December

Are you excited about this new month, or do you feel overwhelmed by your to-do list?
I hope you'll find time for things that make you happy.

I found these three little gnomes this week. They're actually candles but I don't plan on lighting them.

"To be kind to all, to like many and love a few, to be needed and wanted by those we love, is certainly the nearest we can come to happiness."    Mary Stuart

Thanks for visiting,


   Granny Marigold

Last of November

It's the last of November and that means it is our wedding anniversary.  55 years ago we were 2 very young, very sober-looking people. ( the Mennonite church didn't encourage frivolity. Also didn't allow photos to be taken during the ceremony hence the lack of others in this pic).

 This next picture is off the internet and it is so apt because my bunny loves cilantro ( and I detest it).
!

Here's the last of my November poems. To my surprise many of you have commented that you enjoyed them.
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PomPom, ( PomPom's Ponderings is a delightful blog. Check it out) suggested that , if we wanted to join in, we post every day in December. It's a great idea and I'll try to do so. I often wonder which is better, to post short posts often, or longer posts less often. What do you think?

Thanks for faithfully coming by and  leaving comments. I love reading them even though I don't often reply since I'm never sure if anyone actually comes back and checks.

                          Granny Marigold

Christmas Books

Around this time of the year I get out my children's Christmas books and read them to M ( if he sits still long enough), or we look at the pictures. A Porcupine in a Pine Tree has uniquely Canadian gifts such as Cariboo,  Royal Canadian Mounted Police,  Beavers, Stanley Cups, that sort of thing. It's one of M's books and I get to sing it with him ( he only chimes in for that last line about the porcupine).

Woodland Christmas is also a Twelve Days of Christmas one with a twist. A young bear goes courting and brings wonderful woodsy gifts to his love.   Each day's illustrations show his 'courting progress' and the book ends with the wedding. It's an adorable book.

Cats and Carols has wonderful cat paintings on one side of each page and on the other are the words of a carol embellished with decorative initial letters.  Each page has a different and lovely border.

I found this tin Advent 'calendar' at the thrift store. M and I couldn't quite figure out if we should start at 24 and work our way back or start at day one. We decided to start on the first. The 6 pointed star is magnetic and you move it over the numbers. The sheep are also magnetic. The whole thing has a sturdy piece attached to the back so it stands.

These two at ChrisMoose and his pal ChrisMouse.  For now they are hanging out on the couch.
They may yet move under the tree.

                         This nursery rhyme is less well known but nevertheless cute.

Thanks for coming by today,

      Granny Marigold

This and That

We went for a drive and stopped at a cute little shop. The fire was burning and it made the room so cozy on this chilly day. 

While we were driving we spotted a field with a flock of swans feeding. There was no way we could stop without creating a traffic problem so this photo is off the internet but  looks much like what we saw ( except there were probably close to 20 in that field).

When we came to this strange building going up we were able to stop and take pictures.
I have no idea what it is going to end up being.

 For those of you lucky enough to have backyard chickens I'm posting this cute nursery rhyme today.

Thanks for stopping by today.
           I hope you had a lovely weekend.

                    Granny Marigold

Craft Fair

                       Here are a few pictures taken at a craft fair we went to this morning.

                            This display had a lovely assortment of lavender products.

What attracted me were all the forks and spoons  with wire-wrapped beads.  There were many different sizes to choose from ranging from salad servers to these dainty ones. I imagine the fork to be for serving pickles (?) and the spoon for jam?  They look big on the pic but are actually about 5" long.

Once I got home I lined them up with various others I have and found that I have quite a collection :)

         I couldn't decide which of these nursery rhymes to post  today so  I'll include both.

I'm afraid that since I was born on a Wednesday I am apparently "full of woe". Well, there are days....   
What day were you born on?  ( Easy to find out if you google the date)

Thanks for coming by today.
Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends.


  Granny Marigold

The Art of Lennart Helje

Are you familiar with the Swedish painter and illustrator  Lennart Helje?
He paints Christmas elves and animals in snowy landscapes. He also paints
Tomten who are mythological creatures from Nordic folklore often associated
 with the winter solstice and the Christmas season.   I hope you enjoy looking at a
 few of his pieces today.

I have no illustration for today's poem but it seemed an appropriate selection.
I remember the teacher reading this poem to the class when I was in grade one. 
I've loved it ever since.

Poem

Up the airy mountain,
   Down the rushy glen,
We daren’t go a-hunting
   For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
   Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
   And white owl’s feather!

Down along the rocky shore
   Some make their home,
They live on crispy pancakes
   Of yellow tide-foam;
Some in the reeds
   Of the black mountain-lake,
With frogs for their watchdogs,
   All night awake. 

There are more verses to this poem if you're interested. These are the only ones I'm familiar with.

Thanks for visiting today,


Granny M.

Thrifty Finds

This week's treasures include this bed topper which is 24 by 88 inches. Good thing there was a note attached to it saying what it was because I wasn't sure. In winter I keep a warm quilt folded at the foot of the bed but this will be ideal for summer when no quilt is needed. I love the fabric.  This gem cost me two dollars!

                If the bottom seam had been covered it would have been reversible. Too bad.

                             Little plates were marked down to .50.There were 2 of these.

The cup and saucer are E.B. Foley , the plates are Royal Albert "Primulette". There were 6 of those marked down from five dollars to .50.

                                  My nursery rhyme today is The Three Little Kittens.

Thanks for stopping by today,  Please feel free to leave a comment so I know you came by.


     Granny M.

Books

Ellabie's comment jogged my memory and I went looking for my collection of fairy books some of which I have posted today.  The Fairyopolis is an amazing album which I found described on Amazon like this:  Learn what really happened that magical summer when Cicely Mary Barker discovered the secret world of the flower fairies.

                                        Another of C.M. Barker's books

.                                   ..and yet more!

             Here's a book I found at a thrift store last week and have begun to read.

And another found the same day. I have one of Jill Walker's pictures that I've had for a few years. I saw it in the thrift store ( where else!!) priced at $7.50 and I didn't buy it. Went home and regretted it all week. The next week I went back and promised myself this time I would buy it IF it was still there. Not only was it, but it was half price.  I still think I like my picture best of all her art.

I don't know if you can make out the words. It says Asylum for aged destitute and infirm females.

                        Can't finish without a little nursery rhyme.  Remember this one?

                                                     Thanks for visiting today,

                                                              Granny M.