Cold weather projects and gingerbread spoons...

Happy Weekend, everyone.. 

We are having a lovely cool sunny one here in New Brunswick.. 

Terry and I went for a little drive up to our old farm a couple of days ago just to check on the place as it was so cold and he wanted to make sure the heat was still going.. 

The drive there is very beautiful and part of it is along the brook which is where the place gets it's name.. 

Prosser Brook.. 

It was still flowing which surprised me as it was so cold.. 

What a lovely shade of green, eh?  

I could not even begin to get a photo of how beautiful it was.. 

This was actually almost like a small falls but I could not capture it with my camera.. 

Just imagine this old brook has run here for hundreds of years, probably.. 

I remember my uncle telling me that his Papa had moved to Prosser Brook and built the farm in 1907.. 

We checked everything out and Terry made a fire while I read since we were not staying.. 

Soon we headed home but stopped on our way at bee keepers who lives in a house which is tucked into a hollow...

Terry goes up to the door to knock and left the car door wide open.. 

Ok.... I am thinking ... 

He will only be a minute.. 

A lady comes to the door and tries her best to hold two big German Shepherds in the house.. 

One of them gets out and starts barking ... 

OK... the door is still wide open..

They are going to come out here and get right into the car, I am thinking..  

A man now comes to the door and tells Terry to come in out of the cold and he pushes the two dogs out and closes the house door.. 

The dogs look around and decide to come over and check out the car.. 

Ok... the door is still open.. 

They don't really stop but go back to the house and wait for them to open the door again.. 

Well... that is good...

Meanwhile..

 It is one of the coldest days we have had and my car door is still open.. 

I know .. I know.. 

Just reach over and close it.. 

Right?  

So.. 

I take off my seatbelt and kind of quietly lean over to try to reach the door and yes the dogs hear me and come to the car door and both of them try to get in at the same time and barking at me.. 

With huge teeth only about a foot from my face... 

Yup... just like I pictured it.... 

Lord help me.. 

Get out.. get out... I am saying.. sort of.. 

Then the lady comes running out and pushing at them to get them out and she is wiping off Terry's seat and apologizing.. 

She doesn't think they would hurt me.. 

No... No... that is ok.... 

I am fine .. no really.... I am fine.. 

My feet are numb and I might be literally shaking with terror but no... 

I am fine.. 

Out comes the dear man with a large bottle of honey... 

Oh honey.. are you ok?????

Oh sure... 

I am fine.. no really.. I am fine.. 

Gotta love him.. 

When we got back I made this for his supper.. 

Honey Glazed Ribs...  grin.. 

Some fried rice, egg rolls and our homemade dill pickles.. 

I love dill pickles with rice.. 

I do not know why.. 

Remember..  

I was making bread.. 

It turned out lovely and is so good.. 

We won't have it often but it was good until the last bite, believe me.. 

Michelle asked me if our flour is the same as the USA and the all purpose flour is the same.. 

As far as I know, anyway.. 

This is the bag that a Christmas present from our daughter came in.. 

The present was big and the bag ended up ripping.. 

I always recycle my bags so I couldn't bear to throw this one out.. 

Recycle, reuse and relove is my motto.. 

So while Terry was watching a movie (old cowboy ones) I cut the snowmen out.. 

Used my glue stick and pasted them onto a cereal box or such.. 

Cut them out and punched a hole in the top.. 

Tied a string for little hangers and then ran another piece of string through the loops.. 

Voila.. 

A winter garland.. 

Now I have to find a place to hang it.. 

Winter around here is for another 3 months abouts... 

And... 

I am working on my felted bed skirt.. 

I bought a beautiful red coat at the thrift store... 

When we were at the farm I found this old wool blanket and cut it up.. 

Terry brought up my big canning pot and into the boiling water they went. 

First the red then when they were boiled I changed the water and did the white one... 

While the white one boiled I put the red pieces into the washer and washed them more in hot water and then rinsed in cold and spun them out.. 

