Tea-time with Granny

I've been having many 'flash-backs' to a time I remember so fondly. It may be because I am now living on my grand-mother's land that I so often think of times spent in her little clap-board house that stood only a few metres from  where we live  now. It was usually the summer holidays spent with cousins that come to mind.

If it was hot and sunny, which most mornings were, we would eat a quick breakfast of toast made atop the old wood stove,  granny's scrambled eggs made fresh from her hens, juice and just a tiny cup of half coffee and half milk. Then we were off for the morning to explore and do whatever our hearts desired. We had an old log building on the other side of her fence that we (the girls) had turned into a doll house complete with a table and chairs for us to sit and have lunch if we felt like it. We kept dolls, dishes, lots of books and crayons there to keep us busy. We prettied it up with lace curtains.
But if it was a cool, rainy day, we spent much of it inside granny's clap-board house looking for things to keep us busy. She had a large summer kitchen with two tables; one large to serve meals and one small for playing cards or colouring. And the old wood stove was always full of burning logs; keeping us all warm as toast. It was on those wet days that she would fill the tea-pot and we would each pick out our favorite tea-cup from the floor to ceiling green kitchen cupboard and have tea with granny.

(This photo found in a magazine reminded me of her kitchen cupboard)

 And, there were cookies; home-baked and delicious. That woman probably knew more about us kids than our own parents did because it was at these times that we would talk about our hopes and dreams and all the mischief we had been in up to that time. We had a lot of laughs. :)

I would give anything to have just one tea-cup from her cupboard today. My grandmother's house burnt down from an electrical fire back in the '70's. She was staying at my aunt's at the time. It was a very sad day for our family. But, I have these precious memories of my gran, her home and all those pretty tea-cups and saucers that she so kindly let us scalliwags use at tea-time. Those can never be lost.

I'm joining Tea-time at http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.ca/
hugs, Deb

3 favorite photos of 3 favorite cats.

Sierra playing with her feather wand.

Audrey waiting on a moth.

and Annie also known as Peach 

at Christmas

It's been thundering today *BOOM* with down-pours off and on. The gardens can surely use this after a few hot and sunny days in a row. Outside the mouse-house there is a sea of mud where the balance of the construction will take place later this year. We do have grass by the old pump, though, where we can sit under the maple and enjoy a sunny day. It's not much but we are happy to have that.
We are still burning brush and, when done, we will set up a gazebo at the back of the property for sitting outside. The mosquitoes are enormous and will send you running for your life back there so a screened-in area will be a must. We are finishing up the siding on the mouse-house and will soon show you the end result.
She's looking mighty pretty. :) *blush*

hugs, Deb

Visitors who demand tummy-rubs.

I had a visitor today.

  Dave came by for a tummy-rub.

Silly 'ol goon.

It was one of those days today that you dream about in the dead of winter.

(Something loves an apple at night. Still a mystery to me. :)

The squirrels must have planted some sunflower seeds in my pansies.

I'll have to move those.

I did some weeding at the old pump.

It sure needed it.

Kane was hot and headed back to the cool garage.

And, I prettied up the old out-house.

Dave spotted Kane so he got up and headed home.

I'm afraid I'd fear for Kane more than this big, healthy cat.

Big.scary.cat.

Hope you had some time today to play in the weeds. :))

hugs, Deb

Perennials

Well, as smart as Audrey is, she's a bit forgetful, so I made it through the night unscathed.

To celebrate (haha!, any excuse will do) we went out for breakfast before hitting the jobs at home staring us in the face.

Our favorite restaurant in the area for a delicious, quick but relaxing breakfast is the Hard Stones Cafe. To our surprise, the name had changed when we arrived. Creek Side Restaurant is the new name and, thankfully, the menu had not changed. Creek Side? That struck me as an odd name since the restaurant is located by the Rideau River. Oh well, it has a nice ring to it.

