Flowers and a mini pie

DH pulled the tired Sweet Peas off their trellis and brought the few good ones in. I made a tiny bouquet. The white ones are annual, the pink are perennial. The pink ones of course didn't get pulled down.

The Morning Glories have taken over the trellis that the Clematis grows on. Now it's a jumble of blooms.

I was inspired by some garden tidying that Henny Penny posted about recently and cleared out a lot of self-seeded flowers in this front bed. We lifted the Iris and put mushroom compost under and around  then moved some Japanese Painted Ferns which hadn't done well in pots so now they are in the ground.  In the front corner I have some Primroses that will bloom next Spring.

We bought a few Prune Plums with the idea of eating them out-of-hand but they must have been picked too green because they didn't taste like much. I decided to make a very small rustic pie. Just big enough for the two of us.  Of course the juice ran out and the pan was a mess.

                 I moved it to a plate so I could soak the pan.

That was my not very exciting day. Still, it feels good to get something done on this almost coolish day! Tomorrow is forecast to be the same then September starts off with hot weather again.

Thanks for visiting,

                    Granny Marigold

This and That

As we enter the last week of August I must say I'm tired of the heat and the dryness of this summer. I'm ready for Autumn!

Granddaughter K. came by to cut my and DH's hair ( we are so fortunate to have our own personal hair stylist in the family). She brought me a belated birthday gift. I love the Farmer's Market suitcase but haven't found the right spot for it yet. Actually she also brought me an 'orphan' tea cup , Royal Albert pattern Val d'Or. My mom had at least one cup and saucer in that pattern and I've always thought it a very lovely pattern... plain white with gold trim.

We bought a small box of peaches and have been enjoying them immensely. The last ones needed taking care of today so I made Impossible Peach Pie using my homemade Bisquik. Actually I made 2 and still had more peaches which turned into exactly one quart jar of preserves.

Have a great week. I hope it's not too hot where you live.

Thanks for visiting,

             Granny Marigold

Birthday Flowers

              I was totally spoiled by my family today..

 By some stroke of good luck my BP journal was delivered  TODAY and was leaning against the front door where the UPS man left it ( since I wasn't home).   I have just had time to peek in it but I know I'm going to enjoy having my own copy. 

I have eaten too much cake and way too much ice cream. This granny is going to have to do some serious penance. It's healthy food for me and not too much of it either!!

Thanks for visiting,

      Granny Marigold

Books 'n Bears

I found these children's books at the thrift store. I bought the first two especially because of the illustrations. The Velveteen Rabbit I got because I love that story.

            This Foxwood book makes me think of the Brambley Hedge books.

I couldn't resist buying these bears. They looked at me and begged to come home with me. What could I do?

             When I spied this sweet little bear with all her bling I didn't hesitate for a minute!!
               She cost me all of one dollar!

I hope you're having a lovely weekend.

Thanks for popping by,


            Granny Marigold

Mostly about Peaches

On Sunday we picked up some peaches and by today it was time to use them. The jam is very pale; I added some grated ginger for an experiment. Hope we like it.

The rest of the peaches went into this crisp. I like to think crisps are very very healthy because they contain oatmeal. Right?

There's no doubt about green beans being healthy. These are ready for supper. DH picked up some corn so we'll enjoy that too!

And I stopped at the library to pick up my library book. I know I've read it before but I want to reread it and then maybe watch the movie again.  Good summertime reading.

Well, that's about all I did today.
         Thanks for visiting again.

                      Granny Marigold

Zinnias

I knew I should have taken a picture of my Zinnias last week. They were doing so well....until DH tripped and fell on them. Now about half are flattened. Too bad. Luckily he sustained only minor injuries when he fell.  So, this image is off the internet but looks exactly like my Zinnias did.

I hope your week is off to a great start!

           Granny Marigold

National Lefthanders Day

Did you know that today, August 13, is National Lefthanders Day?
My DH is a leftie as are 2 of my sons and a granddaughter.
Apparently 10% of the general population is (are) left handed.
Historically left handed people were considered inferior, with the use of the left hand being associated with witchcraft.

You may have known these bits of trivia but if not then you now do!
So do you have lefties in your family?

Thanks for reading this very short post!!

Granny Marigold   

Morning Glory and Gladiolas

My self-sown Morning Glories are growing on the ground, up onto the Hydrangeas that have flopped and even onto the hose and hose holder. I had a good shot of that but for some reason that particular photo will not upload. They're even growing on the trellis where I had them last year and where I was hoping they'd grow.

Last Spring I think it was when I bought a bag of Gladiola bulbs ( or maybe they're called tubers).
They had the fancy name of Callianthus Murielae  Acidanthera.
I planted them in a large pot sort of in the shade because the sunny spots were all taken. Consequently they leaned over and had to be tied up. Now I just cut them and brought them in so I can enjoy them from close-up.  They look quite different from 'normal' Glads.

