Another ramble and roll...

Hello everyone. 

Just a little ramble and roll post for you all tonight.. 

My computer's battery is dead and I am having a bit of fun trying to keep it balanced so it will not shut off.. 

Hopefully, this week we will get a new battery but for now here we go.. 

Everything is almost back to normal here at home.. 

The boxes of Christmas trimmings have been taken to the basement and I took down all the boughs today.. 

Pictures need to be hung and a few more things restored but it is almost back.. smile.. 

We have been doing this and that.. 

Took a wee trip up to the old farm and when we came in sight of it we saw lots of smoke.. 

The farmer who uses our pastures had cleared another field and was burning the brush.. 

Terry had a great time talking to them while I dug out my old faithful book that I make sure is along with me.. grin..

In the Spring the farmer will plow and seed the field for another pasture for the cows.. 

We love that the farm is being used as a farm even if they are not our cows.. 

I am looking forward to Spring when we go and stay for a couple of days a week... 

You girls who have followed the blog have read past posts of those lovely days.. 

We have been enjoying bowls of soup and I noticed that my bottle of soup herbs are almost gone.. 

Another little chore to do..

Another little job was putting away or displaying Christmas gifts like the sweet owl pillow.. 

I noticed my Pregnant Onion plant has another baby.. 

So exciting!  smile.

We had a nice supper with my sweet aunt and cousins which was so much fun.. 

We enjoyed talking about Gram and Gramp and the old days when we were kids.

Dustin was out today and we had one of his favorite meals.. 

Hamburger Gravy and veggies.. 

I love it when the kids drop by... 

On Sunday we enjoyed worship services and great teachings and a bit of fellowship, too.. 

All in all it has been a nice couple of weeks as we go into the new year of 2016...

There is to be a big storm on Wednesday but hopefully it will not amount to too much..

I am going to be preparing for another Keepers of the Home meeting for the last Saturday morning of January.. 

If you would like to attend please email me or leave me a comment here or on the Face Book page... 

And I am getting my project list in order.. 

Finding supplies and such.. 

I want to make a centrepiece for the dining room table and hopefully a tied quilt.. 

What are your Winter projects?  

Thank you so much for your visit and I look forward to hearing from you all.. 

God bless.. 

Joining with JES at Art of Homemaking Mondays..

This Week in my Kitchen...

Hello everyone.. 

How are you all? 

Hope you are recovering from all of the festivities.. 

We were pretty quiet here after Christmas Day and everyone went back home.. 

It was a blessed day though full of joy .... 

Now we are all back to normal.. 

Or almost.. 

I still have my Christmas decor up and hope to get it all down this week.. 

We have an extra closet in our room which is my Christmas closet. 

Down through the years I have collected way too many decorations.. So the plan is that there will be a big decluttering! 

Then hopefully the closet will hold it all.. smile.. 

For the post tonight I thought I would do something I haven't done for awhile..

 This past week in my kitchen.. 

1.  Chinese Salad.. 

A delicious salad made with greens, celery, green pepper, bean sprouts, green onions, rice and cashews.. 

The dressing is made from oil, soya sauce and garlic.. 

2.. The herb cilantro that I used in salads and salsas.. 

3.. Mediterranean 7 spice.. 

This goes in lots of Middle Eastern (one of my faves) dishes.. 

Here is the recipe.. 

1 Tablespoon of each of these spices.. 

Black Pepper, Allspice, Cinnamon, Cumin, Coriander, Cloves and Ginger.. 

Whisk together and keep in a container.. 

I used a 250 gram size mason jars for this..  

4.. Mediterranean Rice.. 

This was such a nice rice and fluffs up perfectly.. 

Did you know that you only use a fork to stir your cooked rice? 

Anyway.. 

Here is a recipe for that, too.. 

I cut this in half and there was plenty for Terry and I.. 

The leftovers went into a tomato soup the next day.. 

Rice Recipe.. 

1/2 pound of ground beef 

2 cups long grain rice

4 cups water

1 tsp. 7 spice

salt to taste

1 T. olive oil 

Saute the beef for for 5 minutes and then add the rest of the ingredients . 

Cover and cook on low heat for 40 minutes.. 

Let stand for 10 minutes.  

This was served with just a salad with Middle Eastern Dressing.. 

1/2 cup of olive oil 

1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice

2 T. minced garlic

1 T. sumac or parsley

1 T. mint

Shake in a jar .. 

Store in fridge if you use fresh garlic.. 

Which I am sure you do.. smile.. 

On Sunday after church we had number 5.. 

Stir Fry over Rice.. 

I make this out of my head from whatever veggie and meat is in the fridge.. 

Sliced pork steak, onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, broccoli, garlic, ginger and soya.. 

6.  Steak and onions.. 

Mashed and Veggies.. 

Terry's type of food.. smile.. 

7.. Pasta and Meatballs .. 

My type of food.. smile.. 

8.. Tea and a maple bacon cookie.. 

I have given most of my baking away.. 

We just don't need it but just one last cookie, right?  

grin.. 

I loved these cookies and they were so easy as they were a mix with a can of maple bacon icing.. 

Oh my.. 

We bought the mixes when we were across the border in Maine.. 

I thought our grandsons would like them .. 

That is my story and I am sticking to it.. grin.. 

Well, luvies this is all for tonight.. 

I will share some of my January inspiration next time.. 

Now to answer your questions from last post..

Gayle.. 

I will need to ask the name of the Devotions book from my friend, as I had borrowed her post.. I will get back to you soon.. 

And about the cauliflower recipe..

 Karen.. 

Is this the lady who wanted the hot pickle recipe?  

