I've got too much to gain to lose...

Hello my dears.. 

Welcome to the Blessed Hearth this lovely evening in July.. 

Don't you love Summer? 

We had rain and sun today but just right temps.. 

My friend just phoned me tonight.  They arrived in St. Louis and it was 107 degrees.  Those poor dear people.. 

Hopefully, it will cool down some soon there.. 

Anyway... 

We got the jam all made..

It turned out lovely and we froze quite a few too...

Do you girls still have strawberries or have you gone onto greater things?  grin.. 

Here is a pic I took today at the shop..

Which has been doing very well.. 

Thank you, Lord.. smile...

A little lavender wreath and a wonderful hand embroidered large tablecloth done in the thistle.. 

Very good condition.. 

Here is one of my herb beds that is slowly starting to gain some headway...

I will show you one later when it gets going better.. 

We were so late moving down here that the flowers are pretty slow..

We had salad for Supper along with steak and potatoes..

BBQ.. of course..

I made a new dressing and thought you might like it.. 

We loved it and even put it on the potatoes that he cooked on the BBQ.. 

Here is the recipe.. 

Take a large clove of garlic and chop it up on your cutting board along with 1/4 tsp. of sea salt and make a paste with the side of your knife.. 

Place into a small bowl along with 2 T. white wine vinegar, a few flakes of red pepper flakes, 1/4 tsp. black pepper and 1/3 cup of olive oil... 

I added a squirt of mustard, too.. 

Whisk very well and let sit for an hour or so.. 

Just add some fresh herbs to your salad if you want herbs..

If there is any dressing left then it will keep a couple of days in  your fridge.. Don't leave it out with fresh garlic in it.. 

Thank you all for visiting.. 

Just love having you.. smile...

I hope you have a blessed Sunday..

Thinking on the Lord here a bit tonight.. 

I just watched a YouTube of a dear pastor (Caroll McGruder) who we know singing the song...

I've Got Too Much To Gain To Lose.. 

How true... 

You know I have traveled this road for 50 years.. 

Imagine.. 

I was 9 years old when Jesus saved my soul and filled me with His precious Spirit... 

It was many years ago but He has remained constant.. 

Always there and always available.. 

I fail but His mercy is enduring.. 

Where would I be if He had not been there all those times?

Times of joy and times of grief... 

He has not only been my guide but my healer.. 

my joy and my life..

He is my everything.. 

When all seems lost then I just need to call out to Him.. 

He knows me and loves me.. 

He grants me strength and forgiveness.. 

He is coming soon, my friends..

As for me...

 I have too much to gain to lose.. 

Too many sunsets lie behind those mountains

Too many rivers my feet have walked through

Too many treasures are waiting over yonder

I have too much to gain to lose.. 

As this pastor says... 

I've read the back of the book and I know..

Yes, I am Pentecostal.. smile.. 

You didn't guess that before, eh?  grin... 

God bless you sweet dear ladies tonight.. 

Sending you all hugs.. 

LINKED TO STONEGABLE'S MENU MONDAY

Busy Summer Days...

Good Evening, my dears... 

So glad to get a chance to chat with you all again.. 

What a busy time we have been having.. 

I know... everyone is busy these days..

Anyway... 

We needed to go home again so away we went laundry and all on Monday evening... 

It was nice to be home and get that started... 

Then on Tuesday we went to Moncton to get our truck appointment for a check over done.. We stayed in and visited Dustin as we had not seen him on his birthday.. 

Then we attended an auction.. I only purchased a couple of things.. 

A beautiful soap dish, a bird thing and 3 lovely old books.. 

I was so tired that we left and went home.. 

We had to get up at the crack of dawn as Terry needed to till the garden and finish the mowing he started when we got home from the auction... 

I had to pack stuff... laundry, craft supplies, and stuff for the shop.. 

Then with cups of coffee and cheese toast in hand we along with Sammi headed for the strawberry fields... 

While my dear man picked berries...

I went into Sussex to pick up prescriptions and such.. 

An hour later I was back and he was almost finished...

Eighteen quarts ready for the jam pot....

One of our dear old pastors was there picking.. I asked him how old he was and said he was 82... Imagine... smile...

The fields surrounding the berries were filled with sheep...

And lots of grains growing...

Wheat blowing in the summer breezes... 

Oh, Summer.. you are so lovely....

And this old lone pine tree... 

See the cattle eating their hay at the bottom... 

I wonder how old this tree is and what it has seen in it's many long years of life..

