Back yard Pics

 

 

Mostly sunny skies here today. Actually, yesterday was also a lovely day. We don't take those for granted.  We puttered outside, well, I puttered while DH moved an outside water tap to a spot he thought would be better. Like all plumbing jobs there were a few minor problems but in the end it all worked out. Daughter Sheila came by and we sat out on the lawn swing and watched Kitty's antics. Sheila took this picture where she's posing near the back of the house. ( Kitty is posing, not Sheila lol)

 

Some more pictures of the area behind the house....

That's it for today. Thanks for visiting.

 

 

 

 

 

Pinterest Pics

 

It's another damp day. Roadwork goes on our street.  When I can't think of a thing to blog about I can always post pretty pictures. Yesterday for the last hour before I went to bed I amused myself by looking at Pinterest and imagining what I'd make IF I did any handwork.  If this doesn't interest you come back another day!!

 

  Isn't this Lattice Fruit Pie trivet so cute?

 

 

 

Do you have a favourite?  I think my choices would be the last three💗💖💗

 

Thanks for visiting

 

 

Street Work, Daffodils, and a Geranium

 

 Our street is being repaved but first the old asphalt has to be removed. It's a smoky business. 
A little inconvenient too, for those who want to go anywhere.

We had a nice walk this morning. The daffodils on this slope are all open now.  The forsythia behind them is looking good too.

 This is where we walk on Saturday mornings but obviously we won't be able to this week. The paths are flooded as is the parking lot. We've had a lot of rain recently.

I found a lovely scented geranium and brought it home. It's a lemon scented one which seems to be the most common.

 That's it for today.  Have a great rest-of-the-week.

 

Cats

 

This is our weather forecast for the coming days: rain, periods of rain. showers, rain and drizzle, mostly cloudy with showers and last of all rain tapering off.  I suppose I should be used to our wet winters and springs here on the west coast. This week marks 57 years since we left Manitoba ( after a night of snow!). We were so young and with a two-year-old and a 4 month-old we bravely set off with a small trailer with some of our belongings. That included 2 cribs. We were adventurous in those days lol.

Miss Kitty then.....

 

...and now

 

You all have heard about how Miss Kitty showed up  a couple of years ago, half-starved and pregnant. She had her 5 adorable babies and in due time they found good homes. She's an outside cat and although I worry that she'll get run over one of these days she has been very lucky. Lately we have a large, long-haired  mostly black cat that we've dubbed Hairy or Harry ( depending on his gender ). He's very sweet but Miss Kitty will have nothing to do with him. He sits on the little roof near my kitchen window and peers in at me. I know he wants in but that isn't going to happen. I hope the two of them will become friends. This week another cat appeared. This one is a tabby with a white bib.  You'd think word is out that this is the place to be if you're a cat. lol.

I'll leave you with the following....

 

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

Busy Saturday

 Saturday is often a busy day and today is no exception. I made marmalade using 2 oranges which I cooked up then added half a jar of oversweet bought marmalade. By mixing the two I find the result much much more to my liking.  DH would much rather have jam on his toast. I made 3 little jars using cherries we froze last summer.  I have bread dough rising and apple crisp in the oven right now.

 One of my children brought me this pretty bouquet earlier in the week.

 Then these were delivered today. My family knows how I love flowers. 

 It was a good day for DH and Youngest to do more power washing. My garden shed got nice and clean. I think it was 2 years ago the last time it was washed so it was very necessary. Maybe tomorrow I'll put the bird feeder and pots back in front of it. 

That's about all I have to write about today.  I better check if the breadmaker has finished with my dough so I can get that on pans.  Thanks for visiting.

 

 

First Day of Spring and a Recipe

 

 

Happy First Day of Spring!

I would have preferred a better weather forecast but hopefully the rain won't continue all day.  To change the old saying a bit March Showers bring April Flowers.

I went to the thrift store today....found not a single thing. I forgot that it is Spring break and the store was full of young people as well as families. Tomorrow I'm planning on going to a different thrift store.
Maybe there I'll have better luck.

I made vegetarian quiche in ramekins for supper. Since the oven was on  I quickly made an orange loaf. I've made it before and it's lovely. I'll post the recipe in case anyone wants to make it. It calls for a glaze when it comes out of the oven but I didn't bother.

 

Orange Loaf

 

Ingredients:

1  large seedless orange, peel & all

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

2 large eggs
*******

1 cup sugar 

1 3/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*F Grease and flour a 9X5 loaf pan or line with parchment paper.

Cut orange into pieces and place in blender . Blend until the pieces are broken down. My blender had trouble so I added the eggs and butter at the point and it worked just fine. 

In a large bowl mix dry ingredients. Add wet to dry and stir just until combined.  Transfer the batter to the loaf pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

My computer seems to be stuck on BOLD.   Hopefully turning it off for night will restore things to normal.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

 

 

 

 

Just for Fun

 

 I don't know why I think this is so cute but I do and I hope you do too.

 

Thanks for continuing to visit in spite of posts such as this.

Happy St Patrick's Day

 

Why do we celebrate St. Patrick's Day on March 17? Legend has it that Patrick died on March 17. People in Ireland started observing a feast day on March 17 in celebration around the ninth or 10th century, according to the History Channel, but the parades to honor it actually started in America.

Surprising Facts About St. Patrick's Day

• The Real St. Patrick Was Born in Britain. ...
• St. Patrick Was Never Canonized. ...
• There Were No Snakes Around for St. Patrick to Banish from Ireland. ...
• Leprechauns Are Likely Based on Celtic Fairies. ...
• The Shamrock Was Considered a Sacred Plant.

