Spring

In all of Canada we here on the coast  are some of the very few people that can look outside and see Spring. Our winter was so mild that the transition to Spring happened almost without our being aware of it. February was not bad at all and now we come to March and Crocuses are in full bloom, Daffodils have fat buds and even the tulips are a fair size. The plants, that is. No buds on those just yet.  I just had to post a few pages of The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady because you know by now that I love her illustrations.

The Primroses that I had in the house have been moved outside and maybe tomorrow I'll plant them in the ground. They may or may not grow and bloom next year but I'll give them a chance.
The Primroses in the photos below are so lovely. I believe they are called Auricula . I used to have them growing in a spot where I couldn't see them all that well so I moved them and they didn't like the new area and died. I got some new ones last year but so far they haven't shown any growth so I don't know if they survived. I hope they did.

       Sending out thoughts of Spring and all the loveliness that it brings!

                Granny Marigold

Pine Siskins

The Pine Siskin is a North American bird, part of the finch family. It is quite tiny, very streaky brown with yellow markings. It migrates over "an extremely sporadic range" and we often will go through an entire winter without seeing a single one. Imagine my excitement when this morning a very large flock of them were in my back yard.

The two pictures above are off the internet. The one below is one I took and I am SO sorry it is not only blurry but you have to crane your neck sideways to see it. Being a techno idiot I don't know how to fix this so you'll just have to believe that all those blurry objects in the bird bath are indeed Pine Siskins. At one time the entire bird bath was full of them. Half an hour later they had disappeared. I wonder if they'll come back.
Anyway, that was my morning joy. How is your day going? 

                                                
                                                     GRANNY MARIGOLD

Random Stuff

I know... it's not a great title for today's post but random it definitely is!

The first two photos are of lovely old trees being cut down to make way for a new ( probably huge) house to be built on the site where now there is a small bungalow. This place is next to the house directly opposite our house. 

                      I managed to get this pic just as the top of the tree was falling!
                       This was the next day and the clouds had moved in, hence the dark pic.

Several of my bird houses need refurbishing and this one was one of them. My DH gave it a new coat of paint and I attached the pewter Hummingbirds and heart ( from an old wind chime ) using Liquid Nail which is suitable for outdoor "gluing".  This particular birdhouse is almost always used by Chickadees to raise their family. It used to be home to House Sparrows but DH put a circle of wood around the hole to make it too small for the Sparrows to get through. I hope the Chickadees won't be put off by the pewter heart that I glued over the hole!

I picked up this basket at a garage sale for .50  . I had some crocheted pieces with blue trim that I've had for some time and I used them as a liner then went around choosing tea cups that had blue flowers that I thought would look sweet in it.

At a garage sale I found a heavy old duvet cover, lovely, but with ugly stains. It was free so I took it home and cut out some areas that were not stained and sewed this pillow cover. I have very little talent for sewing so am quite proud of my pillow. I hot glued a pearl heart in the middle. The heart had a plastic loop on top so you could hang it but I broke that off and stuck a large pearl in the empty spot.  You can just barely see that this pearl is not as white as the heart.

Last, but not least, I got this adorable trio of teddies to add to my collection. Aren't they cute?

I hope you had a pleasant and restful weekend. Happy last Monday of February !!!

      GRANNY MARIGOLD

Pancake Tuesday

Pancake Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday, which do you call it?    At my grandson's school they had pancake breakfast on Friday. My DH was one of the volunteers who made countless pancakes for the students K to grade 5.
 Here he is just starting off .  Luckily it was a nice day because the grill is set up outside .

Today we went to the Great Blue Heron Reserve for our February visit. On the way we saw many swans in a farmer's field. They are really too far away but you get the idea.

Once at the reserve we had a lovely walk around. Many different kinds of water fowl. Here is a male Common Merganser. His mate was not far behind but I was having trouble getting a decent pic because the breeze kept blowing the twigs between me and the birds!! This is the only photo that wasn't blurry.

