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... 

These September Daze.....

Hello friends... 

Hope you are enjoying your September... 

Such a lovely month of the year and here in the Eastern provinces of Canada we are being blessed with wonderful warm weather even though we have had near frosts.. 

I need to bring in my geraniums soon to keep through the Winter.. 

They do not require much care and provide such cozy warm color all season.. Then I just take them back out and put them on the deck next Summer.. 

The one nice thing about being home again are the few visits we make up to our old farm back in the Kent Hills of New Brunswick.. 

We are quite busy here at home and could not stay long .. Terry mowed the grass and I puttered about in the kitchen.. 

Brought up a sweet old runner and wood basket from my shop... 

I like it there on the harvest table.. 

The little piece of lace on the handle has a donkey on it.. 

Imagine.. 

I couldn't sell that.. grin.. 

A dear lady gave me a whole box of kale... 

The world's most popular vegetable at this time.. 

So full of nutrients.. 

I froze a bunch.... 

And tried some kale chips... 

They were good although dear hubby was not impressed... 

I will sneak it into Winter soups for sure.. 

After he was finished mowing we went for a little drive.. 

He said he thought it would be nice to see the windmills again.. 

It was a beautiful sunny day at the farm but just a few minutes away up high was a lot of fog.. 

Some of the windmills you could barely see... 

Amazing aren't they?  

Then....

I found out why we really went for a drive.. 

Past the windmills my dear husband owns a wee wood lot.. 

I detest going up there because it is way up a winding high hill with barely a road.. 

By the time we got up there and back down I had been calling on the Lord to please get us out of there in one piece... 

I tell you sometimes I think the man has lost a couple of marbles.. 

Then he proceeds to tell me he thinks that he and Dustin will go up and take down a few maples and bring them to the farm.. 

Trust in the Lord with all your strength will be my verse for that day... smile.. 

On the sunnier side of my daze... I mean days are peaches.. 

Lots of them...

Peeled and sliced and mixed with a bit of sugar and frozen for the Winter.. 

To use on Vanilla Cake and Whipped Cream or on some Ice Cream Sundaes or perhaps a Fruit Salad... 

They will taste of Summer.. smile.. 

I imagine I am boring you stiff with all of my preserving and pickling stories but that is what I do this month and I love it... 

I am not complaining so perhaps I am bragging... grin... 

Please forgive me.. 

Here we have another almost 30 pounds of baby cucumbers made into Garlic Dill, Sandwich Dill and Nine Day Sweet Pickles.. 

The tea towel is covering some that are fermenting.. 

They are very healthy for you, you know.. 

Oh and I was blessed to find some more Queen Anne's Lace and made another batch of jelly as I sold it all at the Park sale.. 

I have made a sweet new friend on Blogger.. 

Her name is Michelle and she lives in England.. 

And you girls know how I love anything UK.. 

Well, she gave me a recipe for their type of beet pickles.. 

Over there they call it beetroot and of course we Canadians call them just beets but it is the same veggie.. 

Anyway, I have made a bottle Michelle... 

Thanks for the recipe... smile.. 

Try to go over and give her a wee visit as I am sure you will love her... 

Just click on her name above...

Now... 

I would like to share a poem that I found on the web that I thought was marvelous as it mentions another thing I love.. 

Mason Jars.. ..

Hope you will like it, too.. 

PICKLED

She gathered walnuts in June
on hot, clear days, when the nuts
were tender enough to pierce with a safety pin.
She soaked them in salt water
and baked them in the sun
until they turned black, wiped them dry,
and filled canning jars with vinegar, brown sugar,
cloves, peppercorns, and cassia buds.
She sealed the jars, carried them down
to the cellar, her knees nearly buckling
beneath the weight of walnuts,
then climbed the stairs back to the kitchen
and made sweet pickled pears
cooked in boiling water, soaked
in vinegar and sugar, cloves and cinnamon.
She pickled nasturtium seeds,
packed them in empty perfume bottles,
drenched them in vinegar —
little capers that impressed her friends
when she sprinkled them on chicken.
She pickled everything —
autumn leaves, peony blossoms,
hair pins, playbills, extra buttons,
letters from her mother —
all of these things preserved,
lined up in clear jars
on warped cellar shelves.
She loved the way the peaches glowed
when she pulled the chain
swinging beneath the light bulb,
loved the neat rows of specimens,
like screws at the hardware store.
On snowy afternoons in late December,
she cut out calendar squares
of days she wanted to save,
dropped them like wishes in a
wide-lipped Mason jar,
drowned them in vinegar,
sealed them in the sweet brine
of remembrance.

by..Cindy Hunter Morgan... 

Thank you, dear hearts for you visit and your comments, of course.. 

Praying that you have the peace of the Lord in your days.. 

xo

Spring Days on the Old Farm...

Good Evening everyone.. 

Hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day.. 

I was blessed to attend a Mother Daughter Breakfast with my Mom on the weekend and to see my children yesterday and today.. 

So thankful for my Mom and for my sweet kids.. Love them all so much.. 

We have started visiting our old farm once again.. 

Last week we went up for 3 days and had a great time.. 

Just sharing some pics of the old place.. 

We are still working on the porch room .... 

We are so slow... 

All in good time, I guess.. 

Made some batter breads while we were there and some farm meals.. 

Spent some time on the back stoop enjoying the sun and reading a few books.. smile.. 

This was the view one day.. 

A bit of rain moving in and a nice wind.. 

But it is always good to get back home, too.. 

We have to get home in time for hubby to watch hockey.. 

There he is.. 

Our fave player who is my cousin... 

Brad Marchand... 

It is a bit much for me.. 

I would rather read a good book.. 

Don't tell my cousins... grin.. 

How are you all doing anyway? 

I find the days are slipping by so fast and I am not being a very good blogger.. 

Please forgive me and I will try to do better.. 

Spring is slowly creeping in here but it is cold tonight.. 

Take care, dear hearts and may God bless and keep you..