Baby It's Cold Inside

On the bright side, the geraniums are greening up nicely and this little guy popped out as a morale booster. I haven't much counter space left but spring is on the way.

Morale boosting is in order since the back garden looked like this this morning after a night of spluttery snow. The birds didn't like it one bit and set up a loud complaint outside.

My furnace chose this time to stop working. Actually, it was working--the fan was sending cold air up through the vents.

By the time my pal Arthur the heating man arrived the temp read 14"C.

Much too cold. I wore my parka and mitts.

Turns out it was the thermostat and now I have a new digital one that I may figure out sometime and the house is warming up quickly.

Just your average spring.

A Piece of Family History



This is our family christening gown, first worn by my grandmother, Letitia Mary Cooper Hawkes, circa 1874.

Since Letitia became a seamstress when she grew up I have always imagined that  her mother or a relative made the gown.

A lot of family babies have worn the gown at their christenings and I clearly recall my second son throwing up down the front of it minutes before the minister grimly took him and made him official.

When it was looking fragile and couldn't handle another laundering, we turned it into an heirloom.

My eldest son made the oak case and oak hanger and the case is sealed tight.

This wonky picture is of my brother wearing the gown in 1930. My dad is holding him; on one side is his boss and on the other, my older brother who would apparently rather be elsewhere. This picture tells a story or two. Too late to find out just what they were.

Come to think of it, why am I not in the picture?  Is my mother taking the picture? These people did not have a sense of occasion.

There are no other christening pictures of us kids--my parents weren't big on picture-taking.

Now the family is scattered everywhere but I have the notion that christenings aren't of much significance anymore.

But the memory lives on.

It's A Glorious Hot Day

This was my first day in the garden. A sensational March day and we won't even consider that a snowflake or two might still come our way. Today is sunburn hot.

I pulled out my summer clothes and found my garden clogs so I was ready.

The side bed was a lot tidier by the time my muscles declared it a day and the mess I pulled out of the beds is now on the bricks.

This is how the bed looked when I began. Once I got started I found all sorts of green shoots popping up.There is progress- right?  Right..
Tomorrow I'll clean up the debris I pulled out of the beds.

Tomorrow.

Aha! Green Leaves

Well hello Gorgeous.
Just in time for St. Paddy's Day. Honeysuckle is first out of the gate this spring and a welcome sight it is.

I was playing with the new camera and on this misty morning  caught the dew drops on the centre branch.

If I were in a less arty mood I might want to consider getting into the winter clean-up out there.

but catching dew drops is a lot more fun.

Petunia Time

A few seasons ago I carefully isolated the various colors of petunias before I harvested their seeds.  Mother Nature had the last laugh since most plants we buy these days are hybrids and after a couple of seasons they will generally all be one color, no matter what. In my case, they were mostly pale purple.

I still harvest seeds in the fall and supplement with a few blooms from the nursery and it works well. I an content with my thrifty nature and the flowers will bloom.

In front of the planter boxes above is a flour shaker containing a mixture of horticultural sand and  petunia seeds. The sand helps space out the seeds as I shake them into the planting cells.

Window space is at a premium now but all the little guys have some sun every day and it won't be long before they beat their little chests and announce they're ready for outdoor living.

Planting time

 

These are some of last year's geraniums brightening up the front porch.

I'm an enthusiastic recycler so they aren't tossed out at the end of the season; instead they enter into my easy-going seldom-fail method of saving for next summer.
Just before heavy frost season, I pull them out of their pots and shake out the dirt. It's best to spread them out for a couple of days so the moisture from the adhering dirt can dry out; after that I stuff them loosely into plastic bags and store them in a bin in the darkest part of the basement.
A cool garage is best but around here, they would freeze and that would be the end of them.

Here they are after they've been tucked away all winter.

This morning. I pulled off the dead leaves and other debris and kept only the ones with green stalks or some signs of life. I haven't any idea what those corms are on the right --they were in the bottom of some of the geranium  pots last season so I'll plant them to see if anything happens.

Now the geraniums been potted and they're sitting in a sunny spot. They'll soon develop fresh, green leaves and begin to plump up.

When the time is right, probably in May, I'll re-pot them into  outdoor planters and they'll start the cycle once more. 

I dream of a glass conservatory attached to my house--. heated of course--no point dreaming small. Seems to me the English seem to manage this more easily or I read misleading garden  magazines.

