Copper Bowl Potpourri and more..

Good Evening, my dears. 

How are you all doing? 

We had our first substantial snow fall last night.. 

Woke up to find this out on our deck this morning.. 

Pretty but not really welcomed by me.. 

What can you do, though.. 

It is Winter here in Canada and this is what we do.. 

Shovel snow..  smile.. 

More to come tonight with rain so it will no doubt be a bit messy.. 

Anyway.. 

Are you dear things all ready for Christmas?  

Not me.. 

I am never ready.. 

It just arrives and I stop.. smile.. 

One of my favourite breakfasts here.. 

Multigrain toast with mashed avocado and sliced tomatoes.. 

Do you like that.. 

I do open face and avocado is good for you.. 

That's my story anyway.. 

Making a few bough things.. 

I forgot to take a pic after it was filled in and finished but when Terry hangs it then I will take one... 

 Bought a basket of pears... 

Made another big batch of fruit salad.. 

I think I am hooked on this as it is such a refreshing treat.. 

Anytime of the day.. 

Two large containers.. 

One for the fridge and one to freeze.. 

Then I dried a tray full.. 

I glue these onto gift tags ... 

After they are dried, of course.. 

Just a bit different.. 

A pic I took this morning, too.. 

Lots of apples still on the trees.. 

Nice for the birds and the visiting deer that we have all Winter.. 

The soup junkee is coming out in me again and a day like today is meant for soup, eh? 

Mediterranean Vegetable Soup using the soup base once again.. 

Oh and this is another fresh simple Christmas decor.. 

Start with a nice bowl.. 

This one is copper.. 

Then start with some twigs, pine cones, dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks, fresh pine and I used some pomegranates that I dried last year.. 

Draw a heart on an orange and fill it in with cloves.. 

Or you can do a star or what have you.. 

This is on my kitchen table on top of a small red table riser that my cousin Val made for me.. 

Shonda and I took a weekend trip to Portland, Maine this past weekend.. 

Not a great pic but what can I say.. 

I am what I am.. smile.. 

Shonda always looks great.. 

This is a pic she took of us setting off.. 

She phoned me at 7:30 am and wanted to know if I would go.. 

Daaahhh.. 

I will call you back I told her.. 

I checked in with Terry and he said to go and so 5 minutes later I am calling her and saying I am showered and my hair is washed ... 

Almost ready to go... grin.. 

I must have known I needed to do that as soon as I woke up.. 

We had a great time.. 

Staying in nice hotels and wonderful food not to mention great shopping.. 

She said we were celebrating my birthday which is coming up soon.. 

So blessed with such wonderfully sweet children.. 

I guess this is it for tonight my friends.. 

Just a bit of this and that and not much of anything.. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope to hear from you all.. 

So sweet of you to leave your lovely notes..

Take care, now... 

Psalm 127:3-5 “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.

My crazy husband and a bit of crafting..

Hello everyone.. 

Welcome to the Blessed Hearth blog.. 

So glad you dropped by.. 

It was a rather cool day filled with rain and flurries of snow.. 

We woke up this morning to a brisk cold wind and a smatter of snow on everything.. I was filling the coffee pot and looked out my kitchen window and there were four sheets blowing out straight  and frozen.. smile.. 

Yesterday there was a bit of rain but a few periods of sun and a nice breeze so I could not resist hanging them out.. 

Then I forgot about them.. smile.. 

Oh well, they smell nice and will air dry on the racks just as well.. 

The time for the dryer is here once again but I will miss the heavenly scent of outdoors.. 

Today, I finally got a start on my simple fresh Christmas decor.. 

Dried out a pail of pine cones and wanted to make the wreath I had noticed in one of my UK Country Living magazines.. 

We had a pizza over the weekend that Terry had picked up at the store so I saved the cardboard circle it was on just for the wreath.. 

It is not very big but the spot I wanted it for is small..

On a narrow wall beside the closet door.. 

