Thanksgiving...and catch up from The Humble Bungalow.

 

It has taken me a few weeks to get back to blogging...

Not sure why?

 I am here now and am sharing lots of pictures and snippets.

Make yourself a cuppa and join me.

As you can see...

the Hydrangeas are getting crispy!

Time to make a wreath for the front door.

I have a grapevine wreath that I keep for seasonal use.

I just popped a few hydrangeas into the vine and hung it on the door.

It is simple and I quite like the effect.

No fussing required!

I've been busy lately!

Am back at aqua fit classes now that the pool has re-opened.

My arthritis in my hip flared up last week...

I think it was all the tomatoes that I have been eating...

apparently they are high in uric acid and that is a trigger for arthritic pain.

I took a day off and rested.

Fortunately I had a great book to read and the cats kept me company!

I found this Pulitzer Prize winner a difficult book to read 

 I am so glad that I persevered...

it really is an exceptional book, so well written.

I picked some of the Money Plant from the garden

saved the seeds, them popped them into the mosaic vase.

My mom grew these plants and used to do the same thing.

They are paper thin and I like how they glow in the sunlight.

We are enjoying the sunny Fall Days...

I have swapped out my summer wardrobe for the Fall and Winter clothes.

I found this cozy grey sweater dress at the thrift shop.

It doesn't have much "hanger" appeal here, it is much better on!

It is going to be my "go to" dress to wear on a cold day.

I have black capri tights and will wear them under the dress for added warmth 

paired with my Black Chelsea Boots.

My friend Wendie is loaning me her Ruth Galloway series of mystery books.

I am on book number 4 and am loving the stories.

Like Louise Penny, she has many of the same characters, and they develop over time.

 So you should start at the first book and read them in order.

Elly Griffiths has another series that I am planning to read after I finish this series.

What are you reading? 

Do you like mystery novels?

Iphone photo capturing the intense light at sunset a couple of nights ago.

Many people posted similar pictures on their Instagram Pages.

It felt surreal seeing this bold light...

The roses are fading in The Humble Bungalow Garden.

Margaret Merrill is a new rose here in the garden.

I found her at the Demitasse Garden Centre in Oak Bay.

She looks healthy and her subtle fragrance is lovely.

I love comfort food in the Fall and Winter.

I searched on google for cottage pie recipes and found this one 

on the BBC Good Food site.

Was very delicious and made enough for a hungry family.

Lots of ferry and boat traffic at the cottage...

Feeling grateful...

for

Sunshine this Thanksgiving weekend.

Cooking a small turkey with stuffing and oodles of seasonal root veggies.

Gravy and cranberry sauce.

Pumpkin Pie and whipped cream.

Looking forward to turkey sandwiches on soft White Bread :-))

Perhaps I will make soup?

Pasta dinner

I sauteed leftover diced Ham, fresh asparagus, and mushrooms.

Then added a jar of Alfredo sauce.

Served on top of spaghetti with grated parmigana reggiano cheese.

My (new to me) textured charcoal grey tunic top is getting lots of wear.

I am really enjoying the cooler Fall weather and am keeping busy.

What are you up to these days?

Jude The Obscure

Late into the rose season the petals fall when picked...

the fragrance is rich and heady.

The  $2 vintage silver jug looks so much better now that I have polished it!

Seriously colourful sky...

great views over The Salish Sea.

A wee treasure found at the recycle store...

for our darling daughter who collects these Nagel stackable mid century candle holders.

Well I must close for now and get started on the Thanksgiving Feast!

Thank you for your kind messages on the passing of my SIL.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Oh My Goodness!! it is already September...

 

Summer is slowly slipping away...

Feet up...

Sipping Green Tea on the porch most afternoons...

My old sneakers fell apart so I purchased a new pair.

These are GBG from Los Angeles 

I have never heard of this brand before?

Snapped a dressing room selfie...

This Lands' End denim dress has been a wonderful weekday workhorse

in my wardrobe.

I will be wearing it this Fall too :-))

The custom sea glass pendant by Charlene Hall of Pender Island 

has been getting oodles of compliments.

Thrifted measuring scoop...

  a new jar for flour are taking up valuable space on my counter.

Weekly sourdough bread making...

Much easier using the flour from the jar 

than grabbing and opening the big heavy and awkward bag from the cupboard.

Cucumbers are growing like weeds!

I am inundated with fresh produce from The Humble Bungalow Garden.

Daily pickings are so rewarding and the flavours are so amazing.

Made fried green tomatoes when a branch broke off...

sauteed in a bit of olive oil

sea salt and topped with Worchestershire Sauce.

Limelight Hydrangeas

are

putting on a spectacular show.

I am going to dry some for the house for the Fall and Winter.

Mr HB planted the vintage garden cart with yellow Dahlias.

I love the whimsy and the pop of colours.

Julia Child Rose

Sunflowers 

grown from seed.

My Friend Rosemarie, from Vancouver, sent me the seeds last Spring.

She sends me unexpected random surprise gifts in the mail!

Thank you dear friend.

XO

August was a VERY busy month with the family.

Birthdays and Cottage time.

On the long weekend I went to White Rock with our son and the three grands...

for the annual back to school shopping trip.

Read a lovely article about Pamela Anderson in BH and G.

She has totally come back to her roots and completely reinvented herself.

Renovated her family home

(which was made into a series)

Produced a documentary

wrote a book "Love Pamela"

Planted a rose garden

is

 growing masses of vegetables.

She bakes sourdough breads, pickles veggies, and makes jam.

She also has a new cookbook coming out in October.

Talk about BUSY!

I am keen to get my hands on it when it comes out!

We explored some of the thrift shops in the White Rock area...

I found some nice things.

A soft wool turtleneck Vera Moda poncho which will be cozy for Fall.

A handmade leather belt made in America.

Silk scarf with hand rolled edges.

All three items cost about $20

We went to IKEA 

Our son bought a few storage boxes and baskets, sheets and duvet covers.

I found basic paper napkins, a dish drying mat and some tea towels.

The highlight was lunch!

Only my second time enjoying their Swedish Meatballs.

Busy place to eat and it is obviously because the food is good!

(and the prices are low)

~ Home Sweet Home ~

Back home...

Quiet day today catching up on laundry and rest.

Made soup for our lunch with the food left in the fridge.

Slim Pickins though...

Have to pop out and get some groceries.

Need to answer some emails...

My first priority was to write and publish a post here 

as it has been a couple of weeks.

Life is Full to the Brim.

~ Jude The Obscure Rose ~

How has your summer been?

Are you ready for Fall?

What is new?

Thank you for stopping by The Humble Bungalow Blog.

~  Be Well and Be Kind ~

Summertime ~ Snippets from The Humble Bungalow Garden.

 

Greetings...

It has been a while since I posted.

I have been busy trying to keep up with the jobs here in the garden.

The HOT weather has affected our ability to keep the plants watered and healthy.

Thankfully the Hydrangeas are Still Blooming...

despite the intense heat.

This hydrangea is planted out front

We received it from my husband's firm in 2007 when my father passed away...

It has thinned out a bit this year and I am rather concerned that it is not happy.

We had a rather harsh winter, a warm spell, then a really icy cold snap.

Lots of our plants perished.

Mostly grasses and tender perennials 

but despite our best efforts there are still blank spots scattered about the garden.

Lots of work required...and many visits to the garden centres!!

The Lavender is having a riotous growth pattern this season.

Bees buzzing on the flowers all throughout the day.

You can hear them all busily working when you stand close by the plants!

Last summer I made lavender sachets and I plan to make some more soon.

I need to dedicate several hours to remove the buds from the stems then pop them into gauze bags.

We LOVE Poppies!

My husband saves the seeds and plants them early every Spring.

Bees love them too...

The flowers are a work of art...

Thank you Mother Nature :-))

We were invited to an afternoon visit the garden of some new friends.

We "met" each other on Instagram.

Both of us are retired and are passionate gardeners!

We share a love of plants and growing things...

plus we have other people we both know in common.

I wanted to take a big bouquet of roses but the heat has wilted the many rose blooms.

Their petals are dropping as soon as I pick them.

I took a wee posy of lavender and some magazines with us.

The tour of the garden was an amazing experience...

water features gurgling, many areas to sit and enjoy the views.

Covered dining space, vegetable beds, poly tunnels, a greenhouse, a sun filled deck at the back of the home with loungers and tables.

Each space was designed beautifully with an artistic eye focusing on the details.

