


The weather here today was rather awful.  I awoke to pouring rain and all day it continued on and off, mostly on!  Even my dog was loathe to go out to do the necessary and I had to be very firm with him.  He looked at me as if to say Do you really mean I have to go all the way to the backyard in this downpour?

I have been trying to use cans and jars of foodstuff that I have had way too long. Also things that are in the bottom of the chest freezer forgotten and hopefully not freezer burned.. Yesterday I took out a box of Phyllo dough bought last year with great intentions I'm sure ( I can't remember exactly what I thought I was going to make).    Now it is kind of important that you know I am not much of a cook.  I don't particularily enjoy making food. It always seems like you invest an hour in something that will be eaten in 10 minutes.  When all the kids were growing up I made supper from scratch every night and I am at a stage where I'd really prefer not do much cooking any more.  Baking...maybe. I do love to eat and I like to know what is in my food so if I make it, then I know just what I'm eating.   Add to this the fact that I am a vegetarian and my DH is not and you begin to see the picture.

Getting back to my Phyllo dough.  For supper today I decided I'd make two "strudels"...a savoury one and an apple one. The savoury one had a filling of mushrooms,onions,peppers, and cheese moistened with some mushroom soup right out of the can ( which was, incidentally past its date-to-use-by). I didn't use a recipe, I just winged it. I added black olives to "my half" and chopped ham to the other
 ( but forgot to somehow mark which was which). Anyway, here you see the result which was quite edible AND provided leftovers for tomorrow so I won't have to think up anything then. I was going to make a salad but we agreed that we wanted to leave lots of room for the apple strudel. Which is the one in the second picture.

So that was my day today. I hope I haven't bored you to tears. What was exciting in your day?




Monday 21 April 2014

Easter Monday

Have you had an enjoyable Easter weekend?  For some it was back to work today but others were lucky enough to have today off as well. Either way, tomorrow it will be back to the usual routine.

We had a mix of weather, showers then sun and we were able to get outside and get some much-needed yard work done.  I planted out my little Morning Glories and my DH planted the tomato plants and covered them with a plastic cover since the temperature still goes down quite a bit at night. Now I just have the Sweet Peas and Zinnias in peat pots waiting for another nice day when I will put those in the ground.  I never quite trust those peat pots to disintegrate as they should so I tear out the bottoms before setting  them in the ground.  Hopefully everything will grow and bloom.

This morning I was thrilled to see a couple of Yellow-Rumped Warblers at the birdbath in the back yard. As I was watching them I noticed two White-Crowned Sparrows and a Golden-Crowned Sparrow as well ! IF I've ever seen a Golden-Crown before, it was a long time ago. Such a rare sighting for me.  Later I observed a couple of Fox Sparrows under the Bloomerang Lilac doing their funny little jump and scratch thing, so much like a chicken would do.  I didn't get pictures of them but I do have this picture of a Bluebird ( one of my favourite birds), and one of a Robin, that great harbinger of Spring.




I coculdn't resist adding this one of a cute little bunny, another common Spring sight.

                     Have a good day.   Granny Marigold

Friday 18 April 2014

Happy Easter

                          Hope you have a Blessed Easter


Tuesday 15 April 2014

Thrifty Tuesday

I don't have many thrifty treasures to show you today. The garage sale season hasn't really begun in full force yet.  But here they are:  First of all is this cute necklace that I got last Saturday and am wearing for the first time today. It has such lovely beads and the cords on it don't irritate my neck like some do.



These little shoes are ceramic. Are they not so cute? For a dollar I just had to buy them.
 


My last treasure is my favourite. I love having big, sturdy shopping bags that are also pretty. This one is perfect. I especially like the fact that it is quilted and has an inside pocket .
 
Hope you are having a wonderful day!      Granny M.


Sunday 13 April 2014

Random thoughts

I've been rereading one of my Gladys Taber books," The Best of Stillmeadow" and just enjoying her thoughts and finding them very relaxing.  She writes about her love of Lilacs:  "I am sure heaven is bounded by a white picket fence that never needs painting, and with lilacs always in bloom hanging deep clusters over it."
I. too, absolutely love lilacs and find their season far too short. Since it will be some time yet before they bloom I'll have to be content with other flowers. The ones in the little boot by the front door are not real ones. The Ivy behind them is real and I'm hoping it will climb up the metal trellis.



A few of the tiny Violas I bought last Friday ended up potted up in some of my odd tea cups. ( Well, they're not really odd, they just have no saucers). 