Anyway, you begin with your trusty glue gun putting a circle of cones all around the outside.. 

Just glue the tips and hold them for a bit as they seem to have a mind of their own and will move.. 

Once you have the first row then just continue making circles until the whole circle is filled in.. 

Ta Da !! 

All you need to do is put a wire through it to hang it with and you have a very simple pine cone wall piece.. 

Not really a wreath, I guess.. 

It would be nice even on your back splash under the cupboards.. 

To finish it off I used a bit of spray glue and glitter.. 

Not much but enough to give it a sheen.. 

I also did a bigger wreath for the closet door.. 

A start anyway.. A little one but at least I have a beginning..

Actually, I am very pleased to have accomplished anything as I had a tremendous scare this afternoon!!

As you know I am married to a lunatic.. 

Yes, I am sure I have mentioned that several times before if you have been reading my blog for awhile.. 

I have told you about the flagpole and the country roads and the trailer filled with roofing and so on and so on.. 

Well.. 

This one tops the list and hopefully will stay there as long as I live for I don't know if my poor heart could take much more.. 

Do you want to hear what I live with daily and never know what will happen next?

Ok..

 You said yes, I think.. 

If not just stop reading and go to the end of the post and leave me a sweet comment telling me you will be praying for me .. grin.. 

Well.. 

Dustin came this morning to give Terry a hand cleaning up the yard of some things that needed put away and to get his snowblower oiled and such. 

Last week they had worked on cutting down a pine tree that I love that grows right outside our bedroom window.. 

The wind makes the most delicious sound when it is blowing through the branches of this tree and I love it !! 

Does that matter? No.. 

He must cut it down as it has hydro lines running through it and it could get as big as the old tree in St. Martins at the cottage that I am terrified is going to fall on the house.. 

Therefore, we need to cut it down before it gets higher.. 

What can a person say... right?  

So.... 

Last week they went at it and cut all the branches off as high as the ladder would go.. 

A big high ladder.. 

Today.. they didn't even tell me they were going to be working on it.. 

I was hoping that since all the lower branches were already cut and the hydro wires were free that he would just leave it until perhaps next year or whenever.. 

Well.. 

I am working in here and doing the little craft thing and thought that a nice fresh piece of pine would look kind of nice stuck in the centre.. 

I was wondering where the guys went to..

I couldn't see them in the garage so I go to the other side of the house and look out of our bathroom window..

Lo and behold there they are.. 

Working on cutting down my tree.. 

I expect they are as the ladder is against the pine .. 

 I open the window as they are both on the ground looking up.. 

I asked what they were doing.. 

No one pays much attention and then Terry starts up the fifty foot ladder (I think it is fifty feet) with a power saw... 

Dear Lord in Heaven please keep him safe.. 

Up he goes as far as he can (as high as the ladder goes)  and then balances the saw on a limb and reaches for a safety belt.. 

Oh God, please protect him !! 

No, really I am literally praying this with my nose pressed against the window and it wide open.. 

He cuts down a few miner limbs and Dustin gathers them up while I keep watching.. 

Then he cuts a bigger one and that goes ok but gets a bit hung up.. 

Then the blank    dear man raises the power saw above his head and tries to cut down a very large thick branch.. He cuts on one side and stretches to reach the other side.. 

Even I knew that was a mistake and as I am praying in the name of Jesus the limb falls right on top of him and he falls back with the power saw running and only the belt holding him there.. 

Oh my soul !! 

Dustin is standing below and the power saw could have cut Terry's leg or landed on Dustin and that is all I saw as I go running out the bedroom and out the front door and around to the tree!!.. 

My heart is just pounding here as I write this.. 

I was never so scared in my life, I don't think.. 

When I get there he has got himself half straightened out with the branch coming down and him looking at me like ... 

What???? 

Perhaps I screamed.. I don't know.. 

Let's just say that the neighborhood was wondering what in earth was going on over at the Henry's.... 

