Lifted up in Prayer...

Hello there everyone.. 

Just a little posting tonight.. 

Sharing some pics with you of a little drive we took to the farm today just to check on it..

(For you who are new followers this is an old farm we bought from my aunt after she and her husband moved to the special care home and put it up for sale.. )

We use it as a getaway.. sort of... 

Anyway...

All is well there.. 

It is just sitting and waiting until Spring when once again we will go there and make dinner and have some friends over and just enjoy the old place.. 

On our way home we dropped by a honey farm and purchased a lovely bottle.. 

We also stopped in again and visited my aunts..

My precious Aunt Eva did not know me today.. 

The dear thing.. 

As I leaned over the bed and held unto her hand my heart was so full of sadness.. 

I do not want her to go.. 

Closing my eyes I whispered to God to please be with her.. 

I wanted to lift her up in prayer.. 

We say that sometimes and I was thinking of it.. 

I picture God looking down and there is a vast crowd but here and there  someone is lifted up above the crowd by others who are praying for them .. 

They are perhaps to overwhelmed to lift themselves up.. 

Too tired but we can pray for them and help lift them up and God hears and answers.. 

Aunt Eva is 89 and has lived a long time ... 

She went to our old farm as a young bride and 

moved into the farmhouse with her in-laws.. 

I remember them.. 

Her name was Carrie and his was Coonie.. 

We would go there on a weekend and sometimes in the summer cars would line the lane.. 

There would be a huge meal getting ready and there was a lot of talking and laughing going on... 

Lots of family.. 

We kids would always run to the spring and look for the trout.. 

Now fifty years later I still do the same thing.. 

Except that I don't run.. smile..

Aunt Eva worked very hard.. 

Her house was always spotless and her cooking was wonderful.. 

The old farmhouse burned and Aunt Eva and her husband built the house you see above in 1949..

But time moves on and we all get older.. 

Life winds down and all the joys of yesterday are gone.. 

We get old and fragile and then life comes to an end.. 

On this old earth, anyway but there is hope..

When we love the Lord and walk in his way our death is not the end but it is the beginning of eternity with Him.. 

The one who died for us.. 

The one who made a way of escape from this world of sin..

The one who paid the dept we could not pay.. 

The one we can pray to and he hears and understands.. 

He is there to lean on in times of sorrow and distress.. 

He gives joy... 

Wonderful sweet joy.. 

Thank you, Jesus...

Well, sweet ladies, thanks for visiting and listening to me once again.. 

 I look forward to hearing from you all.. 

Take care and God bless..  

Weekending...

Happy Monday to you all.. 

Another weekend has come and gone.. 

For us this was a very busy one but lovely.. 

Spring is so in the air here in Eastern Canada .. There are river watches and some wind and rain coming our way the next few days.. 

I love Spring.. 

My absolute most fave season.. 

Like a new beginning..

Fresh and new.. Full of lovely potential.. 

Flowers, herbs, new paint, lots of wind and rain (you know how I love that duo ) farm days with Terry, sheets on the line and perhaps a wee trip to Pa... 

Who knows.. 

On Friday we woke and took a little spontaneous trip across the border to Maine.. 

Terry had to go into the bank on our way to get some American money.. 

As he was leaving he noticed they had some cookies.. grin..

He asked if he could have one and they that they guessed he could this one time.. 

He came out and told me and we laughed for five minutes.. 

Small things amuse small minds.. grin.. 

Anyway, we had a lovely day.. 

Bought some fabric..

Found some lovely prizes for the Keepers meeting and a few grocery items.. 

On Saturday we stayed home and I experimented with the No knead bread recipe again.. 

You can find it HERE..

One of the Keepers emailed me that she had made the bread after our last meeting.. 

Janet said she had made small loaves as her bread pans were smaller than mine and her four growing boys loved it.. 

She said she had made a Parmesan Oregano one.. 

I couldn't wait to try some so I made 2 batches and divided them into four small loaves and did different Subway type versions.. 

Parmesan Oregano, Italian Herb and Cheese, Feta and Herbs and Wholewheat and Honey... 

I loved how they turned out.. 

After they rise the first time then divide them in two and add whatever choice you decide on.. 

I just guessed and kind of knead in the cheese and herbs and make into a roll.. 

Sprinkle some on top and let them rise again.. 

The cheese and herbs ones were the faves.. 

My dear Mom and her husband came over Saturday night for supper.. smile.. 

She always brings a few little things for me.. 

A lovely bundle of linen tea towels for me to make into bread bags...

