Good-bye to some old trees

I've shared before how our city lot was surrounded by very tall evergreens that shaded our back yard and actually hung over our house filling the gutters with debris and making a lot of mess. ( In the picture below that's our house on the left).  Well, the neighbour decided to have those trees cut down and that's what is happening today. We don't know if all the trees are going or not. We sat outside with our grandson watching for a long time this morning ( it's a slow job but I can see that a lot of care has to be taken to avoid an accident.)  At one point DH remarked how intriguing it was to watch. M piped up "yes, grandad, it's in-tree-ging."

                                I managed to take a picture just as this log was falling.

One final photo NOT tree related. This chenille bunny was one of my little treasures that I found at a garage sale yesterday. Isn't she cute?

Thanks for visiting,


      Granny Marigold

A Very Short Post

I just wanted to remind any Beatrix Potter fans that today, July 28 is her birthday!

My Saucer Collection

If you've been reading my blog for a while you know about me and my collections.
One of the things I look for are pretty saucers and by now I have quite a few.
A year or so ago we got rid of our dishwasher ( that didn't do a good job) and my DH built this cupboard which fits into that space.  In the top drawer DH put an old dishwasher rack 
and I found it to be the perfect spot to keep my saucers. I can see them all at a glance and choose which one I want to use for my snack. 

Another thing I find hard to resist are little drawers. Some are from old sewing machines, others I don't know where I've picked them up.

Lately I've found quite a few lovely saucers but that top drawer was full so I asked DH if he would cut a piece of another dishwasher rack to fit the bottom of this drawer.

                               Works perfectly!

The drawer sits beside the middle-sized plates in the holder that was also made by my talented hubby.
I like to have pretty things out where I can see and enjoy them.
Here's a peek at how they look in my kitchen.

Thanks for visiting,

I love to read your comments so don't be shy.


Granny M.

This and That

On my recent trip to the thrift store I picked up these three books. Since I enjoyed Rick Warren's book  The Purpose Driven Life   I am looking forward to reading this book as well. The other two will be, I think, fast reads.

The Giver is a book I read years ago and now I found it in  the little free library in the park. I'm enjoying reading it for the second time.  Lois Lowry is such an excellent author  of young adult books.

On a totally different subject my flowers are thriving in spite of the heat At least the Rudbeckias and Coneflowers are. So much so that the path through that area is temporarily blocked.
I make sure the less drought resistant ones get enough water to keep them alive but these here are thriving with a minimum of care.

I thought I'd give a brief reply to some questions asked in the comment section. I'm never sure if people go back to check for answers or not, so....

About the low prices on the fruit we get we either pick our own or go to the East Indian fruit markets where the prices are lower than regular stores. I believe they can sell it cheaper because they get the fruit from family-owned orchards in the Okanagan.

We actually have a big old chest type  freezer in the house and another one outside which we share with our son and DIL.  We use a lot of fruit in jam and winter desserts. Tonight, for instance,  I plan on making a Dutch Baby again ( loved it SO much last week)  and piling it high with Blueberries when it's done. That gives you a good idea of what we use fruit for.

That about concludes what I have to say. It's another extremely hot day here and no let-up until AFTER the weekend.

Thanks for visiting,

         Granny Marigold

Tea Cup Tuesday...and more

My latest tea cup is another pretty one, found at the thrift store this morning. For those who are interested I've also shown the bottom of the saucer.

First thing after breakfast we went to pick blueberries. It was still pleasantly cool but an hour later when we were done picking it was getting very hot again. We picked 15 pounds ( 1.10 a lb)
The very hot weather is bringing the blueberry season to a  quick end. Usually it lasts into August.

Remember I noticed my succulents were getting too much sun?  My makeshift shade is hardly elegant but it will have to do.I thought I had a roll of shade cloth I could use but turns out I have a roll of screen.

Thanks for visiting,  please come again.

          Granny Marigold


   

This and That

Are you ready for the new week?  It continues to be very hot and dry here.  I think it's the first time my succulents can't stand the intense heat and are getting bleached out. After looking this up on the internet I learned that succulents actually prefer morning sun with shade from the hot afternoon sun especially if they are grown in pots. I found I had some shade cloth which I will drape over them in the afternoons since moving some 20 heavy pots is not something I want to do.

On a brighter note it is fruit season and we are taking advantage of all the delicious fresh fruit available. We have put lots of cherries in the freezer and eaten so many. But, when we saw that a local fruit market was selling them for a dollar a pound we went to buy another 10 pounds. I think there must have been a bumper crop this year.

We went to pick some Seckel pears, a variety I had not heard of  but found out they are the smallest  kind of pear , also the sweetest. Since pears have to be picked before they ripen we have to wait a few days to find out if  we like them.

I'm sure my washer has finished its cycle and is ready for me to do another load.
Thanks for stopping by.  Please leave a word or two so I know you came by.

                   Granny Marigold

Found...

...by the side of the road.  STOP, is what I yelled. Poor long-suffering DH went to pick it up and put it in the back of the truck.

