Thrrifty buys

I'm not sure if buying things you didn't need even if you get them for very little, qualifies as thrifty, but I get a lot of pleasure out of my treats to myself.  These two tea cups were just a couple of dollars each,.  Don't you love my effort to make my photo look cute?

             This tea cup is made by Royal Grafton and the pattern is Rose Garden.
 

 This cutie is so different in colour, shape and size. The "gold" trim is obviously not gold at all. The words on the bottom are CC&T, made in China.  I like the triangular saucer and I have the perfect spot to display this one.

I couldn't resist adding this little Teddybear to my collection. Her plain grey dress and pretty cardigan make her look like a little schoolgirl.
 

The only practical thing I bought was this pair of slippers, Pink and ever-so-soft..... what's not to like?

Besides visiting thrift stores I have been trying to keep cool during the on-going heat wave. We have set so many new records for temperature and also low rainfall. No end is in sight.  We did go pick another 2 pails of blueberries.  The field opens at 8 and we were the second car there. Might as well take advantage of the cooler mornings. What are you keeping busy with?


        Granny Marigold

Hydrangeas

I am very fond of Hydrangeas but with the hot dry weather I'm having trouble keeping them from wilting. I water them just often enough and with JUST enough water to revive them overnight. Poor Hydrangeas do their best to bloom in spite of all.  These Annabelles are along the front fence. The whites are more vigorous than the pink and are crowding them; next Spring the white ones will have to be dug back a bit.

The Endless Summer is up against the house and in the shade most of the day. It has blooms in shades of pink and blue.

In the back of our lot, in the area we call the wild area are the old blue ones, the first we ever got. In this area are the composters and way in the corner the Pigeon's cage. I've mentioned this bird before. She was found on the parking lot at the Condo/Townhouse Complex my son manages. We think she must have hit a window and was stunned. Anyway, she is banded and tame enough for the little man to take out and "play" with then catch and put back in her cage. We had to clip her wings a bit when she started to fly over to the neighbours!

Here in another corner in front of the kids playhouse and DH's shop are 2 pink Hydrangeas. The one on the left is being covered with the Boston Ivy that covers the arbour . I must get in there with my cutters one of these days.  The blue garbage can serves as yet another water"barrel".

On a totally different subject...  we bought 18 pounds of lovely cherries this morning. Last year we drove to the Okanagan and picked over 50 lbs but it is even hotter there than here and we just couldn't face the drive up in this heat this year. We need more than this so if by chance the weather cools in the next while we'll still go. Otherwise I'll go back to the fruit & veg market and buy another box.
Yes, those three little jars are cherry jam.

I hope your weekend is turning out to be a good one. Thanks for popping by.

                      Granny Marigold

Random Things

My Butterfly bushes have mainly attracted Hummingbirds this year but we finally had a butterfly visit. A Red Admiral, if I'm correct. It didn't stay long but hopefully it will come back.

I love the huge pink blooms on the Butterfly bush and brought some in. They have a delicate scent and actually remind me a lot of Lilacs.

Something else that got brought in.... the first of the cucumbers off that little plant we bought a week or so ago. Also a nice red onion. Yummy salad makings.
 

Not much happening around here. It continues to be hot and there's a heat wave warning for the upcoming weekend. I am trying to water only the 'neediest' plants and will have to watch carefully over the next days. Otherwise it is a good thing to stay in the shade!!

Have a great weekend!

SUMMER

Hummingbirds

Once again we had a lovely sunshiny day. Not as hot as it has been but still warm.  Around suppertime my DIL called me outside to watch the antics of the Hummingbirds. There were three of them zooming around. They seem to like the Butterfly bushes the best. My DIL took these pics with her phone!!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing these adorable little guys. I have no way of knowing if we get the same ones every year but it may be that they know a good thing when they find it. 

Have a wonderful, restful Sunday. ( Father's Day here in Canada).

         Granny M.

Flowers on Friday

A quick visit to the nursery this morning where the 11" mixed planters were on sale. It was hard to choose but I did get these two. I have no idea what half the different flowers are but I just enjoy them.