Placed them all on a rack in the guest bathroom to dry.. 

Next week, Lord willing, I will tell you the rest of the story... grin. 

And here is a pretty poor pic of my finished valance.. 

The colors are much prettier.. 

But you get the drift, eh?  

Now.. 

Quite a few girls commented on the gingerbread spoons on my last post.. 

They are wonderful dipped in tea or coffee and very easy to make.. 

(Or so my friend Dawn was telling me) heehee..

Here is the link for the recipe right Here..

To make the cookies you just roll out as usual.. 

Place a spoon face side up and with a sharp knife (you may have to try a couple to find the one that works the best) and cut around it.. 

Using a frosting spatula or long thin one put each cookie on a sheet.. 

I then just pressed the spoon area down with my finger and put about a half of a teaspoon of turbinado sugar on top.. 

I bought the sugar at the bulk barn and use it for my cider mix and such.. 

So, dear girls that is all for tonight.. 

Thank you so much for answering my questionnaire.. 

You guys rock !! 

If you have not done it and would not mind then just go HERE..

I appreciate all your help.. 

Tomorrow is the Lord's Day.. 

Looking forward to worshipping our God with some dear folks.. 

I look forward to reading your comments and if you have any questions then I will answer in the comment section.. 

Welcome to all the new followers.. 

Love having you all with us.. 

xo

Joining Stephanie at the Enchanted Rose HERE..

Come and join in.. 

The days of January...

Hello everyone.. 

Welcome to the Blessed Hearth again today.. 

Are you experiencing this cold weather?  

I guess we expect this in Canada and we get along fine with it.. 

Terry just keeps putting wood in the furnace and I make soup.. smile.. 

Lentil Soup... 

the recipe is HERE...

It is also sprout week..

Love my sprouts and I told you how to do them HERE..

I guess this is a bit of this and that kind of post.. 

Today I was making curtains to replace my Christmas kitchen ones.. 

In the process I noted that the windows needed cleaning.. 

Terry had picked me up one of these cloths at the Dollar Store.. 

I have been using them for several months and they are great.. 

All you do is wet the cloth and wash your windows.. 

They really work.. 

We have lots of French doors in this house and they are great for doing quick wipe ups... 

Just thought you might like to know that.. grin.. 

We went on our town day yesterday and did a bit of thrift shopping.. 

I bought this great crock type container for three dollars.. 

It is for my bananas that I dried.. 

I told you about them last post and yes we really like them.. 

All you do is slice them and dip them in lemon juice and then place on your dehydrator.. 

I think next time I will slice them crosswise and a bit thicker.. 

The item I saw on the internet sliced them lengthwise into about five slices, though.. 

Also, I will not dry them quite so long.. 

After several hours then just start checking.. 

But they are good.. 

One reader in my last post mentioned she dips them in water and honey which I would like to try, also... 

If she reads this perhaps she will share the measurements with us in the comment section.. 

Thanks.. 

This is what I was doing today.. 

Making a valance.. 

A double one.. 

I had bought a sheet at the thrift store that had this tag on it.. 

Anyway.. 

I measured and started tearing the fabric.. 

After I tore two pieces I noticed that it was not tearing straight.. 

Oh great... 

It took me a few hours to finally get all of the pieces the right measurements and sewn... 

I love the colours and they look fine..

It was too dark tonight to take a pic when I finally got them finished.. 

Perhaps, tomorrow.. 

Step one in my kitchen little redo.. smile..  

What are you girls busy doing ? 

I bought a lovely red wool coat yesterday to do my felted bed runner... 

Hopefully, I will get that started tomorrow.. 

I still have my tree up.. 

Is that not pathetic??? 

I have everything else down and taken to the basement where I am storing them for the first time.. 

That will leave me with a whole double closet up here.. 

Tomorrow for sure, I hope.. 

When I get done here I want to make a loaf of bread for tomorrow.. 

The link for that is HERE..

Are you making this bread? 

 Tomorrow is going to be one of the coldest days so I think we will appreciate the smell of baking bread, eh? 

