Flowers

Thank you for the kind comments on my last post. Sorry that the snake picture caused uncomfortable feelings. I think because we just have harmless garter snakes I don't find them too creepy.

I have a Tiger Lily growing right at the front of the flowerbed. I don't remember planting it but  it is thriving and getting more stalks every year.   It's right beside the arbour and path that winds through the flower bed.

 Except that the path is almost impossible to walk on without stepping on Morning Glories and Nasturtiums that are taking over. The Rudbeckia on the left is another volunteer that seems very happy with its chosen spot. If one does manage to get  through the arbour there's some Allysum growing in the cracks and farther on the path is totally blocked by the Clematis that reached the top of the 7' trellis and began to come back down again. It's absolutely covered with flowers.  It's all a bit chaotic but I like it that way.

 I discovered another volunteer which looked pretty and harmless but upon looking it up I found that it was Creeping Bellflower (C. Rapunculoides),  a very invasive member of the Campanula family.. I made sure to dig it out and tried to get all the bits of roots which apparently will grow given half a chance. I welcome most volunteers but not this one.

 Isn't it amazing that summer is passing so quickly and we're already a third of the way through August? Good thing I love Autumn, and September and October are my favourite months. Do you look forward to Fall or are you sorry to see summer go? Personally I'm tired of the heat.

Thanks for visiting,  Have a lovely Friday.  G.M.

Chit Chat

 

 The snake picture is from 12 years ago when we were in a long drought. It has nothing to do with today's post.  

Thank you Far Side and others  for explaining why I'm having trouble posting comments on certain blogs. I'll just keep trying.

About the kiwi jam. Dianna was wondering if it was hard to make. Not at all. I found a recipe at www.vegetariantimes.com which called for 4 cups of sugar, 4 lbs of chopped kiwis, and 1/4 cup lemon juice. Boil 15 minutes or until thickened. I of course didn't follow the recipe. I used less sugar and didn't boil as long as the recipe said. I mixed up a bit of cornstarch and thickened it that way.  Because we make jam as needed I keep it in the fridge and it keeps well there.  We go through a lot of jam. Besides toast I've been known to use jam to sweeten my porridge or on waffles. 

It's cooler today so I dug up 3 clumps of Irises in order to get all the lamium out from between the tubers (Rhizomes?)  got some fresh dirt then put the Irises back into the ground (after cutting the leaves down).

Because it's cooler I baked a fruit cobbler. I didn't bother with posting a picture. It looked like an ordinary cobbler.   Now I'm going to sit down with my library book and have a relaxing afternoon.

If you're still here-- thanks for coming by,  GM

 

 

Lilies and Teacups

 It's another very warm day. For a while I puttered in my garden shed where it's cooler. I had watched the most recent post by Jeri Landers of Hopalong Hollow Blog and I was inspired to tidy up my shed.  (Because she was showing her lovely little shed). If you are not familiar with her blog you might want to check her out.

It's been so hot and dry that my Casa Blanca lilies are much shorter than usual. I could barely see them because of the taller Phlox in front of them  so I brought 2 stems indoors.  Having had a few bad experiences with pollen on my clothes I cut that part of the stamens off.

 

 When I was last at the thrift store I found this Royal Albert teacup that someone had hung from beaded cords and I just had to add it to my collection. The teacup is glued to the saucer and the cords that hold the teacup are fastened to pennies glued to the saucer and have holes drilled in them. It's hard to explain and I'm not sure if you can see what I mean.  Against this very busy background you can't see much of it at all so I recruited DH to hold a white piece of wood behind it. 

 

I've been having trouble commenting on certain blogs and I wanted to let explain why I'm not commenting even though I'm reading them 

Latane Barton's blog Accidentally Aging is one of them and HWIT BLOG  is the other. Ladies, I'm trying to figure out why I'm not able to comment. Maybe someone has  some suggestions?

That's it for today. I hope your week is off to a great start. Let me know what you're keeping busy with.

GRANNY M.