 DH was intrigued by this cucumber plant ( which has a number of small cukes hanging down , as you can see). It will be interesting to see how big they'll get and whether they'll be tasty.

This cucumber/gourd volunteer has lovely leaves the likes of which I've not seen before. Another mystery plant.

On the way back from the plant shop we stopped at a roadside stand and bought blueberries. 20 pounds for $30.  Now I'm off to wash and freeze them.  This early variety is not as sweet as the later ones but still very good tasting. I like that the blueberry season is long because of the different kinds.

Thanks for visiting.       Granny Marigold

From This to That

'This' being my cast and 'that' being my new contraption. Just got it this morning and it is a huge improvement. I do have to wear it except for showering ( even for night)  but that's okay. 

I haven't accomplished much so far today and as you can see in the above pic it is a lovely day. I did do some watering and I cut one stalk of a Lily to bring in. Each stalk has so many buds and blooms!!
 

I hope your day is going along nicely. 

                                     GRANNY MARIGOLD

This and That

I'm still having issues with my computer and this is my third attempt at a post so I hope this will work. What's happening is that for no known reason suddenly my screen goes blank and I lose whatever was on it. My son assures me it is not a virus. In fact, when he stood here and watched me just now of course nothing bad happened. Don't you hate it when that happens?

Anyway, I wanted to show my lovely Japanese Iris, the one I bought a couple of weeks ago. The other one is similar but blue where this one is purple.

In my kitchen...   local strawberries are available now and they're so sweet.  Maybe a little on the small side but it has been very dry so that may be the reason.

This is actually a glass paper weight. Just bought it today at the thrift store and I love it.

Also bought this simple blouse which I can only hope fits because there was no way I could try it on with my arm in a cast. But it does look nice and roomy.

         The red T shirt was too pretty to leave there. Only cost me a dollar.

I hope your week is off to a good start. Hard to believe we're in the second half of June already. Teachers and students alike are counting the days now. Doesn't make as much difference to those of us that are retired.  I'm trying to spend as much time outside as I can, after all, all winter I wait for the sunshine and warm weather.   


Thanks for visiting.              Granny Marigold

Lady's Mantle

Two years ago I had more or less decided I would get rid of all my Lady's Mantle because of its tendency to self seed everywhere. I'm glad I didn't because it finally occurred to me that if I cut the flowers off BEFORE they could go to seed I could appreciate the soft, fuzzy leaves ( and their loveliness when  they hold drops of  water after it rains). If one or two volunteers do pop up somewhere I can always use them to fill some empty spot.  Or pot.

        Those are California Poppies to the right of the picture... another self-seeder.

      Here is the bouquet I brought in after I cut the " frothy sprays of dainty yellow flowers". 
 

Like Lady's Mantle Coleus also like being in a shady spot. In the past I have not had very good luck growing Coleus but so far these are doing fine.

And another shade lover is the Astilbe. For some reason the ones in my front yard are doing great and the ones in the back are a third as big and so far, no blooms.

This Coreopsis is a volunteer, growing in gravel, and looking very sturdy and full of blooms. Definitely NOT a shade lover though.

Have a great weekend !

                   Granny Marigold

My Morning Walk

Another gorgeous sunny morning. The flowers in the park are at their best now. Daylilies, Lavender, Roses,  some kind of grass is also in there.

                        

                

                             Bindweed ( wild Morning Glory) is lovely but so very invasive!

           Water Lilies threaten to clog the lake every year. There used to be a sort of floating harvester with big cutting blades that would sever the plants deep under the water.  Well, not really deep because the lake isn't very deep. But so far this year no steps have been taken to get rid of these.

As I walked along I came upon this turtle wandering around no doubt looking for a patch of sand where she could lay her eggs.  She was quite a distance from the water and still hadn't found any ( nor was there any to find. I wonder what she finally did?)

I made Potato soup for supper as well as fresh bread and Banana Loaf with choc chips for dessert.  My grandson ate so much his tummy hurt! 
Tomorrow the forecast is for slightly less warm temperatures so I'm planning on a few projects that I've put off due to the heat.       Thanks for visiting.    Granny Marigold