All I had to do was wipe off some cobwebs and find a spot to place it.
I love finding this kind of treasure.

Lisa, you commented that one of the tea cup was one you liked but that you couldn't see it well on the picture.   There's a little story to this cup and saucer and I will explain.

At the garage sale there was nothing that I wanted and I just commented to the older woman ( whose gs it was),  there that what I was looking for was tea cups. Her eyes lit up and she practically grabbed my arm and took me into her basement where she had not one but TWO big boxes marked tea cups. She assured me that she really had to downsize and for some reason hadn't thought of putting her china out at the gs.
She started unwrapping all her cups and putting them on an upside down cardboard box  The saucers were also unwrapped. but by this time there was hardly a spot to put them. (This was only box #1)
 She had about 18 cups and saucers unwrapped by then and I assured her I didn't need for her to unwrap all those in box #2. I thought of all the work she'd done painstakingly wrapping them and could not see her having to do yet more. Besides, by this time DH was getting tired of waiting!! I chose the ones I wanted and somehow I picked up a cup and a saucer that didn't match. It was so crowded on that makeshift 'table' that it's probably not surprising that it happened. Anyway, she now has a cup and saucer set that is unmatched, just like mine. I'm going to watch to see if another gs will be at that address and I will take my set and see if I can fix the mistake ( and buy any more pretty ones she might want to sell).

                   This is the unmatched set. It looks so obvious to me now. When the cup is actually on the saucer they look more like a set.

We're having a cooler day at last. I dug out and pulled up all the California Poppies that were done and looking messy. Hoed some weeds and generally tidied up. Now the rest of the day is mine to relax and finish my library book. I hope your day is going along great as well.

Thanks for stopping by ,

Granny Marigold

Hot Days

Yes, we're having very hot weather. As you can see the temperature outside was 37C which would be  between 98 and 99 F. I believe.  My plants all wilted and although I did go out to do some watering later in the evening, there's no way I could possibly water everything.
The temperature inside being 27 it wasn't so pleasant either. We have a window -type A/C and lots of fans to help us through this heat wave.

Before the day got so hot we went to a nearby garage sale where I was fortunate to find many many fine bone china tea cups. It was hard to choose but I finally settled on 11 of them. I won't bore you too much with pictures; just a wee bit.

I just love this gorgeous Autumn Leaves tea cup made by Royal Chelsea. The pattern is very textured.

            And this beauty has the words Malmaison, Bavaria written underneath.

This one just says Made in Japan.  I'm not sure how to describe the ovals on both the cups and the saucers. They're concave I guess. The inside of the cup looks like mother-of-pearl.

This little Royal Albert demi-tasse  says Celebration 1970 underneath.

Thanks for bearing with me while I go on and on about my tea cups.
Thanks also for all of you who wished me well/prayed for me when I had my cataract surgery.
I am anything but brave when it comes to medical procedures and the idea of someone poking around in my eyeball really upset me.  I'm on the mend now but the problem is my glasses make me dizzy. I guess until the second eye is done and healed I have to manage with these because there's no use getting new glasses until both eyes are fully healed.



                           Granny Marigold

Blueberries

            My DH brought home a 20 lb box of Blueberries. They are so tasty!!

For supper I made a Dutch Baby, which is something like a giant popover.
I looked up different recipes but most were almost the same, so if you wanted to try making one it's very easy to do. One Dutch Baby makes enough for 2 people

I made a lovely Blueberry sauce to pour over. It is definitely something I will make again.

We also filled 8 large size Ziplock bags to freeze for winter enjoyment.

I hope you have a lovely weekend.

Thanks for popping by,


Granny Marigold

Lilies

                                            Lilies in a vase....

                                                ...or outside...

                                       Some of my favourite Daylilies

Can you tell I'm trying desperately to think of something to post?   It's a very different week for me because I had my  cataract surgery and now I'm not supposed to bend down or do anything that involves lifting much. It's frustrating but I'm sure this too shall pass.  I was quite anxious about having the surgery but I'm glad to know it's nothing to fear because in a couple of months I'll have the other eye done. Thanks to those who said a little prayer for me.

                  Granny Marigold

Short Road Trip

My DH wanted to go on a long drive so we chose as our destination the Okanagan , an area of B.C. known for its fruit orchards ( and vineyards). We had lovely weather and the first day wasn't too warm

 We enjoyed  the scenery and once we were off the main road we saw some wildlife.
Numerous deer, 2 Moose, several Loons and a few other birds which we don't often see around home..

We were able to pick our own cherries, something my DH loves to do!!
That second day was very much warmer than the previous!! Good thing we were shaded by the trees as we picked.

      We bought a box of Apricots which were almost the size of Peaches!!

              The fruit stands with their lovely produce look so attractive

We stayed in a campground that was right by a river. Sat outside until the first stars were visible. Watched the Nighthawks, birds that are most active at dusk and just before sunrise. They swoop and glide as they catch insects. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared they were gone.

Now we're back home and trying to keep cool. It seems in the 2 days we were gone all my perennials drooped so I have lots of watering to do. Thanks for coming by,


Granny Marigold