This and That

It's been a week since I last posted and I must admit I still don't have much to write about. It's so dreary out with the never-ending rain that I brought in one of the pots that I planted Daffodil bulbs in last Fall.  They were showing some green tips when I brought them in and now they've really taken off.  So far no sign of buds...  

M. is learning about castles and knights in grade 3. Each student had to make a castle ( with some parental help). I think his turned out very well. His dad helped with the working draw bridge.
Together they made a working catapult too.  His oral presentation is written on those pages in the background. I remember absolutely dreading standing in front of the class and having to give a presentation while this little guy is completely at ease with it.

 I hope the new week will give me some inspiration. Like the photo below says..maybe something new.

                 GRANNY MARIGOLD

A Game and a Change

It's Sunday evening and we've had high winds most of the day including one short power outage. I haven't dared to start my computer until now. Actually I was going to post this yesterday but I got busy and forgot. SO...
M was given a pinball game ( his dad brought it home from work after finding it in the "free" stuff at work). It makes quite a racket but he loved it for 2 days I think. Good thing it cost nothing. I think those games don't hold kids attention for long. ( I'm glad about that). Here he and grandad are playing shortly after he got it.

In the background of the previous photo and here below you can see the sideboard with all the snow men the way it looked last week.

Here's what it looks like now. It was time for a change and it is only 3 weeks until Valentine's Day!!

 

I hear the rain coming down and we're invited out, leaving in 45 minutes. Because of the wind there's no use even trying to use an umbrella. Should be interesting!

Have a great Monday!         Thanks for popping by,

Granny Marigold

Thrifty finds

My pictures didn't load quite the way I wanted them to. I was going to begin with the full boxes I was taking to the thrift store and THEN show you what I came back with.  This adorable birdie feels the same way about Winter as I do. She stands over 7 inches high, all wrapped in gray woolly strips and don't you just love her toque?   I wish I knew if she was 'home made' or in a factory somewhere.

                        So here are my boxes/bag of stuff to donate.

The other treasure I found is this book which has quite a story to it.  I quote from the book jacket, " In 1982, 300 rare and beautiful flower paintings were found in the attic of Frampton Court in Gloucestershire, England....They were created between 1828 and 1851 by members of the Clifford family, owners of the house."
It goes on to say that 4 unmarried sisters and their 2 unmarried aunts  sketched and painted an impressive number of the wild plants in their surrounding area.
Apparently the paintings were forgotten in the attic for so many years but once discovered and published they were quite popular.

             A few of the pages, just to give you an idea of what the paintings are like.

The inscription inside the book says  : To Joanne with love, Christmas 1988,  from Grandpa.

Those are my finds for today and I'm very happy that I found them. I was so happy I decided to celebrate and make a batch of yummy scones.

I had a very lovely day.  I hope you did too.

Please leave a  comment so I know you came by,


        Granny Marigold

Window

I think I was unclear about the window that we picked up for free. It was the outside window, an old wooden, push-up kind.  NOT the stained glass one, although I think I paid five dollars for that one at a garage sale. It is obviously broken but for where I wanted it to hang that didn't really matter.  It bothered me that you might have misunderstood so I just wanted to be more precise.

In case you wondered how big this buttery is I measured it and it's just over 7 foot square. My breadmaker has its own little stand and is always plugged in..
On the South wall I have a freezer and an extra fridge. The old fashioned kind that I have to defrost myself from time to time. 

Because I have a touch of OCD  asked DH to make doors in front of the open shelves that are on the North wall because I found it hard to keep as neat as I wanted. I know, silly, but it is wonderful to have a carpenter hubby who doesn't mind building things for me.

The door that to the buttery is one of two that my DH got in part payment for a small job he did.

It's been a lovely day here, the second in a row!!  I went out to refill the bird feeder and it felt strange to go out with no coat over. Gives me hope that Spring days will come once again.

I hope you had a good beginning to your week.

Thanks for coming by,

          Granny Marigold

More This and That

I'm trying to blog more faithfully but not much is happening so I have to resort to trivia. Which may bore you...just saying.

My dear GD Kate gave me this Mary Englebreit calendar for Christmas. It has nice big squares so I have it hanging by the phone so I can write all birthdays, anniversaries, and appointments on it.

