Wintering here at home....

Hello my dears!

So happy to have you drop by on this freezing day in mid February.. 

The winter is flying by for me..

 I hear a lot of people saying January was so long but I didn't find it so.. 

It is a thing that I am thankful for.. 

In my younger days I used to mind the month of January intensely.. 

We lived in a big old farm house that had those long and narrow old windows and I found the house dark on those winter days.. 

Then we moved here and I zipped through the winter and realized that I didn't mind it at all.. 

So many big windows here so I guess I need light!  ❤😊

Anyway... 

Some wintering projects that I have been working on... 

Homemade clay hearts.. 

Here is the recipe... 

2 cups of baking soda

1 cup of corn starch

1 1/2 cups of water 

Stir the ingredients on the stove until the consistency of mashed potatoes.. 

Roll out and cut with cookie cutters.. 

Used a skewer to make a hole in each. 

Terry ended up drilling holes as the holes dried closed.. 

Cook:  175 degrees oven for 2 hours.. 

Or I just placed in unheated oven for overnight.. 

Then I sanded them very carefully as I broke the first one.. 

Then wipe the dust off and painted them with acrylic red paint.. 

Sanded off the edges and then painted over with a brown paint.. 

I put a coat of wax on top but you could use a sealer...

Then hung them on an old alder branch... 

Also, I used one of my Mirilla bags I made last year along with a lavender sachet I made to give to my sister when she was in the hospital.. 

I hope to make a few more some snowy afternoon... 

My friend Judy sent me a pic of a quilt heart garland... 

So I did my own plan and came up with this one.. 

I need to put a little string of fairy lights on them.. 

Decorated the mantel with old brown bottles and brown pottery.. 

Bought a few ivys and weaved a sweet crochet heart garland from my sweet friend through out... 

Just love those twinkle lights during the dark evenings.. 

Don't you?

Remember my felted heart bunting I made a few years ago.. 

Still using it.. ❤

I saw this and thought you might like it.. 

It is not just grandmas doing this these days.. 

So many younger ones are into this, too.. 😌

Taking country drives.. 

Looks pretty cold, eh?  

Looks the same out of my kitchen windows... 

We were so blessed to have our son in law show up one Saturday morning with breakfast and his powersaw to help cut up a big maple tree Terry had to cut down.. 

We were so sad but it had started to rot and we were not wanting it to land on our roof..  

We so appreciated his help... 

Then our oldest son came and helped change truck tires.. 

Thanking the Lord for our family in our getting older days.. 😊

Some food pics... 

Just comfort food... 

Lentil soup, roast beef dinner, spaghetti with Martha's tomato sauce 101

Then bread... 

Like to have homemade bread often... 

Then I always make homemade salad dressings.. 

So much cheaper and so much healthier... 

Made another batch of jam... 

Using frozen cranberries, raspberries and strawberries... 

It tastes so good.. 

I should have wrote down the recipe as I kind of used two recipes.. 

Dahh!

Then making lots of cups of tea or coffee.. 

And the odd cookie here and there... 😀

Found a sweet cat cookie press at the thrift store.. 

Oh... yes, enjoying my thrift store shopping too.. 

Found a gorgeous set of Wedgewood Blue Transferware dishes.. 

A big set and only 15 dollars.. 

Thankful for simple blessings.. 

Well, this is all for another time my friends.. 

Thank you once again for dropping by.. 

I hope you are enjoying this slow down season and getting your rest.. 

I know the world is in more chaos then ever before..

very troubled ..

But when we have our trust in the Lord, he calms the troubled waters of our souls and gives us sweet peace and comfort.. 

We can go on with our days and make our homes a haven for our families.. 

Today is probably one of the most important time in history for parents to concentrate on making our homes a place of peace and calm. 

This world is soon coming to a close and I want to be ready to meet Him.. 

He is coming soon.. 

The Bible says in Luke 21:28

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh... 

I so love this verse...

Nothing to fear.. His is the kingdom.. 

God bless you dear hearts.

Hugs from New Brunswick.. 

 

Ten Lovely Little Ways to Enjoy A Summer's Day..

Hello there my dears.. 

Hope you are doing fine.. 

So happy you stopped by.. 

Tonight it is a bit of a different post.  

We were out to the farm the other day and it was just so hot but Terry has two air conditioners installed so it was not so bad inside.. 

I thought I would just enjoy my day and try to put a blog post together for you on something I have been thinking about this summer.. 

So.. 

It is not as good as it could be but if I wait I may never get it posted... smile.. 

So here we go... 

Ten lovely little ways to enjoy a summer's day... 

You can pick and choose..shall we say.. 

I have some lovely old teacups on the sill in the pantry and I have been meaning to give them a good wash in some lavender dish soap... 

I buy that at Home Sense in Moncton..

I love their dishsoaps and brushes and such.. 

I think some of them come from the UK.. 

I know my dishsoap does..  

Anyway... 

I got down my big old enamel dishpan and set it on the table like my Grandma used to do.. 

Added some hot water and soap and threw in a handful of flowers that I had picked out by the step.. 

It smelled heavenly and was just a little bit more pleasure washing the old cups with a little daisy or cosmo here and there.. 

eh?  

Then I went out and picked a lovely basket of herbs.. 

Perhaps you don't have an herb bed but your farmer's market or even your super market have herbs.. 

Pick out a few you love and bring them home.. 

Put them in bunches and tie them up with grocer's twine or what have you and hang them somewhere in your kitchen.. 

When they are dry put them in mason jars to enjoy this winter.. 