Good Morning (or afternoon, depending where you are).  We don't really make much of St. Patrick's Day around here. Since it is our youngest granddaughter's 22nd birthday, that is far more important. 

It's mostly cloudy out. Our forecast for the coming week is showers and/or rain possible every day.
It is typical March weather. In spite of the lack of sunshine I saw that some of my daffodils are forming buds. 

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

 

 

Isn't this a nice idea?

Pies and Nesting Material

 

Did you see the lunar eclipse last night?  The clouds that had been hanging around had fled and we were able to see the moon very clearly. I didn't stay to see it completely covered. It was way past my bedtime :)

 

Pies for PI day. Two apple and a cherry.

 

I tried winding short pieces of string and rafia around a large pinecone. I hope birds will find them and use them in building their nests.  I hung it under the bird feeder so it is in an obvious spot (that I can watch while I sit in the sunroom with my coffee).

Thank you for all the comments on dryer balls. It seems that those who use them think they are effective in shortening dryer time. I'm going to use the dryer sheets that I have and then change to dryer balls. It's not that I think the dryer sheets are toxic...I just feel they're a waste of money.
Once, years ago, I bought some of those rubbery balls with 'spikes' at a garage sale but silly me...I thought they were dog toys and used them accordingly.LOL

Thanks for visiting

Book Review and A Question

 

 

 When Savannah history professor Everly Winthrop is asked to guest-curate a new museum collection focusing on artifacts recovered from the steamship Pulaski, she's shocked. The ship sank after a boiler explosion in 1838, and the wreckage was just discovered, 180 years later. Everly can't resist the opportunity to try to solve some of the mysteries and myths surrounding the devastating night of its sinking.

Everly's research leads her to the astounding history of a family of eleven who boarded the Pulaski together, and the extraordinary stories of two women from this family: a known survivor, Augusta Longstreet, and her niece, Lilly Forsyth, who was never found, along with her child. These aristocratic women were part of Savannah's society, but when the ship exploded, each was faced with difficult and heartbreaking decisions. This is a moving and powerful exploration of what women will do to endure in the face of tragedy, the role fate plays, and the myriad ways we survive the surviving.

 It was called "The Titanic of the South." The luxury steamship sank in 1838 with Savannah's elite on board; through time, their fates were forgotten--until the wreck was found, and now their story is finally being told in this breathtaking novel.
I enjoyed this book immensely. Because it is based on a real life tragedy it was even more enthralling.
The book alternates chapters between 1938 and the present day  and as I often do in such a case I would read several chapters of THEN and go back and read the chapters I skipped.
I recently read The Favorite Daughter by the same author which I also enjoyed. That book's author is listed as Patti Callahan Henry.  

Has anyone used dryer balls?  I've been wanting to stop buying dryer sheets and am thinking of making my own dryer balls. There are numerous sites that tell how to do that. I just wondered if it keeps clothes from sticking together like the sheets do.

I'll be back tomorrow with my pie for PI day. DH brought home a big bag of apples that he was given. They're small and some have spots but they'll make wonderful apple pie.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

Hellebores and Strong Wind

 5C this morning with a few drops of rain when we walked. Just saw all the regulars ( birds and people )

My hellebores are blooming in the flowerbed on the north side of the house where the sunshine never reaches. The only one that shows any sign of facing up is Pink Frost. The others just look downwards. They seem happy though. I started with one Black Prince and there are at least 3 self-seeded ones now. Besides Pink Frost and Black Prince I have a white one that I can't remember the name of.

 We had strong winds the other night and I was shocked to find that the hutch part of my outdoor cupboard had been blown off its base and was wrecked. I had various decorative pieces there but only one plate broke. Some other porcelain bits were chipped but none of the things that I put out there were "special". 

 Thanks for visiting 

Time Change and Pi

 

 

 

11C and breezy this morning when we walked around Fishtrap Creek.  Lots of Canada geese, Mallards and Wood ducks on the water.  I thought there would be fewer people walking because of the time  change but I guess they all had set their clocks ahead.  

When Shannon ( Eldest) came on Friday she brought an old watering can that I had discarded and worked on it while we visited. She's always working on something and that girl has talent.
Needless to say I'll be keeping that watering can when she's done ( unless she wants it but that isn't likely).

Yesterday I did more baking. This time it was cinnamon buns. I pop them into the freezer once they're cooled off.  I'll often take one out of the freezer right after breakfast and by coffee time it's nicely thawed. I make them with low sugar and with no icing so they are not decadent like a store-bought one. I don't use a recipe so I can't give one. One comment I had about the date squares was saying that a recipe would be nice. There are recipes for everything on line and the instructions are there. My haphazard ways of making food are hard to describe. ( My kids might say that the results sometimes look like it too LOL)
On the subject of baking I'll just give you a warning that Pi day is this Friday March 14. This gives us a
chance to decide what kind of pie we'll be making :)

A Strange Science Fact: Albert Einstein was born on Pi Day, and Stephen Hawking died on Pi Day. Pi Day celebrates the mathematical constant π, which is approximately 3.14. The holiday is celebrated every year on March 14. Notably, Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 and Stephen Hawking died on March 14, 2018

 Pi Day is celebrated on March 14 (3/14) to commemorate the mathematical constant π (pi), which is approximately 3.14. The day is celebrated by eating pie, reciting pi, and participating in other activities. 

Thanks for coming by.