Farm Post number 2-2021

Good Evening everyone!  

So happy to have you drop by the Blessed Hearth Blog tonight.. 

We have not been out to the farm a whole lot the last bit due to so much going on and the weather is not very warm here yet.. 

Terry has been out and working the gardens some but I have only been there to stay once.. 

This was on a lovely day and we arrived early... 

I love getting there early as I am my best in the mornings.. 😉

As the afternoons wear on I tend to slow down... 

Anyway.. 

Before we left home I made sure to get a lovely big bouquet of 

Forget Me Nots...

The most beautiful part of Spring are all the gorgeous blooms .. 

I set them in a jar and lit one of my homemade candles.. 

Made from my own Lavender... smile.. 

And by the way my Lavender once again this year.. 

Thank you dear Lord.. 

Anyway... 

My main goal this day was to clean the old back porch.. 

That is where Terry has resided each day he went out all winter... 

Oh my! 

He shelled beans there and put all his tools and such.. 

He says it is his room and wants hats and fishing rods and such hanging everywhere.. 

What am I to do but make the best of it.. 😏

We opened the door to air it all out.. 

But what a gorgeous view.. 

So many shades of green... (my fave colour)  

He painted it last year but he has to replace a piece of sheetrock in the ceiling and other stuff.. 

I decided to just clean it and hang a few pics and such to brighten it up.. 

I found this hoop at a thrift store but have to put a bit of stuffing in the geese.. 

So old fashioned but it goes with this old house.. 

These were thrift store finds also. 

I believe I will paint the frames to go with the hoop.. 

Then this old book shelf needs a paint job too.. 

All good projects for me to work on once we are there for the summer.. 

No internet so I need to have lots of projects to work on.. 

After awhile I went into the kitchen to start lunch.. 

This is the old cupboard we brought up from the cottage.. 

Terry put some legs on it and painted it for me.. 

I decided to change it up a bit on top.. 

As this post is a bit boring and short I took a few pics of the old dishes I have in the cupboard.. 😊

An old mason jar molasses dish.. 

And a mason jar water pitcher..  

Then it was time to get lunch and set the table.. 

We didn't have anything fancy..

A spring like Maritime Canada meal..

Hake Fish Hash and Fiddleheads and a Cucumber Salad.. 

If you would like to make the Fish Hash it is really simple.. 

First you peel and boil a few potatoes... (how many you need)

You can use any white filleted fish you like.. 

It is best with cod but all I had out there was Hake.. 

Saute up a chopped onion or two with oil, butter or bacon fat in a large frying pan. Mash your potatoes and add.. Then add your fillet which you can cut up smaller.. 

Add salt and pepper and some herbs of choice.. 

Just put it on medium heat and stir every little bit.. 

Terry likes the crispy bits.. smile.. 

When the fish is cooked through throw on some fresh parsley or dill and serve..  

It makes a nice lunch.. 

My Gram used to do the same thing but instead of fish she would add pieces of stale homemade bread and summer savoury for the herb.. 

And I believe she cooked it in bacon fat.. 

My Aunt Eleanor shared that recipe with me.. smile.. 

Last year we planted violets out by the spring.. 

Terry had picked me a bunch along the road but it is so nice that these ones came back.. 

I am making violet oil and  salve with them... 

Terry was working outside so after awhile I had a cup of tea and read for awhile.. 

My newest book that arrived from Amazon.. 

See who the author is.. 

I also read Let the Hurricane Roar..

I could download it on my Kindle. 

It was excellent!

I had to buy this book as it is not on there.. 

I know I will enjoy this one, too.. 

Here is one I loved also..

 

Passing this one on to my sister... smile..  

Well, we had a good day but was happy to get back home here.. 

I will enjoy it more when it warms up and it will.  

This is a project I would love to do out at the farm.. 

I have been looking for this wallpaper for a few years now.. 

I wish I could find something similar but thus far no luck.. 

If you have any or know where I can buy some please let me know.. 

Just email or message me please.. 

I have been collecting wallpaper borders which are all different and think I will do that if I can't get the roses.. 

