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Monday, August 30, 2010

A SPECIAL PLACE ..

GOOD MORNING GIRLS... JUST WANTED TO LEAVE YOU A SHORT POST.  TODAY IS OUR DAUGHTER SHONDA'S BIRTHDAY... WE ARE HAVING THE FAMILY IN FOR SUPPER TO CELEBRATE AND I HAVE QUITE A LOT OF THINGS ON MY TO DO LIST...LOL...
I WAS JUST REALIZING THAT YOU GIRLS WHO ARE SO BLESSED TO STILL HAVE CHILDREN HOME AND IN SCHOOL HAVE ONLY THIS LAST WEEK BEFORE THEY NEED TO GO BACK.  AT LEAST HERE IN OUR AREA.. YOU PROBABLY HAVE MANY CHORES TO COMPLETE BUT  TRY AND FIND TIME TO JUST SIT AND THANK GOD FOR YOUR BLESSINGS AND PRAY FOR DIRECTION AND WISDOM FOR ANOTHER SCHOOL YEAR.
WHEN I WAS A YOUNG MOTHER I HAD READ SOMEWHERE THAT A MOM NEEDS TO HAVE A PLACE WHERE SHE CAN GO TO HAVE A FEW MOMENTS OF PEACE AND TO BE ABLE TO RELAX FOR A BIT.... I KNOW THAT CAN SOMETIMES PROVE A HARD THING TO DO WITH SMALLER HOMES OR BUSY FAMILIES...
I ALWAYS HAD TO READ AND DO CRAFTS.... THEY WERE THE TWO THINGS THAT HELPED ME TO RELAX BUT ALSO I USED THEM AS MEANS OF INSPIRATION....
THEN OF COURSE , AS ALL MY KEEPERS KNOW I LOVE TO HAVE NOTEBOOKS THAT I CAN KEEP MY LISTS AND THOUGHTS IN...
SO GIRLS AS BUSY AS YOU ARE WITH YOUR CHILDREN TRY TO FIND A PLACE FOR YOURSELVES WHERE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO GO AND JUST RECOUPERATE ONCE IN AWHILE...PERHAPS YOU CAN FIND TIME IN THIS FINAL WEEK TO CREATE A LITTLE SPACE JUST FOR YOU... IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE BIG.. JUST A CORNER WHERE YOU CAN PUT YOUR BOOKS AND CHAIR OR WHATEVER.... LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU CAME UP WITH AND I WILL SHOW YOU A PIC LATER OF MY WEE SPOT...LOL.... 
WE ALL NEED TO ENJOY THESE LAST BEAUTIFUL DAYS OF SUMMER AND THANK THE LORD FOR HIS GOODNESS....WE ARE A BLESSED PEOPLE....
IF YOU HAVE TIME PLEASE CLICK ON PRIMITIVE LACE AND WISH OUR SWEET GIRL A HAPPY BIRTHDAY....
OH, THAT IS HER SWING IN THE ABOVE PIC....I LOVE TO SIT ON IT WHEN I VISIT HER...LOL...
HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU ARE BUSY DOING... I LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU....
GOD BLESS..
FAYE..

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Crockpot Apple Butter Recipe...

Hello my dears... How are you all?  It seems as if everytime lately that I go to post I start by telling you how sorry I am for not posting sooner..
But here I am this evening just wanting to take the time to at least check in and let you know I am here....
The last few days have as usual been busy.. A lot of nice company... old friends who we always love to see and catch up with...
Then my darlin husband brought down a lot of garden goodies that we have been doing.  I am so blessed that he doesn't mind helping.  We made a few batches of mustard pickles and bread and butters and he helps by peeling and slicing.  The dear man....LOL...
I found the greatest recipe and wanted to share with all you sweet keepers of the home... It is so nice and so easy to do...
It is Crockpot Apple Butter..... Tastes wonderful on toast and bagels or homemade Cinnamon Sweet Bread... Or you can have it with pork chops or roast....
This was my breakast this morning... A nice hot cup of coffee and toast with Apple Butter..
The best part was that Gramps and I shared it with some of our grandsons...
Anyway.. here is the recipe....
Start out with 6 pounds of apples...
It took all of these... I bought them on sale at On The Vine on our way home...
You just peel these all up and then slice them and place in your crockpot....
In a separate bowl measure out 4 cups of white sugar
                 3 tsps. of cnnamon
3/4 tsp. of ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Stir up well and then pour over your apples and stir ...
Then place the cover on and cook on high for 1 - 2 hours...
Then turn down to low and cook 10  hours or more...
Stir once in awhile during the first hour or so...
It will look like this at the end...  Take a masher and mash well.  I used my stick blender with the whisk on and it worked perfect.  I had forgotten my blender part at home so I think if you mash it well and then use your beaters or whisk it will work well.  You can turn the heat up to high for another hour before you put it in sterilized bottles and seal....
As you can see you get 8 pints or 4 quarts...
I just made another batch before I started my post and I will let it cook all night like I did last time.  When we woke up in the morning the cottage smelled lovely of apples.  I think it takes about a half hour to peel and put this together and then in the morning maybe 15 minutes to bottle it..
So easy and so nice for you family or to add to your gift pantry. 
How are you girls  doing adding to your pantries?  Perhaps you could let us know what you are creating to put away for your Christmas gifts or whatever...
Oh, I want to thank my new followers and to say welcome and hope  you will keep checking in to see if you can find something of interest to aid you in being a keeper of the home..

