It's really September...

Hello sweet friends.. 

When I was pondering the title for this post all I could think about was that it is really September!  

Already!  

The summer fairly flew and now we are on the brink of Fall.. 

A lovely time of year for sure and many people's favourite but I sadly bid adieu to the loveliest of seasons of Summer.. 

But..

That is how it is... smile.. 

How have you all been? 

Thank you so much for stopping by and all of your dear comments last post.. 

It is so gratifying to hear from so many and some of your sweet words really touched my heart.. 

I am blessed with this blog and hopefully as summer gives way to fall I will do a bit better job at keeping in contact.. 

Such a busy time of year, eh? 

Here are a few things we have been doing.. 

Preserving of course is the main activity at the moment for me and for Terry it is the garden harvest and getting wood in the basement for winter.. 

Peaches are lovely this year..  

These ones were grown in Ontario which is a province here in Canada... 

Our weather is not conducive to growing peaches here in New Brunswick.. 

I think I only did up 18 jars but then I froze a few also.. 

So delicious on yogurt and a few nuts added for good measure.. 

But in between picking and pickling we have been trying to get a few day trips in.. 

of course this is one of the places close to my heart.. 

St. Martins, New Brunswick.. 

Where we had a dear cottage and shop for over twenty years.. 

The beautiful Bay of Fundy.. 

I have had a love affair going on with it since I was a child and we would go and visit my Gram and my sweet cousins several times a year.. 

It was wonderful to visit again and I feel good that I do not regret the sale of it all.. 

It was time.. 

My Mom of course grew up there and she so loves to visit there every so often.. 

On this trip I went with my Mom and Step father and a sweet friend Cindy... 

Terry went to the races with our grandson so I was fancy free and there was no where I would rather spend an afternoon.. 

This was one of our meals lately.. 

Our once a week pasta dish.. 

Oh how I love thee.. grin.. 

chicken breasts browned in garlic and onions.. 

then simmered in homemade spaghetti sauce and topped with mozza cheese and a little side of fresh homemade pesto... 

Yup..  grin.. 

I do know that pasta is not really that good for you but it is the food I love best.. 

I tried substituting it with spaghetti squash but .... no.... 

Once a week will be the real deal.. lol.. 

On another day we headed to Buctouche, N.B. 

A beautiful seaside town with parks and dunes.. 

Such a lovely day.. 

And we bought some of my favourite greens.. 

Grown on the marshes.. 

Organic food at it's best.. 

Salty and delicious.. 

Sorry to be talking so much about food.. 

anyway.. 

I have been harvesting my straw flowers at the farm.. 

I can see a wreath in my future.. smile. 

this was a gorgeous day trip a couple of weeks ago.. 

Minister's Island here in New Brunswick.. 

You have to go with the tide of the Bay of Fundy... 

When it is low tide this road appears and you can literally drive on the ocean floor to the island.. 

But you can only stay a few hours and you have to leave or be stranded there for 12 hours, I believe..  

When the tide is in that road there is covered with 15 feet of sea water.. 

This island contains the Van Horne estate which is amazing.. 

They were obviously very rich people and lived accordingly.. 

So much to see.. 

I couldn't begin to show you all there is to see but here are a few pics.. 

This is such a long post that I didn't want to bore you silly but perhaps I will do more another time as I have scads of pics.. 

The house and barn and bath house are glorious.. 

You could google it though and see ... 

Back home we go... 

Before the tide!  smile.. 

Here is a lovely treat that is so good.. 

Zucchini fries.. 

RECIPE HERE/ 

I just made a regular dill dip.. 

Low fat sour cream and low fat mayo... 

add herbs and garlic.. 

I loved these but they were not anything Terry wanted to try.. smile.. 

Canning more stuff.. 

Tomatoes.. 

These are just regular tomatoes ...

And four batches of Salsa... 

Have you been preserving?  

I love this time of year preparing for the winter months.. 

Do you?  

Our sweet daughter had a birthday.. 

This was a pic taken when she was a wee thing over on Prince Edward Island.. 

We used to go camping there every summer.. 

