Cold weather days ...

Welcome to the Blessed Hearth this day.. 

So glad you dropped by.. 

Hope all is well with thee.. smile.. 

How is the weather in your part of the world?  

We had a couple of warm days and one was even record breaking.. 

Then overnight  the temps dropped back to very cold.. 

Typical, I guess for this time of the year..

The hunting season will soon be over for another year.. 

Our oldest son and oldest grandson got their deer.. 

A little bit of excitement for them.. smile.. 

Trevor and I had a little laugh together.. 

He has my Dad's gun ... 

Dad would go hunting every Fall without fail but the dear man never shot a deer.. 

But his gun shot one this week.. sigh...

I wish he could know.. smile.. 

He is certainly in a better place and we would not wish him back but sometimes you just wonder what he would say.. 

He never had a son and now we have all of these boys.. smile.. 

Sorry about that but sometimes I just get to missing him.. 

On with the show... grin.. 

I don't have anything very exciting or creative for you all.. 

Just another post of my doings as we say here... 

The thing about being retired is that you run the roads a lot.. 

This week we went to the farm for a day...

Made another broccoli salad... 

Set the old harvest table once again just for the two of us..

Made a banana bread and burnt the edges again.. 

That dumb  great stove... grin.. 

Made a casserole of chicken, rice and mushrooms..

Then ate too much of it.. 

Well, actually I only ate half of my chicken and Terry only ate half of his.. 

Brought the leftover casserole and chicken home and just added some carrots and chicken broth and had the best soup... 

You know me and my soup.. grin.. 

Terry went back to the farm today but I stayed home and did some much needed cleaning.. 

This pantry needed it badly, believe me.. 

I love it when it is all tidied up but it does not stay that way.. 

See that little flour canister there?

Isn't it dear?

I found it yesterday when we went to town at the thrift store.. 

Only $1.99... 

I know I did not need it but how often can you find something like that for two bucks?

Right?

Oh.. and I bought a huge old cloth Santa for three dollars.. 

I think I can make him prim.. 

I will let you know.. later, that is.. smile.. 

After all of that hard work cleaning today I decided since we both are going to stop eating sweet stuff on Monday that perhaps I might make this tonight for dessert.. 

It was very good... 

Here is the recipe I have used for many years.. 

Just click HERE..

We did not have ice cream.. 

Terry and I cannot have it in the house.. 

We both said at the same time tonight how nice it would be to have a scoop.. 

It was still delicious even without it.. 

Well, my dears I guess that is all for tonight.. 

I had a lovely conversation today with a dear girl in Maine.. 

Thank you for the lovely chat, Julie.. 

We do hope to meet in person some day.. 

Take care my friends and I look forward to hearing from you all.. 

The comments are the icing on the cake as far as blogging goes..

I know you don't always have time to leave me a note but when you do it makes my day.. smile..

God bless..

Projects and Friends..

Hello there my dears.. 

Hope you had a happy Monday.. 

One of my favorite days of the week as you all know.. 

So much potential available today.. 

With that in mind I took a couple of pics.. 

This is our Dining / Living Room... 

I made a list of to do things.. 

This room is at the top almost.. 

I need to once again reorganize my Sun/Craft room ..

 I really need to do this so that I can start my Christmas gift list... 

Just as soon as that is done I would like to get this finished by Christmas, too.. 

Here is another view of the room...

As you can see the style is not the one I prefer.. 

I LOVE country primitive.. 

Now this is a wee bit country and too much of the old style Victorian.. 

 I love my antiques as they were mostly handed down to me from my great aunt and such.. 

So... it is not the furniture that I can change but I really would love a whole new look that is much more Country.. 

Now... 

How can I do that on a very tight budget and not a lot of redoing...

I don't think Terry will let me change the floor although I would love wood.. 

He just has too much other stuff that needs done worse ... 

So.. 

This project is in my hands alone and anybody that I can con  coax, 

bribe beg or blackmail  persuade to help me... 

I think Terry might paint if I could get all of that wallpaper and gross  old fashioned border off.. 

I think I could do that.. 

Then what?  

I already hinted that perhaps we could get rid of the couch set but I guess that is not going to happen.. 

We will be changing to a smaller house sometime and this will do for us until then.. 

We seldom use this room as we have the family room on the other side of the wall ... 

Oh well..

The wood wall there is British Columbia Cedar so we were told when we bought the place.. 

I would love to paint it a lovely creamy shade.. 

Brighten it up a bit..

 I had him convinced to do that awhile ago but men sometimes change their minds.. 

Do you think that would be a good idea?

Then paint the other walls something not cream but not dark either.. 

