Little Oasis On The Prairie ~ Part III

Monday after work a quick stop at Wal-mart for some aquarium gravel proved to be a bit more costly as I picked up a few more plants for the deck, a bicycle planter and another set of solar lights for at my pond.  Then I was off to Petland and picked up 6 Comet Goldfish for my pond...well by the time I got home 30 minutes later one of the fish had died. So I set the bag of goldfish in the pond to acclimatize to the pond water temp.  Earlier that day I hit the garden center for a couple more pond plants. So while the fish were acclimatizing I re-potted a couple of my pond plants and placed them into the pond, all except for my water iris which needs to sit on a brick or something as it can't be completely submerged under the water. 

Last night as evening was changing to night and I still had a bit of light I snapped off these few pictures.  Wow the plants sure make a difference in the look of the pond.

If you click on the above photo for a larger version....see if you can find the gold fish.

 

The plant sitting on the ledge in the bag is my water Iris.  Debating on picking up another one of these for that corner.  Have a couple of ideas in mind what do there just not sure which way to go yet.

I love the antique look of the bike planter I have sitting off to the side of the pond. 

I really like how the rope lights light up the water and give a nice soft glow to everything.

The 5 Solar Dragon Flies twinkle randomly.  They remind me of little fireflies at night.  My plan is once I have my cattails in the pond in that corner I will have the dragon flies peeking our of the rushes.

The more time I spend out at my pond, the more I am not sure if my Angel spitter suits the area.  With the antique water pump and now the bicycle planter that looks like an antique bicycle I think I will have to set the spitter up in its own bowl. 

Corinne~

Little Oasis On The Prairie ~ Part I I

Friday after work was spent picking up pond plants from this greenhouse then this one. I picked up 6 plants for our pond - 1 water lily, 1 Oxygenator - Mare's Tale, 2 Marginal plants - Pitcher Plant and Corkscrew Rush and a couple of different floating plants...Water Hyacinth and container of small plants that look like a 4 leaf clover...think they are referred to as a water butterfly. Unfortunately I had to keep these plants in the house over the weekend as there was a risk of frost all weekend and it worked better as Al was working on things for the pond and the plants might have been in the way.

Marginal Plants

Corkscrew Rush....I really like the uniqueness to this plant

Pitcher Plant....love the colors

Floating Plants

Submerged Plants

So after discussions about how we were going to build a waterfall for the pond to hide the pump we concluded that we don't have the space to do a waterfall that way we would like.  Suddenly the light bulb comes on above my hubby and he says we'll turn that old hand water pump into a fountain.  So off he went Saturday morning to convert this pump into a fountain.  My grandma's dream has finally come true....this pump was in my grandma's flower garden for many years...she had it placed strategically above the bird bath that she had in the garden.  I can remember her telling my grandpa that he should rig up the garden hose to the pump somehow so that it would like water was being pumped out.

Here is the finished product in the pond.....I really like how it looks....a little bit of my grandmother's spirit went into our pond.

A close up of my Garden Angel......

So we concluded our work on the pond Saturday with the addition of some rocks to the bottom of the pond.  The rope lights that Al added to the underneath ledge look really nice at night...they reflect into the water giving a nice glow.  Not sure where the spitter's final spot will be on the edge yet....that corner is where I plan to plant some bull rushes. We have a slough in our field where I will dig a few plants for that corner.

Tonight I will put my plants in the pond...and pick up a few gold fish to add to the habitat.


Corinne~

Reflections

Wow where are the days going....they seem to be going by faster and faster.  One could say we live a faster life style as adults than we did as children, at least that is how it seems to me.   June 1st we are half way through the year pretty much....feels like it was only a month or so back that we started into 2011 and here we are half way through.

Last night after work I spent some time sitting on my deck by my pond.  How nice it will be once I have plants and flowers blooming in the pond.  The sound of the water is so soothing.  It was a nice time to sit and reflect on things where I have been in my life and where I am currently and where I want to be.  Much  like the words to Christina Aguilera's song "Reflections"

          Who is the girl I see staring straight back at me?
          When will my reflection show who I am inside?

Yes time has a way of changing us all....sometimes our outter self matches our inner self and sometime they don't match at all.

