A Short Post

I had a goal of posting every second day in July and I am determined to finish what I began. The reason this  post is going to be short is because I fell today and hurt my right hand. It is temporarily out of commission and my typing which is sketchy at best is even worse using my left hand. But I will be visiting your blogs ( won't be able to comment for a bit though).

I will be back as soon as possible.

Granny M.

This and That

Good Tuesday Morning!!  It's going to be another scorcher so I was outside doing a little walk-about
seeing what needed deadheading and what absolutely needed to be watered.  I'm trying to use as little water as possible now that our numerous rain water barrels are empty.

I noticed how similar the sunflowers are to Rudbeckias. Of course the sunflower heads are much bigger but the resemblance is there.

Youngest son picked yet more Oregon grapes and brought his fruit, sugar and jars here to make more jam.  It looks like stirring jam is very meditative.

Today would have been Beatrix Potter's 154th birthday. Don't we all love both her story and her stories?  I've watched the movie of her life a number of times and find something to enjoy about it every time.  She died at the age of 77 of pneumonia and heart problems.  She left over 4000 acres to the National Trust ( this included 14 or 15 farms).

That's about all I have to say today.  I hope you're having a lovely day.


Granny M.

A Small Project

I needed more space for my shade-loving pots of Heucheras and Hostas so my DH and youngest son put a roof over an area that already existed in the back of the yard.  There's a lot of stuff back there like extra lawn chairs, garbage cans, and lots more!! so I plan on screening it a bit or maybe just ignoring it. I'm just happy that they did this for me!!

Those tall flowers in front are the Japanese Anemones full of buds!   Japanese Anemones are so invasive they have to be confined as they are here with concrete on all 3 sides ( this area is triangular.)

Some painting still to be done but mostly this was a one-day project.  Thanks for popping by. I hope your weekend is going along nicely!  GM

Oregon Grapes

Are you familiar with the Oregon Grape shrub and its berries?  I've often seen them growing and hanging full of berries which I thought were just for the birds. I was wrong.  Youngest son picked some last week, found a recipe and made the most tasty jelly.  Not to be outdone I tried his recipe
 ( but we all know I don't actually follow any recipe), and ended up with my own Oregon Grape jelly which is less sweet that his but more clear. When he put his through a colander he mashed them with more force so that some pulp also was squished through. The texture was better than mine I think).
The less sweet part is because I thought the recipe called for way too much sugar.

Donna asked if these jars sealed and if not how was the jam/jelly preserved.  I used to put melted paraffin on top of the jam  but these days I make small batches of jam and just keep them in the fridge.  We're great jam lovers so we go through a jar fairly quickly.

An Oregon Grape in bloom....

...and one full of berries.
.

Another question I wanted to answer was about my Bean Soup.  It is really just a vegetable soup with the predominant veg being the green beans. The important difference is that the soup is flavoured with Summer Savory. Without this herb it's just veg soup. Oh yes, and cream is added just before serving.

Mary, over at Hill Top Post, asked about our Hummingbirds. We have both Rufous and Anna's.
The Ruby-throated are found in most of the provinces east of us.

I hope I've answered any questions. I'm never sure whether to answer them in the comments or if anyone actually goes back to check.

Thanks for visiting,  G.M.

Beans, Basil, and Jam Jars

Bush beans were ready for a first picking. We love green bean soup ( which absolutely needs Summer Savory to taste right). So that was our supper last night. Soup and fresh bread is my idea of a perfect supper.

I grew a good crop of Basil on the sunroom windowsill. I pick off leaves for my salads or on sliced tomatoes but there's no way I can keep up with the production.  My son came up with his colander to trim my plants and make pesto ( which, surprisingly, I don't care for).

The pole beans are finally growing well after a slow start.  These Scarlet runners are a big attraction for the Hummingbirds.

Ellabie commented on my jam jars which are empty Bonne Maman jars which I've picked up at the thrift store. The red-checkered lids are so attractive.  I was in the Dollar store yesterday and saw these smaller ( 200ml) jars.  Don't you just love Dollar stores?

I noticed that Jeri Landers at Hopalong Hollow has a fairly recent video that I had missed. She featured Tasha Tudor, in case you're interested.

As usual, thanks for popping by.   G.M.

Blueberries and Wasps

Abbotsford is surrounded by raspberry and blueberry fields, in fact we're known as the Raspberry Capital of Canada.  Much as we love raspberries we, as a family, love blueberries even more. In past years we've always picked at U-pick farms but we're getting older and also U-pick is more complicated this year due to Covid-19. So we ordered 50 pounds and we had our work cut out for ourselves. Although really blueberries demand the least work in getting them ready for the freezer.
They come fairly 'clean' ( as in no leaves etc.) so we wash them let them drain for a while then bag them up. Couldn't be easier.  In winter I can easily take out exactly the amount I need since the berries hardly stick to each other at all.

I made a three little jars of jam.