With the berries packed in the back with everything else we headed to Fredericton again for my appointment ... 

Grand Lake ....

Gorgeous, eh?  See the sailboat and cottages along the far shore.. 

Such a beautiful country we live in.. 

The Lord has truly blessed us.. 

Then back to St. John and to the cottage.. 

Unpacked the truck and just had fresh buns, ham and salad veggies for Supper.. 

I didn't even check my emails.. 

Just headed for bed... 

Then this lovely morning we cleaned all of the berries, put almost all of our stuff away and I headed for the shop...

I left a note saying I would be open and am so glad I did.. 

Such a busy afternoon.. 

I sold an old doll to a sweet girl along with the old baby shoes, a lovely old print and a vintage suitcase.. 

I told her I thought we had the same taste.. grin... 

Then there were several others, too.. 

Some bought old silver. dishes and a trunk... Some vintage fabrics and an old magazine rack along with homemade pickles, jams and jellies.. A crow picture, saltwater taffy and more... 

A very good day... 

Thank you, dear Lord for your blessings.. 

While I was working over there Terry vacuumed and scrubbed through downstairs and cooked the veggies for Supper..

Such a wonderful man I married.. 

Isn't God good?  smile...

Tomorrow morning I hope to get the jam made... 

And thank you for dropping by.. 

Welcome to the new followers.. So glad you joined the site.. 

I so appreciated all of your sweet comments last time.. 

You guys rock... smile.. 

Sending you all a great big hug... 

At the close of another day...

Hello my friends.. 

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and to my fellow Canadians I hope you had a lovely Canada Day.. 

Such a beautiful weekend here in Eastern Canada.. 

Lots of sun and lots of people around.. 

My shop was very busy.. 

Thank you, Lord.. 

I was so happy when a few girls came in and said they were so excited when they saw we were open again.. smile.. 

Now, another day is drawing to a close..

Another month is over.. 

And now it is July..

Looking forward to having the Keepers of the Home here at the end of the month for their over niter... smile..

There was not any church tonight as it is camp meeting time ... 

It was too far for us to go so we went out to a very special place 

here in St. Martins.. 

Salmon River Bed and Breakfast... 

Wonderful food..

And we ate out on their lovely veranda...smile..

Anyway, I got an idea for the salad for the Keeper's Supper..

Now to come up with the rest of the menu.. 

smile..

The shop will be open again tomorrow so I had better bid you all a fond adieu and go upstairs and listen to the tide come in.. 

Thank you for your dear visit and I wanted to tell you how much I appreciated your encouraging notes last time.. 

I did need to hear you are out there.. 

Sometimes, I think I need to take a break from blogging but if you are reading then I will try to keep writing.. 

Deal?  grin.. 

Sending hugs your way...

A Fine Friday here by the sea...

Hello dear hearts.. 

Here we are enjoying another Friday evening here in St. Martins by the sea... smile.. 

What a beautiful day we had.. 

This morning the sun shone in our bedroom window and woke me at 6:30 am... And Sammi of course.. He starts walking and clicking his nails on the wood floors.. Drives me crazy so either Terry or I get up with him.. Well, today I stayed up as it was so nice out.. 

The air smells like the sea as I let the dog out.. 

I stand there and take great gulps of it.. smile..

Then on goes the coffee and I come in the living room where the sun shines through the bay window and talk to the Lord for a bit.. 

This morning I was praying for my friend Mamabug's husband.. 

She has a blog and lives in Florida and we have become friends.. 

Her husband has a heart blockage and needs prayer.. 

Could you join me in praying for him.. 

She is a dear girl and loves him very much.. 

God is faithful and he still heals our bodies even today.. 

After Terry arose (smile) I talked him into taking me to the city to buy some plants.. 

I feel bad as I hardly have any decorating done yet here at the cottage.. So away we went and I got my plants.. 

Lord willing tomorrow I will get them in.. 

I opened the shop this afternoon but there was no one around hardly.. I did get the work room sorted through, though.. 

And I managed to make a few small things.. 

This is a little sewing kit that I put together..

It only costs $15.00... 

Anyway... 

When I came over Terry had a couple of pork steaks (cheap but one of his faves) out thrawing.. 

So we had our first meal alfresco et duex... 

Pardon my French... 

Not all Canadians are bilingual...grin...

Do you like BBQ meals?  

We do most of the time..

Tonight we were both tired and did not put much effort into it.. 

Steak, potatoes and coleslaw... 

Pretty basic I'm thinking... 

