Joyful Spring Days...

Good Evening everyone.. 

Don't you just love Spring days?  

It doesn't matter to me whether they are rainy or sunny really.. 

I just love them anyway.. 

Everything is turning green and coming into blossom.. 

Outside on the deck the apple blossoms will soon be fragrant and their snow like petals will be everywhere.. 

The clothes line is always in use and Terry is busy with his little tractor again.. 

Cleaning up the orchard and getting the garden ready.. 

As you can tell he enjoys this kind of work.. grin.. 

Nice to have a happy man, eh!

We are working away on our taxes but we keep taking breaks to do something else.. smile.. 

There is just so much to do on a Spring day.. 

I am in the process of making dandelion jelly again for the shop.. 

It sells really well and is so good for you, of course.. 

It took several hours just to get the petals chopped of and now they are soaking to make a tea for tomorrow to turn into a batch of jelly.. 

Well, four batches to be accurate.. smile.. 

You can find the recipe HERE..

The violet oil is already, too.. 

I need to grate up some beeswax and get that little job finished as well.. 

While I was at it I decided to once again use my flower press.. 

I have been doing this since my older kids were young.. 

It must be 30 years since my first little violet picture.. smile.. 

Then of course, there are my herbs.. 

One of my great loves.. 

Today my special treat was a glass of tomato juice with a lovage straw in it.. 

It tastes delicious.. 

I have a whole crate of herbs to plant at my shop.. 

They were on special so we decided to get them and will take the load down next time and get them into the ground.. 

I noticed that my lovage came up again down there but it is not very big yet.. 

The plant here grows at least 5 or 6 feet tall.. 

I hope I get time to make some more pickles.. 

They were so different.. 

We had a tasty chowder made with the lobster which was left over from our little feast the other day.. smile.. 

Flavored with some dill..

Making some homemade bread and giving away a loaf.. smile.

All in all a busy day but a joyful one.. 

Thank you, sweet Lord.. 

I just wanted to tell you all how much I have been appreciating all of your sweet comments, lately.. 

I am glad you enjoyed my little story about the sweet couple in the last post.. smile.. 

Notice one of the comments where a lady actually knew these folks.. 

I think I know who left the comment but am not sure.. 

If you ever leave me a note this way please let me know some how who you are.. 

An email or something.. ok? 

Thanks.. 

You are an awesome bunch of sweet ladies and I thank you for taking the time to drop by and then leaving me a comment.. 

I am trying to respond to each right on the blog.. 

OK?

It really does make blogging much more interesting.. 

Take care, now.. 

LINKED TO...FROM THE FARM BLOG HOP

A likely story...

Good Evening my dears.. 

Thanks for dropping by.. 

Just a short posting tonight as I share a bit of whimsy with you all.. 

Terry and I went to Moncton and I noticed this sweet couple standing and waiting for their bus..  

As we drove past I mentioned to him how sweet that couple was.. 

Of course, typical man, he did not even notice them.. 

He was interested in getting some gas and drove into the garage right next door..

As I sat in the truck I looked over to where they were.. 

Isn't that just so sweet? 

She is leaning against the pole with her lovely red hat and purse reading something out of a book she must have just bought.. 

I am surmising that they were doing a bit of shopping.. 

Notice their packages..

Some reading material for each of them, I think.. 

Perhaps a grapefruit and a few herbs to finish a dish she has planned for dinner..

Just my imagination doing it's thing here.. smile.. 

I wanted to ask them if I could take their picture but Terry was filling not only the truck but containers for the lawn mowers and such..

 I was certain they would be gone before he was finished.. 

But no... 

They were still there and Terry was so sweet as to oblige me and drive over to them.. 

I rolled down my window and showed them my camera and asked if I could take their photo... smile. 

They smiled and rearranged themselves a bit.. 

He said I could use it to scare mice.. grin.. 

So sweet..

I expect they have been together since they were young and live in some lovely old fashioned apartment down by Victoria Park.. 

I think it has a large balcony and is filled with wonderful plants in the summer.. 

