June and July Catch up...

Good evening!

Happy New Brunswick Day weekend!

Hope all is well with you dear friends.. 

I am very slow at blogging this summer.. Sorry about that!  

But this will be a catch up of June of July.. 

August 1, 2026 ... 

kind of hard to believe how fast the summer is passing.. 

Terry and I have been puttering away at this and that and not seeming to accomplish very much.. 

Just doing summer stuff, I guess... 

 

Enjoying hodge podge which is a fave dish here in the Maritimes.. 

Green beans, new potatoes and sometimes new peas and carrots in cream and butter.. 

There are several versions to the recipe but it is basic.. 

Loving new cucumbers and hopefully I will get some of my fave Samphire Greens tomorrow.. 

We never seem to catch up for some reason but it is what it is as he says... 

He ordered 16 cord of wood and has been working away at that this past week or two when we are not running the roads.. 

He picked a bunch of sweet white wild roses and so enjoyed them for a few days.. 

Then dried up a bunch for some homemade toiletries... 

Picked a bit of my lavender up at the farm...  

Got it tied up and then we were out the other day and there is another bunch... It was raining so I couldn't pick it but soon.. 

So love lavender.. 

Terry's Irises were lovely this June... ❤

We don't have many flower beds here but we certainly enjoy the ones we have..

Anyway... 

Doing a bit of making and doing of course.. 

Made a roll of bread and a batch of chocolate chip cookies.. 

And jars of raspberry jam .. 

Thanks to my friend who likes to barter as I do.. 

I make such a mess when I do anything.. 😏

Oh, I got a wonderful new stove.. 

I just love it.. My other  one gave out.. 

The oven wouldn't turn off and was so hot it made all of our fire alarms go off..  Thank the Lord Terry was home and turned off the hydro to it.. 

Scared me !  So thankful... 

Did my Garlic Scape Salt for Christmas gifts..

And in June I did up four batches of strawberry jam.. 

We don't eat all of this ourselves.. 😉

As you know I love my bouquets of wild flowers... 

I believe these are Wild Chamomile and they will dry just as is.. 

Place them in a jar of water and forget about them for a week or two and they dry pretty good.. I still have a bouquet from last year.. 

Some of our lovely rural drives..

wild roses... so beautiful .. and the scent was lovely...

The first week or so in July we had company... 

Shonda and Dave went to Spain ..

❤❤

Someone gave me a hand with some pots for the deck before she went.. 

We have been to the Bay of Fundy a couple of times.. 

St. Martins...

Our grandson's B&B there.. 

It is lovely.... 

And we had a fish and chip from The Caves Restaurant.. 

So good..

Made a couple of flower books back in June..

You make a book out of lunch bags and gather flowers and place in the bags, label them and press with a few books .. 

Simple pleasures...

Found this beautiful moth on our deck...

It was so pretty... 

I looked it up but forget what it's name was.. 

Our sweet son sent me this pic one night of the fire sky.. 

He is in Alberta and the fires were in British Columbia.. 

We sure live in a scary world these days.. 

Well dear hearts this is all for today.. 

I have quite a few more pics but another day perhaps.. 

These are pics we took of each other at one of our Sunday dinners at the Big Stop.. 

They have a wonderful senior's menu there.. 

So thank you so much for stopping by... 

This post is not up to par but hopefully I will do better next time.. 

So in closing... 

A verse that is I find so comforting for these times we live in... 

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:

because he trusteth in thee...

Isaiah 26:3

Striving to keep Him first in my life and to place my complete trust in Him... 

Perfect Peace... What a wonderful way to live... 

Take care dear hearts... 

looking forward to hearing from you and hope the rest of your summer is wonderful.... 

xoxo

Making and Doing in May....

Good Afternoon! 

Another lovely but very cold day here in Maritime Canada!

So happy you could drop by for a few minutes.. 

This is just a little make and do post.. 

The month of May has been quite cool but everything is growing and turning green.. 

I actually prefer the cooler sweater weather but I don't think I am in the majority.. ❤

As you all know I am a flower lover and the Spring has my favourites..

We have violets and forget me not in our flower beds.. 

I gathered some to tuck away in a few old books.  

They will press nicely and will be great for making book marks, decoupage and such.. 

I just place them on some painting tablet paper and place them between the pages of the books.. 

A few I like to put between the pages of my Bible or journals.. 

But these are to use for crafts.. 

Then I love wee bouquets here and there in the house..

On the mantel, end tables or a shelf...  

Even chive blossoms are so sweet!  

And useful, of course.. 

Later, I will gather some for butter and vinegar or just to tear a couple up and add to salads.. 

Another wee bouquet are the Lily of the Valley.. 

My Gram Weir's favourite.. 

My Kitchen window sill is a special place to put these little bouquets.  

I get to enjoy them as I do dishes. 

 

I do dishes by hand now for some weird reason.. 

I found that I really enjoy doing them this way and so I do. 😊

We had Shonda up for a visit this past week and I once again made the Dill and Onion Bread..

The next morning I made a tomato sandwich and had a bit of my homemade Rhubarb Kimchi... 

This is such a delicious pickle.. or relish or whatever.. 

Very easy to make and just makes your taste buds tingle! 😏

You just chop up some rhubarb and grate a carrot and orange zest. 

