Christmas Eve Walk

 

 

 

Clear skies, no wind, and below freezing temperatures made for a perfect morning walk ( with extra caution for the slippery spots).  Can you see the Eagle up on the very top of this tree?

There's a thin layer of ice on the lake. Every year some are bound to venture on it before it really is thick enough to hold a person.

As we came around the lake we saw the other Eagle .

On the walk home we passed by this apple tree that no one cares for. I thought the apples in the snow looked pretty.

Merry Christmas to all my virtual friends.  May you have a happy and healthy Christmas.

Granny Marigold

 

 

 

Snow and Sunday's Walk

 

 We got a surprise snowfall yesterday. After a night and morning of heavy rain the temperature began to fall and beautiful snow flakes began to fall.  It was so lovely. I sat with my cup of coffee and enjoyed watching knowing that it wouldn't last long. We did get 12 cm (maybe 5"). Today it is very slushy outside and too slippery for a walk.

I took the pictures out the front door. Not great pics but you get the idea.

We had quite a lot of rain last week and on Sunday when we went walking on a different path wesaw many Wood Ducks. Too bad they were hiding behind weeds in the water and I could only get a picture of this one. They sure are lovely looking birds.  

                                                                  

  

     At this point the water was over the path and we had to turn back.

One last picture. It's hard to see them but there are a number of Bush Tits clustered on the suet.  They  are such funny little birds. They come as a small flock and flit back and forth from the suet to the shrubs nearby then back again.  Bush Tits and Chickadees seem to be the cheeriest of birds.

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Sunrise here today was at 8:04 which is actually later than yesterday. Sunset will be at 4:15.

I heard someone on TV yesterday say that it was the shortest day of the longest year. 

 

Thanks for coming by.  I see that Blogger is arranging my text according to its whims. I have no idea if it will stay this way once I publish. One can only hope.  GM

 

First Official Day of Winter

 It has felt like winter for the last month and more with the cooler temperatures and dreary days of cloud and most days rain. After today I will be looking forward to Spring even if it is far off. A person has to have hope, right?

 Not much is happening around here this last week before Christmas. Kate, our granddaughter, has invited us for Christmas dinner. That's something to look forward to. 

Cookies have all been made. Last year I handed over the job of making the centers for the chocolate dipped peanut butter balls (also known as Buckeyes) over to my sons. This year they made them twice the size of last years but since the guys are the reason for making these cookies in the first place who minds how big they are.

Once the centers were frozen I did the dipping. I'm a messy dipper.

 It's almost 9 and if the rain has stopped I'm going for my walk. I hope your day holds some lovely moments.  GM

A Christmas Tree and a Christmas Card

 This is our town's Christmas tree planted in this spot  after the war. It is a Douglas Fir which was 2' tall then and now towers to a height of 85'.

 My eldest daughter has so many different talents one of which is making cards. I have a shoe box full of the creations of past years. To make this one she cut a clear plastic ornament in half and made a "snow globe" by adding tiny stars then running a bead of glue all around to seal it.

 My 'talent' is very different and seems to be making food. Here are some of the things that  I made this past week.

Apple crisp, raisin scones and cheese biscuits as well as cheese bread and buns ( with the breadmaker making the dough for me. So easy.)

 I didn't get much done today because I went to the mall with DH to choose new glasses. ( He sat on his old ones).  Although the choosing them didn't take long the person helping us was very slow and took forever to do what little paperwork there was to do. When he goes to pick them up tomorrow I'm staying home.

Thanks for visiting,   GM

 

More Decorating and a Birthday

 

 DH discovered a box of Christmas items that we somehow missed. In it were some of my deer ornaments and a tea pot that I had been looking for. I'm so glad we found that box.  I was beginning to think I had donated it by mistake.

 

 Yesterday my DH turned 78.  Here he is with two of our sons.  We had a small celebration on Sunday  and another small gathering yesterday with different members of the family. We've kept the get-togethers small  and only with family members that we've been in constant contact throughout these past months.

He opted for Pumpkin pie instead of cake.  I had extra pie dough so I also made a small rustic apple pie.I meant for the picture of the pies to be before the  slice on a plate but Blogger had other ideas.

