A lovely meeting and some news..

Hello sweet ladies.. 

How are you all doing? 

Giving you a kind of mishmash of a post this evening.. 

I am way behind in my blogging and have not been visiting or such lately but will explain why here in a bit.. 

First of all I wanted to tell you about a lovely Saturday morning we had a couple of weeks ago.. 

Our Keepers of the Home group were invited to visit our daughter's church ladies group... They are named R.E.A. L. 

I just had to call Shonda to see what this stood for.. I forgot.. smile..

R- Relationships

E-Encouragement

A-Apostolic Living

L-Laughter.. 

Nice, eh? 

We had a great day... 

It started off with all of our group driving to St. John to the Mission Point Church ... 

When we arrived we were made to feel welcome with delicious Tim Horton coffees, fruit trays, muffins and such.. 

It was a great time to catch up with friends and get situated.. smile.. 

Then Shonda shared a devotional with us which was so encouraging.. 

She talked about how we all go through Winter time in our lives .. 

Not only weather wise but also we are sometimes assailed with trials and tests and makes us feel as though the frigid winds of fear and doubt are filling our lives...

She mentioned how on those cold Winter days when it seems as though Spring is a long ways off that she loves to stop by a flower shop and pick up a lovely bouquet of tulips.. 

Tulips hold such a promise of Spring and brightens up a dark February day... 

Putting them in a vase and placing them on a table gives you joy knowing that Spring is just around the corner.. 

She demonstrated how each tulip represented a promise from our God ... 

When we are in the midst of a storm we can open the Word of God and pick up a promise.. 

The promise holds the inspiring truth that Christ is there with us in the midst of the storm and He holds us in the palm of His hand and all will be well... 

Spring is just ahead and He will do more then we ask or think.. 

The promise strengthens us and gives us peace ... 

It was wonderful devotional and blessed our hearts..  

Thank you, dear..  

Then after refilling our coffee cups ...

She turned it over to me to demonstrate how to make some home made green and frugal house hold cleaners... 

Home made Lemon Dust Cloths from pieces of flannel and a real lemon... 

Lavender Beeswax Furniture Polish....

Orange Vinegar and Orange Household Cleaner

and a Air Freshener .. 

The recipes were all printed and passed out.. 

Shonda did a lot of work for this meeting and we appreciate it... 

Here are the links to my blog where you can find the recipes, too.. 

theblessedhearth.blogspot.com/2016/03/a-ramble-and-roll.html

heblessedhearth.blogspot.com/.../green-housekeeping-cleaner-recipes

theblessedhearth.blogspot.com/2012/01/scents-of-home.html

..

theblessedhearth.blogspot.com/.../want-to-name-5-simple-pleasures.html

We all had a great time and then we went shopping.. smile.. 

Thank you, dear ladies for being so kind .. 

We appreciate it... 

Hopefully, you will come and visit us some day... 

Now... 

On with the story.. 

I thought I would let you in on our plans.. 

Terry and I as you readers know generally head off to St. Martins to our cottage beside the Bay of Fundy usually starting about this time of year.. 

Well.... 

We have decided not to this year... 

Instead.. 

We are getting ready to go to the farm for the summer... 

I am quite excited as we are hoping to have chickens, ducks, a few geese, rabbits and such... 

Also another garden and herb bed there.. 

I know.... Isn't that great ! 

I will miss being by the Bay every night but our youngest son and grandsons have volunteered to animal sit while we visit the cottage here and there... 

So that should be fine.. 

Not only that.... 

Even though we are an hour and a half from the cottage here at home; we are only a half an hour from the Bay when we are at the farm.. Not where the cottage is but a bit further this way... 

That is where some of my father's side of the family dwell.. 

If it is a hot day then we will just head out across Caledonia Mountain and drive to the waves.. 

Get cooled off and head home again.. 

No big deal.. right?  grin.. 

I have wanted to do this for ages and as I told Terry.. 

We are not getting any younger... 

We must do it while we can.. 

Really, I did not have to coax him at all.. grin... 

I had to convince myself that that is really what I wanted to do and I think it will be fun.. 

Time will tell... 

The thing I wonder about is the heat.. 

That is why I love St. Martins (besides loving my cousins) is that it is cool....

smile.. 

There is no internet at the farm at all or even cell phones... We have been spending a lot of time trying to get things in order to go and that is why I have not been very blog faithful.. 

Sorry about that.. 

As you probably noticed the comments are very minimal lately because of I haven't been visiting but I will try to get to it when I can.. 

I noticed the readers are still visiting, though.. Thank you. 

I will hopefully take lots of pics of the birds and the herbs and such  and keep you informed as we will be coming home to do laundry and we have another garden here ... 

