Just plain country....

Evening dear hearts.. 

Want to come along for a drive to see some just plain country.. 

A little place named Corn Hill....

Beautiful, though.. 

The contrasts between old and new and between the blue and the green... 

Old houses and barns and then simply gorgeous new houses and barns that look like cathedrals...

Simply country and simply beautiful.. 

One of our favourite rural drives here in Southern New Brunswick.. 

We are still in early Spring here in the Maritimes although it is greening up more every day as the sun shines and temperatures rise.. 

Love this time of year.. 

When all becomes new again... 

Enjoy.... 

The evening has come.. 

The lights are on in the barns and the cattle are lowing.. 

God is in his heaven and all is well with this little piece of the world.. 

Thanks for visiting here at the Blessed Hearth... 

Take care and come again soon.. 

Hugs and God bless.. 

A Lace Doilie Curtain...

Hello everyone... 

How are you all doing?  

I have been missing from here for a few days.. 

Last week I spent several days with Shonda and had a wonderful time.. She is such great fun and I was so happy to spend those few days with her.. 

We attended a Ladies Retreat and were truly blessed in song and word.. 

But like always it was good to get home.. smile.. 

I wanted to show you the little lace doilie curtain that is finally hung.. 

We were up to the farm and I took it along.. 

I thought I would see what it looked like hanging on the door... 

There is a wee porch on the front and this is the original front door..

I decided to leave it hanging and will try to make another for here at home.. 

This was my first try and now I think I will do a better job on the next one.. 

Perhaps it is too long.. 

What do you think? 

I was making it really for the back door here at home and it is a bigger window.. 

I think it is okay there, though.. 

While I was waiting for Terry to lock up I noticed a lot of robins.. 

At one point I counted 15... 

When we were out for a drive a couple of times I noticed flocks of these birds.. 

Usually, there might be 4 or 5 but not such flocks as I have seen in fields this Spring.. 

Have you noticed this? 

Well, dear hearts this is all for this evening.. 

I hope you have a blessed week and thanks so much for dropping by.. 

As always thanks for your sweet notes and for following here or on Face Book... 

God bless.. 

xo

Linked to.. The Art of Homemaking Mondays..

Ordinary but lovely days..

Good Evening everyone.. 

Here it is another Monday and the another week beginning.. 

We are having Spring like weather here in the Maritimes of Canada..

A bit cold at times but a couple of days this week it is to be rather warm so that will be welcome.. 

I finally finished my moss heart wreath.. 

Terry helped me make it, bless his heart.. smile.. 

I had found a wired heart at the thrift shop for hanging cards or photos on and we used that as a base.. 

I figured we would just use chicken wire but this was a bit easier, I think.. 

He had picked the moss along a ditch when we were out for a drive but I wanted several types and with snow and such we didn't get it.. 

I did see one kind on a trip we took to Calais, Maine last week but forgot to stop and get it on the way home.. 

I just gave up and went with the Old Man's Beard and when I find the other kind I was looking for I will add it then.. 

Just sort of punch it under the top chicken wire.. 

Then just added a ribbon sort of criss crossed, some pine cones and star anise, whole nutmegs and a few silk pansies.. 

I used the glue gun for that.. 

Oh and a dried bunch of basil.. 

I have hung it on the front hall closet door for now but will hang it outside perhaps this week.. 

We have been having tremendous winds and I didn't want it all blown to bits already.. smile.. 

As I said we took a little day trip to Calais last week.. 

It was a very rainy windy day so what else was there to do?  grin.. 

Or so I told Terry anyway.. 

It was a nice day but we were later coming back then intended.. 

Went through the city of St. John after supper..

Then Dustin came out for the day to help his Dad.. 

They went and cut down a couple of truckloads of wood for next Winter.. 

You probably can't see it but he brought me an apple.. 

It was a different type then we usually eat and was delicious ! 

We had donairs for our lunch and I thought you might like the recipe.. 

I found this rather interesting info... 

"In the early 70's, a Greek restaurateur in the city of Halifax introduced the Donair. Within a few short years, virtually all pizzerias had added their version of the dish to their menus. Not to be confused with gyros, the Donair has a vastly different flavor. Originally the dish was made with ground lamb, but this proved too costly and ground beef was later substituted. Technically, this resulted in an aberration of sorts, as the final product was not what the originator had intended. What resulted, however, is the legendary East Coast Donair."

The link is HERE for the recipe that I use.. 

The night before we are going to have them I just mix up the spices and hamburger then shape it into a rectangle, wrap it up and keep in the fridge overnight.. 

The next day I bake it in the over for about an hour and then cool it.. 

