This and That

 

 The day dawned clear and chilly. I took this picture on my walk just before I turned around and headed for home. I had bread rising and needed to be home. I'll take another walk later in the day, this time with my DH.

 The sun streamed into the porch where I have various pots of herbs and bulbs protected from the cold nights we've had recently..

I did some baking for the weekend. Scones, mini cheese loaves and an Angel Food cake.

I wanted to take today's teacup in front of the pot of Daffodils but the teacup looks so washed out.

Here's a better shot.

Have a pleasant weekend.   GM
 

Dreaming of Spring

 I'm dreaming of Spring and looking for ideas that I can try to copy. This arrangement is one that would have to be kept indoors. I have a south window that would be perfect for it. I have several Haworthias from which I could take the babies ( called pups).   . I'd like to find a succulent  like the one in the back. I really like that one.

 Here's what my Haworthias look like. The tiny one in the middle pot was a 'pup' from the front one which has now grown a number of new babies.

I treated myself to a pot of mixed bulbs. It's hard to see but there are 3 Hyacinths just starting to grow.

I couldn't resist a pot of Basil that will grow on the kitchen windowsill for now.

Today's teacups

I hope you're having a good day. Thanks for visiting,  GM

A Blustery day

 No walk for me this morning. A strong Northeast wind is bringing cold temperatures to our area. At least we don't have snow like we did when I took this picture 8 years ago.  I've heard that snow insulates plants and mine are exposed to the cold. I wonder what will have come through this winter. I suppose I'll find out in a month or so.

I was given a box of assorted dishes. Because I don't have much room left I chose only a couple of pieces. This pretty teapot and cream jug.....

...and the cream and sugar set.  I also kept a single cup in this pattern and will put a small plant in it.

 

I'm getting unsure of which teacups I've shown so I may already have posted these.

 This is going to be a day for curling up in a comfy chair and reading. I hope your day is going well.

Granny M.

P.S.  Did you realize that today's date is  22-02-2022 ?

Sunday Walk

 Yesterday we walked in the rain but today was much better. It is mostly cloudy and  6C. We saw all the usual water fowl also spied this one  that we were not sure of. Turns out it's an American Widgeon. Apparently quite common in B.C. but we have rarely seen any.

image from the internet

DIL  got a great picture of the eagle in her nest.  Hopefully the eagles will successfully raise at one eaglet. Two would be even better.

This snack set is a Royal Albert set called Inspiration.

Thanks for coming by,  GM

Chit Chat and Gleaners

 

 

 Since some of us in the family get together on Sunday afternoons to play Dominoes almost without fail I thought this picture was  appropriate, after all, it's almost the weekend again.

It's an overcast day but not unpleasant at all.  Walked around the lake, saw the swans again also a large number of Northern Shovelers. 

After I came back I took some time to cut down perennials that were missed last Fall, did a bit of raking then my back told me to quit so I did.. 

The Furry Gnome and also Elizabethd asked about Gleaners where my dear  husband (DH) volunteers 4 mornings a week.  I've taken some information from Fraser Valley Gleaners website and copied and pasted it here but for more info please visit their site.

 

 As a registered Canadian charity, FVG is both volunteer-run and donor-driven. On a daily basis, volunteers from many walks of life give of their time and energy to slice, dice, scrape, and mix our product.     

Fresh and frozen produce is picked up by our volunteer drivers on a daily basis. The volunteer staff next transform this produce into a cut-up, ready-for-the-dryer mix that will spend anywhere from 8 to 10 hours in an industrial-size drying unit.  The dried product is then scraped and barreled in anticipation of a future “mixing” date.

Once we have an entire season’s worth of dried items for our soup mix, the mixing lines are set up and several of the winter months are devoted to transforming individual barrels of vegetables into a tasty just-add-water soup mix.
In this same time period, we also complete the bagging of dried apple snacks.

Where It Goes  

FVG Soup Mix and FVG Apple Snacks are distributed throughout the developing world.  In recent years our product has made its way to over 40 countries.  In order to ensure that each bag of soup mix is distributed into the hands of those in greatest need, we work with a variety of distribution networks - including reputable relief and development agencies, individual missionaries, and short-term outreach teams.
**********

I should explain about the apple snacks. I believe apples are the only fruit that Gleaners dries. The apple snacks are sent along with the soup mix for the children in the needy countries that receive the soup.

. I can't remember how much soup one large bag of mix makes but it's a LOT.  In case you wonder why the soup can't be used in our country to feed the hungry there's a law against it.  Seems strange but that's the way it is.

