A Scottish Man, Teddy Bears, and Tea Cups

I've been meaning to tell you about a Scottish man that we often see when we go on our morning walk.  Unlike many of the usual people we meet this fellow makes no eye contact and looks straight ahead, not exactly unfriendly but not friendly either.  Otherwise I would have asked him if I could take his photograph. He looks somewhat like this pic off the internet.. He has the beret ( with a short braid down his back) and his "scarf" is much wider and sometimes is attached with a large brooch.
He has a medium sized grey/black dog that also ignores everything except his master.

While looking for a photo that was similar to mystery man I found this picture of bears in kilts. Aren't they cute?

Speaking of bears, I must show you my latest Teddy bear. Notice the purple velvet paws. So cute I couldn't resist.
 

And, here is yet another tea cup, this one made in England by Royal London.
The cookie is a Snickerdoodle.  Isn't that a strange name for a cookie?

That's it for today. I have been baking. Apple/Cinnamon muffins  and Cinnamon buns. GD Kate is coming over after work so I wanted to have freshly baked goodies around.

Thanks for visiting.

            Granny M.

A Walk, a Cake, and a Cup of Tea

Just look at the thick carpet of leaves on the ground under this Maple tree. And I would guess that only half its leaves have fallen so far.

I decided today was the day to bake my dark fruit cake, the one with molasses, dates, raisins, nuts, as well as the usual glace fruit.

                                       Here it is ready to go into the oven....

        ...and here it is baking slowly with a pan of water beside it to keep it nice and moist. I do need to take that water out an hour before the cake is done.

                                  My tea tasted very good in this pretty cup

          The saucer deserves to be shown on its own so the pattern can be appreciated.

              The underneath of the saucer ( for anyone actually interested in the info.)

         And here it is up on the shelf.  Here you can see the sweet little feet touched with gold.
         My month of tea cups is almost done.  Just a few more days until November. Wow. Where did                    October go?

Thanks for visiting today. And thanks for all the lovely comments about my teacups!!


Hope you're weekend is going along nicely,


                   Granny M

This and That

Although I have my garden shed in the back yard I like to keep a few garden tools handy in the front. This little shelter is tucked away in a corner, mostly hidden by a row of tall Rugosa Roses ( you can just see a bit of one on the right of the photo).  Anyway, it was getting messier and messier so DH spent half a day fixing it up. This included sanding the inside and giving it a new coat of varnish. Should be good for years now.

                                                .....before....

                                               and after.

When we go walking I have a hard time resisting the urge to bring home every pretty leaf I see.
I press them in the phone book for a day or so then give them a coat of Modge Podge.. 

                 We're not the biggest Squash fans but Fall seems to call for Butternut Squash soup.

And of course I have to include my teacups.Monday's choice is on the left in this pic.( I took a picture when I was having my tea but it turned out a bit blurry). In case you're interested this teacup was made in Bavaria by Malmaison.

I must confess that on Tuesday I felt like I wanted a big mug of tea so that's what I had. No dainty teacup that day.

Today's teacup has such a pretty design inside that I wanted to show that first...

...and here's the outside. I do love the cup but my tea was cool before I had a chance to drink it. A definite negative thing about this shallow, wide kind of cup.

So that was my day. Thanks for stopping by and also for leaving lovely comments.

               Granny M.

A Surprise Visitor and Dog Treats

It was another lovely day and while puttering outside my DH and I heard  what we thought was an extra noisy Flicker. To our surprise this handsome fellow landed on the power pole in front of our house. He stayed for a minute or two then with more of his noisy call he flew away. I'm so glad we were out there at the right time to see him.. We used to see these when we lived in the country but never before right in town.

These pictures are off the internet.

 The Pileated Woodpecker is one of the biggest, most striking forest birds on the continent. It’s  the size of a very large crow, black with bold white stripes down the neck and a flaming-red crest.

Something I've never tried to do is make home made dog treats but I found a very easy recipe that called for just 3 ingredients... an egg, peanut butter, flour ,and a bit of water. No need to make them look nice. Bracken will not take time to admire them before gobbling them up.

Thanks for coming by,

     Granny M.

Just for Fun

 
                    Some of my Autumn Teddy bears came out to enjoy the fresh air.

               My granddaughter Kate brought us some of her cute Rice Krispie creations.
               I think she got the idea off Pinterest. I spend too much time browsing that site!!
               So many pretty things and great ideas for crafts I'll probably never try.
              

