Date Squares and Hangers

 

 

It's Thursday and that means it's my day to do the grocery shopping.  We went to do that first thing before the stores got crowded. It's a cool Fallish sort of day, perfect for getting things done.  I'm not very full of zip after yet another night of not sleeping well. I'll see how it goes.

The gingerbread cake is gone. I thought it was very good but DH was less enthusiastic so I won't make it again.  I bought a large bag of dates while shopping and I think that a Date Square will be in order.   I'll make it in 2  pans and add dried cranberries and apricots to "mine".  I recently bought some dried apricots that are rather dry and hard so that will be a way to use them up. When the cakes are done and cooled I'll cut them up and freeze them being careful to mark which are which because once they're done it's hard to tell.

 

from the internet

 
Have you seen any yarn-covered wire hangers at your local thrift store?  Or maybe you already have some.  I had a friend who was making them for a while and I ended up with some. I soon found that they were perfect for hanging up slippery tops. Now I actually look for pretty ones when I go thrifting. Even light weight cardigans stay on the hanger better when I use one of these.

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

 

 

 

September

 

 

 We celebrated the first day of September by going to the plant shop where I restrained myself and bought just a few plants. I chose some pretty purple/rust  Mums...2 for me and 2 to share. I also chose a Bunny Ears Cactus which I couldn't resist. It joins my other cacti on the sunny South window.

We had not been to that shop for a while and noticed  that they have expanded to include quite a large area with fruit & vegetables.  We were able to buy Honey Crisp apples for .99 a lb and lovely pears at the same price. DH is already hinting at Apple Crisp .

I did bake a mini Gingerbread cake just right for two!   If you're interested look up the site called One Dish Kitchen, a site that has recipes for one or two.  Sometimes an 8X8 or 9X13 is too much. 
I just took it out of the oven!! It smells wonderful!

 It's a lovely day and I must go out and do a little puttering. Thanks for taking the time to visit.

 

 

not me this time

 

 

Saturday Trivia

 A busy Saturday morning here with Youngest Son arriving early to help his Dad cut down the overgrown hedge of roses.  There's every chance they'll regrow next Spring. Those rugosa roses are so close to the wild ones that it's hard to kill them even if you wanted to.  After the truck was filled with branches  they took them away, came back and partly filled it again but left it until next week. Both of them were quite tired by that time.

 While YS was out there someone came by and gave him a bag of plums for us. He had no idea which neighbour they were and we don't know who has a plum tree so we don't know who to thank.  I am very fond of plum jam.

 Did you get to see the full moon earlier this week?  It was one of those nights when I couldn't sleep and was out on the porch at 2 A.M. so I got a clear view of the Sturgeon Moon.

Our weather has changed and it feels a lot like Fall. We had a random shower just as the guys started to cut down the roses but fortunately it didn't last long.  Our highs this week are 25  23  20  20  20.  That seems wonderful to me.  

 That's it for today.  Have a lovely Sunday. 

 

Thanks for coming by

 

This and That

 

 This was our supper last night. It's something we both like a lot. It was the perfect way to use some apples that were no longer very firm). 

pictures from the internet

After more days of 30C weather we are enjoying some cooler days. What a relief.  Now we need a good rain. We did have showers on the weekend but that was not nearly enough to satisfy the dry ground.

Thank you for the birthday wishes.  I must explain the last picture on my last post. I didn't know that the commercial with that quote was only aired in Canada and the US.  It was advertising a medical alert bracelet and featured an elderly woman who falls and dramatically shouts the iconic line to a dispatcher. You can watch the whole ad on Google if you have any wish to do so.

 Birthday Bouquet

more birthday flowers

  

From one packet of Cosmos seeds I have several different blooms: single and double ones in a few different shades of pink.

 

 The internet tells me that Cosmos grow best in hot, dry, sunny spots and actually produce fewer flowers if they get too much water or too rich soil. Our soil is sandy and doesn't hold water so I was watering them often. I think the ones that grow next year from dropped seeds should be more able to do well in our dry summer. I may have accustomed these to regular watering and now they droop if the soil is completely dry.

 

That's it for today. Actually I've been working on this post on and off for hours. I keep getting distracted by things that need doing before I forget.  I saw this and thought it described me today.

 

 

 

Old Things

 

 Happy New Week!!  Hopefully it's a good week for all of us.  My weekend was a pleasant one. On Sunday GD  Kate hosted an outdoor get-together to mark my 81st birthday. That was fun. It rained on and off all morning but then cleared up in the afternoon so that worked out well.

Thinking about old things I thought I'd post some pictures of things from the past and see how many you remember.  

(I still have mine)

 

I'll end with that one.   One of the unfortunate effects of being blessed with many years *smile*.

 

Thanks for coming by

 

 

 

Apple Crisp and an Update

 

 I made an Apple crisp this morning.  Actually it was an apple/plum crisp. I wanted to make it just with plums but not enough were ripe yet. They are very slow in ripening.  I was distracted when I was putting it together and used oregano instead of cinnamon!  I added extra cinnamon to offset the oregano.  Getting my spices mixed up hasn't happened to me for quite a while.

the picture is off the internet 

 The main difference between an apple crumble and an apple crisp lies in their toppings   An apple crisp contains rolled oats that bake into a crunchy topping, whereas an apple crumble uses a simple streusel made only with flour, butter, and sugar without oats.

