Happy Birthday Canada!!

 The weather here is cooperating although that does not seem to be the case in Ottawa. I guess we take what we get. Lots of BBQs and celebrations going on. We've postponed ours to Sunday since that suited more people. The sun will still be shining and we'll be thankful for the beautiful and peaceful country we live in.

Granny Marigold

Garlic Scapes and Roses

DH grows a patch of Garlic and last year he cut off the scapes and I looked up how to prepare them. Apparently I should sautee them, which I did. We weren't impressed,  so this year we decided to try different ways to eat them. I made a pot of lentil soup and threw some chopped up scapes in it. They hold their shape ( looking like cut up green beans) and made the soup extra tasty. So we are going to cut these up and freeze them for future use.

About 30 years ago we planted a Queen Elizabeth Tea Rose in our front flowerbed. Every year it got Black Spot and lost all its leaves. It did continue to bloom though so we moved it way back in the back area where the compost bins are thinking it probably wouldn't survive. Well, it did, and every year it provides us with these lovelies!  ( It still has next to no leaves though, and by now is probably 12 feet tall. DH has a bit of a problem getting at the blooms!!)

 

We're having a second cooler day in a row. I got some baking done yesterday not knowing how long the cool would last. So today I think I'll deal with some housework.

Thanks for visiting,

          Granny Marigold

A Poem for Monday

The cure for exhaustion

Sometimes exhausted

with toil and endeavour,

I wish I could sleep

for ever and ever.

But then this reflection

my longing allays

I shall be doing it

one of these days

    
                                                                       Piet Hein

I'm not  having an exceptionally busy day, just a normal Monday.
Well, we did go picking strawberries again after breakfast, before it got too warm.  Made some jam, froze some berries, and sugared the rest for eating today and tomorrow. These berries are much softer and juicier than the last ones we got. This makes them more delicious but they won't keep more than two days in the fridge. 

So now lunch is done and my book is waiting to be read. Someone, I don't remember who, recommended it and I'm enjoying it so far
( I've read 112 pages  of 190 pages). The book is called Hannah Coulter and the author is Wendell Berry.

I hope you liked the poem. It seems  to me both humorous and serious at the same time.

Granny Marigold
 

Garage Sale Adventures

Well, maybe not exactly adventures. Nevertheless, it was a fun morning and we left with our list of gs. At the first one DH turned to me and asked What's that on your face? ( loaded question). Turned out that before we left I did a bit of deadheading in my Lily bed. I must have gotten pollen on my fingers then rubbed my face. If you've ever had that pollen on your hands or worse yet on your clothes, you know it's hard to get off. I finally gave up and hoped I wouldn't see anyone I knew.
Wouldn't you know... as we were about to drive off after visiting yet another GS,  Karen ( Wyndson Farms.. check out her blog) ran up and gave me the jigsaw puzzle that she kept for me and when you see the photo you'll understand why! Wasn't that sweet of her? I wonder did she notice the yellow streaks on my face?

I didn't find anything useful but I did get this pretty ornamental birdhouse that looks perfect in my sun room. ( I took this pic before I found the right spot for it).

And for some reason I wanted this tub. Here it sits in  my garden shed on the box that I keep potting soil in. I've seen these tubs used to hold rolled up towels in bathrooms but to do that one should really have towels all the same colour, not all different ones.

It's another very warm day here. Another couple of days before we go back to more normal temperatures. Although this year the weather hasn't been very "normal".  I'm hoping all this sunshine will ripen the raspberries. I've been looking forward to picking and eating my fill of them. Don't you think they taste best right off the bushes?  DH is not a big fan of raspberries but I intend to freeze them in small containers so I can make a raspberry sauce whenever I crave one.

Thanks for visiting,

         Granny Marigold

Summer Sunshine

Summer has arrived with a Bang! Today we reached 26C which is about 78F  but the forecast is for increasingly warm days and Sunday we are told we may reach mid thirties or over 90F. Too warm too suddenly. I noticed many of my new perennials wilting this afternoon so although watering in the middle of the day is not a great idea I did give them a little drink.
This morning I tried to turn the kitchen lights out then I realized they weren't on, it was sunshine that was flooding the room!!

A local Plant shop is closing down and everything is half price so of course I had to go buy something. I wanted some kind of fern that would flourish in the shade on the front landing. We went to look and found lovely little Japanese Painted ferns that looked very cute. Brought them home only to read ALL the info on the tag. Hmmm. They grow 3' tall.  They would completely hide the fountain by the front door.  Hopefully it takes them a few years to reach their full height.

Hopefully you're enjoying lovely summer weather too.

Thanks for visiting, Please leave a comment so I know you were here,


Granny Marigold

Wordless Wednesday

More Tea Cups

                    WARNING.... A LOT OF PICTURES OF TEA CUPS!!!

 If tea cups don't interest you please feel free to ignore this post!

We went to a couple of garage sales this morning and I was thrilled to find someone who was getting rid of many that she had collected through the years. She was charging a dollar each which is so
very reasonable that I chose 11.

