Farm Journal 2020 Number 4

Hello my friends.. 

How are you all doing?  

I wonder if you are having a heat wave as we are here in Maritime Canada!  

Oh my!  

After a couple or so weeks of this we find it quite a challenge!  

One good thing is that we will be happy for the season change.. 

Generally, I just dread the end of Summer here in New Brunswick but perhaps this year I won't... smile.. 

 Our nights are cool though so that is a help.. 

Anyway.. 

Enough of Canadian weather..

 That is what we chat about the most.. smile.. 

Welcome to another farm post.. 

We head up there quite early in the mornings lately to beat the heat! grin.. 

The cows are waiting for us and even stand up as we drive by.. 

Aren't they lovely!  

They are not ours for anyone new to the blog.. 

A nice farmer leases our pastures perse.... 

We love having them out there.. 

I am getting side tracked here.. 

On with the story.. 

When we were out one day I was so happy to be able to potter about the house.. 

Usually, I have had to be outside in the gardens but now it is mostly Terry's doing out there and mine inside except to do my herbs.. 

I worked in my pantry and changed some things about and did some cleaning.. 

The first pic on the post today was from a previous year..

I decided to change the curtain.. 

The one you see there on the bottom cupboard is a lovely piece of fabric I bought when we went on the 70 mile yard sale in P. E. I..a couple of years ago..  

I had some left and decided to use the bottom of the piece left over for the window instead of the lace.. 

It is not as pretty but it makes it easier to look out and see Terry working and the gardens and cows and such.. smile.. 

I put the my measuring cup collection on the sill. 

I was at a garage sale the other day and in a box I bought was the a tiny wee measure.. 

It is the smallest one on the sill .. 

This was the view when I finished putting it up.. smile.. 

And this is what he was picking.. 

Lots of green beans and our first cucumber ... 

When I set the table for dinner that day I used my new plates.. 

I know.. 

Like I needed more old dishes.. grin.. 

These though are special to me.. 

When we moved here about 35 years ago we met the nicest neighbors.. 

They were older then us but so kind... 

We went to a garage sale their children had of some of their household goods and I wanted something that belonged to her.. 

I saw a box of these lovely old dishes and her son told me they were her good ones.. 

It had to be a special occasion for her to use them.. smile.. 

I think they are sweet in this old kitchen at the farm .. 

Don't you?  

And the old crochet underneath were a treasure too.. 

I have been looking for some for awhile and knew I would come across some one day.. smile.. 

They just go ....  

I can't help myself.. grin.. 

We have been eating Hodge Podge.. 

I do not know if this is just a Maritime Dish or if everyone everywhere makes it.. 

I do know we all have a different recipe for it here in New Brunswick.. 

My mother-in-law used carrots, peas, green beans and new potatoes with cream in her recipe but I grew up with just new green beans and potatoes in cream... 

I do the cooking here.. grin..

We cooks seem to like the best the recipe we grew up with.. 

Right??  

Here are a few pics from the living room... 

homemade cushions from our old cottage and shop.. 

A craft I unearthed in one of the packing boxes.. 

I couldn't part with it when we were selling out.. 

It is an old book and a mouse I made from muslin and painted.. 

The book is ancient.. 

And an old tattered quilt I repurposed as throws on the sofas... 

and another old pillow that I couldn't part with.. smile.. 

Anyway.. 

At the end of that first day he had 2 buckets of green beans and one of peas.. 

So love this time of year.. 

Do you enjoy putting up the harvest?  

I hope I can do it for many more years.. 

My mom is 86 and she is doing up Chow Chow and such.. 

On with the show.. 

Here is a bit of making and doing I like to share with you all.. 

 A new centrepiece for the table here at home.. 

A dear girl that I follow on Instagram creates the most beautiful table settings.. 

She has a gorgeous centrepiece .. 

It is long wire box with vases ... 

I love it and tried to find one on Amazon.

She provides such inspiration!! 

I could not find one exactly like her's but the ones I did find were very expensive.. 

I thought I would do without but figured I might be able to make one.. 

Ta da... 