This is a sweet pic of our daughter that was taken yesterday.. 

I so loved it and thought you might like to see it too.. 

I know some of you have followed this blog for over ten years and have known Shonda through the blog that long.. smile.. 

Don't we mommas love our children.. 

We look at a pic of them even when they are grown and smile.. 

They are as dear to us now as they were when they were in their cribs with their little arms outstretched to us.. eh?

So thankful to the Lord for the sweet blessings of our families.. 

No wonder the Lord created the family first.. right? 

I pray that wherever you live in this world that all is well with you and that you have hope.. 

That you know the peace giver and that you know Him by Name.. 

His Name is Jesus... 

 

Thank you so much for dropping by.. 

I downloaded a bunch of other pics of stuff I have been doing but will do another post on it later.. 

Have made some dandelion jelly, salves, lotion bars and such.. 

 The rhubarb is being made into jams and jellies and such.. 

What have you been busy doing.. 

Our gardens are not all ready to plant yet but soon..

The nice thing about raised bed are they are ready sooner.. 

 

I hope to hear from you either here or on Face Book.. 

I am called blessed hearth on Instagram if you would like to join me there.. 

I love your comments here and was wondering if you leave one on Anonymous if you would just leave your first name so I know when you comment again.. 

K?  

Thanks dearies.. 

May God bless you this week..  

A Sunday Night in June...

Good Evening my dears.. 

So happy to have you visit the blog again on this Sunday Evening  in June... 

My how the time is flying by, eh! 

Soon Summer will be announced and we feel as though it should only be Spring.. 

Or I do at least.. 

Such cool weather but everything is so lush and green which is lovely.. 

The fiddleheads have come and gone and now everywhere is blossomed in Dandelions... 

I canned around 36 jars of Fiddleheads for the coming winter.. 

So happy to have them done and stored away.. 

And I did one batch of Dandelion Jelly.. 

I put it up in these small 125 gram bottles for a change this year.. 

They are a lovely size for gifting as many have not tried it before.. 

It tastes like honey to me and is wonderful in gift baskets .. 

It is nice over cream cheese for crackers or as a glaze on ham or pork.. 

I picked a bunch more this afternoon to dry a bit and then put in olive oil for salves and such.. 

Anyway.. 

We have been visiting the farm the last couple of weeks and slowly getting things done.. 

As I said in the last post Terry has the walls and woodwork all painted in the kitchen .. 

I love the colour of the walls and the woodwork painted white.. 

The new old stove is installed and I love it.. 

Even bought a new dishtowel to hang on the oven door.. smile.. 

There is also a mat to go with it but the floors have not been scrubbed and waxed yet.. 

As you can see the old cupboard is painted but Terry still has to put a second coat on the doors and fix a drawer.. 

Then I will show you it all.. 

You can see the lovely Babbling Brook colour though.. 

It does go well with the fabrics I showed you last post.. 

The sewing projects will have to wait for a bit but soon.. 

We have a few lunches up there but nothing too fance.. 

Veggie Pita Pizza is one that I go to when in a rush... 

Wanted to mention this old book to you book lovers.. 

I really enjoyed this guy's writing.. 

The book was written some time ago before a lot of electricity and such but still very relevant today.. 

It takes place in Maine which is so much like New Brunswick as far as weather and farmlands go... 

The top pic that is above is showing you my new kitchen valance for over the sink.. 

I found it at a Thrift shop.. 

It has daisies and the edging which you can't see is in the Babbling Brook colour, too... 

I also have a new dish drain, dish soap and wood handled scrubbing brush..  

Our sweet son who lives out west and could not be home for Mother's Day sent me dollars... 

He said he wanted his Dad to take me to some really nice place to eat and buy something nice for myself... smile.. 

So .. 

We did go out to eat and these are the something nice I bought myself.. 

I have been looking for a dish drain like this for ages.. 

On Amazon and EBay and such but they were so expensive.. 

I went into Home Sense to buy some Dish Soap because I love lovely dish soaps ... 

This one is Lavender Thyme... Smells delicious!  

I used a whole bottle of regular Dawn doing all the washing up there so now for the Summer I wanted something nice.. 

Well.. 

There was the Drain Board I have been looking for.. 

And a wood handled dish scrubbing brush..

They are so hard to find..  

So dear Dustin this is what your Mom considers something nice for herself... 

Oh and there was enough to buy the fabrics I showed you last post, too.. 

All in all I enjoyed the gift immensely.. 

Our other sweet son, Trevor bought me a gorgeous big patio planter that I love and picked me fiddleheads galore.. 

That was so great and Shonda brought me gifts from Paris... 

Everything French... 

Soap, French Linen, Mustards and such... 

I don't usually go on about my gifts on here but where I was showing you the farm stuff I didn't want not to mention the other gifts... 

You know what I am trying to say.. grin.. 

I stayed home all this week except for a couple of flying visits to the farm as I had so much to do here.. 

Tomorrow morning I am getting my eye surgery done in my right eye and then in a couple of weeks I get my left one done.. 

So I wanted to be caught up here a bit.. 

It means we will be slower getting to the farm then we hoped but all in due time.. 

Terry has been working on the gardens.. 

We have our new raised beds up and ready and guess what? 

All of my Lavender survived and are back.. 

I was so happy about that.. 

It is still too early to plant the garden itself but he does have stuff in the raised beds.. 

He loves gardening much more then painting!  sigh.. grin.. 

I am in the Sun Room here at home writing this post and thought I would show you a couple of my plants in here. 

I will soon be putting them outside on the patio for the summer.. 

I guess this is all for tonight my luvs.. 

I do want to welcome the new followers of the blog and those of you who have liked the Face Book page.. 

This is us! 

Taken a couple of years ago but basically the same.. 

Just two retired folks living a simple life .. 

Thankful to still be together after all these years and able to enjoy it all.. 

God has been good to us!  

Reading this blog you will note that God is our refuge and strength... 

Our lives centre around Him...

Thanks to you dear faithful readers and for your lovely comments.. 

Will check in again soon and hope to hear from you.. 

God bless.... 

Another Farm Post..

Hello... 

So happy to have you drop by the Blessed Hearth tonight.. 

Just another little update on our farm days.. 

How are you all doing? 

I sure hope you are warmer then we are here in the Maritimes of Canada... 

It is cold! 

And frankly, I am a bit tired of it all.. 

Trying so hard not to complain but all winter we so graciously(wink wink) wait for the warm sunny days of Spring but alas they only arrive here now and then just to keep our spirits in an attitude of hope.. grin.. 

Mother Nature is not always kind I am thinking.. 

But.. 

Looking out the window this evening there is sun still shining which showed herself late this afternoon and the weatherman says it will be sunny tomorrow so with hope that springs eternal we are looking forward to a week of much warmer temps.. 

Yes, dear hearts I am Canadian so the weather is the main topic of conversation in these parts.. smile.. 

Anyway... 

On with the show.. 

We have been striving to get to the farm a couple of days each week at least.. 

Terry does better then I do but actually.. If it is very chilly and damp I stay home.. Besides, when he is painting and such I am in the way and there is still lots to do here at home... 

As you can see it is greening up a lot each week.. 

This was taken on Sunday where we went to have lunch and put a fire on for awhile... 

We went to church and Charlie came along with us( he stays in the car) grin....  as we knew we were visiting the farm afterwards and it is his favourite place in the world ... smile.. 

We had to stop by the store for a few minutes and there was another dog in a truck beside us.. 

I guess they were looking each other over.. 

On the way there I mentioned to Terry we should go check a little secret spot we have for picking Daffodils ... 

They grow in a ditch where some home place must have been at one time .. Each Spring they faithfully flourish in their little spot.. 

So we drove by and there they were calling to me.. grin.. 

Terry (the dear man) gets out a picks me a few... 

We also did a little stop at an old cemetery to see if the purple violets had arrived to stay a spell with Mr. Mills and his two Missus... smile.. 

One of his wives must have loved the wild purple violet because their site is the only one that has so many... 

Yes, I am an old romantic... 

There were a few blooming but not very many yet so we did not gather any... 

