Sunday Afternoon

 

 

We've come to the last day of the year once again.  I've left the tree up and I'm in no hurry to put it away.  Most of the other decorations are more wintery than Christmas so they too can stay where they are.
I hung my 2024 calendar up with all the birthdays and anniversaries written in the right spots. I'm as ready for the new year as I'll ever be.

I finished this book which is one of the ones I received for Christmas. It was not quite what I had hoped it would be but nevertheless pretty interesting.  It's the true diary kept by a shop assistant in a small village.  It's mainly about coping with the rationing during the Second World War.

As usual we walked this morning. The fog was quite thick at places but not so bad that we couldn't see the water. Swans were leaving the lake on their way to look for breakfast. It's thrilling to have them fly right over your head.

It's a quiet afternoon; DH is having a rest and I'm obviously here at my computer. Eldest daughter came by and worked some magic and now I can comment on any blogs once again. In fact I think I may not be anonymous any more. Must check that out.

Happy New Year to all who come by and read my scribblings  (and often leave lovely comments).

Late December Morning Walk

 A few pictures taken earlier in the week by a fellow walker B.H.  I'm not sure what day it was; I'm forever getting mixed up what  day of the week it is. Hopefully after next weekend I'll get back on track.

 

Huey the Great Blue Heron

Lots of Mergansers

There have been beavers seen around this area and we've seen gnawed stumps but so far we haven't actually seen any beavers.  We did see otters one day and a muskrat.

 We had a bit of rain today but temperatures remain mild.  Not much happening around here.

Wordless Wednesday

 

 The Cold Full Moon of December

Boxing Day 2023

 

 

 
We are still very much in Christmas mode here since we've followed the tradition of our parents and hold 2 days of Christmas.  Yesterday we had a very lovely meal at Kate's...the turkey was so good. It's one of the only meats I eat so I'm happy when it's well done.
Today the children and grandchildren will come over and our house will be full of noise and laughter. We sit around the table and munch various savoury and sweets foods. We'll see if we can organize a game for that many.

Last evening we watched the Call the Midwife Christmas 2023 Special. It was so enjoyable. I hadn't seen anything that alerted us about it; we noticed quite by accident that it was going to be on.

I'm sorry I couldn't comment on many blogs because of  the problem I've been having with the "sign in with Google" message and now with the "Busy, try posting your comment later".  I was still trying to publish my comments at 10:30 PM with no luck at all. Please rest assured that I am reading but can't comment the way things seem right now. 

I hope you're all well and are enjoying lots of leftovers.  Thanks for visiting,  

Granny M

 

 

Merry Christmas

 

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you wonderful friends.  I appreciate your friendship so much.  I hope that in the new year Blogger will fix a few things so I can once again comment on the blogs that I now cannot. Also recently another problem is that when I press Publish I get a message that I should try later because Blogger is busy. Not sure what's with that. 

GRANNY M

 

 

Solstice

 

 

Mini Lemon Curd Cookie Cups

 

Here we are on this last week before Christmas. Not much is left to do so I decided to make more Lemon Curd Cookies ( which actually look more like tarts than cookies).  I was pleased with how the recipe turned out, actually looking like the picture on line.  Those I filled before freezing but this last batch I froze unfilled because I haven't bought my lemon curd yet. I do have what I'd need to make my own but with the price of eggs plus the possibility that my curd wouldn't taste as good as bought, I thought I'd make things nice and easy for myself and just buy another jar.

 

 I began reading this book yesterday and it looks like it will be very interesting. It takes place during the time of the Spanish Flu ( 1918-1920)  I assume that the author did her research and that she based her book on facts. Nevertheless I plan on looking up some information on that dreadful era.

 So I'm going to pour myself another cup of coffee and read. Thanks for taking time to visit today.

 

 

Decorating with Books

 

 

 
Happy Sunday!!  We just came back from our walk. The sky had such pretty clouds...not the kind that will give us more rain. On our walk yesterday we saw many swans some flying over and lots on the water. Today we didn't see anything very interesting but still it's good to get out in the fresh air and get some much-needed exercise.

I was thinking beyond Christmas decorating and browsing on Pinterest.  I've never thought of choosing books for their covers but looking at these pictures I just might do that in the new year.

This one is both beautiful and also looks interesting.

 

The latest about Kitty....  She's very upset with us for "torturing" her ( with the necessary cleaning of the area and also giving her her medication)  but hopefully our efforts will be successful. She is confined to the garage and isn't happy about that either. This morning she slipped past DH and got out.  It took a while ( and food) to lure her back in.

We lit the third Advent candle  this morning. Christmas is almost here !!! 💚💛🔅💠✳✳🔅.

Thanks for visiting

Poor Miss Kitty

 

 Poor Miss Kitty has had a hard week. She developed a big abscess on the side of her face which the vet had to drain. As you can imagine she hated the procedure. To make her life even more confusing we have to give her antibiotics twice a day. Now she hides from us when she sees us coming. Poor Kitty.

