Farm Diary #2

Good Evening my friends.. 

Another little farm diary post for you.. 

I have decided to post these farm ones this way and then you will know whether you want to bother reading it or not.. smile.. 

We went up to the farm again this morning...

Terry had several more things that he wanted to finish before the weekend... 

It is the garbage gathering day and he had some junk to take out to the end of the driveway... 

I am happy because he basically has my raised herb bed made except for filling it with earth.. 

We hope to get that tomorrow... 

I foraged our first cash crop today.. grin.. 

Lots of dandelions... 

This job took an hour or so.. 

Cutting the stems off of the flower so I could make the dandelion tea to make the jelly... 

It is a delicious jelly and full of Vitamin C... 

It actually tastes like honey as I have told you all before... 

Sorry ... 

It has to sit overnight so I will make it in the morning.. 

While we were there we had a lovely guest who came bearing presents.. 

A case full of maple syrups, butters, cream and even a jar of candy.. 

We do a little farm bartering and this is part of the barter.. 

A very sweet part, eh? 

When I finished the dandelion tea I made up a little cream cheese spread as we still had some French Bread left over and we had not had much to eat thus far and thought he needed a snack... 

I know I have posted this before but just chop up some fresh chives, hot pepper flakes a dash of pepper and garlic and mash it all up together.. 

Very good on baked potatoes which we had for supper.. 

He is out there putting up our 911 signs as we will be staying for the summer and he thought we might need them.. 

Hope not.. smile.. 

I spent an hour or two changing the living room around .. 

Changed all the furniture and hoping it will make it more open ... 

Brought this plant from home that will go outside as soon as the danger of frost is over.. 

Love my lemon geranium... 

This old couch and chair are old and out of date but still in great shape and comfy... 

There is a book shelf or two plus lots of  reading material in this old trunk.. 

I want to get several curtain rods this weekend and get the curtains right.. I dislike the ones I made before just from some old fabric I had.. 

Hopefully this job will be finished next week... 

For supper I made a new recipe to me but it is as old as the hills and came out of a very old cookbook.. 

It goes with pork and as we were having pork chops I thought I would give it a try.. 

Rhubarb Dressing.. 

I didn't have much hope for it but it was simply delicious !! 

So lovely to serve with pork with just enough of the piquant rhubarb in it to make it tasty.. 

Here is the recipe.. 

2 cups of chopped fresh rhubarb 

4 cups of fresh soft breadcrumbs ( I used a whole wheat and seed bread)  

1/3 cups of packed brown sugar 

1/4 cup of soft butter 1/2 tsp. salt 

1/2 tsp. of cardamom or 1/4 tsp. nutmeg.. 

I used cardamom as I did not have any nutmeg for some reason.. 

Place in a greased 4 quart casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees F. for 45 minutes.. 

Serve with pork... 

We had baked potato, a chop and some pickled chow ... 

When supper was cleaned up we packed up and headed home.. 

We took the back way as we wanted to check out where there is going to be an estate yard sale on Saturday.. (glee !!) 

I thought you might like to see a couple of rural scenes.. 

See the windmills there at the top of the mountain.. 

And there were carpets of these dear wee things.. 

I so love them.. 

They remind me of when I was a little girl and was always out picking flowers and still do.. 

Mom called them Adder's Tongue but some call them Dogtooth Violet, etc. .. 

Check it out Here..

A little village we drove through where the sale will be on Saturday.. 

Beautiful little village of Elgin.. 

Well, dear hearts this is all for now ... 

Hope you are all doing well and thanks so much for your visits and sweet comments.. 

Here are some answers for you from the last post on the farm.. 

1.. My secret for a moist ham is quite simple.. 

I just pepper it well and add about 1/2 cup of water and bake it at 350 degrees F. in a covered cast iron pot for a couple of hours or less.... 

Sometimes at the end I will pour maple syrup over it or make a clove sauce or pineapple ..... Nothing special.. smile.. 

Thanks for your question, dear.. 

2... I promise to show you the little vintage valances just as soon as I pick up some curtain rods this weekend.. OK?  

Sorry I am so slow... 

3.. The recipe for the cinnamon bun bread ... 

Just use the no knead bread recipe Here..

Then leave out the rosemary and salt..

Mix up and let rise.. 

 Then prepare the Topping.. 

In a glass bread pan melt 2 T. butter in the microwave.. 

Then mix in a small bowl:

3/4 cup of brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 T. honey (I used maple syrup)

2 T. water.. 

Mix well and add to the glass bread pan.. 

Then when the dough has doubled in size.. 

Turn oven to 350 degrees F. 

Use at least 1/2 of the dough for the bun bread .. 