This next month the Keepers are hoping to make a field trip to an herb farm where they make homemade soaps, oils, vinegars and what all... I think it will be inspiring....
If you are interested and you do not currently attend but are in our area just let me know and you are more than welcome to become a part of our group and make this little trip with us.  I will let you know the details as soon as I get it all worked out.  
 Isn't God good?  We are such a blessed people to live here and to know Him...
Here are our dear grandsons and their friend heading home after spending a couple of days with us.. We so enjoy them.. School will soon be starting so we are trying to squeeze the visits in..LOL..
So take care of yourselves and your  families and I will get back to you as soon as I can. \
Let us know by commenting on how your apple butter turned out or anything else you are busy at..
Peace...
Faye...




Saturday, August 21, 2010

A Bee's Paradise....

Hello my dears... I am not going to start this post by saying I am sorry for being so slack in this department ..  I know that you are all as busy or more than me so I am sure you understand.  I do not even have any children to get ready for school but it is the harvest season and therefore I am pickling and freezing and all that... I love it, though even if it is a bit much at times. 
I was so blessed to get home for a nite last week and to see our youngest son who I have missed a lot lately.   It doesn't matter how old our children get we as mothers never get over missing them when we haven't seen them for awhile... Our three children all live within an hour or two from us so I am certainly blessed.. Some poor dears have children all across the country or even the world.  Thank the Lord He knows us and how much we can handle, eh? 
Anyway, while I was home I took a few pics of our run-away flowerbed... It looks as though it was fed some heavy duty fertilizer and grew like Jack and his beanstalk...lol...
Isn't that amazing?  In some places it has grown about 7 feet tall.  It grows everywhere here in St. Martins.. It really takes over the place but I love this plant. 
This birdhouse is actually hidden in the first picture...
I tried to find out a bit about it and I heard that it is from Newfoundland... One of our lovely Maritime provinces..When St. Martins was a ship building town many years ago the plant came with the ships into port and  started growing here.  I have not seen this plant anywhere else  in the last fourteen years that we have summered here. 
Until now.... it grows in Havelock, N. B. because someone took a plant up there and transplanted it.  It has really spread!!!  Uh Oh.... Well, it has fringe benefits... The bees think they all died and went to bees heaven... Every few inches is a bee working away... They love them 
The name they are called  as far as i can find out is Poor Man's Orchid...
It looks just like an orchid .  A lot of people who come into my shop want to know what kind of plant it is as they have never seen it.  \
The main benefit as far as I and my grandsons are concerened is it is a wonderful Stress Reliever....LOL.... No, really...
It developes into these pods which when you gently squeese spring into the air shedding their seeds... Kind  of like a touch me not plant or the jewel weed but so much bigger and more fun.  The boys and I will spend ages springing them.... I know I mustn't have much to do...LOL...
Can you see the big pods??  I tried to take pics with all the bees but they blend right in...
In this one you can see it crawling inside to get it's honey... if you look really hard in this flower to the right and bottom....
Well, I guess this was a different kind of post...LOL...
God was so wonderful with all His creations.... I have always loved flowers so and I think they are one of the best things about Summer....
Tomorrow is the Lord's Day again already so enjoy it and draw closer to Him...
Praying for you and asking you to remember Carrie -  our Keeper of the Home who is working in India this month... She will soon be home again with her dear family but we need to hold her up in prayer... 
Keep the Faith..
Faye... 

Monday, August 16, 2010

Homestead Style....

Good Morning Everyone.. Just wanted to leave you a small post to start your week with.  I went out this morning to let the dog out and stood for a moment smelling the sea air.  It sure feels like fall today. 
We had a wonderful Lord's Day and weekend.. But here is another Monday and school will soon be starting.  Our grandsons were telling me last night at church that there is only 2 more weeks.  Time passes so quickly.... 
When Fall gets here I love to go to one of my favorite places and that is Kings Landing.  It is so inspiring to see all they do to get ready for Winter.  I come home and just want to get at it...lol...
My sweet husband usually takes me every September.  Last year this was one of my favorite pics that we took....
Using garden harvest to make some vinegars and squashes and plants to make a prim look in your home even if you do not use them....
Drying flowers and even weeds to make garlands, etc can really help with the country decorating...
So with that in mind I have a link for you if you would like to add some country or prim touches to your homes.  I found this link really helpful.... your homestead style
She gives you lots of ideas that are so frugal this time of year with so much harvest available...
I know that not all of you are into decorating in this style but you that are I hope this is helpful..
Well, I have some pickles and jam to do up so have a wonderful God blessed week and enjoy the last few weeks before school begins....
Praying for you...
Faye....

