Morning Walk and an Amaryllis

We walked beside Fishtrap Creek this morning as we usually do on Sundays. It involves a short drive whereas our nearby lake does not  otherwise I think we'd choose to walk at Fishtrap every day. More shade, less people and better views.

 
It's 33C ( 91F) now  shortly after lunch . Hopefully this week our temperatures will go down below the 30's daytime highs.  I find it difficult to get much done around the house and outside as well.  Thankfully youngest son came early yesterday morning. I had a long list of plants to cut down ( mainly huge clumps of Shasta Daisies) and he dug out several overenthusiastic perennials although with no watering I can't understand why they grew so much.  Anyway, it all got done in a relatively short time and I am very thankful for all his help.

My  Amaryllis has 2 fully opened flowers and more buds. I brought it up to my room where there is A/C  hoping that will help the flowers to stay lovely as long as possible.

Thanks for visiting,  GM

Christmas and Bindweed

Another extremely hot day. DH was kind enough to drive me to the library to pick up a book I had requested. Christmas with Rosamunde Pilcher. I know it's an unusual choice of reading material for July. I've taken this book out a number of times through the years and always find reading about her growing up in Scotland and the Scottish traditions surrounding Christmas so relaxing and pleasant. She includes lots of photos and recipes as well.

On our early morning walks by the lake I've been admiring the lovely but very invasive Bindweed.
It is capable of  creating endless trouble in the garden once it takes hold.  It is also known as perennial Morning Glory. It looks fine covering fences in the park with its pure white flowers ( although the internet tells me it can also have pink blooms I've only ever seen white ones).

Thanks for coming by today. I'm off to read my book and think about winter and Christmas instead of how warm I am.

GRANNY M

This and That

 Another cloudless morning sky. No doubt another hot afternoon. We hit 35C yesterday which is about 95F.  Too warm for my comfort.,  But walking at 7 was lovely. We saw a young raccoon up a tree  (crows drew our attention to it as they were making a big fuss.), also 5 rabbits and two turtles. This time of the year turtles come up on to the shore to lay their eggs. This one had come as far as the parking lot.
Western Painted Turtles are apparently an endangered species and we're fortunate to have a population at Mill Lake.

I found these 2 glass containers at the thrift store. I think they're perfect for storing icing sugar and also brown sugar. Of course this led to a little rearranging in my pantry.

Last but not least is this tiny cherry tomato, the first of the season. I was watering them this morning and I noticed there's also some Midnight Snack that are ripe. As you'd expect with a name like that they turn black when ripe..  The tiny green bean is also a first of the season. I think we'll let them get a bit bigger before we pick them.

I hope you're having a good week. Thanks for coming by,  GM

Hollyhocks and Zinnias and more.

 

 Another beautiful day filled with sunshine. It's going to be hot by afternoon and hot is the forecast for the coming wee.  Hard to believe we're going into the last week of July.

My Hollyhocks are blooming

 

And finally some Zinnias are too. Sorry about the awful pictures but you get the idea.

I've always called these Montbretia but they're also known as Crocosmia.  Apparently their common name is 'falling stars' but I've never heard them referred to as such. Hummingbirds absolutely love them.

I hope you're having a lovely peaceful Sunday. Thanks for taking the time to visit.  G.M.

Two small projects

 I know I've shown my well-loved porch swing many times. I like to have a couple of different quilts to change off  ( the material underneath it is very old and the quilt covers it nicely. This quilt is one I bought (along with a pillow sham) last spring. The quilt was probably a king size and every time I tried to straighten it on the swing it bunched up. Yesterday I had enough. I found a spot where I could spread it out and cut the excess off. It was hard to do because I felt I was ruining the quilt but I knew if I didn't I'd keep disliking the "bunching". I'm happy to say this was a success. 

I should add that this quilt isn't really quilted. The material is patchwork if that makes sense. It has a filling though and a very nice fabric on the back.

Not such a success with my jam today. The jam turned out fine but I had the not-so-brilliant idea of using a plastic jar. You can see just what the hot jam did to it. What a mess. I'll stick to glass jars from now on.

Thanks for visiting,

Granny M

Seen on my Morning Walk

 It's a beautiful sunny morning.  We're going into a prolonged period of very warm days but it does cool off at night, thankfully.
There were not many ducklings this year, not like other years. It's possible that park people addled the eggs because of the sheer numbers of geese and ducks that stay on the lake all year round.  This mama duck must have laid a second clutch. The babies were so little they could walk ON the lily pad leaves.

 

 There were lots of bunnies of all sizes hopping about. I saw a very tiny one, the smallest I've ever seen but didn't get a good picture  of it.

We pass by this old Weeping Willow every day and it never fails to capture my attention. It has a spooky sort of look as it leans ever closer to the water.

In spite of the warm day I'm baking bread today. What are your plans?

