The Winner is and looks who's here...

Hello everyone..

Thanks for dropping by tonight and for signing up for the giveaway... 

Today is the day and the winner is.... 

KENDRA.... 

Please email me your address dear and we will get that into the mail for you... Hope you like it... smile.. 

We have some very special guests here at the old cottage... 

It just seems like yesterday and they were all here but it was last Summer.. 

My, how they have grown and changed.. 

Turning into wonderful young men... 

So dear to our hearts.. (just a little tear)

We know that we will turn around and they will be all grown with their own families and these sweet Summer days here at the old cottage will just be memories.. 

We are so thankful for the pages that have been added to our heart's journal this week...

I am also thankful for the dear old Gramps that they have.. 

He has had a wonderful time with them.. 

Hauling wheel barrels of wood to the beach for fires..

Sitting down there with them for hours.. 

I went for a bit but they stay until after dark.. grin..

Some of them enjoy digging for something..??  grin..

They really crack you up with some of their observations.. 

Oh my... 

They certainly enjoy the extra large marshmallows and hot dogs .....

I think they get a bit of sleep but I am persuaded that this is their favorite activity while they are here...

I didn't realize until tonight that I am in a competition... 

They told me this meal has won so far... 

Meatballs, fried rice, peas and such... 

I couldn't believe it won over this morning's breakfast...

A dozen eggs, a whole pound of bacon, a loaf of bread, 3/4 of a gallon of fruit salad, a jar of jam, juice, milk, and oh... 

my coffee... 

Thank the Lord they are not into that yet.. grin.. 

Can you tell I am having fun?... 

They have talked my ear off and kept me awake and tired me out by laughing but  I would not trade these special days that God has blessed us with..

. 

Thank you dear Lord for grandsons who are such a joy and who love you... 

We are thankful... 

Anyway... 

Congratulations to Kendra and thank you all for joining in the fun.. 

You are all so sweet... 

Talk to you all soon... 

An Interesting Day...

hi everyone... 

just a few pics of the last day or so... 

using the rose tea to make this rose petal jelly and you can find the recipe HERE 

and the queen anne's lace jelly recipe is HERE

then there are two journals that i made from my old prims magazine..

i sold both of them and several more besides.. 

they are easy to make as i sit and chat with everyone..

love this tasty homemade ranch dressing that you keep in a mason jar... 

i think i am too mean or frugal  to buy salad dressings when homemade is so tasty and better for you.. 

i raided the old cottage pantry and took these rose plates over to the shop this morning and sold them this afternoon to a special customer who likes the same things i do.. smile.. 

came home to a delicious chicken that terry cooked on our rotisserie.

so tender and good.. 

and there is my sweetie doing what he does best.. 

working... 

have a blessed Lord's day.. 

before i go i just have to tell you something.. 

today while the shop was quite busy a lady came over with a jar of queen anne's lace jelly in her hand and a question on her face.. grin.. 

i put my hand up and told her that the jelly was kosher and not poisonous as it is the cousin wild carrot and parsley that are and not the queen anne's lace..( people ask me that question )

she looked at me and said all she was wondering was if the jellies were made from real flowers... 

we laughed as i told her yes and the dear thing bought one of each kind to take home with her to Washington... 

then later she came back for something to send to her sister in California and asked me how i knew that the jelly was kosher... 

smile... 

well, i told her first that i knew what the word kosher means as i love Jews and am very interested in them and what they eat and all.. 

BUT .. when i said kosher then that it is just a saying that we here which means that the jelly was good or all right.. 

we had quite a laugh as she told me she was a Jew and couldn't figure out how i would know that the jelly was kosher..smile.. 

we had a lovely talk about the Lord Jesus and why i love the Jews.. 

interesting day....

sending you all hugs...

Giveaway Reminder and a Rose Powder recipe...

Hello everyone.. 

Welcome to the Blessed Hearth tonight.. 

I am afraid this Friday night has not turned out as we planned.  

We were expecting the Keepers of the Home tonight for our annual over niter but circumstances interfered.. 

I have been sort of laid low with a bad Summer cold and could not get my act together...

Also, my Mom was taken to the hospital for infection and with all that we decided to postpone it for a bit..

Hopefully in a week or two we will be able to succeed.. 

smile.. 

Anyway, just sharing a few pics of the House of Henry and the dear little village of St. Martins that we summer away in... 

I hope you will enjoy... 

I wondered if you would like to make some of your own rose powder .... 

Roses are plentiful right now so it is a good time to try some..

ROSE POWDER RECIPE 

In a plastic tub with a lid add the following...

1 cup of baking powder

1 cup of arrowroot 

Whisk together well and then add some rose petals... 

Put your cover back on and each day shake them about.. 

You can double this recipe if you like.. 

In a couple of weeks sieve out the rose petals and add several drops of rose essential oil... 

Rub each drop in with your fingers until well distributed... 

Keep covered ... 

