November

 

 

 
November is off to a great start here with clear skies and a morning temperature of just 6C.  We walked by Fish Trap Creek and I managed the walk by avoiding the trail that goes up a few hills. Small hills but hard on my hip so it's better to be cautious.

DH gets to have his cast removed this week which will be a big relief.  The one he's had for 5 weeks is completely waterproof. No more need for plastic bags secured in order to shower. He was told by the doctor that it was so waterproof that he could even go swimming. Still, it will be nice to not have the awkwardness of the cast.

 

Browsing through Pinterest  I came upon this jewelry box exactly like the one I had when I was about ten or eleven years old.  It brought back a lot of memories. I think it had a tiny ballerina that  popped up when you opened the lid. It may have had music that played when you wound it up but that might have been a different one.  Seventy plus years can mess with details :)

 

 

 

GD Kate is back home after a week in Disneyland. We're looking forward to hearing all about her fun trip.  It was a birthday present to herself .  Hers was one of the many October celebrations in our family.  That's about all for today.  I hope you're enjoying a lovely Sunday. 

 

 

 

Sharing a Home

 

I almost didn't post that picture ( avocado/orange/banana).  I thought it was too silly but I'm happy to know you all have strange senses of humour similar to mine.  
When you enter our house there's a little 'foyer' and straight ahead is the door to our son's family's home. If you turn left instead then you come into our part of the house.  In that little area is a sturdy wooden bench where things get left  to be picked up. Like mail or packages that were delivered.   

The day I left the "face" I had picked up a  bag of avocados marked down because they needed to be used soon. The logical thing to do was to leave a couple on that bench for son#2. Then, of course, I had the idea of the face. 

 A cross stitch that I made many years ago. It hangs on the other wall. 

 It's been raining off and on all day.  For the sake of all the little people who will be out trick-or-treating tomorrow, I hope it clears up.

 Thanks for coming by

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

 

Putting Tea Cups away

 

 This is a little potting area behind my garden shed.  The white wooden box holds a bag of potting soil and that little cart has 2 back wheels so I can move it around. Unfortunately it's very heavy so I rarely do move it.  
I've started cleaning and storing my garden tea cups for winter. I got about half of them done so far and will finish that job this coming week. I'll watch for a day when it doesn't rain but the forecast is not very promising.  Oh well, can't complain. We've had a great Summer and Fall too.

 

 

Later....I finished putting them away just in time. The rain has begun.

 

I saw these on Pinterest and I find them so pretty.  If I sewed I'd never be out of inspiration.

 

 Thanks for visiting.

 

 

 

Wild Tulips and a Summons

 

 

 Our weather has changed from warm and sunny to chilly with showers. Actually the forecast for today is now predicting heavy rain.   Good thing we got our walk done earlier this morning. I'm pleased with the  3200 steps that I managed.

 

Very soon it will be time to put Spring bulbs into the ground. Among other bulbs that I did find I also  wanted to find species tulips but was unsuccessful. However a friend of Eldest D found some for me. 
Some info from the internet in case you're interested.
Species tulips (also called botanical tulips) are the wild, unbred ancestors of modern garden tulips. They are native to regions spanning southwestern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.

 Species tulips generally do much better in British Columbia’s mild, wet winters than large hybrid tulips. While hybrid varieties are prone to rotting and rarely return year after year in coastal B.C., many wild species tulips (such as Tulipa tarda, T. kaufmanniana, and T. turkestanica) are far more resilient and reliably perennial in the Pacific Northwest. 

 There are definitely some advantages to being older. I received this in the mail this week. I'm happy to see that being over 65 years of age one can automatically be exempt.   Have you ever served on a jury? I'm sure it would be interesting but very stressful.

 That's it for today.  Thanks for coming by.

 

 PS   Don't forget to look at the full moon tonight and tomorrow night. It's the Hunter's moon this month.   Luckily I got a good look last night ( it was 95% full) because now cloud has moved in.

 

 

 

My Day

 Thursday is grocery shopping day and we got that done. It was mostly cloudy and quite chilly. Not a day to spend much time outside.

 I did manage to go for a short walk. When I came back this lovely vase of flowers was waiting for me by the front door.  They're on the dining room table now and every time I look at them I feel blessed.

 

 Chilly weather didn't keep my DH and Youngest Son from starting the latest project in the area behind the house where one of the raised boxes which had obviously rotted dropped its load of soil and needed cleaning up.  Fortunately a couple of new boxes had been built and were set in place. A few more days of work to get it in place.  Not the best picture because I took it through the window.

 That was my day. Now I hope to get some reading done. Thanks for coming by.

 

 

Thankful

 

 

 I didn't mean to be absent for a week. I guess I'm in a slump.  It's not that nothing happened blog worthy...  we celebrated Youngest Son's birthday followed by Eldest Daughter's. I didn't even take pictures. The weather is great...chilly nights followed by sunny days. I have so much to be thankful for and I'm trying hard to do just that.

Our biggest thrift store had posted on their FB page that they had all their Christmas stuff out so yesterday we took a quick trip there to take a look around.  I took the pictures that they had posted on FB so you can see what they did.  It's a lot of work and their volunteers are so helpful. I looked but found not as single thing that wanted to come home with me.

 

I doubt any of you are thinking of Christmas yet, in fact many are still planning Thanksgiving.
Even for me it is just too soon.

Nothing else to write.  Thanks for coming by.

 

 

This and That

 Thanksgiving was a lovely time with family, food, and fun .Thank you for all your good wishes.

 Now life goes back to normal again.

We got the puzzle board out and did the first puzzle of the season. We had done it before and I had written on the box that 3 pieces were missing.  We enjoyed doing it anyway. 

 

 YS came by and hung my bamboo wind chime right outside the little half-bath window 

 It had been a while since I had done much walking but we drove to Willband Creek and I managed reasonably well. 2000 steps.   It's such a lovely place to walk.

 In the kitchen there is a large container of grape tomatoes that I'm going to roast for supper and while the oven is hot I'll do more sweet potatoes.  DH will probably put some chicken in the air fryer for himself. He has a variety of meats in individual portions in the freezer and I'm thankful that he takes care of that part of his meal. 

That's about all that I have to write about today.  Thanks for coming by.

 

 

Thanksgiving

 

 

 To all my Canadian friends I wish a very happy Thanksgiving.

My Week

 

 

 

I love these pictures from 2022, the year Kitty had her kittens. The whole thing was such a surprise: first her bedraggled and starved appearance then discovering that she was pregnant.  In the end it was a wonderful experience for our whole family.  In due course good homes were found for all 5 kittens and Kitty continues to live with us.

It has been a busy week in the kitchen.  Sweet potatoes always seem to appear in the grocery store around Thanksgiving and this year is no exception.  I bought a number of them, cut them in half and roasted them. When they were done and cool I froze them for winter meals.  I still have 4 which I'll probably do this weekend.

I made a Clafoutis in ramekins. I took a picture but my computer has stashed it somewhere where I can't find it so here is a picture of a Clafoutis from the internet. 

  

I went to the thrift store to take two big boxes of unneeded stuff and after dropping them off I went in to look for a certain size of dish I needed for an appetizer I'm making for Thanksgiving at Kate's. I didn't find  the right dish but I did find a very lovely bamboo wind chime. We love the gentle sound that the wooden "pipes" make and as soon as a 6' son appears to hang it outside we can start enjoying it.
Just goes to prove that you never know what you'll find at the thrift store. 
( There was a picture of me holding it up but that has disappeared so here's one from the internet.)

 

 The day began with wind and rain but now it's mid-morning and the rain has stopped. Housework must get done. I hope to have a few hours to finally finish my book. I've become such a slow reader that a book like the 500 page tome by Rosamunde Pilcher has taken me so long!!).

Thanks for coming by. 

A Birthday

 

 11C and foggy again this morning.  It's going to be lovely and sunny this afternoon. Perfect Fall day.

On the weekend Youngest Son came and washed more windows for us. I took pictures but my computer has a strange problem. It hides my pictures somewhere and I can't find them until days ( or sometimes weeks) later. So no picture of YS on a stepladder. Also no up-to-date picture of our eldest GD  Kate whose birthday we celebrated yesterday. Hard to believe she's 38.  Here's a picture of us with her on her 21st.