I sometimes wonder how other bloggers chose the name for their blog. The time has come for me to tell you the very short tale of why mine  is called Granny Marigold when my name isn't Marigold.  When my youngest granddaughter was about 5 she gave me that name so when I began blogging it seemed a good choice for a name.  I've been trying to sign my comments, especially those that come up anonymous, as GM which I still am because my first name is Mary Jane.  So there you have it. 

I'd love to hear how you chose the name for your blog
( assuming it's not obvious)

Sheila has asked us over for later today to see her apartment all decorated for the season. 

DH says a big Thank You for all the birthday wishes.

Have a good rest of the day ❤❤❤   GM

 

 

A Few Christmas pics and a Cake

 

 A few years ago eldest daughter created this woolly sheep and card. I have to smile whenever I look at it.

 
I put this display up early because it's more wintery than Christmassy.

Yesterday was my Dear Husband's 81st birthday. The family came together to celebrate. I made a simple Black Forest Cake.

Many small chores to do today so I better get moving.

Have a lovely weekend.

 

 

Hand Crafted Items....

 

 ...made by others. As I've often said, I am not one to do handwork. I did cross stitch for years but that's the only one I've done.  Eldest daughter, on the other hand, is very gifted in different areas from water colours to working with stained glass ( my house has many stained glass windows and smaller projects that she has made).  She brought me this swag for the front door a while ago. I don't think I've shown it before. She also painted the wood slice below.

I love to browse in thrift stores and find lovely things that others have made, such as pot holders. Here  are my Christmas ones.  Some of the ones in the last picture are almost mug rugs but if they have a hanging loop I assume they're pot holders.

I'm baking bread on this wintry morning and also a cake for a special day tomorrow. More on that next time.

Thanks for visiting,

 

A Book and Cookies

 

 I had a low energy day so only half of the laundry got done. I finished reading The Invincible Miss Cust which I began reading on the weekend.  It was a very interesting read and I liked that it was based on a real situation.  Sorry about the fuzzy photo.  I pasted some information below .

 

The Invincible Miss Cust is based on the real life of Aleen Isabel Cust, who defied her family and society to become Britain and Ireland's first woman veterinary surgeon. Through Penny Haw's meticulous research, riveting storytelling, and elegant prose, Aleen's story of ambition, determination, family, friendship, and passion comes to life. It is a story that, even today, women will recognize, of battling patriarchy and an unequal society to realize one's dreams and pave the way for other women in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

I tried a new cookie recipe. It consists of making sugar cookie dough that you press into mini muffin pans and make an indent in the tiny muffin which gets filled with lemon curd after baking.  The recipe is called Mini Sugar Cookie Cups in case you want to look it up.  I wish I'd taken a picture before DH whisked them away and into the freezer.  They look pretty good and tasted even better. 
I didn't make my own lemon curd. I find Bonne Maman brand is very good.

Our snow was short-lived...rain washed it away the next day. We walked in thick fog this morning but by the time we came back it was almost gone. Tomorrow is forecast to be much the same. Sunrise was 7:51  sunset 4:13.  We continue to lose a minute of daylight every day and I imagine that will continue until the 21st.

Thanks for coming by today,  

Granny M

Snow and some Christmas Books

 

Our weather forecast was for rain  with a high of 7C but this is what is happening right now. It's 2C and snowing!!    Even the weather forecasters must be surprised.

 Inside we are warm and dry. I'm so glad it was dry when we walked earlier.

 A December page from the Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. The tea cup is Royal Albert's Yuletide pattern.

Like I always do I took out my Christmas magazines and children's books. Throughout the month I browse through them.

 

 

 

 I hope you're having a lovely weekend,
          Thanks for popping by.

Shopping

 

Sheila and I went browsing at some Christmas stores yesterday.  This post has many pictures.  Feel free to skip past if you don't care to see a lot of pretty stuff.  Here's me at the first shop; I think this one had the most variety of the ones we visited. It's out in the country and very small and only open in the Christmas season.

 

 

 

 It's hard to see but the black lantern on the right with the Christmas tree in it was one of the items I chose. One of my sons had given me a gift card to this particular store so I had to choose. My but it was hard. The lantern lights up and there's a fan inside that makes glitter swirl around.

By the time we came to this store I was getting tired.

Today I have to make my Christmas Stollen.  DH has a potluck luncheon tomorrow and I want to send one along. Maybe I'll do a few more Christmas cards and a load of laundry. There's always something that I can do.  After lunch I'll put my feet up and relax. I hope you find time to do that too.

 

Betsy....my recipe for the Chocolate covered PB Balls with Rice Krispies  is readily available on line. There you'll have any instructions. My recipe card only lists the ingredients.  I've made the kind that has graham crumbs instead of the Rice Krispies. They are good too.

Thanks for coming by