I was screeching  voicing my opinion and Dustin is muttering something to his father.. 

I was so mad!! 

Yup.. I won't pretend I wasn't!! 

I expect it was not a pretty sight! 

I came in the house and proceeded to ball my head off and in he comes.. 

Are you ok?  

Can you imagine?  

When the conversation was over he thought he might go to the farm for overnight... 

sigh...

Anyway, he is still here .. 

Well, actually he went out to see our grandson play on his basketball team but he will be home soon.. 

Me... 

I am getting some therapy by telling you guys all about it.. smile.. 

Now you know what I put up with.. 

I am so blessed that my hair has not curled permanently or turned white.. 

I dare not pray for patience because he is trial enough, believe me.. 

Why do I love the man so?? 

Forty-six years, girl !!

Whatever.. 

Just another day in the life of this woman.. 

God is so good!! 

And he forgives me for being so upset.. 

Anyway.. 

The tree is still standing for now.. smile.. 

Thanks for listening... 

I still made supper.. 

This is a couple of jars of fruit salad I made last week.. 

Found some fruit on sale at the store and just cut it all up.. 

Made a light syrup from sugar, water and some star anise .. 

It was delicious !! 

Thanks for listening.. 

I hope I will hear from you.. 

May God bless and keep you all till next time.. 

Hugs.. 

Almost the weekend...

Good Evening my dears.. 

What do you think of those two opinions ?  

I think they both have truth to them.. grin.. 

Anyway.. 

Just a few pics for you tonight of some Pinterest pins that struck my fancy lately.. 

Hope you are having a good week.. 

I also included a recipe for a new bread that I made earlier on Monday and just loved it.. 

It is at the end of the post.. 

Enjoy...

I have a lot of cups and this exact plate in St. Martins at the cottage.. 

I may this wreath a try.. 

I saw it on FB and thought it was so sweet.. 

I think one would have to use the Gorilla glue, eh? 

Then you know me and my love of this kind of art.. 

I always love mice and cats.. smile.. 

I guess this is one of my pics when I was making some pantry potpourri.. 

This was a Martha Stewart craft which you dip in cider.. 

They were different but nice.. 

Love these old fashioned graphics.. 

This is such a cozy room, don't you think? 

Love love the UK Country decor...

I pottered about in our living room today.. Doing throws and pillows and such.. 

Trying to cozy it up for the Winter months... 

Love this..

A lot of wisdom in this.. 

Don't you think, Lindsay?  smile.. 

Nice chicken pot...

I baked a chicken this week in my clay baker which you soak in cold water for a couple of hours.. 

It did not look as nice as this but was simply delicious and tender..

Still planning my fresh simple Christmas decor..

Found the dearest set of clear snowman lights at the Thrift store yesterday.. 

Will take a pic of them when I figure out where they will be seen the most.. smile..  

This garland would be very easy to do, eh? 

Or even this dried apple one.. 

Sweet little tree ornament.. 

You can buy these bottles at the dollar store and you could put Christmas greetings in them and tie them to your parcel.. 

More cozy living room decor.. 

Finding it hard to believe that I love these color tones again.. 

Remember the eighties ??  grin.. 

Here is the new bread I made... 

It has a wonderfully rustic crust and only took a few hours from start to finish.. 

No timing it to make at night and wait till the next day to bake.. 

You do it all in the morning or afternoon or whatever.. 

It is recipe from an American gal who lives now in Sicily .. 

It even looks like an Artisan bread.. 

I wish I had remembered to push it up higher with a wood spoon as  it was a bit flatter then I like.. 

The taste was wonderful though and went perfect with homemade soup.. 

The recipe is HERE..

Let me know how you make out with it if you make it?  

Thank you for visiting and let me know what you are busy doing, ok?  

Sending love and prayers your way.. 

Faye.. 

Oh yes.. 