New window dressings and what else do you think? 

Shonda is a great help with this type of thing but she is more modern then I... She has good ideas, though... 

I should call her.. smile..

I know my friend Tammy is reading this and we think a lot alike when it comes to decor but she can do whatever she likes.. 

Her husband has no opinion and lets her do her thing.. 

The thing about her situation is that she does the work.. 

I don't... He does.. 

So, he has an opinion.... 

I would love to hear your ideas..

Speaking of friends.. 

I had a lovely beginning to my week today.. 

I met with two of the best friends a girl could have.. 

Pam and Tammy... 

We meet at what I call the halfway house for a lovely lunch.. 

Halfway between their homes and mine..

This is my friend Pam.. 

Isn't she a sweet looking thing? 

Just like my sister in every way.. 

People even think we look alike.. 

eh, Pam?  

And this is Tammy and I...

Do you think we are having fun?  

We chatted and laughed and acted scandalous.. grin..

And ate far too much.. 

This is the dessert favored by us all.. 

Guess what it is?  

Anyway, my friends I have so much to be thankful for.. 

I have some of the dearest friends there are... 

I saw this and just had to add it..

Isn't that true?

And my friends always come through for me.. 

Jesus is my best friend and of course Terry but God has also provided me with some here on earth that mean the world to me.. 

You girls that I may never meet are some of the sweetest.. 

And even though some are older and some are you dear younger keepers out there I think that you are all so awesome... 

Thank you for being my friend.. 

I hope you have time to leave me some of your ideas or just a note...

God bless... 

LINKED TO..A THOUSAND WORDS..

Saturday's Ramble and Roll...

Good Evening everyone.. 

We have had such a beautiful Saturday here in the Maritimes of Canada.. 

Very windy out so I thought I should get a few more things dried on the line.. 

It has been a very busy day but the best kind of busy.. 

Just doing things I wanted to do.. 

No pressure to get something done for a particular reason.. 

Just doing it because.. smile.. 

At Cow Town in Sussex they have 50 pounds of squash on for 13 dollars, I think... 

Terry's garden only had about a dozen of them and as this is one of our fave veggies we bought a bag.. 

I am also trying to do the $!00.00 bulk buying challenge so this fit the bill.. 

They will not keep all Winter so we freeze it.. 

Usually, we cook and scoop and freeze but a customer in the shop told me she does it this way.. 

Just peels, cubes and freezes it and then just has to cook it.. 

So we are giving that a try..

Also... 

Costco now has Honey Crisp Apples which were cheaper even then the market... 

I would have bought them there but they did not have seconds.. 

The price at Costco was the best and I was afraid I would not be able to get any more.. 

I dried the whole lot of them.. 

I think it is a 6 pound bag which is not much but cost $10.00

A lot of wonderful snack food though.. 

When we were down to the cottage this week I picked some more herbs..

Some lovely oregano.. 

They have not had much frost yet.. 

The benefits of being by the Bay of Fundy... 

After we peeled and cubed the squash I just put them in plastic bags..

Took the air out with a straw and Ta DA... 

All finished... 

Mom told me that my Aunt Leatha used to do hers that way, too.. 

How do you girls freeze your squash..

 Or do you?  

Don't these look good?

After they are dried I store 36 slices in a brown paper lunch bag (si they don't get soggy like in a plastic one)... 

Why 36 slices you may ask... grin.. 

Each apple had about 18 slices so that is equal to 2 apples.. 

When Terry and I go for a drive or some such thing then I grab a bag and we each have an apple for a treat.. 

Dried that is.. 

smile.. 

Here is a close up of that table cloth that I had hung out on the line..

Isn't that beautiful?

I bought it at a auction, I think.. 

Reminds me of Scotland.. 

The home of some of my ancestors.. 

We have some Irish ones, too.. 

eh, Christine... grin..

Some more herbs from the cottage..

I grew a big pot of basil mint for the first time this year.. 

I loved it and will try to get it again next Spring, Lord willing.. 

I put it in a salad today..

Another bottle of homemade salad dressing.. 

Why do people buy this stuff?  

Homemade is so much tastier and better for you.. 

Dustin and his lady were here today after they had been to the Farmers Market this morning.. 

She told me that they had the same kind at the market and she told Dustin to tell me how much it cost..

He said it was $16.00 :-)

She looked at me and laughed at my expression.. 

She said she bought it once.. 

Oh my..

 Even if it was 100 percent organic I don't think that even makes sense.. 

Do you? 

Anyway.. half of that loaf went home with her.. smile.. 

Then I did up a bunch of bottles... 