 It's such a very wet and dreary day that we didn't even go walking. It's noon now and I've done some tidying and a load of laundry.  Now it's time to relax and read.

I hope you're having better weather than we have.  Thanks for visiting today,   G.M.

Another Morning, Another Walk

We walked in heavy fog this morning. 

 

The sun began to come through as we left the parking lot at the lake. Someone had left their truck overnight and it had been vandalized. Police were already there; we assume they were waiting for a tow truck to arrive.

 Now, afternoon, the sun is shining and every particle of dust in the house is clearly to be seen. It's obvious that I must vacuum. And clean the windows. Not my favourite chores to do but we do what we have to, right?

Take care. Thanks for coming by.

Granny M

Morning Walk

 

 The Eagles were up in their favourite tree this morning. You can just barely see them up there. I zoomed them closer.

  Someone must have dropped off this unusual duck which could have come from a farm. It's very tame and hangs around the fence waiting for hand-outs. It looks like a Muscovy. The second photo is off the internet and I believe it looks similar.

 I stopped to take a picture of our rather ratty looking little library. There are others around town that look a lot better but those are made of wood and as DH pointed out if this one were made of wood it would have burnt completely when the fire was set in it. There are just a few ashes left but someone has brought a number of books to replenish the choices.

 It's a gray and dreary day here but at least it's not raining...yet. It's 6*C with no wind so a nice day for walking.

I hope you have a pleasant weekend.   G.M.

 

This and That

 Yesterday my DH mixed the dough for the Stollen. It's a big recipe and there's no way I could mix it myself,  even he had a bit of a problem. Oh well, it got made.  It looks very flat when first put on the pans but it does rise nicely. This morning before he left for his volunteer "job"  I iced one so he could take it along  for their coffee break.

 

 This tin Advent calendar is different in that it counts days left until Christmas. The sheep and the star are magnetic and I just move it as the days pass.

Have I shown you our Advent wreath?   We have it in the sunroom where we two eat our meals. I took this picture last week when we only lit the one candle.  The three other candles come from the Holy land and have pictures on them. Rather than burn those I've substituted some ordinary ones this week. We like to have them lit when we eat our suppers there.
 

 We had a day of mild temperatures and I managed to get my walk in before it began to rain. Which it did on and off all day.  I stopped at the little library and was pleased to see the ashes and half-burnt books had been removed and it was all neat again. Luckily it's made of metal and didn't burn ( it once held newspapers). If it's not raining tomorrow I'll take a picture of it. 

Thanks for stopping by,  GM

A Rant and 2 Recipes that Failed

 

 

 

 

Good Morning!!    I hope the sun is shining where you live.  It's mostly cloudy here but mild.  I had a lovely walk except for one thing.  I had some books to drop off at the little library that's almost right on  the path where I walk. Imagine my surprise when I opened the door to find some very ignorant people had started a fire inside and left a big mess.  I cleaned it up best I could but the bits of burnt paper need to be vacuumed out and those books that are beyond saving must be removed.  GRRRR.

 

 

I tried my hand at making Sweet Marie Bars on the weekend. The recipe is very easy and quick but for some reason mine was somewhat disappointing. The recipe called for 2 cups of Rice Krispies and I wondered at the time whether I should add more but decided to stick with the 2 cups. It turned out a bit flat. Then I wasn't quick enough sprinkling chocolate chips on top and they didn't melt. Oh well, the result was tasty and I took it along to my youngest son's place when we went over to play Dominoes.

Another failure I had this weekend was a Cheese Souffle .  The recipe said to bake it for 35 minutes so I set the timer at 30 in case it was done sooner. I have no idea if it ever did rise ( I didn't peek until the timer went.) but it was as flat as a pancake when I opened the oven.  Nevertheless it was very edible and exactly what I was craving.
 

 

I have no idea what went wrong. All this to say I have plenty of recipes that don't go as planned!!

Just for fun I went looking on-line for pictures of other's failed cakes. 

 

 Thanks for visiting,  Feel free to tell me about your failed creations.

GM