This and That

 

Lilacs are blooming and whenever I pass a bush blooming close to the street I stop to breathe in the wonderful scent.  Our extremely tall lilac has a couple of blooms that could only be reached by standing on the playhouse roof which is 14 ft high. I think because we always cut large bouquets now there are no flowers lower down.  This bush is temptingly close to the sidewalk.

 The sun came out and I put the tomato plants out to get them used to being outside. Unfortunately tomorrow it will be back to cloudy and some rain.

One of the local grocery stores had a special on US strawberries 2 lbs for $3.49 . I picked up 5 of the plastic cartons and later went back for more because they were quite tasty. Too bad there were none left.  Our local berries won't be ready until the end of the month at the earliest. I only wish that they didn't come packaged in plastic but at least it can be recycled.

I baked cupcakes for the freezer. It's so handy to have them on hand for unexpected visitors ( mainly our children and grands).
 

Besides baking I have been doing some Spring cleaning. This week I worked on getting the living room done.  I'm about finished with that. 

So what have you been busy with?  I hope the sun is shining wherever you live and that you are enjoying this last week of April.

Granny M

A Sad Tale of Geese and their Goslings

 

 On our morning walk we saw the first families of geese of 2021. This little family just had a few goslings.

 There was another family group grazing nearby; this family had a large number of babies.

 While we stood watching the babies from family #1 got mixed up with those of the second family and when the poor couple whose little ones were now part of the bigger bunch tried to get their babies back both of the other couple took after them and chased them away. You can see by the way this goose holds its head that it is in fighting mode.

 We felt sorry for the first couple but there wasn't anything we could do to help. 

 

Granny M.

 

Nothing but Flowers

These days it's all about flowers as I enjoy the ones that are blooming in my yard and plan which ones I should buy this year. 

The Tulips are doing well and so is the Leopard's Bane (doronicum)

I'm going to have to hoe out some of the Pansies ( or maybe they're Violas) . A few of last year's plants self-seeded generously.
 

The Tulips in the pots are the ones I planted last Fall. It was a bag of mixed dark red and red streaked with yellow. I'm quite pleased with how they turned out. When they're done I'll put them into the ground so they can bloom next year. Apparently it's not advised to keep them in a pot for 2 years.

The trees below are in a yard just off the path through the park. So pretty.

I bought a new Clematis this week. It's called H F Young. I hope next year mine will look like the one in this picture. Right now it is very small ( but has 3 blooms).

Thanks for visiting and letting me go on about flowers. Next time I'll have a little project to share.

 

Granny M

A Sunday Walk

 

Another lovely day and we drove further afield for our walk.  The mountains in the distance and the green fields nearby made for a pleasant drive.

 On our walk we met many dogs and their people but this was by far the biggest. We stopped to chat and found out that this was a Leonberger dog. He was so friendly.

How's this for opposites? Big meets Tiny.  It almost looks like big is shying away from tiny.

My pictures don't do that beautiful dog justice so here's one off the internet to show you just how amazing he looked.

 I hope you had a good weekend and are ready for the week ahead. 

Thanks for visiting,  GM

This and That

 It's another lovely sunny day. I've worked outside and now it's too hot to be out there. Later on Sheila and Callum are coming by and we'll sit in the shade and  visit ( nicely spaced 6' apart).  

The roses are not real. Maybe later when it cools off I will go out and see if I can find enough for a small bouquet.

It's Dora Saint's birthday today. She is better known as Miss Read.  Born in 1913 I believe she lived to be 99 years old.  ( I 'm wrong. She died just 10 days before her 99th birthday).

If you enjoy Hopalong Hollow did you watch Jeri Lander's latest post__ Rabbits, Roots, and  Granola?
I find myself taking less time at my computer when the weather is fine but it's always nice to relax and watch something while sipping a lovely cup of tea.  Do you drink hot tea in summer? Or are you more an ice tea person?

Whatever the weather where you live I hope you're having a very pleasant day.

 Granny M
 

Morning Walk

A beautiful morning to go for my walk.  It seems the Dandelions have popped up almost overnight.
I sat for a while on "my" bench looking at the lake and all the ducks and Canada Geese. An Eagle swooped down over the water then up into a tree not far from me. What a sight.

Once I got back home I walked around pulling a few weeds and taking pictures of various blooms. No comment is needed I'm sure.
 

I'm looking forward to a productive afternoon with lots of help from youngest son. Oh yes, I've had a few requests from family members to make another batch of Easter bread. As youngest son put it...It's a shame to only have it at Easter, You should make it all year 'round. So I did. While I had the oven on I tried a new Banana Bread recipe which is not nearly as good as my old one. Sometimes I wonder why if we have a favourite recipe that works then we have to go try a different recipe that 9 times out of 10 is not nearly as good.

That flat loaf on the right is the Banana bread.

Thanks for coming by,  GM

Tea cups and a Birthday

 The sunny weather we've been waiting for has at last arrived and I took out the tea cups that I put out every year.  

Some in the back yard and some in front.

Do you remember this Miss Kitty tea pot from last year? Isn't she cute?

