Snow and Avian Visitors

 It was snowing lightly when we left on our early morning walk.  Once we got back DH left for Gleaners and I began tidying the house. I looked out and saw that the light snow had changed to heavy so I poured a cup of coffee and sat in the sunroom to watch it fall. It's so peaceful.

At the lake we saw two pairs of newcomers, Hooded Mergansers. They don't come every year so it's special when they appear. Both pics are from the internet, the first shows the male with his hood up and the next one with it down.

 

 Our kitchen project is coming along nicely. The first part is almost done but now I have to choose  new countertops and I'm finding it hard to decide. Seems that with most people's cupboards being white these days the countertops tend to grayish tones. Our cupboards are still oak  and the walls cream so gray wouldn't look good. We'll keep looking.

***Today I have to add The Furry Gnome's blog to the list of "one's I can no longer comment on". Grrr!

Thanks for stopping by today,  GM

 

 

This and That

 Sometimes when it's too early to go to bed and my eyes are too tired to let me read  I sit at my computer and visit various blogs that are not my 'usual' ones or I go to Pinterest and  while away the time looking at pretty pictures. I found the Winnie the Pooh quote there and liked it so now it's my (only) photo of the day.

It has been a blustery 24 hours and too cold for comfortable walking so we went to walk in the mall. It's open for an hour or so before the stores open ( which is 11 on Sundays) so folks can get their walking done. There are even plaques on (in?) the floor with names of those who are regulars and have logged 10,000 km or more.
As for us, we much prefer walking in the fresh air. 

Lately I've noticed that there are blogs where I can't comment and I wonder if anyone knows why. I think it's only on those blogs that say " To sign in with Google" and also "Post comments(atom").  Just this week 2 more blogs have had that problem namely Linda Letters and Happy@Home.  I can read but not comment.Added to my frustration now I can't even access Gretchen Johanna's blog. I don't know what is going on. 

I hope everyone is having a pleasant Sunday afternoon. Thanks for coming by,  GM

Wordless Wednesday...Dreaming of Spring

 

 

Thanks for visiting.  GM

A Kitchen Project and a Haircut

 

 

I hope you had a lovely weekend. We started a kitchen project that involves covering (painting) the wallpaper border and putting a new one (not as wide) over top. Don't know if it will work but if not we'll have to go to Plan B.  When I chose this border I wasn't sure if I liked it but decided I'd see how it looked once it was up. That was at least 15 years ago!!  Time for a change.

 It was time for a change for my hair too. Granddaughter Kate cut it when she came yesterday.
(Excuse my messy laundry room).

 We had a nice walk early this morning. 2*C with no wind and no rain. Great start to this the last full week of the month. 

Thanks for visiting and leaving lovely comments.  They brighten my day.  GM

Almost forgot the teacup. This one has Pussy Willows.

 

A little Rearranging

 

 Now that the Christmas things are put away it's time to get some pink out for February.

While I was putting away and organizing I came upon this old card that unfolds into a strip of shops. I've had it for many years and it was old when I got it.  I had to use a few pieces of clear tape but it's really in amazing shape.  On the back it says that the card originally came with tiny shopping bags and 10 paper dolls. It's the kind of thing I would have absolutely loved to have as a child.

 

Teacup made by Royal Stafford. The little plates don't actually match the cup but they're close enough.

Thanks for coming by today,   GM

Lately I have been unable to post a comment on various blogs. Today it's Furry Gnome's blog and also Catherine ( My Home & Garden).  I find this quite frustrating.

Monday

  

Not much to blog about so I thought I'd post some Monday-ish pictures from  Pinterest.

I did bake scones on the weekend. As usual no two were the same size ( but they tasted great)..

I chose a teacup with Daffodils as today's teacup. It was made by Roslyn.

Thanks for coming by,  GM

Cats and Cleaning Up

 I'm starting today's post with some sweet pics of GD Kate's kitties, Remington and Ruger.   Ruger, of course, is Miss Kitty's offspring and one of the gentlest of kitties. I'm glad those two get along so well.

 What's really on my mind these days is tidying up. I'm pretty good at keeping the house tidy but I have to keep at it and I want to have less "stuff".  I'll never be a minimalist. I like pretty things, useful things,sentimental things, but I need to keep purging, de-cluttering.  This week Eldest Daughter brought me a box of scrapbook paper and a bag of assorted jewelry bits to go through with the idea that whatever I didn't want would go to the thrift store. I sorted through the paper quite quickly but making decisions about the jewelry bits was harder. I finally decided that I'd keep a few pieces inside but most of the ones I liked and wanted to keep would be hung outside once the weather warms up. Needless to say I have a big box waiting to be taken to the thrift store soon!!  

