Last Day of July

Saying Goodbye to this hot dry month and wondering if August will be any different.

I took down my calendar to change the page and realized I had not read the little blurb on the bottom of the July page. I'll share it with you:

Make room in your garden for a wild corner.
In it plant buddleia, lady's smock, clover, mint and marjoram, to provide nectar for butterflies.
Grow clumps of nettles, honesty and tall meadow grasses for caterpillar food plants and provide tangles of ivy and piles of stones for hibernation and shelter from the wind.

I have a wild area in the far back  corner where the compost bins are and I'd show it to you  but apparently I cannot insert any pictures today. I have an idea that something needs fixing on my computer.

Thanks for visiting today. I'll see if my son can figure out what's going on with my computer.

      Granny Marigold

This and That

One of the oddest things to get at a garage sale? Free flowers left over from someone's wedding!!

          This bunch of Lavender is NOT from a garage sale; it's from my front garden.

 I have volunteer Dill and Summer Savory growing in different spots throughout my flowerbeds.
I brought some in and froze some of the Dill  and used some to make Borscht.
I use the Savory in green bean soup. That will be on the menu this week because the beans are in full production.

It's been very dry and hot and is forecast to be even hotter this week. This picture is from my nephew's yard. I've had a snake drink from my birdbath but never a thirsty deer!!

Thanks for visiting,


      Granny Marigold

Beatrix Potter and Cherry Pie

When I visited Susan Branch's blog today I learned that July 28 is ( or should that be would have been) Beatrix Potter's 151st  birthday. She mentioned this little journal which  is almost a scrapbook and wasn't really put together by BP but nevertheless sounds quite delightful. So in honour of her birthday I ordered my own copy. It's a used copy but apparently in very good shape, coming from the UK and will be here next month hopefully for my own birthday.

My DH came home with more cherries again today. 20 pounds to be exact. He made the pie dough and even pitted the cherries. All I had to do was put it all together!  We had a slightly cooler day today so using the oven wasn't going to make the kitchen too uncomfortable.
The rest of the cherries will be frozen for future pies or jam.

That's it for today. It's late and my eyes are falling shut so I better get to bed.

Thanks for popping by.

         Granny Marigold

Rattlesnake Beans

Last school year our grandson and his grade 2 classmates sowed Rattlesnake beans in small clear plastic cups. Presumable so they could watch the roots growing. In due time he brought his little bean home and he and Grandad transplanted it on the bean support where the other pole beans were sowed. From the start it grew vigorously; here it has reached the top of the 8' support while the regular ones grew a lot less quickly. ( This was taken a couple of weeks ago and the others have grown a lot but not nearly to the height of the Rattlesnake bean which has now begun to hang down so I'd say they grow about 10 feet high).

This was the very first picking of this interesting looking bean. I believe it is an Heirloom seed. We plan on letting some of the pods mature and keep seeds for next year.
The beans are as tender and tasty as any we've ever had.

Here's one picking of Sugar Peas. They keep hiding amid the foliage and getting too big to eat so Bracken gets to eat those. I seem to be the only one in our household that eats these raw ( except for Bracken),  DH eats them in stir fries. And that tiny tomato was the very first of its kind. I hope we get some ripe full sized ones soon.

Thanks for visiting,

      Granny Marigold

Hummingbirds

These days we eat our meals on the porch and for entertainment we watch the birds that come to the bird bath or the antics of the Hummingbirds. There are at least 5 maybe 6 we can't be sure because they are in constant motion. The pictures below are off the internet. There is no way I could get a decent photo with my point and shoot camera!
I believe these images are of male and female Rufous,; we have them and also the Annas here.

 They seem to like the Butterfly bush and spend a lot of time sipping from those tiny flowerettes that form the drooping sprays. The 2 or 3 that we think are this year's young ones play wild games of chasing each other. No wonder they have to spend so much time eating, they use up energy as fast as they take it in.

       Another big favourite is the Montbretia or Crocosmia. As I was watering earlier a Hummingbird came to investigate the stream of water coming from the hose ( I was making the water arch in the air to reach farther ).  It came closer and closer to me until I actually feared for my eyes. That long beak looked like it could do damage. ( DH reminded me that I had my glasses on so I didn't need to be worried). They certainly don't seem to be afraid of us!