The kids loved it and still do.. 

And this is her now taken a few weeks ago in Boston.. 

Shonda... 

Forty nine years old now!  

Where has the time gone.. 

So love and am so proud of our only daughter.. 

Thankful that the Lord has kept her and she has chosen to allow Him to direct her life and home.. 

And just one more food pic... grin.. 

Two ingredient foraccia bread.. 

Recipe here.. 

Well dear hearts this is it for another time.. 

So glad we could get together 

I look forward to hearing from you again.. 

Love your notes.. 

Next post I will try to do a farm one.. 

I have been busy here at home doing my canning.. 

I didn't want to use my old stove at the farm as it is precious to me.. 

It is hard on a stove doing all the canning so I am home mostly.. 

But I still hope to get out there for several days yet.. 

I still have a lot of harvesting herbs and such.. 

I love this verse, don't you?  

God bless and sending you hugs.. 

Faye.. 

PS.. 

As I read over this post I find it rather haphazard and sketchy.. 

Sorry.. 

I guess I am feeling a bit tired but it will do for now I guess.. 

Also in answer to a couple of question last post.. 

As far as the Wild Medicine sites that I use.. 

I use quite a few different ones.. 

Farmer's Almanac is one I trust.. 

Also the Milkweed is not anything I am sure of yet.. 

Just learning about it.. 

All I read is quite promising for me to try next year .. 

It is more of a food source though then a medicine, I think.. 

I really hope to study up on apothecary recipes and such this winter.. 

a project shall we say.. 

For now I have quite a bit thus far.. 

Red clovers, Horsetail, Nettles, Jewelweed, Yarrow, Violet, Tansy.. 

That are a few I have dried and such.. 

xo

Early Farm Days...

Well, hello there dear hearts... 

How are you all on this beautiful Spring evening?  

It is so lovely outside here tonight.. 

So happy Spring has actually arrived here in Maritime Canada.. 

I am so pleased to have you drop by the Blessed Hearth today.. 

This post is farm oriented.. 

I am so excited to say that I am really enjoying getting ready to move out there for the summer.. 

As you could probably tell from my posts I have been wondering if I would want to go for the summer or stay here as we did last year.  

There is just so much work to do there with getting all of our cottage stuff relocated out of the old farm house and such.. 

But.....

Charlie and I have decided we want to go and do what needs done.. grin.. 

No... actually.... 

Terry and I have come up with some plans that are feasible for us so we can enjoy the place once again.. 

It may take all summer to accomplish but steady on as we go... 

This past week we were there a few days because the sun shone!  

Praise the Lord!

Usually the first thing I do when we get there is to prepare something to cook on the wood stove,.. 

It is just a wood stove and not a kitchen one but it cooks a soup or stew really well... 

This one is a tomato base with hamburger, cabbage, onion, celery and carrots... 

Almost a Hamburger soup, I guess.. 

Then I added a bit of rice... 

Lots of parsley and garlic, of course.. 

Anyway.. 

While that is cooking away out in the porch I started washing out kitchen drawers and such.. 

With an old place like this you never know if a mouse might have been about ... 

All the dishes get washed.. 

Some girls will pack up everything in totes but I would just rather spend the day washing up... smile.. 

Love setting the old farmhouse table once again.. 

Some pretty lavender coloured bowls and napkins from the thrift shops... 

The soup was really tasty and even though the sun was shining the house is still taking awhile to warm up.. 

Terry has the stove and heaters and dehumidifier all going full steam.. 

My old Arthur can take a beating if I get too damp.. 

Isn't old age wonderful?  grin.. 

Another reason I am excited to be at the farm is my sweet husband has decided I can use this old stove that I used to have in my shop in St. Martins.. 

Isn't it gorgeous?  

I have wanted to use it for years but he kept saying no that it was practical... (Imagine!)

Well... 

He finally gave in and here it is.. 

And ... 

I have my kitchen cupboard from our old house in St. Martins.. 

You can see a bit of it there.. 

And our new fridge from there, too.. 

And in the pantry through that door there is another old cupboard we brought from the shop.. 

