Gardening Help

 

We are enjoying another lovely sunny day!  Yesterday eldest daughter and youngest son came to do some much needed ( and much appreciated) gardening for me. Even youngest grandson helped. If it wasn't for all the help I get I would either have to downsize my flowerbeds or let them become a jungle.
The Leopard's Bane is at its best right now. Lots of tulips are blooming; the few daffodils that I had are now done.

 We did the grocery shopping this morning. We don't go for our walk when we've shopped....not enough energy to do both. I think I'll take my second ( or maybe it's my third) cup of coffee and go sit onto the porch..
I hope you have a lovely day!   Thanks for coming by,   GM

Geese and Flowers

 We were caught in an unexpected shower on our morning walk. A lot of others were as well!  I think by noon it will have cleared up and we'll see the sun.

Remember that very first goose family of this year? There were 3 goslings then 2 then sadly, only one.
It has really grown!

Now there's a second little goose family; we counted 7 babies. Papa goose was being very vigilant and I didn't risk getting any closer.

I know I've shown this twisted old Weeping Willow many times but I never get tired of seeing it. I dread the day it gets too heavy and topples over.
 

The Daffodils we got on Monday have opened and fill the house with their lovely scent as do the Hyacinths that I got.  They were marked down to 3 for $5.  When they are done I'll plant them outside so they can grow and bloom for years to come.
 

Thanks for visiting,

GRANNY M.

 

Flowers

It was a day for flowers!  I took this picture in the park this morning.

 We planned to go to the plant shop and stopped on our way to buy some daffodils at a roadside stand.

We arrived at the shop just as it opened at 9. There were just 4 other vehicles in the parking lot. By the time we left 40 minutes later the lot was getting full!  We were surprised that so many were out on a Monday morning.

I know it's too early to be buying most plants but I got some that were on my list:  2 Early Girl tomatoes, 2 Hidcote lavender, 2  Heucheras, a mixed pot of  herbs ( mainly mint and Basil and something I can't identify) and a pack of tiny lettuces. These I have planted out in my little raised bed in the back.  Yesterday at the market I bought onion sets ( both red and regular yellow onions). I put those in the raised bed as well.

We've had  sunshine on and off today and the week's weather looks much more promising than what we've had so far. As we move into this last week of the month we can finally look forward to some fine days.

Thanks for coming by,  GM

Books and Blooms

 

 

I've mentioned that I'm going through my collection of children's books and then donating them in the hopes that children still read!  An author whose books I am now going through is Jean Little. She wrote over 50 books in her lifetime, mainly for young readers I'd say between 10 and 14. She herself was blind and many of her books feature children with physical disabilities  or facing difficult personal circumstances. I just finished Willow and Twig and I highly recommend  it for all ages. Willow and Twig's mother is a drug addict and they live a precarious life until they find their grandmother and go to live with her.  Jean Little died on April 6, 2020 at the age of 88.

 

You can hardly see it but there's a tiny bird on the very top of my latest bouquet..

I hope you're having a lovely weekend and that wherever you are the sun is shining.  We are having yet another damp day. We've had 18 days so far this month with measurable precipitation.   At least it isn't SNOW.

Thanks for visiting,   GM

picture from the internet

Strange Weather

 

 Strange weather again today.  It was overcast when we went walking but it didn't look like rain so we didn't bother with umbrellas.  Not long after we got back the sky opened and we had heavy rain. Now, an hour later, the sun is shining. I checked the forecast and apparently we can expect thunderstorms and gusty winds before the day is done. I'm planning an inside day and am continuing my sorting of children's books. 

On our walk we saw the tiny hummingbird that sits on a certain shrub most mornings. Not far from this shrub the biggest of our local birds, the majestic eagle, sits. From one extreme to the other. We haven't been able to see if the other eagle is sitting on the nest but we think so since lately only one sits in the tall trees overlooking the lake.

 Another Amaryllis is blooming. I'm looking forward to the time when night temperatures stay above 10C so I can move all 9 Amaryllis out onto the porch. They take up a lot of space in the sunroom.

That's it for today. Thanks for coming by,  GM

Morning Walk

 A few pictures from our morning walk.  It was cloudy and rain seemed possible but in the end we stayed dry and had a lovely walk. Lots of  Mallards and Wood Ducks.

 Quite a few clumps of Skunk Cabbage too. Here's what the internet has to say about it. I found the last little fact very interesting.

APPEARANCE

Skunk cabbage has a bright yellow lantern-shaped flower that grows 25 centimetres tall from the base of its large green leaves. It has a strong “skunk” smell that attracts pollinating insects.

