Bears Hibernate

 Real life bears hibernate in winter and come out into the spring world around this time of the year. My Teddy bears are the opposite. Having spent the winter here in my room they are now going into their hibernation.  I'll miss them but the spring bears will come out and take their place. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

 

 

 Then there are the ones who stay out all year.

That was a lot of pictures. If you're still here thanks for visiting and I hope you have a great day.

Granny M

Beverly Cleary dies at 104

 

Author Beverly Cleary has died at the age of 104.  I didn't read her books as a child but I discovered them when my children were around 10 or so. Who could resist Ramona Quimby or Ralph S. Mouse?  She delighted children with her stories.   May she rest in peace.

Another great author of children's books was Jean Little.  She was born in Formosa where her parents were medical missionaries.  She was blind from birth but that didn't keep her from becoming a teacher and writing over 50 books. I own a number of them and enjoy rereading them from time to time.  She had a succession of guide dogs that she loved and cherished.
Jean Little died in April of last year at the age of 88.
 

 Lois Lowry is an author of books for slightly older children and is still very much alive. She was born March 20, 1937 and wrote one of the best books for young adults that I've read. The Giver was banned in certain states for a few years. Some people thought it was inappropriate for children. I personally can't remember anything that was inappropriate but then even Charlotte's Web was for a time banned because  "talking animals are blasphemous  and unnatural" and passages about the spider dying were considered inappropriate.

Do any of these authors have a special place in your heart? I'd love to know. Also, if you have other favourites please mention them.

Granny M

 

Thanksgiving Cactus

 

 My Christmas Cactus is re-blooming!  From what I understand it is a Thanksgiving Cactus not a Christmas Cactus at all.  Apparently the same plant sold as a Thanksgiving one in the U.S. will be sold as a Christmas one here in Canada because we celebrate our Thanksgiving in early October and by the time our plant blooms it's late November and we're thinking Christmas.

All this still doesn't explain why it's blooming now. There is an Easter variety but its leaves are so different there's no confusing it with the Thanksgiving one.  

Holiday Cacti originated in the rain forests of Brazil with warmth, humidity and indirect light so successfully growing them is quite different from ordinary Cacti. Those desert plants need far less water and more light (preferably sunlight).  So the East window where my Cacti grows ( next to a fern that gets spritzed often) is ideal.

 

 

Granny M

 

 

Wednesday Chitchat

 

 The next project my DH and youngest son are tackling are the back steps which lead from the sunroom down to the back yard. They have been awful to keep clean because they were very rough. Now the guys have removed them and turning each step upside down ( after taking it to the workshop to be planed). This will hopefully end up with much smoother and easier to sweep stairs.

All the hard work makes them more hungry than usual so I've been busy in the kitchen.
Buns, scones and Impossible Pumpkin pie....

Above...one of my favourite suppers of crepes filled with cottage cheese and covered with a fruit sauce.

What I'm reading this week. The Elizabeth Berg book is from the library and I haven't started reading it yet. I've read every one of the many books she's written. Some were excellent, some not so much.

I bought the Henri Nouwen book at the thrift store. Haven't started that one yet either but I know I'll enjoy it.

And of course I have to have a Miss Read on the go as well.  Do you read more than one book at a time?

So that's how my week is going so far. It's rather damp outside so I think I'll put my feet up and relax since there's nothing I can do outside.

I hope your day ( and week) is going well.

Thanks for coming by,  G.M.

More Bunnies

 Happy Monday!!   After an early morning shower the sun is now shining. It's going to be a lovely day. Here are a few more Spring bunnies that have come out of hiding to make the house cheery.

 

 Hope you have a wonderful day.    (later: The sunshine didn't last very long unfortunately but at least it didn't rain).

Granny M.

Spring

 

 

I don't have much to blog about but I did want to wish everyone a happy first day of Spring.

A few pictures from around the house.  Spring decorations are being brought out.

 These bunnies are heavy and I think they may have been meant as doorstops. They were a gift from granddaughter Kate.

 Thanks for visiting. Whatever your day holds I hope it's a good one.

Granny Marigold

This and That

 The weather has been lovely; frosty nights followed by mostly sunny days. As of today that has changed to clouds but I got a lot done outside while the nice weather held.  

In the kitchen I baked brown bread, something I hadn't done for a long time. I took a picture but can't find it now. Anyway, it looked like brown bread and tastes pretty good. I also made more marmalade. Can't have toast without marmalade. This batch is carrot/orange.

 

Miss C (youngest granddaughter) turned 18 yesterday, St. Patrick's Day.  Of course Covid restrictions meant no party.

The only other thing that's new are M's Budgies. He's been saving his allowance for a cage and 2 birds which he got last week. This is Spring Break so the timing was perfect. He named them Glory and Valor. Nice unisex names ( because we have no idea what they are).
 