The Hummingbird incident was definitely the high point of my day. No doubt I'll be out tomorrow evening watering and hopefullyhave another close encounter.
Happy new week!!


Granny Marigold

Rain

We've had some much needed rain. Not really enough to soak the thirsty ground but enough to make the mop-head Hydrangeas droop. The first picture is before the rain and the second shows them hanging their heads.  From previous experience I know they won't be able to lift them Incidentally, there is a framework ( old black tubular futon backs) pushed against them which by now you can't see but which kept them off the ground at least.

 The rest of the pictures I took of the front yard mostly so I'll remember next year what bloomed when etc. but I thought I'd include them because otherwise this might be a very short post.

As you can see, the Endless Summer Hydrangea didn't suffer as much as the others.

I've noticed that many bloggers, being busy with summertime activities, are posting less often. I thought I'd TRY to blog every second day. I'll see how that goes.

Thanks for visiting!!

Granny Marigold

More Tea Cups??

Probably the last thing you want to read about on my blog is yet more tea cups but what can I do? I keep finding them ( or I'm given them as the case was with the Sweet Violet set).
These 3 lovelies are the latest additions. The one on the left I got at a garage sale for 2 dollars. The other two were found at a thrift store and cost me 3 dollars for both.

My favourite of the three is this one made in Galway and the pattern is Royal Tara Tara Brooch. I googled it and  learned that the Tara Brooch is a Celtic brooch made in 650 to 750 AD. It was found in Ireland in 1850 and was one of the artifacts that fueled the Celtic Revival in the mid 19th century.
It is considered one of Ireland's great national treasures. On the off chance that you want to find out more you can search for The Legend of the Tara Brooch.

 

This tea cup has no legend or fame surrounding it but it's pretty and I like it. It has the words Royal Stuart, Spencer Stevenson, England  written underneath both cup and saucer.

The last one is a Queen Anne Bone China, made in England.  It has the main bunch of flowers inside the cup and also on the saucer.

Thanks for visiting and sharing my happiness as I keep collecting beautiful things. I'll try to find things other than tea cups but I can't guarantee anything!

Granny Marigold

Sweet Vio;ets

As fond as I am about garden violets this post is about the Royal Albert china pattern "Sweet Violets".  I had a tea cup, saucer, and plate in this pattern and have often looked for more pieces at garage sales and thrift stores with no luck. Last week my son, the one who manages the apartment/townhouse complex, was offered 7 coffee cups, 9 tea cups ( no saucers) and a small dish in this most lovely pattern by an older resident who didn't want anything for them just wanted to get rid of them. He brought home one coffee cup and one tea cup to ask me if I was interested!  Well, it was my time to do a happy dance! 

I really had no idea where I was going to put them until we went to a gs on Saturday and I bought this picnic basket ( I left the plastic dishes that were in it so the seller let me have the basket for half price) I cut some of the leather "belts" off but left the 4 that now hold 4 of the coffee cups.
Still, I had to find a place for the basket so some reorganizing was necessary. Half a dozen Teddy bears were moved and now the basket sits on the bottom shelf of my baker's rack in the sun room.

Miniatures, teddy bears and dishes... just a few of my many collections. One of these days I truly am going to run out of space. In the meantime I'm enjoying it all.

Thanks for visiting... if you leave a comment I'll know you came by.


                            Granny Marigold

Flowers and Fondue

                        The Hollyhocks are blooming!!

                            And the Daisies 

                Even the Dahlias are finally beginning to bloom.
 

 This morning the grands asked if we could have a tea party like we always used to have. What could I say?
A few months ago I picked up a small fondue set for a dollar at the thrift store but we hadn't tried it out yet. So while they brought many of their stuffed animals up and arranged them on the table I melted chocolate and cut up strawberries and bread to dip. I am so aware that this stage will pass and tea parties will be a thing of the past so I treasure these times with these last 2 grands.

Since I can't show you my grands I'll show you some of the other invited guests.