While Terry is catching up on the garden and I am waiting for a load of laundry then I will get on here and give you the low down.. 

OK? 

A little supper when we were last out to the farm.. 

Some sweet dear friends gifted us with some organic meat.... 

My... it was so tender and good and the gravy divine !! 

Thank you dear friends.. 

The porch-back room-whatever floor is done.. 

I need to come up with a name for this area.. 

It is at the back door and that is where you walk in.. 

This room has taken so much work as he pulled down the ceiling and put a new one much higher up.. 

It is all finished except for painting and putting up the boards... 

And the end pieces and back door need replaced but that will hopefully get done bit by bit over the summer.. 

Oh and a bench built behind the door .. 

And an area over the steps for baskets.. 

And.. 

No.. just kidding.. grin. 

At least it is now liveable.. 

The pantry is practically done except for the sink so we will be fine.. 

So nice to turn on the hot water tap for dishes.. 

Now we can have hot showers and everything.. grin..

I had a lovely Mothers Day.. 

Our family all went to our church together and it blessed my heart to see our 5 grandsons sitting in the front together.. 

Loving the Lord.. 

My Mom was there too and we had 4 generations.. smile.. 

Thanking God for my dear family.. 

I received wonderful presents but this blessed me the most.. 

So thankful that my Dad found God all those years ago and how it has changed all of our lives.. 

Well, dear hearts this is all for tonight.. 

Hope you are having a great week and I truly do hope you have time to leave a note although I am not doing a good job at that myself.. smile.. 

Take care and here are a few promises from the Lord.. 

Philippians 4:13

Psalms 37:23-24

Isaiah 40:31

Proverbs 22:6

Hebrews 4:16

Oh and the tulips were gifted to me.. 

They have brightened my days,,

Thanks..  xo

A little Christmas thought...

Good Evening dear hearts..

I am trying to make up for my absence by posting again tonight.. smile..

Just sharing a few things we have been busy doing..

We had a Keepers of the Home meeting the night before my computer crashed..

I had done a whole post and with one wee swipe deleted it all and as it was quite late I thought I would do it the next day but alas it was not to be..

The dear girl smiling at you in the picture made the lovely cake above..

She was so kind as to give us her recipe..

Caramel Cream Cake..

For cream

-8 eggs

-200 grams sugar

-1 liter Milk

-150 grams sugar for caramel

Put the sugar in a pan on the stove ,medium high.

Melt the sugar ,take out and turn around until the sugar is all over. 

Set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar, add cold milk and vanilla extract.

Pour this mixture in to the sugared pan.

For the cake layer 

-6 eggs

-6 table spoon sugar

-6 tablespoon flour

-6 tablespoon water

-1 teaspoon of baking powder

Beat the egg white and add the sugar, the water continuing to beat.

Separately beat the yolks with baking powder and add to white eggs mixture ,but mix slowly .

Add flour mixing slow.

Pour this mixture on the top of the milk from the pan.

Bake for 50 minute in a preheated oven to 350 grade F.

Check to see if it is done.

The surface have to be brown and if you shake the pan ,it has to be firm.

If it seems like a jelly, cover and let it another 10 minute.

Take out from the oven and cold .

When is completely cold, put a plate on the pan, turn it upside down. 

The liquid from melted sugar should go around the cake and be absorbed by cake.

Cover with wiped cream. Decorate up to your imagination. 

Can be used with any kind of flavors  vanilla, rum, almond, etc

My dear hubby chopped me down a birch tree and gathered a bunch of greenery to decorate the house with..

I want him to cut the smallest tree into 15 slices about an inch thick and I will print the letters for Merry Christmas on them and string them up on the fireplace..

I hope so anyway..

Do you ladies use fresh greenery? 

It probably won't be put around until the weekend..

We made a quick trip to St. Martins to check on the cottage and made sure everything was snug and safe for the coming storms..

The weather was exactly how I love it..

Not too cold but windy with high waves..

I could have stayed there all day but we needed to get back home..

There was a lot to do.. smile..

I thought I would mention something to you all..

We have found that once our children left home Christmas just was not the same..

The longer they were married and their children came along the amount of time they managed to get home for the holiday changed too..

At first they come home a lot for Christmas but then they needed to have their own Christmas traditions so they came home less..

Now, they only come home for one night and a day at the most..

It is so precious to me when they are all here under one roof..

You know how I feel as I expect you all feel the same..

We understand all this because of course we had done the same thing.. eh?

Made our own Christmas dinners, had our own little customs and traditions as they grew up..

It was the natural thing to do.. smile..  

Anyway, the last few years I kind of turned into a Grinch, kind of..

Grin..