Now for a lovely cup of tea...

 Hoping business picks up pretty soon.. 

This is a long weekend here in Canada as we celebrate Canada Day and our youngest son has his birthday..

Such a dear lad... 

Anyway, my friends thank you all for visiting.. 

So glad you stopped by.. 

Drop me a note if you have the time.. 

I don't think these posts lately are very informative but it is my day to day life.. I hope I haven't bored you all silly.. smile.. 

Sending love and prayers your way... 

Just an ordinary day....

Good Evening my dears.. 

Welcome to the Blessed Hearth tonight.. 

It is an another rainy day here in the Maritime provinces of Canada... 

We had a few hours of sunshine today, though but the rain is falling again... 

I went over and opened the shoppe..

There is still a lot of pricing to do and such... 

My desk sits here beside this window..

I made some tags for the Lavender Bath Cookies that I made.. 

For the recipe  CLICK HERE...

I tore some pictures out of wrapping paper and glued them on my tags...

Then used brown stamping ink to age them and wrote the instructions on the back.. 

I wrapped the cookies in cheesecloth..

And added some lavender buds and tied them with string...

There... 

Already to sell ... 

That was fun... smile..

Then the best part of my day...

My sweet cousin Bugsy dropped by to see me..

What a dear friend she is.. 

We are kindred spirits in so many ways.. The best part is that we are sisters in Christ.. 

We talked and laughed and I showed her around the place.. 

She is a new reader of the blog and we chatted about that.. 

Then we shared some concerns.. 

We all have them, don't we? 

As she was leaving we hugged each other and just as natural she prayed with me... 

So precious... 

Thank you, Bugs... 

I guess it was not such an ordinary day after all.. 

Smile.. 

I thank God for my dear family... 

Thanks for dropping by sweet friends.. 

Until we chat again... 

May Jesus be your friend and guide... 

Hugs...

A Summer Weekend Country Style...

Hello everyone... 

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a great beginning to a new week.. 

We just returned here to the cottage tonight.. 

What a busy weekend.. 

The first few weeks here are kind of hectic trying to get everything down from home and getting the cottage and shop up and ready..

Yes...

 Most days it is worth the trouble..

 Especially, those hot days back home.. 

Then I am so glad to be here in the fresh sea air..

Meanwhile.. we are busy getting it all together.. smile.. 

I hope I don't sound like I am complaining because I know it is such a blessing and hard work never killed anyone or so my Mother always told me.. 

I believe I passed that bit of knowledge onto my children.. grin....

I know you all like photos so I took a few of our weekend.. 

On Sunday we went to our home church and then home.. 

We had lunch and a nap and back to church for the evening.. 

It was lovely to sleep in our water bed that night... smile.. 

On Monday morning Terry decided he had better head to the farm to mow the grass so I packed a lunch and some craft work and away we went.. 

(Leaving the line full of clothes and the washer still humming.. grin)

We do not have a washer here ... sigh...

Here are a few country scenes you might like..

That donkey and turkey are two of my favorite neighbors up at the farm.. 

I watch for them every time... 

Then as we were driving along Prosser Brook I told Terry I had spied something lovely.. 

The dear man turns the truck and trailer with the lawn mower on it around and back we go.. Turn the whole thing around again and slowly watching I spied them again.. 

A Mother Duck and about a dozen babies.. 

So dear.. 

We stopped but I just was not smart enough to catch their picture..

This is all I ended up with..  

They disappeared under a overhang of trees.. 

Terry threw a rock and they went squawking and quacking.. 

It was so sweet.. 

What a lovely thing to see out in the wild.. 

I did take a pic of these.. 

Wild honeysuckle.. Maybe???

We checked for the ducks again on the way home but they were gone.. 

On to the farm....

Lovely cattle just before our old place..

Actually, that is our land up on the hill behind them..

And here we are... 

The Lupins are all in bloom..

Aren't they pretty?

And there is the old place..

Sitting quietly on this Summer's Day.. 

The breeze blowing down from the Kent Hills.. 

The brook bubbling away and the birds singing praises to 

the Lord.. 

Terry started mowing and I decided to take a couple pics of the flowers growing around the yard..

Johnny Jump Ups that my dear Aunt Eva planted many years ago..

Wild roses grow all along the lane..

There will be lots of rose hips in the Fall.. 

I made lunch and tea dyed a bunch of tags for the shop.. 

It was so hot at home and the old farm house was nice and cool.. 