Oh well, dreams are free.

A Year Ago



I checked to see what was happening in the garden last March. It began like this

And before the month ended, it was like this and there's the first robin on the fence.

 The dogwood was looking happy and only tiny snow patches remained in the shadows

The Annual Brunch

I hosted my annual family brunch on Sunday; it's my excuse to flex any lurking creative cooking muscles.

The eggs benedict   hadn't come out of the oven when I took this picture and then the doorbell rang so that was the end of picture-taking.

Above we see the goat cheese and pepper tarts and they were good.

Mini wieners in puff pastry were an experiment in trying to unwrap thawed puff pastry. Oh lordy, can it be done successfully? 

 Lots of easy-to-pick- up fresh fruit and not pictured, Aw's contribution of a a gorgeous Thai noodle dish and from Lorrie, yummy cinnamon buns.

The extra counter I had added to the kitchen was a great idea; it's a buffet area ready at any time.

I like to get out the sterling silver and cook up a storm once or twice a year to remind me of the way life was. In my non-family circle in this smaller-than-Toronto town, no one entertains in any scale beyond cookies and coffee preceding a game of  bridge.

Sometimes I miss the extra razzle-dazzle.

Houses To Let

This day has been weather-wacky--it began quietly with grey sky, then fat snowflakes combined with strong winds bordering on white-outs. An hour later, the sun is out, the sky is blue and the snow is receding from the roads. Another hour passes and we begin the madness all over again.

March is  an ambivalent month.

The bird houses are ready and waiting for summer tourists. Mind you, it has never happened but I continue to dream. There is a ragged edge to one doorway where a bored squirrel took to whittling.

Those are mirrors on the back fence between the raised beds and the birdhouses.In a couple of months there will so much greenery you will only get a glimpse of the mirrors.

Let the fun begin.

Play Date

This is Lola: waiting behind my son's house, where Eli the chocolate lab lives.

Lola sits patiently, hoping her best friend  will come out to play.

Planning

If you are a planner, then it's in your blood and there's no way out.

I'm holding my annual family brunch next Sunday (and yes, I do know it's Monday today).

I figure out the menu, then break each task down to an allotted day -- shopping, cleaning, table setting, platters out, a little fluffing up here and there and then I get started.

Naturally everything goes into the planner for the appropriate day and when it's done, of course I tick it off.

This is as far as I can go in the dining room at this minute. Waiting to hear how many are coming.

I use buffet style, so they serve themselves here and move on to the dining room. I print out a menu in case they wonder what they are looking at.

There are a mixture of kill-it-clean-it and eat it carnivores and a sprinkling of  of vegetarians, so I skip nimbly between all the possibilities.

The granola is toasting as I write--and soon I can tick it off as done.

It's March

Okay people, time to get excited. It's March, on the way to summer.



This picture may look like the same old to you, but I see nothing but promise.

The pond and six fish made it through (I'm guessing but we won't burst my bubble).

The raised beds are soon going to be stuffed full of veggies and that round bed in front of the raised ones--well, I see a border of primroses. Can't get primroses out of my dreams, so they're in.



Time to think about getting the seeds started and shaking out last year's geraniums in the bag and potting them.

Here's the center bed. Those skinny sticks are shrubs and since I don't keep notes I can't remember what kind of shrubs. I know they will bloom before long and I will be surprised and delighted with my choice.

I know that March comes with all sorts of weather surprises but we're on our way and I'm a happy camper.

The Planning Was The Easy Part

My sewing room was perfect: good height for the work surface, nice long counter for the sewing machine, ironing board at the ready.

But things change. My grandson is living with me and right now he's sleeping on a cot in the family room; we're cramped for space and it's time to squeeze in a guest room.

The most logical place for a guest space would be  the sewing room and once I decided on it, I impulsively began the switch-over on a busy day; better to get it moving before having second thoughts.

When grandson finishes his exams he will disassemble the built-ins.

The laundry room was pristine; garden necessities and potting soil tucked away under the counter, room for the gift wrappings, everything in order. My orchids flourished on the light table at the right.

<>

And the move has begun.
This room can handle a dual-purpose role and I'll have fun melding it all together.

There will be pictures of the big reveal but that will take a while.

 My house guest will eventually choose to move on, but the new guest room may lure my daughter when she's in town.

On with the new plan