          I wonder if Eeyore enjoyed the party or if he was his usual       morose self? He didn't say a word so we hope he was glad he was chosen to join in.
 

Thanks for visiting today. Please leave a comment so I know you came by!



Granny Marigold

This and That (again)

We went blueberry picking this morning, first but definitely not the only time we'll go this summer. The berries are lovely and the price is right...a dollar a pound. Today we picked 17.5 pounds.

The dry sunshiny weather has been great for berries but not for my Hydrangeas. The ones along the front fence are doing okay with a bit of watering ( sorry about the hose and also the garden waste can that I should have moved out of the picture) but my poor Endless Summer is planted where the drainage is too good and she keeps getting all wilted.

     So she has to suffer the indignity of sheets draped over her pretty blooms!

Once again blogger won't let me put my pics where I want them but in the above photo you can see a strange mutation on one of my  Lady's Mantle ( Alchemilla Mollis).Two leaves have developed differently  from the rest.They are not even both the same. Has anyone else had this happen? I find it kind of pretty.

Now I must go wash more berries and get them ready for the freezer.

Have a great week!!

Granny Marigold

Thrifty finds

I found these pretty pillow shams at the thrift store and loved the pattern so much that I had to put them into my basket. They have that old faded look but I doubt they really are old.

           Even the fabric on the back side makes me happy just looking at it.

 Although I have a clothesline it is in the shade most of the day so for a few  items I use my little clothes horse.

Since I don't think I'll use the pillow shams for their actual use I thought I'd use one as a table topper.
I like the effect. The Sweet Peas are from my garden. The pink ones are from my perennial vines and the white ones are some  annual ones that I sowed this year.

The one other thing I found at the thrift store was another apron for what seems to be becoming another of my collections. The lilac gingham is adorable and just look at the cross stitching someone has done. In the next picture you can see it better.

It's a beautiful sunny day and  I think I'm about ready to go sit on the porch.

Thanks for visiting. Please leave a comment however short, just so I know you came by.


        Granny Marigold

Raspberries and More

             We went raspberry picking for a second time this morning.....

....and again I ate almost as many as I put in my pail......My computer is acting up and is decided exactly where I can and can't place text so this will be a bit strange,

 The other pictures are of Water Cress that I got off the internet since the pictures I took of mine are not nearly as clear. I have never grown Water Cress before and haven't even tasted it before. I find it reminds me of the peppery taste of Nasturtium flowers. Anyway, I'm looking for suggestions how I might use it ( besides in fancy sandwiches).

Aha! Here my computer allows me to type. Maybe the heat has gotten to it.

My Basil, which has been on the sun room window sill until now is ready to be transplanted into bigger pots and left outside. It has done well. I hope it keeps on doing well until tomato season.

I think it's time to sit in the shade with a fan blowing gently on me and I'll continue reading my Susan Branch book. I am enjoying it even more than the first 2 in this "trilogy".

Be back soon,

              Granny Marigold

This and That

A lovely sunshiny day. I noticed a butterfly flitting from one flower to another but staying in the same area so I ran in to get my camera. I managed to get a couple of shots before it flew away. Do you see it just to the right of the middle Sweet William?

                     Here it is a bit higher up. It's hard to see it. Maybe it is a Western Tiger Tail??

                            Took this picture on our morning walk.

On our way home from our walk we stopped at a You Pick Raspberries sign. They were also getting ready to use this picker for the berries. I'm sure its faster but I prefer to pick my own.

 We picked a pail full in no time. Too bad we had only had one pail. We had not thought we'd end up picking so we weren't prepared. I ate so many berries right off the bushes. By the time we got home it was lunchtime but all we felt like having was a bowl of ice cream to top off the berries we'd eaten.

In the afternoon our family came over for our annual BBQ. Here I am with my second oldest daughter and her son the older of my two grandsons.

We had a great time of eating and talking and my youngest son finished off our time together by singing for us. He's a very good guitar player ( and singer).

That's my post for this second day of July. Summer is officially in full swing now. Kids are out of school and berries are ripening in the glorious sunshine. I hope you're enjoying every day!

Thanks for visiting,

       Granny M.