Then on a nice floury space roll out into a 15 x 10 inch rectangle.. 

Spread with this mixture.. 

3 T. butter 

1/2 cup of white flour

1/2 cup of packed brown sugar..1/2 tsp. cinnamon.. 

Mix together in a small bowl ...

Now spread this over top of the dough and roll like a jelly roll from the short side .  

Cut into 3 equal size buns and lay them into the prepared pan..

Press down with your fingers to even them out.. 

Cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let rise again until doubled in size..  

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.. 

Remove to rack to cool.... 

Hope you girls who wanted the info reads this post.. smile.. 

God bless you all.. xo

Farm Diary. #1..

Good Evening my dears... 

I hope you had a great weekend.. 

It is Monday once again and a rainy cool one here in Eastern Canada.. 

Terry and I went up to the farm this morning.. 

We arrived there around 10 am after stopping for a Tim's coffee on our way.. 

A nice way to start the week with the rain splattering against the window and a hot coffee in hand headed for the farm.. smile.. 

We are not staying there each night.. 

We work away and then come home to sleep and do a few things here .. 

We are not ready to stay yet.. 

Old and slow.... grin.. 

As Terry says... 

"What's the rush?.. 

We will get here when we get here.. 

Just enjoy yourself, Faye."

OK... grin.. 

Terry put a fire on first thing as we were having snow flurries along with the rain and wind.. 

The place was not really cold but the heat felt good, nonetheless.. 

Here is a sweet thing my Mom gave me when we were in visiting last week.. 

A dear blue cookie jar that belonged to my great aunt Emily.. 

I love it... 

Mom said that she knew I would like it and it fits right in there on the shelf in the pantry.. 

When we arrived I put a ham on to bake.. 

At Easter they were on sale so we bought 2 as they were cheap and kept them in the fridge down in the basement.. 

I find a ham makes so many meals for the two of us.. 

We already had ham for a breakfast and a few slices fried up for lunch yesterday.. 

Today, I cut off a hunk or two to make a pasta dish and a bubble and squeak and baked the rest.. 

Then froze the bone with a bit for a soup later on.. 

Then I made up a recipe of no knead bread. 

I had plans for that and just put it to rise.. 

While I was working in the kitchen getting some sewing started I noticed something going across the yard right under the kitchen window.. 

I turned to the other window looking out towards the lane.. 

Which way did it go?  grin.. 

There he goes !!

The Wiley old red fox !!

Do you think he knows there are some chickens coming here to abide?  Oh oh.. 

I love seeing a fox, don't you? Not when we get some chickens here, though.. 

I did a bit of sewing and then Terry was hungry as he only had toast for breakfast... 

A salad is always welcome... 

Terry loves these boring meals !! 

I have been asking him if he wants rice or something else but he always prefers mashed.. 

And onion and ham gravy turns his crank, too.. 

It is tasty and you only need a bit.. smile.. 

This ham was baked in cast iron and kind of burnt where the cover touched the meat.. 

Oh well.. 

Here is an old vintage curtain I bought at the Thrift store.. 

I love old vintage fabrics and spent an hour or two making 3 valances for the back room I was telling you about.. 

We are going to name it ... The Snug.. 

Thanks to one of our sweet readers suggestion... 

Anyway... To make a long story short it was an almost complete waste of effort.. 

I measured it and ripped it across to save time. 

It tore across very evenly so I tore it again for the other two and sewed away to the murmur of rain pattering against the window and  Terry sawing away at some boards for the end eves of the snug.. 

When they were finished I picked them up to iron and as I was lining them up I noticed they were perfect on one side and out about an inch on the other side.. Grrr.... 

They didn't tear straight and for some unknown reason I did not even notice.. 

I am not a great at sewing but normally not that dumb.. 

Well, they will fit the little front entry way with a little adjustments and I found some sweet lace ones when I was digging around in a tote of curtains I had not been through.. 

What a pain !!

I also had these two quilt blocks that I bought at a yard sale or somewhere.. 

Two little cushions for the rocker but I had no fibrefill there so could not finish them either.. sigh.. 

A little pin cushion that I made with a stamper and some brown ink.. 

It was already finished.. grin.. 

I did finish the bread, though.. 

It is only one loaf of no knead but you can divide it in two and get two smaller loaves or one large one.. 

I found a recipe for making a cinnamon loaf in a bread book .. 

 Instead of using their recipe I used the old faithful dough one and made it their way.. 

With the other half I made a French bread.. 

The same book said to turn the oven to 425 degrees F... 

Spray it with water and bake 10 minutes and then turn it down to 375 degrees F. and cook for another 30 minutes.. 

The crust is awesome... 