I guess that is all for today, my friends.. 

Hope you are keeping warm.. 

Next time, I will post a little questionnaire for you all.. 

Looking forward to hearing from you and glad you like the Anonymous being back on.... 

God bless.. 

An Old Fashioned Kitchen Day at Keepers of the Home..

Good Afternoon everyone.. 

Another Lord's Day has rolled around and I am glad in it.. 

Yesterday we had a Keepers of the Home meeting.. 

We decided to change it a bit and held it from 10 until 2 .. 

All week long I puttered away trying to get things together.. 

As we were centering our attention on the kitchen we did kitchen stuff.. smile.. 

There was some delicious coffee made when we arrived (thank you, Pastor) and one of the Keepers made a couple of lovely batches of muffins.. 

As this was happening there was a little lesson on the Kitchen and how it is the heart of the home.. 

The place where memories are made that are so important to our families.. 

We used our five senses to see how we could improve our own spaces.. 

What makes a kitchen cozy and warm.?. 

The lovely scents and tastes of home made bread and coffee brewing are great but there is not always time for that so we can also use simmering potpourri or a plug in to make it all smell great..

We all agreed that we love to see our kitchens clean and organized and I confessed to everyone that this is where I need help.. 

Divine help, that is .. grin.. 

We discussed ways that we can make sure that Christ is at the centre of this busy room.. 

Playing Christian music that we can hear and doing devotions at the kitchen table were a few... 

Making sure that the TV does not reign supreme is also important.. 

The kitchen is also used as a place of entertainment whether it be just a neighbor over for coffee or a meal for friends.. 

We want it to be a friendly place where especially our family feels the loving touch that we can give and where our children see their Mom and Dad displaying affection which touches our children's lives for ever.. 

We talked about how quickly time passes and the sweet days of children doing lessons at the table or a project being done soon passes.. 

Then it is just the two of us and the opportunity we had to make an impression on those young lives is over.. 

Therefore, we need as Keepers of the Home to make an effort to create those times in the kitchen influencing our children to put God first in their lives so that when they are building a home they will also endeavor to put Jesus front and centre... 

Many children come home to empty houses because Mama needs to work and that is not her fault.. But.. Whenever there is a chance or opportunity to make it special then take time to make the effort.. 

After that we learned how to make artisan bread as seen HERE  on YouTube... 

Also Michael Smith's Heritage bread HERE..

When they arrived it was baking away in the oven and certainly smelled great.. 

Next, we all sat around with fresh coffee and peeled a whole roaster full of apples and made Roasted Vanilla Apple Sauce .. 

While it roasted away in the oven we enjoyed our lunch..

The girls brought homemade soups, salads, rolls and desserts.. 

Delicious.. 

And the fellowship was so sweet.. 

After lunch I showed them a way to make your kitchen a bit more festive by using Christmas tea towels to make a curtain.. 

As seen HERE ON MY PINTEREST BOARD..

It still wasn't over as we then made a recipe box, menu box, kid's poster box or what have you out of a cereal box.. 

Using paper lunch bags and an Elmer's glue stick.. 

A magazine pic or a bit of scrap booking papers.. 

So easy.. 

Oh yes and some distress ink.. smile.. 

The girls did some very neat work.. eh?  

We had lots of door prizes, too, because dear Janet brought so many.. 

Thank you, Jan..

We put the applesauce into mason jars for the ladies to take home to try... 

I hope they liked it.. 

All in all it was a thumbs up day.. 

We were so happy to have several guests and pray they will come back again.. 

There was homework passed out and if you would like I will email it to you.. 

Please just email me at keepersofthehome@hotmail.com and I will forward it to  you... 

Thanks so much for dropping by today.. 

I need to go get ready for church tonight but I look forward to reading your lovely comments.. 

Take care and may God bless your kitchens and give you a new incentive to turn it into a room where God is centre and joy is complete... 

Hugs from New Brunswick.. 

WE REMEMBER...