Today I remember my Aunt Gladys, well she was actually my great aunt.  She was a dear lady that I was lucky enough to get to know during my childhood.  As a child every Saturday my grandparents went to town, we delivered eggs then did the grocery shopping and ended the day with a short visit with my Aunt Gladys.  Aunt Gladys was my grandpa's youngest sister. Today is also Aunt Gladys' birthday, she was born 108 years ago today in the Malta.  It was my Aunt Gladys that sparked my interest in family history.  Occasionally I would spend my Saturday's with my Aunt Gladys...we talked about family history.  She told me many stories over those times....I asked her if she would write down these things as I would never remember them in the future.  It must of been the older me telling the younger me to make sure she writes down this history.  My Aunt Gladys also made the best "shortbread cookies" around.  To this day I have yet to find a shortbread cookie that comes close to hers.  How I wish I had gotten her recipe for her shortbread.

I know that Aunt Gladys is watching over me....so today I wish my Aunt a very happy birthday in paradise.


Corinne~

Little Oasis On The Prairie ~ Part I

With most of our inside renovations being completed we have been focusing more on the outside of the house.  For the Victoria Day long weekend we decided to tackle some of the outside tasks.  Al rented a bobcat to level out our driveway and yard.  So nice not to have the ruts in our driveway that have been their for years.  I dug out my few perennials that were in the front of the house, mainly peonies and a columbine.  What a root mass one of the peony plants had...we had to end up digging it out and moving it with the bobcat.  Because our old pond was being filled in as we haven't had it running for a few years now, I set out researching container ponds for our patio.  Got some ideas and started making a list of what I would need.

Al and I have enjoyed going into town on Sunday's for breakfast.  So after breakfast we decided to check out the greenhouses and a few garage sales.  I was not only scoping out what I needed for a container pond but also plants for my patio planters.  Wow some of these containers I was looking at are sure expensive for the size of them....my container pond was getting smaller and smaller with each place we checked out things.......well we hit John's Garden Centre last on our trek.  Their supply of pond pants was fairly low as they were expecting a shipment in the next week.  Well I hit the jackpot with the lady in that area...she was very knowledgeable. After discussions with her Al suggested that he build me a pond for on the deck that would be larger than the container that I was looking at for $89 and in the end would cost $0 as he had enough stuff left over from when we built the deck as well as some liner from the old pond...so we set out to designing what we wanted. Al set out calculating the weight of the pond filled with water at different dimensions together we came up with a design that we liked and on Sunday he set out to build me a pond.

Step 1 Building & Installation of the Pond

 The triangular piece of plywood at the back is where we will mount the pump and filter.  We are planning on building a water fall to hide the pump and filter.

The Finished Product - Step One

It took a little bit of time to get both the pump and spitter working the way we wanted.  The pump hadn't been used for a few years, Al was a bit worried that he may have to buy a new one...but we lucked out once we realized that it was the clamp that held the hose on the pump that sucks the water up out of the pond was cracked....a quick fix and it was up and running.  For the Angel Spitter it was was a case of setting the pump in the correct place as the deep it was the less the spitter pumped out. 

A close up of our little guest.......

.....love how he looks soooo real!

Al sitting back, happy with his creation and relieved that everything is working.

Yesterday I spent the later part of the afternoon checking out the greenhouses that carry pond plants.  I came with a few ideas of what I want in the pond for plants and on Thursday or Friday I will pick up some plants and add them to my pond. A pond just isn't a pond unless there are fish.....so a couple of gold fish will be added to our "Little Oasis On The Prairie"

We are planning a quick trip to Flin Flon in a couple of weeks and I plan to pick a few shale rocks and maybe some limestone rocks to put on the top edge of the pond and I have found what I want to put on the sides of the pond...will look like layers of flat rocks but without the weight of the rocks...looks really natural too.  That siding will come in time as it is not an inexpensive project...good thing I don't need a lot or it might break the bank. hehehe

Stay tuned for more photos as we add to our the Oasis.


Corinne~

Happy Mother's Day

I couldn't have asked for a better "Mother's Day" this year.  Friday night and Saturday was spent at our daughter's house doing reno's -- painting walls in the kitchen and living room....tearing out old living room floor, putting in sub floor getting it all ready for the lamenent.