The little antique sweater and bib that she picked up for me at the auction.. 

This was written on the back of the old box that they came in.. 

1951..

Older then I am.. smile.. 

Supper.. 

Boiled Dinner.. 

Then we had a wonderful Sunday.. 

Full of lovely church services and lots of company for lunch in the afternoon.. 

One of the Keepers and her children along with our daughter-in-law and grandsons... 

Their husbands were working.. 

It was another spontaneous thing so the food and table setting were very plain and done in a hurry.. 

Those kids were hungry.. smile.. 

Cheesy and kid friendly.. grin.. 

Coffee and afternoon chat with kids going everywhere.. 

Then back to church for another blessed service..

God is awesome.. 

He blesses us in many ways..  

Our sweet daughter and her family are back here on the good old Canadian terra ferma from Jamaica.. 

Very glad they are back.. 

And happy that you joined me this evening.. 

You are sweet to leave all of your lovely comments and even  sending me emails.. 

You make this blog so much fun.. 

Folks love face book but I do not find it creative for me.. 

Each to their own, I guess.. 

Blogging makes me sort of accountable for my time and my talents that God has graced me with and I feel like you are friends..

So thankful.. 

And welcome to the new followers.. 

Please note a few new sites on my blog list.. 

Hope you find them as inspiring as I do.. 

Take care, dear hearts.. 

Praying for you..  

A week of recipes #3 and 4..Vanilla Cake and Caramel Icing and a poem..

Good Evening all.. 

Another March evening has rolled around here in Eastern Canada.. 

It is definitely warmer but we still have snow.. 

Yesterday as I posted about the Keepers meeting I did not do the recipe challenge I set for myself..

And that was making a new recipe each night from Donna Hay's cookbook called OFF THE SHELF.. 

I did do the cooking just not the posting.. smile.. 

Therefore, tonight you will receive 2 recipes.. 

The first one is called 

Simple Vanilla Cake.. 

Here is the recipe for the cake which is very good.. 

8 ounces of butter

1 cup of caster sugar (I used granulated)

1 tsp. vanilla extract (I used pure)

3 eggs

2 cups of all purpose flour sifted

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. 

Line and grease an 8 inch pan with baking paper.. 

Place the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until creamy.. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well.. Sift the flour with the baking soda and fold into the egg mixture.. 

Pour into tin and bake for 1 hour or until skewer comes out clean.. 

Cool on a wire rack.. 

Now to confess my guilt.. 

I used my confection oven and did not turn it to 325 as stated but to 350 degrees.. 

So my cake was a bit hard on the edges but still delicious.. 

I must have been having a spas day as I also beat in the flour mixture for about 2 or 3 minutes like I usually do to this kind of cake.. 

It still was good.. grin.. 

Next time I will do it correctly, I hope.. 

Yes, there will be a next time for this recipe.. 

Okay.. 

This is the best caramel icing I have ever made.. 

Seriously.. 

And I am a sweets expert.. (sorry to say) 

Not that I am an expert baker but an expert taster.. 

Oh yeah.. 

Here is the recipe.. 

Caramel Icing.. 

In a small saucepan place 1/2 cup of brown sugar with 1 cup of cream (I used whipping cream as that was all that I had)

1 Tablespoon of butter and 1 Tablespoon of water.. 

Stir over medium to low heat until sugar is dissolved. 

Then simmer for 7 minutes (it took longer.. about 10 minutes) 

or until thick.. 

Cool until the icing is thick and then spoon over the cake.. 

OK.. 

Guilt confession..

 I did not realize until I typed this that I was supposed to wait until it cooled.. sigh.. 

I was having an off day.. 

Oh well.. 

As you can see it is a lovely thing.. 

And this morning the icing was still soft and delicious and not a hard type that breaks when you cut it.. 

Soft... 

So that is the recipe thing for tonight.. 

I do want to share one thing with you though.. 

Notice the empty bird feeder.. 

It is the time of year when you cannot keep them filled because of the invaders.. 

My friend, Elaine who blogs at OUR COUNTRY COVE CREW

once posted this poem and I have loved it so much ever since.. 

I'm a Starling Me Darling.. 

We're starlings, the misses, meself and the boys,
We don't go round hopin', we walks.
We don't go in for this singing all day,
And twittering about, we just squawks.


We don't go in for these fashionable clothes,
Like old Missel Thrush, and his spots,
Me breast isn't red, there's no crest on me head,
We've got sort of, hardwearing...dots.


We starlings, the misses, meself and the boys,
We'll eat anything that's about,
Well anything but that old half coconut,
I can't hold it still. I falls out.


