A Peek at the Garden

To date the spring season has been quite cool and a lot of rain. I haven't had to do much in the garden as a result and I find it isn't growing as fast as usual. The seeds I sowed directly must have drowned because they are not coming up. 

In the next few days the weather is expected to get much warmer and I'm sure the garden will suddenly sprout. In the meantime I went out to capture a few raindrops on leaves. One of my absolute favourite things to do in the garden believe or not. I captured these photos in the very early morning hours and just used my phone camera.

  Hosta leaves #1

 

Hosta leaves #2

Solomon's Seal #1

Solomon's Seal #2

The herb container

Trying to capture the rain as it drops in the bird bath.

When it dried out a little I captured a few more photos. 

I like to capture and compare garden photos from year to year. I can see that last year my garden was more mature in May than it is this year in June.  I think it's due to the cool weather and abundant rain. I'm hoping it means the garden will remain fresh for longer this summer if the very hot weather is delayed. July is typically our hottest month.

I'm almost finished reading a murder mystery called Moonflower Murders. It is the 2nd book in a series but I didn't realize it when I picked it up on a whim at the library. I am enjoying it quite a lot.

 

I have a friend who has been under a lot of stress because he was very close to becoming homeless. Right now he is living in a hotel room. Fortunately he found a place and so the stress is relieved.  He will need to purchase or gather a lot of items to begin in the new apartment so I'm now putting together some items that I want to declutter and which will be useful (bowls, plates, cutlery, draining pads, dishcloths,dishtowels, dutch oven, baking pans, possibly hangers. bedding and shower curtain, etc.).

In other news I was able to get my 2nd Covid vaccine.  I got the Pfizer vaccine and was told that after one week it is 95% effective in protecting me.

 How is your garden growing?

Spring Activities Continue

Hi friends,


It's been raining a lot here this week so I didn't get to plant my 2 gardens plot yet. I am happy about that because it gave me time to shift to doing a few other things. I'm still in Spring cleaning and spruce it up mode.  I'm making notes here for my own record and for future reference.

 I'm constantly in the process of decluttering and getting rid of things some of which has piled up for over a decade.  Things piled up when I spent years looking after my late sister's children then looking after my late mom.  I couldn't spend time to properly deal with my business while others in the family were in great need. The declutter project I'm doing will still take a lot more time.  I don't easily get rid of things and like to take time going through everything meticulously.

Sometimes I go through things 3 or 4 times before making final decisions and over the years, needs and wants change and things come into clearer focus as to what is needed or can be let go. I am no hoarder though and over the years have gotten rid of a lot of things mostly through giving to the thrift store or posting things on the local Freecycle website.  For now while I'm still in declutter mode I'm trying to spruce things up a bit.

Spring Cleaning

• A new bathroom shower curtain. I just changed it a year ago and felt the colours (navy on white) needed toning down. My new curtain is mostly white and has small designs in navy and gray). I intend to paint the bathroom (something I never seem to get to) and install a train rack for extra towel storage.
• Purchased some command hooks for the laundry closet on which to hang my mop and broom. I've had metal ones for many years but never got around to nailing them in the wall. So at last I have some stick on ones. I've purchased extra command strips if needed. One of the shelf units in the laundry closet came out of the wall so rather than put it back up I purchased some narrower plastic shelves from Wal-mart a year or two ago. I am happy with the new arrangement because I don't have a laundry room as such and have to make do with a very small laundry closet.
• I emptied and cleaned the vacuum cleaner, vacuumed the living room/dining room and moved the area rug from the front room into the master bedroom. I'm looking for another one or two larger area rugs for the living room and dining area. I've been looking for a very long time. I am not in a big rush because of all the other things I have to do and because I hope to live with my purchases for many years to come.
• I bought a new larger entry hall rug to replace the temporary one I bought last year.  I went back and forth to the store 3 times to buy and exchange the rugs. In the end I got a different colour than I wanted.  That's okay because the entry hall rug and the kitchen rug are now the same design (different colours) and can be interchanged if I want to change the colour scheme in the kitchen.
• I bought a new tablecloth (narrow brick red and tan stripes on natural background) and natural coloured napkins.  I've got a number of tablecloths I bought many years ago but wanted something to freshen things up. I think I can get rid of at least one or two tablecloths that have seen better days.
• New (slightly larger) kitchen rug, dish rack, draining mat and oven mitts. I've decided I'd rather have a dish tray under the Umbra dish rack but have been having problems finding just the right one. Maybe I'll change my mind as time goes on and stick with the draining mat. I will donate the well used teak dish rack and several drying mats. If no one wants them I'll be fine with putting them in the trash because all of the items have been used for quite a long time.
• I bought an under the sink shelf. I'm not sure if I'll use it in my kitchen or in the master bathroom. If I like it I may buy another one later. Right now I use plastic containers under the kitchen and master bath sink to keep things organized. Right now though the  master bathroom stuff is out of control and needs to be reined in again (I'm working on not buying more products and using up what I have. It takes discipline).
• I used some white wood putty to fill in some cracks on my kitchen cabinets. I'm not sure yet but I may paint out the lower cabinets some time in future or I may reface the kitchen cabinets.  It will depend on whether I can make a small repair to one of the cabinet hinges and also on overall costs. This is just one of so many projects that need to be done.  For now I am focussing on the smaller projects to try and make the household flow a bit better.  It seems to be a never ending process.
• I purchased a can of Scott's Liquid Gold to shine up the kitchen cabinets after washing. I only buy this stuff about once every decade and mainly use it on my laundry closet shutter doors to shine them up a bit. I got this tip from an Executive Assistant to a former boss.  We would share a few decorating ideas from time to time. I was surprised to learn that this product is multi-functional and can even be used on kitchen pots to shine them up.
• Notes: Most of my new purchases were done at HomeSense so the items were all at a discount.  Of course the stock changes daily.  If you waffle a bit and return another day you take a risk that it might not be in stock when you return.  Imagine my surprise when I returned the very next day for a red & beige rug for the entry hall (there were 3 of them less than 24 hours earlier) and they were all gone! Since I visited the store daily for 3 days in a row it was clear to me that stock turnover happens very quickly.  Overall though I've been very pleased with what I found there. I'd been wanting to stop at this store for years. I didn't realize it's location was convenient to me.