Then we headed home and Terry had more lawns to mow and I had more laundry and packing to do.. 

This morning we loaded the truck in the pouring rain and headed to Fredericton where I had an appointment.. 

I took this pic the other day when it was a lovely sunny day..

Our Capital City located on the historic St. John River.... 

Beautiful... 

Then back down to St. John where Terry bought some wood for our well house and then home here to our cottage by the sea.. 

Sammi is plain worn out... grin..

He was such a good boy today.. 

Spent practically the whole day in the truck and didn't cause a bit of fuss.. 

I think I will join him and say good night to you dear ladies.. 

Thanks so much for dropping by.. 

I am so glad you came.. 

And a welcome to the new followers ... 

Looking forward to reading your notes... 

Take care and God bless...

A Rainy Morning and the shop is opened...

Happy Saturday Morning everyone.. 

A very rainy one here in St. Martins today.. 

Very rainy as you can see.. 

Love a rainy day.... smile...

Kind of glad as it means I can dally around before I go over to the shop.. 

We did finally get it opened.. 

I have not any set hours yet as we need to go home and bring down more things.. We meant to only be here for a few days which turned into over a week.. smile.. 

So... we will be open this afternoon and then not until Wednesday... 

Just sharing a few pics with you...

I am sorry I have not been blogging very much.. 

Things will get back to normal soon.. 

Now that the shop is open I can concentrate into getting the cottage in shape.. 

We have enjoyed a few visitors already..

So the computer has taken a back seat..

I will try and get back soon..

I hope to post a give away that I am planning on here really soon.. 

Take care my friends.. 

Love and Prayers.. 

Faye.. 

Supper at the Cottage with a recipe...

Good Evening everyone.. 

How are you all doing?

We are having glorious weather here in St. Martins by the Bay of Fundy.. smile.. 

Our oldest son and family are on vacation in Ontario and I guess the weather is very hot and humid.. 

Then our youngest son dropped down to see us today and the first thing he said was how cool it was here.. He said it was really hot up home.. 

 I am glad to be here where we put the heat up this morning while we had our breakfast and then I wore a sweater over to work at the shop.. It did turn out sunny and warm but just right.. 

A lovely blessing... 

Anyway, I still do not have the shop ready..Yikes...

Dustin came down so I decided to spend some time with him and of course I needed to feed him.. smile..

He really enjoyed it and had two plates.. 

Bless his heart..

 Nice for him to have a home cooked meal.. 

You know what most bachelors eat.. grin... 

I was tired, though so it was a really simple meal.. 

This pantry is not really stocked for the summer yet..

Perhaps you would like this recipe.. 

It is just one that I make without measuring but there is no way you can mess it up... 

I don't think so anyway... smile.. 

Pasta with Broccoli and Lemon..

Put some water on to boil to cook as much pasta (I used spaghetti)

Make sure you put lots of salt in the water and cook as much as you think you need... 

Then while that is cooking slice up several large mushrooms and a couple of cups of broccoli or so.. 

Make sure the broccoli does not have long stems on them.. 

When you have them ready just add them to your spaghetti that is cooking..

 

It takes about 5 minutes or so to cook the mushrooms and broccoli..

Then shave off  as much Parmesan as you like and get a lemon ready to squeeze..

Drain your pasta and veggies and add a large tablespoon of butter and your cheese.. 

Stir well along with your squeezed lemon... 

You could just use lemon juice but I prefer fresh ones.. 

You could add a speck of cream, too, if you like...

Add a bit of freshly ground pepper and sea salt ...

We love this although I try not to make it very often.. 

Terry and I both like it too much.. smile.. 

Hope you try it and enjoy it... 

Just thought I would share a pic of my everyday dishes here at the cottage... 

You guys know me and my dish fetish..

Brown transfer ware... 

I like all different patterns.. 

Do you? 

What is your favorite transfer ware color?

Well... my dears... it has been a very long day and these old bones are tired.. 

I say that a lot lately, don't I?

Sorry... 

I doubt if I get open tomorrow but Friday for sure.. 

I am sorry I did not get to answer all the questions last time... 

As soon as I know my hours I will post them up top of my blog and my phone number... OK?

Our son just phoned to say he got back home.. 

He told me he wouldn't call.. grin.. 

He thinks I worry too much and he tries not to encourage my dependence on knowing where and how he is.. smile.. 

Us mothers are mostly all the same, though, eh?

So blessed to have such dear kids... 

Thank you, Lord.. 

Good night sweeties... 

Hugs..