I picked up this Snakes and Ladders board at the thrift store. It's thick and heavy and ever so colourful. GS M and I have been playing that game often since I got it. I didn't even think to turn it over before I got it home but then I saw that there was  Parcheesi   on the other side.

I can't remember all the rules but we manage just fine. For our markers we use chocolate chips. Big ones for him and smaller ones for me. When the game is done he eats them.

Besides playing games with M I've been doing some organizing in my Buttery. I love my old canisters even if they don't match. Maybe even more because of that.

We call this little room a Buttery because before my DH added it to the house we already had a cupboard we called a pantry.  Since we couldn't have 2 pantries  and not be confused - we needed another term. Apparently in old times a buttery was a store room for bottles of ale and wine. The person who presided over the buttery was called the Butler.  Years ago my buttery held  not bottles of ale but rather quarts of canned fruit etc.. but now that I no longer can it just serves as a storage room.

The ugly view of the neighbour's 15 foot fence is partially blocked by the stained glass window that hangs in front of the old wood window which we probably picked up beside the road at some time or other.  ( Am I the only one who cries STOP THE TRUCK!  I SEE A FREE SIGN BY THAT....)

That, my friends, is my trivia for the day  .Have a lovely Sunday. The sky was all rosy and peach coloured this evening so that assures us of a clear day which is very welcome.

              Granny Marigold

Amaryllis and a Primrose

I apologize for the poor quality of this picture but what I wanted to show was just how much this Amaryllis flower stem grew in 2 days. DH marked it with a pen right close to the bulb and this shows how well it's coming along. This is one of the two I bought recently marked down after Christmas. This is Red Lion, the other one ( which is less vigorous it seems) is Minerva ( red and white streaked).

Last year I also bought the same 2 varieties marked down and they produced amazing blooms...5 or 6  per plant.  They refuse to go dormant in spite of no watering so I'll just wait and see if they bloom at all this year.  This one has all its leaves still while the one below in down to just one leaf.

We went to do our grocery shopping this morning and outside was a large display of Primroses just $1.30 each. How could I resist!  I love the pure whit of this one. I'm hoping that if I remember to put it out on the porch  at night it will bloom a few weeks.

We've been having more winter weather so my indoor  plants/flowers give me a boost when it's dreary outside.

Thanks for visiting,

          Granny Marigold

This and That

Our weather has changed to much milder and as I sit here I hear the rain hitting the skylight. We weren't brave enough to go walking and risk getting soaked in spite of umbrellas. We did walk yesterday morning and the lake had a thick layer of mist hanging over it. Of course I hadn't taken my camera but  Sheila, who walked there a couple of hours later, had taken pictures with her phone.

                          The mist gives the lake a mysterious look.

 What is the best thing to do on a dreary Winter's day?  Bake muffins, of course. I thought pear muffins sounded good so I used an ordinary Blueberry muffin recipe and just substituted diced
 ( canned) pears. Here they are hot out of the oven.

Yesterday we put the Christmas trees away and all the decorations. Packed them up for ten-and-a-half months. It seemed like more of an effort this year.  I must be getting old.

Thanks for visiting today. Please leave a comment so I know you came by.

              Granny Marigold

Learning

A brand new year; I hope it will be a happy and healthy one for all of us.

I decided to try making a new collage for my blog. The few I had were made for me by my DIL and she had written out some 'steps' for me how to make my own. Well, it seems that things that are simple for young people are not so simple for some of us older ones. I was getting frustrated because I just couldn't figure it out when my little grandson M came up to see what I was doing. Would you believe that a 9 year old could help me and together we made the "old Houses" collage that you see above. It's not perfect but now I have more confidence and will try to make others. Nothing like learning something new right at the start of the year.

We're having DH's family over this evening for an evening of playing cards and having tea and goodies of which I still have quite a few left from Christmas. I should be tidying up the house and I will too, right after I visit some of your blogs.

Thanks for coming by and reading about my ordinary, sometimes frustrating, life. Your friendship and support means a lot to me.

I love your comments and although I don't usually respond to every one  I do read them and appreciate them too.

     Granny M.