Another Ramble and Roll...

Hello everyone.. 

Thank you for dropping by.. 

This is going to be just a quick little catch up post.. 

I hope you are enjoying your new normal routine.. 

Everyone is back to school or university and such.. 

The vacations are about over for awhile.. 

It is always good to get back in the routine of things even when you are retired and there are really no normals anymore.. 

If everyone else is normal then we try to fit in.. grin..

I found my last post was a bit higgly piggly ! 

 I do know how to say this but not spell it.. 

But you know what I am trying to say.. smile.. 

 A bit of a ramble and roll I guess you would say and not structured very well, either.. 

But it is as it is.. 

I heard a saying the other day.. 

Wherever you go there you are.. 

Well, I guess it is the same with the posts from this blog.. 

Whenever there is a post there is a post.. 

Not necessarily a good one but one.. grin.. 

We will carry on... 

I made this delicious mac and cheese today for lunch.. 

I couldn't find the link to the recipe but if you want it I will take a pic of the recipe.. 

My mother and step father visited our church with us this morning and then they came over for lunch.. 

I so love feeding my mother.. 

She enjoys it so much and always makes whatever effort I make worth the bother .. if you know what I mean.. 

We also had Jambalaya and Potato Salad and Garlic Bread, pickles and Maple Syrup Pie.. 

And the best cup of tea as Mom said.. 

My son in law brought it to me from London, England so I gave her a few bags to take home with her.. 

I knew I needed pics for the post today but forgot to take one of the pie which Mom and Gerald both loved.. 

Terry took this pic of me.. 

I am not sure if I am praying or whispering a prayer not to say something smart to him.. grin.. 

Anyway we really enjoyed having them.. 

My mother is getting older of course and I can see changes so am blessed to once again have them for dinner.. 

Almost every morning if I awake early enough I will spot this family out my kitchen window.. 

I took this earlier on but they are still visiting.. 

It will soon be hunting season and I hope they remain intact.. 

Another batch of 2 ingredient dough..  

This was a lovely snack with homemade salsa... 

Still doing pickles.. 

Almost finished with them all, though.. 

My friend canned beets and I believe that is on my agenda for this week.. 

We still have lots of pickled beets so this would be a lovely addition to our winter meals.. 

Heat them up and add a bit of lemon juice and butter perhaps.. 

Just rambling and rolling!  grin. 

I wanted to share a housecleaning hack I learned this week.. 

You girls may already know it or it might be too much bother for the younger ones as they are young and able but for anyone my age and physical condition then this is a godsend... 

You put 1/3 Ultra Dawn 3x into a spray bottle.. 

It has to be 3x Dawn *blue and then fill the rest of the jar with vinegar.. 

Spray your tub or shower area all over with the concoction that you shake first.. 

Put the plug in and fill your tube with a bit of water.. 

Buy yourself a new broom and just go at it.. 

It is amazing how clean your tub area gets..

And you don't have to get on your knees as the long handle does it all..  

When you are all done scrubbing then change your water and rinse.. 

Tada!  

A glorious clean tub... 

I tried to find the exact link that I found but it was among the missing.. 

So... 

The credit belongs to someone but not sure who.. 

I used the above pic off of google but it was not the same link.. 

Anyway.. 

There you have it .. 

A great way to clean your tub!  

One night last week a friend (Allie) and I went to a painting class.. 

This was our aim to paint.. 

The sweet girl who was the instructor Tania painted the above ....

photo by Melody.. 

Allie and I did our best but we both admit it was not star quality.. grin.. 

A lovely time though... 

I used to teach Tania in Sunday school  and she laughed that she was now my teacher.. smile.. 

We came across this on one of our little drives.. 

An Albert County special...

The tansy and wild chamomile will soon be gone.. 

Fall is lurking.. 

Again this year I am dreading Winter.. 

I really dislike feeling this way and have to do a mind change soon.. 

smile.. 

Since I didn't have much to share with you this week I am sharing a couple corners of our home here .. 

