Such lovely days...

Well hello there everyone.. 

It has been awhile.. 

Sorry about that.. 

We have been busy and the last couple of weeks have been lovely.. 

Our dear boy came home from out west and we are so happy to be to reach out and actually touch him.. 

We have been so looking forward to seeing Dustin after ten months.. 

I think the dear thing got taller... 

Meeting him at the air port was a bit emotional as you can imagine.. 

Such a lovely feeling to wrap our arms around this kid that we have missed so... 

I am such an emotional person.. 

But they were tears of joy.. 

Terry is as bad as me.. smile.. 

Guess who else was happy...

So exciting!

Dear old Charlie did not forget this lad.... 

smile.. 

Dustin's first visit was to see his Gram... 

It was such a wonderful day!! 

 We have been celebrating here and there all week..   

Meanwhile at the farm... 

Everything is growing as it should.. 

Scarlet Runner Beans.. 

Herbs...

Zukes... 

Harvested our first crop of over the winter garlic... 

Love love them.. 

Decorated this sunflower,herb and veggie raised bed  with a few old saucers... 

On Sunday we all went to church together at our little church in Salisbury... 

Two grandsons were missed as one was working and one is away.. 

It was lovely! 

I think if my kids were to ask me if there was something that we could all do that I would love the most it would be to go to church together... 

It just makes my heart so glad!  

My Mom and Gerald came too... 

And Jada...

Thanking God for my precious family... 

Then... 

We all drove together in a convoy to Fundy National Park.. grin.. 

We ate at Harbour View... 

Dustin finally got to have some Fish from the East Coast.. 

Real fish as he calls it.. grin.. 

It was a lovely meal.. 

Then we visited the local bakery once again for the sticky buns and coffee.. 

Found a couple of picnic tables and just relaxed in the sun.. 

Some went for a walk to the beach and gathered shells and we just enjoyed ourselves.. 

The Bay of Fundy was very welcoming... 

The week has continued... 

I am enjoying making breakfast ... 

And a couple of his faves ... 

Meat Balls.. 

He is visiting his friends though so as it is harvest season the work still goes on.. smile.. 

Terry has picked 8 grocery bags of beans off of one row.. 

I did 20 pints of French beans.. 

It took me several hours to cut them in the French style but hoping it will be worth the labour as I love canned French beans.. 

We shall see.. 

Then there were dill pickles to do... 

Fermented a few jars also.. 

Here is the little way I found on Instagram to decorate the jars of jam and such.. 

Bought some oilcloth from the Hardware and cut it our in circles.. 

Put on elastics to hold and tied them up with twine.. 

You can reuse these.. 

We had a lovely breakfast last week, too with our grandson... 

Matt...

He is in the Honduras this week... 

We just wanted to see him before he left..

He is working hard down there..  

He will be home this weekend, also.. 

Thank the Lord... 

Every morning Charlie gets to see his master again.. 

Such a sweet photo of his devotion to Dustin... 

The sad thing though is that the week is almost over and he will be gone again for too long.. 

Talking on the phone and all the stuff the web offers is wonderful.. 

But it is not the same... 

He is happy though and doing well so this mama is satisfied and I just put his care in the hands of the Lord each and every day...

That is what we mothers and fathers do, eh? 

Lots of kids working out west these days.. 

The world changes but that doesn't mean I have to like it.. smile.. 

Summer is closing down and I need to buy a new steno tablet for lists of all the wonderful things I want to accomplish this Fall.. 

We have a few more days with Dustin and then next week I will try to be busy and not miss him so much... 

God is faithful and I am thankful... 

Thanks so much for stopping by this day.. 

Love having you visit and as always I so look forward to your dear notes.. 

You all rock... 

Take care of your sweet selves and your dear families... 

Hugs... 

Psalms 103 : 17

But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children—

A Week in August..

Good Evening my dears.. 

Here we are with another weekend almost over.. 

Summer is still here, though.. 