These 4 were made by EB Foley China.   Elijah Brain took over Foley China in 1885 and together with his sons operated until 1967.

The pattern of these 4 is "Christmas Rose".
 

The set on the left is Royal Standard  and the lovely one with the dark red interior is a Royal Stafford.

                     Both the ones below are made by Paragon.

The one on the upper left is another EB Foley. Upper right made by Colclough (founded by Herbert Colclough in 1890. He was so dedicated to his china that he would often stay overnight  keeping an eye on his kiln ). In 1930 he was visited by King George V  and Queen Mary who gave Mr. Colclough  Royal license to also produce Royal Vale china.
The bottom cup and saucer is simply called Bell and the pattern is Lady Alexandra Rose.

You might ask where I have room for more tea cups. I asked DH to remove the doors of this cabinet in the kitchen. The hinges remain just in case I want to replace them in the future.

 I'm sure I've posted pics of these cupboards but any new followers wouldn't have seen them.

This shelf is over the opening of  the doorway from the kitchen/dining room to the sun room.

                              A small cupboard in the living room.

These photos are a record of some of my collection for my own future reference. 

I hope I haven't bored anyone to tears. 

Thanks for visiting today,

 Granny Marigold

In My Kitchen

We went strawberry picking first thing this morning. Came back with 2 pails full of not so great berries. We were disappointed because it seems the farmers are planting the kind of berries you buy in stores at this time of the year. The ones with very firm white middles. Oh well, they still look and taste fairly good.

DH helped me prepare the berries for freezing and also for a batch of jam. Normally I don't use pectin but I did for these jars. I used the kind where you choose whether or not to use sugar and if so, how much. The regular pectin asked for 7 cups of sugar to 4 cups of mashed berries. I used a cup and a half of sugar to 4 cups of berries and its plenty sweet enough. It also called for a cup of  juice, I used apple.

We're having some cool days so yesterday I baked raisin scones, cheese biscuits, and I tried a new recipe for a banana pie. It's one of the "impossible pie" recipes using Bisquick. I won't be making it again. I guess banana pie isn't our thing. Banana CREAM pie, now that's another matter!!

As usual no two scones or biscuits were the same size since I must confess I am more interested in speed than accuracy. The taste, however, is great so no one complains.
Oh yes, I also made some little French breads, just the right size for 2 people and a little guy that comes up almost every morning to ask if Granny has any homemade bread he can have for his school lunch. He doesn't even want butter on it. He might have peanut butter but kids aren't allowed to bring anything with peanuts to school any more.

So that's what's been happening in my kitchen yesterday and today. Now I think I deserve to sit and put my feet up and read.

Thanks for visiting. Please leave a comment.


Granny Marigold

Ryder Lake Ramble

Every year around this time the rural community of Ryder Lake has a garden tour. These places are all  acreages. You get a map and off you go trying to find the various places on narrow twisty roads
 ( did I mention that it's almost all on hillsides?)  It's definitely not for anyone prone to motion sickness.

We saw a lot of split rail fences which I find appealing. This place had a field of Irises.

         This Clematis- covered  opening led to a very large vegetable garden.

              More flowers...

             This place had goats. The one DH is petting was very pregnant.

            They also had a brown turkey gobbler. We had not seen a brown one before!.

Another place had miniature donkeys that the man told us live up to 80 years!  He said he had made provisions in his will for his donkeys since they would most probably outlive him. There were also  llamas but they were too far away for a good photo, Oh! I just spied one in the far right corner.

    Everywhere the Peonies were blooming!! I have a red one and a white but not this shade of pink!!

     Just past this flower bed the ground fell off sharply. It was a long way down.

             We saw old houses...

       ......  and new ones built to look old-fashioned. I fell in love with this one.

This house blended into its surroundings very well. Just look at that rock fence/wall that went up the drive and circled around in front of the house!

I hope you enjoyed seeing these places. Sorry it was such a long post. Actually I took 48 pictures. Mercifully I chose only 13 for this post.
Happy beginning of another week!! 

                    Granny Marigold

Saturday's treasures

You know I can't resist tea cups especially when they're a dollar!! The first one was only .75 because the saucer doesn't match..

    This green one has a delicate painting of roses inside the cup....

and came with two saucers. The one on the right is the actual matching one but the left one is by far the prettier. 

       I have the perfect place to hang these pencil sketches of places in New Orleans.

This strange hangy thing I thought must be meant to be a birdhouse?  but then I realized it's meant to hold a candle or tea light. There is a wire "lifter" inside. In the next photo you can see the other side .
I'll hang it on the porch.

 Last but not least I bought a doll because I loved her clothes that now are on this Teddy bear.  I have a friend who has a little great granddaughter and she may want the doll ( that looks a little like an Anne of GG with long braids) and this friend sews very well so she could make a wardrobe for the doll. If she doesn't want it it  will go to the thrift store.
I think my Teddy looks perfectly adorable, don't you?

Thanks for putting up with my ramblings once again. I hope you're having a good day/weekend.

Granny Marigold

Wordless Wednesday

Thanks for visiting,


       Granny Marigold