Yellow is IN!

Sunny yellow. Not my favourite colour, but very welcome these days. 

I peeked under the cloth covering the lemon tree, wondering how the tree had fared during our longer and colder winter. Such delight to see these lemons that slowly ripened in the cold and darkness. They are smaller than usual, but I noticed blossoms and little green lemons on the tree, as well. After picking these, I covered it up again until May or June when the days are reliably warmer.

Two bunches of tight daffodil buds came home with me last weekend. They've opened into a cheerful bouquet for the kitchen table. 

As I look out the kitchen window, I see these yellow beauties, miniature daffodils, nodding their pretty heads. Spring is well on her way!

More yellow! The forsythia is getting ready to burst into gold.

I cut some long branches of forsythia for a blue vase from Spain, made from recycled glass, that I recently found. I expect the buds will open this weekend. They don't last long indoors, but are so pretty for a short while. 

What's the IN colour around your place these days?

Linking, for the last time, with Five on Friday, hosted by Amy of Love Made My Home. I've gotten to know quite a number of blogs through this link up, blogs that I now follow. Thank you, Amy!

Dragging Forward

It's that time of year when clocks everywhere are set an hour ahead while our bodies wonder what on earth is going on. It seems so illogical. I admire our Saskatchewan province for sticking to their guns and not going along with it for all these years. 

There's more leaping ahead going on in the garden. Our cold spell lifted slightly and in response, all sorts of things are showing life. Rhubarb unfurls wrinkled leaves, cherry tree buds cluster tightly on branch ends, blueberries look like they might flower, and when I peeked under the cover of the lemon tree, I saw a few buds there, as well. Bring it on, I say!

On a recent walk along the water, a raucous crow had me turn my attention to the trees, and I caught the object of the crow caws, a Great Blue Heron, perched not too far above me. Branches were in the way of good photos, so I asked Tim to take a few shots from his taller vantage point. 

I think herons look like grumpy old men all hunched up, mad at the world, and not afraid to let everyone know it. 

As the crow continued screeching at the heron, the Great Blue stood up, opened his wings, and his beak and looked very menacing. It didn't seem to bother the crow and soon the Great Blue settled down into his hunched up pose again. 

Moss is pretty, I think. 
Moss is a nuisance, Tim thinks. 
While he plots against it, I'm happy to photograph its intricacies. I don't think its going anywhere anytime soon.

Are you seeing signs of spring? Or is it all over already? 

Linking with Mosaic Monday, hosted by Maggie of Normandy Life.  

While I Wait for Spring

While I wait for spring, winter weather lingers long past its "best by" date. While I wait, I walk, bundled up against the wind and rain, and discover spring shades lurking behind bare bushes. Heather is blooming, and the shrubs themselves are bursting with colour, too impatient to wait for leaves.

While I wait for spring, I eat. Too much sometimes. I had a hankering for hardboiled eggs this week and then wondered what to do with them. I decided to slice them, top them with a drizzle of heavy cream, some grated Swiss cheese, and a sprinkling of parsley before heating them briefly in the oven. Quite yummy, they were.

While I wait for spring, I read. I'm going to do a book club unit in English 9 and ordered 6 each of a number of books. They arrived at school yesterday and I brought one of each set home with me. I finished Paper Hearts, a story of friendship born out of shared suffering in the death camps of the Holocaust; and am half way through All My Noble Dreams and Then What Happens. These are young adult novels, historical fiction, and take place around the world - India, Alaska, Germany, Austria, France, England. This is one of the best parts of teaching - reading!

While I wait for spring, I sew. Slowly. Seventeen granny quilt squares are complete. I think I'll make a 4 x 5 quilt, big enough for a twin bed, so I have a few more blocks to go. I'll make some extras, because when I look at them all together, there are a couple that might not make the cut into the final quilt.
  

While I wait for spring, I buy tulips. This time, a pot for the porch. They brighten my going out and my coming in. They give me hope that the tulips poking their spiky leaves from the dark ground will soon be as cheery.

Are you waiting for spring, or autumn? How are you putting in the waiting time?

Linking with Five on Friday, hosted by Amy of Love Made My Home.  