I just didn't see the point of doing the work for such a short time. 

I would do it but would not enjoy it very much..

I had lost my Christmas joy..

Anyway...

This year our pastor taught a simple little lesson on Christmas and one thing he said made quite an impression on me..

He noted that there is so much less in this world that celebrates our Lord Jesus..

The world is steadily changing and leaving Him out of the picture of our lives..  He mentioned that when there is a chance to celebrate Christ then we should do our best..

Actually, strive to find the joy and celebrate Him with our family and friends every chance we get ..

Basically...

to put Christ back into Christmas and old fashioned joy..

It does not need to be all about presents and such but the joy of sharing love and laughter with our family and friends.. Just of being together..

Isn't that a wonderful way to look at it..

Sooooo....

I am decorating and planning and finding joy in my days..

Spending time with friends and looking forward to the day we will spend with our family...

Just enjoying doing little things like making Christmas crafts and gifts and making lists of Christmas dinner recipes ideas and such..

Do you find joy in Christmas preps? 

Hopefully, tomorrow I will get a chance to take a pic of my new curtain that my friend found on Pinterst and we both made one..

So cute..

Today was spent away from home again but hopefully I can spend the day home tomorrow and get some work done... smile..

Well, my friends I hope you enjoyed this post and I look forward to hearing from you..

So glad some of you missed me.. smile..

Merry Christmas, sweet ladies..

He is the reason for the season.. xoxo

Keepers of the Home Meeting for June..

Good Evening dear hearts.. 

So happy you dropped by.. 

Another first Saturday of the month here in New Brunswick and another Keepers of the Home meeting.. 

It was a lovely morning.. 

I must begin by saying that I kind of forgot to take pics most of the time but we do have a few.. 

Several had left before I remembered.. 

sorry.. 

There was a wonderful turnout for it.. 

Some new girls that we are so happy to have with us.. 

We started off by cooking breakfast together as usual. 

One Keeper blessed us with some homemade muffins which went lovely with our bacon, eggs, and toast.. 

Just an ordinary breakfast this time.. 

But very good..

I took a bottle of dandelion jelly for them to try out.. 

Susan liked it good enough to take the rest home.. smile.. 

Then I had to get them to try my lovage straws.. 

We put them in our tomato juice and it just gives the juice a nice celery flavor.. 

If you would like the herb then I  know you can get them at the Co-op in Sussex.. 

A few others took the leaves home to dry for their soups and salads.. 

There was lots of coffee and tea while we had another little lesson on our Christian homes.. 

We have ventured into the entry way or mud room or foyer... 

Whatever you desire to call it .. 

This is the room that says welcome and we used our 5 senses.. 

Looking the word entryway up in the Bible and in Exodus 35 -15 it talks about the entryway into the temple and how it smelled of incense and oils.. 

We discussed the sense smell..

And how it is the first thing that meets you when you open the door.. smile.. 

Every home has it own smell, eh? 

There are many ways to have a fresh smelling home.. 

You can find some tips HERE..

An entryway contains things like sneakers, hockey gear and such so it takes a bit of work. 

As for the pinterest board I will keep adding to it so keep checking.. 

OK?

We then chatted about our other senses and how they worked in our homes.. 

We talked about sight and how we would try to get some scripture up on our walls . 

Hopefully, in the Fall we will make some crafts with scriptures on them..

Our favorite is the verse .. 

As for me and my house we shall serve the Lord.. 

Joshua 24-15

A nice tidy entryway is certainly on all of our agendas... 

And organized, too.. smile.. 

Here is a link for way back when I first started my blog and it was not very professional, believe me..

Please excuse the poor quality pics and such.. smile.. 

But it is a few scripture decorating tipS and you might like it.. 

You can find it HERE.

The next sense was hearing and how lovely it is to come in and hear lovely music, the laughter of the family or just sweet chatter..

Not a blaring TV or family arguing..  

The entryway can be such a place of blessing as each morning we try and hold hands and pray a blessing for the day upon our children and even their friends as they stand in the door and wait.. smile.. 

I had to share about how touching it was for me to visit my daughter and hear her in her entryway praying a blessing of the day upon her boys.. 

In I Samuel 1- 12, 13 it talks of Hannah praying in the entryway of the temple.. 

Praying for a child.. smile.. 

The only thing we came up with for taste was to leave a bowl of mints somewhere. grin..

Perhaps you have one ???  

But really the one that is not so obvious but perhaps the most important is how your home feels when the door is closed against the world.. 

Do your children feel their mama's arms welcoming them home after a day at school? 

Does hubby feel the love from his family as he closes the door on another workday out there? 

Do friends and strangers feel the welcome of your home? 