They need to go to the cold room until they are needed for the next time.. 

Some quinoa salad.. 

A nice Saturday lunch and I was craving it.. 

Do you ladies make it?  

Then here is a gift from my Mom..

Another box of lace that I had at the shop.. 

I may have showed this to you before.. 

I can't remember but it is for my lace cupboard since it came from Mom... 

You know how I love this stuff..

And a gift from our youngest son.. 

What could you buy Faye Henry from the Farmers Market and make her day?

Right:-)

Homemade Patchouli Soap.. 

It smells heavenly.. 

What a dear lad he is.. 

We enjoyed their visit as always.. 

Well, dear hearts that is all for tonight.. 

I should call this Ramble and Roll... grin.. 

I think I will.. 

I do ramble on sometimes and roll from one topic to another..

Sorry...  

Have a blessed Lord's Day tomorrow.. 

It is also a day of Remembrance here in Canada.. 

So thankful for a free nation made possible by our dear veterans..

We must never forget... 

God bless ...

LINKED TO..FARMGIRL FRIDAY BLOGHOPBARNHOP....

ALSO LINKED TO ...

Company at the farm today..

Hello everyone.. 

So glad you dropped by the Blessed Hearth.. 

My, it is cold here.. And we had snow.. Terry said he heard the plows out about 5 a.m.  

I am glad I did not hear them or I might not have got out of bed.. grin... 

You probably all know by now how I feel about the Winter weather.. 

Oh well.. Spring is on it's way as my better half always puts it.. 

Thank you so much for all of your precious comments last post.. 

I know I sometimes get up on my soapbox but I think that is what blogging is all about.. 

I am glad you came back.. smile.. 

Today we were at the farm... 

It was windy and wild there but that was a good thing since Terry had to stay inside and work on the back porch.. 

He also hung the shelf in the above pic for me... 

The kitchen is small so this space comes in handy.. 

I need to change a few things but that will come later.. 

When that was finished... 

(I had to hold the shelf so he could hammer a dowel in for me.. Then he stripped a piece of copper wire and I made S hooks to hang some things... )

I made this fancy lunch.. smile.. 

Tomato Soup and my style of panini sandwiches.. 

Bread with tomato and cheese weighted down with a copper teakettle.. 

And one of the Grandma's Pickles that I did in the Fall.. 

Wow... are they sour but so good.. 

No.. Terry doesn't like them...

Reminded me of Gram and Kings Landing...

Oh and I made a loaf of bread and put it out by the wood stove to rise and we both peeled a few pumpkins and I put them on to cook.. 

I cut my thumb and all we could find to wrap it with was paper towel and electrical tape.. grin..

Then after the dishes I started making this..

My Mom and her hubby and son were going to drop in so I wanted to make a dessert...

I saw this on a site and pinned it to my PINTEREST

But I could not find the right tin.. 

I even looked on EBay and Kijiji... 

No luck..
(if any of you dear girls know where I could buy one of these then please let me know) 

Well anyway..

We were in St. Martins yesterday and finally got it all closed down.. 

It was a very dull but windy day.. 

And cold.. 

Anyway as I was gathering a few of my soap making and candle supplies I noticed a tin that I had in case I wanted to make prairie cakes or such.. 

I thought it might work for the pies.. 

I packed it and brought it home.. 

Probably this is your last view of St. Martins from me for awhile...

It seems so forlorn to me at this time of year but the residents love it because all of us Summer people have flown the coop and returned home.. smile.. 

They have their town back...

On with the story... 

I took it to the farm with me today and scalded and cleaned it.. Dried it on the wood stove and thought I would give it a try.. 

About that time my Mom and Gerald and Hardy arrived.. 

My Mom is a pie maker extraordinaire.. 

I had to finish these with her watching me... 

That's my excuse why they do not look so great ... grin.. 

She said to me how much fun it is doing things like that.. 

I agree.. 

It was fun but I forgot to take a pic when they came out of the oven.. 

C

They don't look as good as the ones in my pin.. 

Their pan is bigger so I need to practice or pray I can find the right tin.. 

Mom had brought me a jar of her mincemeat and I used it along with a bottle of my apple pie filling and of course the pumpkin we cooked.. 

I forgot to take pics of Supper as there were so many people in that little kitchen.. 

My Mom gave me the most wondrous compliment.. 

She wanted to know how on earth I had made such lovely flaky pie crust... 

Imagine that... 

Here is my recipe.. 

Don't tell though as it is a secret and is completely opposite what they tell you to do... 

OK?

Faye's Pastry Recipe.. 

3 cups of flour 

1/2 of a pound of lard.. 

