Welcome November

 

To celebrate the new month I changed the display on my drop-leaf table from this...

...to this.

 

The words on the left tea pot are as follows:  May you be filled with the Peace and Beauty of the Season and the love of Family and Friends.

I know it's really meant for the Christmas season but who says they can't refer to Autumn?

 Have a wonderful day!!

Morning Walk

 

It was a chilly morning when we walked around Willband Creek. We were hoping to see swans because we'd heard they had been seen earlier in the week. They were not on the water but 3  did fly over our heads. We spotted an eagle flying with something hanging from his talons, most probably his breakfast.
There was a variety of waterfowl including widgeons and Hooded Mergansers.

I moved my pumpkins and gourds from the front steps to the back by my garden shed.  I remembered how last year around this time the kittens climbed over the pumpkins.  I hope all 5 are happy in their forever homes.

Along with moving the pumpkins to the back I'm slowing putting away Autumn decorations.  It's almost November and I'm thinking about winter now. We've had frost these past mornings and I noticed today that my 3 Dahlias in pots are blackened.  

Thanks for visiting,

Friday Chit Chat

 

It's the season of apples and we've been eating apple crisps almost every day. I finally sent the rest of the box along with youngest son today. No doubt DH will bring me more on Monday when he goes back to Gleaners.  I tried a recipe for baked oatmeal ( that called for apples but it's rather heavy and I won't make it again. Definitely needs ice cream, which takes it out of breakfast fare.)  I didn't get a picture of any of the crisps but they looked like this one.

 On the subject of food...here's a picture of daughter Sheila's cute cheese ball that she made for a pot luck lunch at work. She said she used the stem of a green pepper for the top.

Miss Kitty was missing for 24 hours and we were quite concerned where she could be. We discovered her in a storage area behind the garage that she must have slipped into when DH was getting something out of  there. She's very sneaky and quick to slip in behind a person. 

I hope you have a pleasant weekend.  Thanks for coming by   🎃

Wind and an Old Tree

 

 5C and very windy this morning. The park was littered with small and not-so-small branches that the wind tore off the trees. Fortunately I took a picture of my arbour with its lovely leaves on it earlier this week  because there's not a single leaf left. 

I know I've mentioned the very tall, dead tree on the lot behind ours. Every time the wind blew from the south east I was afraid the tree would come down on our house.  Yesterday it came down safely!!!  The excavator that's working in the back, on that 3 story medical offices building that will eventually be built, grabbed that tree and held it while a second man with a chain saw cut it down.  One minute it was there and the next it was gone. These pictures were taken a few seconds before it fell.

Incidentally, the tree had ivy growing on it which may or may not have killed it. You can see how far up it reached.

That was our excitement of the morning.  I'm so thankful that I no longer have to fear the tree crushing our house.

Thanks for visiting,  GM

Monday

 

 Good Morning!!  It was 8C when we left the house on this cloudy morning. A few raindrops fell but they didn't amount to much. I think it may brighten up later.

We had a quiet weekend; nothing much to write about....

 

This is the arbour that leads to the compost area in the back. I love how it turns colour in Fall. I can't remember if someone gave me the original 'starts' or how I came to have them but I can never figure out if I have Boston Ivy or Virginia Creeper. I've looked up both  to view the leaves but I seem to have both kinds. In any case, I enjoy them all year 'round.

I hope your week is off to a good start. Thanks for coming by,  GM

Angel Trumpet

 Two doors down from our house is a beautiful Angel Trumpet Flower growing in the front yard. I've been meaning to walk over and take a picture.  Here it is in all its glory.

 

Here's some information about this plant...

Angel’s trumpets are evergreen plants with many branching trunks and are typically less than 8 metres (26 feet) in height. The simple leaves can be toothed or entire and are alternately arranged along the stems. The large pendulous flowers have a fused trumpet-shaped corolla and can be white, cream, yellow, orange, red, pink, or greenish in colour. The flowers of some species can reach up to 50 cm (20 inches) in length. Most species are fragrant at night and attract moths for pollination, though the red angel’s trumpet lacks scent and is pollinated by hummingbirds.

 All parts of angel’s trumpets are considered poisonous and contain the alkaloids 

Besides wandering around outside on this lovely Autumn day I 'supervised' my garden helpers for an hour or so this morning.  Came inside long enough to make 9 jars of jam ( It will be shared with various family members ), then I took a nap.  How did you spend your day?  I hope it was a good one.

Note to Catherine ( whose blog is one of the ones I can't comment on).  I hope Bandit is okay and that the vet gives you good news.

Thanks for visiting, GM

 

 

Bee Sting Cake

 I have no idea if anyone will be interested in this post about a German cake that we had in honour of 2 birthdays this week. Eldest daughter turned 58 and youngest son 46. Their birthdays are just one day apart.
Youngest son tasted this cake earlier this year when visiting family in Manitoba. He raved about it and it seemed just the thing to search for, which turned out to be easy because there's a large population of Germans and Mennonites here and one restaurant that makes it.  It's very popular (the restaurant...the cake as well).  Definitely not a low calorie choice but delicious and worth it. That layer of whipped cream and pudding in the middle is light as a cloud.  I just copied and pasted info from a recipe site.

 

 

 

Background Information

Bienenstich – pronounced something like “Bee-nin-steeH” (there is no exact English equivalent for the German “ch” sound) – is a classic German cake recipe.

In fact, the history of Bienenstich – and how it got its unique name – is a fun story.

Legend has it that the German baker who first made the cake had to endure a few bee stings… because they were attracted to the honey in the almonds!

Luckily, the baker was committed enough to the cake recipe to share it. For us, the pain involved in putting together this bee sting cake recipe was minimal!

