This and That

A bit of everything today, starting in my kitchen.  Dahlias, tomatoes, and peach jam. I bought the peaches for .49 a lb because they were very ripe and had to be used right away.

Fresh peach jam calls for fresh bread. Too bad I forgot to take another picture once they were done!

At a garage sale yesterday I spotted this lovely TanJay cardigan.  Perfect for Fall, don't you think?
  It was only a dollar!  I love a bargain.

I got Brambly Hedge from the library again. I love the detail Jill Barklem puts into each illustration.

             These Teddy Bears dressed for Autumn came out of the cupboard this week.

I have been wishing for a violin in Teddy Bear size and yesterday at another garage sale I found this Ukelele, still in its original box, souvenir of Hawaii. I think this Teddy looks quite pleased with himself.

Now this Teddy Bear insists she has to be included in today's post although she's dressed for WINTER not Fall. No use arguing with a Teddy Bear so here she is!

Hope you are having a lovely weekend whatever it is you are doing.

                               Granny Marigold

Autumn Decorating

I'm slowly getting some fallish things out of the cupboard.  This urn is a recent garage sale find but I've had the cream and sugar, the candle etc.. for a number of years.

I'm trying to decide if I should use the urn... or the glass 'vase' with the (blown) Quail eggs.
The eggs seem more appropriate for Spring.

                     A few pumpkins on the doll house steps.

This little guy probably has nothing to do with Fall but he ( it?) seems to be here every day now, and is quite used to us talking or even walking nearby. One sudden move and he's disappeared under the vegetation.   As you can see by the empty pot, I've begun pulling out any annuals that were looking tattered.  The Petunias have exhausted themselves as have the Pansies.  You can just see the Strawflowers in the bottom left corner; they seem to be keeping on but the flowers are smaller than they were earlier in the summer.  The Rudbeckias are lovely and provide nice colour now.  We had at least an inch of badly needed rain earlier this week. 

What's happening around your house?    Please leave a message so I know you've visited.

                              GRANNY MARIGOLD



                                         

September

Welcome First Day of September. I love this weather... cool nights followed by warm afternoons. So many different kinds of freshly harvested fruits and vegetables!  Yesterday I found cheap Roma Tomatoes and decided to make "sun-dried" tomatoes ( in the oven). We love them on homemade pizza. I ended up making five cookie sheets of cut up tomatoes and got a medium-sized Tupperware container for my efforts. Still, they're worth the bother ( and mess).

                   This is half of the tomoatoes, washed and ready to cut up.

Here they are, cut up,  with some of the seeds squished out, lightly sprinkled with garlic and celery salt.

 After about 2 hours in the oven they are ready. If you're not careful they get a bit charred but they still taste delicious.  I loosened them carefully from the parchment paper, put the entire cookie sheet in the freezer to firm they up enough so they wouldn't freeze together. Then I layered them in the Tupperware container using more parchment paper between layers.

This is a decorative plate I bought at a garage sale last Saturday.  It's perfect for the season, don't you think?  All I had to do was put little felt thingies underneath it so the table doesn't get scratched when I push the plate aside. ( DH and I eat at this small table instead of the bigger dining room one. So I'm moving whatever is on the table a couple of times a day!).

I'm already collecting handfuls of fallen leaves as I walk through the park. Some of these are last year's leaves that I stuck in various books to dry). They look lovely on the plate and make me happy.

Do you decorate your home in any way for Fall?  I'd love to know what you choose.

      GRANNY MARIGOLD

This and that

Not much is happening here. Quiet. I cleaned the fountain that is on the front steps this morning then brought a few plants from the back to spruce things up a bit. I bought these two Canna Lilies during the week. Marked down to 1.98 each. I wonder if I'll be able to overwinter them. I hope so because they are so pretty in a tropical sort of way!

Went to a fund raising garage sale and found these lovely tea cups and odd saucers.  I paid a little more than I normally would but the money raised was for a good cause. I especially love the deep red cup ( Royal Albert)  which had no saucer but once I looked through my odd saucers I found a reasonable match ( if you don't look too closely).

Outside Walmart there is a big display of Spring bulbs. I chose  an assortment and will keep them cool until the end of September or even middle of October before putting them in the ground. The problem, if you wait too long to buy them,  the best choices are gone.

This is a long weekend for us, Labour Day on Monday. To me this marks the beginning of Fall. As a rule school would begin this Tuesday but BC teachers and the government are having a great deal of trouble coming to an agreement on a contract so I doubt that will happen.  My granddaughter ( 11) is not impressed because she is anxiously waiting for school to be back in session. The little man ,who starts kindergarten this year, is okay with being at home extra days before joining the ranks of  ":school kids".
  I hope you are having a relaxing weekend. I'll be back in September!!

                            Granny Marigold

Happy Monday

Sometimes I have more trouble thinking of a title for my post than the post itself. Today was one of those days. Anyway, I settled on Happy Monday before my allotted time here at my computer is gone!!  DH picked up another big box of cherries so there's work to be done.

I had a birthday last week and received lovely gifts from my children a few of which I wanted to share with you today. The first is a "sculpture" made by my talented older daughter out of scraps of wood molding she found as well as used copper wire from a stripped dryer cord. The metal gate came from Michael's but I think that is the only bought item. A friend of hers makes origami birds which you see in the close-up.

        I received this Botanical themed hardboard suitcase from one of my sons and DIL,
 

and this lovely tea cup from my youngest son and his girlfriend. It belonged to her grandmother. Aren't I fortunate to get such an heirloom?  
No pattern name beneath only that it is made by Hammersley.

 The aforementioned son and the delicious cake he brought. Doesn't he look formidable holding that knife?  *smile*     I am blessed to have a loving family. 

                                                               Granny Marigold

Honey Farm

This morning we went with our DIL and grands to a honey farm and Country Store. It was quite interesting  and the store itself was a delightful mix of antiques and products for sale. It was an open house day and a bit crowded but we enjoyed it and DH bought a bottle of Blackberry Mead which we will save for our anniversary. Oh yes, I didn't mention that this place makes mead which is a type of "wine" made from honey. They have bottles of plain mead but also many many flavours all made with their own hone grown currants, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and crab apples.

I have more to tell you but that will have to wait. It is a sunny and warm day and I want to be out there enjoying it. Please leave a comment if you come by.      Granny Marigold 

Wordless Wednesday

         Granny Marigold