Making and Doing Spring stuff...

Good Evening dear hearts.. 

Here we are mid week once again.. The Spring is flying by and soon we will be into Summer.. 

Such a lovely time of the year.. 

I woke this morning and put the dog outside and saw these beautiful Forget-Me-Nots nodding to the first rays of the sun.. 

Another Spring flower that I love.. Along with Lily of the Valley and Violets.. 

When I was in Grade 5 and 6 we had a wonderful teacher by the name of Mrs. Elliott and she had a Wild Flower Contest each of those years.. I am sure I have shared (bragged) about this before but it was a little high light of my Elementary years in that I won each time.. My sweet Dad would wade in ponds for Water Lilies and my Mom knew the names of every flower.. No wonder I have such a love for them as does my sister.. smile.. 

We had a Keepers meeting last week and we had a great time.. 

The most delicious breakfast cooked by Chef Carmen.. grin.. 

European Crapes stuffed with homemade Kefir Cheese and honey and such.. Soooo good.. 

Or just spread with homemade jam... 

Then she made each of us an Omelette on order.. 

Whatever kind we desired.. 

Our Pastor's wife gave a little devotional on Sisterhood and it was so true.. 

We need our sweet friends to help us along life's road.. 

The Lord has blessed us with such dear ones..

Then we tried our hand at Pansy Pots and Wreaths with bottles to hold fresh flowers.. 

I think this wreath is being used as a frame.. smile.. 

One of the ladies made a bunch of homemade wreaths for us from a vine that grew along her fence.. 

Thank you, dear June.. 

And we had a couple of visitors and hope they will come again... 

Terry and I were on our way up to the farm and I spied this picture.. 

A sweet old cemetery with a patch of wild violets.. 

Just what I had been watching for each time we have been out driving somewhere.. 

I only needed two cups of flowers and leaves so it did not make a dent in the patch .... 

I love them growing around the stone.. 

I wonder if they liked violets.. 

I made some Violet Salve with them.. 

This is excellent for burns, eczema and skin irritations.. 

I will be selling these.. 

The recipe is HERE..

The Rhubarb is ready to be doing up.. 

Made these Fermented ones.. 

I tasted them today and am going to love them.. 

I seem to be the only one here who eats fermented veggies but they are so good for us.. 

This recipe was so simple.. 

Fermented Rhubarb.. 

5 stalks of rhubarb cut up into 1 inch pieces. 

2 tsp. mustard seed

1 bay leaf

1 clove of garlic

Place this in a quart jar or whatever. 

Then make a brine.. 

Brine is 1 T. salt to 2 cups of cool water.. 

Stir to dissolve salt and add to jar.. 

Push rhubarb down and put a weight on top to keep pieces under the brine.. I used a small glass bowl but you can put water in a zip lock bag to use also.. 

Cover with a piece of cheesecloth and a tie.. 

Keep at room temp for about a week if they last that long.. 

Let me know if you try them.. 

Terry picked me a bag of Dandelion heads.. 

Made some Dandelion Jelly .. 

Recipe HERE..

Hoping to get my jams and jellies and such somewhere to sell for the Summer.. 

Not sure where or when yet... 

We went to town as we call it yesterday.. 

Thought I would post a photo of our nearest city.. 

Moncton.. 

The best city in New Brunswick.. 

I might be a bit biased.. grin.. 

Anyway, this is all for today.. 

I do have a bit more but will hopefully do it later in the week.. 

Perhaps we will get to the farm tomorrow so will work on another farm journal post.. 

You sweet friends have a great week and take care... 

God bless... 

Just making some homemade stuff....

Hello dear hearts... 

Hope all is well with thee.. smile.. 

Welcome to the Blessed Hearth tonight.. 

Glad you dropped by.. 

Do you see those purple flowers in the photo above?  

They are Monk's Hood and do you know what I think when I see them blooming?  

Yup... Summer is half over.. sigh.. 

I love the Summer and all that it brings with it..

Don't you? 

Sunny days, kids laughing as they pass by, breezes in the trees, fresh strawberries, sampfire greens, beach walks, family and friends, the crash of the tide, grandsons running up and down the old stairwell, summer salads, sitting out with a nice cold goblet of lemon cordial,  the smell of the BBQ and oh so much more.. 

But... 

It is already half over... 

Life goes on... 

Someone was in my shop today or yesterday.. I forget which.. 

And he made the statement that all that counts is that you die happy... 

Which is sort of true.. 

We all want to die happy..

 If we have to die..smile.. 

I spoke before I thought (as usual) and said.. 

So long as you die ready... 

He didn't say anything else and neither did I... 

But I am glad that I am happy and ready... 

Ta..DA... 

My sermon is finished.. Thank the Lord, eh?

You know you love me.. grin...

I have been trying this week to get caught up on my making things list crossed off... 

I ran out of homemade salves last week so they were first on my agenda...

I gathered some comfrey, lavender, roses and rosemary..

Some olive oil...

Grated some beeswax... 

Put out some sterile jars...

Made some Gardeners Salve.. 

Then with oil that I had infused in the Spring I made some...

Violet Salve.. 

Took them to the shop and labeled and priced them.. 

And sold several before they hit the shelf.. 

thank you, Lord..smile.. 

Then I decided to make some foot soaks... 

Yeah... they are lovely..

We made them in Keepers earlier in the Spring.. 

Then took them to the shop and labeled and priced them.. 

Yes, they too are selling... 

Would you like the recipe.. 

My Mom came in the shop on Friday and the first thing she wanted to know was whether I had some of that foot stuff made.. smile.. 

Foot Soak

2 cups of sea salt.. 

1 cup Epsom salts

Whisk together well and then add...

4 tsp. peppermint oil

3 tsp. lemon oil

several drops of tea tree oil..(opt.)

You can replace the oils with pure extracts if you like.. 

I was blessed with the oils from a dear friend.. 

1 tsp. sweet almond oil or olive oil.. 

Whisk together again and add..

1 tsp. cornstarch 

1 tsp. soda...

Whisk again and place in sealed jars... 

Place 1 Tablespoon in a few quarts of warm water and 

SOAK your feet.. 

So refreshing ... 

Your feet will feel so soft, too.. 

I found this recipe on my Pinterest.  It is on my Toiletries Board.. 

I changed it around to suit me, though as they added peppermint tea and such.. 

My Pinterest is on the sidebar of my blog... OK?

Tonight I came home to this for supper.. 

Chicken cooked in the crock pot and then some Spanish Rice put together very quickly... 

It is cool here tonight.. 

I had to put a throw across my feet as they were cool.. 

It is cloudy and I am sure the fog will roll in here in a bit.. 

I was talking to my sister on the phone who lives up home and she said it was sunny and scorching hot.. 

Poor dear.. grin.. 

No really.. 

Anyway, sweet ladies thank you so much for you visit and your little notes that you leave me.. 

You are all so dear.. 

I am not doing so good getting back to you though.. 

Please know that I read every word and appreciate so much hearing from you either on the comment or emails.. 

It is just that when I get to the end of my post I usually head for the stairs.. 

I can't sleep in here at all as the sun rises and shines in my window and Sammi starts clicking his nails on the wood floor and wants out and the crows start cawing... 

Oh dear Lord.. I  will just get up..   

Yes... it is that bad... grin ... 

Love to you all...