Wordless Wednesday

Thanks for visiting,


Granny M

Morning Walk

It's a much cooler day than what we've had this past week. The forecast is for showers so we carried umbrellas on our walk but never opened them.   There was a breeze and there were ripples on the lake.  For some reason I had a hard time making it around today. Who knows why energy differs from day to day.

In some areas the lake is once again almost packed with water lilies.

This very small bunny didn't seem afraid of us at all.   We saw other rabbits but they had the shaggy look of older ones, losing some of their winter fur.

Nothing much is happening around here.  I did pick up the books that I requested at the library. One can't go into the building so you show your library card through the window, they fetch your books and carefully put them out the door onto a little table. When they go back in you can step forward and pick up your books.

Thanks for coming by,  G.M.

Cherries and YouTube videos

Around here we're great lovers of all things cherry.  DIL alerted us to the sale of rain-damaged cherries ( some were split) at a good price at a local Fruit & Vegetable stand  so we got a 20 pound box ( $40). I hope the price will be even lower as the season progresses.

Do you enjoy watching You Tube videos?  I have watched Jeri Landry at Hop-a-long Hollow for some time and recently discovered Kate at The Last Homely House.  She mostly talks about quilting and crafts which I don't do but what I enjoy is her friendly chats.  It's as if she's right in the room across from you having a cuppa.  If you know of any videos that are along these lines I'd like to hear about them.

It's a lovely day here. I've been for my walk, did some gardening ( mostly cutting down finished Iris and Foxgloves).  Yesterday my DIL and I did some much-needed cleaning up in the back wild area. Later in the evening I noticed I had quite a rash on both ankles. I can only assume I brushed against some ferns back there. I've had trouble with ferns before.  Luckily the rash is not itchy and I'm sure it will go away by itself.

So now it's almost lunchtime. DH is at his volunteer 'job' this morning and he said he might stop at a  U-Pick raspberry field that he passes on his way back and do a little picking.  Fruit season is wonderful.

Thank you to everyone who tried to identify my mystery plant..  Gretchen Joanna managed to get a positive ID and it is a Nettle-leaved Bellflower.  Thanks GJ

Thanks for visiting!!   GM

Amaryllis and a Mystery Plant

 One of my Amaryllis that bloomed back in January or February decided to bloom again. It's a surprise but we're enjoying the 4 lovely big flowers.


Below is a picture of a mystery plant that popped up in the front garden. It's about 5' tall and has flowers which strongly resemble those of the Peach-leaved Bellflower (Campanula Persicifolia)
but the leaves are very different and the height is beyond what it would be.

Here's a close-up of the leaves.

On the left there's a leaf and a flower from the unknown one; the one on the right is a leaf and bloom of the Peach-leaved Campanula.

If anyone has an idea what my plant is I'd like to hear about it.  It's not a particularly nice-looking plant, too rangy, but still it's nice to know what exactly it is.


Thanks for visiting,  G.M.

Visiting the Heron Reserve

We drove out to the Heron reserve to walk and to see the many smaller birds that are attracted to the various feeders that are situated close to the main building. Which was closed, of course, due to the virus.  We didn't see any herons since the path that leads to the nesting area is closed during the time the young are being raised.  We have in the past been near a heron nesting area and it is incredibly noisy and smelly so I didn't mind at all that the path was closed.

I seem to like trees because I took many pictures of them. I won't post them all.

 

Could this be a beaver's lodge? WE did see evidence of chewed trees.

This Downy Woodpecker was very close to where we were sitting on a bench and having a little picnic.
To our delight a young one came begging for food and we saw the adult feed it.

Some of the other birds we saw were Red-winged Blackbirds, a Grosbeak, Common Yellowthroat, Gold Finches, House Finches, Swainsons Thrush and in the water we saw a female Wood Duck with her 4 half-grown ducklings.

Here the physical distancing was measured in an Eagles wingspan.

A very different Monday for me but the weather has been so unpredictable that when we woke up to clear skies we decided to take off for a few hours.


I'm glad you came by and I hope you'll leave a comment.  I enjoy reading what you have to say and try to answer any questions ( so if you've asked any please check back).

GM

From my Kitchen

I don't claim to be an imaginative cook but I do manage to make supper at least 6 days out of 7.
I find that a lot of what I make is covered with cheese. DH loves cheese and as long as I don't sneak too many strange vegetables in he's happy.

This particular side was hash brown potatoes, chopped onion and red peppers.

Quesadillas

 

Another of my regulars is Bisquik Quiche.

Of course I've been baking. That's what I really prefer.  On this day I made raisin scones and Banana 

loaf ( bread).