Pears, Kiwis, and Tomatoes

 I've mentioned a number of times that my DH volunteers at Gleaners, an organization that takes surplus or otherwise unwanted food stuff from grocery stores.  Whatever can possibly be used in making the dried soup mix that is then shipped to needy countries is used but some of the things that are sent along simply cannot be put into soup. Then, and only then, do the volunteers get to take home those items. Recently Gleaners received 6000 lbs of pickling cucumbers. We had such hot weather that no one wanted to do any pickling so the stores had all those cukes that were going to go bad. Cucumbers seem an unlikely soup ingredient but that's what they became!

Last week the unusable items were these pears which I think are red Anjou. They're not ripe yet but I'm looking forward to tasting them. I'm glad they didn't try putting those in the mix.

Another unusable product this week was kiwis.  We like to eat them as is but there were too many so I made a bit of  jam. It tastes fine but it's certainly not a jam one often sees.

The tomatoes are from our tiny garden. The oval ones are mini Romas and the black cherry tomatoes alongside the regular red ones are Midnight Snack. They don't tasted any different from red ones in fact they start out black and turn red as they ripen.  You can see the one is showing some red already.

.  This is airshow weekend here in Abbotsford. . It's the biggest airshow in Canada and no doubt the loudest.  Animals and small children need a lot of reassurance when those planes screech overhead.  For many years my guys would sit on the roof for a better view but they don't seem to be interested any more.

Hope your weekend is a good one. Thanks for visiting today,  GM

Thrifty Treasures

 

 Yes, I've been browsing in the thrift store again and finding pretty things to put around my home and enjoy.  This lantern has since been placed in a window with a small plant in it.  I'm not sure if that's what I want to do with it but for now it's fine.

It was love at first sight when I spied this sweet little pitcher and the price was so low I couldn't  resist putting it into my basket.  Same thing with the lovely cup that had a tiny chip and no saucer.  The rose inside the cup is adorable.
 

This quilted table topper and metal pitcher are from a previous trip but I don't think I've shown it yet.

I have one more treasure to show but I think I'll post about that one next time.  I'm still trying to post every second day. So far I've been fairly successful.

A warm welcome to Robin from P'ville  who visited and left a sweet comment.  If you care to share I'd just love to know where P'ville is located.

Another lovely comment was left by an anonymous person who I'd love to get to know a bit about as well. Please don't be shy.
Another unknown comment from someone who  loves my new header and mug rugs. Thank you for your comment.    Sitting down with a cuppa and reading all the kind comments is like having a wonderful visit with all of you without leaving my house. 

GRANNY M

This and That

 

 A lovely sunny morning. The sun shining on the fountain mist created  such a pretty effect.

 We always look for the mama duck with her three babies.  She has managed to keep them safe from the raccoons that patrol the area.

It's a wee bit cooler today. After our walk I puttered outside until I got too warm ( and tired) so I came in and decided to look through my collection of mini place mats. I'm not sure exactly what they're for; some have loops to hang others don't. The biggest one is only 11" square. I find them pretty and useful as a place to put my coffee or tea mug and maybe a small plate with a scone or cookie.  

The Christmas one in the front is my latest find.

 
I'm having a good day and I hope you are as well. Leave a comment to let me know you visited today :)

GRANNY M

Morning Walk and an Amaryllis

We walked beside Fishtrap Creek this morning as we usually do on Sundays. It involves a short drive whereas our nearby lake does not  otherwise I think we'd choose to walk at Fishtrap every day. More shade, less people and better views.

 
It's 33C ( 91F) now  shortly after lunch . Hopefully this week our temperatures will go down below the 30's daytime highs.  I find it difficult to get much done around the house and outside as well.  Thankfully youngest son came early yesterday morning. I had a long list of plants to cut down ( mainly huge clumps of Shasta Daisies) and he dug out several overenthusiastic perennials although with no watering I can't understand why they grew so much.  Anyway, it all got done in a relatively short time and I am very thankful for all his help.

My  Amaryllis has 2 fully opened flowers and more buds. I brought it up to my room where there is A/C  hoping that will help the flowers to stay lovely as long as possible.

Thanks for visiting,  GM