This and That

 Earlier this week we dropped off a box at the thrift store ( of plants this time) and I popped in to take a look around. I found this great purse which is something I was actually looking for.  
 It has 4 compartments inside and a zippered one on the back. I do like having that option.

I've put away the Spring and Summer bears....

 ....and taken out the Autumn ones. (My picture is not terribly clear. Sorry)

 

Even the flowers are thinking of Fall. The Japanese Anemone 'September Charm'  are blooming now 🌸🌸🌸.

 

Our weather is changing and tomorrow's high is forecast to be 21C  (70F) so that will be ideal to get some baking done. I vacuumed the main floor today ( DH does the lower floor) so that's done. 
I looked at the food flyers on-line and made my list for tomorrow's grocery shopping. Now I will have to get inspired for today's evening meal.

Thanks for visiting

 

 

 

Electric Trucks and A New Shade of Cat

 A couple of Monday morning bits of information that you may or may not find interesting.

When we were at the park this morning ready to walk we saw a very strange looking vehicle. I didn't get a picture but here is one from the 'net.      Also this explanation......

 The 2025 Tesla Cybertruck looks like nothing else on the road, but look past its geometric design and you’ll find a fairly capable electric truck teeming with technology and satisfying performance.
Tesla estimates that the Cybertruck can go from zero to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds, and it has a top speed of 112 mph. 

Did you know that a new cat colour has officially been discovered?
It's called "salmiak" or salty liquorice. The cats have hair strands that start out black, and become white the further they grow from the follicle. It turns out the unique colour  is caused by a recessive mutation.

The pretty black, white and grey shade is named after a popular snack food in Finland where this new colour of cats had its beginning. 

Meanwhile I'm struggling to get my laundry done with no manual for the new washer and the one on-line not very helpful.  I'll be back soon.

 

Thanks for visiting

 

 

 

 

Touches of Pre-Fall Decor

 We're enjoying a few cooler days before the expected heat of the coming week. It's going to be a very noisy weekend because of the annual Air Show ( which is the biggest air show in Canada and attracts a lot of people to our area).

I took advantage of the coolness yesterday and baked. I made Bran muffins and also Peach muffins. The I did a bit of pre-Fall decorating. This tiny bouquet was all that was left of the bouquet I received  last week. That little pumpkin is a leftover from last year.  Surprisingly it never went soft or rotted.

 I picked this garland of leaves up at the thrift store . Rather than put it away for a few weeks I hung it right away. It fit perfectly over the opening to the sunroom from the dining area.   You can just make out in the back  the garland I then hung in the sunroom. 

 

 Later today the new washer will be delivered ( and the old one taken away by the same guys). 

Meanwhile I must get going and do some much needed tidying.

Thanks for coming by 

 

Blueberry Cobbler

 

 

 Very different Monday with no laundry being done. We'll be getting a new washer later this week 
( hopefully). The cost of the part needed plus the charge for a service call was more than half the cost of a new washer and since our old one had been around for a number of years we decided to go with a new one. I never liked the old one. It wouldn't fill with enough water to even cover the soiled items and it would decide if you got warm or cold water. No matter which button you chose.

It's a long weekend here and we took advantage of DH being around ( instead of at Gleaners) and went picking blueberries in an abandoned field near where a friend lives. It's an old (Gov.) experimental field...very weedy and uncared for but the berries keep growing and producing. When we came back he washed berries and I mixed up topping for a Blueberry Cobbler.  In case you want the recipe I'll include it.  This can be used as a topping for any fruit, not just blueberries.

DH and Youngest Son went to a car show on Sunday.

Thanks for coming by.

 

Fruit  Cobbler

• 8X12 glass baking dish

Ingredients

• ▢Enough fruit to cover the bottom of the 8X12 dish  ( about 4 cups?)
• ▢ 3/4 cup granulated sugar (150 g)  (I used less)
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the batter:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
  2 eggs
  1 1/2 cups flour
•  2 teaspoons baking powder      
   1/4 teaspoon salt
•  3/4 cup milk
•  ground cinnamon

Instructions

Soften butter add the sugar. Beat well. Add the eggs and beat some more.  Mix dry ingredients and add alternately  with the milk. 

Bake @ 350 degree oven  about 40 minutes  or until done :)

 ***I came back to lower the temperature from 375 to 350 because mine got too done. Next time I'll check it at 35 minutes.

 

 

 

August

 

 

 Another sunshine-filled day here. I did my usual morning walkabout looking to see what might need a bit of water to keep it alive. It's so very dry that I only spot water and even then I have to let some areas go. 
I took pictures to remind me of what was blooming at this time.  

Phlox are beginning to bloom.  I used to have only pink ones then I bought a white one and through the years the white have taken over.  I did buy a white/pink one last year and it is doing well.

 Petunias in a container that gets water almost every day.

 Carnations in a container.

Double Snapdragons

Postman's Pride Sedum with a Summer Savory growing between them and behind that a self-seeded Foxglove.

 Actually found by a Belgian postman in his garden, this outstanding selection produces a bushy mound of dark purple succulent leaves.

A bit of trivia for today.....

The first day of July here in B.C. was 16 hours 11 minutes long. The last day of the month was 15 hours 12 minutes. We lost one hour of daylight  and by the end of this new month we will have lost another hour and 37 minutes as we move toward the Autumn equinox which will occur on September 22. 

 

Tuesday Trivia

 Another day of sunshine 30C  86F. I don't normally hang laundry out any more but the washer decided to be difficult this morning when I did a small load I didn't get done yesterday.  DH is trying to figure out where the problem lies. Meanwhile I had sopping wet things that needed to be dried. The sunshine did a fine job.
We dropped off some boxes at the thrift store then stopped at a market to buy a few fresh vegetables and fruit also more of the $1.99 cherries that were advertised. It's enough for the two of us for the rest of the week.

 

 Thank you for the comments left on my last post. There were a couple of questions I wanted to answer.
Regarding the flans I made. I realize that the name flan often refers to a custard dessert with a layer of caramel sauce on top. The ones I made are not like that. The pans I use are called flan pans for some reason so we call the resulting cake a flan.  They are so easy to make that it's not even a recipe. I used a basic white cake mix for the base. Once they were baked and cooled I spread a vanilla pudding into the middle and covered that with strawberries that I had also cooked briefly and thickened.  

The other question was about the doily under the bouquet of flowers. I picked that up at the thrift store for a mere dollar.  I never learned to crochet and have enjoyed finding lovely crocheted items at thrift stores and garage sales. The work that goes into making one and then to see them sold for so little !!

 That's my Tuesday so far.  I better get the things in off the clothes line and see if I need to iron anything. Maybe sticking them in the dryer briefly will soften them after drying rather stiff in the sun. 
Thanks for visiting.

 

 

 

An Unusual Flower and a Flan

 A lovely sunny Monday, the last one in this month of sunshine filled days. I was out doing some watering of my flowers earlier and noticed that one of my Morning Glories is very different.  While all the rest are purple this one flower is white with purple streaks!

 

I baked a couple of flans for the weekend using some of the strawberries that were given to us. 

 They were much appreciated by family that came by.

 Back to my laundry. Have a wonderful day!!

 

Thanks for coming by. 

 

 

 

Flowers and Strawberries

 A beautiful cool morning, cloudy and 13C which is 55F. I wore a cardigan and even then the breeze felt chilly. After the hot days we've had I didn't mind. Eventually the sun came out and we reached 21. 

 I did some much needed baking then sat on the porch and read.

 A lovely bouquet from one of my sons. I love the touches of Fall that are included.

 As I've often mentioned my DH volunteers at an organization that takes excess vegetables (and sometimes fruit), chops them up, dries and packages them to be sent to other lands that need them.  This time they received around 200  4 kg containers of sugared strawberries a few years past their best before date. That's 8.8 lbs per container.  Since it was obvious that they couldn't use them the volunteers were encouraged to take a couple home.  Only if whatever has been donated cannot be used to dry and send on do the volunteers benefit in this way.  Some jam making will be happening 🍓🍓🍓.

 That's it for today. Thanks for visiting.

 

 

A Storm and My Flowers

 We don't often have thunder storms in this area but last evening we had a number of loud bursts and even had a light rain which was totally a surprise ( I think to the weather forecasters too). I went to sit out on the porch for a while. It was very dark and the lightning was amazing. This morning when we left the house to go walking I noticed how the raindrops looked on the Ladies Mantle  and took a picture which doesn't capture the real beauty but will have to do.

 The first Morning Glory has opened. I wonder if they'll do as well as last year. I'll post that picture too.

 

This white Mum was in a mixed basket maybe 2 years ago. It has made it through 2 winters to my surprise.

 The Zinnias that I bought are in small pots but doing well. The same can not be said for the taller ones that I sowed myself.  I should have pinched them back at one point because they're tall and spindly.

 In the background are some pink flowers that I have no idea what they are. They self seed every year.

 That's it for today.  Thanks for visiting.

 

 

 

Clouds

  Happy new week! It is the last full week in July and I for one will not be too sad to turn the calendar page. Although August may very well be just as hot as July has been.  Actually we've had a few days that have been cooler so I shouldn't complain.

Not many people out walking this morning.  I thought the clouds were so pretty.

Yesterday we walked at Willband Park. This picture of the water with Mt Baker barely visible in the clouds was not taken by me. A fellow walker took it.  It's a beautiful place to walk.

 That it for today.  Thanks for visiting.

 

 

 

A Rather Long Story

 Karen posted a picture of a house in her town that she finds attractive. ( her lovely blog is Life is Good). I've always liked doors that are unusual and this front door also appealed to me but it also brought back a memory of a weekend years ago when DH and I celebrated our wedding anniversary by staying in a hotel in Victoria. ( Victoria is the capital of B.C. and the site of many important buildings including the Parliament Buildings.)

 We're not that far from the coast but of course we have to take a ferry to get to Victoria where the Royal Empress Hotel is located. It's a hotel that normally is way out of our budget but it happened that they were also celebrating some occasion and were offering rooms on the very top floor for quite reduced prices.  I wish I'd taken pictures of our small room which was no doubt originally meant for staff.  We had an adjacent bathroom which was very tiny and because of the sloping ceiling it had a door which was cut off on one corner.

The Royal Empress Hotel

When we added 2 bedrooms and a bath and a half to our house in 2006 (?) it just worked out that one of the doors had to be cut off in exactly the same way ( much to my delight).  This is a door that leads to a sort of mudroom.  On the left is a bathroom and on the right, under a short flight of stairs, is a tiny closet where I keep Christmas decorations and such.  I have always loved old houses with nooks and crannies and the addition gave me the chance to add them. With DH and 2 of our sons in construction I was able to get almost  all my odd ideas included.
 

 My but I have gone on and on. Hopefully you're still reading. Thank you for visiting today.