There is a lot more work to do in the coming weeks to continue spring cleaning and decluttering though I won't likely write about all of it in this space (lucky you).

Gardening

I bought some pansies to plant in the containers on the balcony. I should have time later this week to undertake this task. Pansies are one of my favourite little flowers and each year it is hard to find the starter plants here. When I saw a few earlier this week I snapped up 10 pots because the store didn't have much stock and very little of the purple colour I love so much.  I have to plant them soon and hopefully the weather will cooperate later this week.

Frugal Cooking

I've baked bread every week for the past 3 weeks. We haven't eaten it all up so I made bread pudding with some of the slices. I forgot to take a photo. It was good but I'm still looking for a good recipe. I find most of the recipes I've tried result in what I consider to be a dry pudding.

I want a pudding that is much creamier and similar to what my late mom used to make. Too bad I didn't learn her recipe but back then I really didn't enjoy cooking at all and had no interest in learning much about it.  In the version I made today I added more milk (find it here) and used less sugar. It was a decent outcome as in tasty but lacked the creamy texture I'm after.  I think the trick might be more eggs and milk though that might make a bread omelette, lol.  If you are a cook and have a creamy bread pudding recipe that you wouldn't mind sharing please let me know.

Right now I'm cooking from my food stock and only buying the barest minimum of foods, like a bit of fruit or eggs and milk to supplement what I have on hand.  I've got a lot of dried and canned goods as well as stuff in the freezer that I want to use up before I do any more grocery shopping.

So for today we had garlic mashed potatoes, fried pork chops and canned cream corn. I have salad fixings but I didn't make any salad.  Once I eat salad I tend to be too full for the main course. Dessert was bread pudding.

Yesterday we had baked chicken breasts (bone in) with canned browned mushrooms and mushroom soup "sauce" over steamed rice with steamed asparagus on the side. We had oranges for dessert.  I think Monday I'll make breakfast for dinner (bacon, eggs and hash browns or bacon with an omelette so I can put some veggies in there).  The goal is to use as much of my stock of food as possible so I can clean the freezer and the inside spaces of the cabinets.


If I run out of meat or fowl I will make vegetarian meals with chick peas, lentils and so on. In fact I hope to intersperse some of the meat and chicken dishes with vegetarian ones. I was inspired by browsing through the book by Mary McCartney (daughter to Paul and Linda McCartney). I didn't buy the book. I just sat down for awhile and thumbed through it (and a few other books) enough to be motivated once again to eat more vegetarian meals. One thing I want to make (which I saw in Mary McCartney's cookbook) is a corn meal bread with jalapeno peppers and corn niblets. I have several bags of cornmeal that a friend gave me and I need to use it up soon. In fact, I'm not sure what the expiry date is (it's in sealed plastic bags with no markings).  Perhaps I should open one bag and smell it first.

Creativity

The crochet afghan I am making is going to be large enough to comfortably cover a twin sized bed so it is much larger than the throws I've been making to cosy up while sitting on the sofa. I think I'll be gifting it to my uncle who is now in long term care but first I'll call his wife and see if this is okay with them because my idea is rather last minute.  I'll take some photos of the finished product and share them when I'm done.

Television/Movies

I started watching a new series called "Hanna" on Amazon Prime.  I'm on episode 4 and find it very interesting. Are any of you watching it? I wanted to go and see the movie Dumbo but haven't got around to it yet. Have any of you seen it and do you recommend it for adults?


Reading

I am also reading a bit here and there. I am slowly working my way through the book Beyond Expectations which  I  picked up during my recent travels to Kenya.

It is quite interesting and chock full of information about the early days of Kenya's independence and the power brokers of the day.

I also picked up 3 more books at the library.

The Piano Teacher,  set in the 40s and 50s in Hong Kong. It's a fictional story which is primarily about two separate but intertwined love stories set in the period before and after Japanese occupation.  I've just finished the book and I would probably give it a 3 or 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I'm about to start on the next two books.

