An Albert County Drive...

Hello dear hearts.. 

Been a bit since I have been able to get here to post.. 

Hope you are all doing well.. 

Such a busy time of year with gardens, grandsons and graduations here with us.. 

Love it all!.. 

Just a few pics tonight that I took last Sunday after church.. It was Father's Day and as my dear Dad is with the Lord the best we can do is to visit his grave.. 

Even though it is way back in the hills it is a gorgeous drive... 

Come along.. 

This part of Albert County is most precious to this country girl.. 

It is where a lot of my roots are and I have probably shared some of this with you dear followers who have been around for a while before.. 

Please bear with me.. smile.. 

My grandparents were born in these hills of Albert County.. 

Gramp grew up in Collier Mountain and Gram in Meadow.. 

The hills are majestic this time of year.. 

Not with their height but with their beautiful trees and greenery.. 

Dear old homesteads still with a mailbox at the end of the lane.. 

And here across the brook is where my grandmother's  house was when she was growing up..  

She walked from here every day to school for a mile or two... 

And every Sunday to this dear old church.. 

She and Gramp lie here in the cemetary along with my Dad and so many more of my family members.. 

Hillside.. 

The sweetest thing was that when we arrived there was my sweet mother getting back in the car after visiting Dad's grave.. 

I had to snap a quick pic as I thought it was so precious! 

Although, she is married again they often go to their first spouse's grave sites... 

Is that an old fashioned thing to do?  

I love it anyway... 

After they left, I stood by his stone and looked at the Eastern sky and thought that some glad morning the dead in Christ shall rise first... 

eh?  

Such a glorious hope we have in Him.. 

Anyway.. 

I actually have four sets of grandparents in this one cemetary.. 

Isn't that lovely...

Yes, I truly am an Albert County girl.. 

Unless you are one you don't quite understand.. grin.. 

On that note I will tell you this .. 

On Tuesday night at Bible Study our pastor was teaching from the book of Isaiah about kings.. 

Anyhow, he asked for our input about what we today would desire in a king if we were to select one.. 

Well, I didn't have the nerve but I told Terry that he should be from Albert County... grin.. 

We thought it was funny! 

Ok.. 

Let's keep going.. 

I hope I am not boring you with the same old drive but it is all I have for tonight..  

Lots of hills planted with blueberries around here.. 

And darling old home farms away up in the hills where ever you look .. 

A lot of the old fashioned barns are getting old and not used as farming is either huge or not at all in most of the country.. 

But the good news is that a lot of these old farms are being bought by young couples who have seen the light.. smile.. 

They want to get back to basics and bring their children up on organic meat and fresh veggies and ride their bikes down country lanes.. 

Our close neighbors at the farm are all  young families.. Growing veggies and chickens..  

I chatted with a few of the sweet girls last summer and they were picking berries and making jams, preserving veggies and smoking their pigs.. 

Isn't that great! 

I know!

 Really the world is a bit materialistic place but it thrills my heart when I drive by an old farmhouse at night and the lights are on in the house and I know that there is a family there striving for the simple life.. 

OK. 

I stepped down from my soap box and on with the drive.. smile.. 

It may be back in the hills but the beauty is breathless.. 

There are many working farms too.. 

Cows... 

Cows and more cows.. 

Do you notice the bank of Blue Flags in front of the cows here.. 

I was telling Terry that I have not seen such an abundance of them growing as there is this year.. 

So pretty.. 

Some retired couples are also buying up these old farms!  

They are farming, too..

They have herb beds and chickens.. 

Herbs have always been a part of the kitchen garden since time began but the last few years I have really joined that wagon train and utilising them as much as I can..

I noticed many places are using raised beds and lots of chickens.. 

Fresh eggs for sale!  

Mom told me she stopped here and bought a couple of dozen and that they were beautiful and only three dollars.. 

She said they were a retired couple who have moved here from the city.. 

Isn't that lovely?

I took a pic of these bushes.. 

They are everywhere and I don't know what they are.. 

Do you? 

Probably some kind of berry???? 

And here on our little old homestead we have chickens growing.. 

This pic was taken a while ago and they are bigger now.. 

These are meat kings which mean they will be in our freezer this fall.. 

We do hope to be on the farm to stay on Monday!

We have had 2 graduations and parties and such .. 

Trips to the cottage, too but I think we are about ready to be there..