If you're a Gladys Taber fan you might be interested to know that she was born on this day in 1899 which, if she had lived, would be her 122 nd  birthday.   If you enjoy her books please put that in your comment. 

 

I'm off to do the many things I need (and want) to do amid my flowers!!

 

Thanks for coming by,  GM

 

Various Projects

 A few weeks ago eldest daughter called to say she had gotten for free a sort of cupboard that she herself couldn't use but maybe I could. She even volunteered to paint it for me if I didn't want it dark wood. How nice is that?  This is the before picture and....

....here it is painted my new favourite colour and set up beside my garden shed. Just to the right is an awfully messy area of pots and bags of soil etc.. The box immediately to the right of my new cupboard has soil in it too.  I am looking forward to finding pretty garden-related things to display on those shelves.

DH and youngest son have been busy building cedar planter boxes. The one in the background against the swing is middle son's for the hot peppers he likes to grow.  The square one will be given to a certain person on Mother's Day. I've been told she reads my blog but rarely comments. *smile*

Finally, this planter is in the front yard next to our parking area. I plan on growing Morning Glories on that trellis. 

 

When I began this post I stopped to think if I should use eldest or oldest when referring to my daughter. I looked it up and this is what I discovered.

 Both eldest and oldest refer to the greatest in age. The crucial difference, however, lies in the fact that eldest can only be used for related persons, while oldest can be used for any person, place or thing in a group of related or unrelated elements.

 

Thanks for visiting  today,  GM

Unsuccessful shopping trip

 

My trip to buy perennials yesterday was not a success. It was cold and wet and there was a long line up to enter because only a limited number of people were allowed in at a time.  Once inside I found that there were hardly any perennials out and the only thing I bought that was on my "list" were 3 tiny white Bleeding hearts. I did buy some annuals that I will keep inside until the weather warms up. Also bought a variety of small herb plants at .99 each.

At Home Hardware I bought a number of bags of relatively good soil at half price because they were torn. I like to mix it with our compost for containers and also when putting in new plants.

 

 About the big house  in yesterday's post...  This type of very large house is what we see being built in this area.  Almost always it will be built by an East Asian family. Three generations will live in it and there's always a large rental suite in the basement . This means many vehicles so lots of parking is needed and the front yard is usually all tiled. There are rules about how much of your lot you can cover with concrete or asphalt  hence the tiles. (We get so much rain in winter and tiles allow the rain to soak in while concrete results in flooded streets.)

It's chilly again today but the forecast is for some nicer weather coming so we hope that comes to pass.

Thanks for coming by,  GM

Morning Walk

 

 This was yesterday's walk when the sun shone and it was lovely. Today we walked in wind and rain and it was not pleasant. But I took advantage of the sunshine yesterday and got lots done outside. Today we're off to the plant shop to look for some perennials to fill in spots where plants have not survived the winter.

So here are a few pics I took yesterday.

 These Hyacinths are in the park.

We have watched this house being built and it looks almost ready for people to move in. It's one of the more tasteful huge houses that have been built in the neighbourhood in the last few years. I like the built-out windows with the curved metal roofs. The entire house is covered with white tiles made of concrete. These tiles click together then are screwed to the walls. ( I know this only because when they were putting them on  DH went over to ask questions!)

 I hope the sun is shining where you live.  We're hoping for nicer weather tomorrow then back to rain on Friday. Who knows if that will happen. Forecasting the weather seems like an impossible job.

Thanks for coming by,   GM

Easter Baking and a mystery flower

 I baked Easter bread ( Paska)  and it was so quickly gone that I didn't get a picture of it once I'd iced it. My Mother always made her Paska in traditional round pans but I don't own any and we're all okay with the free form ones I make. Also Mom iced the top only while I put icing on the flat side of each slice. Cream cheese icing. It's the best.

This is what my mom's looked like. Isn't it pretty?  Oh yes, we don't like sprinkles on ours either. 

 

I'm not sure why I always end up looking serious on photos. Maybe because I'm not fond of having my picture taken.

 I tried a new cookie recipe. It has cream cheese and butter in the dough but ended up rather dry.  I probably won't make them again.  The picture below this one was supposed to be first and shows how I made them.

I saw this flower while on my walk and it looked so pretty I'd like to have some in my garden. Does anyone know what it is?

Thanks for coming by. I hope your week is off to a great start. Here the sun is shining and a new project has been begun.

Granny M

Happy Easter

 

Micro Greens

 

   

Happy first day of April.  It's a cloudy and chilly day here. Yesterday we had lovely sunshine and I puttered outside all day. I need more sunny days to get everything done ( does it ever all get done?). So unless the sun decides to come out from behind those clouds it will be a day for inside work.

Some time ago the Furry Gnome mention in his blog something about micro greens. I did a wee bit of research and found out that a) they're easy to grow, and b) they are supposed to be packed with nutrients. I figured that it sounded like a good idea. I'm sure my diet could do with a lovely boost of vitamins.

I chose radish seeds and grew them in a recycled plastic salad container. This is my second effort. They are supposed to taste like radishes but I can't say that they do. But they tasty and I think I'll do this until my outside  greens are ready.

Well, I must get on with my day. I hope the sun is shining on you and that April will be a great month!!

GM