I hope your week is going well. Just 2 more days until official Spring. I hope you're enjoying lovely weather.

 

Granny M.

Kitchen Drawers

 If you visit Far Side of Fifty at her blog you'll know that she's been Spring cleaning her kitchen. She mentioned that she has 17 drawers and I was so amazed. Today she posted pics of her kitchen and inspired me to go count how many drawers I have. I was surprised to find I have 16 !!
You've had lots of glimpses of my kitchen in past posts but I thought I'd show you around a little better. If this doesn't interest you at all please feel free to ignore this post.

First of all please ignore any clutter because I didn't take the time to tidy up.
These 6 drawers are to the left of the sink. The top two contain cutlery. The bottom left one has tea towels and dishcloths in one and the other 3 have canned and boxed foods.

 

This is to the right of the sink. We used to have a dishwasher ( actually we had 3 and the second 2 never cleaned dishes well so we removed it and DH built this cupboard which is supposed to be able to be pulled out but it's full of dishes and is so heavy I can't manage to budge it.)  The bin on the right can be pulled out and holds 3 bags of flour. To the right of that one is another that holds 3 bags of sugar.

The door to the left has pull out shelves that I keep baking pans and pie plates etc. on. Above it is my apron drawer. The door on the right has my cookie sheets and cooling racks  and the drawer above it has pot holders and such. The lazy Susan occupies the corner.

 

 Beside the fridge is my pantry. That's about it. I hope I haven't bored you. If you care to show pics of your kitchen I'd love to see how you organize that most important room in the house!

 GRANNY M

Sunshine and Pi Day

We've had some lovely days of sunshine this week which were so appreciated.  There were children playing in the park ( which surprised me because restrictions are still on). I'm glad they were out enjoying the weather.

Here at home there was work to be done and youngest son came to help sanding the cedar fence and then giving it a new coat of stain/varnish.

When he was done the fence he gave the glider swing the same treatment ( while DH 'supervised'.)

 My garden shed chair got a nice bright coat of paint.  The inside walls, which you can just see in the background, are much the same colour.

Last but not least I baked 2 cherry pies for Pi day . I know it's tomorrow but I was not about to make pie on a Sunday. As it was I had trouble with the crust. I tried making it with butter instead of the Tenderflake lard I've used in the past.  It was so hard to roll out and ended up being thicker than I would have liked but I'm sure no one will complain.  DH prefers a streusel topping to a top crust and that's what I made.

So the sun is shining and there's the whole afternoon ahead to sit out on the porch and enjoy the view. 

The back flowerbeds are full of crocus (crocuses?).

GRANNY MARIGOLD

Hyacinths and Star Aniseed

 

 The Hyacinth bulbs that I planted last Fall and left behind the house to spend the winter have mostly come up. I thought I'd put 3 in each pot but only one pot has 3. I brought these in about ten days ago and they have been filling the house with their lovely scent. This picture was taken yesterday when they were in their prime.

This morning when I came down I saw that both were falling over so I tied them up as best I could then I brought another pot indoors. They are small but no doubt in the warmth of the house they'll be up and blooming shortly.

The house is filled with another pleasant smell this afternoon. DH is cooking a couple of old hens for soup. My Mom always used Star Aniseed when she cooked chickens so that went into the pot too. Also peppercorns and a large onion cut up. 
Star Aniseed can be hard to find so we went to the Asian market and bought a bag which is more than enough for us for the rest of our days. In fact, I took the broken bits and added them to some bowls of potpourri that I have in the livingroom.
 

Here's my Cyclamen that is still doing great. I have in the past had no luck keeping them in bloom so I'm enjoying this one.

Daughter Sheila is coming by after work and she'll be leaving the hospital in a few minutes. It's great having her work 5 minutes away.I think I'll go make a pot of Earl Grey tea and we'll sit outside and have a visit.

Thanks for coming by and leaving comments. I appreciate them all.

Granny M

This and That

 Last Fall I brought a few Geraniums in to spend the winter on the closed in porch.  Two were beyond saving but the other three are now pruned and back on the porch waiting for the nights to warm up before I can put them out. I was especially glad that the Vancouver Centennial one survived and looks quite okay.

 Something else I did today was to make peach/orange jam. Or maybe because of the oranges it would be a marmalade? I did use the entire oranges but since they weren't organic I cut the peel off first, boiled it a while, then strained it before adding it to the rest.  The peaches were some of the ones we bought and froze last Summer.

I'm rereading Elizabeth and her German Garden, a book my middle son gave me for Mother's Day 2018. I know this because he wrote in it, not because I have such a good memory.
I think I'm enjoying the book even more than I did when I first read it. I especially like how she refers to her husband as the Man of Wrath. The book is semi-autobiographic and apparently the author really did have a strained relationship with her rather stern husband.   If you've read the book I'd love to hear what you thought of it.

Thanks for coming by,  G.M.