Look what we got from our dear friends, Iain and Susan.   PERENNIALS!
A whole trailer full.
Susan was thinning out her beautiful gardens just when we are starting ours.
So on this wet, chilly morning we popped by to happily take them off their hands.
We certainly have our work cut out for us now.

And if that wasn't enough, Susan baked fresh from her garden rhubarb and ginger muffins served with excellent coffee. *grin*

"Thanks so much for sharing your plants, guys. We promise to give them a good home."

Pop over and visit Susan at http://www.proseccoandpolkadots.blogspot.ca/

hugs, Deb

Sweet revenge

How many mornings has this 'darling' cat taken to waking me up far too early to pop open a can of stinky goodness. I lost count.

So, today when I saw her like this...

I was out for revenge.

"AUUUUUUUUUDREEEEEEEEEEEEEEY''

"audrey...ARE YOU ASLEEP?"

"I know how you love your nose rubbed."

"She's playing with her life here."

"Audrey, would you get up and serve me my breakfast, please."

"EEEEEYOWWWW!"

OK...so I have a sore finger now but without a word of a lie I found that very satisfying. I'm just a little afraid to go to sleep tonight, though.

hugs, Deb

More out-side work and a touch of peace.

Good Mornin'.

The sun is shining and it will be hot today. It feels like we have jumped to July weather. You won't hear me complaining, though, after the winter we just surfaced from.

We had plenty of rain yesterday which helped our grass to start growing finally.

You can see it popping through.

Sierra looks miffed because I am taking my sweet time getting her morning treat of milk. I have coffee and she joins me with a tiny bit of her favorite beverage.

She's a real social-bunny like that, you know.

Or is that an opportunist? Hmmmm

If I had to describe Sierra in one word it would be PERFECT. Or is that PURR-FECT. :)
                                                                   Sorry! :-b

The retired-guy bought himself an old grater for our even older tractor.
This will help smooth out the mounds of dirt here for now and make it easier to walk around. It's hard on old Kane to get around with all the bumps and holes.

There's another pile of stuff to burn soon.

I found a little white dove to add to the kitty grave-site. I plan to surround the old log with more white flowers as soon as I get to a nursery.

Anyone who sees this says "I think you made a mistake on Ed's dates." But, no. He was in his 26th year when he left us.

                                Ed & Sierra 2011
He was such a grand, old guy. We still miss him so much. 

I'm still planting here and think this little white dove adds a feeling of peace.

Enjoy your day, everyone.
hugs, Deb

Toll-house cookies with tea.

On this rainy day, the mouse-house got a going-over and the cookie jar was filled.

Audrey helps make the bed....her way. It never looks right to me but I don't complain. She doesn't care anyway.

And she helped me do the dishes. Bless her.

                                                        "You missed a spot"

But, when it comes to baking, all cats must keep their distance so I wait until they are in a deep snooze.
Today I made Toll-house Cookies or Chocolate Chip, as I call them. Until now, I wondered why the famous chocolate chip cookie was sometimes called Toll-house cookies. Here's why...
http://www.women-inventors.com/Ruth-Wakefield.asp

So yummy!

(I mix the old fashioned way because, well....I'm old.)

                                       ORIGINAL TOLL-HOUSE COOKIES
1 c plus 2 tbsp of flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter softened
6 tbsp white sugar
6 tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp water
1 egg
1 cup (or less) chocolate chips

Sift together flour,soda and salt
set aside
Combine butter. sugars,vanilla and water
Beat until creamy
Beat in egg
Add flour mixture
Mix well
Stir in chips
Drop by tspn full on prepared cookie sheet
Bake 10 - 12 minutes at 375

If you want smaller cookies just drop by 1/2 teaspoonful on sheet.

These are great cookies to have with tea. Which is just what we did.

Have a good day. Enjoy a cuppa. :)

I'm joining Sandi at http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.ca/ for Tea-time.
hugs, Deb

Baby Audrey and a blog you just may enjoy.

At 3 months of age, when our foster kitten, Audrey, saw her reflection

she saw this...

