Valentines Day

 Things are looking up. The temperature this morning was 0C  and according to the forecast no more minus temperatures in the week to come.  We'll get rain, no doubt, and it will wash away our snow.

I put out some Valentine things and took pictures.  As I know I've already mentioned Valentines Day is also our middle son's birthday so we'll be celebrating with  him mainly 💗

 

 

 

 I made a Pineapple Upside Down cake which was really good ( and lasted one day!  We do all love our sweets).  I didn't have pineapple rings so I used the tidbits.

 Lovely tulips from the children.

 Some pretty Valentines from Pinterest.

 Happy Valentines Day

 I'm glad the memes ( I'm not even sure exactly what a meme is!!) that I find amuse some of you. I know I find them amusing.  Other times a serious one will touch me and I post that. 

 

Thanks for visiting!!

 

 

 

Tuesday Trivia

 

It was a chilly minus 6C when we walked this morning. The lake is frozen and lots of  footprints show that not only birds and raccoons have been on the ice but humans too.  Hopefully the ice is thick enough to prevent any accidents.

Tomorrow (the 12th) will be our second full moon of 2025 and is known as the snow moon. The snow moon certainly lives up to its name right across Canada this year.. According to our forecast clouds  move in on the weekend bringing rain which should wash away our snow.

 photo from the internet.

 We went to the thrift store this afternoon; I didn't find anything I wanted probably because I didn't need anything.  When we came back I made a few jars of jam....strawberry this time ( still have berries that we froze last summer ). Worked on the puzzle. We're almost finished it.  Didn't get any housework done but I'll get to that tomorrow. 

Thanks for visiting

 

 

 

 

Chit Chat

 0C this morning with no wind; a lovely morning to walk at Fish Trap Creek.

 The ducks had managed to keep an area free of ice.

 Here's the puzzle we're currently working on. We work each on our own side of the board ( mine is the side with the most done :)

 A fellow came and took the furnace fan out and brought it back the next day. Seems like old furnaces are able to be fixed. I doubt the newer ones are. In any case we're thankful to have heat again.

I'm going to do some ironing later also baking those Onion/Cheese muffins again.  This time I have fresh garlic to use instead of garlic salt. Hopefully I won't forget any ingredient ( it has been known to happen).

Thanks for visiting.

 

 

A Book and Blooms

 Still very chilly weather and the strain on our 46 year-old furnace has caused it to quit. Middle son has called for a fellow to fix it if it is possible.  Meanwhile we have a few electric heaters going.

We had a heating pad that hardly worked at all any more so we bought a new one and put the old one in Miss Kitty's bed ( well covered by her blanket just in case it gets too warm). I think she loves it because yesterday she hardly moved out of it to wander around the snowy back yard. 

I have time to read and I'm reading both my latest library books at the same time.  Do you do that? Read more than one book at the same time?  I'll post the blurb for each book but feel free to skip that part if you're not interested.  I received a copy of Gretchen Rubin's first book (The Happiness Project)  when it came out some years ago and have reread it again. She's such an interesting person and her books are very informative but also easy to read. 
( Second book was not one I wanted to finish nor recommend.)

 

Calla Lily gifted to me by Eldest Daughter and Youngest Son

 African Violet that she brought on a recent visit.  I don't have much luck getting African Violets to rebloom after their initial burst fresh from the greenhouse. I water them and put them in a bright light but any new blooms are few and far between so the plant goes to the thrift store and someone with a green thumb buys it and no doubt has great success.  (yes, there are thrift stores that will take plants to resell).

 I'll be back in two days.......thanks for visiting.

 

 

 

Cookies and Tea Towels

 

 

 

There's very little happening here as we keep as warm as we can  and look out at our frozen world.
Of course there's always cookies that I could bake. Baking warms the kitchen nicely. Today's cookies are gingersnaps and I'm using the recipe from Allrecipes.com. I can include the recipe at the bottom of my post if anyone wants it.
 

 When I'm stuck for something to post about I fall back on pretty pictures. Today's are about lovely sewing projects that I admire but can't possibly do.   First off are fancy tea towels.....

 

 

 I'm not sure if these tags are book marks?

 

 

That's it for today.  Thanks for visiting.

 

GINGERSNAPS

 

• ⅓ cup cinnamon sugar

• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon ground ginger

• 2 teaspoons baking soda

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ¾ cup butter

• 1 cup white sugar

• 1 large egg

• ¼ cup dark molasses

Directions

1. Gather all ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place cinnamon sugar in a bowl; set aside. 

    

   Sift flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a mixing bowl.
   Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in white sugar. Add egg and molasses and beat until light and fluffy.
   
   Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture into the butter mixture; stir to thoroughly blend. Sift in the remaining flour mixture and mix together until a soft dough forms.
   Pinch off small amounts of dough and roll them with your hands into 1-inch-diameter balls.
   Place balls in cinnamon sugar and roll to coat, then place 2-inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. (I used parchment paper)
   
   Bake in the preheated oven until tops are rounded and slightly cracked, about 10 minutes
   
   

 

Winter has arrived

 It seems winter has arrived with cold temperatures ( minus 7C ) and snow (6") and gusty wind. 
Schools are cancelled and those who don't have to go anywhere are better off staying home. Our little street will be one of the last to be cleared.

Snow or no snow we have to eat. I made Date/Orange muffins  ( those are pieces of dates sticking  out)......

....and an Impossible Quiche.

Teddy Bears in the living room.