Debi, who blogs as Barefoot Mom, always posts Mangia Monday and her meals  look so appetizing. I wish more people would post pics of their meals. It's fun to see and inspiring too. It really doesn't make much difference if it looks perfect. That is something I struggle with, thinking my food is somehow too plain to even post about.

I'll leave you with this picture of my social distancing eggs.  The truth is DH picked these up from the farm and they are too large to fit side-by-side in the carton!

Thanks for visiting. I hope you are having a great weekend.

GRANNY MARIGOLD

This and That

We woke up to clear skies and the promise of a lovely day. We've had so much rain so the days of sunshine are very precious.

It was strange going for my walk and not wearing a sweater. I remembered to pass by the 6 story apartments designated for seniors because I wanted to take a picture of this cute sign!

Continuing on my walk I passed by this McMansion being built next to a very big house which is almost dwarfed by this new one.

The above photo I took yesterday; today 2 construction workers were at the very peak nailing away wearing no safety equipment whatsoever. I hope they don't slip and fall.

When I came back I worked in my flowerbeds for a while. It will be too warm this afternoon and I wanted to hoe out more weeds so the sun could dry them up.

I picked this cookbook up at the thrift store recently and I plan on spending some hours on the porch reading about fancy recipes I probably won't make and looking at lovely pictures. I read cookbooks much like novels then go back to making my old favourites.

I hope you are having a good day,
Thanks for coming by,

G.M.

Geese, Wrens, and a Boy

Although there are signs asking people not to feed the ducks and geese in the park they do anyway. I guess the young geese have caught on and I was mobbed this morning by them looking for a hand out. They soon lost interest when they realized I didn't have anything for them.

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago. It may not look like much but it's 5 baby Bewicks wrens.  First 3 fledged then a day or so later the other 2 were also gone. We've had Bewicks wren in our garden for a number of years but this is the first time I was aware of a nest. I love their sweet song.

 Here's a picture of a Bewicks Wren (off the internet)

Last but not least M was doing an experiment out on the back grass this morning. It was called elephant toothpaste and was not exactly spectacular but he was happy with it and that's the main thing.   Behind him are middle son's hot pepper plants which he faithfully covers for night and uncovers during any sunny days ( not that we've had many lately).  For those who might not know middle son's family and my DH and myself share a home and M and his big sister are our grandchildren.

Thanks for coming by,

GRANNY MARIGOLD

Haircut and a Ferret

I seem to be having some trouble with blogger today. So far I have not been able to upload any pictures. Very strange.

It has been a couple of busy days. After all these past months of not having anyone over except our immediate family we invited DH's family over. We visited, played games, and had tea. It was sure different.  All day yesterday I cleaned the house and baked ( Butter tarts and Date Squares) . I cut up vegetables and made dip. I washed grapes and cut them into smaller bundles. Different people eat different foods and I try to have something for every diet.
For some reason I thought that tomorrow, the 14th, was father's Day so I made enough food for that as well. I was greatly surprised when I found out I was a week early!

In the middles of yesterday's busyness Kate came to give us much needed haircuts. My hair had  grown so long and so had my DH's.

 I'm wondering if I should have asked her to trim more.

 Then M decided he'd like his hair trimmed too.  He's been growing his long for quite some time.
We're very thankful for our Kate and her ability to cut hair.

We walked this morning and I made it around the lake. First time since my hip and back problem.
We met a man in a mobility scooter. He had his pet ferret on a leash. We stopped to chat and take a few pictures.

The day has gone by so quickly. I am making homemade pizza for supper so I better get the dough made and rising.
I hope you are having a lovely weekend.    GM

Wordless Wednesday

This and That

The clouds last night were so amazing. Daughter Sheila took this photo. I though of taking one but mine would have had utility wires crossing it so I'm borrowing hers.

These pretty mugs were left behind when someone left them in the apartment they moved out of. Middle son brought them home and I've chosen some to keep and some to donate. Not because they're not lovely but it's a matter of space to keep them.

In the kitchen these Orange & Date muffins were what my DH and I enjoyed on the weekend. I'm not as fond of dates as he so before baking them I pushed a whole  (pitted) date into some. The rest of the dates are quite finely chopped which is how I prefer them.

This morning I washed strawberries and made 4 little jars of jam. I added some fresh rhubarb to give it more flavour. It turned out a bit runny but that's okay.

I'm taking a break from doing laundry but I should get back to it. I don't like my washer at all. It's so slow and because it's a "water saver" one has to be careful or it adds so little that the clothes are barely covered. I tell myself it's better than having to scrub them on the scrub board ( my mom's old scrub board hangs on the wall right over my unloved washer). 

Thanks for coming by.  GM