These lovely Summer days..

Good Evening all.. 

It is a very rainy one here by the Bay of Fundy tonight.. 

So cozy, though.. 

I am posting a few pics of our days here at the cottage .. 

We are in the process of closing our shop..

This is our final season and we have been having fun selling everything mostly at 50 percent off.. 

I should have put that sign up years ago.. grin.. 

I would not have made much money but at least it brings in the people.. smile.. 

The shop is only opened 3 afternoons a week, too so I am enjoying my Summer much more.. 

I am just tired of it all.. 

We did the craft shows for 20 years and the shop is in it's 8th year so I believe I have paid my dues.. smile.. 

I have not been making anything much to add to the shop except for a bit of jam..

 Strawberry and Rhubarb.. 

The other day I started the gift tags in the above photo and they look like they will turn out all right.. 

I also am making Room Sprays and a few bars of soaps... 

Here at the cottage I started my Four Thieves Salad Dressing.. 

Kind of interesting, eh? 

You make this vinegar mixture and let it sit on a sunny window sill for a couple of weeks.. 

Then you add some oil and make a salad dressing.. 

Four Thieves Salad Dressing.. 

1/4 cup of lavender buds (organic)

1/4 cup of sage, chopped

1/4 cup of rosemary, chopped

1/4 cup of thyme, chopped.. 

Place the herbs in a sterilized jar and cover with 2 cups of barely warmed Apple Cider vinegar.. 

Place on a sunny window sill for 10 days or so.. 

Strain through a cheese cloth .. 

It can make a vinaigrette for salad, cucumbers, greens or such..

Use 3 or 4 parts good oil to 1 part vinegar.. 

You can add more oil or less according to your tastes.. 

A crushed clove of garlic and salt and pepper is also tasty.. 

  

 I am trying to root some lemon thyme.. 

Mint will root very well.. 

We shall see..  

Here is something we had as a side dish for Supper.. 

They are a delicacy that we have growing here on the marshes up around home.. 

They are called Samphire Greens and if you have followed my blog you know that each Summer I go on and on about them.. smile.. 

They are that delicious.. 

In the small bowl are the stems.. 

You pull the greens off with your fingers and the little branch thing is left.. 

They belong to the Sea Weed family and are a bit salty marshy taste.. 

Do you know what I mean? lol.. 

A picture I took over on Mac's Hill the other evening.. 

See the church there below the fog?

Pretty.. 

We had Old Home Week here in St. Martins.. 

Last week my Mom and her husband had tables set up for Yard Sale day.. 

Mom is in the rocking chair and Gerald is packing up.. 

Can you imagine doing that at 84 and 80? 

They bring the trailer all the way from Moncton each Summer and sell all kinds of stuff.. 

Keeps them young, I think.. 

There was a parade and such on Saturday past and there were so many people around.. 

Very good selling week for the shop.. 

Thank you, Lord.. 

On Sunday we attended church and were so blessed to hear

The Louisiana All State Youth choir.. 

They were doing a tour and stopped in St. John.. 

Then last evening we went home and attended our precious church and heard a wonderful young pastor and singer Kent Carter... 

A very blessed day..

  

It was so lovely today just to putter around here at the cottage.. 

 Cleaning the fridge and pantry, making a Tuscan bean Soup, hanging up a new curtain on the French door, cleaning drawers and such,  making supper and doing the dishes.. 

Ordinary things on an ordinary day.. 

Well, dear hearts thanks once again for your visit.. 

Summer is such a busy time so I appreciate your effort.. 

As always, though, I look so forward to hearing from you..

I love your emails, too .. 

They give me such encouragement to keep on blogging.. smile.. 

God bless.. 

Homemade with Love...

Hello there everyone.. 

How did your weekend go? 

Hope you all had a great one.. 

For tonight I thought I would share some pics from around the shop and here at the cottage for the last few days.. 

Saturday morning Terry and I did up the dill you see here..

Litres of garlic dill and pints of garlic dill slices.. 

The slices have become one of our favorites as we put them on our sandwiches.. 

We do eat sandwiches this time of year because we love the fresh 

tomatoes so... 

Anyway, that is only a part of the dill we need to do.. 

There are also the sweet dill which are the favorite of our customers.. 

We can't get anymore wee cukes until Friday so Saturday morning will no doubt see another round of dill pickling.. smile.. 

Then at the shop on Saturday afternoon I made some tags to sell..

