Wednesday night in June...

Good Evening sweet friends.. 

Welcome to the Blessed Hearth on this Wednesday night in June.. 

I find it so hard to believe that we are actually almost past Spring and into Summer.. 

I was scanning the headlines before writing this and saw a girl had posted a video of her little veranda greenhouse in P. E. I. today with snow gently falling.. 

It has been record low temps here in Eastern Canada and farmers have lost thousands of seedlings due to frost and lots of blueberry plants have been killed too!

.. 

We have not put much in yet except for our Celeriac and I think it can take a bit of cold.. 

Won't know till next trip to the farm.. 

Otherwise all is well here.. 

Have some new valances on the kitchen window above for Summer... 

Have been enjoying my new kitchen cleaner we made at Keepers.. 

I added some lemon peels and let it set for a week or so and really love the scent and the job it does.. 

Rosemary-Lemon All-Purpose Cleaning Spray

• 2 sprigs rosemary
• Peels of 2 lemons
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups white vinegar

In a one quart jar, combine rosemary, lemon peels, water and vinegar. Allow to rest 10-14 days in a cool location to allow oils to infuse.  Strain lemon peels and rosemary and transfer liquid to a spray bottle for use. If desired, lemon peels and rosemary may be placed directly inside the spray bottle. The scent will intensify over time before breaking down and the bottle will look great sitting on the shelf.

Today I finished up a batch of Apple Blossom Jelly..

Terry had picked me the blossoms and this time I added a cup and a half of apple juice and I think it turned out lovely.. 

I was just getting done when in walked my sweet husband with a bag of these.. 

He said this would be the last time I could get more so I better make another batch of Dandelion Jelly.. 

It sells so well as it is so tasty.. 

So this afternoon I got them ready to make the tea and will make the jelly tomorrow.. 

Dear old Charles kept me company.. 

He seems to like to sit at my feet.. grin.. 

We have been busy doing spring jobs like I mentioned last time so nothing much new around here... 

I did promise you the bread recipe last time I posted .. 

So.. Here it is.. 

The name of the cookbook I found at the Thrift is.. 

Old Time Favorite Recipes.. 

The complete menu cookbook.. 

Sorry, I forgot to take a pic... 

It is sort of like a magazine.. 

Anyway.. 

Applesauce Raisin Batter Bread.. 

3 cups of flour, divided 

2 T. brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt 

2 tsp. apple pie spice.. (I just used 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg and 1/3 tsp. allspice.) 

1/4 ounce of active dry yeast (I used 2 tsp. instant yeast)

1 1/4 cups of unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup of honey 

2 T. butter

1 egg 

1/2 cup of raisins

In a large mixing bowl combine half of the flour, brown sugar, salt and spices and yeast.. 

Heat applesauce, honey and butter until very warm 130 degrees F. 

Add to flour mixture with egg beating very well on low speed.. 

Stir in remaining flour and raisins.. 

Spread batter into a sprayed 9 x 5 bread pan.. 

Cover loosely with waxed paper and rise until double in bulk.. 

Carefully remove paper.. 

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 40 minutes.. 

Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.. 

You can drizzle a confection milk mixture but I didn't think we needed that. smile.. 

Enjoy.. 

Now here is another recipe for the Spring Rhubarb we are having.. 

My sweet cousin Ann called me the other night and shared this with me.. 

I wish she hadn't!  grin.. 

It is so so good.. 

This only takes 2 minutes to make and Terry loved it.. 

Ann said she made it the first night and Peter ate it all so the next time she doubled the size hoping to get a piece.. lol... 

It was just about the same here except I had been warned and put a  small bowl aside for me first.. grin.. 

Here is the recipe.. 

Rhubarb Pudding by Ann... 

In a bowl stir 1 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of white sugar, 2 tsp. baking powder, pinch of salt, 1/2 cup of milk.. 

Mix up and pour into a greased 8x8 pan.. 

Cover with 2 cups of chopped rhubarb. 

Sprinkle 1 cup of brown sugar over and drizzle 1 1/2 cups of boiling water.. 

Bake at 375 degrees F. for 45 minutes or until golden brown.. 

This cake bakes with the rhubarb and the brown sugar and water makes a lovely sauce.. 

Ann says you can add ice cream or whipped cream or as in Peter's case both... lol... 

She is just joking!!  

We just ate it as is and was lovely.. 

Enough left for another time... 

I hid it... grin.. 

Anyway dear hearts this is all for today.. 

Rain is on it's way again and the wind is very brisk tonight.. 

I have had my tea and will go to bed and read a Rosamunde Pilcher short story from the Blue Bedroom.. 

While I was cleaning my room today I came across a set of Bible Study books I picked up at the Thrift store so am looking forward to doing them in the evenings.. 

It is after 8 pm and I can hear dear husband outside scraping at the paint.. He has been working away at painting our house.. 

It needed it so bad and this summer our old farmhouse will need a coat.. 

Work is never done but so thankful to the Lord that we are still able to carry on and do what we can.. 

He is faithful!  

Missing my boy tonight... 

Pray for me and I will pray for you.. 

God bless... 

Simple Everyday Things..

Good Evening, my dears.. 

Welcome to the Blessed Hearth tonight.. 

It certainly has been busy around here and I know you are all the same.. 

Winter is such a slow time and we start off in the Spring and now everyone is going full tilt.. 

I must say that I love the busyness of it all.. 

Nice long evenings and sunny days and even the rainy nights we have been having this week... 