On our January visit we didn't see a single Heron but this time they were much more visible. This one seemed unafraid of us and posed nicely for a photo.

There's enough afternoon left to go out and putter about in the garden. So off I go.

         Granny Marigold

Thrifty Tuesday

It isn't garage sale season yet but on Saturday there was one advertised so we went. There were not many items and at first I was disappointed but then I saw this quilt. I took one look at the delicate pink and lilac  colours and the cheerful birds appliqued and I wanted it. Being frugal I asked her if her price of ten dollars was firm or if she was open to offers. At first she said she wanted ten but then she changed her mind and I paid eight. It isn't a heavy quilt, more a coverlet. You can't really see it but there are two bands of purple rickrack  and those purple flowers are embroidered. I am thrilled with my lovely quilt.

In the picture below you can see the rickrack near the bottom. Next up is a paisley design then a purple polka dot then another floral followed by a tiny pink floral and that pink is what was used for the other side of the quilt.

Do you have a passion for pretty quilts? 

                             Granny Marigold

Sunny Sunday

What a lovely day we have had today,  It started with a walk in the park. On my way I passed this car for sale... anyone like to buy a '56 Chevy Bel-Air??  Just $23,000

           Of course I just had to take some pics of the trees....

         like these with the twisted branches reaching down into the water.

     Remember the .99 Primroses I bought about 3 weeks ago?

Well, they weren't looking so great any more so they are now planted out in the bed where later more Primroses will pop up. There's also a bunch of Daffodils that I dead headed and planted there.

    Here are the Primroses that I picked up at the grocery store today.Aren't they so cheery?

I planted a few early Violas in these tea cups. I wanted blue ones but there only seemed to be white, yellow and one solitary purple ( the purple is too big to be a Viola so it must be a Pansy).

I'll end this post with something I rarely post, that is, pictures of family . But this lovely February day deserves to be shown ( esp. to my family in Manitoba where the temps are minus 30 ).
This is my son, the one who was born on Valentine's Day 41 years ago, and his son, my little grandson (5).

Happy Sunday.  Please feel free to leave a comment.     Granny Marigold

Happy Valentine's Day

No matter how you choose to spend this day I hope it is a happy one.

    Granny Marigold

SWANS

What a lovely surprise we had this morning! There on the lake were three swans... two pure white and one grey. I think that the grey one was an immature... last year's chick  perhaps? 

I did not have my camera along so these pictures are not of "my" swans but rather are off the internet.

According to Wikipedia swans reach sexual maturity between 4 and 6 years of age but may form monogamous bonds  as early as 20 months. These bonds often last for life.

My bird book tells me that here in the Fraser Valley we can be visited by both the Trumpeter and the Tundra Swans. I have no idea which we saw but they were so special to see.

Have you had any unusual bird visitors this winter?

                        Granny Marigold

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!!          Granny Marigold

Thrifty Tuesday

My DH was meeting his brothers for coffee this morning and the place they were meeting was very close to the thrift store so I tagged along and had my own fun. I'm not sure that these finds were exactly thrifty because they were all unnecessary but I was treating myself to pretty, howbeit useless things!  And they were cheap to begin with and seniors get 30% off Tuesdays.

I love these hand painted wine glasses. I don't mind at all that they can't be put in the dishwasher. 
I had to buy all three because that's how they were priced 3 for 2.99 minus the discount. I love the polka-dotted base.

     Yes, I know, yet another teddy bear!  But she is extra cute, don't you think?  Fully jointed too.
 

Imagine finding a Fancy Nancy in French!   ( My grands are in French Immersion and I'm always on the look out for books they like in French).

My youngest son happened to come by when I was unpacking my treasures. He thought this piece was half chamber pot and half watering can. It is quite large. ( And what does he know about chamber pots anyway??)  Again, the only reason I got it was because I like it. My treat to myself!!
It also was very inexpensive. ( Who else would see any potential in it??)
 

I try not to bring anything home that I won't have a space for so to prove that this one has a spot I'm posting the pic of the cupboard it now resides in.