It is perfect for the pantry.. 

Please excuse everything in the background.. 

It will take me a bit to get it all together.. 

Do any of you know what the wide porcelain part of the stove was used for?  

I tried to google it but could not find out.. 

The stove still has the papers it came with and is a 1947 model.. 

Terry put the knob that is missing up so we would not lose it and now can't remember where he put it.. 

He just saw it the other day though... grin.. 

Will be happy to get it all cleaned and going.. 

Meanwhile there are lots of dishes to wash..  

No dishwasher here.. smile.. 

I took my daily quart with me and drank it through the day.. 

It does feel like it might be the Spring tonic the ladies in the 1800s thought it was.. smile.. 

It is Nettles.. 

I hope I can find some growing somewhere this year so I can dry them myself and not have to buy them.. 

While we have been visiting the farm our dear daughter and her friend have been visiting Paris... 

Needless to say they are having a wonderful trip.. 

Shonda is the one with the green scarf.. 

Her and Wanda grew up together and now they attend the same church and their kids have grown up together.. 

So love the family of God.. 

Speaking of which .. 

We had a great service this morning.. 

Love feeling the Presence of our Lord .. 

The pastor taught on reaching our world with the love of Christ.. 

The fields are ripe with harvest.. 

After church we decided to go and have lunch at the farm.. 

I picked out paint colours to paint the kitchen and some old cupboards.. 

Can't wait ... 

This week, hopefully... 

He is patiently waiting... grin.. 

Not very impressive, I am afraid.. 

We don't have a lot of groceries up there yet but some hamburger (again) in the freezer made an oldie we call Hamburger Gravy.. 

It is his favourite... 

Then some french beans I canned last fall and my favourite cucumber salad... 

Do you like my salt and pepper shakers? 

A sweet gift from my sister.. 

Just slice up cucumbers in a bowl and sprinkle some salt and chili flakes.. Then drizzle fresh lemon juice over top.. 

Let it sit for a bit and it is ever so good! 

I make it a lot for a snack, too.. 

Well I guess this about wraps it up again for now.. 

I started out with a much larger post.  

Downloaded all the pics of here and the farm and messed it up and had to start all over again.. 

Brother!  

This time I did half of it but the good thing is that next time won't be so hard.. eh! 

I love this verse.. 

Guess it is my prayer for the next while.. 

I will try to take pics and show you our accomplishments.. 

I was telling Terry we have to get this done before he gets full time on the gardens because that will be the end of inside work.. 

Lots to do but enjoyable for me when it is this kind of stuff.. 

Was so happy to hear from my friend Becky in Arkansas this week.. 

She was anxious to see the stove.. 

Thanks so much for dropping by and love your notes.. 

I answer the Face Book comments most of the time but find the ones on the blog don't get responded to ... 

Hint hint.. 

Please feel free to like the Face Book page or to follow with Google above on the sidebar or share the post.. thank you.. 

Welcome to all the new followers of the blog.. 

So happy to have you.. 

Now have a blessed week and choose joy.. 

Hugs from me to you... 

Rambling into September..

Hello my lovely friends... 

So happy to have you visit the Blessed Hearth today.. 

The past weekend has been a long one here in New Brunswick as it is Labour Day today.. 

Time has passed and here we are once again on the brink of another school year.. 

Most everything will return to normal shall we say.. 

For us it is really not very different!  smile.. 

A bit though as the rest of the world gets back to normal then we find ourselves trying to get a schedule going and looking towards getting chores and projects back on the burner that were shoved to the back for the summer.. 

Terry will concentrate on making sure we have enough wood in the basement and getting our gardens tidied up ... 

I also have several other projects for him that he needs to put on the front of the stove once again!  grin... 

I am wanting to get my pickling and canning finished and start some old fashioned house cleaning... 

And of course there are lots of other ways to keep myself busy.. 

We retire from our jobs but not our lives and we can work until the Lord calls us home and not be caught up.. 

When we were younger I imagined that retiring would be a rocking chair for me and a lazy boy for him but of course that is not the way of it.. 