1 tsp. of salt.. 

up to 1/2 of a cup of COLD water.. 

The secret is to use soft lard and use your hands to work it all in before you add the water 1 T. at a time with a fork.. 

They always say to use cold lard but this is how I always do it and everyone always goes on about how flaky it is.. 

Try it and let me know how you make out... 

Here is for the pumpkin pie filling.. 

I forgot the recipe so this is what I made up.. 

2 c. of pureed cooked fresh pumpkin 

3/4 cup of white sugar

1 tsp. of salt

2 tsp. of our homemade pumpkin spice

Stir well.. 

Add 3 eggs... 

1 can (12 oz.) canned milk.. 

Blend really well .. 

The oven there is so hot that I have a hard time not to burn stuff but here at home I would cook it at 400 degrees F. for 15 minutes and then turn it down to 350 degrees F. until the centre is firm.. 

About half of an hour, I think.. 

This is all for tonight, I guess.. 

Thanks so much for your sweet visit and welcome to our new friends on the blog.. 

I am zonked.. Heading to bed.. 

It is pouring rain outside so my window will be open.. smile.. 

Luv ya all..  

It's all about ME...

Good Evening my dears.. 

How are you all?  

A very cold day here in Maritime Canada again .. 

We have had such a lovely warm Fall that these temps simply surprise us.. smile.. 

Hanging clothes out on the line today my hands were so cold.. 

Not many line days left, I am thinking.. 

Anyway... 

Instead of a how to kind of post today I am writing just words.. 

smile.. 

I read a post today that got me thinking..

It was kind of about this ME generation we are living in.. 

We live in such a blessed day and although there is strife on every hand we still have so much more then there has ever been down through the ages..

So much more.. 

I grew up in a poor home.. 

We had food on the table and a roof over our heads..

 Our  Dad worked very hard at his job and then fixed up old cars in the evenings after he got home to try and make enough to renovate our home and get a few extras..

We did not have much but I did not feel less or even think about the fact that we were poor ... 

In our home Jesus Christ was the centre and the church family meant so much to us.. 

Hospitality was a given.. 

Any visiting preacher or friend usually found their way to our dining room table... 

We did not have fancy food.. 

I do not remember having anything except moose or deer steak until I married Terry.. 

Beef steak was not something we could afford.. 

But whatever we had my parents  shared whenever they could.. 

Down through the years since we married our family have not had to go without.. .. 

We both worked hard and God has blessed that..

Although we are not rich we do not need to fret..

All that could change in a moment ...All could be lost..

The world is on a rock and roll trip and we don't know what kind of destruction could be around the corner.. 

The only solid thing we really have it the God of our soul. 

He alone remains the constant.. 

To be honest I get so fed up with parents trying to give their children everything that is available for them..

Don't get me wrong.. 

I loved giving my children more then I ever had growing up but when it becomes necessary for families to work harder at providing the entertainment and gadgets then it does to give them a family life based on Christ then there is something wrong with the picture.. 

The question of where will my child spend eternity is not even a consideration anymore in the world at large.. 

The Bible is not anything that they use to base their lives on.

Some do not even believe it to be true let alone necessary..

Life is about ME and MINE.. 

What anyone does is not an issue so long as it does not interfere with ME.. 

Parents focus more on keeping up with whatever is current and entertainment events then with family devotions or deeming it necessary to take their family to church.. 

When I meet someone who once lived for the Lord and then turn their back on Him I am always amazed.. 

Not that they turned their back on Christ because people fall away.. But when they take their children with them and don't even care about how it will affect their eternal souls then I just can't grasp it..

From the very first breath that wee babe took until they lay me in the sod my life is not about ME anymore.. 

It is about that sweet smelling bundle that I hold in my arms.. 

They grow up and build their own lives but my life is still about them and theirs.. 

The only thing on this earth that I will take with me to Heaven are my precious children... 

I just pray oh Lord.. 

Don't let me fail... 

I know that so many of you who read this blog do not fit this situation.. You love God and your families and you work hard at putting Him at the centre of your homes and lives but you are not the majority.. 

This world is on a one way street.. 

Very wide and very accommodating.. 

It leads away from the creator of our souls.. 

We so need to put Him back in his rightful position.. 

First in our lives and our thoughts and our homes..

We need to decide that it is not about ME but it is about HIM... 

 I hope I have not upset you but every once in awhile as an older keeper of the home I feel a need to share a few things that lay upon my heart.. 

smile.. 

 Our world needs God and we must share the good news..

Jesus Christ fills the empty spaces of hearts and homes.. 

He makes a difference...

Take care dear hearts... 

xo