Climbing roses, geraniums, and lots of vines  and  such.. 

Perhaps there are a couple of chaise lounges with vintage cushions  and a small table for their tea tray..

I think he was an officer during the war and met her while he was in Paris.. 

And perhaps she was one of the war brides that arrived back in Canada before her husband.. 

Probably after the war they visited her family every once in awhile and brought a bit of the culture back here to New Brunswick.. 

  They certainly are a dapper couple, eh?  

  

Every Wednesday morning they go downtown and do a bit of shopping and having lunch at the cafe and then they catch the bus and go home...

They are expecting the weekly phone call from their family who live in Montreal.. 

And dinner is slow roasting in the oven.. 

Tomorrow she will make the recipe for Grapefruit Gazpacho that she found in one of her cookbooks.. 

It is a cold vegetarian soup with citrus, tomitilloes, purple onions and cilantro.. 

The recipe is  HERE.

Hope you enjoyed this little bit of imagination on my part..

Have an awesome week.. 

We are working on our taxes.. 

Will chat again soon.. 

God bless..

Nothing as sweet as...

Hello everyone.. 

Welcome to the Blessed Hearth tonight.. 

We have had a wonderful long weekend and today was a lovely busy day.. 

I thought you might like to share it with us.. 

On Mother's Day our youngest son was not able to get out to see us although he called several times.. smile.. 

His plan was to get together with us today as he worked all week..

Anyway, what a wonderful day we had..

They were up early and called to make sure we were going to be home and said they were going to Alma.. 

(For you who are not from here then it is our National Park which is located on our Bay of Fundy and is a fishing town).. 

Just down the coast a bit from St. Martins where our summer cottage is.. 

They called around noon and asked me not to make any supper that they were bringing it.. 

I mentioned it to Terry and said perhaps they would be bringing some kind of fish..smile.. 

Well, in they came with a lovely present and card for me along with a bag of the wonderful sticky buns that I mentioned a post or two ago.. 

Oh my.. 

Then in comes Dustin with a huge box of lobster for supper.. 

My word... 

They wanted to thank Terry for helping them out a few weeks ago..

We had so much fun.. grin.. 

 Veronique is a French Acadian who grew up on the ocean shore and does she know how to eat lobster!!.. 

She does not waste a speck of it and we finally learned the perfect way to eat one..

Terry was much impressed.. grin..  

Thank you so much kids.. 

We loved it all.. 

The wee boys are so much fun, too.. 

They brought me a bag of dulse, too.. 

I guess it is really seaweed but it is delicious.. 

Someone got a new scooter for his birthday and they had fun with the jumps that Dad and Grandpa made for them.. 

The rain didn't slow them down a bit.. smile..

Even the dogs had a great time.. 

Now if they could only teach me to speak French.. smile..

There really isn't anything as sweet in this world as our families, eh? 

We are so blessed.. 

Thank you, Lord.. 

I am so glad you all dropped by.. 

Your comments on one of my previous posts is so appreciated.. 

I am trying to reply to each one as often as I can. 

You guys are great.. 

Hugs.. 

A rainy day trip...

Hi all.. 

Want to come along for a drive in the country on a very rainy day?

By the time we returned home the evening sun appeared.. 

Beautiful Spring how I love thee.. 

Have a blessed Sabbath tomorrow.. 

God's promises never fail.. 

Thanks so much for your lovely comments and advice last post.. 

Love you all..

A few work details and a question or two...

Hello... 

Here we are at another weekend ... 

Spring is passing and the changes are very obvious here in New Brunswick, Canada.. 

We are, of course, much slower then our southern neighbors but that is fine.. 

It is so appreciated when it gets here in all it's glory..

As you know we will soon be heading to our old Summer cottage for a few months..  

Yesterday, we took a little trip down to start getting things in order.. 

Not to complain, mind you, but there is a lot of work to moving down there... 

As I am (now complaining) now in my dotage my bones act up to the dampness so we turned the heat all on .. 

That way it will be all dried out in a few weeks time when we actually get there.. 