Winding down here.. 

I saw this neat idea last year is a magazine.. 

I think I may do this on a table for fall... 

What say you?  

And .... 

Sweet hubby today at lunch teasing my Mom.. 

Tomorrow he will be getting eye surgery for his first cataract and it will be his birthday!  

A big one!  grin.. 

Quite the present!  

Praying he will make out as well as I did.. 

I love seeing so well now.. 

The family are going to be celebrating in a couple of weeks when everyone is off work... 

So thankful to the Lord for him.. 

My parting thought for the day.. 

Words found on a Hebridean altar... 

they are words from my heart... 

And may they be from your's too.. 

Thanks again for stopping by and your sweet notes.. 

I love them.. 

God bless... 

Saturday night Rundown..

Hello there dear hearts.. 

Thank you so much for dropping by the Blessed Hearth tonight.. 

It is Mother's Day weekend here.. 

The above pic is of my Mom when she was only about 16 or so I think.. 

Wasn't she sweet and so young.. 

I love this pic of her.. 

You can almost see her personality here.. 

Bright and cheery.. 

Very thankful for my Mom and so blessed to still have her in our lives.. 

She scares us a lot, though.. 

Today she had to go to emergency because she cut her leg on a chair and needed 6 stitches.. 

She is fine though.. 

Here is a little rundown of the last few days.. 

Spring time chores that we love.. 

Getting those towels out on the line and then smelling their sweet fragrance when we use them.. 

Trying something new that I was inspired by my friend, Anne to make.. 

Zuke Noodles.. 

With Chunky Tomato Sauce. 

These noodles were good but they are not pasta but a wonderful substitute if you are so prone to be healthy which I need to do much more often.. 

I have cut my pasta intake to only a couple of times a week but it is very difficult... 

Just sayin' !.. lol.. 

I took a pic of some books lying on my end table beside my chair.. 

Yes, I read every old Beatrix Potter book I come across.. 

Another favourite author is Louis L'Amour.. 

I had a huge stash of these that was in a big plastic bag and taken to the basement.. 

I can read some books a few times but do you think I could find them.. 

I thought I had lost them somehow by being thrown out by mistake by you know who ... grin.. 

Blamed him in my mind for a couple of years and then the other day I was looking through a big bookcase he had built in the basement a several years ago and lo and behold there they were..

Someone (probably me) took them out and I didn't know or remember.. Whatever.. But the lost is found..  

Thank you, Lord.. smile.. 

And then there is my Promise Book that I use so often.. 

This is what hubby loves to do.. 

News, news, news and more news.. 

The evenings are getting so much longer.. 

So happy about that.. 

Don't you love the Spring?  

Our house is filled with plants.. 

Did a big bucket of herbs for my Mom today for her gift along with a wreath.. 

On Friday we went to the farm for my first farm day this year.. 

I can't believe it has taken so long for me to actually get there and stay for the day.. It has been so damp but now it is lovely.. 

Terry worked at stuff and I started the cleaning.. 

Dishpans full of dishes and cupboards and counters and such all have to be washed.. 

We had a few winter borders but now they are kaput.. smile.. 

Later in the afternoon we visited some dear friends in Hillsborough.. 

I so love going there.. 

They own this adorable cat... 

Bobby.. 

We should have had him visit the farm this winter.. grin.. 

Oh well.. 

That is what you expect in an old country house.. So long as they are gone ... 

This is our friend's stairwell.. 

Isn't that beautiful! 

Love the bookcase and the staircase is gorgeous.. 

What a beautiful old home.. 

Here are some of their plants.. 

They have a Cactus that belonged to their grandmother.. 

Can you imagine!  

They are my age so it has been a few years.. 

Another little gathering on their buffet.. 

Such lovely antiques.. 

I am always in my glory when we visit.. 

Terry laughs and says that it makes me happy and it does.. 

Don't you love it when you visit kindred spirits.. 

