This and That

My Paperwhites are blooming. They're a little sparse but pretty, too bad they don't smell very good.
I was under the impression they smelled wonderful, but they don't. I don't really keep them on the stairs, it was just not possible to get a decent picture while they were in the window.

We were at the lumberyard this morning ( to buy a new smoke alarm) and I saw that these birdfeeders were half price ( apparently it was a Black Friday special. Who knew?)

I'm not sure if I already posted this picture of the teddy bears little corner of the dining room.
I got that garland that hangs over them at the thrift store. The various stars, people, etc are made of wood and they hang on a sturdy wire.

  This morning the grands came up to set up the nativity sets. This is the one M sets up every year. It's hard to see but he has to have his little joke and put something up that ladder. Last year I think it was baby Jesus; this year it's a cow.  This nativity set fits perfectly onto the treadle of my old sewing machine.

Miss C set hers up under the tree in the sunroom.  I think we're all done decorating now.

I got out some of my Christmas mugs which meant I had to put away as many of the day-to-day ones.
That's done.  I like to choose which mug I use and I think my guests do too.

This section of my cupboards has had the doors taken off for over a year now. I like being able to see my colourful dishes. Those Christmas cups and saucers stay out all year 'round.

Well, that's a peek into my day. It's also our wedding anniversary ( 56th).  We'll be having a lovely quiet meal here where we are the most comfortable.

Thanks for visiting today. 

GRANNY MARIGOLD

In the Kitchen

It's been cold and windy all week and baking seemed like a good way to warm up the kitchen. 
I baked cheese bread, nice small two-person sized cheese bread.

It's daughter Sheila's birthday today. She came by after work which is so handy since she works at the hospital 5 minutes away.  I knew she'd appreciate scones fresh from the oven.

Jam was made from fruit we froze in summer.  The jars with the red-and-white lids are cherry and the others are cherry/strawberry.

This was last night's supper....Barley vegetable soup with spinach.  

Last of all are these cookies which I made after watching them being made on a cooking show. They looked easy to make, and they were. However, the recipe for the caramel topping also seemed pretty straight forward. I don't know what happened but it didn't turn out quite like on TV.
The cookies are odd because you make them in small muffin pans then when they're done and cooled you pour the warm caramel on top. It was supposed to be thick and cover the cookie entirely. Oh well, DH and middle son have already pronounced them good so I won't complain. Neither will I bother making them again.

One last picture. It's my very old, tattered copy of The Mennonite Treasury of Recipes.
This originated in Manitoba, in the town my parents lived in. It has many of my mom's recipes as well as her friends' recipes.  I sure have used this cookbook many times through the years.

Thanks for visiting,

Granny Marigold

Poem for late November

Praise the light of late November,
the thin sunlight that goes deep in the bones.
Praise the crows chattering in the oak trees;
though they are clothed in night, they do not despair. Praise what little there's left:
the small boats of milkweed pods, husks, hulls,
shells, the architecture of trees. Praise the meadow
of dried weeds: yarrow, goldenrod, chicory,
the remains of summer. Praise the blue sky
that hasn't cracked. Praise the sun slipping down
behind the beechnuts, praise the quilt of leaves
that covers the grass: Scarlet Oak, Sweet Gum,
Sugar Maple. Though darkness gathers, praise our crazy
fallen world; it's all we have, and it's never enough.

Barbara Crooker

Happy Thanksgiving

I couldn't decide which of these pictures was prettier so I'm posting both. 

To all my American friends, I hope you have a very happy Thanksgiving!!

Granny Marigold

Visitors

We only see Cormorants on the lake in winter.  Usually there are four or five lined up on a log out on the lake, drying their wings.  I didn't have my camera with me and besides, it was a dull morning
( weatherwise) and the internet provides much better photos than I can take.

There were numerous male Mergansers and a few female that I saw.  I think the Common Merganser is one of the handsomest birds.  I'm glad they come down to spend the winter here.

Now here is a picture I took.  We have 3 or 4 cats that visit our back yard. This one posed nicely for a piccture ( taken through a not-so-clean window at dusk).

Many of you will be busy getting ready for Thanksgiving.  I hope all your preparations are going well.

Thanks for taking time to visit today,   G.M.

Christmas Craft Sale and Fruit Cake

I think I'm about done with craft sales.  I walk by all the lovely things but there's nothing I really want, at least, I'm not willing to pay as much for.  I took pictures but bought nothing.

I believe it was last year that Mama's Mercantile posted that she had a red mixing bowl that she only used at Christmas for her baking. I thought that was such a great idea that I started my search for my own red bowl.  It is a heavy one ( as opposed to the little plastic red one that I use every day).
Here's my fruit cake being mixed up.

