Another collection and some Seeds

This week I decided it was time to pick up all the tiny shoes and purses that I have collected, dust them, wash and iron the cutwork doily (made by an aunt now long gone) and put everything back again.   I don't do this job very often I guess because it's so fiddly.
Oh yes, there are some brooches on that dresser as well. I love seeing them as I walk by.

I picked up some Bush Bean seeds at Walmart then when I was at the Dollar store I saw their seeds were 4 for a dollar.  I got a package of lettuce seeds and 3 of flowers. I wonder if the seeds from the Dollar store are in any way inferior to those in other stores ( that cost a lot more).  I'll sow them once  the soil has warmed up and see how well they grow.

Thanks for coming by. I hope you have a pleasant Sunday.

Granny M

Tuesday's Thrifty Treasures

Thank you for your kind words re my falling down. I'm much better and being ever so careful ( until the next time). 

I went to the thrift store this morning and found a few nice things. This tea cup and saucer will join my small collection of  made-in-Japan tea cups. I love how the insides of the cups are mother-of-pearl.  I especially like the open piecework around the saucer on this one.

This pretty tea pot was only four dollars and will go on my tea pot display out on the porch.

Because this pot had no lid it was marked down to a dollar. I'm planning on using it in my garden shed to hold tools.

Once I have some potted plants outside I may stick some of these pretty blue silk flowers around to brighten things up.

This Autumn-leaf platter was a treasure from a few weeks ago but I'm not sure I ever posted a picture of it. After I brought it home it went right into the tub marked Autumn Decorations.

I hope you enjoyed having a peek at my treasures.

Thanks for your visit today!

Granny Marigold

My Day ( Yesterday)

                            I did some baking yesterday....

        ...and some puttering outside.    Mainly admiring the early Crocuses.

                 
             I did some Spring/Easter decorating...

 But the one thing I did yesterday there are no pictures of. I tripped on the porch,  landing on the hard slate floor.  I am bruised and limping but fortunately no bones broken. It could have been a lot worse.

Thanks for dropping by,

Granny Marigold

My Morning Walk

I took my camera with me and took some pictures as I walked around the lake. Birds were singing and lots of people were out walking their dogs or with children in tow ( it's spring break).

I think these are Scaups . Probably hanging around and enjoying the sunshine before heading further North.

Red-Winged Blackbirds nest in these reeds. That's female sitting up in that tree. She scolded me as I walked past. Some years there have been extremely aggressive Blackbirds dive-bombing people as they dared walk the boardwalk. I actually resorted to carrying an umbrella to avoid being hit that year.

Yesterday Abbotsford was the hot-spot of the entire country. We have been setting new records these past 4 days. Reached 24 C yesterday which is 75F. Needless to say we've been doing some much needed tidying up outside.

Thanks for visiting today,

Granny M.

Stickers

We had a lovely warm Spring day and my face is very rosy from the sunshine. Of course I forgot all about wearing a hat.  I did have fun puttering away in the back yard where I've stacked all kinds of things through the cold months. Things that need to be sorted out now. There is exactly one small patch of ice left. By tomorrow I think it will have melted.

We made a quick visit to the dollar store ( don't you love them?). I went for one item which was a package of foam brushes.

Then I saw there were new stickers. I like stickers almost as much as I like new notebooks and journals. Aren't they pretty?

We're invited out this evening and with all the fresh aair and exercise I got today I ssuspect I'll be yawning by 8 o'clock.

I hope you had a wonderful day too.

Thanks for stopping by,   G.M.

I almost forgot to mention that tomorrow is my GD's 16th birthday. Yes, she was born on St. Patrick's day. Her dad ( son#2) was born on a Valentine's day some 40 odd years ago.  Her little brother, grandson M,  was not born on any special day but he's extra special anyway because he's the last grandchild in this family.

This and That

I couldn't resist this gorgeous yellow Primula when I did the grocery shopping this morning. It is full of buds that I hope will open eventually.