Tea and homemade blueberry muffins and a visit to the piano room.. 

Glorious... 

And.. 

They have cows.. 

So nice!

Thank you Laura and Kathleen! 

Then this morning I headed for the farm as Terry wanted to go to an auction in Sussex.. 

I still have so much cleaning to do so away I went.. 

Picked up a Tim's coffee and went to work.. 

Accomplished quite a lot.. 

(still so much to do)  It took me 1 1/2 days just to clean the cupboards and everything in them.. I am so slow... 

We do not expect to move up for a few more weeks so hopefully I will be finished.. 

Anyway.. 

The dear man decides to come up too and walks in with a bag of these for my Mother's Day gift.. 

We sat down and ate them right away.. 

He also brought me a bag of Spring garlic that will be ready in the Fall.. 

He said I would like what was in the paper bag better then the lobster.. lol.. He was right!  

Love lobster but I was so disappointed that the garlic we planted in the Fall all froze.. 

We needed to cover them and I had not done my research.. 

But now I will have them anyway... 

Next time we will mulch or whatever one does.. 

Here is my new farm journal... 

Found it at the Thrift store.. 

Terry had to take all of the leftover wood on the stoop back to the wood pile.. 

Several loads.. Poor guy.. 

The boards there are for my hen houses and such.. 

Yeah!  

Well my friends this is all for this evening.. 

Spring has arrived and our lawn is green again!  

Dandelion jelly, Rhubarb Jam and Fiddleheads in the works for next week... 

Do you make any of these?  

So glad to chat with you again! 

As always, I love your notes... 

Have a blessed lovely Mother's Day!  

God bless.

Psalms 139:13

For you created my inmost being,

you knit me together in my mother's womb.. 

Winter in Albert County...

Have a great week, dear hearts... 

The purple days of Summer...

Good Evening my dears.. 

Hope all is well with you.. 

We here in Eastern Canada are trying to get over the storm Arthur.. 

He sure wrecked havoc on our poor landscape.. 

Thousands of trees are down and still thousands of people without hydro.. 

We were so blessed to keep our hydro and trees but others were not so fortunate.. 

Praying that their power comes on soon.. 

One of the saddest things I heard was that my most favorite place in New Brunswick which is Kings Landing has suffered terrible losses and will be closed for who knows how long.. 

Anyway.. 

I just posted some pics of some of God's beautiful artistry .. 

We went for a little drive out Tynemouth Creek way and came across this lovely patch of Blue Flags although they are really purple.. 

So gorgeous..

Farmers are making their hay and the scent in the air is simply beautiful..

We have an old bedroom here in the cottage for our Summer guests which is purple.. 

Every year I think I should change it up a bit but all these years later and it is still purple.. smile.. 

A couple of years after we had bought the old cottage the youngest child of the first owners dropped by for a visit and told me that this room used to be her parent's room .. 

At the foot of the bed is a portrait of one of her older sisters who was raised in this house.. 

The people at the museum called me and informed me that I could buy it if I liked and of course, I did.. 

So sweet to think that even though she is gone her picture is still hanging in her parent's old room, eh? 

The dear lady was Pauline and she was in her eighties then.. 

Since then she has gone on but I still remember that visit with a smile.. 

The last pic is of my sweet husband who is always ready to jump out and pick me a bouquet.. smile.. 

We keep a pair of scissors in each vehicle just in case.. grin.. 

Thank you my sweeties for stopping by during these busy months.. 

I know I am not doing a great job in keeping my promise to blog better so please forgive me.. 

Tomorrow the shop is opened again for 3 days so hopefully it will be busy.. 

Had some lovely visitors who read the blog and stopped by.. 

It is so nice to meet you all.. 

I have some Rhubarb Jams made for those who are interested.. 

For as long as they last anyway.. 

Take care and I look forward to hearing from you all.. smile.. 

Hugs form St. Martins.. 

A week of doing...

Happy Weekend everyone.. 