Looking forward to it.. 

Quiet mornings with the fog rising above the trees, newspapers at the end of the lane, picking herbs for the lunch salad, cold spring water from the tap, cows in the pasture mooing, chickens peeping, making and doing and the wonderful gorgeous wind that blows through our little hollow... 

Yes, it is time... 

Here is a new book I bought from Amazon.. 

Loved loved my fermented veggies from last year and as they are so healthy as well as delicious then I am interested in what else I can learn.. 

This one is bok choy, green onions, radish and celery... 

I will tell you how it tastes in a few days.. 

Loved her book and would really recommend it to you if you are wanting to try it.. Very healthy way to go and so simple.. 

A back to basics way of preserving for sure.. 

Well, this is all for tonight.. 

Speaking of graduations...

We are so proud of our grandsons.. All five of them!

This year two more have graduated and going to university in the Fall.. That will be four of them and only one left in high school.. 

I will share some of the pics next time. 

We have the last party tomorrow and then I will share a few of the high lights... 

They did so well... 

Thankful to God for all of his blessings with our sweet family... 

Take care dearies and I will try to post sooner next time.. 

We are looking into getting internet at the farm but don't hold your breath!  lol.. 

Thanks for stopping by here or on the FaceBook page and welcome to the new ones.. So glad to have you.. 

God bless.. 

Psalms 103-17

But from everlasting to everlasting, the LORD's mercy is on those who fear him. His righteousness belongs to their children and grandchildren,

Here and There...

Hi everyone.. 

How are you doing? 

Posting a few pics of our comings and goings.. 

We were down to St. Martins to the cottage for a day.. 

The lawns had not been mowed yet as we had not been down and it was covered in forget-me-nots, lots of rhubarb and dandelions.. 

This is in front of the old carriage house that goes with the cottage and as you can see the grass needed mowed badly.. 

It was pretty though. smile.. 

We had intended to bring back a bit of furniture for the old farm house as we won't be using the cottage much again this year but it got very dark and looked like it would pour rain so we decided to wait for another day.. 

The tide was out and the Bay of Fundy looked as beautiful as always.. 

I wanted to show this pic of Charlie... 

He is pretty proud of his new collar.. 

He is a good dog... 

The first rose of summer.. 

How fleeting is the time.. 

Back on the farm we are putting in some garden stuff.. 

It started raining again... 

So I sat in the truck and waited it out.. 

Terry and our farmer just stood outside in it talking.. 

We had a strip ploughed for raspberry canes and hopefully next year a few strawberries.. 

The sun came out later in the day and the beds needed a bit more water.. 

The dear man made me two more raised beds.. 

One is my Salad Bowl and the other is going to be for just flowers.. 

Will share more pics when they get growing more.. 

We had a wonderful gift of some Maple Syrup.. 

The best in the land made right in Prosser Brook by the Beaman family... 

Decided to make a couple of loaves of no knead bread and see how it would turn out with maple syrup.. 

It is pretty good.. 

Here is the recipe for you... 

Maple No Knead Bread.. 

In a bowl place 3/4 cup of warm maple syrup, 1 1/4 cups of warm water and 1 T. maple sugar or white sugar.. Stir well and sprinkle 

2 1/2 tsp. of instant yeast.. 

Let stand for 10 minutes. 

Stir well and add 4 cups of flour.. One at a time.. Stir well after each one.. 

On the third cup add 1 1/2 tsp. of salt .. 

I also add 1/2 to 1 tsp. maple flavouring.. 

After all is stirred well cover with a damp tea towel and let rise until double.. 

Punch down and cut into two parts and put each one in a buttered bread tin.. (small ones) or make 1 large loaf.. 

Bake at 475 degrees F. for 35 minutes.. 

Butter crust with a bit of butter if desired... 

Thank you dear hearts for stopping by.. 

Sorry I am not posting very often.. 

We do not have internet at the farm and have been busy trying to get moved up there.. 

Should be soon.. 

Take care and God bless.. 

Farm Journal 3..

Hello my dears.. 

How art thou? 

Wednesday is here once again and the days of Spring will soon be past and we will move into Summer.. 

Here in New Brunswick we are having a bit of a cool and wet season and waiting for it to warm up to get our garden in.. 

Lots of people have their's all planted but ours at the farm is still  wet so it is a waiting game.. 

