Here at Home...

Good Evening my dears.. 

Here I am at last.. 

I have been trying to get here, really but with this and that I have been delayed shall we say.. smile.. 

Spring really brings lots of stuff to do..eh? 

Terry has about five jobs going on at once and everything seems to be escrow if you know what I mean.. 

We really should have done some things this past winter but who feels like it.. 

I think we both need the sun to get us in the mood to do some of them ... 

Things like painting though can't be done till now so that is our excuse.. grin.. 

I just wish we could finish one job before we start another but that is not the way the cookie crumbles with him.. grin.. 

The past couple of days I have turned out the living room and dining room as they used to say..

A purchase of some lace valances kind of lightened the room up a bit... 

Hard to say in this pic but I really do like them.. 

The sun comes in there in the morning and moves around to the front of the house by the time this pic was taken .. 

Please forgive the quality but you get the jest of it all... 

Lots of dishes to wash and freshen up ... 

Trying so hard to make decisions to declutter them but I guess they are still all there.. 

Last Winter I had gone through and lots went but not this time.. grin.. 

The apple trees are in blossom outside the windows .... 

I used the homemade furniture polish for all the furniture.. 

It works so great and smells lovely of lavender... 

Here is the recipe to make some.. 

Beeswax Furniture Polish..

Warm 250ml or 1 cup of jojoba oil or apricot kernel oil in a small pot.. 

You can use a mixture .. 

I used apricot plus grape seed as I read it has the same qualities.. 

Add 15 grams or 1 Tablespoon of dried herbs.. ( I used lavender and rosemary)

2 strips of lemon zest.

Place over low heat until small bubbles form on the edges.. 

Then take it off and leave setting overnight.. 

I actually let it sit for a week.. 

Strain the oil through cheesecloth into a heat proof bowl.. 

Place over a simmering pan of water and add 80g. (1 cup) of grated beeswax ..

Keep stirring until melted. 

Add at least 6 drops of essential oil.. 

I added part lavender and part rosemary and a lot more then 6 drops.. Just till it smelled my way.. 

Pour into a tin or heated glass jar..

Do any of you girls love antique dishes? 

These ones belonged to my Great Aunt Emily and I so love them.. 

This old rug belonged to her, too.. 

Charlie enjoyed his napping on it while it was in the kitchen.. 

Terry took all the furniture out and scrubbed the carpet.. 

We rented a cleaner from the Superstore and it really came out lovely.. 

Usually, we just hire someone to do it but the last time or two they did not even move the furniture... 

It is a wool carpet that has been here since we bought the place so it has had a few years of use but in really good condition,.. 

Every other room has had the floors changed but this one.. 

Perhaps in the Fall.. 

Came across one of my favourite books.. 

Love this old fashioned poet... 

Had a lovely morning with Shonda today.. 

We went for coffee and a bit of shopping.. 

I was looking for some peachy pink silk flowers but couldn't find what I was looking for.. 

She gifted me with a gorgeous chandelier to put over the dining room table..

 It was my Mother's Day gift.. Love it.. 

Can't wait for Terry to get it hung.. 

Well, you girls know that I can't do a post without something about food, eh!  

Bought a cook book at the Thrift store the other day and found a couple of lovely recipes.. 

A simply lovely pudding.. 

Makes just enough for the two of us and so many versions.. 

Simple Pudding.. 

3 T. cornstarch

1/3 cup of white sugar 

1/2 tsp. salt 

2 cups of milk 

1/4 cup of chippits..

 chocolate, chocolate mint, butterscotch, white chocolate, peanut butter, etc... 

Just whatever flavour you are in the mood for.. 

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium saucepan.. 

Whisk in milk and chippits.. 

Heat to boiling over low heat and boil till thickened..

 Stirring constantly... 

Place in bowls, cover and refrigerate until firm... 

You can also leave out the chippits and add 1 tsp. vanilla after removing from heat for Vanilla pudding.. 

Or.. 

Leave out chippits and add 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 cup of coconut after removing from heat for Coconut Pudding... 

So many versions.. 

I think we will enjoy this every once in a while when we are craving some little dessert.. 

Then there was this bread recipe.. 

Terry told me it was the best bread I have ever made.. 

No Knead, too... 

I will share that recipe with you another time... 

This time of year the wild flowers are out and there is so much to do with them.. 

This is for a batch of violet salve.. 

I really need to take more pics before the sun goes down.. smile.. 

Dandelion jelly is all made along with oil infused with them to make some lotion bars and such.. 

We have been up to the farm a bit but really there is just so much to catch up on here.. 

For over twenty years we would be in St. Martins at the cottage by now.. At least on the weekends getting ready for the big move.. 

