I have mentioned before that I love all of the Agatha Christie’s Marple episodes as well as the Masterpiece Theater (PBS) adaptations starring Joan Hickson.  Did you know that Agatha Christie met Joan Hickson and said she would love to have her play Miss Marple?

That leads me to my point today.  I need to find a winter hat to wear of the style worn by the Joan Hickson Miss Marple.  I researched film stills and discovered that she always wore the same type of hat- sometimes a different color or material- but always a “bucket hat”.

I had a wool cloche that I loved in my early adult years, and all of this talk about hats makes me (and my husband- who liked that hat!) nostalgic.  I am going to look for a blue felted wool hat.

I previously mentioned that I am a backyard birdwatcher.  In doing so for many years, I have found myself “claiming” certain birds- I’ll say to my husband “My blue jay is back” or “My finches have made a nest in the bird box”.  Well, today my woodpecker is back!  He must have been lured back by the suet and corn I put out last week.

I have five bird feeders- some filled with corn, some with mixed seeds, 2 suet feeders and one platform feeder- right now it has cantaloupe seeds and pulp in it.  I must go out and fill the bird bath with warm water.

 

Since starting this modest blog, I have found myself frequently thinking “What would Miss Marple do?”

After the rose pruning activities of yesterday, I ran inside to get warm and treat my thorny injuries and soak my hands in warm water.   That led to peeling potatoes and making  soup, and before I knew it, it was dark outside.

Stepping outside today, I surveyed rose clippings all about, and tut-tutted to myself “what would Miss Marple say?”   I was ashamed of myself.  Jane Marple would have tidied up after herself and brushed down the doorstep before she would dreamed of going back inside.

Needless to say I could not just leave the entrance to my home ashambles  and I did tidy up the discarded canes.  Tomorrow I just may polish my brass post box.  I am sure Miss Marple would have done.

 

After a time spent outdoors pruning roses, my hands became stiff and sore.  I have discovered recently, that hand washing dishes and peeling potatoes in hot water  makes them feel better.

Since hot soup on a cold day is a perfect meal, I made potato soup for supper.

I peeled a few potatoes and cooked them with a little onion in chicken broth,then added cream and seasoned it with salt and pepper.  With a side of cheese and crackers it is just right. 

The only thing that could have made it better, was a dessert of apple pie!

My shady backyard hosts a small number of  Black Walnut trees. A mighty surplus of black walnuts kept me quite busy for a month- gathering, setting up a drying table, preparing them to dry, and ultimately giving away bags of them.

It is easy to identify a black walnut lover- their hands are stained as dark as furniture! I know this from personal experience- I was anxious that the stain would not be gone  from my hands before Thanksgiving.

I plan to do a little baking for Christmas, and the walnuts from my own trees will be a special treat.

I enjoy watching the birds that visit my garden.  Yes, I have a pair of binoculars or two, and yes I own several bird guides- I guess that makes me a birdwatcher.

My particular favourite bird this year has been a blue jay who visits irregularly.  He is big, noisy, and thrashes about in small bushes as if he were a whirlwind.  He makes a beautiful entrance.

In order to tempt him to visit more often, I filled all my bird feeders today- mixed seeds in one, corn in several and cakes of suet placed in their holders.  Alas, the water in the birdbath was frozen solid.  Tomorrow I will empty the tea kettle into it after breakfast!

 

 

 

Today’s garden work was concentrated on cleaning up after my trees.

 I do think that trees are worth the price that one pays for shade and beauty, but one must admit, they are not tidy.

This year, the acquisition  of a yard sweeper made the gathering of fallen leaves much easier on my poor neck and back.  Most of the leaves are down on my property, so once these leaves are picked up, that will be that.

While “sweeping” my lawn, I also gathered more black walnuts for the squirrels (I have gathered enough for my family and have them drying on screens) and gathered sticks for the woodpile to use for kindling.

 

 

Miss Marple was a thoroughly organized person with a tidy garden.   I am, on the other hand, NOT  an organized person and certainly do not keep a tidy garden.  In order to keep up  with my  interest in Living Miss Marple,  I have resolved to do one or two garden chores a day, as I am able.

Today, I transplanted a large Hosta to a more suitable, shady location and cleaned leaves and debris in my garden gate area.   There is always something to be done in my garden!  By the way, in Britain, a Hosta is sometimes referred to as  a plantain lily.

 

 

 

 Vintage hats are placed on top of neatly coiffed hair. They are pinned into place with hat pins, and not taken off as men’s hats are.

The hat pins are usually a pair and are quite like long sewing pins, and unless highly decorative, are hidden under the ribbon of the hat band.

With winter fast approaching, a wool hat seems in order.

 

I have 2 large roses that grace my front door – one with an especially lovely scent.  My father has always made it a point, upon visiting, to enjoy the best smelling rose he says he has ever smelled!

Knowing the the end of blooming season will be any day,  I clipped the last blooms and saved them for him.   I decided to make rose petal potpourri so he could enjoy his favorite rose  a little longer.

A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet~William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet.