This week's fall blessings..

Good afternoon my friends.. 

Another little fall post for you this week...

October is coming to an end and I thought I would take another chance to chat with you all.. 

These are a few early morning pics on our way to St. Stephen one day last week.. 

One of those morning when the fog covers the river as your drive down to Sussex..

 Beautiful!

So thankful to be alive and well and mobile.. 

Thanking the Lord every morning for these blessings.

I am beginning to think of Christmas... 

Made some Apple Cranberry Juice for punch and to give away.. 

I made this last year with orange and was not really happy with it.. 

Terry brought me in a pail of apples so simmered them for awhile and strained the juice and used it instead of boiling water.. 

It is only canned for 25 minutes so an easy gift to make.. 

Kind of got into some baking the last week or so.. 

Made bread twice.. 

Then yesterday a bunch of tortillas...

And a flavoured oil with garlic, parsley and chili flakes...

I guess the autumn urge to bake has hit... 

My dear friend gave me a huge bag of pork fat....

Rendered it down and there is enough to make a batch of soap and I made a few rolls of bread and such using lard instead of oil.. 

So much healthier and tastes really great.. 

And a little pot for greasing my tortilla press and such... 

Next year I hope we can raise a pig or two along with meat kings.. 

I can hope!!  lol!

Stopped by St. Andrews on our way home from St. Stephen... 

We attended a funeral for a family member there.. 

St. Andrews is a beautiful town beside the sea... 

It has it quota of wild deer also ... 

They are present in every village and town now, it seems...

A simple homemade breakfast one Saturday morning..

It is something we began many years ago.. 

Not that we practice it every week but often.. 

Just a slow homemade breakfast that is a bit special.. 

Homemade bread and butter.. Jam on the side.. 

Or half green tomatoes sliced with salt..

(another gift from our sweet friends) 

A few fried potatoes and bacon of course... ❤ 

And a perk full of fresh coffee... 

Do you have a special breakfast on Saturdays?

On our way home from church this morning we took a little drive and came across these sweet creatures... 

I wonder if they make some goat's milk soap?? smile.. 

I came across this and thought I would share it with you... 

HOME

There is no place like it in the whole world... 

When you have a precious place that calls your name and means the world to you it is a gift from God.. 

It is not about the decor or the fancy food and silk sheets.. 

Nor the immaculate kitchens and such .. 

Here, it is the old heirlooms and homemade meals and flannel blankets and duvets.. 

It is sweet music and the scent of candles and the fairy lights twinkling as the the evening comes on... 

The smell of homemade bread when you open the back door and what is that simmering on the stove that smells so good..  

A pile of books wherever you look and craft projects always on the go.. 

A couple of special chairs and cozy blankets.. 

Bibles that are worn and the lingering whisper of prayers ... 

Sweet smells of incense... 

And yes the dust in the corners and chores that need done..

 But there are the memories hanging around of laughing voices and the slamming doors.. 

A sweetness that can only be found in your home.. 

Thanking Jesus everyday for this blessing.. 

Well my dears this is all for today...

Thank you for stopping by.. 

Nothing special ... just a little chat and I hope to hear from you.. 

I truly appreciate your visits and notes.. 

God bless you this week.. 

Hugs from New Brunswick... 

A Fall Ramble and Roll Post for you...

Hello everyone.... 

Thanks for dropping by the Blessed Hearth today.

Just a bit of ramble and roll here for you.. 

a bit of this and that... 

It is a beautiful autumn day here in New Brunswick!

The rich colours of Fall are here and we are indeed blessed!

Happy Thanksgiving to all here in Canada!

We are so thankful beyond measure for all the Lord has provided and blessed us with.. 

The old chorus goes.. 

There is a roof up above me.. 

A fine place to sleep..

Food on my table and shoes on my feet.. 

You gave me your love, Lord 

And a fine family.... 

Thank you, Lord for your blessings on me.. 

So true... 

a special time of thanksgiving...

Hope all is well in your world... 

Fall is here in the upper hemisphere and it is a great season.. 

So fresh after the hot summer.. 

Makes us feel more alive, I think.. 

It sure brings out the cozy... ❤

Rambling on....

I have done a wee bit of decorating for the season but not nearly as much as usual... 

We are not having our family meal here this year.. 

So many are working or away or busy.. 

That happens every once in awhile.. 

Are you all having a big dinner at your house?

We will hopefully all be together at Christmas as always so that is something I so plan for and look forward to.. 