The temps still have not dipped very much but the nights are cool and we are getting some rain so all is well as far as the weather goes.. 

We had a lovely service at church this morning.. 

Another Lord's Day ... 

A terrible tragedy has happened here in our little province of New Brunswick  as I am sure many of you heard this past Friday... 

Two of our police officers and two civilians were senselessly gunned down and killed by a gunman in the early hours of Friday morning.. 

As a country here in Canada we are not used to this type of crime..

And here in the Maritimes of Canada on the Eastern coast we are just down home people..  

Yes, it happens but not often.. 

We are so blessed to live here!

But what a tremendous loss!  

Children left without a parent, spouses, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers and friends and relatives all left striving to understand the lunacy of such an act... 

We are praying for God's sweet peace and comfort to cover them... 

To give them strength and to feel His presence.. 

In a world gone crazy it is so wonderful to know who holds your hand.. 

Life happens to everyone but when you can close your eyes and know that He is in the midst of the storm you are facing... 

We can lean on Him and gain strength and a measure of peace.

He is a faithful God and today I am thankful to know Him.. 

Please pray for these dear people... 

The God of hope... 

This is going to be more of a picture post... 

Hope you don't mind.. 

We took a day trip to St. Andrews by the Sea one of those hot days last week.. 

So beautiful! 

The air was so fresh and smelled of the sea.. 

We had supper at the Clam Digger... 

It was as delicious as everyone says.. 

And huge.. 

I love fish so Terry had more fries then he needed.. 

Next time I will only buy a one piece.. grin... 

Then of course we are back and forth to the farm.. 

Aren't they lovely!  

As you know they are not ours but we do enjoy them.. 

The farmer works some of our property and we look like we are a real farm.. smile.. 

The tansy is out as I think I have mentioned before.. 

I post on Instagram most days and I can see that I am going to forget what I said here or there.. grin.. 

Here is the link to my page in case you were wondering.. 

INSTAGRAM LINK

I don't think you need an account to check it out on google.. 

Anyway... 

The tansy is lovely!

My sweet husband is always so kind to pick flowers for me so I don't break my neck (grin) and gathered a bunch for me before we stopped at the farm the other day.. 

Charlie was very patient waiting for him and wondering what he was doing..  

As soon as we get to the farm and let Charlie out he does a big run to the brook and dashes in ... 

It is a Spring so it is safe.. 

It cools him down and we laugh because he will take a drink then look back to make sure we are still there and then take another drink and so on until he has enough... smile.. 

I made some lunch and then decided to make a wreath.. 

It was not complicated at all.. 

Just kept wiring bunches on all the way around.. 

I think it will dry well but time will tell.. 

I hope to make another bunch of salve soon, too..  

We had a rainy day and so I made a big batch of bread.. 

We are having some sweet company this coming weekend so I froze several loaves to have.. 

It is to be hot this week too so I hope I get a chance to do a bit of baking... 

Here is the recipe for this bread.. It needs to be kneaded.. 

BIG BATCH OF HOMEMADE BREAD RECIPE..

This is a few friends that live close to us... 

Aren't they beautiful!  

Terry stopped by the side of the road so I could take a pic.. 

They noticed me and both of them came to the fence.. 

They were so lovable.. 

I wished I had a couple of apples but perhaps one shouldn't do that.. 

I think they must have great owners for them to be so friendly.. 

Just thought you might enjoy seeing them.. 

I made a nice batch of Queen Anne's Lace jelly the other day, too.. 

I will show you a pic next time of the jellies as I have a new idea for dressing them up for gifts.. 

Found the idea on Instagram.. grin.. 

This afternoon we took another little drive as I had spotted these flowers growing in this old lot on a drive by earlier.. 

It took us an hour to find them as we both forgot where they were.. lol... Oh... honestly!  Old age!! 

We backtracked a couple of drives we had taken and both spotted them at the same time.. 

They dry beautifully and I want to make another wreath or two.. 

If they turn out well then I may make a few for gifts... 