A lovely gift for your gift pantry if you put it in a jar and perhaps add an antique shaker or puff... 

Now here are some pics I took on a little drive through the village.

St. Martins, New Brunswick in Eastern Canada... 

Thank you for dropping by.. 

I did want to thank you all for signing up for the little give away.. 

You can sign up HERE...

And I am sorry that I could not show you what I did with the roses and Queen Anne's Lace.. The batteries in my camera died and I could not find my other ones.. 

So... I will do that tomorrow night hopefully... 

So happy you stopped by and I am looking forward to hearing from you all... 

Have a blessed weekend... 

Days of Blessings....

Hello everyone... 

How are you all?

So glad you dropped by to visit this lovely evening.. 

I know I have been among the missing for a few days but we 

had a short visit home... 

It was lovely although very hot on Monday.. 

On days like that is when you want to be back here by the Bay but there were things that we needed to do.. 

Terry, of course had lawns and more lawns to do.. 

The dear thing.. 

And I had a ton (almost) of laundry.. 

We do not have laundry facilities here at the cottage or even in the village... The camp grounds have them but that is for them..

It seems to grow.. grin.. 

Anyway, we had 3 nights in our water bed... 

The first night was a bit warm but the next two nights the wind blew and the rain fell.. 

Lovely.... 

We spent one day in the city doing all kinds of errands and I was so pleased to buy some garlic scapes... 

More about them later.. smile.. 

Then this morning as we were packing up to return the sun came out and it was a beautiful day...

We had to stop in Sussex and do some grocery shopping.. 

The Keepers are coming for an over niter on Friday... 

We are all looking forward to that.. smile.. 

As soon as we drove in the lane I practically jumped out and ran to the shop.. I was an hour late... Yikes... 

Had some wonderful visitors from across Canada, actually...

Then it was Supper time... 

Terry and I had to take a load of stuff to the shop and so we went for a wee drive..

This is my aunt's house at the top of our street.. 

The Country Inn must be hosting a bunch of photographers as they are everywhere... smile.. 

One of them was taking this photo so I thought I would give it a try.. 

I hope he doesn't see it... grin.. 

Then another one was taking this shot... 

So.....

TA... DA... 

Here is my version... smile.. 

When we came back home I made some rose tea...

And some Queen Anne's lace tea...

Some home made jellies in the making.. 

I will give you the links tomorrow for the recipes.. 

Just a bit anxious to head to bed tonight... 

And here is the potato salad I made for our Supper..

And here is the dressing..

A new recipe that we really liked.. 

Will share that later, too.. If you like... 

Just one more pic...

Our grandson was baptized in the lovely Name of Jesus on Sunday and the whole family were there.. 

The two grandfathers are watching the turkey fry... I think ... 

We all had a wonderful time and wonderful fellowship... 

So nice to see our sweet daughter-in-law's parents and family... 

All of our 5 grandsons have now been baptized in the Name of the Lord.. 

So thankful for what Jesus is doing in the lives of our children and their dear ones.. 

God is so faithful... 

Thank you so much for your sweet visit.. 

And thanks for signing up for the giveaway HERE..

Please check it out if you haven't yet.. 

So good to chat with you all.. 

God's sweetest blessings on you all...

A Wee Give Away from the Blessed Hearth

Hello everyone.. 

Just posting a wee giveaway for you tonight.. 

This is just a small celebration of Summer...

A blessed time of the year.. 

The prizes are small but hopefully you will think them sweet.. 

A black and tan STAR MAT... 

A green and cream YO YO MAT

A lavender filled WAX HEART

A hand crafted HANDKERCHIEF HOLDER (by me) with 3 handkerchiefs tucked away in it.. 

And one of my homemade toiletries... (not in the picture)

Anyway... 

We have wrapped up Old Home Week today and are going home for a few days.. 

The rules for the wee giveaway are

 ....

1.. You must be a follower of this blog

2.  Please leave a comment saying you would like to enter..

3.. If you post this on your sidebar of your blog that will give you an extra try and please let me know.. 

That is all.. 

Just showing my appreciation for your lovely faithfulness in letting me know that you are about... smile.. 

The last day will be July 31... 

Ten days from now.. OK?

Thank you dear hearts.. 

Chat with you all later.. 

God bless...

A lovely homemade lemon drink recipe...

Good Evening one and all.. 

How you all doing?  

Another lovely day here.. 

We had some rain through the night to water the plants and then sunny again today.. 

This has been such a lovely Summer here by the Bay of Fundy.. 

I posted last night about a lemon drink that we love and my sweet friend Sue thought she would like the recipe... 

So.. here goes.. 

Lemon Cordial... 

In a medium size pot combine 3 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water... 

Bring this to a boil and boil for 5 minutes.. 

In the meantime squeeze lemons to get 1 cup of lemon juice..