 

Looking for a delicious German cake with a nice level of sweetness? You’ve got to make this Bienenstich recipe.

Known as German Bee Sting Cake, this layer cake looks complicated but it’s actually relatively easy to make.

The dough is the same as for a classic German butter cake. The cake is then cut and filled with a silky layer of vanilla pudding cream.

The top is finished off with honey and butter glazed almonds that create a wonderful crunch when you break through!

 If you're still here then thanks for coming by and reading my ramblings. GM

Canada Geese

 

 It was 10C and cloudy when we left to go walking by the lake. As we came closer we could hear the noise that hundreds of geese make as they "discuss" whether or not to take off. I think they must have decided that yes, they were going, because in just a few minutes the sky was filled with them. We stood and watched in amazement as they circled around a few times then headed South. 
We observed much the same phenomenon on the weekend when we walked in Bateman Park where another walker ( with a much better camera) captured these images.....

 

I continue to have problems commenting on certain blogs and just want to assure you that I am reading them and will keep on trying to comment until perhaps Blogger will fix the issue.

Thanks for visiting today,  GM

Leaves and a Book

 Mostly cloudy day but pleasant for walking. We walked around Fish Trap Creek.  Lots of leaves on the ground now and with rain coming next week even more will come down.

 I found a Rosamunde Pilcher book that I hadn't read. It was at the thrift store and now joins my little row of her books on my shelf.   I'm always on the look-out for books by favourite authors.

 October is half passed. I intend to continue Fall cleaning. We have 2 family birthdays coming up. More on that later.  Have a lovely evening/night.  GM

 

Pumpkin Muffins and More

 

 Cooler weather is making me want to bake more often.  This being the season of all things pumpkin I thought I'd try a recipe for Pumpkin & Cream Cheese Muffins.  They turned out very tasty and for a change these muffins came out of their paper cups without leaving anything stuck in them.
In case you'd like to see the recipe it was on a cooking blog called The Novice Chef.

 Something that I noticed while looking at various recipes was that some asked for a half cup of condensed milk.  ( These were not muffin recipes though). So what do I use the rest of the can for?  I find it irritating and avoid those recipes

 ( although they sure sound good).

Would you like to see some Jack-O-Lanterns that I spied on Pinterest? 

 

Pretty silly, huh?  I really only like the third one.  Do you like any?

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

Wednesday Chit Chat

 

 

It was a chilly 10C  when we left the house at 7 to go walking. Lots of ground fog making the park look pretty. Very Autumnal. When we came back DH left for his volunteer 'job' at Gleaners where a load of lentils was arriving.     96,000 lbs of lentils. That will be a great addition to the soup mix.
I fed my rabbit then came in to sit on the porch with a mug of coffee. It was chilly out there too so I switched on my little electric fireplace. I was soon quite cozy.

 Now that our Thanksgiving is over ( it was lovely),  I plan on doing some Fall cleaning before it's time to decorate for Christmas.  Meanwhile I found pumpkins for a dollar each which I thought was a good price. I put some on the front steps and some in the house.

That's about all that's been happening here. Now I better decide where I'll start that cleaning.

Thanks for visiting,  GM

Friday Chit Chat

 

 As the weather gets cooler wild animals start looking for more food in order to fatten up for the cold weather ahead.   Who knew that raccoons ate grubs? Grubs that apparently live under the lawn. After the dry summer our small back patch of grass was brown and not very attractive. Now that the raccoons have begun to dig it up it looks a lot worse. (Since I took this picture a few days ago the area dug up has become a lot bigger.)

I'm surprised that the raccoons have left the tomatoes alone. I guess they're not fond of the taste.  I'm pleased that every few days I can bring in a few more.

Flowers for the table.

 

This is the weekend of our Canadian Thanksgiving. Tomorrow I'll be baking pumpkin pies!!  Yum.

I'll be back in a day or two,  GM

Pony Soldier

70 plus years ago my Uncle Ben took me to see this movie. It was the first time this little farm girl had been in a movie theatre and I'm sure I was very impressed.  My Mother and I were visiting my  aunt and uncle in the city and if I remember correctly we walked to the theatre. I suppose my Uncle must have taken pity on me and took me out for a few hours.  No doubt he looked for a movie suitable for my age yet not too childish for himself.  I have no idea why the poster showed a young woman with a sexy dress when the only young woman in the movie looked nothing at all like that.
This is what the internet has to say...

Pony Soldier is a 1952 American Northern Western film set in Canada, but filmed in Sedona, Arizona. It is based on a 1951 Saturday Evening Post story ...

 

Last week Youngest Son found it on-line and we watched it together. He wondered if I'd remember  any part of the movie but I can't say that I did.

‎

Thanks for coming by and letting me share this memory with you.  GM

New Trails and a Problem Commenting

 Grandson M took us to a new-to-us hiking trail on the weekend. Actually it branches into various different trails but he kindly took us on the most level ones. As you can see there's a sharp drop-off beside the path. You may be able to see it better in the next picture.

Somewhere I have a picture of those two walking just like this taken ten years ago!

 It's great to have different places to go walking all within 6 km of home.

I'm once again having trouble commenting on certain blogs. Why now? I haven't changed any settings. These are the ones I can't comment on at this time:

Linda Letters

My Home and Garden

HWIT BLOGG

Furry Gnome's Adventures

I will keep trying because obviously I could, until now, comment, so what's changed?

I hope your week is off to a great start. After a couple of lovely sunny days we have clouds and showers but since I had lots of laundry etc. to do I didn't mind. I do hope for sunshine tomorrow though.

Thanks for visiting, GM