This year it is so nice to dig at some flower beds and get some painting done... 

We probably won't make it to the farm till later... 

What are you girls busy doing?  

Oh... 

For you who were asking.. 

My coffee perk is a Hamilton Beach.. 

Here..

Well this is all for tonight.. 

Hope all is going well with you... 

Take care and God bless.. 

Look forward to hearing from you here and on the Face Book page.. 

God bless.

A Ramble and Roll...

Good Evening my dears.. 

Just writing another ramble and roll type of post.. 

We have been going hither and yon and although each week we say we are going to stay home and get a few things done we end up running the roads again.. smile.. 

Therefore, my posting has been a bit erratic.. 

Today we stayed home and have started off the week right.. grin.. 

The pics are a bit of this and a bit of that so I best explain as we go, eh?  

Up above is a batch of Whoopie Pies that I made a bit ago for our little fellowship that we have at church on Sunday mornings.. 

Do you ever bake these.. 

My sister-in-law gave me the recipe for them over 40 years ago and everyone still enjoys them.. 

We like them a bit moist but our son-in-law likes his cake like.. 

They are good regardless... eh? 

Terry and I have been spending at a couple of days a week at the old farm.. 

So happy that we can get in the lane and thus enjoy the old place this Winter.. 

I know I tell you this each time I post but we do so enjoy it there..

I almost always make a bit of no knead bread and put soup on the old wood stove.. 

Terry and Trevor are still enjoying going to the wood lot each week.. 

Either cutting a bit of wood or cleaning up the lot.. 

Whatever it is they certainly enjoy themselves.. smile.. 

We have such a mix of weather, really. 

We go from snow to rain and wind... 

We sometimes go for a drive while we are at the farm and this is another picture of Albert Co.. 

I think this was last week before we had the snow.. 

The wind has been wild the last several days.. 

Terry put a wind chime that I bought at the thrift store in the pine tree outside our bedroom window .. I love a wind chime, don't you? 

Today I was working on our livingroom.. 

Doing a bit of redecorating and cleaning and such.. 

I needed a little table for a lamp to sit by the spinning wheel and remembered that I had this one that belonged to Terry's Mom.. 

I tried to decide if I should paint it or not.. 

I didn't think he would want me to so I found my home made beeswax furniture wax.

As you can see it worked very well.. 

And smells so lovely as it is scented with lavender essential oil.. 

Here is the recipe again.. 

I did do a post on it awhile back.. 

Beeswax Furniture Polish..

Warm 250ml or 1 cup of jojoba oil or apricot kernel oil in a small pot.. 

You can use a mixture .. 

I used apricot plus grape seed as I read it has the same qualities.. 

Add 15 grams or 1 Tablespoon of dried herbs.. ( I used lavender and rosemary)

2 strips of lemon zest.

Place over low heat until small bubbles form on the edges.. 

Then take it off and leave setting overnight.. 

I actually let it sit for a week.. 

Strain the oil through cheesecloth into a heat proof bowl.. 

Place over a simmering pan of water and add 80g. (1 cup) of grated beeswax ..

Keep stirring until melted. 

Add at least 6 drops of essential oil.. 

I added part lavender and part rosemary and a lot more then 6 drops.. Just till it smelled my way.. 

Pour into a tin or heated glass jar..

This recipe is taken from the book

FROM THE GARDEN BY DEBORA ROBERTSON.. 

I think I will put this plant on it instead of a lamp, though.. 

Shonda gave me this as a wee slip and looked how well it has grown.. 

It is a Prayer Plant.. 

We had our Keepers meeting but I did not get around to doing a post about it.. 

We had a great time although there were not very many of us.. 

It was not great timing and everyone was busy.. 

Here is Carmen making a dish soap with lemons, vinegar and salt..

Home made Dish Washing Liquid.. 

Ingredients

• 3 lemons
• 14 oz water
• 4 oz white vinegar
• 1 cup salt

Directions

1. Cut the lemons, and remove all of the seeds.
2. Cut the lemons into smaller chunks and put into the blender.
3. Add water to blender, and blend on high until smooth.
4. Pour into a pot, add vinegar and salt, and stir.
5. Cook just below boiling for 10-15 minutes. It will be pretty liquidy until it cools completely, so don’t worry if you think it is too thin.
6. Allow to cool slightly, and store in glass containers. 

I am one of those people who loves suds in my dishwasher and I found that although this cleans excellently and smells wonderful that there were no suds.. 

So I just put in about a 1/4 of a cup of this and a squirt of lemon Dawn.. 

I get the great cleaning along with a bit of suds and still save money.. 

It really goes a long way.. 

I did a bit of research on google and found that this recipe is used for dishwashers also... 