I found it incredibly inspiring and came away with many ideas!

We sat and chatted...

savoured the glorious space 

sipped cool beverages and nibbled on these delicious treats...

chocolate covered cherries and pistachio bites.

Look at the lovely floral presentation on the plate!

On my beach walk I collected a few shells and a piece of driftwood.

I had a project in mind for the cottage.

I decided to paint the driftwood and glue some shells to it...

Maybe I went a wee bit overboard on the shells but I did have fun!

The results are rather rustic looking and have a folk art air.

In true 

Wabi Sabi 

Style

~ Marigold Tagates ~

Seeds saved from last years flowers.

Lots of these plants popping up around The Humble Bungalow Garden.

Each afternoon we stop work around 3:00 and sip some cool lemonade.

The front porch is a shady spot to sit and read our books.

Fabulous Book!!!

I read it in two days...

Could not put it down...love Paris and this story did not disappoint.

I am going to go and find some of her other books.

Can you see The Annabelle Hydrangeas just starting to bloom in the top left?

These Big Mop Head Blooms make quite a BOLD statement.

The Limelight hydrangeas are almost ready to pop...

Well I must close for now and hope that you are enjoying your day...

Thank you for stopping by The Humble Bungalow Blog.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Gardening, Roses, Walking, and changes to my Instagram

 

~ Constance Spry Rose ~

Blooming!

Welcome to The Humble Bungalow Garden

One of the 30 roses we grow in the garden.

 ~ Graham Thomas ~

 a fragrant repeat blooming climbing rose 

When purchasing a new rose I am VERY fussy...

they must be repeat bloomers, be fragrant, disease resistant and hardy.

Here is the newest rose...

found at The Demitasse in Oak Bay.

If you live in Victoria, 

The Demitasse serves coffee, snacks and casual meals.

They have a wonderful carefully curated garden centre attached to the cafe...

well worth the visit.

~ North Patio Area ~ 

The bistro set from Kay's Korner in the Cook Street Village Shop 

has been painted black...

I love black accent pieces in The Humble Bungalow Garden.

Now I need to invite some friends over for tea...or a glass of bubbly.

The new bed that I dug has been planted.

Foxgloves, nepetas, lupins, yarrow, candlestick primula, alliums, 

iris, and more...

they will grow taller and fill in the spaces.

In the Big pot we have a yellow flowering Solidago.

We purchased two new Adirondack chairs in black, of course!

Mr. HB made us a table using scrap wood he had leftover from another project.

He painted it black to match the chairs.

Thank you darling.

We have been SUPER busy in the garden...

time to take a break and sit in the chairs and sip a Cold beverage.

Have you tried Corona Zero alcohol yet?

OH MY GOODNESS

a thirst quencher without the buzz.

In other news...

I have had people ask me about my Instagram account and why I have gone private...

The simple answer is that I was inundated with so many strange accounts.

Not sure why all of a sudden I would have a deluge of these?

Have any of you experienced this issue?

Instagram sent me a message saying validate these accounts!

When I looked at them I noticed thousands of men following...

HOW STRANGE

My account is really rather pedestrian 

I post about food, fashion, gardening and life at 69 years old!

What do masses of men want with those topics?

I have nothing against men...but they all seem similar.

Doctors from the army

So for the time being I am opting for a private account...

maybe the trolls and the bots will forget about my Instagram :-))

If you want to follow you'll need a current active Instagram account and have something in your profile picture to identify yourself.

It might be asking a lot, but for safety reasons, 

 I am going to keep things secure.

I've been for a walk this afternoon!!!

My ankle is doing better.

Am feeling so grateful...it has been a very long 3 months.

I used my bamboo walking stick and walked along the compact sand near the shoreline.

Found a few pieces of sea glass and enjoyed watching the children frolic in the sand.

Oodles of people were sunbathing...

some of the young women's swimsuits were quite skimpy!

Reminds me of my teen years when we used baby oil instead of sunscreen 

and 

wore very tiny bikinis.

Love this wee blue ground cover...

(forget the name)

The flowers look like they are smiling.

So cheerful.

I must close for now as I have a sourdough boule ready to come out of the oven and dinner needs to get made.

I will post again soon...

I took 7 garments to the consignment shop last week...

(then I went shopping) 

Will be sharing some of the things that I bought so stay tuned.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~