Friday afternoon my dear hubby bought us a new toy.....a Polaris Sportsman Touring 500 HO Quad.....oh what a nice machine it is.  It has a 2-up seat with lots of room so that the passenger doesn't feel restricted in any way.  So Sunday afternoon we geared up off riding we went.  First we headed to One Stop Convenience to fill up...good thing we ended up burning 1/2 a tank of fuel.  We had a wonderful ride on the trails around our place.  We seen 8 white tail deer in total, a heard of Buffalo cows and calves - no not wild buffalo but farm raised, a red tail hawk and a number of geese when we went to check out the road that is washed out.   Seen a lot of the devastation from the 2008 Tornado that went through our area....we seen areas that you wouldn't see unless you were snowmobiling or quading.  We got a little muddy and found that a winch is a good thing to have.....had to use it twice....

Ended the evening with supper with my kids and hubby....Chinese one of my favorites.  My son bought me a beautiful orchid too....it is full of blooms so beautiful.  Will try to get a picture in  day or so to post for you all to see.

It was a wonderful day.....

Corinne~

Pancake Soufflé Muffins with Strawberry-Maple Syrup

Nonstick cooking spray
10-1/2 oz. (2-1/3 cups) all-purpose flour
4-1/2 oz. (1 cup plus 2 Tbs.) cake flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
6 large eggs, separated and at room temperature
3/4 tsp. cream of tartar
3 oz. (6 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
6 T bs. granulated sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3-1/3 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling

Strawberry syrup
1 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup quartered, hulled ripe strawberries

---

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 400°F. Liberally spray two 12-cup muffin pans with the cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large, clean mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric hand mixer on medium-high speed to firm (but not dry) peaks, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.

In another large bowl, beat the egg yolks with the mixer on medium-high speed until thick, ribbony, and lemon-yellow, about 6 minutes. Add the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla; mix on medium-low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add one-third of the dry ingredients and mix on low speed. Add one-third of the buttermilk and mix to combine. Alternate adding the remaining dry ingredients and buttermilk, ending with the buttermilk and mixing until just combined.

With a large rubber spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter, leaving some streaks.
Scoop about 1/2 cup of the batter into each muffin cup — you can fill the cups to the rims.

Bake, rotating the pans after 10 minutes, until browned on top and puffed, and a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out dry, 20 to 25 minutes total.

Make the syrup While the muffins are baking, bring the maple syrup to a boil in a small pot over medium-high heat. Put the strawberries in a medium serving bowl. Pour the syrup over the berries and set aside in a warm spot.

 

With an offset spatula, pop the muffins out of the cups and arrange on a platter. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and serve with the syrup.

You can make the batter up to 2 hours ahead through the step of folding in the beaten egg whites. Refrigerate it, covered, in its bowl. Do not portion it into muffin tins until you're ready to bake.

You can freeze any leftover muffins in a Ziploc freezer bag for up to 2 weeks.

Serves 12  

Yields 24 muffins

Corinne~

Life Is Good!

Easter has come and gone for another year.  Where does the time go, in a few days we'll be moving into the 5th month of the year....feels like we should be only entering into the 3rd month.  Holds true don't blink you might miss it.

Our family had a wonderful Easter weekend.  We started with a visit to my daughters on Thursday after work for a couple of drinks with her, her new boyfriend our other daughter and her friends as they all got ready for "Spring Fling".

Spring is a time for new beginnings....my son M started his job at Canadian Tire last week.  Was getting very frustrating for him...applying for job after job and nothing.  Now that he has found a job the interview requests are coming from every where.  My eldest daughter B is moving on with her life...out with the old and in with the new.  She has found herself a very nice boyfriend, one that treats her like she deserves to be treated...like a Princess.  So nice to see her so happy in her life.  First time I have seen her this happy in a very long time.  My youngest daughter M is back home...hubby is moving her stuff home from Saskatoon this weekend.  M had a job interview last week and is in the running for the job...from what she was told by an acquaintance that works there M is the top candidate so heres hoping she gets the job.  It is part time but at least it is work and if it works out hopefully she can find another part time job to pick up the slack.  Yes life is good....that song has been playing in my head since last week.

Good Friday the hubby and I just spent around home not doing too much of anything.  Saturday B came out to our place for the night with her two fur babies - Charlie & Abby.  My house went to the dogs for the weekend.  Easter Sunday we had a wonderful family supper, B's boyfriend arrived early afternoon after a visit with his dad and family.

Life is good!