           Here is a pretty trio  on the tiled table out on the porch.


A pot of Pansies with a couple of concrete rabbits hanging around. Just to the left you get a glimpse of the Zinnias in peat pots.
 

I still haven't found a pot I like to put these Dahlias in. I should have gotten three. It's easier to put them in that way.  Oh dear!  I must go back!!   teehee

I have been asked about my Dahlia tubers and how I keep them over the winter. Like I mentioned, we have an old cellar beneath my garden shed. This shed used to be a pumphouse when this was a farm.
We store all sorts of odd things down there including Dahlia and Gladiola tubers/bulbs because it never goes below freezing . I use old 5 gallon buckets and layer sawdust or peat moss with the tubers and they keep very well.
  The weather this Sunday is absolutely perfect with the temperature in the low 20's and no clouds in the sky.  I've been puttering outside and I think I may even have ever-so-slightly burnt my face. Don't you hate having to wear a sun hat?   On that note I will close and go read some more Gladys Taber.

      GRANNY MARIGOLD

Friday 11 April 2014

Flowery Friday

Here I am at my favourite nursery consulting my list of plants I want. Unfortunately I didn't find that many that were on the list but I did find lots that weren't and that I just had to buy!  Obviously it is a bit too early in the season for some kinds to be available so I'll just have to go back.


                My cart is beginning to get crowded!

                    In the back of the truck.
     This is my little Primrose corner by the picket fence in the front yard. Well, actually it's municipal  property but I've sort of appropriated it for more plants.

 These are the Primula  Auricula that I found this morning in various colours. I chose four and planted them out with the "Drumstick" Primroses I bought last year.  I used to have these but one winter they all died and I've been looking for new ones ever since. They are supposedly hardy so it was most likely the damp that got them rather than cold.

   Here are the Drumstick Primroses  ( P. Denticulata)  They were supposed to be assorted colours but mine all turned out to be light purple. Since I got them on sale after they had bloomed I didn't find out until this Spring what colour they would be. 
 Finally here are two miniature Dahlias that I'll put in a pot eventually. That reminds me, I need to get one of my sons to go down into the creepy, spider- infested root cellar and get out my regular Dahlia tubers.
Okay, I've gone on long enough about plants for one day. But I do have more pictures for another day!      I hope you have a great week end.   ( AND I hope you leave a comment).
       Granny Marigold

Saturday 5 April 2014

Happy Saturday

It's a very wet Saturday!  Perfect for a comfy chair, a cup of tea, and a book to read.





I wanted to show you these intricately folded and sewn coasters that I found at a garage sale. I cannot imagine how many hours it took and the careful folding and tacking 'points' needed to make each one.
As an absolutely hopeless seamstress I can only be amazed at these lovelies. No doubt they were a gift that the recipient never used and eventually sold at a gs. 


                        Have a wonderful week end.    Granny Marigold

Thursday 3 April 2014

Flowery Friday

Remember the salt shaker that I was going to enlarge the top holes?  Well, now it is just the right size to hold these Hellebore blossoms ( and a Scilla which snuck in).


                                          More Daffodils!!

I treated myself to some deep orange Gerberas . I think they pick up the colour in my thrifted plate. The redddish flower on the plate is actually the exact deep orange of the real flowers.  The little ceramic purse is also a thrifted treasure which has been given a bit of a touch-up.


 This little gem is Primrose Belarina Nectarine. Found her at Home Depot and it was love at first sight. Isn't she a beauty?


There she is again behind the Angels Gather Here sign. I hope she'll like the location and stick around for many years to come. 
 

Just one more flower picture and this is a Pansy that made it through the winter and is happy for the sunshine we've had for a couple of days. Although tonight the sky is dark and the clouds look full of more rain!
                 Happy Friday!!    Granny Marigold

Wednesday 2 April 2014

A Morning Walk

Come along with me on my morning walk and enjoy the loveliness of this Spring morning. We have had THREE days of sunshine and I have made the most of them but now the forecast is for a week of rain. 

I attracted some strange looks as I walked back home because I was carrying an assortment of thin twigs. One woman asked me if I was gathering firewood!  What I wanted them for is to stick in the peat pots so my Sweet Peas and Morning Glories have something to hang on to .

I hope you enjoy the pictures.


The air was filled with the fragrance of the Hyacinths.
 


                The Forsythia is in full bloom.



                                An early Azalea, if I'm not mistaken.