Saturday, August 14, 2010

The Family that prays together...

Good Evening my dear girls... Another lovely weekend has come and is almost gone.. Tomorrow is the Lord\s Day... We serve such an awesome God!!  I had picked up this graphic somewhere to put on my sidebar and as I was going over some pics in my folder i noticed it.  It is certainly true and so I thought I would mention it tonight. 
Such a deep statement which is so simple but yet so true... I know that with young families it is sometimes hard to budget our time and fit time for prayer together.. But I think if you could see ahead to the future and all it holds you would really try to grasp and hold on to this ... It contains so many benefits that can not be measured in time  that we would spend during our busy days.. But in the days ahead as your wee ones grow towards adulthood you will reap the rewards as they learn to walk with your Lord and learn to put Him first in their lives....
There are many ways to pray together that is not always down on your knees but  as effective..

One way is to thank God for our food.... Simple Grace.... Make it a habit for every meal.. Your children will continue this in their homes... It is important....
This is one of my favorite pics of my three children,... all grown up with some of their own wee ones. 
We are altogether at our house for a meal... buffet syle and very informal and our oldest son is saying the Grace....

There is no one I would rather hear pray than our children or grandsons... The other night when the five grandsons were here with just Gram we all went over to the restaurant for dinner.. I asked who wants to say Grace and the two oldest volunteered.... There was not any shame.. People around were looking at these darling boys bowing their heads to the God we serve and saying thank you for their meal... It made tears come to my eyes....
Another way to fit prayer in...

Before you take your different paths in the morning just to stand with bowed heads and ask for divine protection and guidance for the day only takes a few moments.
 
On the way home in the car if it is late a short prayer is all that is needed sometimes.

Then the precious time with each child in their own private space with Mom saying thank you God for this lovely day that we had today and then the child's own words of thanks...

Or when there is a crisis.... Bow your heads together and ask the God of peace to come in and answer your need.... Your kids will come to know that He is Someone you can turn to no matter what the problem and He cares.  \
Stress the fact that He is as close as the mention of His Name so that they will remember when you are not there that He is and He will be their ever present help..
.
It is so lovely when you can make time each day for that special Devotional Time together with Mom and Dad... Although, not all families work that way... Dad may not love the God you serve so you have to be creative and make sure the kids find ways to  appreciate Him in their busy days...
.
It is a very good thing to teach them prayers from the |Word like the Lord's Prayer and such...

Remember girls that God will honour your faithfulness in teaching your family to pray and to put Him first in their lives..
They will never forget even when the road gets rough...

I know you all do the best you can and this is just a wee reminder in this busy season of Summer to put the Lord in the centre of our hearts and homes..
So, my dears have a wonderful Sunday and enjoy the day that God has given us...
Praying for you and yours...
Hugs...
Faye...


Monday, August 9, 2010

An old table and it's uses.....