What perfectly beautiful weather we have had all week.. 

Beautiful fall days with warm temps and lovely breezes.. 

I guess we must be having our Indian Summer.. 

Like many other years before I think our Fall weather is better then the Summer was.. 

Kind of nice really because there is just so much to do.. 

Kind of overwhelming if I stop to think about it .. 

We made a little trip to St. Martins to do some more gathering of things we forgot.. 

I harvested some herbs and brought home several Rosemarys  and a large lavender that is all budded..I hope it survives the transfer... 

My parsley was huge for pesto and I have dried my sage... 

Terry picked our second crop of beans and I made some dill ones from my friend Judy's recipe... 

Then there were crab apples to do, too.. 

Spiced ones that is.. 

They turned out lovely and there was a jar of juice left which I saved for our family Christmas Dinner.. 

Last year everyone wanted to know what made the punch taste so different. 

It is just delicious and spicy, too.. 

Then on another day we went again to the farm in Prosser Brook.. 

Terry wanted to clean out the spring some more.. 

We just woke up and packed our stuff and left.. 

No coffee or anything.. 

Of course, we stopped at Tim Horton's for an extra large one and Terry went by the grocers and bought a frozen pizza.. 

We seldom do that but we were starving and kind of had brunch, I guess.. 

Everything tastes good up there for some reason.. 

Anyway... 

He went outside to work and I made a batch of Prosser Brook Relish.. 

My cousin, Ann gave me the recipe.. 

I laughed and asked her why it was called that and she said our relatives from there called it that.. 

So.. I had to make it.. 

The day before I had prepared all the veggies and salted them overnite.. 

Then that morning we just took it all with us.. 

It is lovely and made 14 pints.. 

I told you I love cooking in Aunt Eva's old kitchen, eh? 

Terry was begging for bread, too.. 

I have not made it for a couple of weeks as we were 

hooking up the stove and such.. 

This recipe HERE..

I had noticed on Pinterest that someone made their bread in a small glass crock pot and as I had one there I decided to try it.. 

Wonderful.. 

The boss says to make it in that from now on..

He thinks there is more.. grin.. 

I was talking to Shonda today and mentioned that I think my nerves are bad.. 

She wondered why.. 

I thought I should send her the pic of her father up that rickety ladder hanging off the flag pole that is as taller than the barn roof.. 

He couldn't get the old flag down as it was shredded into bits from the wind and caught there.. 

He comes down and carries up a full length 2x4 to poke at the top of the flagpole.. 

The old ladder was to one side and he was leaning back ...

Oh Lord...

Meanwhile, I am calling on the name of Jesus to protect this foolish man and he just tells me to watch and learn.. 

Then today he carried down a huge wood box of pickles that was at least 3 feet x 2 feet wide that he could hardly lift all the way downstairs.. 

Oh.. and did I mention about the fridge the other day?  

Yes, I think I did.. 

I guess the Lord needs me to intercede on his behalf.. 

Do you know what I mean??.. 

This man is not a spring chicken.. 

I know he climbed poles for a living but that was many moons ago.. 

Well...

Shonda just laughed and said the apple didn't fall far from the tree... 

What is that supposed to mean??

While I was standing with the truck keys in my hand on the step watching him (I might of had to go get help as there is no phone at the farm) I actually wondered if my kids did stuff like this that I didn't know about.. 

Obviously, they do as Shonda said not to ask her about the Christmas lights.. 

To tell you the truth I just don't want to know...

We ended up staying for supper and all I had was a few potatoes and such so I made a meal that my Gram would have served.. 

It was good, too, but probably not as healthy as it should have been.. 

What can I say? 

Monday .. 

Things are going to change around here.. 

Yeah... 

Anyway, sweet ladies thanks so much for visiting and reading my crazy scribbling.. 

I have warned you before that this blog is nothing but tales of an old keeper of the home and the things that we are up to.. grin.. 

Love and appreciate you guys... 

Blessings from New Brunswick..