Life is such a fleeting thing and I think we need to find joy in the simple everyday things, eh?  

We have had a lot of joyful happenings in our family with graduation and parties and such., 

I thought I would post a few pics of our days here and there... 

This is our oldest son with his Dad...  

They are going bear hunting ... 

We didn't realize that Trevor was going to be there at the same time so I packed a book, my list notebooks and a coffee and thought I would wait for Terry in the truck.. 

He was only going to stay an hour or so and I like to wait for him sometimes... smile.. 

My friends think I am nuts and perhaps I am but that is what we do... 

Anyway.. it was worth the wait as I received this lovely little bouquet from him when he came out.. 

Ladies Slippers.. 

One of my all time favourite wild flowers...

The Moss Roses are out now.. 

Aren't they gorgeous?  

Terry has bushes planted down both sides of the lane here at home.. 

I am drying them for a few items I like to make.. 

Rose Powder and Bath Salts and such... 

I made up my Violet Salve, finally..

And decorated the jars... 

Find the recipe HERE..

I had an order for a few bottles and my sweet friends who own a Cafe called and wanted a few items for their shelves.. smile.. 

I had made some Apple Blossom Jellies.. 

Queen Anne's Lace Jelly ...

It is kind of neat to have this kind of jelly for them as their cafe is called.. 

Apple Blossom Cafe.. 

We hope to take a little drive down to Hillsborough tomorrow.. 

They live in a wonderful old farmhouse and the cafe is so lovely... 

I will try and get some pics for you.. 

We had Father's Day Dinner at the farm as we had visited with all of our kids on Saturday... 

Terry wanted steak and potatoes.. 

I think it is a guy thing, eh? grin.. 

The mushrooms were good but I am more of a vegetable lover.. 

There was a wonderful graduation party for Jared on Saturday.. 

His parents put on a delicious spread and almost all of our family were there..  

So much fun... 

A little shot that was taken of our three darlings.. smile.. 

All grown up but still my babies.. 

Shonda is in her glory with her two brothers... 

I caught her with her eyes closed..

Don't tell her.. grin.. 

We have been home this week as it is raining a lot and Terry wanted to finish a few things before we go to the cottage again.. 

Probably by the weekend.. 

He is working on the garden and I am catching up with laundry and such.. 

Plus, he keeps going and trying to get that bear... smile.. 

Our garden still is not all in as it has been so wet but I am sure it will get done... 

How are your gardens doing?  

I guess it all depends on where you live.. 

We are a bit behind a lot of you, I am thinking... 

Still wearing sweaters a lot as the heat has not been turned up in our weather yet... 

I am not complaining as I do not care for too much heat but once I get to the cottage then I can take a bit more.. 

Anyway, dear friends, thanks so much for your visit.. 

I am sorry that I have not got around to all of your blogs but that is just the way it is for now... 

We will have internet at the cottage and I hope to do better then.. 

Ok?  

Take care and I look forward to hearing from you and I love your sweet comments... 

God bless.. 

LINKED TO... ROSES OF INSPIRATION...

Apple Blossom Jelly and forget-me-nots.....

Hello everyone... Happy Friday to you all..

Yesterday we went down to our cottage.  We were working to  get it ready for us to move in to for the next several months..Also we had  to take a car load of stuff to the shop.. 

Quilts, old dishes, lace and linens, prim dolls, pin cushions, hot trivets, salves, salts and other homemade goodies..

 Whew... will I be glad when it is finished and we can open... .

Anyway.... 

The forget-me-nots were having a party... smile...

I couldn't resist taking a few pics of them..

I love all flowers but these are one of my favs...

We have blue ones of course but also some pink and white ones..

One lone dandelion crashed the party...grin...

Can you spot it?

The last time I did a post I mentioned I was planning on making some APPLE BLOSSOM JELLY...

Well, last night when I got back I finished it up...

I had just put the tea in a mason jar in the fridge for the day until I got back home..

It is lovely.. I can't get over how good it tastes..

Kind of like apple jelly but finer... if you know what I mean..

Terry and I picked them on a really windy day.. I held the bag ..smile.. and he tried to put them in..

It took quite a few...

Then you have to sort out the leaves and stuff and rinse them..

Here is the recipe...

APPLE BLOSSOM JELLY...

4 cups of apple blossoms

4 cups of boiling water

Pour the boiling water over the blossoms to make a tea..

Let this sit overnight...

Strain next day through a sieve lined with a coffee filter..

I had to squeeze the tea out of this to get 4 cups..

You can add up to a 1/2 cup of water, if needed..

Put this tea into a large pot and add:

8 cups of sugar

1/2 cup of lemon juice..

Bring to a full rolling boil and boil for several minutes.

Add 2 packages of liquid certo and stir..

Bring to another rolling boil

take off the heat ..

Stir and skim for a couple of minutes.

Place in jars and seal....

Doesn't it look nice?

I so love making anything different.. especially when it turns out so well..

See the big bottle on the side?

That is for our Keepers of the Home meeting tomorrow..

More about what is in the bottle next week..smile..

If you live here in Eastern Canada our apple blossoms are at their

best.. so beautiful..

I picked another bag of dandelions yesterday to make my third batch of jelly today..

I will try and tell you about that later, too..

As I was saying our meeting is tomorrow morning at 9 am in Sussex..

Everyone is welcome..

We are to have a GREEN  Day ???

May God bless you .. ..

Remember there is power in prayer...

Love to you all...

This posting is linked to: