A Pretty Quilt

 

We're enjoying some lovely days although the forecast is for rain beginning tonight. The temperature yesterday rose to 18C  (about 64F)  and as you can imagine we spent the afternoon outside puttering. DH did some power washing, using the water from the rain barrels before more rain. ( We pay for our water as I suppose most people in towns do).
For those who are still under a blanket of white......

 

I noticed that one of the local thrift stores posted a couple of pictures on FB this morning.  I thought the quilt was quite lovely.  Then they showed the current display of doilies suitable for a similar quilt I suppose.

My task today is to go through my collection of children's books deciding what to do with them. Of course this involves a lot of reading and just paging through them before I make my decisions.
I usually try to set myself some chore for the upcoming day,  then when I've accomplished it I can feel free to read or just do nothing.

Have a lovely Thursday. Thanks for visiting ..... GM

 

**Diane in northern wis...I hope your poor sore foot is feeling better.

 

 

Monday Chit Chat

 

 Good Monday Morning!!!  It's a frosty one but not a cloud in the sky so no doubt we'll see double digit temperatures this afternoon.  Sunrise was just before 7 and we had not yet left the house so we missed it. The PD posted this photo though..

 Tomorrow just after sunset 5 planets___Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus and Mars__ will line up near the moon.  I must remember to look for that sight.

 It being Monday I'm doing laundry and generally tidying up the house.  What does your day look like?

 Thanks for visiting,  GM

 

Books and Flowers

 

It was cold walking this morning with the temperature hovering around freezing. We've been hearing Red-Wing Blackbirds singing and now a Robin must have claimed his territory because we've heard him every morning this week always in the same shrubbery ( although we haven't actually seen him yet).

I've been rereading my own books for the last while. After I finish each one I decide if it is a keeper or not. Slowly making bookshelves less full. I can't remember who posted about The Last Bookshop in London and also The Children Return but I requested them from the library and went to pick them up yesterday. Maybe after I finish these I'll go back to rereading mine again. Or maybe the weather will be such that I'll be spending my afternoons puttering outside instead of reading.

My Thanksgiving/Christmas Cactus is blooming again. It must really be happy in the east window where I put it.

Last but not least is a lovely bouquet I received from one of my sons this week.

Last minute thoughts.... 

I didn't know that Miss Kitty's markings made her a 'tuxedo cat".  Thanks Donna, for that info. Thank you all for the lovely comments on my Kitty. As I've often remarked, we really were not looking for a cat but she chose us and now we'd sure miss her if she left. Maybe had we known she planned on staying we would have given her a different name but as it is she responds to Kitty.

Another comment from a few posts back was from Fran ( welcome, Fran) who wondered about the need for chaining on anything in the front garden or risk having it stolen. We do live right in town and have security lights that are on all night but that doesn't deter thieves who brazenly take whatever they can sell ( quite possibly at a flea market).

Thanks for visiting, I hope you have a lovely weekend.   GM

Miss Kitty

 I'm giving fair warning...this is a post that is about my cat. I totally understand if you go now.  My only excuse is that the sun was shining and she was doing her best to pose for the camera.

It's hard to believe that she looked half starved and so scared when she showed up in our back yard last August. Looking at her bulging tummy it's a wonder we didn't realize right away that she was pregnant. Now all 5 of her kittens have gone to good homes and Miss Kitty seems to be quite content with her life.

If you're still here then thanks for coming by.   GM

Sunday Walk

 

We're coming to an end of the sunny weather which we have sure enjoyed. A lovely walk Sunday morning over at Fish Trap Creek. We noticed that a number of big old trees have been cut down.  I wonder if they were considered unsafe.

Any trees close to the water are protected from the beavers.

Obviously this one was not encircled with wire.

Someone must have fed the ducks

Male Wood Duck

 

Happy First Day of Spring!!

 

 

Signs of Spring

The sunshine has brought out the Crocuses and the bees are all over them  They're much smaller than regular bees. There's at least one in the crocus right in the front.

The chain that you see by these yellow ones anchors a bench. We have to chain on anything in the front yard or it disappears.

The chives are growing

I brought my seed chest onto the porch and looked at which seeds I had left from last year and what I needed to buy. It looks like all I need are bush bean seeds.  I may pick up another package of pole beans
so I don't run short.

 Thanks for visiting,  Have a lovely Sunday,  GM

Cleaning Up and a Discovery

Happy St Patrick's Day.