The sauce is so simple to make.. 

I don't use the one on the link above.. 

Here is my recipe.. 

1 x 300 mil. can of sweetened condensed milk 

1/2 cup of white vinegar

1 tsp. of garlic powder.. 

Add all ingredients to a glass bow and stir thoroughly with a whisk until well combined.. It may take a couple of minutes.. Place in the fridge to set up .. 

This will take about an hour.. 

Sprinkle a little water on pitas and toast in frying pan for a few minutes.. 

Fry up some slices of Donair meat and add to a pita along with onions, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese and the sauce of course ..  

I buy the foil sheets at the dollar store and they work great.. 

I was wondering how many each our grandsons would eat.. grin.. 

The snow has left us for good, I believe or hope so anyway.. 

Although, we have had a storm in late April before although it only lasts for about a day.. 

I did get my curtain finished and Terry put up my curtain rod this morning.. 

I had hoped to get to it but started my Spring housecleaning..

Cleaned our bathroom and it took much longer then anticipated as usual.. 

I should have had it finished much earlier but there was also laundry and meals and dishes and ... 

Well, you know what it is like.. 

I just need to find a new curtain for the window and replace our shower curtain rod.. 

At least it is practically finished.. 

Well, dear hearts this is all for today.. 

Not much just the ordinary.. 

Ordinary but lovely and all provided for by our Lord ... 

Thanks for visiting and leaving your sweet notes.. 

I will try to reply to each comment again this time.. 

God bless.. 

 Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Linked to.. 
Art of Homemaking Mondays...

Treasures in the old treadle...

Hello everyone..
 I hope you are having a good day..

 I found this post in my draft section and thought I would post it again just for fun... 
It may have been on my old blog and I just copied it on here.. Anyway.... 

We have an old Singer sewing machine in the Livingroom.. I keep it set up all the time and it is used as sort of a sofa table...

We bought this Singer sewing machine around 30 years ago from an old couple in our church... They have been gone for awhile but I still love this old treadle...

I don't use it to be honest but it does still work...

Well, I was going to do some decorating...(trying to get a headstart on it all) and thought I should check out some drawers..

This is what I found in one of them..

This old notebook used to be my Grams...It was her Record Book...My Aunt Eleanor gave it to me a few years ago.. I was very happy that she wanted me to have it.  I certainly love this old relic from my Gram..

Actually, it sort of records their lives between it's covers...

Inside is a lot of interesting information.. My Gramp was a lumberjack so there are  logging figures, births of each of Gram's fourteen children, marriages, even accidents that happened to her boys...

Of course, there were dates of deaths of loved ones..

Then there are quite a few recipes...

I thought I might share one with you...

It is dated June 6, 1930

and it is from my great aunt Sadie Weir ...

POTATO DONUTS..

2 cups of hot mashed potatoes

2 Tablespoons of shortening

Mix shortening and mashed potatoes until creamy...

Then add...

2 cups sugar

1 cup milk

Add flour with 4 tsp. baking powder OR 4 level tsp. cream of tarter and 2 tsp. soda..

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. nutmeg

Roll out onto a floured board...

Put 2 tsp. ground ginger into hot lard..*

I called my aunt asking her some questions about the recipe.. She thought it would take about 5 - 6 cups flour...

 *She said that Gram put ginger into the hot lard so that the donuts would not absorb so much fat....

I have never heard of that before but who knows, eh?

Well, friends have a lovely weekend.. 

Perhaps you will get a chance to try these donuts..

This is an old recipe and probably could be updated a bit or not.. 

It is probably perfect just as it is.. smile.. 

I want to thank all of the new followers of the blog and for all of you for stopping by... time after time... Thank you.. 

May God bless you and keep you in His care...

Hugs..

Faye.

Blog Journal.. Fish Fillets on Potato Rafts...

Good Evening everyone... 

This is a recipe we had for supper tonight.. 

We eat a lot of fish .. 

Of course, we live in Maritime Canada and fish is just part of our life but Terry and I both love it .. 

He had gone to a breakfast this morning and then on to help Dustin for the day so I thought I would try to make something new that he might like.. 

He so favours potatoes and along with the fish I didn't think it would go wrong..

I didn't have fresh thyme just some dill that I had just dried so I used that instead ..  

I think you could use any kind of fish fillets.. 

I wish mine had of been thicker but they were fine.. 

He even liked the capers.. smile.. 

