Of Garden Sheds and Cookies and Newel Posts

It's a pleasant late-winter Saturday and I was inspired to tidy up my garden shed. It seems all winter things get put in there helter skelter. I've only done one half so far. I may go out and finish when I've rested for a bit. Here's the 'before'...

....and after.

I came in and made some Oatmeal raisin cookies. Then I made tea and ate a couple.

I was reading up on newel posts and found out some interesting facts.  In older houses the newel post was often hollow and when the house was finished the house plans were put into the newel post then the top part put on as a finality.

This stairway in our house has a number of newel posts. I didn't  ask DH if he made them hollow and if he put the house plans inside. Oh wait. I'm not completely sure there were plans. Our house has sort of grown over the 40some years since we built it. I must admit many changes were made without much in the way of plans ( as in this last addition which might have been built in 2006. I can't remember exactly.  (My DH and all 3 of our sons are/were carpenters and did most of the work themselves).  I love the nooks and crannies our house now has. If I can't live in a genuinely old house I have the next best thing.

Well, I've sat and had a rest so I'll go finish tidying up the garden shed. DH is at a memorial service for a fellow volunteer at Gleaners, a man who still came every day to volunteer. He was just 50 days short of 101 years old.  I have no doubt more than a few pews will be full of Gleaners people.

Thanks for coming by,

Granny Marigold

This and That

My son took 3 minutes to 'fix' my camera. I had pressed the wrong button and he put my settings back to where they were. I'm so glad I have him to help with problems whether it's with the TV or camera or opening a jar of pickles!  I used to clean house for a woman who would line up jars and bottles that she'd need for the upcoming week so I could open them. Now I'm the one who needs help.

My Amaryllis is still doing well. It had a total of nine flowers but I've already had to cut 2 or 3 off because they were wilting.  Three more Amaryllis have buds and will probably bloom in a few weeks. I hope one of them is Minerva. I didn't mark which pot it was in. The other 2 will be Red Lions.

Walmart marked the Valentine chocolates down so I treated myself.

My eldest daughter found a couple to newel posts discarded by the dumpster. She gave one to me and kept the other one. DH made bases for both and on mine he topped the post with a stained and leaded glass 'thing' that I once bought at a garage sale and never knew what to do with. Now it has found the perfect spot.

Here it is on the porch where I want it to be. DH will fasten a hanger on one side and my daughter will make me a wooden sign that will hang on it and say something about Living on the Porch.

 On my walk this morning I noticed that a big garbage container has been parked in front of this little house. No doubt it will be torn down and replaced by yet another huge house like the one next door to it.

I started this post before lunch and now it's almost time for supper. Not sure what I was doing all day but I kept busy.  I hope your day was a good one.

Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. I appreciate every single one.

Granny Marigold

Quiet Day

Not much happening here in my little world. It's a day of steady rain ( so far, anyway) and besides a little shopping this morning I haven't done much. There is a newly opening grocery store in town and we went to have a look. I was not particularly impressed and see no reason to shop there. I already shop at 2 or 3 different stores almost every week buying the specials. I don't have to use much gas because they're all pretty close and I have lots of time, so why not?  While shopping I noticed the reduced price on heart-shaped boxes of Valentines chocolate and treat myself to a smallish box.

No pictures today. I accidentally pressed something on my camera and I need to wait for help in undoing what I did.

We did have several days with no rain this past week and DH began a small project that I was wanting him to do for me.  Hopefully the weather will improve and he can finish. I will take pictures and show you.

I hope you are all having a restful weekend and are full of enthusiasm for the last week of February.
Do you remember the little poem about the months?

January brings the snow,
Makes the feet and fingers glow.

February brings the rain
Thaws the frozen lake again.

March brings breezes, loud and shrill,
Stirs the dancing Daffodil.

April brings the Primrose sweet
Scatters daisies at our feet.

May brings flocks of pretty lambs
Skipping by their fleecy dams..

June brings tulips,  lilies, roses,
Fills the children's hands with posies.

Hot July brings cooling showers,
Apricots and Gilly flowers.

August brings the sheaves of corn,
Then the harvest home is borne.

Warm September brings the fruit,
Sportsmen then begin to shoot.

Fresh October brings the pheasants,
Then to gather nuts is pleasant.

Dull November brings the blast,
Then the leaves are whirling fast.

Chill December brings the sleet,
Blazing fire, and Christmas treat.