What we'd rather do, is wait here for you,
To put out some bread for the tits,
And then when we're certain, you're there by the curtain,
We flocks down and tears it to bits.


But we starlings, the misses, meself and the boys,
We reckon that we're being got at,
You think for two minutes, them finches and linnets,
You never sees THEM being shot at.


So the next time you comes out to sprinkle the crumbs out,
And there's starlings there, making a noise,
Don't you be so quick to heave half a brick,
It's the misses, meself and the boys!

 by Pam Ayres..

When I first read it on Elaine's blog I called up my Mom and 

read it to her.. We both laughed so hard.. Thanks Elaine.. 

And thank you, dear hearts for dropping by.. 

God bless.. 

Keepers of the Home Meeting..

Hello.... 

Finally... 

A posting about our Keepers meeting which we held on Saturday morning.. 

Here are a few pics.. 

We had a really good turnout again.. 

I think we all look forward to a morning of sweet fellowship.. 

We always start by making breakfast together.. 

This day we had ham and then we made French Toast with homemade maple syrup with the recipe found HERE..

I always add a Tablespoon of real butter to the recipe.. 

We also had birds in the nest which is bread with the hole torn out and an egg cooked in the middle.. 

Along with juice and coffee or tea we all had our fill.. 

Then after tiding up we refilled our coffee cups and there was a wee lesson.. 

God + Family = A Christian Home.. 

We read in Matt. 7- 24-27 of where Jesus talked about the house which is built upon the rock. 

We know that Christ is the rock upon which we must build our lives and our homes upon.. 

When he lives in our hearts then he takes up residence in our homes.. 

He makes such a great difference in it and he brings joy and peace.

We talked of the many things we can do to improve our homes and perhaps it could be the talk of the block for it's beauty but if it is not built on the rock then the storms of life can tear it down.. 

We can all experience trials but when Christ is at the centre of the home then he is there with us in the midst of our storms and when it is over  the home is still standing.. 

We likened our homes to houses on a dark street but when there is a Christian home then it is like a porch light is on and it is a beacon for the world.. 

We want to spend time making our homes more organized or hospitable but the most important thing we can do for our family is to build a Christian home for them to live in.. 

Making sure that each day we take the time to feel his presence with prayer and praise.. 

This brings grace into our homes along with genuine happiness and purpose.. 

So... 

Keep your porch light burning... 

Oh yes... 

We have a bit of homework.. 

1.. To pray Psalms 101 over our homes.. 

2.. Watch an episode or read a book of The Little House on the Prairie..

Just a reminder of how it used to be when times were simple and there was open affection between family members, kindness, gentleness and bed time prayers and church attendance were the way of life ... 

3.. Do an old fashioned back to basic thing for your family this month and tell us about it next time.. 

And then... 

A simple demonstration of how to make the no knead bread with this recipe found HERE

It can be made into rolls, French Bread or just a plain loaf... 

After that we made linen bags to store our bread in.. 

There are a few pics of the girls crafting.. 

All in all it was a lovely day.. 

Hope you find this interesting.. 

Take care my dears and God bless.. 

A Week of New Recipes.#2 Pasta with Tomatoes, Basil and Olives.

Hello my dears..

How are you all doing?

We spent the day in the city and so I am a bit late posting.. 

Just wanted to share new recipe # 2 with you tonight.. 

Here it is..

PASTA WITH TOMATOES, BASIL AND OLIVES..  

Doesn't it look delicious?  

We both loved this recipe except Terry does not like olives so I only put them on mine... 

Here is the recipe.. 

14 ounces of pasta.. fettuccine or ziti.. (I used spaghetti)

1 T. olive oil

1 onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic crushed

2 x 14 ounce cans of peeled tomatoes

1/3 cup of roughly chopped basil

1/4 cup of sliced black olives

cracked black pepper and sea salt

pinch of sugar

Parmesan or goats cheese to serve. 

We had Parmesan...

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain..

While the pasta is cooking heat a large frying pan over medium heat.. Add oil, onion and garlic and cook for 4 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and crush lightly with a fork and add sugar and simmer for 4 minutes.. 

Stir through the basil, onions, garlic and olives, salt and pepper. 

Toss the sauce with the pasta and serve with the cheese.. 

Sooooo good.. 

As I said we spent the day in the city.. 

Tuesday is our town day.. smile.. 

We go for breakfast at the Big Stop and then head for the city.. 

Today our first stop was to pick up my UK magazine that the little book store puts on hold for me every month... 