RANGE & HABITAT

It grows in swampy and moist areas in North America from Alaska to California. In B.C., this plant is found in the Coast and Mountains and Georgia Lowlands ecoprovinces.

LIFE CYCLE

Skunk cabbage is a perennial plant and it is one of the earliest flowers to bloom. In March or April a yellow flower and spike can be seen poking out of the wet areas where it is found. Bees pollinate the flowers in late spring, and the green leaves are usually not seen until a week after the flowers appear.

ANIMAL USES

Black bears eat the plant in spring as a laxative.

I hope you're having a peaceful Sunday,  GM

 

 

 

Thursday Chit Chat

 Yesterday was a mostly sunny day that began with ice on the windshield but by afternoon the temperature had risen to plus 14 C.  I think the sunshine must have inspired me because I got a lot done. I baked cinnamon buns and bran muffins, got 2 scrapbook pages done ( they were about our mini kitchen reno), and puttered outside mainly looking for Chickweed and pulling it out before it could set seed.   Today also began with a temperature of minus 1* but the humidity is very low so no frost/ice on the windshield.  We've begun driving to the lake because as we get older we're both finding it hard to walk to the lake then all around and back home. Not that it's that far but obviously it's gotten to be too much. 

 I only have a few clumps of Daffodils and I noticed that one bunch had a few that were falling over so I brought them in.

Back to bran muffins. I never used to like them much then I found that by using oat bran instead of wheat bran I liked them much more. I add raisins and dried cranberries to make them even better. I find a bran muffin to be a very satisfying snack in the middle of my morning.

Better get a few things done around here.  Thanks for taking the time to visit.   GM

Gladys Taber and some Flowers

 

On  April 12, 1899 Gladys Taber was born.  During her lifetime she wrote 59 books including the Stillmeadow books. This is what the internet has to say about one of  her books......

When Gladys Taber and her friend Jill bought the shabby seventeenth-century Connecticut farmhouse, they saw it as a weekend escape from the city for their husbands and children.

But eventually they lived there year round, in the old country house they worked hard to restore. This is a book about them and their beloved Stillmeadow: the flow of the seasons, the garden produce, the neighbors who came to visit, and the children who loved Stillmeadow. It all comes to life in this round-the-calendar record of the changing seasons of the land and of the heart.

I'm fortunate to own 6  of her books and reread them almost annually. 

We had a lovely Easter with family get-togethers.  Our weather hasn't been great but I'm sure it will change one of these days. Seems we only get a day of sunshine here and there. Now that Easter has come and gone I think we're all thinking of getting out into the garden. Maybe some pictures of flowers would be nice.

The first 3 were off the internet, the last ones were my garden last year. I can hardly wait!!

Thanks for visiting,

GRANNY M

Happy Easter

 

Easter Bread and a Closet

I baked my Easter bread ( Paska) which turned out lovely but not quite as pretty as this one from the internet. For one thing I haven't iced mine yet.

 A quick trip to the thrift store to unload a box of no longer needed things and I found this pretty basket for .50.  I was actually looking for a wreath  to hang on the door of my new garden closet. I needed place to keep my garden pots where Kitty couldn't jump up and knock them down ... as she has done :(.

 

 The trim around the door still needs painting and there's a hole in the wall of the shed that needs fixing. Once the sun returns I'm sure it will all get done.  Meanwhile here';s a glimpse into the interior.

 Not much else happening on this rainy day. 

Thanks for visiting,   GM

Morning Walk

 A rather gray morning but mild enough for the beginning of April.

 The first goslings that we've seen so far this Spring. Just 2 which probably means the parks people found the nest and addled most of the eggs.  There will be many more goose families soon.

Construction has begun on an apartment building right near the lake. I think it's going to be 6 floors.

 This afternoon the sun came out for a while and it was very cozy on the porch. I finished the mystery I was reading then had a little nap.

Thanks for coming by,  GM

 

April Flowers

 

 Daffodils don't do very well for me. Maybe something lacking in the soil. I'm thankful for those that show up.

 These tiny bulbs planted many years ago do like my garden. I've forgotten what they were called.

 Pasque Flower blooming right on time for Easter.

 And Hellebores too.

 

 I've seen some ornamental cherry trees blooming around town and an early white Azalea that I wish we would have planted years ago. Now there's no room left for one. No doubt April will bring more pretty blooms to enjoy.

Have a happy weekend,  Thanks for visiting,  GM