I love making purple violet salve for burns... 

Later.. smile.. 

When we got to the farm Terry made a fire and I started dinner... 

Of course the Daffodils found a place of honour on the old kitchen table.. 

Terry was craving a pork chop so it was just another simple farm dinner ... 

Pork Chops, fiddleheads (thanks to our sweet son), turnip and carrot mash and he had potatoes.. 

I always have a cucumber salad lately.. 

It is my new favourite for awhile, I guess.. 

The kitchen was still quite a mess so we had to push everything over on the table to set it.. 

But really a lot has been finished.. 

The cupboard there is now all painted along with the walls and woodwork and doors... Yeah!  

That is primer on there but now it is covered a lovely Babbling Brook shade.. 

Appropriate for the brook running behind the old farm, eh!

So, Lord willing and if the sun shines we will be going up there tomorrow as Terry just finished it on Monday and I can get things together again... 

I do have the pantry almost to rights.. 

Dishes have been washed, a new cupboard installed and the hutch all cleaned out.. 

Hopefully, tomorrow he will begin to install an old old kitchen sink.. 

He has to hang my potholder and a few other little chores and we will feel like we are accomplishing something..

But it is not all work up there.. 

This happened one day..  

Not the day it says but a week later our grandson and our son came for the day.. 

We enjoyed lunch... 

Macaroni and Tuna Salad (their favourite) and Fried Potatoes... 

Jordan cooked the hamburgers on the wood stove...

I had also made these hamburgers but we didn't eat them till later.. 

Greek Burgers in Pita Bread with lettuce and Greek Yogurt Sauce.. 

I loved them but you know who didn't... 

Just give him a plain hamburger with cheese any day.. 

Personally, I seldom eat a hamburger but put some cilantro and cumin to one in a pita bread and I think it is delicious!  

Just no accounting for taste as my mother used to say.. smile.. 

We certainly enjoyed their visit...

Jordan visited with us while his Dad went fishing for awhile .. 

He came back with a bunch of pine cones... 

Our sons always think of their mother when they are out in the woods.. 

Always have.. 

I so enjoy a handful of pine cones or an old nest that has fallen or a bouquet of flowers.. 

Don't you?  

Later I tied them on a string and hung them under Tasha Tudor's pic on the hutch door... 

Terry has made two more raised beds... 

I think they are finished now.. 

Will see tomorrow.. 

It is just too cold to do much planting yet but my Lovage and such are up...

Can't wait to have a lovely glass of tomato juice and a lovage straw.. 

Something I look forward to each Spring... 

These are some  new fabrics I bought for the kitchen.. 

Gives you an idea of the colour change.. 

I hope to make a runner, buntings and perhaps a valance.. 

That will be next plus I have to use the electric scrubber for the floor and a coat of wax... 

All in good time, though.. 

This is a Partridge Stew that we had one day.. 

Love the flavour, do you?

Thanks once again to our dear boy.. 

On Monday I canned 22 jars of fiddle heads.. 

We like them canned the best as they don't take up freezer space and are not mushy... 

Do Fiddleheads grow in your area?  

I was reading an old book the other day and the guy was writing that his mother used to can Dandelion Greens.. 

I had not heard of that before.. 

I know people eat them that way but I didn't know they used to can them.. 

I hope to make jelly though and perhaps dry some root for my daily quart next winter... 

I read that you just dry the roots and grind them up and make a tea.. 

Very good for you.. 

The whole Dandelion is so healthy... 

Well dear hearts this all for tonight.. 

I titled this a little farm post.. 

Perhaps I better change it.. grin.. 

Here is a book I just finished... 

It was excellent as was the Apothecary's Daughter and a couple of others of hers that I have read lately... 

Oh.. 

I had to add this sweet pic of our daughter in Paris.. 

I told her it was my favourite.. 

Just so thankful she is now home on Canadian sail ... 

Mothers!! 

Well, lovies have a grand week and will chat again soon.. 

Thanks so much for visiting and your lovely notes and welcome to the new followers.. 

May God richly bless you and your dear families this week... 

I will be praying for you...