Do you know the name of them.. 

They remind me of Everlastings but they are not them.. 

I get a few every summer along a ditch and use them for potpourri, also... 

For you sweet girls who asked me about the cake in the last post.. 

Here is the recipe.. 

Simple Cake

1 cup of yogurt 

3 eggs

1/2 cup of soft butter

1 cup of brown sugar

2  cups of self rising flour

1 tsp. of maple flavouring

Mix well and place in a greased 9 inch round pan.. 

350 degrees F.

I just made a butter icing with maple flavouring and added the walnuts.. 

Also.. 

For the Berry Shortcake you can substitute whatever berry you like or even fruit or a mixture of berries.. 

sorry for being so long getting back to you all.. 

Thanks for dropping by and I always so look forward to hearing from you all.. 

Welcome to the new followers here and on Face Book... 

God bless... 

Hugs.. 

Ten Lovely Little Ways to Enjoy A Summer's Day..

Hello there my dears.. 

Hope you are doing fine.. 

So happy you stopped by.. 

Tonight it is a bit of a different post.  

We were out to the farm the other day and it was just so hot but Terry has two air conditioners installed so it was not so bad inside.. 

I thought I would just enjoy my day and try to put a blog post together for you on something I have been thinking about this summer.. 

So.. 

It is not as good as it could be but if I wait I may never get it posted... smile.. 

So here we go... 

Ten lovely little ways to enjoy a summer's day... 

You can pick and choose..shall we say.. 

I have some lovely old teacups on the sill in the pantry and I have been meaning to give them a good wash in some lavender dish soap... 

I buy that at Home Sense in Moncton..

I love their dishsoaps and brushes and such.. 

I think some of them come from the UK.. 

I know my dishsoap does..  

Anyway... 

I got down my big old enamel dishpan and set it on the table like my Grandma used to do.. 

Added some hot water and soap and threw in a handful of flowers that I had picked out by the step.. 

It smelled heavenly and was just a little bit more pleasure washing the old cups with a little daisy or cosmo here and there.. 

eh?  

Then I went out and picked a lovely basket of herbs.. 

Perhaps you don't have an herb bed but your farmer's market or even your super market have herbs.. 

Pick out a few you love and bring them home.. 

Put them in bunches and tie them up with grocer's twine or what have you and hang them somewhere in your kitchen.. 

When they are dry put them in mason jars to enjoy this winter.. 

Most of mine I pulverize with my chopper... 

Not the lavender.. grin.. 

Then we were going to have our dinner there so I decided to make a summer salad and dressing.. 

It really does not take much effort.. 

Just 1 part lemon or lime juice and 2 parts oil.. 

I always add salt, pepper and a few chilli pepper flakes.. 

And garlic, of course.. 

This time I just shredded the bud from the garlic scapes but normally I use a crushed clove of garlic.

And I also did a few pickled radish.. 

Slice up some radish and I added onions.. 

In a little pot bring 1 1/2 cups of vinegar, 2 T. sugar and 1 t. salt to a boil and pour over your radish.. 

Let it cool down and put in the fridge till needed.. 

Terry came in so these ones never did see the fridge.. grin.. 

And a little cucumber salad.. 

Slice some cukes, scallions and green onion tops and pour a bit of your salad dressing over.. 

A few chilli flakes are good too although there is some in my dressing.. 

We eat this stuff every day almost.. 

Love the summer veggies, don't you?  

Then as I posted before it is nice to make a summer bunting.. 

Just draw a pattern on cardboard, mark it on your fabrics and cut out.. 

Glue to twine with your glue gun.. 

Check  a post or two back if you need directions.... 

A cheerful sight out of the pantry window... 

When we drove home we both noticed that it is too light in colours and we could hardly see it from the road.. 

Next time out I shall try to make a brighter one and hang that one on the deck... 

Then this idea I was reminded of on Instagram the other day and made this almost as soon as we went through the door.. 

A simply lovely smelling stove top potpourri.. 