Mosaic Monday: The Tower of London

While looking through my blog book (see the previous 2 posts), I realized that I hadn't shared a few sights from our trip last summer. So, let's pay a very quick visit to the Tower of London.

We walked along the opposite side of the Thames River for our first glimpse of this massive place. I could hardly believe I was there, in this place where so much history occurred. I've read history books and historical fiction since I was a child, and much of it was English. 

The building with the four towers in the photo is the White Tower, built in 1080 by William the Conqueror as a royal residence. Subsequent kings added to it. 

From the river, many prisoners entered the Tower via this entrance, now blocked up. What fear they must have felt going into this prison, knowing that the likelihood of their release was minimal, and highly dependent upon the whim of the current monarch. Among them two young queens - Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey (the Nine-day Queen). Anne Boleyn most likely entered through another gate.

The Tower sprawls over 12 acres of land (5 hectares) and encompasses residential housing for the Yeomen Warders, who guard the Tower. 

Yeoman Warder Towell gave a great tour of the Tower. He is a wealth of information and kept us all moving through the grounds. 

One thing I learned was that very few executions took place within the Tower walls. Most occurred on a mound outside the walls. However, the three queens previously mentioned, along with a few other unfortunate souls, were beheaded within the walls, privately, and this glass memorial marks the spot. 

 These bodies (and heads) were then immediately interred in the floor of The Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula without memorials. In the 19th century their remains were interred in the crypt. It is a solemn place to enter, and respectful quiet must be maintained. 

After the tour, we wandered about the walls and encountered this brave knight, about to take part in a reenactment. He is wearing chain mail. I asked him how much it weighed and he guessed about 50 pounds! That's weight-bearing exercise for you!

These charming little patios, seen from the inner wall, belong to the Yeomen Warders who live on the grounds. 

We saw much, much more, including the magnificent Crown Jewels. If you ever get to London, the Tower is a must. History echoes in every stone. 

Linking with Mosaic Monday, hosted by Maggie of Normandy Life. 

On Printing a Blog

A number of commentators expressed interest in how I had my blog printed into a book. Here's a fast rundown of how I did it. 

The company I used is Blog2Print. It's an American company, so the price was in US dollars. It crossed the border without incident. The blog book was pulled from the internet, with very little effort on my part. 

One minor hiccup occurred - About the time I thought my book should be arriving, I received an email from a kind woman, Jen, in the southern states who had received a copy of the book. She found my email address through the blog. Any of her attempts to contact the company to let them know were useless.

I contacted them, and they said to check the tracking number given, and that the book was on the way. I did, assuming that they had sent another book. No. They hadn't. So I contacted them again, and they printed another copy and sent it off. They also gave me a discount for all the hassle. 

For this first book, I went with the basics - medium sized photos, hardcover with a dust jacket. You can see that the layout isn't all that artistic. The pages are 8 1/2 x 11, printed on a medium weight glossy paper. The colours are great. The book is 212 pages. No comments, although I believe you can get them included as well. 

I also chose the Compact (default) layout. Thus, the photos do not line up with the text, the way they do in blog posts. Sometimes I'll write, "in the above photo" to explain something, but in the book, the text does not necessarily fit. For me, that's okay, although I'm planning to go through the book with a pen and explain a few things. 

It's possible to choose another layout that will use more pages, but keep the photos and text layout as it appears on the blog. I will likely do that next time, and make the photos larger.

While writing this post, I've been creating my second book, for 2015. However, I just received a message saying that I posted 1391 photos that year, and the maximum number per book is 1150. They recommend narrowing the date range and creating 2 books in place of one. I may do that.

It's also possible to delete certain posts and photos. I'm still learning as I go along. I'd like to figure out how to have some photos large and some medium.

I hope this is of use to some of you. I'm sure there must be other companies that do this, so if you know of any, mention it in the comments. And if you have any more questions, I'll be happy to try and answer them.  

Five on Friday: Little Things

 "I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things...I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind." (Leo Buscaglia)

We had snow again this week. So unusual. But since it comes so seldom and stays for so short a time, we might as well enjoy it. I know that I did. My hyacinths were almost ready for the compost heap, but I posed them on the snow for a chilly blue and white photo.