So crisp and chewy.. 

And Terry loved the cinnamon bread!!

I only had 1 wee slice.. honest.. 

Terry said it tasted like the sticky buns we buy when we are in Alma and I agreed.. 

A great book full of ideas.. 

I will share a picture of it next time.. 

We cleaned up our mess and headed home... 

It is still raining out there and Terry is watching hockey.. 

I will be so glad when the playoffs are finished... smile.. 

I am headed to bed dear girls and will take more pics next time up to the farm.. 

We now have hot water for everything!! 

Kitchen sink, the shower and bathroom sink.. 

We are getting there!.. 

I have to look up dates to order our chicken, ducks, geese and turkeys tomorrow, Lord willing... 

Thanks for dropping by and have a great week.. 

Isn't God good?.. 

xo

A lovely meeting and some news..

Hello sweet ladies.. 

How are you all doing? 

Giving you a kind of mishmash of a post this evening.. 

I am way behind in my blogging and have not been visiting or such lately but will explain why here in a bit.. 

First of all I wanted to tell you about a lovely Saturday morning we had a couple of weeks ago.. 

Our Keepers of the Home group were invited to visit our daughter's church ladies group... They are named R.E.A. L. 

I just had to call Shonda to see what this stood for.. I forgot.. smile..

R- Relationships

E-Encouragement

A-Apostolic Living

L-Laughter.. 

Nice, eh? 

We had a great day... 

It started off with all of our group driving to St. John to the Mission Point Church ... 

When we arrived we were made to feel welcome with delicious Tim Horton coffees, fruit trays, muffins and such.. 

It was a great time to catch up with friends and get situated.. smile.. 

Then Shonda shared a devotional with us which was so encouraging.. 

She talked about how we all go through Winter time in our lives .. 

Not only weather wise but also we are sometimes assailed with trials and tests and makes us feel as though the frigid winds of fear and doubt are filling our lives...

She mentioned how on those cold Winter days when it seems as though Spring is a long ways off that she loves to stop by a flower shop and pick up a lovely bouquet of tulips.. 

Tulips hold such a promise of Spring and brightens up a dark February day... 

Putting them in a vase and placing them on a table gives you joy knowing that Spring is just around the corner.. 

She demonstrated how each tulip represented a promise from our God ... 

When we are in the midst of a storm we can open the Word of God and pick up a promise.. 

The promise holds the inspiring truth that Christ is there with us in the midst of the storm and He holds us in the palm of His hand and all will be well... 

Spring is just ahead and He will do more then we ask or think.. 

The promise strengthens us and gives us peace ... 

It was wonderful devotional and blessed our hearts..  

Thank you, dear..  

Then after refilling our coffee cups ...

She turned it over to me to demonstrate how to make some home made green and frugal house hold cleaners... 

Home made Lemon Dust Cloths from pieces of flannel and a real lemon... 

Lavender Beeswax Furniture Polish....

Orange Vinegar and Orange Household Cleaner

and a Air Freshener .. 

The recipes were all printed and passed out.. 

Shonda did a lot of work for this meeting and we appreciate it... 

Here are the links to my blog where you can find the recipes, too.. 

theblessedhearth.blogspot.com/2016/03/a-ramble-and-roll.html

heblessedhearth.blogspot.com/.../green-housekeeping-cleaner-recipes

theblessedhearth.blogspot.com/2012/01/scents-of-home.html

..

theblessedhearth.blogspot.com/.../want-to-name-5-simple-pleasures.html

We all had a great time and then we went shopping.. smile.. 

Thank you, dear ladies for being so kind .. 

We appreciate it... 

Hopefully, you will come and visit us some day... 

Now... 

On with the story.. 

I thought I would let you in on our plans.. 

Terry and I as you readers know generally head off to St. Martins to our cottage beside the Bay of Fundy usually starting about this time of year.. 

Well.... 

We have decided not to this year... 

Instead.. 

We are getting ready to go to the farm for the summer... 

I am quite excited as we are hoping to have chickens, ducks, a few geese, rabbits and such... 

Also another garden and herb bed there.. 

I know.... Isn't that great ! 

I will miss being by the Bay every night but our youngest son and grandsons have volunteered to animal sit while we visit the cottage here and there... 

So that should be fine.. 

Not only that.... 

Even though we are an hour and a half from the cottage here at home; we are only a half an hour from the Bay when we are at the farm.. Not where the cottage is but a bit further this way... 

That is where some of my father's side of the family dwell.. 

If it is a hot day then we will just head out across Caledonia Mountain and drive to the waves.. 

Get cooled off and head home again.. 

No big deal.. right?  grin.. 

I have wanted to do this for ages and as I told Terry.. 