Mentioning Christmas... 😙

This is a beautiful quilt I picked up a bit ago at the thrift store ... 

It was only eight dollars and just right for Christmas decorating.. 

I love red and white quilts, don't you? 

Rolling along... 

Terry took me on a road trip yesterday since we weren't having the kids here for Thanksgiving dinner.. 

I have been wanting to go to Maine to visit the Amish Pioneer store and have a little drive around the area... 

These chickens were right beside the road... 

It has wheels on it and they were just sitting there.. 

Comfy as could be... 

I loved the clotheslines they had.. 

It is quite easy to tell which houses are Amish.. 

Buggies, no hydro and such... 

I love driving by them.. ❤

We saw the buffalo farm.... 

Last time we were there they were standing up but I guess this time they were having their seista. 😏

I did get this lovely cook book and several other neat finds at the store.. 

I love thier unique dish cloths, canning and kitchen supplies and oh.. 

their cinnamon candies.. 

I bought a bag for my sister and one for me.. 

This is a tuna macaroni cassarole I made for lunch from the cookbook.. 

It was very good.. 

Rambling along here.. 

  

I did a lot of canning this year.. 

Well, I guess I always do... 

mustard pickles 

and a sweet friend gave me a box of green beans to can.

I so appreciated it.. 

Our garden died mid summer due to the heat and us not at the farm to water it.. 

We have had such a drough here in southern New Brunswick.. 

Still not getting much rain.. 

Praying it comes before freeze up or we will be in a mess.. 

Any way.. 

Rolling along..

A few dinners and such..

stir fry and rice.

the best zucchini bread from my friend Carla... 

white bread and herb and garlic cream cheese spread... 

fish chowder

I dried some pears and need to do more.. 

I keep the really good dried ones in a separate jar to use for my 

gift tags.. 

Look so neat glued on a tag for giving away preserves... 

Still rambling along.... 

Yes!

I loved this!

I just pray God keeps me able and mobile enough that I can make and do for quite a long time yet!

Such a blessing, Lord!  Thank you!

Spent an afternoon with these two dear girls...

Shonda has been a part of this blog since I started it back in 2010... 

This is her sweet friend that is like a sister to her.. 

She was visiting as she lives in another province.. 

Christine is my most faithful follower.. 

Love her very much! ❤

And we are still rolling.. 😏

Was so thankful to celebrate with this dear man for his birthday dinner.. 

He loves Chinese buffet and had a great dinner and a discount.. 

He loves that!  

LOL .... even if I am paying for it.. 

We have celebrated a lot of birthdays together.. 

❤❤❤

Oh, I wanted to show you the sweetest thing I bought from amazon..

This is so sweet.. 

It is a lamp which is probably for children or old ladies.. lol.. 

I have it on my night table and when I have to get up to go to the bathroom all I have to do is tap his butt.. 

It has 3 settings but the lowest is enough for me to see to get 

to the bathroom without waking Terry or myself...lol..

It doesn't run on batteries but plugs in like your phone.. 

My precious sister is in a home now and so I got one for her.. 

In case she wakes at night and just needs a low light for a few minutes.. 

She just loved it, too.. 

Amazon.. smile.

I loved this ...It was on Tumblr.. 

Well, dear hearts this is it for another time.. 

Thank you so much for dropping by and for your sweet notes.. 

I try to answer them now... 

Although I may miss one or two.. 

Have a great fall and enjoy everyday...

As I say so often now.. 

This world is not my home.. 

I am just passing through...

I don't need to get my heart and mind all involved in the chaos of this world!  And there is certainly lots of that!

All we really can do is to really pray for so many things.. 

Lean on the Lord and trust him for the peace he brings.. 

Enjoy everyday and make them count.. 

Tell someone that Jesus is coming soon and that we need to prepare our hearts... 

Take care!!

God bless you all.. 

A little devotional for you... 

Summertime in the Kitchen

Hello everyone... 

Happy Weekend !

How are you all making out this summer?  

We are having a beautiful but somewhat dry one!

As it seems to be in so much of the land.. 

Anyway..

I decided to do a little August post for you.. 

It is that time of year again that I love!

Pickles... I love pickles... Did you know that is a song?  😅

Well, that is what is playing in our kitchen this week!

We have not had very much rain in the Maritimes and the gardens are not all producing what they normally do because they are so dry.. 

The farmer that I buy my pickling cucumbers from called to say that he had some fresh in on Tuesday morning so I hurried down and bought 50 pounds!

That is what I usually start out with so.... 

That is what I spent the rest of this week doing... 

