An Ordinary Day

 

 Yet another puzzle finished. 

I finished reading my latest library book. Definitely recommend it.

Ten years ago, Lena Donohue experienced a wedding-day betrayal so painful that she fled the small town of Watersend, South Carolina, and reinvented herself in New York City. Though now a freelance travel writer, the one place she rarely goes is home--until she learns of her dad's failing health.

 Fridays Eldest and Youngest come for lunch and stay to help us. More power washing was done.
Also more tidying up the flowerbeds.  

DH wore out his old recliner and we found a replacement at the thrift store.  While they were here the old one was loaded onto the pick up and taken away.

"the real evidence of growing older is that things level off in importance ... Days are no longer jagged peaks to climb; time is a meadow, and we move over it with level steps." ~ Gladys Taber

 

Thanks for visiting.

Monday Chit Chat

 I picked up this pretty primrose at the grocery store. Once it's milder out I'll transplant it but for now it brightens up my sunroom.

 My Thanksgiving Cactus is blooming again. Not as abundantly as in November but still doing its best!

 A bouquet for the table.

 The latest puzzle that we finished on the weekend.

 Eldest brought an early Easter gift!

 That's it for me on this lovely Monday morning. All our snow is gone. The temperature this morning when I got up was 8C.  We had a pleasant walk around the lake. Blackbirds are beginning to sing their Oka-lee song. A Northern Flicker was drumming on a lamp post.  Here's what the internet has to say about that:

 The males search for a hollow tree, an old telephone pole, or even a chimney with metal flashing or a metal top, to drum out their mating call, telling all the other male flickers nearby that this is their territory, and saying “have a look at me baby” to all the females.

 

I hope your week is off to a good start.  Thanks for visiting.   GM

 

 

Getting Ready for Spring

 The weather cooperated and we had a work day yesterday. I say "we" but actually all I did was tell my faithful helpers what to do.  A job Youngest enjoys is power washing and he washed the front path and driveway.

 Eldest cut all the old leaves off the hellebores in front then did some much needed raking.,

 Then she helped me affix this Dollar Store branch onto my Gather sign on the front door....

 

...and hung this decoration from last year on the inside of the door.

In my last post I wrote that I was planning on making a Lemon Pudding Cake.  The recipe called for 3 eggs separated and when I broke the second egg I managed to get some yolk in the bowl containing the whites. As I'm sure you know, there's no use trying to get whites to whip properly with even a speck of yolk. I had to make a different recipe, one that called for 2 eggs....hence the lemon pie below.  DH and Youngest thought it was okay. Eldest and I did not :(

Today is a much less busy day. I picked up the books I requested at the library and I plan on doing a lot of reading on the weekend. Who knows? I might even be able to sit on the swing in the enclosed porch if the sun is shining.

 

Thank you for coming by

 

 

My Day

   It was raining so hard this morning that we decided not to go walking.  Now, in the afternoon, it is cloudy and dreary but plus 7 so not all that cold.
I decided to bake bread and the breadmaker is making the dough for me.  Once the bread is baked  I'll make a quiche for our supper. I want to try making a Lemon Pudding cake, a recipe new to me. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

I put away most of the Valentine decorations. Left a few and added a couple of other pink items.

We started this 300 piece puzzle yesterday and finished it earlier. It's a fun one, easy to do, with nice big pieces. We've done it before. We will often redo a puzzle that we liked. We're always on the look-out at the thrift store for puzzles 500 pieces or less with pictures with lots of detail. Most puzzles are 1000 pieces and that's just too many for us.

I finished this library book and can recommend it as worth reading. NO bad language which seems to be hard to find these days. ( Don't I sound like the old granny that I am).

 A Million Little Choices deals with marriage, infidelity, and restoration in a Southern location.

 

That's it for today.   Thanks for visiting.

 

 

Coots

 3C with no wind this morning. The ice on the lake is beginning to thaw.  We saw lots of coots by the water, more than usual but fewer Canada Geese and ducks.

 

 Coots are such strange looking birds.They look and behave much like a duck but their feet are not webbed. Instead they have  long flat lobed toes. This picture from the internet makes the toes look  gray but they are more greenish. When M was little he said their feet were the colour of celery.  LOL.

It's a day off work for a lot of people on this Family Day Monday. For retired people it doesn't make a lot of difference.  I, of course, am doing laundry.  We have a quiet week ahead. I foresee lots of reading time. When the library opens tomorrow I'll go pick up the book I had requested ( another Ann Cleeves mystery).

Thanks for coming by.

 

 

 

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!