We certainly don't do as much perse but we are always busy.. 

It just takes us longer... much longer to accomplish half what we used to... 

Oh well.. 

Life is what you make it! 

You girls who read the blog often are probably rolling your eyes as this is my new motto since I heard it.. smile.. 

Anyway.. 

On with the show.. 

Spent some time at the farm of course.. 

The Scarlet Runner Beans have lots of blossoms and are just so pretty and there are lots of beans there now... 

I am a bit slow in getting them picked and done as Terry has a wonderful row that has produced so many... 

Lots and lots of parsley and I have used a lot of it.;..

My Basil has done well but not as good as last year as we were not there to water it a lot.. 

Enough for several batches of pesto though and that is what counts... 

Love pesto..

 Do you?  

 Lemon Verbena and it has done well too.. 

As you can see the Oregano got away on me but still lovely for hanging and potpourris.. 

I believe I will try making an Herbal Potpourri.. 

Sounds kind of nice, eh? 

Love Sunflowers.. 

Thanks to Bob and Carol who gave us seeds.. 

Terry has them planted here and there throughout the garden, too.. 

Cucumbers and Squash... 

And a little story to tell here.. 

Some of my friends heard me tell this one so just walk on by girls!  lol.. 

Now.. 

We bought this old farm from my sweet Aunt Eva and Uncle many years ago.. 

They went into a home and the place went up for sale.. 

We have always loved it up there and was so happy to be able to buy it.. 

We would just go up there for the day and have dinners as you long time readers recall... 

Well.. the first Spring after we bought it we drove into the back of the house and behold the garden plot was filled with poppies.. 

Gorgeous old fashioned poppies.  

You know me and flowers... 

I was ecstatic!

I couldn't wait to go visit Aunt Eva and Uncle Arnold at the Jordan and tell them about it.. 

When I told them about the poppies, Uncle Arnold said, "Yes, Papa planted them there in 1902."  

Imagine!  

Well... That is what I did! 

Imagined his old parents (who I remember well as a child) planting those precious poppies out there way back when they only has a horse and carriage and lamps in the old original house. 

Can't you imagine that? 

So dear!  

Back to the story.. 

Terry ended up putting in a garden there the next year or so.. 

The poppies disappeared!  

They just vanished and I was heart broken.. 

Every Spring I would look in vain but they did not show themselves.. 

I was so mad at Terry... 

What had he done to them? 

Uncle Arnold had them and he had a garden every summer in the exact same place...

Funny, eh!  Not really! 

Well.. 

As you know this is our third summer for the farm with gardens and such.. 

We were there the first summer and the very next Spring lo and behold there were poppies back in the garden.. 

Poor Terry... 

He thought they were weeds until one managed to bloom and then he asked me what it was!  

Oh.. I was so excited!  

And to think he was pulling them out!.. 

Let's say that didn't happen again.. grin.. 

But there were several.. 

And again this Summer.. 

They just pop up here and there  

Isn't that just the sweetest thing? 

They are glad we are back doing the gardens and such.. grin.. 

Well .. 

That is my story and I am sticking to it.. 

God knows my love for those poppies and I count them as blessing.. 

I think I may have wrote about this before so please just humour me.. grin.. 

Are you poor things bored yet? 

You will be as this is a long post... 

Did a bit of preserving up there last week.. 

My friend Carman's Romanian Soup Base.. 

Several of us girls from the Keepers meeting where she taught this to us would not do without it.. 

It is just tomatoes, peppers and parsley.. 

Lots of parsley as you can see.. 

Chop it all up and put in rock salt.. 

About 8 tomatoes, half of a sweet pepper, lots of chopped parsley and 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons of rock salt to this recipe.. 

I just keep doing this batch by batch into a large bowl.. 

Let it sit for awhile then push into sterilized jars and cover with the juice that has collected in the bottom of the bowl.. 

Can them for 35 minutes.. 

I use it in so many of my soups which I am starting to make again already.. 

Then we had a few fried zuke slices and green tomatoes for lunch.. 

They were ok.. 

I even added hot pepper flakes and basil but not to our taste.. 