Two of my latest library books. I'm disappointed in Conscious Creativity. It's as if the Philippa Stanton read  then merely paraphrased Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way ( which is a  much better read).  Miss Read, on the other hand, never disappoints her fans.

As I've often mentioned DH volunteers at a place where fruits and vegetables that would otherwise go to waste is dried and packaged into soup mix and  sent overseas to the needy . Sometimes foodstuff is sent that can't be used as such and volunteers are encouraged to take it home and make good use of it. Which was the case with this Kale and small packages of salad dressings and bags of seeds and cranberries that came with them.

The scones that I made yesterday just in time for daughter Sheila's visit after work ( she works at the hospital which is 5 minutes away). It was mild enough so we could sit on the porch and visit. Spring really does seem to be arriving.

Thanks for coming by.
Have a great weekend.


Granny M.

No More Leaky Roof

How quickly the week went by since I last posted.  Way back in December I think it was I mentioned that our roof was leaking.  After trying to fix the problem ourselves ( and having no luck) we finally got professionals to come in.  It involved several days of noise and mess but it's done. We haven't had significant rain yet but I have faith that we won't have any more problems with leaks.
Anyway, my tea cup cupboard on the porch was right under a leak so I had to remove and pack them all up.  Yesterday I began unpacking and putting them all back on the shelves.

Like I did  before I have many of my cups that have no matching saucers in a couple of old picnic baskets. There's even room for a few more. *smile*

So that's what has been keeping me busy.  We've had a few more light snowfalls but the forecast looks promising for next week. Good thing too because it's just one week until SPRING!!!

Thanks for visiting,

      Granny Marigold

Books!!

I don't think I've posted the picture of these YA books I bought at the thrift store when all the children's section of books were just .50. I'd made a start on reading a few of them but then my Amazon order came and I abandoned them for my old friend Miss Read.

This book includes Changes at Fairacre, Farewell to Fairacre, and A Peaceful Retirement..  I'm so pleased to own this copy which was described as "gently used".

I also ordered Christmas with Miss Read but that is being shipped at a later date. In any case I'll put that one away and read it next December.

I love how she says she's hopeless in choosing clothes ( I can identify!)  and how she can't seem to arrange flowers properly. She ends up just plunking them in a vase. Again, my attempts at arranging never quite meets my idea of how I want it to look. 

Here's an example. I bought these flowers just this morning and I really like them but see now I should have taken a lot more leaves off and maybe cut the stems even shorter ( they had very long stems!!)   Incidentally that quilted table topper is a one dollar buy that I found recently. Of course I couldn't resist.  Someone put some hours of work into making it and I'm happy to have it since I cannot sew let alone quilt!

Last time I looked outside it was snowing lightly again.  This seems to be a winter that keeps on and on.  We finally are having our roof re-shingled after trying various things with the help of our sons. The leaks kept happening so now the entire roof is being redone and although I find the hammering and general thumping noises that the 3 men make unnerving I'll be happy when it's done. Hopefully it won't take more than a couple of days.

Thanks for visiting, 

 Granny Marigold

This and That

Clear skies and a chilly wind this morning. When we left the house to go walking this is what we saw--- the concrete being pumped in for the new house being built next door. I didn't count but I'm sure several trucks with concrete were needed to fill the forms that the workmen had been setting up earlier this week.

After we came back from walking I made chocolate chip cookies and used some ripe bananas to make banana bread or loaf, whichever you call it.

I use parchment paper a lot and I found these pre-cut to size sheets at the Dollar store. Very handy.

M was showing us some science experiments on the internet. One was called Elephant Toothpaste and was the funniest one. He wanted to try doing some of them and we found 3 that I had the necessary ingredients for.  They were all 3 variations on the old vinegar and baking soda volcanoes that every kid ends up making in elementary school at some point.  We had the foresight to make them in the kitchen sink to limit the mess.

I got out my box of journals to choose a couple for some projects I am planning. These are some of my 'collection'.  Who can resist a lovely journal?

And now I think it's time to make a pot of tea and see if my DH wants to sample the Banana loaf.

Thanks for coming by,


GM