Recent Photos

We had our fellowship group meeting today.  Our hostess was a recent retiree. I was on snack so I prepared Orange Bran Muffins with my sisters recipe.  It made 24 muffins and we were expecting 14 ladies.  They must have been good because I only brought 4 home.

I put together a Tupperware fruit tray including strawberries, cantaloupe, oranges and pomegranate.

Rounded out the selection with a variety of yogurt.


We collected yarn for a couple who does knitting for our Christmas Mitten Tree.

We had such a good time.




These books by Grace Livingston Hill have been on my bedside table recently.

Nice light romances in the early 1900s.  I enjoyed the novels by Hill but the one by her aunt Aldon was not as great for me.

We have had an injection of new books for the WtomyKitchen library so I will clear some of these at our Mission Possible Sale at the beginning of November.

I found this float frame at the ReUse Center on the weekend as my niece visited.

I think there are wonderful photography possibilities for this object.

I have placed a couple of my 4x6 photos in for now.

Love the angles of the stand on the back side.

I picked up this puzzle at the same center.  My niece spent an hour trying to solve it.  She came really close.

I picked it up because of the clear pieces which will surely be nice for photography.

I did find a solution on-line so I could assemble it and it would be awesome in photos.





The sunset was wonderful tonight.  I headed out a little late but I am happy with this shot.

Share Your Cup #311 hosted by Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs Olson.

Harvesting and Preserving

My sister and I had a conversation about chutney. She had received some yummy plum chutney from a friend and we decided to get together and see what we could make.  After some research on the web I decided on an Apricot Ginger Raisin Chutney and she decided on a Black Currant Chutney.  This is my chutney in the pot while it cooked down.   Once the right consistency and flavor we put it into jars and processed in hot water bath for 15 minutes.  

I am enjoying mine with cheese and crackers on these hot days of +30C temperatures.  I chose to put cranberries and dark raisins in mine instead of golden raisins.  I think I will go with golden raisins next time so it gives it more of a warm look and cut back on them as well.  I loved the taste before processing but I am finding it a bit too sweet and not enough punch from the cider vinegar eating it a few weeks after processing.  I am appreciating putting away my own food rather than depending on stores for over sweet and over processed condiments.  With the abundance of fruit at this time of year it is ideal to put some summer in a jar for winter.

With no more access to Mom's great raspberry patch I was wondering if I would get some this year.  A friend with raspberries was going away for the weekend at the end of June and I could have the one day of picking the raspberries if I watered the plants and garden.  I was is in!  With a great hose that reaches everything watering was no big deal.

I picked less than a gallon but I had my fill of eating them fresh and I made Raspberry Bavarian which was one of my favorite things my Mom made.  I have posted the recipe before in this post.  I got 8 servings by doubling the recipe and I have enjoyed it as a treat for at least week.  Perfect!

On July 24th my sister and I visited our favorite Saskatoon u-pick farm for our yearly picking. We picked later in the day around 4:30 pm.  Some trees were completely ripe and the picking was great!


I picked 3 gallons. After cleaning I froze 5 bags of  fruit which will taste great on my breakfast during the winter months.  I also brought some home fresh to eat for the week.  Yummy in my tummy.



Sharing with Share Your Cup #301 hosted my Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson.

Recent Photos

I set tea out on the balcony this afternoon with the small round table and the white patio chair.

With the weather, it was iced tea instead of hot served in a crystal glass.  Goodwill offered 10 glasses for $2.00 this week.  I filled a few holes in my collection.  A couple cobalt blue glass, this crystal and a few wine glasses for photography.

This daisy arrangement has lasted so well.

The background is a wicker hat with a yellow organza ribbon and a coordinating Gerber daisy. 

I worked quite a few hours today framing the photos for the photography competition at the end of the month.  I prepared a how to on the basics.

The gallery had very specific requirements for the preparation of the frames for hanging.

* Must use pivot hangers placed one third from the top of the frame.
* A paper dust cover on the back.
* The wire must be attached as shown with no sharp edges to scratch the wall.
* Bumper pads on the bottom corners.

I still need labels.

I will drop off these pieces on Saturday June 23, the reception is held Saturday, June 30 at 1:00-3:00 pm, they will be on display till Friday, July 20th

Cash prizes and a ribbon are available for winning.

Spruce Grove Art Gallery, 35-5th Avenue [Located in the Melcor Cultural Centre on the east side of King Street Plaza].  Here's a sneak peak to the pieces I am submitting.