Actually, I splurged on two today.. 

They save the Country Living but today they had the 

Homes and Antiques which I could not resist.. 

The UK mags have hardly any adverts and the ones they have are as interesting as the articles.. 

The lady who runs the bookshop and I were actually discussing this.. 

She said that when her magazine comes in that she does not like to flip through it.. 

I said I just love to savor every page and that they can talk about the Internet all they like there is nothing like a book in my hands.. 

I thought we were there by ourselves and as Terry had gone to the bank and was not back yet I headed for their lovely wing back chairs to wait for him.. 

Sitting down I happened to notice a gent sitting in another chair.. 

He was smiling kind of like... 

I guess we were amusing.. 

Brother..

 I thought we were just two old ladies chatting on but he must have thought we were funny.. 

Yeah.. hilarious.. grin.. 

On with the story.. 

We then stopped at Habitat for Humanity.. 

They have a whole book room and the books are only 50 cents for soft cover and $1.00 for hard cover .. 

Along with furniture and housewares.. 

A regular thrift shop.. 

I found these on a bottom shelf.. 

French ivory handled knives for 10 cents each.. 

Imagine!! 

I also bought these books.. 

Cookbooks and a Christian novel that I don't recall reading.. 

Every Tuesday there is an auction.. 

We  used to go sometimes but we have Bible Study now on Tuesday nights and don't go.. 

We know the owner well, though and each Tuesday we stop to see what will be on sale that evening.. 

My Mon and Step-father attend and they will get me something if the price is right.. smile.. 

Today there was a wonderful box of old linens.. 

I made Jim an offer for them and he sold them to me instead of me having to get Mom to bid on them.. 

I love old linens.. 

Do you ladies have something that you collect?

Then we visited another couple of thrift stores and I found this wonderful piece of pottery.. 

A honey pot made by Peter Powning .. 

He is a local pottery artist who has become famous and even made a piece for the Queen... 

We did a little grocery shopping and had lunch.. 

The day just seems to fly by .. 

We had a great time..

Retirement has it's perks.. smile..  

I guess this is all for today.. 

Hope I didn't bore you all.. 

I hope to post about the Keepers Meeting tomorrow.. 

Thanks for visiting.. 

Take care and God bless... 

A Week of New Recipes #1..Asian Chicken Noodle Soup

Good Monday Evening to you all.. 

How is everything in your world? 

Another weekend is over and here we are once again with Monday winding down.. 

It is March break here in New Brunswick.. 

We had a very busy weekend.. 

Keepers meeting on Saturday with another good turnout.. 

I will do the post on that later this week.. 

I need to edit the pics and such.. 

But as I mentioned in the last post that I was hoping to try out a new recipe each night from the cookbook I borrowed from the library.. 

The name of the cookbook is..

 OFF THE SHELF 

Cooking from the Pantry by Donna Hay.. 

There are several sections of various styles and today I made the

 Asian Chicken Noodle Soup... 

It was very simple to make and did not take long.. 

Here is the recipe that I was too lazy to type out.. smile.. 

It was very different from my regular chicken noodle soup recipe and dear hubby chickened out (smile) and had ham and baked beans.. 

But... 

I enjoyed it... 

It was fun using the chop sticks, too.. 

 I think this would be nice as a first course in an Asian meal for company.. 

I am not an Asian food lover but I am trying.. 

I think it was probably better than ham and beans though.. grin.. 

I think we will try the Mediterranean section tomorrow..

We had a blessed day at church yesterday..

Such sweet fellowship.. 

Our daughter, son-in-law and 2 grandsons dropped by for a visit to our church on their way to the airport in Halifax.. 

They winged their way to Jamaica this morning ... 

Praying they have a wonderful week and return home safe and sound.. 

Our other grandsons are hitting the slopes as the season is about over.. 

When is your March break and what are your plans?.

Today, we visited a couple of my dear old aunts in their nursing home.. 

One is not well at all but she kissed me several times and told me she loved me.. 

The dear thing.. 

She is my Dad's sister and she just turned 89.. 

Our old farm is where she went as a young bride and lived there until she went to the home... 

She loved that old place and sometimes when I am washing dishes or rolling out pie crusts I imagine her there doing the same thing many years ago.. 

She only had one son and he is in a home, too..

I felt so sad when we had to leave them.. 

Life is a precious thing.. 

I want to enjoy and live every day with love.. 

Yes and unto His glory... 

Thanks so much for your sweet visit and your lovely notes mean so much to me.. 

Take care of yourselves and sweet families.. 

Hugs.. 

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