It's Airshow weekend and extremely loud planes keep flying low over the house. Poor bunny is cowering in the corner of her sleeping house. We won't be done with the noise until Monday around noon when they all finally leave for home. On the plus side however it is cooler today and it is a relief.  Earlier I washed 22 tea cups. Ones that have no saucers and that I had on display.  I packed them away in the wicker picnic basket that I bought a few weeks ago. I think they'll stay in there until the New Year. Doesn't it seem strange to talk of the New Year in August!!!

Must go comfort poor bunny. Thanks for visiting. Please leave a comment. even a short word or two, just so I know you came by!

Granny Marigold

Cleaning tea cups

This morning granddaughter#1 came over and handed down 47 tea cups for me to wipe while she cleaned the shelves and then she put them all back. This first pic is dark but you can see the higher shelf with 17 tea cups. The side shelves each hold 15.
 K. is so sweet and helpful and is very much appreciated.

So can I call this the beginning of Fall cleaning?  Not that Spring cleaning got done . Anyway, that's about all I did so far today. Now I have my breadmaker going and I'm hoping to have raisin bread in the oven in a couple of hours. It's hot again but even when I don't use the oven it gets quite unbearable by late afternoon so why not bake!

Thanks for visiting,


       Granny Marigold

This past week in my kitchen

We picked up some very ripe apricots and peaches and made jam. The apricots add such a nice colour to the otherwise pale peaches.

The cookie pail in the freezer was empty so I made Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and while the oven was on I quickly made an Impossible Coconut pie. With this hot weather I've tried not to bake and heat up the kitchen too much

Dianna, on her blog ( Forgiven), made pickled beans this week and since I had quite a few beans that DH had picked I thought I'd make some too. I ran short of beans so I added some carrots to fill the jars. I hope they turn out nice and crisp and a bit on the spicy side. ( I added a clove of garlic and some hot pepper flakes as well as some dill to each jar).

On Sunday son#3 came over and he and DH went Blackberry picking at a place that our son knew about. They came home with quite a haul. The berries are very big and juicy this year which is a surprise since it has been so very dry.

                    Lastly I show you my lunch today. It was very tasty!!

That's it for today.Thanks for popping by,

              Granny Marigold

A Sunday Walk

I think the poor air quality due to all the wildfires has kept many people from walking in the park. We walked in spite of it, in the relative coolness of the morning.

This tree had a house suitable for Wood Ducks to nest in although I've never seen any of those in this area. Guess it could be for any large bird.

                  Lots of Bind weed, pretty but so very invasive.

As we were walking the part of the trail near some residential areas we saw Police had their yellow tape blocking a street. News van was there as well as the police. Came home and watched the news to learn that an 18 year old man was shot but not fatally. Just last Friday another 18 year old was shot and killed in the middle of the afternoon as he drove on a main street of town. Both young men were known to police so no doubt this will be gang-related. So much of that around the lower mainland. It's very sad.


Thanks for visiting,

        Granny Marigold

An unusual freebie

We stopped to look at an assortment of things beside the street with a FREE sign.Most of it was uninteresting but this contraption caught my eye. I have no idea what its purpose is but I see it as an unusual vase.
The glass part is quite heavy but the wire holds it securely. What do you think it might have been meant for?

                                              Granny Marigold

Paper Dolls

My computer problem apparently was only caused by a mouse that was not working right any more so son#2 recommended a good one on Amazon which I then ordered. I was a little short of the required $35 that would give me free shipping so I browsed to see what I might order. I found these adorable paper dolls. They are inspired by Cicely Mary Barker's flower fairies! I have several of CMB's little flower fairy books and am always on the look-out for others.
This cute book is published by Frederick Warne Publishing... the same publishers that have published Beatrix Potter's books. Isn't that great?
I'll show you a few of the inside pages. You'll notice that the outfits  are made so that they slip over the doll's head instead of just those finicky tabs that used to frustrate me so when I was a girl. Also, this gives the paper doll a back as well as a front of the outfit.

I don't know if I'll detach the dolls and their clothes just yet. I'm going to enjoy them as they are for now. Did you love paper dolls when you were a little girl?


Thanks for visiting my blog today,


       Granny Marigold

Smoky Thursday

Plant shops are starting to mark things down and now is the time to take advantage of the sales.
Of course that's exactly what I did. Daylilies, Asiatic Lilies, ornamental Peppers and a couple of Buddhist Pines.  The Peppers and Pines bring my houseplant count up to 30. Once I can't garden outside I can dote on these inside.

Btw, that black thing on the left is my grandson's rock polisher. He received it for his birthday last month and it came with some rocks that have been polishing for weeks now.

My garden shed has a new little cupboard.  I found it at a garage sale and couldn't resist it.

           Don't know yet what I'll keep in it.

Our wildfires continue to burn and fill the air with smoke that makes breathing hazardous. Here you see the haze hanging over town.

This is what our province looks like from a satellite. I hope we get rain soon but since none is forecast it may be a while before we get rid of the problem. Having said that, I'm so aware that what for us is a health hazard is for those that have been evacuated or worse, have lost their homes,, it's a much bigger problem.

 Thanks for coming by,

             Granny Marigold