It was a lovely day though but it was nice to come home to sleep.. 

Charlie is wondering what is taking that man so long.. grin... 

Canned lots and lots of green beans here at home.. 

They are just so delicous in a Winter's night supper... 

And more dill... 

And more dill... 

I posted a pic of the tomatoes that I was drying on Instagram and someone wanted me to post the recipe on my blog.. 

It is a very easy recipe.. 

Slice preferably plum tomatoes in half.. 

Take out the seeds and the stem.  

Lay them on a parchment sheet or good cookie tray.. 

Sprinkle sliced fresh garlic, sliced fresh basil and a bit of pickling salt over top.. 

Put your finger over the end of your oil jar and sprinkle a bit over top.. 

Place them in an oven at 175 to 200 degrees F. oven for at least 12 hours or overnight.. 

You can turn them if you like and take out the smaller ones as they dry.. 

Put into a jar and cover with oil... 

You can use olive oil or canola.. 

Store in the fridge.. 

They are lovely in soups, stews and any tomato base dish.. 

Also good in baked bean soups and such.. 

Try not to eat them all when you take them out as they are so good.. 

Martha Steward has lots of ideas about how to use dried tomatoes on her site... 

This weekend Terry and Trevor and grandson went to the races.. 

I should have wrote this blog post but was a bit lazy.. 

So I made this little herb lamp... 

It is an idea from Country Living UK.. 

Their's was prettier with wild flowers in it but I love growing peppermint from slips..
I just broke off a few slips of peppermint and pineapple sage and put them in the water.. 

Soon they will root and I will be able to repot and have peppermint plants all over the house for winter.. 

Good for breathing or some such thing.. 

You just hot glue a candle to the bottom of an old jar.. 

Let it sit till it is firm then fill three quarters up with water and add either blossoms or herbs.. 

I expect the candle will burn down so I probably won't use it too often.. 

I love it as part of my kitchen table centrepiece.. 

Skittles is gone.. sigh.. 

Hope to make a few more and add a wire to hang them with.. 

Today my hubby treated me to a nice long drive with a picnic lunch as summer is winding down.. 

I packed some homemade bread, ham, crab salad, pickles and chips.. 

Oh and some health cookies ... smile.. 

Bottled water and we bought coffees... 

Charlie was excited and wondered where we were going.. 

So did I but Terry wasn't sure.. grin.. 

We just started out and of course ended up in Albert County.. 

(is there any other?  grin)

 

It was one of our favourite drives that we take so often.. 

Went past the cemetery where my dear father lies.. 

Grandparents and so on... 

The dear little Baptist church that my grandma attended is being torn down.. 

So heart breaking.. 

But it happens... 

Just sad! 

Passed by my rose hip patch and they will soon be ready!

Anyway

See that old black and white photo.. 

That is my dear dad and I when I was about three years old.. 

Yesterday marked the 30th anniversary of my Dad's passing.. 

I still miss him.. 

Would love to have a wee chat and catch him up on all that has been going on since he left.. 

I was thinking today that as he was only 58 when he died that he would think I was an old lady now.. smile..

But... he is with the One he wanted to see .. 

The One he put first in his life and taught us girls that when we stand at the gate of eternity that there will only be one thing that matters.. 

Our walk with God.. 

And he taught us that Jesus is the answer..

To all of our needs and all of our problems..  

Now and always... 

Still holding onto His hand, Dad... 

Our sweet girl had a birthday this past week, too..

Just the picture of her Daddy.. 

Well sweet friends this is all for tonight.. 

I posted this pic on Instagram and mentioned that I am still loving the summer sun shining through the windows.. 

It's not over till it's over so please don't offer me any pumpkin lateas or any other pumpkin whatever for another few days.. 

I am squeezing every bit of summer I can in the next bit.. 

I do like the cooler weather though.. 

Just sayin'   .. lol... 

Thanks so much for stopping by and putting up with all these words.. 

I won't be offended if you just look at the pics.. grin.. 

Love hearing from you all.. 

May God bless and keep you and your families.. 

My Instagram link.. 

HERE..