Some garlic and ginger and such and let it ferment for three days.. 

Then store in your fridge.. 

Here is the recipe... 

3 cups of chopped rhubarb.. 

3 green onions diced

1/4 chopped onion

1 medium carrot grated

3 cloves of garlic 

1 Tablespoon grated ginger root 

1/4 cup Korean chili powder or chili flakes to taste

4 teaspoons of sea salt 

1 orange and zest. 

Place rhubarb, green onions, onion, orange zest and carrot in a large bowl

Put a peeled orange, ginger and garlic in a chopper or such and puree. 

Add to vegetable mixture..

Mix everything and massage with your hands. 

Set for a couple of hours to create moisture.

Press firmly in a glass jar and make sure there is enough liquid to submerge the mixture.  Add water if necessary.. 

Cover with some cheescloth and sit on counter for about 3 days. 

Taste each day. 

Fasten lid and keep in fridge.. 

Mine does not last long enough to soften.. 

I do hope to make several jars to have for winter.. 

You can google the many uses of it. 

My favourite is to use it as a pickle would be used.. 

Let me know if you make it and how you enjoyed it.. 

No.. Terry won't even try it.. lol... 

We were shopping and bought some cauliflower on a great sale .. 

My last batch of pickles were gone so gladly made another.

We are both pickle lovers but I tend to favour savoury rather than sweet.. 

May means Rhubarb... 

I try to get several batches of rhubarb jam but I keep giving it away.. 

It is my Mom's recipe and is here on the blog. 

Making rhubarb muffins, cake, puddings and Terry's fave is Rhubarb sauce.. 

And then there has been fiddleheads.. 

Trevor, our oldest son always makes sure we get our supply of them.. 

We love them boiled then just butter and Terry likes vinegar. 

And Fiddlehead Soup, of course. 

Terry picked me a bunch of dandelions and it has been infused with oil to make salves and lotion bars... 

And the dear man took me for a country drive looking for violets.. 

We found a big batch of blue ones... 

They are dried and will be used for burn salve.. 

Oh... 

We have a bunch of lovely new neighbours... ❤❤❤

This just makes me so happy.. 

And the clothes on the lines and the eggs for sale.. 

I don't need to go to Pa. anymore. smile.. 

I hope they love it here... 

My Parlour Maple bloomed in May.. 

Thanks to my dear friend for giving it to me.. 

I so love my plants as you all know!

I have a little plant story to tell you.. 

My friends from Hillsborough will recognize this plant.. 

I mentioned it on last post I think.. 

They gave this 150 year old plant to me a few years ago and I love her.. 

Anyway.. 

I was outside the other day on our deck.. 

We were setting our swing up and I noticed a bright colour in the sunroom window which is at the far end of the deck...

I went to see what it was....

Lo and behold my Cactus was in full bloom but I didn't notice from inside the house.. 

She had been needing a bit more sun and her blooms were hidden behind her huge pot... 

So I went inside and there she was...

I had to turn her pot right around to bring her beautiful blooms into the room.. 

Isn't that sweet?

I know... I know.. 

I am turning into an old grandma.. 

Oh... I guess I am one.. 

It is the simple things that sweeten our hearts and days.. 

Right?? 

I am almost finished....😊

I thought I would share this with you dear hearts.. 

Every morning I get up earlier than Terry.. 

When he retired many years ago I told him there was something we had to agree to before we started down our new path... 

He was listening so I told him.. 

"Terry ... you have to stay in bed for at least an hour after I get up.. 

I need my time!"

He agreed...

So... 

The very next morning I am out here in my chair doing my thing.. 

You know.. praying, making lists, looking up inspiration or such.. 

I hear this voice coming from the other side of the house... 

Faye..... Can I get up yet??

 

Ha! ha! 

 It still makes me laugh and he still honours that plan.. 

I should explain that it was not very hard for him to agree to .. 

He loves his extra sleep.. ❤

But.. that isn't what I wanted to mention..

It was this verse I noticed especially the other day... 

Written by King David to the Lord.. 

A promise he wrote to God... 

That the Lord would hear his voice... every morning... 

That he would direct his words ... his prayer unto Him.. 

The God of the universe.. 

Every morning God would hear David's voice in prayer 

and David would look up... 

That so touched my heart.. 

To think that I can say to the same God... 

My voice shall thou hear in the morning, O LORD;

In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will 

look up... 

I am just so thankful that I know and love the same one true God that David prayed to... 

Every morning...

I can direct my words of worship and praise.. 

And words of thanks ... 

My needs and fears.. 

Just whatever is on my heart 

and God hears my voice... 

And I will look up...

In this day that we live in.. 

  a world that is so chaotic and without hope..

When it is easier to hang our heads in despair..

I can direct my words to Him and lift up my head..

And He will hear me..  

How wonderful is that, eh!! 

Love God's Word..  

Well lovies this is all for today... 

Probably too much.. 
I may have lost you awhile ago.. smile.. 

Thank you for visiting and thank you so much for your sweet comments.

I pray you are doing well and enjoyed the month of May.. 

And that you are looking forward to June and what it will bring.. 

Sending hugs to you all!

Take care of yourselves and your sweet families.  

God bless... 

from Faye.. xoxo