 We're currently enjoying some clear days. It was zero this morning (Celsius) but if it's like yesterday we'll see double digit temps this afternoon.  A shelf in my garden shed fell and some things were broken, others were in a mess. I got that tidied up yesterday.

 

 Outside, in the back of my shed, I keep all my empty flower pots, bags of soil etc..  DH and Youngest Son are making a closet so I can tuck a lot of the unsightly things away. Another reason for putting things behind a door is that Miss Kitty has knocked down pots from the high shelves that she insists exist for her to nap on.

I'm planning on doing a bit of baking today then at lunch Eldest Daughter and Youngest Son will be here.  I think it's going to be a very pleasant day. I hope yours is as well.   GM

About the difficulties I've been having with posting comments on some blogs. I have been seeing a small box in the upper left hand corner of my screen that asked me if I'd allow 'cookies'.  Yesterday I wondered if clicking 'yes' would be helpful and it was!! I'm afraid I'm so not techy that I only know about real cookies. Nevertheless I'm pleased to have what seems like the solution to my problem.

 

 

 

The Ides of March

 

What, you ask, am I posting now!  Always something crazy ... . kind of like the shape of my pies yesterday.  As Donna commented, she'd never thought of making pies that shape. The fact is I like to bake and I like to eat what I make BUT I'm also a 'bit' on the lazy side.  I try to get away with getting the maximum results from minimum effort. Consequently pies end up in unusual shapes, no 2 cookies seem to be the same size, and so on.  

On to the Ides of March. Here is what the internet has to say....

What is the Ides of March and what happened on the day?

Julius Caesar was actually assassinated on March 15 - the ides - of 44BC. He was stabbed 23 times by a group of Senators concerned about the amount of power Caesar commanded at the time. He was now dictator of Rome, declared emperor. It is said 60 to 70 Senators were part of the conspiracy to kill Julius Caesar.

Now you know. I wonder if any unpopular political figure nowadays could be eliminated ...not mentioning any names. 

After that I really should post something nicer.

 If you're still here I thank you for coming by today.  GM

 Note to Nellie who came by yesterday and left a comment. Unfortunately your blog is yet another that won't let me post a comment. Sorry. I so wish that issue would get resolved.

Pie for Pi day

 It's mostly cloudy today but there's a definite feeling of Spring in the air.  We had a lovely walk and watched the sunrise. When we came back I got the breadmaker going and took the pie dough out of the fridge to let it warm up a bit.  Since it is Pi day I thought I'd make DH's favourite which is cherry. I had  dough left from the last pie making day and it was just a matter of taking it out of the freezer last night and into the fridge to thaw overnight.

 

 The pies are done and the breadmaker is too so I'll get that in pans now. I hope your day is a good one. Thank you again for visiting and leaving lovely comments.   GM

Diane in northern wis.....you mentioned Watership Down in your latest comment and I just had to tell you how much my sons loved that book too!  Great memories. 

Daffodils

 

This is NOT an Easter rabbit, just a cute little bunny.  I wouldn't want to be accused of posting Easter pics too early although I just counted the days until Easter and there's only 29. Do you get together as a family for Easter?  Daughter Sheila plans to host an appetizer ...brunch, perhaps?  She hasn't said what exactly it will be.

My pots of daffodils are looking good. They got so tall I've had to tie them together.

I don't know what the ones with the orange centers are called but the white ones below are Bridal Crown.  Once they're done I will plant them all outside.

The plumbing problems are solved and all is well in the kitchen. Here's the new sink and faucet.

That's it for today. Thanks for visiting,  GM

Kitchen Reno

 

 
4 degrees and mostly cloudy this morning. We were the some of the first people to enter the grocery store at 7A.M.  Half an hour later we were done ( my list was short this week). Came home and DH left for Gleaners while I put things away then fed Miss Kitty and my Bunny.  By 9 o'clock I felt like I needed to sit down and have a second cup of coffee.

Our kitchen mini-reno is happening. The fellow came yesterday to install the new counter top and that went well. Unfortunately DH is having some plumbing problems installing the new sink and especially the new water filter system. We need it because our water has a strong odour of chlorine.   Hopefully today that problem will be fixed, meanwhile my kitchen is a mess :( 

 

The old, dark green counter....

 ...same corner with the new, lighter counter. Now  I'm on the look-out for a white microwave.

Thanks for coming by today,  GM