And we always have a frost during the first full moon in June so we don't want to plant anything that will freeze.. 

We have been at the farm several times but I think you will find this a rather boring post farmwise.. 

I even hesitate to name it a farm journal.. smile..

Once we move there then hopefully it will be a bit more interesting but this is all I have for now.. 

We plan to be moved out sometime next week as our chicks will be here... 

These pics are just a bit of old farm house decor.. 

Not that this is farm house decor by any shade of my imagination but it is decor in an old farm house.. 

If you get my drift.. smile.. 

Every time we go I am still cleaning and changing around and trying to get rid of junk that has collected the last few years.. 

This is an old primitive cupboard that I had in my shop at the cottage and decided to bring it home for the farm kitchen.. 

I love cloth napkins and the first shelf has a wooden trug full of them.. 

A soup tureen from my Mom for one of our anniversaries.. 

And consomme soup cups and such..  

Lots of cookbooks and a couple of old crocks.. 

A yard sale find that I use for a flower vase.. 

The lamp parts were missing but it doesn't leak.. 

Lily of the Valleys.. 

Terry hung this pot rack for me over the stove.. 

We took our new to us propane stove to the farm but Terry won't get it hooked up till we get moved up there.. 

This sweet little kettle was another thrift find and a little bouquet.. 

The blue woodwork is being changed asap.. 

He hopes to paint the kitchen very soon..

So enjoy our fresh spring water that is pumped to the house.. 

Well sweet ladies that is all the farm stuff I have for now.. 

We are busy here at home the last few days but hope to get out there again on Friday.. 

Today I tried my hand at making some fabric covers for my dandelion jelly jars.. 

I picked some violets and hoped they would turn out for the violet salve I made but the white violets would not show up.. 

the dandelion ones are not too bad.. 

I am wondering if a bit of sharpie marker might make them a better.. 

Here is the link if you are interested.. 

Here..

And this is my next project as soon as I can buy the oils.. Here..    

Hope you are having a great week.. 

It is graduation month and we have two darling grandsons graduating this year.. 

Who can believe how fast the time has flown since they were born.. 

We will have only one grandson not in university.. 

Imagine! 

Wondering what projects you girls are doing.. 

Such a  busy time of year, eh?  

God bless you sweet friends.. 

xo

ps.. I forgot to mention that in the first pic with the shelf you will see 3 sheep and 1 donkey.. 

I found them at a yard sale in a plastic bag last year and have decided that even though it is my dream to have 3 real sheep and 1 donkey for many years now these toys are as close as I am apt to get.. 

Oh well.. grin.. 

Just sharing my burden.. lol.. 

Friday Night In June Album...

Happy Weekend everyone.. 

How are you all?  

Hope you are enjoying these first few days of June.. 

We are experiencing rain, rain and more rain.. 

We hardly recognize the sun when it comes out.. grin.. 

Anyway... 

I thought I would do a post of some pics I have taken during the month of June in the last few years.. 

Such reminders of the beauty that June gives to us here in Eastern Canada... 

The above one is of our daughter going to pick me a few violets..

 Which dry so lovely to make book marks and such.. 

Beautiful cows with a background of Dandelions in a pasture behind them.. 

My favourite herb... 

Lovage.. 

The stems are hollow and makes the tomato juice taste kind of like celery.. 

Yummm.. 

Looking for a few brook trout to fry.. smile.. 

Ducks looking for the brook.. smile.. 

Aunt Eva's Johnie Jump Ups.. 

Clotheslines and herbs .. 

Love both.. 

I think this shade of purple is so lovely.. 

Fields of sheep.. 

Chives... 

Purple Iris...

My hubby lovin' life.. 

Just give him some Spring weather and some chores to do and he is a happy man.. grin.. 

Rhubarb... 

A farmer's geese.. 

I think I am getting two as soon as we get to the farm.. 

Making herb salts and such..

Remember when Terry took this pic of a fawn up by the farm.. 

A couple of years ago.. 

It was not even afraid.. 

Sweet.. 

Had to end with a pic of food.. 

One that we love during the summer the most.. 

Fish Chowder... 

Well, dear hearts this is all for this Friday evening.. 

Thank you so much for visiting and welcome to the new Google followers and on the Face Book page.. 

So glad to have you.. 

Take care and God bless... 

Psalms 20:7

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, 

but we trust in the name of the Lord our God..