The water pump needs hooked up again and the whole house needs cleaned.. 

Then we are planning on a few improvements to the cottage and shop so Terry had to measure and such... 

The pantry in the cottage needs finishing and I want to turn my craft room into a breakfast room since all that will be going to the shop... 

I am so excited as I mentioned before I was hoping there would be a space for me to work out front and there is!!! 

We hope to build a high counter out of old doors and then my work space will be behind and lower so no one can see my big mess.. 

The reason I found it so hard to be there for days on end was because there was not any place to work except in a back room and that was not convenient at all.. 

Now, I will be able to work away while people shop and still have a place to wrap parcels and chat ... 

The second great news is that some good friends are going to be owning the restaurant across the street again..  

They are fantastic and their food is incredible.. 

I have so missed them the last couple of years but they are back!!!

And.... 

One of my dear cousins is going to be working in the Inn which is right next to our cottage and shop so we will be able to visit a lot.. 

Yes.. 

I am once again getting excited to be going to the Bay of Fundy.. 

The thing is I will miss our wee church but it is only for a bit. 

Today, my cousin who lives in Florida all year except for the summer months called and said they will be arriving in a couple of weeks..

 She wants to see her lilacs blossom.. smile.. 

Here are a few pics I took while Terry was working.. smile.. 

The one at the top is the back side of our old place.. 

Needs a bit of tidying up but all in due time.. 

It was very wet there yesterday.. 

Our view of the Bay from our deck... 

On the other side of the cottage... 

It was very quiet as the tide was pretty well out.. 

The rhubarb bed is coming along..

It is slower there then here at home but will be just right by the time we move in.. 

Rhubarb Jam.... 

The old barn.. 

In need of some plants when we get there...

As you can see I need to do a bit of gardening and cleaning up... 

After, we went over to the shop and carried in the things I have collected thus far.. 

Terry measured and I tidied the herb bed.. 

A lot of the herbs did not come back this year for some reason so they will have to be replanted.. 

Oh well.. 

I needed violets for my salves and we had not come across any up here so we went to one of our favorite patches... 

Yupppp... 

There were lots there.. 

Dear hubby kind of got his feet wet but he picked a big bag of them.. 

They were at our daughter's house.. 

I sent her a text and she said she had lots of violets.. 

We had a little visit with her and the grandsons.. 

Dave was working.... the dear thing.. 

The boys are growing so tall.. 

All excited for their annual Youth Convention.. 

Their 3 cousins are going with them and staying overnite..  

So blessed... 

Shonda actually has lady slippers growing on her property so I was wondering if they were out yet.. 

She said she would go and see... 

Isn't that precious? 

They were not ready but look at this patch.. 

A mixture of violets and innocents.. 

The white ones my Mom calls innocents and they do not grow up here... 

Today I picked over the violets and have them drying overnite.. 

Tomorrow, Lord willing, I will be making this...

Violet Salve... 

You can find the link HERE for the recipe..

It is one of my best sellers.. 

Good for burns especially and  any skin irritations... 

I can't write a post without showing you some food... 

Right? 

Someone told me the other day about being at some special restaurant and this is what they ordered.. 

Pasta and Meatballs... 

Only there was just one large meatball each and I think they said there was cheese in the middle.. 

So.... 

I just used my regular recipe but only made 4 big meatballs and stuck a piece of cheese in each ...

We only ate one each and I froze the other two until next time.. 

Terry gave his approval on this one.. smile.. 

All week I have been trying out bowl meals.. 

Took several pics but did not realize that I forgot to put the card back in my camera and they are on the internal part.. 

As my Picasso is all messed up I cannot get them off.. 

Oh well...Another time.. 

Thanks once again for your visits as I am so happy to have you.. 

Thanks also for the lovely emails that have encouraged me so much.. 

I do have a couple of questions for you that are kind of bugging me.. 

QUESTIONS.. 

1... Is there anything I can do to make this blog more interesting? 

More pics... less chat... more info... ????

2.   I do not seem to be getting many followers of late and was wondering if you know why... ????

3.. Maybe, I should post more often.. ????