That's it for today.  Oh yes, I had some questions about growing small herbs and other plants in teacups since they have no drainage. I find they do fine especially if I'm careful not to give them too much water.  This little Spider plant has been growing in the teacup for about 6 weeks.

Thanks for visiting.

 

 

Orange Date Blender Muffins

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

35 mins

 

These muffins use an entire orange and most of the mixing is done in a blender! A big favourite in this house.

Ingredients

• 1 orange, quartered and seeds removed (peel on)
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup melted butter, cooled
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup chopped dates (substitute dried cranberries/raisins/any dried fruit)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Blend orange and orange juice in blender until smooth. Then blend in melted butter and egg. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix all remaining dry ingredients together, then add the blended wet mixture. Stir until just moistened.
4. Drop into greased or paper-lined muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full.
5. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Slather with butter and enjoy warm!

 

February

 

 

I was so glad to change the calendar page that I did it a day early. Sheila came by and when she noticed she warned me that to do so would bring bad luck. *smile* But today it is officially the first and I'm looking forward to Spring. We had such an unusually sunny and dry January but this morning we woke up to a light dusting of snow!!

Later.... Now it is snowing heavily and starting to accumulate.

I saw this arrangement of a tiny succulent in a pretty tea cup and I thought I'd try that with  a small herb plant( once I find one). It would look fine on the kitchen windowsill.

Then there's this lovely display.

or this.....

Thoughts of Spring and growing things!!

Have a pleasant week-end.

Thanks for visiting.

 

Blast from the Past

 

 Monday morning and not much is happening so I thought I'd see if I could find any pictures from the past of grandson M  ( who is now 15 and towers over me) and the dog we had  at the time. I had to find pics where M's face was not shown because his parents don't want the children's faces on the internet. Bracken was a black lab and he and M were pals.
M was forever running around and wielding his sword.  Bracken was forever giving him kisses.

(There's a step from the lower level into the kitchen)

That's it for today.  Thanks for visiting.

Why do dogs tend to run in circles? Because it's really hard to run in squares.

What kind of dog never throws anything away? A hoarder collie.

Books and Kitchen Chit Chat

 

 What I just finished reading........

 

The man's body is found in the early morning light by a local dog walker in the park outside Rosebank, a care home for troubled teens in the coastal village of Longwater. The victim is Josh, a staff member, who was due to work the previous night but never showed up.

DI Vera Stanhope is called out to investigate the death, with her only clue being the disappearance of one of the home's residents, fourteen year old Chloe Spence. Vera can't bring herself to believe that a teenager is responsible for the murder, but even she can't dismiss the possibility.

Vera, Joe and new team member Rosie Bell, are soon embroiled in the case, and when a second connected body is found near the Three Dark Wives monument in the wilds of the Northumberland countryside, superstition and folklore begin to collide with fact. Vera knows she has to find Chloe to get to the truth, and the dark secrets in their community that may be far more dangerous than she could have ever believed possible.

I enjoyed this book but was disappointed in the ending. Somehow it didn't seem right. Almost as if the author was tired of writing and wanted a quick finish.  The previous "Vera" book I read was The Rising Tide and I think I liked that one more. 

In the kitchen....

I tried a recipe for Baked Apple Fritters similar to the picture and they were very good BUT they were nothing like a fritter at all. A good apple cookie with a very tasty glaze ( that was briefly broiled at the end) but not a fritter! Oh well, at least they were delicious.

I roasted some cherry tomatoes that needed using up. We'll have them on our pizza for supper.

When I'm busy in the kitchen I think of my Mom and how she spent the first 10 years  of married life with no electricity, no running water and the only cupboard she had was one similar to the one below.
When I was 6 we moved and although we still didn't have running water we did have hydro.

I remember she had a canister set like this one. I have since found some tins at the thrift store and now keep things like chocolate chips and coconut in them.

She did not have anything like this strange appliance.

Jeanna & Cathy..... No secret admirer. One of my sons arranged for the flowers to be delivered💗

That's it for today.

Thanks for visiting.

Flowers, Recipes and Thrift Store Finds

 

 

I wanted to go to the thrift store and look for new albums to put my recipe cards into.  When I got home there was a bouquet of flowers on the front stoop. Miss Kitty was very curious 💗
 

 I found these albums and they're exactly what I was looking for.  As I put my cards in their new spots I also got rid of some that I no longer wanted. So that's done. ( One album is for Savories and the other for Sweets.)

I've always thought that we spelled it savoury in Canada but I found this when I googled it.

In Canada, there is a preference for "savory" over "savoury" (61 to 39).

 When I was at the thrift store I spied this "foot warmer". New, with tags still on it. I looked it up and apparently it goes for $36 ......I paid $5. It's perfect for evenings when I'm at my computer. 
My feet are cold for 10 months of the year.  :)))

 

 

While searching for the spelling of savory I came  across other words that are spelled differently depending on the country. Please  feel free to skip the following:

When adding a suffix to a word ending in “e”, British spelling often keeps the “e” (e.g. “ageing”, “likeable”, “sizeable”, “judgement”) whereas the American and Canadian drops the “e” (e.g. “aging”, “likable”, “sizable”, “judgment”).

 

Canadians write fibre, sombre, kilometre, and centre, while Americans write fiber, somber, kilometer and center. 

Canadian and British spellings include cancelled, counsellor, fuelled and travelling compared to the American canceled, counselor, fueled and traveling. 

Okay. You've come this far and had enough of this English grammar  lesson. For some reason I find this interesting. Weird, I know.
Thanks for visiting.  Please come back. I promise to limit grammar lessons in the future.