Last week son2 noticed that we had a large infestation of wasps coming and going under the sunroom floor. DH thought he'd take a good look and got stung 5 times for his efforts.  Needless to say the exterminator was called.  He got his protective gear on and began to spray into the opening. Immediately he was attacked by hordes of angry wasps but his gear protected him. By the next day there was not a wasp in sight.

Thank you for your kind comments on my last post. I'm encouraged to continue to write about my very ordinary life.  Sometimes I've had my doubts when I've reread a post so it's good to know you're not bored to death.

Thanks for coming by today. I hope your week is off to a good start,

GRANNY MARIGOLD

This and That

Happy Saturday!!  The sun is shining and I've been outside puttering and watering my thirsty plants

The local police FB page had another of their amusing items. I thought it worthy of being reposted.

Here's a photo my DIL took of the little Hummingbird that makes endless trips to the Montbretia every day.

And here the lake is being cleared of some of the waterlilies that clog the surface.

They dumped their load on the beach before heading out for more.

And this little girl was thrilled with the fish she caught. ( I asked her dad if he minded if I took a picture,  and he didn't).
The lake is stocked with little trout every year. I have no idea if that's what she caught.

That's a lot of trivia but since I made up my mind to do a post every second day in July sometimes it ends up being a bit of this and a bit of that. 

Thanks for coming by and reading my drivel.


Granny Marigold

Day Lilies

I have many Day Lilies blooming right now. I went around and took some pictures.
Do you have a favourite?

Unfortunately three or four plants were totally infested with the Day Lily Gall Midge. This awful insect  lays its eggs on the buds and instead of developing normally the buds are distorted and unable to open properly.  Each affected bud is full of maggots.  What I have to do is cut all affected buds, seal them in a ziplock baggie and dispose of them in the garbage NOT the compost. I suppose this is because the maggots continue to grow?
Below is a picture I took of some buds before I threw them away. The one on the left is the most affected one but they all would end up the same way.

On a much lighter note ( now that I've spoiled your appetite with images of maggots), I was watching a You Tube video on gardens and like usual I had the close captions on ( I'm losing my hearing). The speaker was mentioning the beautiful Rose Rambling Rector which the cc interpreted as Rambling Rectal.  That made me laugh out loud.

I hope you're having a good day.   G.M.

A Bird and a Bat

As I was about to leave on my morning walk I noticed this little Chickadee on the front walk. I knew that there had been a Chickadee nest in one of the front birdhouses and now the time had come for the babies to fledge. Guess this little one was reluctant to try out his wings. Just look at its sour expression in the second photo.  ( photo taken by my DIL)

Yesterday we had a baby bat in the back yard. He didn't seem to be doing very well.  M was intrigued by it and spent a lot of time watching it and hoping it would be okay. Unfortunately it wasn't. It did manage to crawl up a wall and hang upside down for a while but later on it died.

We didn't even  know we had bats around.  Now we're wondering if they live in the attic of the playhouse in the back. 

So that's been the excitement of this week so far. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Granny Marigold  

Roses

We have 2 very big, old roses in the back that I believe are ground cover roses. My DIL was pruning branches that were mostly finished blooming while I gathered the large bunches and stuffed them into a bin.  Each branch seemed to have a few blooms still looking pretty and I couldn't bear to leave them so I kept snipping the better ones and laying them aside. The stems were mostly too short for a vase but fit well into a gravy boat.

This branch was deemed worthy of its own 'vase'.

 

Now this pretty rose is not mine. We pass by it on our walk to the park/lake every day. Isn't it gorgeous?

After overnight showers the sun came out around noon today. It's just lovely out, 20 C (68F).
I'm hoping the rain stays away for the week but it maybe too much to hope for. Oh well, I'll enjoy it while it lasts.


Thanks for visiting, G.M.

African Violet and Cheesecake

In spite of my many failed efforts to grow African Violets I gave in and bought this pretty one yesterday. Actually I can grow them fine but after the blooms they came with are done I can't get them to rebloom. I've followed the hints on various sites but they result in a few pathetic flowers.
Oh well, it will bring me cheer as long as it lasts anyway.

This morning I had decided to bake a cheesecake. Unfortunately I forgot that the last time I used my springform pan it broke. What to do. Since it's 'just for family' it doesn't really matter if it's not round. I used an 8X8 cake pan. I'm looking forward to tasting it.  There's an ongoing debate around here concerning cheesecake. Which is better...baked or unbaked. Next time it will be the unbaked which is actually much less work.

I've been trying to do a post every second day but sometimes I find it hard to think of something to write about.   Thanks for coming by to see what I'm up to.

Granny Marigold

A late Iris and a Pink Lily

It's cloudy today but no rain so far.  I went for my walk then when I got back I worked in my flowerbeds for an hour.  I love this Iris which I believe is a Japanese Iris.  The internet gave me an image quite similar and it says "...as big as an outstretched hand with an open face and broad ruffled falls ". Sounds about right. It had only one stalk of blooms last year but has several now. I like that it blooms after all the other Irises are done.

And this Lily which grows close to that Iris is looking good too.

I hope your day is a good one!   G.M.