When there are not many comments I really do find it hard to post again soon if you know what I mean.. 

4.  Maybe I should answer each comment..???

I know there are faithful readers out there and I appreciate it so much but I would like for the site to grow and am curious as to what you all think..

Perhaps, I get on my soap box too much.. grin.. 

Take care, dear hearts and have a wonderful weekend..  

LINKED TO..SUNNY SIMPLE MONDAYS..

Keepers of the Home Mother's Day Breakfast..

Hello everyone.. 

So glad you dropped by today.. 

I hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day.. 

On Saturday the Keepers had a wonderful breakfast cooked for us by the men of our church.. 

We had a blessed time and so I thought I would share some pics with you and tell you about our day..

Just a few preparations..

Don't you love pansies ?

 I decided that again this year we would have them for centrepieces... 

They make quite a mess so this got done here at home.. 

Clay pots from the dollar store are great.. 

Just threw in a few stones for drainage on the bottom, mixed up a bit of Terry's secret mixture and planted them..

Terry and I took a drive and he picked some moss.. 

I love using this around all of my potted plants for the deck.. 

It helps keep moisture in and is free.. smile.. 

Then on Thursday evening a few of us met at the church and put together a few items.. 

We had such fun.. 

My dear Mom donated a lot of cups and saucers and we made bird feeders to pass out to each of the ladies.. 

The how-to is HERE

Just so you know ... 

The E6000 glue is at Michael's and you can use your coupon... 

Then Lindsay made little bird feed cheesecloth bags..

The ladies loved them.. 

Then a dear girl whose Mom comes to Keepers picked a bunch of 

our Eastern Canada Mayflowers.. 

Thank you, Becky.. 

We made little posies with them.. 

Wrapped a bit of old lace around them and kept them in water until that morning.. 

Even the wee girls loved them..

And there was a poem for each lady about the Mayflower.. 

This sweet soul was our first guest..

My Mom...

Not a good quality picture.. sorry.. 

Coffee was on and everyone got acquainted.

And we checked out the Penny Auction goodies..

And then Mom prayed the blessing upon the food and we all dove in.. smile.. 

What delicious food the men made.. 

At each place was a fancy dish of fruit salad and there was ham, bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, homemade jam, Belgian waffles, fresh strawberries and such.. 

My breakfast.. 

Looks good, eh? 

What great waffles.. Yummmmm...

We had a lot of fun and there were some terrific buys.. 

The auctioneers were a hit.. 

A couple of them were doing a skit at the same time.. 

Thank you dear hearts.. 

We then had a wonderful speaker who gave us a marvelous message.. 

Very touching but with strokes of humor that had us in stitches.. 

We so enjoyed it and even the little girls listened to every word.. 

Thank you dear Pastor's wife.. 

The picture of her did not turn out.. 

We had lots of door prizes..

The little girls won wee peat pots of pansies and were given hair bands by *Joelle*..

Aren't they sweet?. 

They didn't know each other when they arrived but were fast friends when they left.. 

And there was a bit of picture taking..  

One of our crazy auctioneers and dear daughter.. 

So glad she was able to be there ..

Thankful for all of our guests.. smile..  

God certainly blessed this sweet gathering.. 

It was so much fun but profitable in so many ways.. 

Sweet fellowship with other mamas and words of wisdom that caused us to remember our blessings.. 

Realizing that God has given us mothers the highest of callings.. 

That of being Mother to our children.. 

Not only feeding and clothing them but guarding them against the pitfalls of this old world.. 

Calling on God for their salvation and protection.. 

Teaching them to put God first in their lives.. 

This life is a temporal thing but eternity is forever.. 

We need to help them to prepare for what comes after this life..

We have to let them see that Mama believes in prayer and putting God first in her life.. 

Right?

All in all it was a great morning.. 

Thanks so much for your sweet visit.. 

Love your little notes that you leave.. 

Hope to have some interesting posts coming up.. 

We can live in hope anyway, eh?  grin.. 

Love you all..