Most of mine I pulverize with my chopper... 

Not the lavender.. grin.. 

Then we were going to have our dinner there so I decided to make a summer salad and dressing.. 

It really does not take much effort.. 

Just 1 part lemon or lime juice and 2 parts oil.. 

I always add salt, pepper and a few chilli pepper flakes.. 

And garlic, of course.. 

This time I just shredded the bud from the garlic scapes but normally I use a crushed clove of garlic.

And I also did a few pickled radish.. 

Slice up some radish and I added onions.. 

In a little pot bring 1 1/2 cups of vinegar, 2 T. sugar and 1 t. salt to a boil and pour over your radish.. 

Let it cool down and put in the fridge till needed.. 

Terry came in so these ones never did see the fridge.. grin.. 

And a little cucumber salad.. 

Slice some cukes, scallions and green onion tops and pour a bit of your salad dressing over.. 

A few chilli flakes are good too although there is some in my dressing.. 

We eat this stuff every day almost.. 

Love the summer veggies, don't you?  

Then as I posted before it is nice to make a summer bunting.. 

Just draw a pattern on cardboard, mark it on your fabrics and cut out.. 

Glue to twine with your glue gun.. 

Check  a post or two back if you need directions.... 

A cheerful sight out of the pantry window... 

When we drove home we both noticed that it is too light in colours and we could hardly see it from the road.. 

Next time out I shall try to make a brighter one and hang that one on the deck... 

Then this idea I was reminded of on Instagram the other day and made this almost as soon as we went through the door.. 

A simply lovely smelling stove top potpourri.. 

This one has sliced lime, a piece of ginger sliced, rosemary, thyme and lavender sprigs.. 

Place in a pot.. 

Add water to cover..

Turn on and bring to a simmer then turn down on low.. 

Don't forget about it as the water disappears.. 

Just add more water as needed.. 

I would go out of the room or outside and come in and think to myself.. 

What is that lovely smell?  grin.. 

You will love it, I am sure.. 

You can add herbs and fruit of your choice.. 

I love buying half price lemons and limes at the market and using them this way.. 

Also dried lemon and lime slices are wonderful to put in a glass of water.. They rehydrate and you always have a mason jar full of them.. 

Then it is always fun to set a country table just for lunch.. 

Nothing fancy! 

Just lovely colours that turn your crank and some eclectic dishes make for a lovely lunch.. 

Right?  

I love love lavender.. 

Almost as much as Patchouli!.. grin.. 

My friends know me as a patchouli lover! 

It is my perfume of choice but I love lavender, too.. 

My plants are producing a bit so I decided to make a quick little candle with the bit I picked that day..

Dig around and find a couple of  old candles and a tea light.. 

Then a little jar or even a tin can will work.... 

These candles were a pink and a white one.. 

Take the tealight apart and save the little wick holder at the bottom.. 

Then break the candles up and put in an empty tin can (tomatoes) is good.. 

Put it a little pot with water half way up..

Melt slowly over med heat..  

Save the candle wick... 

Thread it through the wick holder from the tea light and place in your jar.. 

Tie the top part of the wick to a pencil and put over the top of the jar to hold the wick nice and tight.. 

Add some lavender buds if you have them and a bit of lavender essential oil to your taste.. or smell... 

If you want to decorate your jar it is a nice finishing touch.. 

I will keep the cover on to keep the scent fresh until I light it again... 

Well I guess this stuff took most of my day.. 

Around 3 in the afternoon it was over 30 degrees C.  

Oh man!  

I didn't want him working out in that heat so we went for a drive.. 

Another simple country pleasure... 

Up over Caladonia Mountain and in half an hour we were at the Bay of Fundy... 

Gotta love those views and the air was just so fresh.. 

Making hay... 

I guess the haymakers had done their thing and gone to the beach.. grin.. 

I don't blame them.. 

We circled around and went through Hopewell Cape.. 

My grandparents used to live there when I was a kid.. 

I so love that place.. 

I was telling Terry I could live there.. 

We drove past this wonderful looking antiques shop.. 

Isn't it pretty.. 

Who would ever think to use those colours but it sure gets your attention.. 

They were closed...  

Back we went to the farm so Terry could finish his chore of cleaning the spring.. 

I had mixed up a cake and put it in that old stove oven when we got back.. 

I can never seem to get the right temp on the thing but it was good as I cut off the burned pieces.. 

Well, Terry ate them.. grin.. 

A little icing and a few walnuts and it was a lovely simple pleasure to round off our day... 

There you have it.. 

Ten lovely simple pleasures to enjoy your hot summer's day with.. 

Thank you so much for being here and for your sweet comments.. 

I apologize that I don't answer very much lately as we have no internet at the farm and by the time I get home here I am beat.. 

Also I have to start up this cranky laptop to type as it is too hard to answer everyone on the tablet... 

Sorry... 

May God bless you all.. 

PS.. 

In the last post I wrote a recipe for shortbread that I copied off of Instagram.. 

I thought I had it wrong but it was right ...
It took me a bit to find it again but I finally found her.. 

We loved the shortcake with her recipe but my sweet friend Dianne added 2/3 cup of milk to hers and I am sure it probably made it better.. 

More cake like if you know what I mean.. 

I corrected the one in the last post and added her milk as I do think it might be thicker.. 

It is up to you.. 

Either way is great.. 

The lady on Instagram was 

Buenna Vista Farm .. 

Just google that then go to her Instagram.. 

I found this via Rhonda at Down to Earth blog... 

Enjoy...