Thank you for all the concern about my DH's head injury. We finally got a doctor's appointment yesterday. I went along ( it's easier than trying to find out what exactly the doctor said)  What he did say was that DH should have either an MRI or a CT scan. I forget which. Just to make sure there's no bleeding in his head.
We couldn't see our usual doctor due to the short notice so we saw one of the new ones in the practice. Very young man, very enthusiastic.  Almost bouncy. He made me think of Tigger.

 

Eldest Daughter is coming for lunch so I should get going.  Thanks for dropping by.

 

 

Happenings

 

 Lovely morning with some smoke but not much.  We had a late walk due to some slowness on DH's part.  This could have something to do with an unfortunate accident yesterday. In the late afternoon he and Youngest son were planning on turning a large block of wood on the lathe in the workshop.  It seems the block was too heavy for the lathe to hold and it threw the piece directly at DH's head hitting him on the forehead then ricocheting toward YS hitting him in the chest. Needless to say there were tense minutes as the 2 inch gash on DH's forehead bled copiously and YS yelled for towels.  Because of the long ( and I mean long,  as in 6 to 10 hours) wait at the ER  we managed.  

So that was yesterday. DH didn't go to Gleaners this morning as he normally would. He feels woozy and will need to take it easy for a few days.

The forecast for today is hot, Thursday hotter and Friday will be the hottest.  Hopefully Saturday will see a change for the better. I really hope so.  I've been outside and watered the most needy plants trying to prepare them for what's coming.  

 Thanks for coming by

 

 

Wildflowers

 

Monday again and here's me doing laundry and watering my houseplants. Hopefully my hair is not quite as bad as hers is.  It's partly cloudy this morning and I can't figure out if there's smoke in the air of fog. Hopefully it burns off by noon.

On our walk yesterday I took some pictures of wildflowers/weeds.  I mistakenly call this one Tansy Ragwort but it is just plain Tansy. Must remember that.  Tansy and Tansy Ragwort are different species in the daisy family. Both have yellow flowers so that confuses me.
 

 I believe this is chicory, which can be used as a substitute for coffee. 

  I know thistles are an invasive weed but isn't its flower pretty?

 I even have a tea cup with a thistle on it.

That's it for today. I hope the week is off to a good start. 

 

 

 

Honey

 

 As we usually do on weekends we walked at Willband Creek, a wildlife preserve not very far from town.   The sky is a bit clearer today, less smoky. 

I saw a write-up in the local paper about a couple who kept bees and sold honey from their farm. It was sort of on the way back from Willband so we found the place and bought some honey. What interesting folks. She told us she had been a city girl from another province when she moved out into the country here in B.C. with her husband. Their house, surrounded by trees, must have been lovely when they moved there 50 years ago but I doubt much had been done to it since.  She had extensive flowerbeds
 ( for the bees) and they were well kept. Two dogs roamed the yard and kept dropping their ball and frisbee  at our feet. I wish I'd gotten a picture of them.

When we got back here we worked outside for a short while then came in and had a rest. Now the remainder of the day is mine to enjoy.  

 

Thanks for coming by

 

 

My Day

 The blue Morning Glories that I sowed in Spring never grew but many of the seeds dropped last year have grown and are taking over the arbour.  Obviously I chose purple last year and they seem to be more vigorous.

 So vigorous, in fact, that they've popped up in numerous spots and have wound themselves around my garden tea cups!  I even spotted one blooming in the front garden and that one is climbing up a rose bush.

 We had a break in the heat yesterday and today although tomorrow it's back to 30C.
I took advantage of the coolness and made an Impossible Pumpkin pie.

 We dropped off a couple of boxes of 'stuff' at the thrift store.  I also took 2 boxes of perennials that Youngest Son divided when he came on the weekend.( One of our thrift stores takes plants).  Most were parts of overgrown Daylilies. They didn't bloom well and all I can figure out is that either they were too large or I hadn't watered them enough. 
There were also a number of clumps of Spiderwort that seems to want to take over more than its share of space.   I hope someone will want those. 

Of course we had to go into the store and I found a nice top ($2.) and DH found a book for .50 .
We came home and sat on the porch and read.  That was my day. 

 

Thanks for coming by

 

 

Some Gifted Plants

 

 

 Happy Monday my friends!  The meme above is so true and I feel that  those of you who visit here are truly friends.

It's slightly cooler today with a pleasant breeze coming through open windows.  There is also less smoke in the air. I haven't watched any news yet ; I'm hoping the wildfires are getting controlled. 

Last Friday #2Son came home with a number of plants in the back of his truck. One of the tenants at the complex that he manages was moving out of the province and was looking for a home for the plants that she had on her deck. She wondered if he knew anyone who would be interested. And that is how they came to me. 

Cuphea being a tender perennial will have to spend the winter on the porch.

This one is a mystery. Any ideas? I'll include another picture of it.

He thinks she said this one (below) is a hibiscus, I remember having one years ago but it was a house plant.
 Can this one survive outside? Maybe I should keep it on the porch.   Nice of that person to leave the ceramic bluebird on a stake. She couldn't have known that the bluebird is one of my favourite birds.

So it goes. My day continues with some laundry and maybe some baking.  I made a Pear cake on the weekend but there's not much left. 

 Thanks for coming by!