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!

 

 

 

A Scary Incident

 

 

 
That means it's completely acceptable to light the fall candles, shop for pumpkins, decorate early, and start watching spooky movies without a single apology.

I took that from the internet, of course, and I agree with all except the spooky movies which I don't like and which keep me from sleeping. 

It continues to be hot and dry. Wildfires have done so much damage and have made the air quality dangerous. Nevertheless we keep on with our lives. I know it's a small thing in the big picture but my  flowers look ratty and although I water some I can't water them all.

 In family news DD Sheila was attacked by an owl near her home. She was coming home from a walk in the evening when an owl that had been sitting on the power line unexpectedly flew down and dug its talons into her hair and scalp ( although it didn't break the skin).  She was terrified but thankfully it flew away.  She's always liked owls but I think she may be a little leery of them now ( as will I !!!)

looks harmless but don't be fooled

 

 Thanks for visiting

 

 

 

 

Welcome August, Tomatoes & Basil

 

 

Good Morning!!  The sun is shining through a haze of smoke and looks strangely orange.  It was only 11C when I first got up but the temperature is slowly but steadily rising. No doubt it will reach 30 again.  We did have a nice rain on Saturday, in fact DH and I got caught in it when we were walking.

Saturday was Lammas, the ancient festival that celebrates the first grain harvest and is the midpoint between summer and autumn. 

The first day of July had 16 hours of daylight. The last day was 59 minutes shorter. The days are definitely drawing in.

More tomatoes are ripening on our few plants and since I'm the only one who enjoys them I do my best to have some every day.  My third harvest of Basil is doing great on the windowsill. 

 My lunch on Saturday.  I've learned to love avocado on toast!

 

Thanks for visiting 

 

 

Friday Chit Chat

 Here we are at the end of a hot and dry month. We'll all be welcoming August and hoping for less record-setting temperatures I'm sure.  I'm not superstitious (I've heard it's unlucky to change your calendar page before time) and I changed mine to the August page which has the words Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful along with a pretty bunch of flowers.  I wonder how many still use an actual paper calendar!! I'd be lost without mine. All the birthdays and anniversaries are on it and it's in a prominent place in my kitchen. I suppose most younger folks rely on their phones but this granny is not that up-to-date.

 

When I'm done working (puttering) outside I come in and continue the slow task of cleaning each teacup and setting it back in place. I've finished another area and now I'm working on.....

...these shelves out on the porch.  It's an on-going project.

One last picture. It's my GD Kate's precious dog Maple who loves vegetables. I got her a cucumber and Kate sent me a photo of her ( Maple, not Kate) enjoying it.

 Thanks for visiting.

 

 

Wordless Wednesday

 Eldest Daughter walked around my garden taking pictures of PURPLE blooms. I hope you enjoy them.

 

 

I know she took one of my Foxgloves but now I can't find it so this one can represent mine.

 

Thanks for coming by

 

 

 

 

This and That

 

 It wouldn't be Monday around here if it wasn't also Laundry day.  The day dawned overcast and cool but it promises to be sunny and warm later. 

My Basil, which I grew on the windowsill in the sunroom, grew much too big in spite of frequent trimmings. On Saturday I cut most of the leaves and Son#2 made Pesto. Later he brought me a slice of freshly baked bread spread with that pesto and it was so good!  The old Basil plants went into the compost.  I have a third pot of Basil ready for use now just in time for the ripening tomatoes!!

 

I don't think I posted about this chest of drawers that was marked Free beside the road. It's solid and in good condition so we brought it home. I was sure someone would need it and it turned out to be Son#3.
It's a good thing it didn't stay out in the weather for long or it would have gotten wet. We had a day of showers yesterday.

The rain meant a cooler day and I took advantage of the coolness to make an Impossible  Coconut Pie.
It was a good way to use up some milk that needed using.  Do you have a go-to recipe for when you find yourself in that situation?  

 

 

That's it for today. Thanks for visiting.

 

Rattlesnake Beans & Japanese Anemones

 I thought I'd post the tale of our Rattlesnake Beans.

When M was in kindergarten some 12 years ago one of the little projects he brought home was a bean growing in a styrofoam cup. I kept it alive on the windowsill and in due time planted it outside with our regular beans but kept it marked.  From that one plant we got a number of  beans to plant the next year and after that year it became one of our favourite. Beans didn't do very well last year but there were enough to sow this Spring and hopefully this year there will be a better crop.

from the 'net....
The rattlesnake bean is an heirloom cultivar of pole bean. The pods are 6 to 8-inches long with purple markings, and the seeds are light brown with brown markings, still visible after cooking
 

 It seems I can not do a post without talking about flowers. Today it's the Japanese Anemones that have begun to bloom!!  

 

Thanks for stopping in for a visit.  I hope you have a lovely weekend.

 

Vegetable Soup and Flowers

 

I've been waiting for the beans to be ready to pick. These first ones are the Rattlesnakes.  I made a pot of Vegetable/Bean soup for supper. I was sure I didn't have any (annual) Summer Savoury come up but the perennial Winter Savoury was somewhere under the mess that was overgrown Thyme. I never did find it so I used Thyme instead. The soup didn't taste the way it should have but it was okay.

After supper I went out to see how my flowers had fared in the heat of our day (37C).
I checked the little purple Pansy growing in a pot by my garden shed and I stopped to take a proper look. In with the Pansy  a fine Summer Savoury is growing!!  I'll be sure to let it form seeds eventually and I'll sprinkle those around in the herb bed. Before I do that I will have to remove quite a bit of Thyme though.

 A lovely bouquet of flowers.... definitely not ones from my garden.

In this picture you can see the little orange flowers on the right.  The app on son's  phone identifies them as safflower. I have never seen those before.
 

From the internet:    Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius), also false saffron, is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like annual plant in the family Asteraceae.  The seeds are used to make safflower oil.

Thanks for coming by

 

 

 

Firsts

 First Cosmos have begun to open. In the background are some ordinary ones but this one is a double.

 First Morning Glories are also opening.  Two colours so far.

 First Gladiola to open. This one got a head start because it stayed in the ground over the winter and began to grow before the others.

Last but not least....the first ripe tomato. It's an Early Girl and big enough for both of our sandwiches.
Beside it I put some of the Midnight Snack which I regret getting. It's next to impossible to know when they're ripe.  But they do look nice.

It's very hot again today and it is forecast to be even hotter tomorrow. We have our A/C going and the house is quite bearable. Going outside is like hitting a wall of heat as I'm sure many of you are experiencing too.  Keep Calm....Fall is Coming.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

 

 

Sunday Chit Chat

 The day started out cloudy and 15C but soon the sun broke through and we're getting nearer to 30 .
 I went out to water a few of the flowers that really can't bear to be dry ( like Astilbes). I'm about to go out with that bed sheet and cover the Hydrangea that is mostly in the sunshine. 
On our morning walk we noticed that some of the shrubs are turning yellow from the drought. We had a few sprinkles of rain but it didn't amount to much.

 

 I made some Blueberry jam and purposely kept it on the thinner side so it also doubles as a sauce. Then I made a simple cheesecake using a recipe that my sister gave me.  4 ingredients....a block of cream cheese ( softened) a cup of milk, a pkg of instant vanilla pudding and a generous tsp of vanilla. I used the food processor to mix it up and poured it over a graham wafer crust.  
It was such a success that next time I think I'll try a different flavour of instant pudding. I love simple and easy recipes.

Something I'm thinking of doing:

I try to visit the blogs of those who leave comments but there are those who don't have a blog and that I'd like to reply to. So I'll try posting a reply right in my comments, (I hope that makes sense).

Thanks for coming by.