Made with old book pages and paper scraps... 

To and From  are written on the back and sold in sets of 3 ....

And a little homemade treat sent down to me from my Mom with Terry..

Her famous Date Squares.. 

So fantastic with a hot cup of tea.. 

Can you tell that I probably am not on a diet at the moment?... grin...

This morning we did up  a dozen bottles of mustard pickles..

The recipe for my Hot Mustard Pickles is HERE...

And I love how my Tart Bottles turned out.. 

Shonda had given me a case of old pickle bottles.. 

I needed something to display the homemade wax tarts that I made and came up with these.. 

The covers I had picked up on the trip to Pa. and the labels are made out of some Kraft tape and a marker.. 

And then today I also made the best jam I have ever ate.. smile.. 

Crock pot Maple Apple Jam...

Fill your crock pot with peeled apples cut into chunks.. 

About 5 or 6 pounds.. 

In a bowl mix 5 - 6 cups of sugar, 1 cup of real maple syrup, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. allspice, 1/4 tsp. of cloves, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg and a 1/2 tsp. of salt.. 

Mix up well and pour over your apples and mix some with a wooden spoon.. 

Turn on high and  cook for an hour then turn on low and cook overnight... 

In the morning mash with your potato masher .. 

Turn it on high again and once it is really hot then put into sterilized jars (1/2 pints) and seal.. 

This is a large recipe and makes 11 pints... 

Today was a busy day but Terry peeled these ones for me and I cut them into spears... 

They are in a salt water mixture until morning and then they will be Ginger Spice Spears.. 

My own secret recipe.. grin...

I will show them to you later when they are finished.. 

We are so enjoying the homemade Chive Blossom Vinegar that I made in the Spring.. 

So pretty, eh?  

And last but not least is a new recipe that I am trying.. 

Well, really  it is a very old recipe that I found in a book.. 

I can remember these from when I was a kid... 

A very long time ago... grin...

They were called Grandma's Sour Pickles..

Fill a gallon bottle or crock with small to medium size cucumbers.. 

Then in a bowl mix up 1/2 gallon of vinegar.. 

Whisk in 1/2 cup of salt and 1/2 cup of dry mustard.. 

Let it sit for a month in a cool dry place.. 

I think these are like those Deli pickles you see sometimes.. 

I hope so anyway.. 

The recipe I found said to mix a gallon of vinegar and 1 cup of salt and 1 cup of mustard...

Which I did and only needed a half of it.. 

When I get some more small cukes I plan on making  another gallon.. 

I have a feeling we will love them.. 

I also looked this recipe up on the web and found recipes where they added a cup of sugar so in the next bottle I will add a half of a cup of sugar and see which are the best.. 

Right?  

Well... this is my post for this Monday night.. 

So glad  you all dropped by and I am still replying to  your comments.. smile...

Here's hoping you all come back now.. grin.. 

Love to you all... 

A Handmade Holiday Recipe .....

Hello my dears..Hoping everything is well in your world.  I expect you are all busy getting ready for the Season.  I have been puttering away making a few gifts, putting up a few decos, and of course making lists.  I do not seem to be getting ahead of the game but that is my usual normal. 
The past week or so I have been down for the count so to say.. Just when there is so much to do I contact something.... Thank you, Lord I THINK I am on the road to recovery..
As I can only sit I have worked on a few Handmade Holiday...

A couple of primitive table runners and a prim journal....

I had fun painting up a few tags for gifts.  I am NOT a painter but when you glue the flakes on it is not so noticeable.  LOL..

I also did up a few Soup Herb Bags...

I thought I would give you the recipe...

SOUP HERB BAGS

2 parts dried lovage

1 part dried parsley

1 part dried thyme

1 part summer savory

2 bay leaves

3 whole cloves

I used teaspoons for the measurement...

Place heaping teaspoons onto a 4 inch cheesecloth.

Tie tightly with a white string.

Store in a closed container...

In winter drop a bag into a potful of soup during the last hour.

You can make them up and place in a mason jar.

Then just decorate the jar.  I used a piece of lunch bag for a cover and then decorated a tag and tied it on...

Wouldn't they be lovely in a basket with some soup makings and perhaps a wood spoon and napkins?

I was blessed to have had some of my own herbs that I grew this summer and dried but they are always available at the Bulk stores.

Thanks so much for visiting.  I am sorry that I have not posted much the last bit but perhaps things will improve....please, Lord...

God bless...

Faye