We are not getting any younger... 

We must do it while we can.. 

Really, I did not have to coax him at all.. grin... 

I had to convince myself that that is really what I wanted to do and I think it will be fun.. 

Time will tell... 

The thing I wonder about is the heat.. 

That is why I love St. Martins (besides loving my cousins) is that it is cool....

smile.. 

There is no internet at the farm at all or even cell phones... We have been spending a lot of time trying to get things in order to go and that is why I have not been very blog faithful.. 

Sorry about that.. 

As you probably noticed the comments are very minimal lately because of I haven't been visiting but I will try to get to it when I can.. 

I noticed the readers are still visiting, though.. Thank you. 

I will hopefully take lots of pics of the birds and the herbs and such  and keep you informed as we will be coming home to do laundry and we have another garden here ... 

While Terry is catching up on the garden and I am waiting for a load of laundry then I will get on here and give you the low down.. 

OK? 

A little supper when we were last out to the farm.. 

Some sweet dear friends gifted us with some organic meat.... 

My... it was so tender and good and the gravy divine !! 

Thank you dear friends.. 

The porch-back room-whatever floor is done.. 

I need to come up with a name for this area.. 

It is at the back door and that is where you walk in.. 

This room has taken so much work as he pulled down the ceiling and put a new one much higher up.. 

It is all finished except for painting and putting up the boards... 

And the end pieces and back door need replaced but that will hopefully get done bit by bit over the summer.. 

Oh and a bench built behind the door .. 

And an area over the steps for baskets.. 

And.. 

No.. just kidding.. grin. 

At least it is now liveable.. 

The pantry is practically done except for the sink so we will be fine.. 

So nice to turn on the hot water tap for dishes.. 

Now we can have hot showers and everything.. grin..

I had a lovely Mothers Day.. 

Our family all went to our church together and it blessed my heart to see our 5 grandsons sitting in the front together.. 

Loving the Lord.. 

My Mom was there too and we had 4 generations.. smile.. 

Thanking God for my dear family.. 

I received wonderful presents but this blessed me the most.. 

So thankful that my Dad found God all those years ago and how it has changed all of our lives.. 

Well, dear hearts this is all for tonight.. 

Hope you are having a great week and I truly do hope you have time to leave a note although I am not doing a good job at that myself.. smile.. 

Take care and here are a few promises from the Lord.. 

Philippians 4:13

Psalms 37:23-24

Isaiah 40:31

Proverbs 22:6

Hebrews 4:16

Oh and the tulips were gifted to me.. 

They have brightened my days,,

Thanks..  xo

Some morning inspiration ..

Good Morning dear hearts...

Just a little inspiration for you to start your home making day...
Perhaps you would want to give your bedroom a good turnout as Gram used to say.. smile..
 I love these videos as they are so lovely and inspiring..
I think so anyway...

Have a good one..
God bless..
xo

Who will Pray for me when Momma's Gone..

Happy Mothers Day, dear friends...

Just wanted to share this post with you again that I wrote in 2011.. 

There is a link to an old Conway Twitty song at the bottom.. 

Enjoy.. 

The picture above is of my Mom many years ago standing in front of her grandparents old homestead...

I am much older now than my mother was in that picture.  And my daughter is older now than my mother was in that picture..

Time has surely passed by and now I am a grandmother...

My mother is a great grandmother.

My daughter is a mother..

What is our legacy? 

What will our children miss when we are gone...

Time moves on dear ones whether we want it to or not... And if the Lord tarries we will go Home...

One day a few years ago one of my grandsons was with me when something surprised me... I said... ohhhh lord....

He looked at me shocked and said..."Grandma... and you a praying woman!!"  smile... The dear boy did not think I should say that but I am glad he thought that his grandmother was a praying woman...

That is the legacy I want to leave my children...

Mama prayed...  

Prayer touches the Throne of God.. When we mothers are gone to our heavenly homes we know that our prayers are still incense around the Throne of Grace...

They are not in vain....

We not only need to pray but we need to teach our children to pray.. We need to show them how to go before the Throne of God and receive blessing and strength...

They need to be taught that prayer changes things... 

I am so thankful for my Mom today... Whenever I am burdened with something I can call her and know that she will join me in prayer...I know that every morning she mentions my name and my children's names... 

I am also thankful to have not only a praying mother but also a praying daughter and daughter-in-law...

My grandchildren are blessed today..

I pray that God will bless all you sweet mamas out there today with his gracious blessings... That your legacy to your children will be prayer...

Have a wonderful Mothers Day... 

I am hugging you all in my mind.. 

And remembering you all in my prayers.. 

God bless... 

A song for you...  

HERE...