I have seen this bush several times at a few locations over the last couple of weeks.  I just love the cluster of small flowers.

When I take a photo then I am compelled to come home and find the name for it so that when I post it I have the right information.

This is Physocarpus opulifolius 'Summer Wine' commonly known as Ninebark.  My sister informs me that there a many varieties of this bush with different colored blooms and leaves.

Sharing with Share Your Cup #294 hosted by Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson.

With Tuesday Cuppa Tea hosted by Ruth at Antiques and TeaCups.

With Bernideen's Tea in the Garden.

Recent Photos

My window sill art for this morning.  It's nice to spend a few minutes putting together small arrangements to enjoy through out the day and week.  My trip to the thrift store added the small green vase to this sill.  You can check out this post for the details on how I discovered this art.

I finished this book this week.  It is about a female war photo journalist who followed in her father's foot steps.  After her father passes away she goes through his large collection of photos to produce a book of his work.  She discovers some interesting photo which leads to the secret the family and friends have been hiding from her.

The locales of Venise, Nice, and New York make for some terrific back stories.  Who would not love to live in a large house in France with a house keeper.

The relationship with the 3 sister was interesting but I found the love relationship was to tumultuous for me.  He is a war correspondent as well which adds wrinkles.






This morning was a breakfast of yogurt, rolled oats and saskatoon berries.  I had some Rooibos Chai tea steeped in a cute leaf green tea pot.

The green plate under my cereal bowl is very old and dates back to the 30's  by the Stanley Potteries in England.  I bought it because it reminds me of dishes my Mom had when I was a kid.

I was very fortunate to put away several bags of saskatoon berries last summer.  Delicious.

The white tea cup and saucer is by Johnson Brothers - White Regency.

I have 4 set which can easily be paired with my Blue Nordic or blue "Hunter".  The Rooibos Chai is a great tea and I discovered in my cupboard a bag which is several years old but having been stored in Tupperware still tastes great.

Sharing with
Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson who hosts Share Your Cup #288
Bernideen who hosts Friends Sharing Tea
Ruth who hosts Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Recent Photos

This is a great cup of green tea.  It does not look green but I read in a book recently that the color depends on when it is picked in the year.

This is Jasmine Dragon Pearls green tea which is hand rolled and on the pricey side.  It was a gift from a friend.

I brewed the tea for my photo shoot for my 2019 Tea Pot Calendar which will come out later this year.








This is the book on my night stand this week.  Of course, Maeve is one of my favorite authors and this book covers several incidents that I am familiar with from other books.  I don't know how she kept all the stories and characters straight.

In this book, the story is told from Clara's point of view which is  new character for me.

I am enjoying it and will be done to swap it out at Welcome to my Kitchen next week.

My bible study material is ready to go.  It is on the Fruit of the Spirit and starts next Wednesday which is Feb 14 Valentine's Day.

I am looking forward to having at least 5 ladies attending as we explore how God works in our lives to grow Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Gentleness, Faithfulness, Goodness, and Self Control.

Are any of you following "This is Us" TV series?  I have watched it from the beginning and on a special Super Bowl episode we find out how Jack died.  He has been dead since the first episode but with flash backs I have come to really love this character.  He is such a good person with the best heart.   There will be a couple more episodes until it goes in hiatus till the fall.  I have convinced several friends to watching it.  I understand the first season is now on Netflicks.

Well sewing projects don't always work out the way you plan them on paper.  I did a sample of the pattern I posted here but it did not go as planned so I made some adjustments.

I now have made several sets of these and I am happy with them.  The fleece is tricky to get consistent stitching in the zigzag but I can live with it.

I am sharing with
Jann who hosts Share Your Cup #283 at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson

Friends Sharing Tea hosted by Bernideen

Tuesday Cuppa Tea hosted by Ruth

Recent Photos

I am looking for summery images with this cold weather hanging in here.

So, tea this morning was served with true blue and yellow color scheme. The tea was Mango Passion Fruit served in my Steeped Tea True Blue heart shaped tea cup and saucer.

I love how my new small tea pot works so well with my regular dishes.  A delicious piece date square from our lunch on Sunday and a trio orange slices brightened up the table.

I chose my heart shaped tea cup and saucer with the gold edges.  The gold mercury glass bottle repeats this punch of metallic gold.

I placed some bright yellow poppies in the mercury glass bottle. 

Three slices from a large navel orange on the true blue plate again provides a bright punch of color on the table.  It offers some vitamin C to ward off those unhealthy bugs floating in the air.