The soup base recipe is HERE as someone was wanting the recipe.. 

God bless.. 

Saturday and Keepers...

Good Evening my friends.. 

Here we are another Saturday evening and once again I am posting.. 

I do hope you are having a good weekend.. 

This week I prepared for our Keepers of the Home meeting which we had today.. 

We had a roll of Christmas paper and a roll of brown parcel paper to make a garland.. 

A bit of twin and homespun rags and some sparkle.. 

We also made a table runner and some labels ... 

Here we used napkins and such..

I will show you more next post as I forgot to take pics of the labels and runners.. sorry.. 

I also took this Schnitz or Farmers Fruit Cake to have for our lunch.. 

It is an Ontario Mennonite recipe and uses dried apples.. 

I had a bag left over from last Fall and wanted to use them up.. 

It made 2 big cakes and is simply delicious.. 

Or I think so as I love fruit type cakes.. 

The flavour is very unique ... 

I hope to run my dehydrators this week getting a new supply of dried apples for the Winter.. 

Here are the girls learning a ribbon broach and ribbon roses from Carman.. 

We only had coffee, tea and Tim Hortons muffins for breakfast as we were going to have soup for lunch.. 

I love paper crafts as they are so relaxing to do.. 

A bit of glue and paper and such and voila you have it finished. smile.. 

We had a sweet visitor all the way from Manitoba today.. 

Melissa... 

She won one of the ribbon broaches ! 

So happy to have her company... 

Remember the soup base that we learned about a few meetings ago?  

Well, Carman went out very early this morning to her farmer's market and bought an organic chicken.. 

She took it home and cut it in two and brought a half plus her new cooker to our meeting.. 

The chicken was cooked in 20 minutes.. 

She adjusted the recipe from her Romanian way to Canadian busy ladies method.. grin...

She placed the chicken pieces, a whole onion, a few parsnip, half a bunch of celery, 3 carrots and water into her new pressure cooker which does 7 different chores (like rice cooker, canner and such) and cooked it away while we did crafts.. 

She bought this wonder pot from Costco...

Then later she added only a third of the soup base.. 

And a bit of her homemade tomato juice and several potatoes chopped up.. 

It simmered away while we crafted and then at lunch time it was ready.. 

This was served over polenta along with fresh rolls..  

So good.. 

We usually just have a breakfast together but this was a once a year craft day for Christmas.. 

Twas fun !

Our little devotional was on Psalms 91 and a challenge to read it everyday for 30 days.. We will learn to really appreciate that Christ is our refuge and dwelling place no matter what goes on in this crazy world we live in.. 

Psalm 91

1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you
    from the fowler’s snare
    and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
    nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
    I will protect him,  for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.”

 Thank you dear hearts for visiting and letting me know you dropped by.. 
I appreciate it.. 
Still busy trying to get things done around here.. 
We were to the cottage and Terry winterised it for the season but our cold room still needs done and so on and so on.. 
It is sort of discouraging when you know a lot of people are all trimmed and decorated for Christmas !! 

The only thing I have done in that direction is to start a new Pinterest Board with some ideas for this year.. 
I plan to go a new direction by just using fresh and simple decorations.. 
When the holidays are over all I will do is take it down and not have to pack it all away... 
I have been wanting to do experiment with this for a couple of years so we will see how it turns out.. 
Here is my pinterest link...

 https://www.pinterest.com/fayehenry/a-fresh-simple-christmas/

Let me know what you think?  I will use special keepsakes and ornaments, of course but mostly fresh greens and such.. 

Terry and Dustin are gathering me lots of greens, mosses, cones and rose hip branches, etc. and putting them on the deck.. I will work away every once in awhile on garlands, wreaths and whatever but keep them in the cold until a few weeks before Christmas.. They would dry out if I did them before that, eh? 

Anyway.. we shall see....

Tomorrow is the Lord's Day.. Have a blessed one.. 
Sending you hugs from Eastern Canada...