And since she never left her foster home :-b, we were doomed from the start.

All the lilacs that filled the mouse-house with a heavenly scent are now done. The last of them were put in the compost today. I really doubt that I will bring lilacs into the house again. I have been finding, and Audrey has been hunting huge ants all week long. Never do I remember ants this size hiding inside the lilac blooms. They grow them big in these here parts. :( I think I'll just enjoy them on the bushes from now on. They still look lovely outside.

I have added Greek yogurt to my diet lately.  I have also added it to Kane's daily diet, too. The probiotics may help improve his immune system (which is very challenged these days) and 20gr of protein per cup will benefit me since I don't eat meat. It's delicious, too. You can read up on it's health benefits here.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/86488-benefits-greek-yogurt/
and thank you to Hilary at http://crazyasaloom.blogspot.ca/ for her post informing us of it's benefits.

So, there is a blog for you to visit today. A very down-to-earth (love that), beautiful, informative (she's a weaver) and funny blog.  You'll love meeting Hilary.

have a great Sunday
hugs, Deb

I see more tea in my future.

Guess what I found today?

                                           A tea-room in the town of Manotick.

Oh, oh. I`m in trouble now.
This lovely, quaint little restaurant served the biggest, BESTest scones along with delicious coffee to start the day. And, we tried their omelettes;  mine was cheese & mushroom and the retired-guy had mushroom and bacon. They were delicious.
Tea is served in pretty china cups :) and the ladies are fabulous.

It was too busy on the other side of the antique side-board to take photos but I`ll be back and hopefully get some then. Very attractive . The feature of the day was mile-high lemon pie.

Our table for two overlooked a beautiful lilac tree.

It`s fun getting to know the town of Manotick. There is a Farmer`s Market on Saturday `til 2pm so I just may drop by there next weekend.

The sun is shining.

It promises to be a fine day.

But first, someone needs a combing when she `rises and shines.`

Enjoy!

Hugs, Deb

Audrey learns the 'F' word

Audrey is still getting over the shock of the F word(s) today.
Fluffy, feathered, frolicking freeloaders. They just happened to pay us a visit today and stayed around the mouse-house for a good hour. Just long enough to have Audrey in a state of shock.

                                  "WTF (Fluffy, feathered, frolicking freeloaders.)"!!

Daddy, mommy and 6 baby geese.

I headed outside while AUDREY contemplated which sauce would be best on them.

But...I knew better than to go too close. Just look at the stink-eye I got here.

                                               "Holy Dinah...I'm out of here."

Apparently, you never want a goose to get mad at you. Especially a Canada Goose. Dad was ready for me. So, I have to be happy with lousy photos AND I just know the sauces are flying in the kitchen.

hugs, Deb

A recipe and fun gardening

Fresh out-of-the-oven blueberry loaf.

Big enough to cut in half and share with a loved-one. :)

1/2 c butter, melted & cooled

1 tbsp olive oil

2 c flour

1 1/4 c sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 c milk

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Prepare your 9" pan

 Mix together flour,sugar,powder,salt.

In a smaller bowl, mix butter, oil, milk, eggs, vanilla

Stir wet into dry 

Fold in berries

Bake in prepared pan

55 minutes

                                     Lilacs

Both purple and white lilacs grow on our property.

And, on the other side of our fence and along the ditch there is a beautiful lilac tree in full bloom.

I guess that one is for the 'walkers' that pass by the mouse-house every morning.

Must be a pretty funny dream, Audrey. Haha! ;-)

I've been adding more flowers around the front because...well, I just can't stop.

The pansies look so pretty in all the different colours.

I have just one more to plant and a few more other flowers to pot up.

The grass seed should soon take and hopefully we'll have fresh new grass to cut.

I'm in good company here. :)

(I'm being stalked by a retired-guy ;-)

Enjoy your gardens.

Enjoy your Spring.

I'm joining Farmgirl Blog Hop at http://deborahjeansdandelionhouse.blogspot.ca/

hugs, Deb