I did a sweep in my inbox and lost your email so please comment again if this is the recipe you meant.. 

And Henny Penny.. 

Here is the link for the clothespin bag..

http://theblessedhearth.blogspot.ca/2012/04/making-clothes-pin-bag-and-little-study.html

God bless you dear girls.. xo

Winter in Albert County...

Have a great week, dear hearts... 

God Bless !!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, DEAR HEARTS !!

Laura Ashley photo credit 

Praying that you have a blessed year of 2016 !!

May you draw closer to our Lord and may you find joy this year..

Borrowed this from my friend..  

Loved it.. 

Thank you so much for your sweet visits and comments each time I post something on here.. 

I appreciate each and everyone of you... 

Hugs..  

So this was Christmas...

Hello everyone.. 

Welcome to the Blessed Hearth this day.. 

The above photos are just some sweet memories of our lovely Christmas Day !

We had a wonderful time with all of our children, grandsons and my Mom and Step-Father... 

They started arriving around lunch time after they had breakfast and opened their gifts at home... 

Terry was up early and we worked together and then everyone pitched in to get everything ready.. 

They were such a help.. 

This old gal is not quite what she used to be so I really appreciated all their efforts.. 

The turkey and ham got roasted and lots of veggies, stuffing and rolls..

Shonda brought this salad.. 

Apple and Candied Bacon Salad.. 

Soooo good... 

RECIPE HERE..

I made this salad...

Lemon Fennel Salad..

RECIPE HERE..

After dinner we all sat around and exchanged our gifts... 

Among the gifts were a few homemade ... 

Trevor made me a snowmen and Shonda filled a vintage cup with roses and carnations and made me a JOY board which I have loved for a couple of years.. 

These two are getting quite creative as they grow a bit older.. smile.. 

Later we had coffee, tea and desserts..

They brought pies and squares and I made Cherry Cheese Squares and this dessert.. 

HERE 

We all had a big laugh over me not wanting to share my birthday Tim Horton's coffee pods (our famous Canadian coffee) with everyone.. 

Shonda thought it was time for Terry and I to open a big present..  Written on the tag were the words.. 

To Terry and Faye from Santa and the word SHARE..

We all laughed so hard when we opened it up to find this.. 

 

 66 Tim Horton's pods.. 

lol.. 

Ok... I shared some of them.. hahaha... 

Then everyone did their thing.. 

Playing games, guitars and just laying about and talking.. 

So much fun.. 

As this Christmas week comes to a close I am just so thankful for the blessing of family that God has given us.. 

Our children are wonderful and our grandsons are so precious to us.. 

And very happy to still have my Mom and Gerald able to be with us and enjoy the day .

I know we all feel the same about our families, eh? 

So love the Christ of Christmas!!

Well, sweet friends, thanks so much for visiting this past year.. 

I appreciate your comments and emails and such so much.. 

Blogging is so much fun and sometimes I go through busy or dry times but you are on my mind and it is always good to get back to you all..  

I pray you have a great New Year's Day and that 2016 will be all you would like it to be.. 

May we all draw closer to our Saviour and put Him first in our lives.. 

Hugs..

Christmas Love....

Good Evening, dear hearts.. 

Well, I am almost ready... smile.. 

Actually, I still have quite a bit to do but the candles are lit, the tree is trimmed, some presents are wrapped and there is a bit of baking finished.. 

But still.. 

There is cleaning to do, desserts to make, more gifts to wrap, a bit more decorating that I would like to do and a turkey and ham to cook... 

So excited !!

Our babies will all be here on Christmas Day, Lord willing and it is to be a lovely sunny day.. 

There is even a bit of snow on the ground.. 

God is good.. 

Just shared a few pics of our tree and such.. 

I wrapped some of Terry's presents today.. 

I love this old Christmas song... 

PRETTY PAPERS

Just click on  the words above.. 

Such a beautiful song that reminds me of Christmas many years ago when we were young... 

I thought it would be nice to wrap my darling's presents in pretty papers and pretty ribbons of blue.. 

Do you suppose he will get the connection?   grin..

I remember our first Christmas Day together 45 years ago.. 

We were living in St. John and were planning on getting up first thing in the morning and packing up the gifts and Shonda and being home at Mom and Dad's in time for dinner.. 

We woke up to a humongous storm and there was no way we could get there.. 

We had not bought a turkey or anything since we thought we would be at our parents so we had to eat just hot dogs.. grin.. 

Terry gave me a sweet old bureau set as we called them then.. 

A mirror, brush and comb and a magazine rack which he wrapped in newspaper.. The sweet guy.. 

Then he dressed up in his coat and such and started shovelling all the way to the main street... 

Can you imagine?  

When he finished that we packed everything up and he put chains on the car and we headed to Salisbury.. 

By the grace of God we arrived at the foot of our street and had to walk up Boyd Street to get home as the side streets were not ploughed and it was supper time.. 

I still remember walking into the house.. 

My parents couldn't believe it and my sister was so excited!

They were happy to have Shonda there for her first Christmas..

Such sweet dear memories... 

I have been missing my Dad the last few days.. 

He loved Christmas so much...  

Well, my dear sweet friends I want to wish you the very best Christmas !!

May you put Christ first in your day as we remember the wonderful gift that was given to us on that day so long ago... 

And may you create many sweet memories for the pages of your heart...

Thank you so much for being such faithful readers this past year.. 

Also I love your comments and look forward to hearing from you each post... 

Thank you, too, for all of your emails and wee gifts and cards that find their way to my mail box.. 

You all rock... 

God bless your sweet hearts...