Blooms

More Irises had to be brought in. I forgot that I have two different yellow ones.  One is intensely yellow while the other is quite a bit lighter.  Both have a faint scent but the blue one fills the kitchen with its wonderful scent.

 This clump of yellow and almost brown Irises is shorter and holds its flowers up with no problems.

The Deutzia ' Strawberry Fields' is starting to bloom. It has grown much bigger than what the tag said and I have to keep it safe from Someone who wants to prune it back. No names mentioned.

A few more pictures of what's blooming now....
 

So it's good-bye May and Hello June. Our days lengthened by an hour and 17 minutes this month.
In June the first day is 16 hours long and the last of the month will be a mere 12 minutes longer.

Thanks for coming by.

Petunias

Yesterday Eldest Daughter and GD Kate came by to pick me up and take me along to the Plant Shop we like the best. They seem to have to best prices and often have unadvertised specials.  I was there 2 weeks ago and bought too many plants so I decided to have more restraint this time.  Well, I didn't exactly succeed.  I had bought some Petunias last visit but now there were gorgeous double ones and I could not resist.

These are the ones I got earlier. Pretty but not nearly as fancy as the doubles.

 Last time I picked up a Chocolate Mint and after I got home I was sorry I hadn't bought an Orange Mint as well so I did that this time.  I use a lot of Mint in pitchers of water mainly from my large pot of Spearmint which I've had for many years. I have to dump the entire pot out and divide it every year. It gets very root-bound.  Usually there's no problem finding friends that want a wedge. If nothing else I can take it to the thrift store. They'll be happy to have it and no doubt it will be sold by the end of the day.

It's a cool and partly cloudy day. I've done some housework, picked a new bouquet of Peonies for the table and done 2 loads of laundry.  Time to sit on the porch.   

Thanks for visiting today,   GM

A Quiet Sunday

 It's a quiet Sunday, mostly sunny and very comfortable temperature.  I spent some time outside puttering. It seems very quiet  with DH and youngest son gone for the week visiting family in Manitoba.  

When I did my grocery shopping another 3 miniature roses jumped into my cart. I was forced to bring them home. I transplanted them into terracotta pots and lined them up in the sunroom window. I hope they do well.

My Irises grow too tall and they often fall over with the weight of the blooms.  So I bring them in.

My one and only Peony is blooming and I've brought in a few blooms  to enjoy on the table.

I'm off to read on the porch. I hope you're having a lovely Sunday too.    GM

 

Thursday in the Park

 The goose families in the park seem to have joined together and they herd their big bunch around on the grass.  I suppose there is safety in numbers although I don't know what threat there is for them to fear. An angry goose can scare away most predators.

We saw this turtle crawling up on a rock to sun itself.....then later we saw one on the grass. Was it a female laying eggs?  In the grass?   Or was it just out for a stroll?
 

It's hard to see but there's a mama duck with her ducklings in among the lily pads. I hope she can keep them safe.

After we got back and DH left for Gleaners I did some housework then finished my Miss Read book that I received for Mother's Day.  I enjoyed it a lot and was sorry to be finished. 

Thank you all for letting me know what kind of tree it is. I'll watch in Fall to see if it has Horse Chestnuts.

Granny M

This and That

 We saw the cutest baby bunnies in the park. So adorably sweet ( but no pictures).

We saw more goose families....

 I wonder what kind of tree this is. It's quite pretty and I hope someone can identify it.

 Now here's something easily identified, right in our backyard. This little raccoon must have strayed from his (or her) mom and decided to stay up in a tree until it was safe to come down.         

I've had a lovely day getting some weeds pulled with M  giving me a hand. Later I did a load of laundry and got some reading done. So the days go by. I hope you had a pleasant day.

Thanks for visiting,   Granny M

Mostly Flowers

Our weather has changed and our sky is overcast. This is a welcome break from the heat we've had. We wore jackets when we went walking. I had my camera but found nothing to photograph so  when we came back I went around taking pictures of what's blooming now.

The white Iris was the first to open....

 ...and today the yellow one has opened.  I love the intense yellow colour!

 Lots of Columbines. I'm not sure what colours I had originally but after many years of cross pollinating I have a variety.

 Some bird must have brought the seed for this Bachelor Button (Centaurea ?). I know this plant can be a prolific self-seeder so I'll have to be careful to deadhead.   Miss Kitty managed to photobomb my picture.

 I hope you're having a pleasant relaxing Sunday,   GM

Roses and a Rhodo

 

 

 This huge old Rhododendron is not far from our house but it's not the usual way we walk. This morning we made a point of doing just that.

 On our way back home I took these pics....the first is of the picket fence and roses between us and the very big house next door.  All the roses are hardy Rugosas including the white one below.

 

 Thanks for popping by

Have a lovely day,   GM

 

A Disturbing Episode

 Another fine day here; now at noon it's 28C  and I just went around shutting windows to keep the heat out. Our walk this morning was somewhat different....we saw an Eagle swoop down and pick what we assume was a small fish out of the lake. It then perched on a rock and ate it.  Later we saw a mama duck with a dozen of the sweetest little ducklings swimming quite near the shore. Suddenly something popped up out of the water and took one of those fluffy babies. The mama made a fuss but what could she do? Soon she swam off with her remaining 11 behind her. I wonder if she soon forgot about the whole thing or if she grieved for a while. Who knows what goes on in a bird or animal's head?   Isn't it strange that we felt nothing about the fish that became the Eagle's breakfast but were sad about the duckling.

I have no pictures of anything pertinent. I did take a picture of the rose bush behind the house. It has grown very tall and very wide. It has too many flowers to count and they smell wonderful.