I hope this was not too long a post and if you're still here Thanks for visiting today!!

 

Reply to L J  Lowe   
Thanks for visiting my blog. I'm having trouble posting comments on some blogs and I found that yours is another one where it isn't possible. I'm so sorry and I'll keep trying.

A Busy Day

 

 

Busy morning with grocery shopping being done today instead of our usual Friday. DH wants to be there tomorrow to help deal with 5000 lbs of onions  that Gleaners received. We all know that onions are a very important ingredient in soup.

 

After we got home all the groceries had to be put away. Before we left we had unplugged our very old second fridge in order to defrost it.  That got done then DH helped me and we made a Date Square        ( matrimonial  squares).  I found this interesting little bit on google.

Why is it called matrimonial cake?

Some feel it is called matrimonial cake because of the two separate layers brought together by dates which symbolizes two people courting and solidifying the relationship in marriage. Others feel that the smooth and rough textures of the date squares represent the easy and difficult times of a marriage.

 

picture from the internet

 

 

These two unusual sets today. The first one made by Adeline Co and the second by Teaopia. I have never heard of either of those companies.  I found them at the thrift store ( of course) and they were quite inexpensive so I thought I'd add them to my collection.

Betsy___ About that Hydrogen Peroxide mix. You water the affected plant enough to completely wet the soil and that should kill all the gnats and their larvae. It shouldn't be necessary to repeat the process..

I'm watching my plants carefully to see if any look wilted or otherwise affected negatively. Also I haven't seen any gnats yet today. So I'm hoping I killed them all.
 

 

Granny M

This and That

 Here's a blast from the past,  1935 to be exact.   I'm quite sure none of us were around just yet but I remember those shoes. Anyone else remember them?

 

I went to the Dollar store today and bought Hydrogen Peroxide . I'm taking Ellabie's advice and treating my houseplants to a drench of one part Hydrogen Peroxide to 4 parts water. This should kill not only the fungus gnats but also their larvae.  I also mixed up a weaker mix to fill a spray bottle to keep on hand in case some gnats survived the treatment. I hope it works.

 Today's teacup

Thanks for visiting,  GM

Happy Valentine's Day

 It's the season of cookies...heart-shaped cookies.  Won't you have one?  Which one would you like?

 

 The above pictures are taken from the internet. No cookies were baked here but I did make and decorate 2 dozen chocolate cupcakes. Since Feb. 14 is also middle son's birthday we have double the reasons to celebrate .

We are enjoying another day of sunshine. As we often do on a Sunday we went walking at Fish Trap Creek. We were thrilled to see the River Otters again. 

Today's teacup  is one of my favourites.  I love pussy willows.

Thanks for coming by.

 I hope you have a lovely Valentines Day.

Granny M.

House Plants

 

My Terracotta Amaryllis has opened and although she's not as flashy as the Clown ones she makes a nice splash of her own. As you can see I've had to tie a ribbon on to her because she was having a hard time supporting the heavy flower stalk.

 

 I seem to have a lot of annoying little flies that live in the soil. I ordered more of the little "fruit fly" traps.  The white paper gets peeled off and the underneath is very sticky. You can see how many flies have stuck onto them below.

 On a more pleasant note...my Christmas/Thanksgiving Cactus has a few flowers again.

 

Today's teacup

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you have a lovely weekend.

 Granny M

Wordless Wednesday...... Morning at the Lake

 

 

 pictures courtesy of my DIL

 

Today's teacup

 Granny M

Reading and Baking

 Mainly cloudy day with a temperature of 7C ( 45F).  Had a lovely walk and saw even more swans. I think we counted 25 adults and a juvenile.  When we were on our way back home they flew over and we stood and marveled at the size of them.  Searching through my bird book I think they must be Tundra swans.

Are you a Susan Branch fan?  I have several of her books and am currently rereading  A Fine Romance,  Falling in Love with the English Countryside. She includes a number of recipes in the book and  she inspired me to make popovers which turned out pretty good.

 I also made the recipe for Lemon Butter cookies. I wondered how the corn meal would be in a cookie but the texture is lovely. Definitely a recipe I will make again.

 

I'm not sure where I got this recipe but I remembered how much we enjoyed it when I did make it. Dill bread.  I made the dough in the breadmaker.  The dill flavour was very subtle and next time I'll add even more dried dill.    I asked middle son how he had liked it and he replied that he thought it was ordinary bread and put peanut butter on it.  :)

 

 Today's teacup

 GRANNY M