And of course I had my tea in a proper teacup ... this was Friday's. The pattern is Laurentian Snowdrops. It's really hard to see the pattern. My photography skills leave much to be desired.

                Saturday I had my tea in a Royal Albert cup that has no particular name .

                       I finished my week with the Pacific Dogwood tea cup.
                        The Pacific Dogwood is B.C.'s floral emblem.

I hope you had a lovely weekend and that the week ahead will be full of blessings!

I love to read your comments so I know you came by.

               Granny Marigold

Tea Cups and Cake

Yesterday I chose this tea cup 'Lenora" for my lemon/ginger tea. I love the Autumn colours but I wish I didn't always think of Edgar Allen Poe's Lenore when I use it.

Today's cup is from the Flower of the Month series, and as you can see it has violets, which I am very fond of.

                    Here's a little cupboard holding some more of my violet collection.

Yesterday was my youngest son's birthday. I baked him a Black Forest cake but forgot to take a picture.. It looked just like a Black Forest cake.
Today is my oldest daughter's birthday and I remembered to take a picture of the Caramel/Apple cakes that I made. They are so easy and never fail to turn out because....

...they come from a box! A Duncan Hines box to be exact. The only thing I do is add 2 peeled and chopped apples to the mix because the apples included are few and far between.

                           It's almost the weekend; I hope you had a good week.

                                                Thanks for visiting today!!

Dahlias and Dishes

I thought I'd start my post today showing you one of my Dahlias that normally has all its petals tipped in white.
However, the latest flowers have much less white and more purple. I wonder if the weather has had something to do with this.

Now, having shown that I actually mention things other than dishes I can go on to one of my favourite subjects....

This is my tea cup today. Another Royal Albert pattern, it is Blossomtime. By coincidence I saw at the thrift store this morning an entire tea set in this pretty pattern. The tea pot alone was marked at $80, there were 4 cups and  saucers and tea plates to match.  Too much for this shopper.

I like Marjolain Bastin's art in cards, book illustrations, and of course her china pieces. If you are not familiar with her you might like to google her and see some examples of her botanical art.
I have this little display in a sunroom window.

This lovely serving plate with her design will definitely not fit on that shelf but I will find the perfect spot for it. I couldn't resist buying it for a dollar.

There were other things I couldn't resist... like this cup, saucer and 7" plate marked down drastically. On the back of the saucer  it says The Royal Horticultural Society Applebee Collection. Perfect for tea time for one.

Here is yesterday's tea cup.... Lavender Rose by Royal Albert.  I like this shape of cup ( which is Montrose) because it  holds more than other teacups and because it's not so flared the tea stays hot longer.

Maybe I should quit calling myself Granny Marigold and be known as The Queen of Pretty China.

Thanks for bearing with me as I go on and on....


                       Have a wonderful day!!

This and That

                          A couple of pictures taken on our walk this morning.

                 I like the bark on the Cottonwood tree ( at least I think that's the  kind it is).
                 I wonder if the birdhouse is for an Owl or maybe a Wood Duck.
                 Maybe the opening is not big enough for either.

Yesterday I chose a Royal Albert snack set for my tea. The pattern is Inspiration.
 I had just  baked my DH's favourite Oatmeal/raisin cookies and I had to try one.

          I think this will be a Royal Albert week. Today's choice is Brigadoon.

. We're having a stretch of cold mornings followed by  lovely sunshine-filled afternoons.
  I must go and sit and enjoy it while it lasts.

Thanks for stopping in.


Granny M.

Teacups and a Question

Yesterday I had my second cataract surgery and I'm relieved to have that done with.
When we arrived home from the hospital I made myself a pot of tea and went to pick a cup and saucer.  This time I was not surprised by the fact that they were not a matching set. The cup is Royal Albert but the saucer is not. I've been on the lookout for the RA saucer but haven't found one yet.

Today's teacup is one made in Japan and is covered with bunches of pretty violets.

Quite some time ago one of my dear followers posted something about these wooden objects. One of these is very old, the other two are replicas that DH tried his hand at making. But now I can't remember what they were used for. Was it to do with sewing, or mending?  I'd be thankful if the right person reads this and let's us know.

That's my post for today. My vision is still quite blurry and I have to peer at my computer and try to focus.
I think I'll just go have a rest.

Thanks for sstopping in,


     Granny M.