She came for her absolute favourite meal...Chocolate crepes filled with chocolate pudding, cherry pie filling, and Cool Whip. Again, there's a picture of that somewhere. 

 

 Thank you for all the good wished for healing for my Dear Husband and also for my leg.  Time will tell how quickly healing will happen. Doctor appointments have been scheduled.

 

 Have a good week.  Thanks for visiting.

 

 

 

Things Happen

 

 No doubt you know why leaves turn colour and don't need to read about it again but I thought the wreath of leaves was so pretty. All the different colours we can find when we go walking.
Unfortunately my walks have had to be very limited due to the ongoing leg problem. I take short "noticing" walks for the time being.

In other unfortunate news DH fell in the bathroom last Friday during the night fracturing his right wrist
( luckily he's left-handed) and gashing his forehead.  His arm is in a cast but he is still in quite a bit of pain. I seem to remember that when I broke my wrist as soon as the cast immobilized my arm it quit hurting. He'll be seeing the doctor next week so we'll see how that goes.

October is a busy month for our family.  Two anniversaries, several birthdays, and of course we celebrate our Thanksgiving. This year it will be on the 12th of the month and GD Kate will be hosting it.  She's one of those with  birthdays this month as well as Eldest Daughter and Youngest Son. 

I've been rereading some Rosamunde Pilcher books and enjoying them as much as the first time. 

I've rambled on long enough. Time to say Thanks for coming by!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do You Remember?

 

 

 

I haven't got much to blog about today so I'll post some do-you-remember pictures.
 

 

Thanks for visiting

 

Friday Chit Chat

 

 

After seemingly endless days of drought we're having a day of light rain which is forecast to last all day. That should soak gently into the thirsty soil. It may be too late for some plants but hopefully many will be given a boost.

Earlier in the week I baked a dark fruit cake using an old recipe which I modified to make only one loaf.  It turned out very moist and it reminds me a lot of  Bara Brith , the Welsh Tea Loaf that I made some months ago. The main difference is I substituted molasses for the tea that the Welsh recipe called for.

 Another quick trip to the thrift store to drop off a few boxes. Of course I went in and browsed. I saw these pretty place mats that are only 8 by 11 inches, perfect for snack time.  They were pinned together and it was only after I came home that I realized that there were 6, not just 4 as I had thought. Bonus.

 

 

Pretty flowers for the table 

 

 An Afterthought.... I saw this cute meme (?) on Pinterest and I thought I'd post it for someone who is in the process of renovating their home.  

 

Fall, Spider Webs, and Mooncakes

 

So here we are on the first official day of Fall. As if by magic we abruptly went to foggy mornings. 
When we walked at Willband on Saturday the fog was so thick we saw about 6' on either side of the path.  Then on Sunday we walked at Fish Trap Creek and the fog was much less obvious.  Spider webs seem to be everywhere. I took a few pictures.  The second one has one of those dense webs that looks very different from the usual. Last year I think it was someone told me those are made by Grass Spiders. 

  

 We watched and waited to see if this osprey would dive from his high perch but he must not have been hungry.

 

 The Mid-Autumn Festival (also called the Moon Festival) is an ancient harvest celebration with a history of over 3,000 years. It happens on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, when the moon is brightest. Families gather to give thanks for the harvest, light lanterns, and eat mooncakes.  This year this celebration will be on Friday, the 25th. Beautifully decorated boxes containing mooncakes are given as gifts.  Middle Son was gifted one of these boxes   ( as manager of the complex he has had many occasions to call this roofer to come and repair a leaking roof).

 Each of the 4 mooncakes had a different filling ( the box was solely in Chinese so we had no idea what the filling was. This one seemed to have a nut and date filling or maybe sweet red bean paste.

 

A quick update on my hip problem. The X-rays came back and no problem there. However the discomfort is not pleasant and once I finally get to see my doctor ( in October!), hopefully she'll have some answers. Meanwhile my walks have had to be shortened and any hills avoided. 

 

Thanks for coming by