Problems!

Yes, I have had problems with my computer this week, in fact, as far as I can tell it is dead. My son is going to take it to a shop and see if it can be fixed or at the very least my photos can be retrieved!   Take this as a warning. Make sure your important stuff is safe.So, I doubt I'll be able to post anything this week. Hopefully by next week we'll have sorted this out.

A Sunday Drive

Such a lovely, sunny day here that it was a shame not to take a drive in the country. The trees are still stark and bare but have a beauty all their own.

 Fields of blueberry bushes with their reddish branches. 100 million pounds of blueberries  produced in B.C. annually, 40% of which is grown here in the Abbotsford area.  We have rarely missed a year where we didn't pick our own supply of luscious berries in July and sometimes even August.

 We tried to stay on roads unlikely to have much traffic. Like this one accessed under the train track.

The only thing blooming that I could find was the heather in front of a rather grand-looking house.

Happy Sunday. Leave a comment if you come by so I know someone is actually popping by!
                                                      Granny Marigold

Flowery Friday

I considered floriferous but settled on flowery. I have Thrifty Tuesday and Wordless Wednesday so why not Flowery Friday?  It's not always easy to think of a topic to blog about. SO, today I bought two pretty Primroses while shopping at Walmart. I already had the little wooden basket so this arrangement cost me 1.98. I included a picture of some very real looking roses just for fun.( I didn't say they had to be REAL flowers.)

Have a safe and enjoyable weekend.      Granny Marigold

Wordless Wednesday

Thrifty Tuesday

We are enjoying our mild temperatures and wondering how January can be so pleasant while the rest of Canada ( and most of North America) suffers through winter storms and extreme cold.  Plus 8 degrees Celsius today and that is the forecast for the next week or so. I didn't walk today. Got too busy scrapbooking. I do have some thrifty buys to show but just a few. The books insist on loading sideways so I'll just post two. I don't know how to fix this problem. They appear right on my computer but....
The other photo is of two items I bought at the thrift store and will put in my Valentine Display.

                  Stay warm and cozy,    Granny Marigold

Bird Houses

Here are a few of my many bird houses. The first three are in the sun room. The next ones are outside.

                      This one is next to a bowl of my favourite rocks,   including my only Geode

                    Those are real dragonflies on those flat dishes ( which, by the way, have pictures of dragonflies on them).
 We brought those home from a trip we took to the Grand Canyon. We had the dragon flies caught on the grill of the van.

      Those potted Daffodils I bought  a week or so ago?  They have shot up and most of them are open now. 
 

 

                                            GRANNY MARIGOLD

On a Bird Theme

I seem to have many bird and egg decorations around my house and I thought I'd share them here. The first is a small house with glass sides ( only 3 unfortunately. One is gone.) 

 I've taken the house off the base to show you the nest with three very real looking styrofoam eggs in it.

Here are a few of the eggs in my collection. The largest one is an Emu egg. the next is an egg provided by our pet pigeon, and the last one is a quail egg from the grocery store.

 . I bought 2 dozen quail eggs and asked my DH to "blow" them for me.I display them in a white ceramic basket.

                                       More abandoned nests , one with quail eggs.

Just another shelf with some rocks,a hawk feather, and a weird seed head. That gray thing with the garden tools is actually a picture frame. If you look hard you can see the hinges on the left side.

                           Some of my Marjolein Bastin pretties and a paper wasp nest.

 

       The display on my sewing machine has changed again. The wire thing in the middle appeals to me but I have no idea what its meant for. So of course I had to stick a ceramic bird on it with some brown fibres to make a 'nest'.

.I hope you've enjoyed  this peek at my house. I have more pics but that will be for next time

              Take care, Granny Marigold

Spring?

This past few days the weather has turned mild and at last we've got sunshine. Of course that turns our thoughts to Spring. Which will probably be deceiving because we have to get through February and even part of March before we would normally have nicer temperatures. But the weather this year has been unusual almost worldwide so who knows when Spring will come this year. Meanwhile I am just enjoying the sunshine. My centerpiece is a cheese dome over a tiny nest with even tinier eggs in it. The eggs are House Sparrow eggs but the nest is a mystery one given to me by someone who found it and thought of me. House Sparrows and Starlings and other introduced species of birds are not protected by the Bird Protection Act. Just so you know that I'm not doing anything illegal by "gathering" the eggs.  Also, I have found that by taking some of the eggs early in the laying process, the female then continues to lay as many as she would ordinarily hatch.
   The Bluebird on top of the cheese dome is just stuck on with a bit of Blue Tac.

                                                        GRANNY MARIGOLD

Wordless Wednesday

Greenery

I don't have much luck with flowering plants such as African Violets  but easy to maintain foliage plants do well for me and brighten up the sunroom in this gloomy month of January. Home Depot had tropical plants on super sale so off I went.  The Ivy and the Pothos are about the easiest  to grow and the mini Daffodils will no doubt bloom in a week or so. I see one has a bud already. I have had good luck when I've planted them outside in late Spring. They come back the next year as long as I don't forget where I put them and dig them up accidentally.

Thursday

Outside it is raining and blustery!  Compared to so many places in this world we have nothing to complain about. But it seems so dreary and endless. Our weather forecast for the foreseeable future can be summed up in one word. RAIN.  Last night we had a power outage. I reached for the little flashlight that I keep on my nearby desk and wondered why it didn't work.  Turned out I grabbed a glue stick instead. Made me smile :)  
    I baked a batch of scones. Forgot the baking powder. Needless to say they were inedible and I hate wasting food. We did try eating a few but the rest were quite happily eaten by our ever-famished Black Lab. I made a new batch with all the necessary ingredients and they rose beautifully and are ever so tasty.
  So much for my day. How was yours?   
                            Granny M.

Wordless Wednesday

Thrifty Tuesday

As I mentioned yesterday, this morning was thrift store day for me. I found what I went for and more! 
I found this photo album which I wanted so I could finish putting all my recipe cards ( 4X6) into it and not have to have the big recipe box sitting on the counter any more.

 

 I found this pale green, reversible bath mat.

 

 Then I came upon this very large bunch of artificial branches and flowers ( 3 feet long). I don't know just where I'll put them yet but I will find a spot.  And a heavy pot that they won't tip over.

 Last thing was this soft throw which is actually burgundy but looks brown on this picture. Also on the picture, if you look closely, you see the little man peeking out from under it.

So those were my 'finds' for today.     Thrift stores are so great!     Granny Marigold