I try to read every day. I don't count reading on line. I like to sink into a book and lose myself, for even a little bit of time. Reading is as good as taking a nap for refreshment. 

I've read all of P.D. James' detective novels (I think). She died over two years ago, but in 1999, she published a "fragment of autobiography"; a diary she kept for one year. I found it fascinating. What broad experiences she had - a BBC Governor, a member of the House of Lords, time with the National Health Service, and work with the police. 

Some things are best written with pencils, freshly sharpened. I like writing lists with pencils, and planning things such as parties, gardens, designs, etc. Things that require organizing seem to suit pencils best. Writing letters or journal entries are done with pens. 

We have a very, very old pencil sharpener that sharpens pencils better than any of the electric or manual ones at school. I bring my pencils home and sharpen them here to take to work.

Do you prefer pens or pencils? Or do you like them both, for specific tasks?

This book arrived in the mail this week. It's my blog for 2016, in print. I've had fun looking it over and remembering the events. Really, it's a cross between a scrapbook and a diary of sorts. The margins are wide and I plan to add a few notes (in pen) alongside, for clarity. 

A cup of tea and some cookies are a little pick-me-up that's very enjoyable. This week I baked Peanut Butter Cookies. My mother is not a fan of peanut butter and we rarely had peanut butter cookies while growing up. But I like them, although I don't make them very often. 

These are a gluten-free variety, a good recipe to have for those with gluten intolerance (and they seem to be everywhere lately). The sprinkling of sea salt on them adds a wonderful bit of layered flavour. I think they would be good with a drizzle of chocolate, or some chocolate chips in them. 

 Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup natural peanut butter (no added sugar)
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
sea salt, for sprinkling

Mix together the peanut butter and sugar, stir in the egg and vanilla. Combine well. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drop the cookie dough by heaping teaspoonfuls onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Bake 10 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Cool on rack - they will be soft, but firm when cool. 

Five little things that make me happy - how about you? What little things bring you delight?

Linking to Five on Friday, hosted by Amy of Love Made My Home (for a couple more weeks). 

Reflections: Mosaic Monday

My husband wanted to go to Home Depot this afternoon for a new anode rod for the hot water heater. On the way home we stopped at Thetis Lake Park for a walk. The sun shone most of the time, and although the temperature was chilly (5C), we quickly warmed up as we walked. 

I grew up in the interior of British Columbia, and knew far more about lakes than about the ocean. BC has over 20,000 lakes, of all sizes. Summer vacations were spent camping beside lakes where we swam, fished, and got sunburned. Shorter fishing trips happened summer, fall, winter, and spring. Fresh trout sizzled in a cast iron frying pan for dinner, and later we would sit around the campfire. As the fire died down and the mosquitoes turned vicious, we would retire to our tent or camper. Then, lying tucked into a warm sleeping bag, I heard the poignant cry of loons streaming like ethereal ribbons across the water, now etched forever into memory.

E.B. White, author of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, crafted an essay entitled "Once More to the Lake" in which he writes, "I have since become a salt-water man, but sometimes in summer there are days when the restlessness of the tides and the fearful cold of the sea water and the incessant wind which blows across the afternoon and into the evening make me wish for the placidity of a lake in the woods."

In my adult life, I, too, have had more to do with salt water than with fresh. Yet today's walk brought back so many memories of lakes, of childhood, of family times when I was young. What caught my eye today were the reflections in the placid water, only slightly distorted. Reflections of the past today were equally clear and lovely.  

Linking with Mosaic Monday, hosted by Maggie of Normandy Life. 

Thoughts from the Garden

"In all things of nature,

there is something of the marvelous"

So said Aristotle all those years ago. The mosaic above was created last February, and I really can't better it. The protecting curve of petal, the cluster of stamens, the colours - all speak to me of the intent and design of God, the Creator.

Last year's spring growth was early according to the photos I looked at. This winter has been unusually cold for an unusually long time. Today, with temperatures around 6 Celsius, we dig some digging and looking. I transplanted the snowdrops; Tim did the heavy digging for moving a Portuguese Laurel from a pot to the ground, and for transplanting a small hydrangea bush. A few bulbs are poking up through the ground. 