Sara Coleridge

Granny Marigold

My Day

A reasonably nice day today. Not exactly sunny ( so far) but at least it's not raining.
We noticed as we were on our walk that the geese are beginning to be territorial. The old saying that Two is company, Three is a crowd seems to be what these geese are thinking as they persistently chased one goose away.

Clouds hanging over the lake,  some Mergansers out there in the middle.

The Eagle up in one of its favourite trees, too far for me to get a decent picture.

 Once we came back and I had tidied the house I thought I'd get my little seed chest in from the garden shed and see what seeds I have left from last year and make a list of what I need to pick up this year.

That's done and now I think I'll go and see what you, my virtual friends, are doing. I hope you are having a good day.
Thanks for coming by,  G.M.

Happy Valentines Day!

Has it really been over a week since I last posted?  Where did the time go?  We've had a few days of sunshine and those days I puttered outside. So anxious for Spring to arrive. Rainy days seemed full of things to do indoors.

I did quite a bit of reading and I'm happy to say that I no longer have a stack of unread books. It's been such a long time since that last happened.

Being Valentines Day I thought I'd make one of DH's favourite pies which is pecan. I had enough dough and filling to make some tarts to which I also added some chocolate chips.  He doesn't really like the choc.chips in there so now we've both got what we want.

When we went to do our usual Friday morning grocery shopping I bought 2 more Primroses. A girl has to have flowers on this special day, right?The yellow and the red ones are the ones I picked up this morning while the white Hyacinth is one I think I got 2 weeks ago and had just about given up on it blooming when lo and behold it had a big bud which now opened.
As you can see my red Amaryllis is also blooming. I can pretend Spring is here at least in the sunroom.

Today is  my middle son's birthday. Yes, he was my Valentine in 1974.  Maria over at A Simple Cottage also had a Valentine baby. I think she must be a new blogger so if you feel inclined to visit her I think it would be an encouragement to her.

Thanks for visiting today,

Granny Marigold

A Few More Thrifty Buys

I found a few more items at the thrift store. These were all half price items and super cheap.
This heavy duty apron made of denim pockets is the perfect apron for my older grandson who isn't afraid of working in the kitchen.  In the picture the apron looks like it gets smaller toward the bottom. The chair is curved and it makes the apron look strange. I do wish I took better photos!

This unusual item looks brand new. Hanging it over the arm of my favourite chair will keep my side table much neater.

As you can see it has pockets on both sides.

I use my reusable shopping bags whenever I go shopping. I have quite a few smaller ones but this one should hold a LOT.  The purple/brownish parts are mesh, the rest is needlepoint. (?).

I can always use another pretty pot to hold a 4" nursery pot.

Last of all is this oversized mug that I'll put a plant into and keep on the porch. Can you see the rooster and hen?

Thanks for letting me share my little treasures. DH is a very patient man but doesn't find my little treasures terribly interesting so I share them here.

Thanks for popping by,  G.M.

Teddy Bear Tuesday

If you don't much care for teddy bears you might want to skip this post because that's what it's all about today. If you've been reading my blog for a while you know I collect teddy bears ( as well as way too many other things!!) and this morning at the thrift store they had gotten in  what must have been someone's entire collection. I told myself I'd choose just two and the two on the right are the ones that I picked. My but it was a hard decision. The one with the brown hat had a partner all dressed in his best clothes. No doubt he'll miss his friend.  If he's there next week I may give in and buy him too.
I went around the house taking photos of some of my other bears. I think I've been collecting them for over 20 years.

This black teddy has crumbs on her head because she sits next to the table where we eat our meals when it's just the two of us. She sits right next to DH....just wanted to point that out.  *smile*

This last picture turned out dark but I'm leaving it here anyway. I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my furry friends.

Thanks for visiting and staying till the end of the post!!
If you collect aanything in particular I'd love to hear about it. And see pics too.

G.M.

Morning Walk and a bit of Trivia

Another skiff of snow overnight. The paths were okay but the boardwalk was slippery.

One of the Eagles was sitting on a log in the middle of the lake while the other one sat high up in a tree just surveying the world!

Here's bit of trivia for those of you who liked the 02-02-2020 bit.  Yesterday, Sunday 02 02 2020, was day 33 of this year with exactly 333 more days to go.

I hope your week is off to a great start.  Thanks for taking the time to come by,

Granny M.

A Very Short Post

I thought this was very interesting. I hope you did too.

G.M.