 

 Thanks for coming by today,   GM

Hot Weather

 My but we're having hot weather!  Not 2 weeks ago I was wearing a warm jacket when we walked early in the morning. Now it doesn't even cool off much at night. We are under a heat advisory so I hope people are careful. Yesterday afternoon we saw an elderly lady walking with her walker in 34* heat. Not a good thing.

My poor plants are suffering. I did a bit of watering...mainly my row of Astilbes. If they get too dry they'll turn brown and crispy. They'll come back next year but I really don't want them to look unsightly all summer. 

On the subject of flowers....my Amaryllis has 4 lovely big flowers. I think by now all of them have bloomed. I have moved them into one of the porch windows.

 

In spite of the heat we had a lovely family get together for Mother's Day. We sat outside in the shade and had 2 fans moving the air around. I've read that Mother's Day is the busiest day of the year for florists and I think that may have caused some confusion in one of our local Florist Shops where son#2 had ordered flowers to be delivered because I received one arrangement on Friday and another one on Sunday.  Both myself and my son were a little surprised but obviously they got mixed up.

I've rambled on long enough and there are some things on my to-do list that won't get done unless I get moving. Thanks for taking time out of your day to visit here.

GRANNY M

Mother's Day

 

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, grandmothers, aunties, whoever you are, if you have little ones

 ( and not-so-little ones) that you hold close to your heart I hope you have a blessed day full of Joy. 

Back in March when the UK celebrated Mother's Day  I happened to see some interesting trivia on The Low Carb Diabetic's Blog ( Do you know it?  It has great tips for health that apply to anyone, not just diabetics). I hope Jan won't mind if I repost them here.

Mothers Day Trivia: Shortest Interval Between Two Children

Jayne Bleackley is the mother who holds the record for the shortest interval between two children born in separate confinements. She gave birth to Joseph Robert on September 3, 1999, and Annie Jessica Joyce on March 30, 2000. The babies were born 208 days apart.

Mothers Day Trivia: Longest Interval Between Two Children
Elizabeth Ann Buttle is the mother who holds the record for the longest interval between the birth of two children. She gave birth to Belinda on May 19,1956 and Joseph on November 20, 1997. The babies were born 41 years 185 days apart. The mother was 60 years old when her son Joseph was born.

Mothers Day Trivia: Highest Recorded Number of Children
The highest officially recorded number of children born to one mother is 69, to the first wife of Feodor Vassilyev (1707-1782) of Shuya, Russia. Between 1725 and 1765, in a total of 27 confinements, she gave birth to 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets. 67 of them survived infancy.

 

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Sending you a lovely bouquet to mark the day.   GM

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures to Enjoy

 

 Gorgeous day filled with sunshine. Both my girls came for lunch ( Sheila walked over from the hospital which is a 10 minute walk).  After they left I got working in the garden and when I got tired I came in and had a bit of a rest.  Not much to blog about otherwise so I'll post some pretty pictures that I got off the internet. Enjoy.

 Thanks for visiting,   

Did you notice?

Violets, Daffodils and Miss Kitty

 

Blogger has decided that this picture comes first so...my Violets  are blooming. 

 I bought 5 little pots of  Daffs for .99 each and stuffed them into this large pot. I get to enjoy them now and will plant them out when they're done.

I looked out the front door this morning to see what the day was like ( it's sunny) and I saw Miss Kitty also having a look ....from  her raised perch.

 Yes, it's sunny and the next week is forecast to be the same. By Sunday it might reach the 30's which will be the first hot days of this year.  Sunday is Mother's Day and no doubt we'll get together outside but in the shade!!

Thanks for coming by.

Sunday Chit Chat

 Like so many of you I watched the coronation of King Charles on Saturday. We had recorded it so I could watch it during the day. I took breaks from watching and did some housework. I remember when Queen Elizabeth was crowned but we didn't have a television and neither did any of our neighbours so it was more a matter of just hearing about it. Now I got to watch it and it was very impressive.

 Our neighbours across the street brought us a box of assorted cat and rabbit treats for Miss Kitty and Cinnamon Bun.  These are the people who took two of Miss Kitty's babies ( who are by now full grown). I thought that was so nice of them. ( They had gotten the various samples at some trade fair?)

 Lilacs are in bloom and they look and  smell as wonderful as they do every year.

 We  were visiting extended family and someone mentioned how dangerous it is to heat a cup of water in the microwave. They said one should always put a spoon into the cup along with the water.  I just had to check this out  and found that it's actually true.  I was really surprised. I'll post the information just in case someone else doesn't know; save you the bother of looking it up. Of course the whole thing isn't a problem if you don't overheat the water.

 

Usually, when we want to heat up a liquid like a coffee, water to make a tea, some soup, etc. we just put it in a glass or a bowl inside the microwave, and just start the microwave for a couple of minutes.

 

However, this can be a dangerous practice. Why?

Because when we heat up a liquid in the microwave, it can reach a temperature above it’s boiling point too quick,  and it just might no be visible to us. The liquid then becomes what is called an “overheated or superheated liquid”.

If an overheated liquid gets then disturbed, portions of that liquid may turn to boil or steam, causing it to splash or even explode and give you a nasty burn in the process.

So, how do we correctly heat up a cup/bowl/glass with a liquid inside it on the microwave?

-Just put in a metal spoon in the recipient along with the liquid.

The metal on the spoon will act as a heat dissipator, and distribute more evenly the heat within the liquid, preventing its overheating.

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 Let me know in the comments if this is news to you. Maybe I'm the last to find out.

GRANNY M