On Island is a book of fictional short stories written by a former Canadian Member of Parliament. The stories revolve around island living.

We're Going to Need More Wine is a memoir by actor Gabrielle Union. Her essays are true stories about power, color, gender, feminism and fame.

Other

I was hoping to see an old friend for lunch but she's had some family issues come up as well as some health issues so our get together is temporarily on hold.  I have another friend who I hope to see early in the week. I've suggested we go and see the Monet to Matisse exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery. I thought we were going on "cheap night" but I now see it may still cost quite a lot so I'll have to reconfirm with her tomorrow. Next up I have to meet with a new financial advisor. I've been wanting to change up advisors for some time now but never have time to do the research. I've been called by a new to me advisor at one of the banks I deal with so am hoping to have a meet and get to know you session before any decisions are made. There have also been a number of dental and medical related appointments on the agenda this month and some family matters of my own (all is well) and the ongoing charitable work in Kenya. I didn't expect April to be so busy.

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I hope you are well and busy and that you

 have a wonderful week ahead wherever you may be in the world.

Joining

Our World Tuesday

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Difficult Times

Hello dear friends,

I'm just stopping in to let you know I may be missing in action for awhile.

My mom had a massive stroke yesterday.  

Thankfully she is still with us and alert.  She knows what is happening but she can no longer speak
though she can  mumble a few words and move her hands a bit.

She is undergoing more tests and observation at the hospital.
Today she received a feeding tube. Today she failed the swallow test to receive a feeding tube but it seems like she may have had a slight improvement by end of day. No more tests will be done until next week as specialists are gone now for the weekend.

 I don't have much more information to share at this time.

Since I'll be busy dealing with her needs and responding to family and friends, I won't be here updating on a regular basis.

If you wish to keep her and the family in prayer that will be much appreciated.

 Thank you.

Sky Watching

I spoke too soon at my last post here about not getting heavy rainfall on Monday.  That night we had such a torrent of rain that there was significant flooding in one part of the city. We don't usually get floods here despite the fact we get a lot of rain. 

I also saw on the news tonight that there has been significant rain and damage in a small northern city called Dawson Creek. Not Dawson City in the Yukon,  but Dawson Creek which is located at Mile "0" of the Alaska Highway. Dawson Creek is in the beautiful Peace River District in northeastern British Columbia.

My small garden is okay even with all the extra rainfall.

Here are a few photos.

The cherry tomatoes are starting to grow.

The snap peas are also growing.

The rodents are still eating my kale. I've planted a few more but have been too tired to try and cover them with netting.  My starter seeds of lettuce did not germinate well and whatever did was picked and eaten by the crows. The crows also ate all the sunflower seeds I was trying to start so instead I've planted some seeds directly in the ground and covered and watered them well.  We'll see if they will grow.   I let the English cucumber stay too long in the nursery pot but it has been planted, as have the peppers. We'll see how they do. The recent soaking of the soil will help a lot.

The heavy rain was also good for the pansies and violas. Though if one looks closely you can see that a number of leaves got too much water.  I've found these plants like more water than hot sun and it can be difficult to keep them happy when the sunny days are plentiful.

I love pansies. 

This year it was difficult to find any so I only have 2 small pots of them. 

Normally I have about 5 pots of pansies of all colours.

This colour of petunias looks rather nice. I also have deep fuschia coloured ones.

The sky was rather dull by the time I took photos. 

I missed the opportunity when the sun came out.

I think we will have more rain tomorrow (Friday).

Have a great weekend everyone.

I'm joining in with Skywatch Friday today.

A big 'thank you' to our faithful

Skywatch Friday team of Yogi, Sandy, and Sylvia.

Wild About Colour

As I've mentioned a few times already the weather in this part of the world has been very unusual. I think that is true the world over these days. In Kericho, Kenya where I do missions work, they have been having so much rain and that is also unusual at this time of year. One of the things I've always loved about Kericho is the temperate climate. It rains virtually every day but outside of rainy season it is just enough to make everything fresh and new and then the sun comes out.  It can get quite hot for a Canadian girl like me but nothing like the dry, arid areas of the north and south.

I'm mentioning the weather again because we've had a spell of hot days. It was supposed to rain or cool off for a few days but I don't remember it really doing so.  Too much rain or too much heat is not good for my little garden which is very fragile.

I go out to water the garden late at night and try and soak the ground but there are still so many very sandy patches despite all my efforts over years to enrich the soil. It makes it rather difficult to grow things. I have better luck with growing things in containers but I keep trying to grow something edible or pretty in the small patch of land I call my garden.

Here is what the garden is growing right now.  These photos were taken at night so aren't as clear as they might be. All the drops of water on petals are from the hose. Not the sky.

Cherry tomatoes are coming up. Cabbage in back.

The leaves still show hail damage from a few weeks ago but the plant is growing well.

I love this tree but it sheds so much throughout the year. It is responsible for a lot of my time in the garden.

Thank you for stopping by. I'm joining in with Our World Tuesday this week.