Corinne~

Reindeer Tilda ~ Magnolia-licious Christmas All Year Long

Wow can't believe that is the 25th of the month once again.  It is once again time for the Magnolia-licious Christmas All Year Long Blog Hop.  Magnolia-licious Christmas All Year Long is a part of the MAGNOLIA-licious Yahoo group, for more information on the group or if you are interested in joining click HERE.  

If you arrived here from Cordine's blog, then you are on the right track.  If you just stumbled onto my blog you will want to click HERE to go the start of the blog hop so you don't miss out on any of the fabulous projects we have to share with you.

For this card I once again used a brown lunch bag for the base of my card.  For my card I used two different Tilda images from the Merry Christmas Collection 2010, I used Reindeer Tilda and Snowy Hug, I don't see Reindeer Tilda in stock but Snowy Hug is currently in stock over at Magnolia-licious.  I also used Log and Winter Pine Trees (not sure of the name).

Diana over at Magnolia-licious has a great selection of stamps and everything Magnolia. Oh and the service is wonderful too.  If you don't see what you are looking for just drop Diana an email, she will help you the best she can.  Diana also carries the Mini Magnolia Line of stamps...they are so adorable too.

Now onto to my card....

Tilda is masked to be sitting on the log.  I popped her up on foam dimensional tape so that she sitting in front of the pine trees.

 I kept the greeting on the inside simple.  I used MS Doily Punch to get the blue lace over silver glitter paper.  I trimed the edges Snowy & Tilda`s hat with liquid applique along with the trim on Tilda`s coat then coated thim in Crystal Stickles.  I used Polar Flower Soft for the snow on the ground.

Close up of both Tilda`s.  Reindeer Tilda`s antlers are flocked with a light brown flocking.

I had colored both these imges up a while back and lost the scrap piece of paper that had my copic colors listed on it...going from memory here are the colors I remember:

Skin:  E000, E00, E02 & R20

Blues: B91, B93, B95 & B97

Log:  E25, E29, E35 & E50

Pinks:  R81, R83 & R85

Now it is time to hop on over to Danielle`s blog to see what she is has to show you today.  I am sure it will be fabulous.

Corinne~

R.I.P Lucy

Saturday morning we lost one of our fur babies, Lucy!  Lucy came to live with us three years ago after she was rescued.  To read Lucy's Story click HERE you will have to scroll down the page a bit.  

Lucy passed at home with Al and I in the early hours of the morning.  Our house feels empty with out her.  Her last few days weren't the best for her as her body was shutting down.    She had a lot of the symptoms Pancreatic Cancer which is a hard condition to diagnose until the late stages of the disease.  Without being seen by the Vet and having some tests a true diagnosis can't be made. 

Lucy was an amazing dog....right up until the end she never let us know she was in pain.  She didn't want to leave us as we watched her fight death on Friday night. She would move from Al and I all evening letting us both know that she loved us.

It was very hard to watch a dog that was vibrant until just a few days ago....slip away so fast.  I am grateful that she isn't suffering anymore and very grateful for the short time we had her in our lives.  She will be dearly missed by our entire family.  

Rest In Peace Lucy

My Sweet Pea!

Corinne~

Signs of Spring

You know spring is here when you see the Canada Geese return from their vacation in the balmy south.  Sunday afternoon as I was heading into town to pick up my daughter just a little ways from our drive way were two Canada Geese standing on the edge of the road.....then further down the road by the slough were three more Canada Geese.  I am sure they are wondering where the open water is and what is with all this white stuff.  It was a wonderful site and very uplifting.  Our snow is disappearing fairly fast...faster than I thought it would.  Yes I do feel like spring is here.  I love that I am waking up to the rising sun and going home before its fully set.

Each night our temperature drops enough that the puddles are frozen over.....the last two days as I am walking out to the car I notice opportunities for some neat photos but alas I haven't had the time to run back in and grab my camera.  Yesterday morning it was the formation of the ice on the puddles....such neat shapes and colors and this morning it was a frost ring on the frozen mud...looked as though something round had been lifted out of the mud leaving this amazing ice crystal formation behind.  So maybe if I get to bed earlier tonight I can get up earlier and have some time to go out with the camera before I have to leave for work.  

Another sign of spring that brings music to my ears is the notes from the birds singing away in the mornings.  Haven't spotted any blue birds yet...but have some Junco's in my yard.  After a long winter spring seems to arriving with new signs daily.

Corinne~