That's what I'm doing today. I took the tree down earlier in the week. I had intended to keep it up longer but one morning I woke up with the motivation to deal with it so I did. 

I hope you're having a lovely weekend. It's quite mild here today, 10C just past noon.  When we walked at 7 the lake was almost hidden by mist. It was lovely but eerie. 

Today's teacup

Granny M

Wednesday Chit Chat

 

It's a lovely sunny afternoon and M came to ask if I had any sparklers as he needed some for a science experiment. We looked and sure enough I had some.  Then he asked if I'd come outside and watch him, which I did. He started with the BBQ lighter but then Grandad brought out the torch and it went from experimenting with sparklers to seeing if the plastic cup would melt. Which it did.

Since it was so pleasant outside ( 7*C) I thought I'd cut off the old Hydrangea heads that didn't get done last Fall. Now it looks much better. I noticed that the Hellebores are showing new growth and I must get the old leaves cut off in the weeks to come. (That's them further down the path).

Today's teacup is by Royal Chelsea.

Thanks for coming by,  GM

Cookies and Teddy Bears

 I have made Pfeffernuesse cookies for many years but they were different from the ones that Karen made ( and posted about on her blog Life is Good). She also has a blog called Karen's Kitchen and that's where I found her recipe.  The picture below is her picture.

These are the cookies I made and they don't look as pretty as hers but OH MY but they're good. 

I didn't roll mine in icing sugar preferring to make a thin glaze and pouring it over the cookies once they cooled. I'm definitely going to make these again next Christmas.

 I'm continuing to go through my books and letting any go that I no longer want.  As I paged through this book on Teddy Bears for the last time I noticed that the Bride Bear looked a lot like one of my bears.

This bear, Lydia, sits on the bed and keeps an eye on the other bears, the ones that sit on top of the wardrobe.
 

Today's teacup was made by Royal Chelsea.

I hope you had a lovely Sunday. Thanks for visiting,  GM

Visit to the Thrift Store

 

We had a number of boxes of stuff to drop off and  of course I had to go and and have a look around. I saw this unusual piece of handwork. I have no idea what it would be for. Some of the squares are actually pockets, others are not. The piece in the middle felt like leather but the words on the back say it's a chalk board. Apparently it was a gift to someone called Sandra in 2006. I wanted to buy it because it seemed a shame to leave it there, unloved and forgotten but I resisted.
 

What I did buy was this crocheted doily. I thought it was so pretty and priced at a dollar I couldn't resist.

Here's today's teacup made by Royal Grafton.

Ellabie: I like honey in my Earl Grey tea.  A Tbsp of Apricot Brandy gives a wonderful taste too.

Thanks for visiting, Have a lovely weekend.  GM

My Day

 Good Morning!  The week is going by so fast, hard to believe it's already Wednesday.  What I want to accomplish today is to put away the Christmas cards, dust the living room, make up my grocery list
( the sale flyers come out today), and do a post. So here goes...

Last week while shopping I found the glaced fruit that I use for Christmas cake and also scones, on sale for less than half price. I know it lasts a long time and doesn't need to be refrigerated so I stocked up.
I've never tried a store-bought fruit cake and since they were marked down from $8 to $2 I bought a dark and a light one. The dark one is fairly moist and tasty but the light one is disappointing. Now I know.

 We had a lovely walk again. The sky was just beginning to lighten up and the mountains were silhouetted against the pink and peach. So lovely. I never take a sunrise for granted. In summer I'm not up when it happens and in the other seasons we have so many cloudy days where we can't see it.
A lovely bonus on our walk were 3 swans that had just taken off and flew overhead!

Ellabie and Margaret both wondered whether I had a favourite tea. Yes, I'm very much an Earl Grey person. If my DH is going to have tea too then I make Lemon/Ginger tea which we both like. He definitely doesn't like Early Grey).

Today's teacup is another Japanese one. I like its 4 tiny feet.

 Thanks for visiting today,  GM

Monday Chit Chat

 Dear friends I'm so thankful for each one of you but most especially for those who assured me that they also do dumb things while distracted. I worry that it's my age but just maybe it has less to do with that and more to do with not being mindful. That is going to be an important goal for me in future.

We had a lovely morning walk. On this side of the lake the sun hadn't brightened up the sky yet...

 ...but once we reached the far side it was much brighter.  You can just see the tip of Mt. Baker in the middle back.

January apparently is National Hot Tea month and so I plan on drinking more tea and through the month I'll show one of my favourite teacups at the end of each post.  This one is one of my Japanese collection.

Thanks for coming by,  Granny M