Here is the recipe and here is the link

Herbed Sole on Potato Rafts.. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1½ lb. russet potatoes
• 2 tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil
• 4 clove garlic
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• ½ tsp. Freshly ground pepper
• 4 skinless fillets sole or other firm white fish
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 8 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp. capers

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F with a rack in the center position. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, toss the potatoes with the olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper until thoroughly coated.
3. Assemble four potato rafts by overlapping potato slices on the prepared pan in rectangular mounds. Each raft should consist be roughly 4 by 6 inches and consist of 3 or 4 shingled rows; you can use 3 or 4 slices of potato per row.
4. Roast the potatoes, rotating the pan halfway through, until golden brown and beginning to crisp, 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven.
5. Blot the fish fillets dry with a paper towel. Place one, skinned side down, on top of each potato raft. Top each piece of fish with 1 tablespoon butter, 2 sprigs thyme, and 2 lemon slices. Scatter the capers atop the fish and around the pan.
6. Return the pan to the oven and roast until the fish is flaky and opaque, about 15 minutes.
7. Transfer the potato rafts and accompanying fillets to individual plates, ideally with a big spatula. Serve hot.

The next ones I make will hopefully look more like the recipe.. . 

1. Hope you enjoy... 
2. God bless.. xo

Creative Spring Days...

Happy Monday dear hearts.. 

Hope you all had a great weekend.. 

Here is a little craft I made for the pantry at the farm.. 

I saw the sign on the web and thought I would make one.. 

While we were at the farm I came across this green board and it was just big enough for the window sill... 

I may try and make a one liner board if I come across one.. 

Then I made a new recipe for crackers... smile.. 

They are simply delicious !! 

But so so much work.. 

Well worth it, though so I thought I would pass it along to you.. 

Once you make them a couple of times it does not seem like such a big job.. 

It is all in the figuring out of how to actually get them made.. 

So here goes.....

ICE WATER CRACKERS

All you need are 24 saltine crackers... 

A large cookie tray with an edge.. 

4 cups of iced water

1/2 cup of melted butter.. 

And lots of paper towels and tea towels..

Heat oven to 450 degrees F. 

Place the 24 crackers on a tray with an edge and pour over the 4 cups of iced water.. 

You may not need the whole 4 cups but pour over as much water as will fit on the tray.. 

The recipe said to leave them for 5 minutes but I found that 2-3 was plenty.. 

They will kind of float so make sure you use a metal spatula and lay them on prepared folded towels with paper towels arranged on top.. 

Let them sit for 5 minutes to drain.. 

Meantime, melt the 1/2 cup of butter and pour half of it on the dried cookie tray.. 

Place the crackers back on the tray one at a time.. 

I found that when you lifted the paper towel on the edge you could sort of peel the cracker off without breaking them.. 

Then drizzle the rest of the butter on the top of the crackers.. 

A bit of sea salt is ok if they are not salted already.. 

Bake at 450 degrees F. for 12 -15 minutes.. 

It depends on your oven.. 

I needed to make these twice before I felt I had the hang of it.. 

We had company for supper and they loved them also.. 

So tasty.. 

Let me know if you give them a try.. 

You can serve these warm or you can store them in a tin if you can get them that far.. 

Both times I made them they just vanished.. grin.. 

I did get my curtain done from the last post.. 

This is a pic from Pinterest... 

Each curtain one makes would be different as the doilies differ...

eh?  

Anyway, Terry needs to hang the curtain rod for me and I hope to have a pic next post.. K? 

We are also making this ...

A chicken wire heart stuffed with mosses.. 

It is drying .. 

Also, I need one more kind of moss.. I know where it grows up near the farm but we have not been there for a few days but next time up we hopefully can get it.. 

I think it will be a nice change from a wreath for the door.. 

I saw that idea on Pinterest, too, of course.. smile.. 

Trying to use up some of my stash of linens and lace.. 

a sweet gift from our Wisconsin friends.. xo

Here are some ideas that I have for some of my tattered linens.. 

Bunting... Don't you love it? 

Bags... 

I love this one.. 

Take tea towels and add some embroidery from tattered pieces to the bottoms of the tea towels.. 

And hangers.. 

You can find these pins on my Linens and Lace board.. 

Well, that is all for now my friends.. 

Hope you find something to enjoy or inspire you a bit.. 

Spring is such a great season !  I find myself wanting to create something each day.. smile.. 

Thanks for visiting and your sweet comments.. 

Also I would like to welcome all of the new Face Book followers who have liked the blog page.. 

Glad to have you along..  

Thanking God for all of his blessings of answered prayers during the last couple of weeks.. 

He is always faithful !!

We may go through storms of life but our God is there with us in the midst of it all and He sees us through... 

God bless..xoxo

Linked to..The Art of Homemaking Mondays..