This is what it looked like when I took it out of the oven.  I've made Christmas cake for many years but I think this year's turned out the best ever.  Very dark and moist.

I baked it in an 8 by 12 pan and cut it into 5 slightly crooked pieces.  I wrapped them in aluminum foil. Two have already been given to fruit cake lovers.  Whether they eat them now or keep them for Christmas is up to them.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I love to read all comments so please don't hesitate to leave one.

GRANNY MARIGOLD

Butterflies

Thank you all who had suggestions to fix the font size on my blog. I think it's back to normal  now.

Margaret, who blogs at At Home In New Zealand, expressed an interest in my Butterfly 'collection'.
It started when she noticed my bookmark in one of my pictures. Those butterflies are painted by
Christopher Marley and on the back of the bookmark he identifies each one.

I also have framed butterflies mostly from other countries where they grow them a lot bigger than what we have.  All the butterflies that I have have been raised in farms and not taken from the wild.

I won't bore you with all the names but this lovely blue one is called Morpho Didius and came from Brazil.

The green one is  Papilio Blumei  and came from Sulawesi.  ( Sure hope I copied down the names correctly.  I had to stand on a chair to read the backs of the pictures.)

This is the cupboard that my DH built for this collection of mine. It hangs on the wall of the sunroom.

It's been a busy day.  I baked my Christmas cake ( pictures coming soon)  and made Split Pea Soup for supper ( which we haven't had yet).

Thanks for visiting today,

Granny Marigold

Having a Problem

Have you noticed how tiny the words are on my blog lately?  At least, they are on my computer.
I have no idea what to do about it and I'm afraid that if I try adjusting stuff I'll make the problem worse. I am so technologically challenged!!     G.M.

Wool Felting and a Teacup

I think these little treasures are made of felted wool but maybe not.  If you can tell just by looking at them please tell me.  They're so soft, I just love them.
The picture insists on being sideways. Sorry about that.

I picked those three up a week or so ago but today I went to the thrift store and found this pretty teacup for .50.  The teacups that have words on them tend not to sell so eventually they get marked down drastically.  I'm fond of dishes with pansies or violets so this one will fit in with my other ones.

Just a short post today. I made myself a list of things that needed doing today so I must get working on it.   When I was making my list I thought about a young friend who was an awful housekeeper when she was first married. After the first baby arrived things got to be such a problem that she sat down with a stack of blank cards, I think they were  different colours.  She wrote down all the daily chores on one colour, all the weekly ones on another, and all the once a year ones on yet another.
She was determined to change her ways and  today she is a terrific housekeeper and not only has a tidy house but does a lot of different crafts too.

Thanks for stopping by,

Granny Marigold

This and That

A cup of herbal tea and a thrift store treasure. Small Churches of Canada, full of pictures and write-ups about, well, small churches photographed by the writer, with a short  description of each. I'm enjoying this book a few pages at a time.

We got out our Christmas lights and checked to see how many had died since we packed them up last January.  How is it that they can just quit even though they worked fine until we took them down?
A couple of strings of the multi-coloured ones no longer worked so off we went to the thrift store where we found a nice long set for $2.   Of course we had a little look-around and found a display of Christmas CDs for .50 each,  We have started playing Christmas music already and were in need of more variety.  Ten CDs cost a fraction of what one single new CD would cost.

The Paperwhite bulbs I bought a week or so ago are showing some growth at last.  They had sprouted in the box and were very crooked. I'm pleased they seem to be straightening up.
Hopefully they will bloom in time for Christmas.

Thanks for visiting today.  Obviously nothing much is happening around here but I just wanted to pop by and say HI.  I hope you're having a great day!!

Granny Marigold

Two More Walks and another Squirrel Tale

Yesterday when I walked I saw the Eagle up in the usual tree. It was eating what I assume was a fish.
The other Eagle wasn't around, or at least I didn't see it.

This morning the world looked very different. The fog was thick and the view was amazing!!

I don't think I posted these pictures of yet  another squirrel trying its best to get at the suet feeder. 
Like the previous one this little character finally had to give up. Last time the squirrel was a grey one but we have both grey and black ones around. I have no idea if they are separate species. I guess I should try to find out.  ( I really need to clean up around my garden shed!).

A quick trip to the thrift store this morning yielded no teacups, just more reading material. I WAS making progress on my waiting-to-be-read book stack but now it grew again.   Now I have the breadmaker going and  later I'll do some baking. Maybe use some of the glace fruit I bought. Some of you wondered if I was going to make fruit cake. I haven't decided but first I'll make my Christmas Stollen ( a fruit bread traditionally eaten at Christmas in German households). Here's a picture off the internet. My recipe makes 5 or 6 of these loaves.

Thanks for coming by,

                   Granny Marigold