Interesting... 

I made this recipe to go on bagels for breakfast and the girls loved it.. 

And dear Lindsay made us some delicious pancakes that we had with some Prosser Brook maple syrup.. smile.. 

Sorry, no picture but here is the recipe..

As was said I have been working on our living room trying to cosy it up a bit.. 

It is quite a large room of both living space and dining room so it needed some colour and such.. 

We finally finished the curtains to suit me today.. 

Terry had to make rods out of wood but now they are finished to suit me.. I will do a pic for you when I get it all finished.. 

I also made a centrepiece for the table.. 

Love these shades and am trying to incorporate them into the room.. 

Oh.. and I made another batch of hot pickled veggies just for me.. smile.. 

Terry doesn't like them but they are a great snack with hardly any calories.. 

Veronique (Dustin's girlfriend) found out she likes them too.. grin 

And finally, I am almost done but I did my Winter gardening.. 

Sprouts on the window sill.. 

please note my new teapot... 

Oh sprouts.. how I love thee... 

Terry doesn't like them either... Honestly... He doesn't know what he is missing.. grin.. 

Well dear hearts this is finally finished and I think I am now caught up pretty good anyway... 

Please forgive me my lack of blogging and commenting on your blogs although I do visit when I can.. 

Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving your sweet comments either here or on Face Book.. 

I look forward to hearing from you all and do try to answer your questions.. 

I am a happy grandma tonight as our dear grandson is back on Canadian soil and flying from Ottawa to Halifax... 

He had a great time in Africa on his Missions trip and had a wonderful unforgettable experience.. 

But I am glad he is back.

Welcome to the new followers also ... 

So glad to have you ... 

God bless you all... 

xo

Linked to...The Art of Homemaking Mondays..

and

Roses of Inspiration..

Back to Basics Chore.. Beeswax Polish Recipe

Good Afternoon everyone.. 

Here I am ..

Hope you all had a blessed Easter.

We spent Sunday at church and then dinner with our sweet family.. 

This week I am preparing for the Keepers meeting for this Saturday.. 

As you who follow the posts on the meetings know that they receive homework.. smile.. 

This month they were to read or watch an episode from The Little House on the Prairie.. 

Just to get them in the mindset of a much more simpler time when home was the best place on earth..

And they were to do a back to the basics chore for their home and family.. 

At church on Sunday mornings a few of them tease me that they did dishes by hand and that is back to basics and such.. grin.. 

Anyway.. 

There will be no time out or anything but if they can do something and share it with us it will be great.. 

So.. 

My back to basics chore is what was in the pottery pot.. 

Could you figure out what it was? 

HOMEMADE SCENTED WAX POLISH.. 

As you know I am an avid reader and in a lot of the history type books they mention the smell of lavender beeswax furniture polish as they entered the house.. 

Right? 

Then when I received one of my Country Living UK mags there was a recipe in it.. 

Here it is.. 

Beeswax Furniture Polish..

Warm 250ml or 1 cup of jojoba oil or apricot kernel oil in a small pot.. 

You can use a mixture .. 

I used apricot plus grape seed as I read it has the same qualities.. 

Add 15 grams or 1 Tablespoon of dried herbs.. ( I used lavender and rosemary)

2 strips of lemon zest.

Place over low heat until small bubbles form on the edges.. 

Then take it off and leave setting overnight.. 

I actually let it sit for a week.. 

Strain the oil through cheesecloth into a heat proof bowl.. 

Place over a simmering pan of water and add 80g. (1 cup) of grated beeswax ..

Keep stirring until melted. 

Add at least 6 drops of essential oil.. 

I added part lavender and part rosemary and a lot more then 6 drops.. Just till it smelled my way.. 

Pour into a tin or heated glass jar..

This recipe is taken from the book

FROM THE GARDEN BY DEBORA ROBERTSON.. 

I changed the UK measures to ours..  

It turned out wonderful.. 

I love it and can't wait until I get to the farm to try it out on the old harvest table there.. 

I used it on some of wood tables here and it is lovely .. 

If I must say.. 

I keep the dust and polish cloths with a few lemon zest in a mason jar until it gets dirty... 

Well dearies, that is all for now as we have Bible Study this evening.. 

If any of you girls who read my blog live near Salisbury then you are more then welcome to come to our group.. 

Just email me at .. 

houseofhenry@hotmail.com .. 

We would love to have you... 

Terry is in the basement as I write cutting out a big bunch of something wood,.. smile.. 

We need to know how many to make and that is why I would prefer if you could let me know if you are coming.. OK?

Thanks for your sweet visits and dear comments.. 

You are all terrific.. 

Praying for you.. 

LINKED TO..FRIDAY LINK PARTY