ABC Wednesday - G!

Gee Whiz!

That's a saying my Dad frequently used.  I was happy to use it myself today!  Miriam Webster describes the saying as an interjection of surprise.

Well, Gee Whiz!  The weather this past early Spring was Great, to say the least.  Plenty of warm weather and rain resulted in Gardens that looked like this!

These photos were taken in mid-June.  These are backyard photos.

"Big Shed Bed"

"Center Pond Bed"

"The Way Back" I

"The Way Back" II

"The Way Back" III

And this is the Front Yard!

This is "The Sunny Corner Bed!"

 "Mattie" Phlox (Nickname, not hybrid variety)

 Gaillardia

Campanula - Bellflower

And I DO love daylilies!!

'Strawberry Candy'

'Startle'

'Mildred Mitchell'

Thanks for Going along with my Garden Gazing!

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Happy "G" Week!
SG

ABC Wednesday - G is Grosbeak

We recently vacationed for a few days with both "our families!"  This would be our daughter and son-in-law and their children and our son and daughter-in-law and their children.  All-in-all, there were twelve of us... and did we have GREAT fun!

We stayed in a wonderful (modern) "log cabin" in the woods.  There were birds all around, with bird feeders hanging from the main floor deck.  We saw our "usual" black-capped chickadees, nuthatches, goldfinches, (flocks of?) ruby throated hummingbirds, Baltimore Orioles, and Rose Breasted Grosbeaks, etc.

Imagine my surprise, when the first birds I spotted and photographed were the birds below!!  "What?" I wondered.

Guess what!  These are immature male Rose Breasted Grosbeaks!!  (The first clue that they were Grosbeaks was their bills.  Take a Gander!)

This is also an immature male Rose Breasted Grosbeak ... further along in his development.  I also was able to take this photo.

The following photo was borrowed from an internet search.  The photographer was identified as Gary Tyson.

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"Keep an eye out!"  You may also spot an elusive immature Rose Breasted Grosbeak!

Watchfully yours,

SG

G for Glacier? No, Just "Great Lakes' Icebergs!"

I've never seen a GLACIER in real life.  These won't fool anyone, but perhaps you MIGHT believe they're icebergs.  :-)

Something I'd never seen.  Photos taken near Saugatuck, Michigan.

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SG

ABC Wednesday - G is for Grape . . .

Glibly gazing towards Spring...


Grape Hyacinth
Muscari armeniacum
are early Spring blooming bulbs. Those in the photo above are those found occurring naturally. There are several varieties of Muscari - resulting in shades of light blue and white, and cultivars that are light pink/mauve, two-toned blue, etc.

Most bulbs should be planted in zones 3-9. They won't do well in extremely wet or dry conditions. Many of them have a pleasant aroma, that I've not detected. I look forward to having a greater number of them someday - and actually enjoying their fragrance!
They naturalize freely.

I would love to provide you with much more information about this early flowering Spring bulb.

However, this link will give you practically EVERYTHING you'd ever want to know!

*****

Gleefully glazing towards breakfast...

Grape Jelly

(recipe from Practical Kitchen dot com)

5 lbs of grapes
Stem and thoroughly crush fully ripe grapes. Add 2 cups water.
Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Extract juice. You will have 6 1/2 cups fruit juice.

Set aside 4 1/2 cups sugar (Do Not Reduce Amount of Sugar)

Combine 1 box light fruit pectin crystals with 1/4 cup of the above sugar.

Slowly add Fruit Pectin mixture to prepared fruit or juice in saucepan. Place saucepan over high heat and stir constantly until mixture comes to a full boil. Stir in remaining sugar. Stir constantly as mixture returns to full rolling boil. Continue to stir and boil hard 1 minute. If sticking occurs reduce heat slightly but maintain the full rolling boil.

Remove from heat. Immediately pour jelly into warm, sterilized jars. Cover quickly with lids, apply screw bands until fingertip tight.

After jars are cool, test for seal. If you press the middle of the lid with your finger, the lid should be firm and curved down slightly in the center. If it springs up, the lid is not sealed. Refrigerate any unsealed jars after 24 hours and use within 3 weeks.

Makes 8 cups of yummy jelly.

(I cannot attest to the quality of this recipe, as I've not tried it - yet.)

*****

And Last but Not Least (!)

Gladly Gravitating to the t.v. re-runs...

Grape Nehi

as loved by Corporal Radar O'Reilly of MASH

You can buy yourself a bottle... just click this link!

Enjoy this little video below as a tribute!



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Glad tidings for Giddy moments. ;-)