I hope this post doesn't bore all of you... 

I always start out by making my dill pickles first.. 

My friend Maxine gave me her recipe many years ago and it is my fave!

I always turn them upside down for ten minutes after they are filled and sealed to help secure the sealing.. 

They do this in Europe and I have found it helps a lot..

I only made 13 litres of them.. 

Terry 's fave are the sweet dill so they were done up next and there are 14 pints of them... 

I will have to hide them as he can consume most of a jar in no time.. 

lol..

They look lovely too although they tend to float if you don't pack them in.. 

I had them made before I remembered that fact so have to make a note on the recipe for next time.. 

Then I sliced up Bread and Butters to sit for awhile.. 

These are a fave of the grandsons as are the dill, of course... 

Then I managed to get the Sandwich Pickles done but probably not enough... 

I had to make the Kosher Dills so this was all I could spare for sandwiches.. 

A big bucket of kosher dill that will ferment for 7 days then I will can them for winter.. 

I love these.... 

And that is fifty pounds worth finished up.. pretty well 

A bowl is left over for salads which we love.. 

Sliced cucumbers, a small onion thin sliced and chopped dill.. 

lots of salt, hot pepper flakes, a spoon of real mayo and a cap of cider vinegar.. 

shake shake shake.  

Better then chips.. lol..

So that is my pickle journey thus far... 

We will come across some more small ones and little batches will appear.. 

I still have a couple of recipes I want to make.. 

We do not consume all of these pickles on our own.. 

I love them for my gift pantry and of course Christmas!

We are all a pickle family and they like to receive them.. 

Then any party or gathering I usually show up with a jar.. 

Do you girls make pickles... 

I am so thankful that God has given me strength and desire to keep doing these each year.. 

Another August joy are the Queen Anne's Lace flowers!

One of my all time faves..

So elegant!

I know I tell you the story every year of how this flower received her name.. 

Queen Anne was making lace... 

She pricked her finger while she was working on it and so..... 

Every Queen Anne's Lace flower has a speck of red in the middle!

That is how you recognize it and make sure you have the proper flower.. 

Especially, if you are going to consume it!

I made my batch of jelly and it turned out lovely!

If you look really hard on the pic of all of the pickles you might see a couple of jars in back.. 

I did a whole batch but it doesn't last long as it makes such a sweet gift.. 

I think I may make one more batch ... ❤ 

This is a vase like thing I made from the dollar store.. 

They had boxes with four spaces in each and packages of 4 clear bottles.. 

So...

I bought 2 of each and painted the boxes and put the jars in for vases.. 

One of my fave projects.. 

So sweet on the table too with just one flower in each... 

Not a great pic but it was so lovely early mornings with the sun shining on them..

I tried to get Terry to go for a drive tonight to pick a few more different kinds but he had to mow the lawn and told me I should do a blog post.. 😏

So I obeyed!  Always... grin..

The above are just wild chamomile I think that is what they are called.. 

they make the perfect bouquet and last for at least a week.. 

Then I take the scissors and cut them off and add to my wild flower potourri pot... 

I thought I would share our chicken story.. 

We bought 20 meatkings and they are doing so well!

Thank the Lord.

Terry and I processed 6 on Monday and are hoping to do more this coming week.. 

So wonderful for the winter.. 

A bit of work for him but he enjoys them.. 

I didn't include any food pics or projects.. 

But I am working away at stuff on these hot days.. 

Sitting in front of a fan and cleaning a cupboard or such.. 

Having lots of precious company, too!

Cousins and friends... 

Oh, I bought a beautiful sectioned thick notebook with pockets.. 

I am writing down project ideas I get off of Instagram and such, 

recipes for salves, lotions and herbal medicines, ideas for my gift pantry and such.. 

You know as I told Shonda, I think..... 

I could lose my phone or such and where would I be?

Lord forbid.. 

I just got it paid for.. smile.. 

Well, sweeties this is all for this Summer's Friday evening.. 

Where did date night go, I ask?

Just joking ... he took me out to dinner last night.. 

It was lovely.. 

So... 

Saying good bye for now as my Momma always used to say.. 

Trusting God and thanking Him for a transformed life.. 

He really performed a miracle in my life when he saved my soul.. 

Gave me a life worth living and a hand to hold no matter the storm or days of joy.. 

He is my everything!  

God bless you dearies and I look so forward to hearing from you all and what is keeping you busy.. 

Take care of yourselves and hold tight to your precious families.. 

Hugs from New Brunswick...