Tea cups

In spite of the popularity of Royal Albert's  pattern "Moss Rose", I did not own any and was thrilled to find this lovely 3 piece set at a garage sale this morning. The woman had $5 on it, I offered 4 and she said What the heck, you can have it for 3 !! This kind of thing doesn't happen often to say the least. I love the daintiness of the cup and the sort of frilled saucer and 6" plate.

 When I came home I took out my "Lavender Rose" tea cup ( Royal Albert as well) and compared the two.  

I also have just the cup from the pattern "Fragrance" by Paragon. You can see how the three differ yet have some similarities. Wish I could find the matching saucer.
 

Happy Saturday!      Granny Marigold

It's Peony Time

It's time for peonies to bloom. The Peony has to be one of my favourite flowers, especially the white one. I bring the huge flowers in the house and the wonderful scent fills the rooms. I have this little stoneware jug in the dining room and a vase full in my bedroom. The blooming season is so short that I feel I want to have them in every room!!

One of the great things about the Peony is how easy it is to grow. Extremely hardy, drought-resistant and long-lived. About the only "problem" is that the large double flowers are so heavy that the plant needs a wire cage or at the very least, a couple of sturdy stakes and some cord to tie it. I don't have a single peony but I imagine they don';t have the same problem with flopping down.

We're enjoying beautiful sunshine these last days of May. I hope you're enjoying them to the fullest.
      
                                 GRANNY MARIGOLD

Wordless Wednesday YELLOW

I know it is supposed to be "wordless" but I doubt you'll see my pretty Goldfinch on the extreme left side of this last picture. I had a small flock of them in my yard but it was impossible to get a decent picture.  I hope you've enjoyed my post today. It was fun going around my house and yard looking for yellow!    Granny Marigold

Thrifty Saturday

I know I usually post thrifty Tuesday  but I'm so excited about today's finds that I have to share them today. This lady at garage sale #1 was asking a dollar each for her lovely tea cups!!! You know how fast I grabbed my four favourites ( there were many more but none that I loved.)  Must admit it was hard to leave them anyway, at that price. This first one has gorgeous red roses on a white background.
On the bottom are the words Royal Standard Fashion. I don't know that any other of my tea cups are "Royal Standard".

This next three are all Royal Albert; this one is Pacific Dogwood pattern. I already own Royal Albert White Dogwood pattern which is  not that much different but the shape of the cup is very different.

I had a lot of trouble photographing the cups and getting a lot of glare. I tried different backgrounds but nothing really worked.               This pattern is Brigadoon. The thistles are blue and light purple.

Here I did manage to avoid that glare and I see that I forgot to take an individual picture of Laurentian Snowdrops, a teacup I already have. Now when you come for tea we can have matching cups!
Incidentally, the aqua throw was another of my finds this morning, at a different gs. It is so soft I will enjoy having it around my shoulders while I watch TV next winter. The throw was a dollar!

I'm not too sure exactly where this little pillow will end up but I liked it because of the ribbon embroidery on it. At least I think that is what it's called. The moss green fabric really sets it off.

         
                      A close-up of the flowers on the pillow.

Lastly here is my latest "cheese board and dome". I forgot to take a before picture. The base was wood grain so after DH sanded it I wiped on a thin layer of white paint which quickly dried and I gathered a few nature objects from the sunroom to display. That big holey thing is a seed pod BTW and the teeny weeny one to the left is a wasp nest. The rest are just quail eggs and a few feathers.

When I got home from garage sales of course I had to have tea and cake but after that I looked at how I could rearrange my cupboards to make room for the new cups. This lead to a couple of hours of changing things around which can be a lot of fun. I was not rushed and took my time. I managed to find half a dozen small serving bowls I rarely use that were taking up space and out  they went into the box of give-away stuff. Now I intend to have a restful evening and hope you have one too.    Granny M.

My Morning Walk

Such a lovely morning to walk around the lake. DH and the little man also walked but they chose the wooded path where the roots of trees stick up and walking is treacherous. Just the thing for a little boy ( carrying a sword for 'protection'. He pretends he's a superhero.)

I walked the asphalt path that follows the water. Yesterday I saw a duck with 7 very newly hatched ducklings. Unfortunately I had not brought my camera.  Today I couldn't find her but I did see these slight;y bigger ones.
 

                  Canada Geese are very protective of their goslings.

                                A male Mallard sharing a log with a crow.

In the park there is a labyrinth with the mounds surrounding the paths. Lots of plants including Iris.

So that was my walk this morning. Thanks for dropping by.
                        GRANNY MARIGOLD

Wordless Wednesday

In My Kitchen

What does one do with half a can of cherry pie filling?  How about a couple of individual crisps? I try always to have some crisp mix in the fridge, it keeps for weeks if not months in a covered container. The recipe is so simple too. 2 cups flour, 2 cups rolled oats, 1 1/4 cups brown sugar and  1/2 cup of margarine which has been worked into the dry ingredients. Oh yes, a dash of cinnamon is nice if you like cinnamon. Whenever you want a quick dessert this topping is ready to sprinkle liberally on top of any fruit you choose. When using apples I find it helps to microwave them first to soften and add a bit extra sugar.

Also in my kitchen today is Peach Jam ( from peaches from the freezer).  I make jam as we need it using corn starch to thicken instead of Certo. I use less sugar than most do because we love using LOTS of jam and if I decrease the sugar we feel "healthier".  LOL

These pictures were taken in my walk-in pantry which we call the Buttery to distinguish it from the "pantry" which is in the actual kitchen.  The stained glass window serves two purposes: one is to block the neighbours view from their window right opposite, and also to look lovely since I have a real thing about stained glass.   Did you notice the old-fashioned screen in the window? It is very old and is the kind you can expand  to fit the window. In this case the window is also old and is the push-up kind with the bars which I believe are called Muntin bars. Sounds a bit like chocolate bars, don't you think?

I hope you've enjoyed the peek into my kitchen this May morning!

          Granny Marigold

A Special Visitor

I love to sit on my back porch and look at my wonderfully overgrown flower beds with no special order to anything, just lots of colour. I have several birdbaths set amid the flowers, one quite close to the porch. I sit and watch the various visitors.  Mainly I see Sparrows, Chickadees and Robins coming for a drink or maybe having a bath. Today I happened to be watching when this gorgeous Western Tanager came by. He didn't stay more than 10 seconds and I'm so glad I was watching at that exact time. Now maybe he has come before and I just haven't seen him. I'll be on the look-out from now on. ( This is an image I downloaded from the internet. No way could I have gotten to my camera in time to capture his beauty). 

Great Finds

A cloudy day, with rain threatening. Two garage sales that were nearby and sounded promising. One was, the other was not. But at the one that was I got a few treasures such as this black leather purse with brown trim. I like it a lot, promptly threw one of my old purses in the give-away box when I came home.

I like the fact that it has three big zippered compartments and a few more smaller ones.

                As if I needed yet another table runner!!  Oh well, for a dollar I had to get it.I like the       tapestry look

  This summery top weighs about one ounce. It is so light and with all those tiny frills it makes me smile. Although I must admit it is a tad big on me.

This T-shirt belonged to the same woman as the frilly one and it also is a bit big on me but ever so comfy. I love the design which is both on the front and back.

Last of all three pretty  and practical hooks. One can always use more hooks, right?

Hope your weekend is shaping up to be a good one.   Granny Marigold