The love and joy and peace that only God can bestow on hearts and homes can be felt first in your entryway.. 

Not a very deep subject but just a few thoughts.. 

So...

 That was that and we moved on to making some homemade cleaners.. 

Fabreze recipe 

In a spray bottle from the dollar store pour in a funnel 

2 cups of water

1/4 cup of Gain Fabric Softener

1 T. baking soda

Shake well.. 

It really works.. 

Homemade Spray Cleaner.. 

1/4 cup of dish soap  (Dawn)

1/4 cup of white vinegar 

2 tsp. Borax

3 1/2 cups of hot water 

essential oils of choice and amount to suit you.. 

I love lavender.. 

And perhaps a drop of tee tree.. 

Thyme Disinfectant.. 

2 1/2 cups of water 

handful of thyme 

vinegar

 a squirt of Dawn soap

Simmer the thyme in a pot with the water for a couple of hours.. Strain through cheesecloth or a coffee filter .. 

Pour into a spray bottle.. Add the soap and top it up with the vinegar.. 

I loved the smell of the house while this was simmering away.. 

Reminded me of an Italian Bistro.. grin.. 

It worked well, too which I found amazing as it is a tea color.. 

On one site they talked about the scientific proof of the disinfecting power of thyme.. 

Kind of good to know.. 

There was also a recipe for Homemade Laundry Powder found HERE..

And one for Laminate Floor Cleaner that I found Here..

And the Spray Air Freshner is on my Pinterest Board above.. 

Most of the girls made Fabreze and then a little stamped tag to hang on it.. 

We had also brought plants for an exchange which was a lot of fun.. 

There was all kinds.. 

Even white lilac bushes..  

All in all we had a wonderful morning with lovely fellowship.. 

Thanks so much for dropping by.. 

This is our last meeting for the Summer until we have our annual overniter at our cottage in St. Martins in July... 

Have a blessed weekend and thank you to all you girls who come and help so much with everything.. 

I appreciate you all.  

And thank you for your sweet notes.. 

Hugs.. 

LINKED TO..CLEVER CHICKS BLOG HOP

Just another Winters day...

Hello my dears...

Welcome to the Blessed Hearth this day..

How do you like the beautiful geese in the pic above?

Aren't they something? 

 Terry and I went for a drive up to check on our old farm and passed the dear things on the way.. 

Of course, the poor man had to turn around so that I could take a pic for you all..

They were quite a way from the road so I could not get a great one but you get the drift, eh?

Obviously, we are still in the Winter mode here in Eastern Canada.. 

I was listening to VOAR CBC channel and heard that Newfoundland is expecting a blizzard.. 

Oh well, that is what we all know and accept here.. 

I am truly Canadian and love the place.. 

We are so truly blessed..

I guess everyone feels that way about HOME..

smile..

Thank you to all of your dear girls and your sweet comments LAST POSTING..

I said that I would give you the recipe for the Apple Pie Cake.. 

Apple Pie Cake..

2 cup flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup of sugar

1 tsp. salt

11 T. soft butter

2 beaten eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. whole milk

2 large apples peeled and sliced

1/2 cup of sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon * I used nutmeg...

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.. Crumble in the butter and stir well.. Add the eggs and vanilla to the milk in a large measuring 

cup and whisk together and stir in dry ingredients..

In a large greased pie plate (10 inch) place about a 1/3 of the mixture and half of the apples ...

* I then grated a part of a nutmeg over the apples but the recipe did not call for it..

Sprinkle half of the cinnamon mixture over the apples and then another 1/3 of dough. 

 Then apples, cinnamon sugar and last 1/3of the dough...

Then I sprinkled some white sugar over that... 

Bake in 375 degree oven for 35 minutes or until done... 

I think the girls really like this recipe..

One emailed me before I posted this wanting the recipe so I was glad that it went over well.. 

I try to have at least 2 new recipes for them each meeting.. 

She said she made the bread, too... 

Bless her..smile..

I have sent out the homework to you girls who wanted it.. If anyone else wants the info please let me know..

Or if you didn't get it yet..  

Here is our old farm brook that runs around our property.. Wide open but still lots of snow.. 

It will soon be Spring..smile..

Fishing season, fiddleheads and rhubarb..

Chives, lovage and sorrel... 

May flowers, violets and pussy willows ..

Clothes hanging on the line again..

Spending days together at the old farm.. 

Oh, and dandelion and apple blossom jelly..

Just a few of my favorite things..

Smile..

I hope to order some neat herbs next week.. 

Patchouli and soap wort and others..

Well, have a great evening ...

Welcome to all of the new followers.. 

So happy to have you aboard.. 

Looking forward to hearing from you all.. 

Love and Prayers..