Around the mouse-house today

FALL

is my favorite time of year.

Oh, I know what's comin' but I am a Canadian so I should be able to survive. No guarantees, though.

For now, I will enjoy the beauty of our maples, the change in colour and texture of our perennials and the gift of the resident birds preparing for the new season and the colder weather to come.

While out filling feeders this morning, I enjoyed the visuals and the sound of the geese flying high in the sky as they head south.

Why, even Simon popped out of his hidey-hole as they flew over the trees next to the old white pump.

"What is all that racket?"

But he soon didn't care.

"Oh, ok then."

It's fun to capture the beauty of the morning.

And look at today's haul from the garden.

Beans will be the side dish with dinner tonight.

I moved my garden kitty to the front today.

Our whisker-less greeter.

I wish each and every one of you could drop by to sit in an adirondack chair and share tea and muffins :)

With any luck,  you would meet Simon or his lady friend because  both are nosy little posies and would come by for a visit.

(lady friend)

I've named her Simone.

And this guy would be all over you.

David...King of the wild frontier

Enjoy your evening.

hugs, Deb

This & That

How on earth do the weekends go by so fast?
We enjoyed a birthday party for Bradley, who happens to love The Hulk and who has just turned four.
How on earth can he be four already? And, he started school this year. Whew...this life is on high speed these days.

I like him better like this. :)

                                            Our handsome little grandittle.

The morning brought lots of birds to our feeders. They seem to love the one outside the garage window which is the one the cats watch the most.

And now that Fall is here, the hummingbird feeder was taken down this morning. I saw many over the summer but have not seen one for weeks now. What I do see and hear now are the geese up above heading south. That's a sure sign of Fall. I hope they make it safely.

I love the cooler mornings now.

I cleaned up some of the gardens

and finally headed out for my walk.

I headed down our road and said

"hi" to our neighbour cows.

"Babies." :)

The maples are changing

and I never come home without a feather

for Miss Stink-eye.

                                       "Oh, Audrey"

hugs, Deb

A teeny-weeny recipe & my love affair with cupboards

                1/4 cup of brown sugar

                  1 Tbsp. of cinnamon

                                  Mix

\

                 A simple treat that goes great with tea or coffee.

My love for cupboards started, not from my own home as a child, but from my grandmother's summer kitchen in her little two story clapboard farmhouse.
This turn-of-the-century step-back cupboard reminds me of the one that stood as the focal-point of her humbly-decorated kitchen with the wood-stove and the large kitchen table.

My grandmother's cupboard  almost reached the ceiling, was painted dark green and it held her glasses, tea-cups and saucers, glass jugs and the much-loved porcelain cookie jar loaded with home-made hermits on the top shelf. Hermits were made with nuts, raisins and lots of brown sugar.
The little drawers held a mish-mash of cutlery and baking tools.
It had the smell of tea, cookies, kool-aid and sugar all mixed together. To a child it was heaven.
But it never held candy because, well, that was in a different cupboard. :)))
Each of the grand-kids had a special tea-cup that was sought out and used only by them when visiting gran. Mine was red with a dragon on the side and a rim of gold on the cup. I couldn't tell you how many cups of tea and coffee I drank from it but it was more than my mother knew. ;-)

I wish today I still had that cup and saucer to drink my tea from but unfortunately my grandmother lost everything in a fire in the early '70's while she was recuperating at her daughter's from a fall. They said it was the old electrical wiring that caused the fire but to this day I'm really not sure what happened. It was one of the saddest days I remember.

So to this day I think about that old cupboard when I see photos like the above or this one which I would love to find in an antique shop. Goodness, that is gorgeous. :)

Now, with grands of my own, I like to let them find little treats or special tea-cups in my step-back cupboard when they visit. 

I've never met a child that doesn't love to discover the unexpected so I enjoy their excitement just as much as they do.

Hopefully, I'm making memories.....
and
I'd better get baking again.

Another post on this old cupboard...http://justcats-deb.blogspot.ca/2015/07/the-old-green-cupboard.html


hugs, Deb

Light

It's time to take a walk and photograph some of  the changes that Fall brings our way. But first, I'll be content to bask in it's beauty as it's light enters the mouse-house and captures the innocence of an unsuspecting feline.

"Thanks, Audrey."

Off for a walk...

hugs, Deb

Preferred places.

Our birds have a favorite feeder around here. It's the platform feeder that is easy to access for small and large birds. Oh yes, squirrels and chipmunks prefer it, too.

And inside the mouse-house, there is a favorite spot being taken up by one of the resident felines, Annie.
We all know that as the couch. :)

=^..^=

hugs, Deb

Hairy help & stocking up.

It's been on again off again rain all weekend.
That gave me time to clean cupboards, with much help, I might add.

"Hey, you missed a spot."

                   "What am I thinking; I could be napping."

I so appreciate their help.

All dusted up and ready for company :)

I found this recipe and was more attracted to the photo than the recipe itself.

It does look like a good cookie, though.

Notice they are referred to as 'little cakes'.

I've been watching the numbers of Mourning Dove increase at the mouse-house over the last few days. I guess they remember that this is where they were safe and fed all last fall and winter. Perhaps some from last year are bringing their young here. It is so good to see them again and welcome the new ones as they rank right up with the chickadee as a favorite of mine.
I just bought one hundred pounds of seed this week. We were given a heads-up where there is very good and reasonably-priced seed grown right on the owner's farm in the North Gower area. It is a feed and seed business and the mix is fabulous. I hope my birds really love it. To attract even more birds the seed is sprayed with peanut oil. It sells for .50 a pound. And to add to the positives, the drive up there is so nice; all well-kept farms, barns and farm land.

Audrey's thinkin'... "More birds...more chance for a bird burger."

"What do ya say, Deb?"

She loves helping me fill the feeders in the garage, too. 
"That'll have to do, Missy."

hugs, Deb