This one has sliced lime, a piece of ginger sliced, rosemary, thyme and lavender sprigs.. 

Place in a pot.. 

Add water to cover..

Turn on and bring to a simmer then turn down on low.. 

Don't forget about it as the water disappears.. 

Just add more water as needed.. 

I would go out of the room or outside and come in and think to myself.. 

What is that lovely smell?  grin.. 

You will love it, I am sure.. 

You can add herbs and fruit of your choice.. 

I love buying half price lemons and limes at the market and using them this way.. 

Also dried lemon and lime slices are wonderful to put in a glass of water.. They rehydrate and you always have a mason jar full of them.. 

Then it is always fun to set a country table just for lunch.. 

Nothing fancy! 

Just lovely colours that turn your crank and some eclectic dishes make for a lovely lunch.. 

Right?  

I love love lavender.. 

Almost as much as Patchouli!.. grin.. 

My friends know me as a patchouli lover! 

It is my perfume of choice but I love lavender, too.. 

My plants are producing a bit so I decided to make a quick little candle with the bit I picked that day..

Dig around and find a couple of  old candles and a tea light.. 

Then a little jar or even a tin can will work.... 

These candles were a pink and a white one.. 

Take the tealight apart and save the little wick holder at the bottom.. 

Then break the candles up and put in an empty tin can (tomatoes) is good.. 

Put it a little pot with water half way up..

Melt slowly over med heat..  

Save the candle wick... 

Thread it through the wick holder from the tea light and place in your jar.. 

Tie the top part of the wick to a pencil and put over the top of the jar to hold the wick nice and tight.. 

Add some lavender buds if you have them and a bit of lavender essential oil to your taste.. or smell... 

If you want to decorate your jar it is a nice finishing touch.. 

I will keep the cover on to keep the scent fresh until I light it again... 

Well I guess this stuff took most of my day.. 

Around 3 in the afternoon it was over 30 degrees C.  

Oh man!  

I didn't want him working out in that heat so we went for a drive.. 

Another simple country pleasure... 

Up over Caladonia Mountain and in half an hour we were at the Bay of Fundy... 

Gotta love those views and the air was just so fresh.. 

Making hay... 

I guess the haymakers had done their thing and gone to the beach.. grin.. 

I don't blame them.. 

We circled around and went through Hopewell Cape.. 

My grandparents used to live there when I was a kid.. 

I so love that place.. 

I was telling Terry I could live there.. 

We drove past this wonderful looking antiques shop.. 

Isn't it pretty.. 

Who would ever think to use those colours but it sure gets your attention.. 

They were closed...  

Back we went to the farm so Terry could finish his chore of cleaning the spring.. 

I had mixed up a cake and put it in that old stove oven when we got back.. 

I can never seem to get the right temp on the thing but it was good as I cut off the burned pieces.. 

Well, Terry ate them.. grin.. 

A little icing and a few walnuts and it was a lovely simple pleasure to round off our day... 

There you have it.. 

Ten lovely simple pleasures to enjoy your hot summer's day with.. 

Thank you so much for being here and for your sweet comments.. 

I apologize that I don't answer very much lately as we have no internet at the farm and by the time I get home here I am beat.. 

Also I have to start up this cranky laptop to type as it is too hard to answer everyone on the tablet... 

Sorry... 

May God bless you all.. 

PS.. 

In the last post I wrote a recipe for shortbread that I copied off of Instagram.. 

I thought I had it wrong but it was right ...
It took me a bit to find it again but I finally found her.. 

We loved the shortcake with her recipe but my sweet friend Dianne added 2/3 cup of milk to hers and I am sure it probably made it better.. 

More cake like if you know what I mean.. 

I corrected the one in the last post and added her milk as I do think it might be thicker.. 

It is up to you.. 

Either way is great.. 

The lady on Instagram was 

Buenna Vista Farm .. 

Just google that then go to her Instagram.. 

I found this via Rhonda at Down to Earth blog... 

Enjoy...