This was the January book for the Tea Book Club hosted by Angela at Tea with Friends.

I did not finish this book.  It is book documenting the history of Darjeeling tea so some of the pages were not very compelling to me. 

I did learn a bit about the tea and would be interested to trying it next time I hit the loose tea store.

Love the cover!

I received this large jar candle scented Pumpkin Pie from a friend many years ago.  I decided it was time to liquidate it and thought that the jar may have decorator value.  So, I set out to melt the remaining wax in the jar which took several hours.  My place smell quite nice at the beginning but it became quite strong over time.


Once the wax as fully melted I washed the jar and removed the label.  Behind the label the jar was not textured as the top and bottom so it is not as reflective as those areas.  I've decided to keep for a bit to see if I can use it.

I am working on a sewing project for pot protectors.  I have been working on this pattern for a month. 

I have finally come up with something I am happy with it so I will be cutting and sewing to see the fabric project lives up to the vision.

I will keep you posted on the final project.

Sharing with
Tuesday Cuppa Tea hosted by Ruth

Tea with Friends hosted by Bernideen

Share Your Cup hosted by Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson.

Winter White Tea

The table was fitted with a cut lace table runner in white cotton.  It has such lovely texture and pattern. I love that you can see the pine table through the cut work which provides a bit of contrast.

I included on the table a few white glass ornaments from my collection.  I chose a couple white pinecones. These live in a box in my photo shoot props as I don't want to dig out the Christmas decorations when I need a bit of this decor.  I chose a heart since we are nearing Valentine's Day.

For a bit of sparkle I added a crystal votive holder which was a gift from my sister years ago.

I added a flameless tea light as I almost never use real candles anymore.  It provides a bit of warm light to the tablescape.


These sour cream biscuits are seasoned with steak spice.  A nice little snack with a bit of butter.

The economy of loose tea is that generally you can steep it at least a couple of times.  That means I need a process to be manage the number of steeps.

I use Steep Markers on my teapots to remind me how many times I have steeped this batch of tea.  When using infusers or tea bags I set my timer to pull it once when it rings so that it can be steeped again. To go with the winter theme I selected a polar bear charm with blue and white beads.
 
I added some plain yogurt with a few frozen blueberries.
It is held in a cute white fluted ceramic bowl.



I used my fluted porcelain tea mug in white for my Masala Chai Tea.  This has been a staple tea for me for a few years. 










This is made locally by the The Chai Wallahs and sold in several locations in the central area of the province.  I would highly recommend this tea.



Here's the whole picture of the tablescape.  I have used my large white porcelain tea pot which pours well and works well with this theme.

I am sharing with

Share Your Cup #281 hosted by Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson.

Bernideen's Friends Sharing Tea

Tuesday Cuppa Tea hosted by Ruth

Don't forget my Blog Challenge by leaving a comment on my featured post.  I have posted to my Flickr account as a challenge for Winter White.

Recent Photos

I tried Sour Cream biscuits this week.   I add dill and garlic powder to these which makes them yummy!

They turned out okay but they don't seem to brown the way the ones posted on the internet do.  I buttered the tops  and then put them under the broil for a bit to get this nice color. 

The stone in the background is a new addition to my kitchen.  It is 16 inches in diameter which is very large. But it held a full batch of biscuits which was the objective. 


I added a few pieces to my blue and white collection.  A nice Home Sweet Home watering can, a deep blue glass which I have but a tea light into and a very tall cut glass vase.


I have also collected a few lamps to my help light objects of my photography better.  These are great because they can hang or clamp.  They use a smaller light bulb so that gives me another level of lighting.  They are IKEA so good quality.

I also acquired these smaller still lights which have clamps.  They use chandelier bulbs which is again another step lower in power which will provide less light but will fill in shadows when needed. 

You will see that they are clamped to a stand.  Again, it was at the Thrift Store the other day and I thought that will work for providing lighting at different heights.  I believe it is a speaker stand.  It telescopes so I can clamp any of these smaller lights to it and move them up or down several feet.  Yes!  The base is heavy and will be very stable.

In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption. 

I finished this book this week which a friend lent me. I totally enjoyed this read about the network of female spies during wartime.  They flew under the radar most of the time because men did not think they were smart enough to be spies.   Eve Gardiner and Charlotte St. Clair are brought together through an interesting connection.  Much of the story is based on true accounts of the women and men who worked in this system of information gathering and sharing in France during the war. I would recommend this book.

Sharing at Share Your Cup #280 hosted by Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson.