Good Bye January

 

 

 I've turned the calendar page over to February. I must admit to being glad January is done. We're enjoying a rare sunny day and I had a lovely walk earlier. Lots of people must have had the same idea because the park was full of walkers.
Yesterday we went walking by Fishtrap Creek and were amazed to see some river otters. There were lots of different kinds of ducks too , including some that we were not able to identify.

So it's Monday and I'm doing the usual laundry. In between loads I've been putting away Winter decor.

The sideboard before.....

The old Singer sewing machine before...

 ...and after

These teacups are some of my saucerless ones. I might not leave them there for long but I didn't want to leave the sideboard bare.

 I noticed that the second picture had a bit of my 'new' mannequin. Here's what she looks like. My eldest daughter gave her to me and I haven't decided where I'll keep her.  DH doesn't care much for her so I might end up putting her outside, at least for Summer.

 

Today's teacup. When I took it down from the shelf and looked closely at it I saw that the cup and saucer don't match. The cup is Royal Grafton and the saucer Foley.  I wonder if I noticed that when I bought them (thrift store, of course). Oh well, they look okay to me.

 Thanks for coming by today. Please leave a comment so I know you were here.   GM

 

 

No Fog Today

Today dawned sunny,cold, and bright...no fog! I love how the leaves look covered with frost.

This twisted old tree is still very much alive, at least it was last year. I have to admire it every time I walk by.

That flock of birds was there again and I remembered to bring my binoculars. They look like House Finches to me.

Doesn't this Eagle look grumpy?

(Photo courtesy of my DIL)

For some time now I've been unable to reply to any questions that have been posted in comments. I'm going to try Karen's system ( Happy One) who answers any questions at the end of her post. It's a good alternative and besides, who knows if anyone actually goes back to check for an answer.

Aritha....The little green bits that are poking up from my Hellebores may be buds... or leaves.

Betsy....Yes, I agree that fog is pretty but I'm sure thankful for clear skies today.

Debi...No, I didn't make that doily. I have no talent for handwork but I love finding such treasures at thrift stores.

Today's teacup

 Thanks for visiting today,  GM

More Fog and some Birds

 The fog is still hanging around. On the other side of this fence is a drop-off and then the lake, neither of which was visible when I was walking this morning. I had brought my camera because yesterday I didn't bring it and I saw 10 Swans on the lake. If they were there today I wouldn't know.

I did see an Eagle up in a tall tree quite close to the path and not far from that tree I saw another tree that had a flock of small birds that I didn't recognize. Surely they were not Warblers back from their winter homes and far too early. No insects around yet.

 

 Later...It's 2 PM now and the sun is trying very hard to brighten things up. I think I need to leave what I'm doing and go out and check if my Hellebores are forming buds yet.

Today's teacup  made by Paragon

 Thanks for coming by,  GM

Cookies

 

 

 It's Sunday afternoon and around here that means Dominoes. Youngest son and oldest granddaughter will be arriving soon, ready to get playing. I always make something to nibble on while we play and although I spent hours in the kitchen yesterday making healthy muffins for the upcoming week I'm afraid those wouldn't be greeted with much enthusiasm. So...what to make?  I remembered that on Saturday HappyOne posted a cookie recipe that was made with a cake mix. So that's what I made. I made the cookies 'man sized' so it didn't make as many as hers but they're really tasty ( yes, I ate one already.)  Thanks, HappyOne!!

 

 Today's teacup

 Thanks for taking the time to visit today,  GM

Seeds

 The week has flown by again. I did get the Christmas tree taken down and now the sunroom looks a little bare.

 I asked DH to bring in my seed chest from the garden shed and I took a look at what seeds I had and what I'll need to buy. Last year some seeds were hard to find so I'm going to make sure I buy mine very soon. Last time I was in Walmart I saw they had their display out so I'll go this weekend. Years ago I would order my seeds from Stokes but now our back yard is so shady that it doesn't pay to order the few I need since I seem to recall that shipping was costly.  It was fun though to browse through the seed catalog with all the glorious colour pictures. Is anyone else thinking of seeds and planting?

 

 Here's today's teacup. Those are strawberries on the teacup. It's hard to see them.

Thanks for your visit today,  GM

More Fog and a Birthday

 

I walked in fog again this morning. No wind and plus 5C made for a very pleasant walk.
The lake is still iced over and I had to wonder if the ducks are confused that the water seems to have disappeared.

 
Yesterday was A.A.Milne's birthday. He was born on January 18,1882.  Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh and friends were such favourites when my kids were little.  Who can forget Pooh eating too much honey and getting stuck in Rabbit's door?

 

 Today's Teacup

 Thanks for visiting,  GM

Fog

 We had a quiet weekend but really that's the norm for us.  We had a lot of fog and on Saturday it never lifted all day. It was strange walking over the bridge. We couldn't see much at all. Sheila took these photos when she walked I think in the afternoon when the fog was not quite as heavy.

 I've been looking back at which teacups I've shown and I think I've got it figured out. Here is today's!

 Thanks for coming by,  GM

A Busy Week

 This week has flown by and here it is Friday evening and finally I'm getting around to posting. 
 Our cold weather has passed and the snow is disappearing. I actually went for a walk yesterday and
 there were only a few places where I walked on slush/ice.
This photo was in our local paper and was taken in nearby Chilliwack. The Eagle was at first considered in distress but then was observed taking off and I assume the ice fell off as he flew.

 

 
Friday is grocery shopping day and there were lovely Primroses so I treated myself to this yellow one.

 Sandra asked in a comment on my last post wondering if I was going to keep posting teacups. I'm having trouble remembering which ones I've shown but I'll do my best not to repeat any.
Looking around for one to show today I saw this Japanese beauty up on the top shelf of this little cupboard in the dining room.

 A closer look. I'll have to check back to see what number teacup this is.

 Thanks for visiting,  GM

Monday Again

 

 

Here it is Monday again and for me that means laundry.  Now my laundry has been dealt with and lunch is done so I plan on putting my feet up for a while.  It's mild today and the snow is melting. Yesterday
we actually saw sunshine!!

Here are some pictures that daughter Sheila took when she tried to walk around FishTrap Creek. She had to turn back because the paths were not cleared and were very snowy and icy.  We're expecting heavy rain beginning tomorrow and I think that should deal with the snow quite quickly. 

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

Friday is for Flowers

 Another after Christmas sale that I took advantage of was Amaryllis bulbs which were marked down by 75%. These were very large bulbs ( I actually took photos of them but my computer won't co-operate today and I can only post pics off the internet of what my new bulbs will look like in a few weeks. Hopefully. Two of the Amaryllis have 6" flower bud stalks already.The first picture is of Amaryllis "Clown" and I bought 2 of those.

 

The third kind is called Terra Cotta.

 I also got Paperwhite bulbs marked down. I hope they'll grow, bloom, and look like the picture that was on the box. In case you're not familiar with these bulbs they're meant to grow indoors at this time of the year.

It was grocery shopping this morning followed by a doctor appointment for my DH who still has a lot of back pain. Unfortunately all the doctor could do was to give him a prescription for more pain killers and hope that whatever is causing the pain heals itself with time. Scary how a fall can cause such problems.
We still have a lot of snow and now freezing rain so walking anywhere outside is dangerous. I miss my morning walks!!

Thanks for visiting,  Granny M.

This and That

 Ever so slowly I'm putting Christmas things away. Today I put the place mats away and at supper we'll light the Advent wreath one last time before that also gets put into the Christmas "closet" ( an area under the stairs).   I made that wreath probably 30 or more years ago and it's held up quite well.  Every time I take it out I need to hot glue a few things onto it.
Did you notice my fake frosted little pine?  I've been having so much fun buying greatly marked down items on the after Christmas sales. I'll be sharing more in my next post.

 
While at the thrift store we saw this hotdog maker, perfectly new; no doubt someone received it as a gift and had no use for it. Try to imagine it without the wieners and buns in it. That's how we saw it and could NOT figure out what it was for. I was telling Sheila about this weird appliance we'd seen and I remembered it was made by Nostalgia. She had her phone out to look it up and almost instantly found it. I'm glad we now know because I really was curious.  ( I also saw a Milkshake appliance at the thrift store,  also made by Nostalgia, in that same gorgeous colour of red. Another gift someone obviously had no use for!)

 

 

We're still expecting that snowstorm that is coming and will quite likely dump a lot of snow on what we already have. Luckily we can stay home safe and warm.
Thanks for coming by,  Granny M

Tuesday is for Teacups

 

I was not planning on buying any more teacups unless I found one that I really liked a lot but then I saw these lovelies that someone had advertised for $10 for all 5.  I couldn't resist since I like all 5. The black one is Japanese, the one behind it to the left is Royal Albert. 
 

 

I wonder if I jinxed our weather by hanging this tea towel with its LET IT SNOW message because we had a snow squall yesterday and more snow is forecast for later this week.  Today, however, is a fairly pleasant day with the temperature above zero.

 So far this week I've been keeping busy tidying the house and slowly putting away some Christmas things but not the tree. I love the lights that greet me when I come down early in the morning. I'm going to miss that although I got a good idea from Holly over at The Merry Needle. She has created a "substitute Christmas tree" using a bird cage, a glittery nest and fairy lights.  Like me she wanted some thing to light up the darkness that greets us in the morning and descends upon us in the late afternoon already. 

Thanks for visiting today, GM