My Mom brought me down a huge lemon and I squeezed over 1/2 cup out of it.. Then I just added another 1/2 cup of bottled lemon juice to equal 1 cup..

When the mixture has boiled for 5 minutes..

Add the 1 cup of lemon juice ...

And 2 Tablespoons of lemon zest... 

Stir well and store in a sterilized quart mason jar...

Cover and keep refrigerated... 

To serve...

Fill glass about 1/4 full of syrup .. 

Add ice and cold water to top.. 

You may add a lemon slice and cherry if desired.. 

You can add cold sparkling water instead of regular water or a bit of Sprite for fizz..

Let me know if you try it.. 

It is so nice to have all ready in the fridge for unexpected company or just to enjoy out on the deck after supper..

Hope you are all having a great week.. 

Old Home Week is winding down.. 

A big parade on Saturday.. 

Our kids love that.. 

A little lemon colored flowers in an old canning pot on our stoop..

 

A lad was in the shop today and I called it a stoop instead of a deck and he kinda looked at me funny..  

Yeah, I am from the back woods.. grin...

Well, take care dear ladies.. 

Talk to you all soon.. 

Just making some homemade stuff....

Hello dear hearts... 

Hope all is well with thee.. smile.. 

Welcome to the Blessed Hearth tonight.. 

Glad you dropped by.. 

Do you see those purple flowers in the photo above?  

They are Monk's Hood and do you know what I think when I see them blooming?  

Yup... Summer is half over.. sigh.. 

I love the Summer and all that it brings with it..

Don't you? 

Sunny days, kids laughing as they pass by, breezes in the trees, fresh strawberries, sampfire greens, beach walks, family and friends, the crash of the tide, grandsons running up and down the old stairwell, summer salads, sitting out with a nice cold goblet of lemon cordial,  the smell of the BBQ and oh so much more.. 

But... 

It is already half over... 

Life goes on... 

Someone was in my shop today or yesterday.. I forget which.. 

And he made the statement that all that counts is that you die happy... 

Which is sort of true.. 

We all want to die happy..

 If we have to die..smile.. 

I spoke before I thought (as usual) and said.. 

So long as you die ready... 

He didn't say anything else and neither did I... 

But I am glad that I am happy and ready... 

Ta..DA... 

My sermon is finished.. Thank the Lord, eh?

You know you love me.. grin...

I have been trying this week to get caught up on my making things list crossed off... 

I ran out of homemade salves last week so they were first on my agenda...

I gathered some comfrey, lavender, roses and rosemary..

Some olive oil...

Grated some beeswax... 

Put out some sterile jars...

Made some Gardeners Salve.. 

Then with oil that I had infused in the Spring I made some...

Violet Salve.. 

Took them to the shop and labeled and priced them.. 

And sold several before they hit the shelf.. 

thank you, Lord..smile.. 

Then I decided to make some foot soaks... 

Yeah... they are lovely..

We made them in Keepers earlier in the Spring.. 

Then took them to the shop and labeled and priced them.. 

Yes, they too are selling... 

Would you like the recipe.. 

My Mom came in the shop on Friday and the first thing she wanted to know was whether I had some of that foot stuff made.. smile.. 

Foot Soak

2 cups of sea salt.. 

1 cup Epsom salts

Whisk together well and then add...

4 tsp. peppermint oil

3 tsp. lemon oil

several drops of tea tree oil..(opt.)

You can replace the oils with pure extracts if you like.. 

I was blessed with the oils from a dear friend.. 

1 tsp. sweet almond oil or olive oil.. 

Whisk together again and add..

1 tsp. cornstarch 

1 tsp. soda...

Whisk again and place in sealed jars... 

Place 1 Tablespoon in a few quarts of warm water and 

SOAK your feet.. 

So refreshing ... 

Your feet will feel so soft, too.. 

I found this recipe on my Pinterest.  It is on my Toiletries Board.. 

I changed it around to suit me, though as they added peppermint tea and such.. 

My Pinterest is on the sidebar of my blog... OK?

Tonight I came home to this for supper.. 

Chicken cooked in the crock pot and then some Spanish Rice put together very quickly... 

It is cool here tonight.. 

I had to put a throw across my feet as they were cool.. 

It is cloudy and I am sure the fog will roll in here in a bit.. 

I was talking to my sister on the phone who lives up home and she said it was sunny and scorching hot.. 

Poor dear.. grin.. 

No really.. 

Anyway, sweet ladies thank you so much for you visit and your little notes that you leave me.. 

You are all so dear.. 

I am not doing so good getting back to you though.. 

Please know that I read every word and appreciate so much hearing from you either on the comment or emails.. 

It is just that when I get to the end of my post I usually head for the stairs.. 

I can't sleep in here at all as the sun rises and shines in my window and Sammi starts clicking his nails on the wood floor and wants out and the crows start cawing... 

Oh dear Lord.. I  will just get up..   

Yes... it is that bad... grin ... 

Love to you all...