Thanks for coming by,  GM

Monday

 It's Monday afternoon, the laundry is done. It's cooler today and more conducive to working. Unfortunately it's a low energy day for me so I'm not going to tackle any other chores today.

Some have wondered if washing my many teacups is a bother  and it is time consuming but it also gives me a chance to handle and appreciate the beauty of each one. I cleaned all 80 that were in the dining room and not behind glass.  There are roughly 65 of those and I'm going to assume they are not needing washing.  One of these days I'll start on the teacups on the porch but not this week.

We have a very old Queen Elizabeth rose growing in the back wild area. She gets Black Spot every year and loses leaves but still she blooms.  She grows very tall and DH  manages to bend the branches down to cut the pretty pink blooms.

Eldest daughter gave me an old lamp base. It is very heavy and stable so I found a light fixture bowl at the thrift store and we glued it onto the top. For now I've been floating flowers in it.

We brought this water lily home from the lake. Too bad they only bloom one day.

 That's my post for today. I hope your week is off to a great start.   GM

Raspberry Jam

Last year I was given a small raspberry plant not much bigger than a twig. I didn't know where to put it because I am very short of space by now.  In the back near a gate that gives a second access to the front of the house I plunked it in the corner.   No rain hit it there and no attention was paid to its wellbeing. As you can see it has grown!!!  I must find out what to do with it come spring. I would like to make a row there since so far nothing has thrived in that area.
I have had numerous small bowls of lovely raspberries these past weeks. I even had enough today to make a small batch of jam ( I added a chopped apple to 'extend' the raspberries. I love raspberry jam but my DH does not so I'll be enjoying 'my' jam on my morning toast.

 

 My 2 little jars of raspberry/apple jam. Below that is some rhubarb/strawberry jam we made earlier in the week. 

We had a light rain last night. Just enough to settle the dust but hopefully we'll get more. It's still cloudy out there so I'm hopeful.
I hope you're having a lovely weekend. Thanks for visiting,  GM

Thursday Chit Chat

July seems to be the month when strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and cherries all ripen at the same time.  Mostly I freeze the fruit for winter use. The freezer is almost full by now (definitely a first world problem).

Monday is my day to water my houseplants and check for dried leaves or bugs. Imagine my surprise when I saw that one of my Amaryllis had a big healthy flower stalk.  It may be one that didn't bloom in late winter like the rest did. It decided that now would be a good time to bloom and I think there's a second flower stalk coming up from the side of the bulb.
 

I found this birdhouse at the thrift store.  The roof is tin and the walls are some kind of wood. There's a pattern of grass and flowers on the side and it feels like that part is just paper. I put it in the shade area

 ( that has a metal roof so nothing gets any sunshine nor rain). It should do fine there. I doubt any bird will use it especially since there's a hole in the back just like the one in the front.

It's another sunny day. We sure don't take those for granted. But, a day of soft rain would be welcomed by the flowers and would refill the rain barrels. Speaking of which, I'm off to do some much-needed deadheading. I hope you're having a lovely day.

Granny M

Nothing but Flowers

 

 July in the flower garden this year is superb. Everything is growing and blooming.  I have had to water a lot since it's been a while since we had any rain. Our 6 rain barrels are getting low ( don't tell DH but when I get tired of dragging pails of water I turn on the hose).

 

That pink Hydrangea is Endless Summer.

Along the tile path to the front door I've planted a row of red  Astilbes.

 Perennials fuchsias are just starting to bloom. Hummingbirds love them.

Daylilies are also starting to bloom. This one is one of my favourites  

 
It's a beautiful sunny day and I'm doing laundry. I hope to do more Spring Cleaning ( maybe it would be Summer cleaning by now). This week I'm taking down all the teacups not behind glass doors in the diningroom. ( there are at least 50 so it's not a job to do in one day). I wash them, wipe the shelves, then put them back again.   I only do housework in the mornings; I like to keep afternoons for sitting on the porch and reading.
What are your plans for this week?

Thanks for visiting today,  GM

Thursday Chit Chat

 My Nasturtiums have begun blooming.  There are still quite a few just tiny plants; I'm not sure why they're slow because I sowed them all at the same time.

 

My perennial Sweet Peas have also begun to bloom. Unfortunately I only have pink ones. Years ago I had a white one but it hasn't appeared the last 2 years. My annual Sweet Peas are just a few inches high. Maybe I should give them a shot of fertilizer.

 A quick trip to the thrift store to look for more reading material and just look what I found. A treasure!!  This Gladys Taber book first published in 1928 and no longer available on Amazon was priced at $2 ( and as a senior I got 20% off ).  Those of you who are GT fans will understand my joy.

 It's a pleasant day here, not too hot so just right for puttering outside which I have done. Now it's almost lunchtime and DH will be home from Gleaners and want some lunch. Neither one of us can face oatmeal at breakfast so we have it some days at lunch. With a drizzle of maple syrup and a few blueberries it is delicious!

Thanks for coming by,  GM