Good Morning all... I just thought I would start out this morning with thanking the Lord for all of you who are so faithful in reading my blog and letting me know that you are out there.   I don't ever want you to think that I am not thankful for your following of this one and Primitive Lace  if you do. 
In this blog I  am with the help of the Lord trying to instill a few basic skills and  ideas for you as a homemaker.  Also, the fact that if we put Jesus as the centre of our homes then only good things can follow.  Our families today need all the help that they can receive.  I am sure that everyone would agree that Satan has been using the family unit as his main objective in tearing down the work of the Lord.  If he can destroy the family then he gets the Church.. 
With this in mind I have been slowly trying to get this blog in order.  As you know, I am not very computer literate...LOL.. My husband only gave me this computer last Christmas so as you can see these blogs are works in progress.
Therefore, I decided to mainly put the primitive decorating and crafts blogroll on Primitive Lace and keep this one geared towards our homes.  I know that decorating is what most of us love so there are still some on this blogroll but I am trying to add others that I hope will be a blessing to you all. 
I have included cooking blogs and a lovely devotional one by Shirley Buxton.  Her blog is called God Things which is on the blogroll.. I hope you will keep checking in as I can only work on this a little at a time as this is such a busy time of year...
Anyway, with this in mind....let  us get on with the rest of the story...LOL...
I thought I would show you my work table here at the cottage...
I mentioned on the last posting that I had to go and pick up some cukes.  Here are 24 litres of Garlic Dills all finished.  Thank you Jesus.... Then you can see some dill and garlic ready for some Sweet Dill Pickles... My husband's favorite... Also, there are apples and pears that I bought in the half price bin to cut up and dry for potpourri.   The Keepers of the Home make stove top potpourri to sell as a fundraiser at times... And I sell it in my shop.  We all love it..
Also, there are vinegars there with the cheesecloth on them  They are raspberry and nasturtiam flower..  They have to sit for 2 or 3 weeks and then I will bottle them up in separate bottles and wax the tops.... They are used on cukes and greens or as an ingredient in salad dressings or marinades.
Then there is the parsley..  We love this herb.  I put it in a lot of my cooking.. Right now with all the fresh delicious cukes I make a salad that Terry requests daily...LOL
Here is the recipe...
1 or 2 medium size cukes...peeled and sliced
1 or 2 green onions sliced thinly or 1/2 chopped red onion or whatever kind you have on hand.
Place these in a nice bowl
In a separate small bow make the dressing...
1/2 cup of real mayo... not miracle whip
1 1/2 T. lemon juice... and of course I prefer fresh lemons but you can use the lemon juice in small plastic lemon jars you can buy in the produce department
Sometimes I will use one of the vinegars that I have on hand .. we prefer lemon, though
a bit of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
Whisk this together and add to your cukes and onions...
Let sit on your counter until time to serve... only for an hour or so... or put in the fridge if you make it early...
Serve with fresh parsley chopped and scattered over the top of the salad...

Well, my dears that is all for today... Praying that you all have a lovely week.. Try to make some pickles or jams for your gift pantry.... Remember Christmas is coming and now is the time to make these lovely gifts and save lots of money.. I will try to put an idea list for your gift pantries on the sidebar of this blog later ....
I know you are all busy but you can always squeeze and hour here and there.. It is really worth the labor and such a great thing for your children to remember and a fine skill to teach your daughters and sons!!
Actually, my oldest son and his wife are wonderful pickle makers.   He went with me the other day to get cukes and he was telling me his boys ate 48 litres of dill last year....
They must be Henrys...LOL...
If you need any help in this area just email me and I will be glad to help if I can...
May the Lord be with you all this week...
Faye...

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Keepers by the Sea.....

Good Morning Girls... A nice rainy one here by the Bay of Fundy... I am going to post rather quickly this morning.. I have to go to Sussex and pick up about 50 pounds of small cukes to pickle for dills.  That is our favorite  and of course the customers love them...
I just had to post a few pics of our Keepers by the Sea Night..  We all had a great time!   The Lord blessed us so much in our fellowship together.  He is the reason that we get together.  We believe that if we can put Him into the centre of our homes then they will become a haven for our families.  So all year we meet once a month and learn what we can to help us do that.  Then once a year we have this time together .... 
 I think I will let the pics do the talking this time.  It took me a bit to get them organized and then I had to get more from Charlene... She seems to be our photographer...LOL...
Here they are....


Some of us are sitting and some of us are standing and some of us still texting home....
They are all wondering where their supper is...
My oven kind of blew up just before they all arrived.  Thank the Lord the tenderloin was almost done and there was propane in the BBQ,....LOL..

Then they all dissappeared...(picking out their beds..no doubt!!   LOL)


Dinner was pretty good... Linsay even ate her veggies.... Good  food and even better conversation!!

Then after dinner the girls blessed me with this beautiful scrapbook !!  It is a wonderful book of memories  filled with our meetings and outings.   So much work and so much talent went into this.   I will treasure it all the rest of my days.   Thank you so much my dear girls....
 
Then a walk down to the Sea...

A beautiful moon-lit night... Thank you , dear Lord....
It was so funny.... We really wanted a fire but in all the hustle and  bustle I had forgotten to get Terry to get our firewood together.... So  we walked down and had a visit with my friend Carolyn who lives right on the beach... The girls found a fire all going with a load of firewood right there with no one around... \
Now my story is that the Lord knows the desires of our heart and he just send an angel down and told him to get us a fire going.  LOL...  He knew these girls needed a bit of  special treatment.  Right?  LOL..
Anyway. we had a wonderful time.. The next morning after a couple of hours sleep we went for breakfast right across the road....
It was very good and we stayed talking for over 2 hours... I didn't notice the time....
I had to go open the shop... It is N.B. Day weekend and a busy spot....
Here are all the lovely ladies waiting to have a wee shop visit....
And here I am.... By now I don't know if I am saying hello or see ya next year...LOL..
No, really we were blessed with a great weekend and we are thankful to the One who provided it for us.  He is an awesome God and we are glad we are a part of His family.  
Until, next year girls.... May the Lord God be you each of you and your families and make them a family after Christ...
Love and Prayers..
Faye..