My Day

 This was taken about a week ago when I sowed my Zinnias. They came up in 4 days but a number of peat pots show no growth so I'm checking out my seeds on damp paper towel to see if they will sprout.
If they do I'll put them in the empty cells.

 It's raining and the house feels chilly so I'm going to bake. It will be bread and instead of using water I'll use up the last of the jug of milk  which is starting to smell 'off' ( even though the date on the jug is today's date.)  I'm going to make a pot of Beef & Barley soup for supper and with the fresh bread it will be the perfect meal for a wet and rather dreary day.

I'm steeping some tea (lemon & ginger) and once the bread is in the pan I'll sit and enjoy it.
The words on my little teapot are from Psalm 118:24.

 

Thanks for visiting 

 

 

 

Tuesday Trivia

 

 

 

 The Swallows are back!!!   Every year I wait and watch for them. This one seems to be scolding the little one ( the picture is from the internet and I'd say the one is a juvenile.)

On our morning walk we noticed many mole hills and we started wondering where they stay all winter. Apparently they do not hibernate. They dig down below the frost line. Here's some more information that I gleaned.

 One mole can create up to 150 feet of tunnels in just one day. Discharged mounded soil and heaved runways are indicators of the mole's presence. A mole's diet consists of earthworms, grubs, and other insects. These insectivores can almost eat their entire body weight on a daily basis.

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If you have clear skies tonight watch for the full moon. March's moon has 2 names that I found___Worm Moon and also Sugar Moon. I prefer the second one. It's called sugar because this is the time when Sugar Maples are tapped and sap buckets begin to fill.  
It's been a while since I treated myself to some lovely Maple Syrup. Maybe it's  time to put it on my grocery list again. What do you like on your pancakes and waffles? 

That's it once again.  Thanks for visiting!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

March

 

 

 March came in like a lamb here for us. Beautiful sunshine meant I was outside doing as much as I dared. Youngest is coming by later today to move some heavy things for me,  heavy pots of wet dirt impossible for either of us oldies to budge.  The forecast for tomorrow is equally pleasant. 

 We had a lovely walk first thing this morning. Saw a muskrat which we know are present in the Creek but hard to spot. It was so nice walking in sunshine and listening to birds singing.

Although this picture is from the internet it looks exactly like what we saw. Not the most handsome of  rodents but really, are any of them good-looking?  Maybe beavers. 

 

In the kitchen I tried a new-to-me recipe that I found in Kirsten's lovely blog__  A Letter from Home. It's for a Welsh tea cake dense with dried fruit and soooo good.  It's called Bara Brith which apparently means mottled bread. I will definitely make this often. Both of us love it...(in fact along with a pot of tea it made my supper last night).
The one I made looked slightly different because the recipe called for currants ( which I dislike) so I used raisins and dried cranberries. I threw in some glaced fruit that had been soaking in rum since Christmas. As you know, I can never stick to a recipe. haha.

That's about it for today. I'm off to enjoy the sunshine.

Thanks for visiting

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers

 If you've been visiting my blog for any length of time you know I am very fond of flowers!! 
Currently I have these Hyacinths in the kitchen, the taller one has grown too tall and has to lean against the window or fall over. The white one, tinged with green, is so far holding itself up. Both fill the kitchen with wonderful scent.

 Knowing how I feel about flowers I'm often blessed with bouquets from one or another of my children.

 Outside the only thing blooming now besides a few sad looking Snowdrops ( they don't grow well in my soil) there are  lots of Crocuses which we planted many years ago and which have been spread but also are smaller than they used to be. But I still love them.

 It's a cloudy and chilly day. The forecast for the weekend is for better weather so that means I'll be out there puttering as much as I can. 

PS... Diane from Wis_____ I'm sorry you have trouble seeing some of the images clearly but if you just click on the image it will get bigger.  Or, as someone once posted, it will embiggen. LOL

 

Thanks for dropping by

 

 

 

Happy Wednesday

  The week is half gone already.  I have been busy doing some housework this morning and also making a list for tomorrow's grocery shopping.  While I was looking in the pantry and fridge  to see what we might need I noticed some ingredients that have been lurking in there for too long. After seeing this recipe ( below) just yesterday I decided I'd make something similar using what I had on hand. Into the blender I dropped the rest of an 8 oz block of cream cheese ( there was about half of it left), a can of condensed milk ( left from Christmas), and a can of frozen lemonade concentrate that has been in the freezer for a very long time (Why oh why did I buy that?) .I had to add some water to make it easier for the blender but in the end it got everything nicely mixed. Into 10 small dishes I put about a Tbsp of graham crumbs then topped them with the creamy mixture. The portions are small but so rich that they don't need to be bigger.  I'm quite pleased with the result.

 

Another item I was looking at last night was this list that someone posted about tips for keeping the house neat and tidy. If I had to choose only three tips that I consider most important in my house I think I'd choose the first three.  Which do you rank as best of these  tips?  Or maybe you'd add a different tip. I'd love to hear it.

 

 That's about all for today.   Thank you for coming by!!

 

Monday

 

Here we go into the last week of February. I think it went fast, in fact I feel the winter went by very quickly.  Time could slow down now that we're nearing the more pleasant weather.

We walked before the rain this morning, later it poured then it got quite mild and nice out. We drove to Fish Trap Creek and walked there. Not as many birds to see, nevertheless it's a nice place to walk. 
DH's knee seems to be getting better again. He thinks he'll try not wearing the brace tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.
 

 Finished another puzzle. 

 I made an Impossible peach pie which was enjoyed and is now gone.

 Laundry tomorrow. I also want to sow seeds in some of those peat pots I bought. I have books to return to the library and two more to pick up. That  will be my day.

Thanks for coming by! 

Walking at Willband

 Just 2 degrees above freezing this morning. We walked under cloudy skies but there was no wind so it was pleasant. Dear Husband wore a good knee brace and although we walked even slower than we usually do we made it.  There were patches of ice on the water.  A pair of Eagles was circling around, no doubt wondering how come they couldn't see any fish. I hope they didn't end up taking a duck or a goose :(

 

In the picture below the beavers are working on a dam where the creek narrows. Just before that there is a Heron on the right side. Very hard to spot it. It just looks like a spot of white.
 

That's all for today 

Thanks for visiting