In a sheltered corner this juxtaposition of life and death caught my eye. The empty shell of a poppy flower gone to seed, but underneath, springing up from the soil, new growth hints of the showy beauty to come when the poppies flutter their petals and flirt with the wind.

Here, too, a green budding hydrangea seems to look up at last year's papery blossom as perhaps my grandchildren look at me, recognizable, but oh, so different. 

I bought my first ever pair of Wellies! They are Joules Wellies from the UK and I love them! They are comfortable and squelch satisfyingly in the mud, and then wash off so easily. Much better than old runners. And the polka dots just make me smile.

Five on Friday: Three Birds and Two Flowers

This week seems to have both crawled and flown by. It's been busy, not with anything very unusual, but with the usual preparations of classes, marking, teacher's meetings and so on. 
We're reading Animal Farm in English 10 just now - it's read every year, but seems to have taken on new significance just now. Today's discussion on double-speak and manipulation of information seemed particularly appropriate, and we didn't even discuss current politics.

The above bird, a Sparrow, is perhaps a Song Sparrow, but I didn't get a good enough look at its head and breast to really tell. We walked around Rithet's Bog and I captured these bird images. 

The Red-Winged Blackbird's song was heard along the path where the birds lurk in the bulrushes, or sing perched atop a swaying rush. On this particular day, the males were sulking in the rushes and didn't want to be photographed. The female above fluffed up her feathers for me, arched her pretty neck and seemed to say, "look at me!" 

Plenty of mallard ducks paddled in the water, but there was also a pair of American Wigeons. I've never seen these particular ducks in the Bog. They seemed quite content mingling with the mallards. 

In my own garden, the snowdrops are fully opened, clean and white against the green foliage. I'm hoping to move a few more of them. The patch is hidden in a corner and I'd like to put them where I can see them from the kitchen window. I transferred one clump, in the green, last February, and they are doing well, so over the weekend I'll move another. 

When we had our big snowfall a couple of weeks back, I noticed the rosemary buds getting ready to open. I wondered if the cold snap would delay the flowering, but it didn't. The blooms are just opening, a lovely bit of colour in the winter garden. There are no bees to enjoy them yet, and I hope the rosemary will bloom again later.

Linking with Five on Friday hosted by Amy of Love Made My Home.  

Puttering: Mosaic Monday

On Saturday morning I awoke feeling curiously unsettled about how to spend my day. There were the usual weekend chores to accomplish - laundry, bathrooms, a quick vacuum and dusting - but if I focus, I can accomplish that in the morning. I didn't focus. Instead, I puttered.

I recently saw a photo in Canadian House and Home that featured a mass of brass candlesticks. Hmm, I thought. I have lots of brass candlesticks, somewhere. A little rummaging in the cupboard revealed a box full, somewhat tarnished.  I gave them a bit of polish, and stuck them on the mantle.

Away went the red dishes, in the hutch since the end of November. We used them most recently for Valentine's Day. They've been replaced by delicate, mostly floral teacups, reminiscent of the gardening season to come. 

An overgrown, root-bound fern has been relegated to the patio until I decide what to do with it. In its place I brought up the old tea cart from the basement, and set the silver tray with an embroidered cloth sent from England by Barbara of Small Moments, my china teapot, an orphaned crystal creamer holding coffee spoons, and a crystal cream and sugar set.

All that remains is to make some scones, and have tea!

I removed the plate gallery from the dining room wall. I've been wanting something a little more streamlined there, and haven't found what I'd like yet. But I filled and patched all the nail holes from the plates, hung a temporary picture there and quite like the simpler look. 

Three hyacinth bulbs bloomed over the weekend. They are on the dining room table, filling the room with wonderful fragrance. I laid the tablecloth crocheted by Tim's grandmother years ago over the wood and set the pot of hyacinths atop.

By mid-afternoon, the house was clean and tidy, and felt airy. So lovely. Satisfying.  

In the mornings now, it's not utterly dark. The chilly air streams in through the open window and I hear early bird songs as I awaken. There's a lightness in the air and energy as the earth's northern hemisphere slowly tips towards the sun. Are you feeling it, too?

Linking with Mosaic Monday, hosted by Maggie of Normandy Life.