I found boxes with drawers at the dollar store and a they had sets of milk bottles ...
Removed the drawers and painted and sanded and sealed and here we are.. 

I still intend to connect the two together but Terry needs to cut me out a piece of wood.. 

But this will do for now.. 

Lisa fills her's with the most glorious flowers.. 

Her IG account is called Frenchhandcraft... 

I just want to give her credit for the idea.. smile.. 

I filled it with Queen Anne's Lace as I was making jelly.. 

I like making wild flower jellies for my gift pantry and decorating the jars when I can.. 

an old lace curtain provided the covers this time. smile.. 

The rose petals I have been drying have not all been purposed yet.. 

But potpourris and powder are on the go... 

Here is the recipe I shared several years ago..  

Rose Powder Recipe

In a container with a lid add the following:

1 cup of baking powder 

1 cup of arrowroot 

Whisk together well and then add some rose petals.. 

Place your cover back on and then each day give it a shake.. 

You can double or triple this recipe if you like (gift pantry idea)

In a couple of weeks sieve out the rose petals and add several drops of rose essential oil (this is expensive so you can replace with rosemary or use a even a fragrance from Michael's) 

Rub each drop in until well distributed.. 

Put your lid back on and keep covered .. 

A lovely idea for your gift pantry if you place it in an antique shaker or an old china dish with a puff or whatever.. 

The pic above is of some powder I made when I had my wee shop in St. Martins.. 

I used wide mouthed mason jar and pasted rose papers from the dollar store on the lid..

I will probably do something different with this batch.. 

Will share it with you later.. 

I am really trying to get my gift pantry built up for Christmas... 

I know.. 

It really will get here before we know it.. 

And.. 

I want this Christmas to be really special.. 

I hope I will keep focused on preparing for it and not leave it all to the end.. 

The world is so topsy turvey that I think we as homemakers need to do all we can to make special efforts to celebrate whenever we can.. 

And Christmas.. 

Well.... Christmas is special.. Right? 

This kitchen here at home has been a busy place since the harvest has begun... 

Pickling  ....

Bread and Butters with red onions for a change.. 

And canning and more canning.. 

A new green bean pickle recipe to me.. 

You put them in tomato or clamato juice and such... 

They are a bit hot and I can't wait to try them.. 

I canned them for 10 minutes as the recipe said but you have to wait a couple of weeks.. 

I have canned yellow beans, green beans, peas, tomatoes, mixed green and yellow beans and pickles thus far.. 

This was my kitchen counter this morning when  I came out... 

they have to go to the cold room tomorrow... 

I am not a prophetess but most people expect groceries and everything else to really rise in price.. 

When we go for drives we find it amazing at the number of gardens growing everywhere.. 

The stores have run out of freezers, canning jars and all sorts of preserving stuff ... 

Pickling salt and cider vinegar are even hard to find.. 

We always do this anyway but this year we have doubled up on it all.

Or trying to.. 

Are you doing more this year? 

I am closing after another long post but here are a couple of pics of a beautiful country drive...   

I have added more on Instagram.. 

If you follow my account you may have noticed that someone has hacked or cloned my account.. 

They are messaging the followers and then trying to get them to buy a face book lottery... 

Whatever!!!

I have been trying my best to get it fixed but I am not sure what to do except to report it... 

Oh to be a tecky girl but I am an old gal.. grin.. 

I changed my pass word and profile and all.. 

So here is hoping..

I finally got to visit my sweet sister.. 

We exchanged parcels and she gave me this book.. 

Such a wonderful read.. 

I love love this author...  

And notebook.. 

And chocolate and so on.. 

I love notebooks and this nice orange one is for my harvest record and such.. 

Thank you dear sister... 

I have posted this clip before but worth the repeat.. eh!

Thank you dear hearts for dropping by and reading these long journals.. 

Or not.. grin.. 

Take care of yourselves and your sweet families and trust the Lord with your daily routines.. 

He will bless the work of your hands.. 

I look forward so to hearing from you here and on face book and Instagram.. 

Just make sure it is me.. lol... 

God bless.... 

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..