A short August post...

Hello dear hearts:  

Just a few pics for you today!

A sooner but much shorter post..

First of all I want to thank you for all the prayers for Terry! 

He is doing better... 

Gaining strength everyday !

At last post we were going to the doctor the next day..

We found out he had the infection back again!! 

But we are thankful to our Lord that he is much better! 

We were out to the farm for a short day and did a few chores.  

Just taking it easy. 

Our gardens are what they are!

Things can't be helped sometimes.  

The first pic is a sweet thrift store find from earlier in the Spring.  I knew it would be sweet in that old farm kitchen!

Picked a bunch more chamomile and was excited to finally have another Borage plant..I haven't had one since our cottage by the Bay of Fundy.. the blue flowers .. 

Then a pic of my first herb bed that we planted there when we first decided to summer there instead of in St Martin's.  

And one of the old house from the truck mirror! 

One of our first planned projects was to paint that poor old house but we shall see.  At least it is still standing! 🙄

Our kids have offered to make a day of it and get it done but we shall see...

And drying horse tails for tea.. 

Same place same station as last year.. lol.. 

Then.. 

Food... 

The pics above are just some food pics from here at home that I randomly snapped.. and not many of them.. 😉

Early morning breakfast... 

Pasta and Tuna Salad ..  an old standby   Recipe here somewhere.. 😋

My first batch of sweet green bean pickles... 

our faithful fish chowder and broccoli salad on a

Friday night. 

and a rainy day soup... 

Guess what!!

Our oldest grandson is getting married in September!!  

I can hardly grasp it!

The dear thing! 

Will share pics with you then..

She is a lovely girl! And we are happy for them both! 

Praying for God's blessing on them and their marriage..

And our darling son is coming home for a few days!

I can hardly wait! Been a year and a half! 

So thankful!! 

Laura asked me in comments about cooking Lamb's Quarters.   

Laura all I ever do with them is wash well and make sure they are not too old and tough .. 

Barely cover them with water and a good shake of salt. 

Cook till tender, drain well and serve with butter and vinegar or lemon juice.  Very plain but delicious! 

And if you Google ...The Kitchette recipes you will find her Banana Brownies recipe ... 

K? 

Well this is all for today dearies! 

 Not much for sure but will do more soon .  

Made some new jams and such which I will share with you next time.  

 

Take care of yourselves and your sweet families! 

Hope I hear from you here or on Facebook or Instagram! 

And I love your emails... 

A pic from an Instagram post last week .  

CHECK me out there ..

blessedhearth 

Just one of our drives where I picked the roses.. 

for the syrup.. 

And a couple of pics that caught my eye from the web.. 

I may have shared them before as they are on this old computer.. smile.. 

and a wee reminder.. 💗

Hugs... 

Faye... 

Farm Journal 2020 Number 3

Hello there my dears... 

Lovely to have you visit the Blessed Hearth today.. 

I am glad you are here.. 

Hope you are all doing well in your corner of the world! 

We have been enjoying our summer!  

We were just saying this morning coming home from church that summer is on the downswing!  

It saddens me!  

I do not enjoy intense heat but really we have been blessed with some cool temps along with our hot days.  

Fall is lovely but then Winter! 

That is all I will say!  smile..

So with that you can bet that I plan to enjoy the rest of this blessed season!  

Anyway.. 

We have been up to the farm quite often.. 

Although we are not there as much as we thought we would, everything is looking great.. 

The gardens are growing and some herbs have been picked and are drying and such.. 

The bunting finally is finished and hung! 

Sorry, Donna for taking so long getting to this..  

Terry is weeding there.. 

He spends a lot of time on his knees out there in the garden... smile.. 

This is just a glued bunting as it does not last up there too long.. 

It sometimes stays all winter but the last couple of years half of it ends up blowing away.. 

This year I bought a strong kind of string and hopefully that will last better.. 

The measurements I used are 13 x9.. 

I just traced out how many I might need.. Just guessed and only had 3 pieces left over.. 

You could measure and figure it all out but I am by guess or by golly kind of girl when it comes to this bunting.. 

Then all I did was use my glue gun and made a line of glue.. Stuck the string in it and folded each one.. 

I ended up only have two colours.. 

The house is yellow and we are planning on painting it this summer and I want a blue door.. 

You can make as many colours and sizes as you like.. 

The buntings I use inside are usually sewed together and turned inside out and a bit more polished..  

This is a pic from a previous year.. 

If you have any questions you can message me... K? 

This pic was taken a week ago ... 

It is hard to believe how fast it all grows once July hits the calendar.. 

Please notice the dear poppies growing again.. 

We have a squash and a pumpkin bed.. 

Cucumbers on the other end..  

We are usually working outside and our lunches are not too fancy.. 

One of our favourites.. 

Grilled Tomato and Mozza.. 

For Christmas Terry gave me a Panini type thing.. 

I don't know what you call it but it is cast iron .. 

About the size of a brick without the height and a handle.. 

You make your sandwich, butter the outside and put the cast iron on top.. 

Works wonderful!  

Not hard to store, either.. 

He bought it at Moffett's Hardware in Sussex.. 

Our lettuce bed is doing great too.. 

In one of my books the author wrote that the lady of the house washed her lettuces and fried it along with a bit of bacon and then added vinegar.. 

We tried it and it is delicious!

The last food pic... grin.. 

Supper.. 

A new bread recipe which is awesome (will share next time), last year's canned green beans, fresh salad with herb dressing and chicken which was browned in a fry pan then placed on a tray, finished baking in oven and then cheese and herbs and returned for a few more minutes.. 

It is nice to be able to use oven when it is cooler here..

This is a few other things going on.. 

My dear dear Lavender!  

It really flourished this summer.. 

Nine large bundles!  

I know you may think I am strange but I feel like it is such a lovely accomplishment!!  lol! 

Doesn't take much to satisfy some people, eh!  

Lots of projects coming on with all that.. 

I will share as I go.. 

Making potpourri seems to be large on my agenda this summer.. 

This one was an accident!  grin.. 

Terry had picked me a huge bouquet of wild flowers which I put in a mason jar on the kitchen table at the farm.. 

It sits in a window and as we were not there all the time it slowly dried out ... 

So.. 

I just cut them off their stems and put them in an old bowl.. 

When I get time I will seal the bowl with several drops of essential oil and it will last for ages.. 

So pretty, don't you think?  smile..

Perfect Petal Potpourri...  

And there is this going on at home.. 

Picked roses everywhere.. 

At the farm, on country drives and from our own bushes.. 

Lay them out on old laces and such and letting them dry.. 

Some will be used for potpourri, rose oil for soap and toiletries, rose vinegar for rinsing dishes and so on.. 

There is just so much you can do with dried roses.  

Do you see the cloth on the bottom right.. 

Has a few pine cones and such.. 

That is our anniversary potpourri.. 

Everywhere we go on our little drives and trips are being dried and added to an old hat box.. 

I will add scent and name it later on in the year.. 

Probably call it... 

We made it!  lol.. 

And.. 

Picking herbs every time we go out and drying them.. 

Sewed up a bunch of herb bags.. 

This is one for soup herbs... 

You can add whatever turns your crank but I love to put thyme, lovage and organo in my tomato base soups.. 

Do you make these? 

Well dear hearts I am finally running out of steam .. 

But.. 

This is a pic of a border we have had in the apple orchard a lot this summer..  

She is not afraid of us at all.. 

She loves the chickens and even upset the bucket with chicken food and had a great lunch.. 

I love deer but want them to stay in the woods.. 

Deer ticks... 

Anyway, I had read where you soak rags in vinegar and tie them on your garden posts and they will not bother it.. 

You renew the vinegar at least once a week.. 

Well, she was here all the time until we did this.. 

We have not seen her since so hopefully she just reacted to the vinegar and is keeping her distance.. 

We are putting them in the gardens, too.. 

Just a tip if you have deer visiting that you would rather not.. 

And before I go.. 

Still celebrating our 50th each month.. 

Our darling children took us out on the town!  

To a wonderful place called Gusto Restaurant!

So much fun and delicious Italian food!  

We were all there except our precious son who is out west.. 

There are exactly 12 of us now in our family.. 

Thankful to our Lord for each and every one of them!  

Aren't they dear!!  

We do little things just like you do.. 

Had breakfast last week in a new cafe at the Green Pig Market.. 

It was delicious! 

And fun there too.. 

Old china with fruit salad and toasted biscuits on an antique saucer with homemade strawberry jam in an enamel cup!! 

Gotta love that!  smile.. 

And so my luvs this is it for another time.. 

But will show you the last great books I have been reading.. 

I so enjoyed this series and found it all so inspiring.. 

Reading Christian books not only inspires but also encourages.. 

We as mamas and wives can get drained and with the world so messed up I find it lifts up my spirits.. 

It is a busy time of year with canning, preserving and such but reading how they accomplished so much in the 1800s without all of our conveniences challenges me to make a better effort to accomplish what needs to be done.. 

If you know what I mean.

And the author's reference to God in their lives in something I need to hear.. 

I want Him to be front and foremost in my life.. 

Not just for myself but for my children and grandchildren.. 

He is coming soon!  

God bless you sweet friends... 

Farm Journal 2020 Number 2...

Good Evening everyone.. 

So happy to have you visiting here at the Blessed Hearth.. 

All is well here in Eastern Canada. 

Tis another Sabbath and we were thankful when they said .. let us go into the house of the Lord.. 

Again we are so blessed to be able to be in church this morning.. 

And a  special day it was as we celebrated our youngest grandson's graduation..  

Pastor spoke so well.. 

Admonishing not only Joel but all of the young people to keep God first in their hearts and lives.. 

Praying for all youth today in this topsy turvy world.. 

I know it has been a few weeks since I posted and thought I better get one up before this month was over to show you we did a special day for our 50th once again for the month of June... 

You will think we are such a boring couple!!  

No wild trips or great excitements.. grin.. 

I mention to my husband every once in awhile that I am a cheap date!  lol.. 

All he has to do is take me over the mountain to the Bay of Fundy and I am a happy gal.. 

So.. 

Once again.. 

Cape Enrage it was.. 

We had another picnic lunch.. 

Potato Salad, Tomato Sandwich on a bun which I made there, fermented carrot pickles, cherry tomato salad, popcorn and such.. 

Terry had a diet pepsi and I had a lovely thermos of hot tea.. 

In my china cup.. grin.. I know, eh!! 

Sitting there listening to the waves and feeling the sea breezes on my face just recuperates my lagging spirit.. smile.. 

And I had downloaded the most wonderful book on my Kindle..  

The Promise of Dawn by Laurain Snelling.. 

Terry had a nap and a walk and I just sat.. 

I did pick some flat rocks to make one of those stack things.. 

Two of them actually..

We left there.. 

And drove to Alma.. 

Such a quaint and beautiful village.. 

Bought a sticky bun.. 

They are famous!  

Then back across Caladonia Mountain and to the farm.. 

We are still not staying there all the time..

We shall see.. 

Love being home too.. 

This is a farm journal post so here we go..  

I spend a lot of time in the herb beds but they are getting about done except for weeding and watering.. 

Terry works outside and I love pottering about inside.. 

Remember a while ago I mentioned he had brought my old shop wall cupboard in .. 

He hung it in the pantry and I love it.. 

Pretty old and distressed shall we say.. 

No matter.. It is lovely to this beholder.. grin.. 

I just put in what had been in the other one but I will get to it.. 

Eventually.. 

Another day at the farm and another meal.. 

Fish Chowder and Salad.. 

A few make and dos.. 

Fermented Rhubarb Pickles.. 

Which I simply love.. 

Terry... not!! lol.. 

So.. I get them all to myself and have finished a bottle already!! 

I love sour... 

Well.. I love sweet, too.. Just not in pickles.. lol.. 

More meals.. 

We do love our fish and salads.. 

Especially, cod fish!  

Yes, we are Maritimers!  smile.. 

My chives are being put to good use..

Made vinegars and Acadian Soup Herbs.. 

Sorry no pic.. 

Each time we go I pick a basket full of herbs..  

Oregano, Chives, Thyme, Tarragon and Catnip are already.. 

So love herbs!! 

Do you?  What is your favourite thing to do with them.. 

And of course, Lovage! 

Sun dried a lot so far.. 

It takes a lot to make the Lovage Salt.. 

It is not really salt but lovage all ground up and put in a shaker dish to use as a salt replacement.. 

Of course, I don't think I could ever replace salt full time but it does have a wonderful celery type flavour.. 

Also I add this to my soup herb cheese cloth balls and then I add them to the ones I freeze.. 

Oh my.. 

I must be on a roll today.. 

Rambling on and on and on.. 

Almost finished.. lol.. 

Another simple farm meal.. 

Terry's kind.. 

He is going to take me out to a few gourmet places as soon as we think it is safe enough.. To celebrate, I mean.. smile. 

For now it is steak and mushrooms, mashed, squash and dilled bean salad... 

Whatever..

Some of you girls email me and say you love the meal ideas so hope you don't find me just longwinded.. grin

We are celebrating two of our grandson's

 achievements this month of June-2020.. 

Our youngest of five grandsons graduated from high school!  

He did so well with high honours and several prizes and scholarship.. 

He will be entering U.N.B. in the fall.. 

Praying God's blessing and protection for him.. 

We are proud and happy for him.. 

And.. 

Matthew... 

He is our second oldest grandson..

He just graduated from four years of Engineering at U. N. B. 

With high honours and all.. 

He has been accepted into Med school in the Fall.. 

So we are indeed blessed!  

Praying that the Lord will continue to bless and protect Matthew!  

The other 3 grandsons are all at university also.. 

What can I say.. grin.. 

I am their grandma after all!  

Well dear hearts this is all for this time and this month.. 

We have a family  celebration coming up this week and am so looking forward to being with our family.. 

Missing our precious son out west, though..

Just try not to think about that and am blessed with the calls and such.. 

Better then in the day of these books I read when they left their family not expecting to ever see them again in this life.. 

Just can't imagine!  

Thanks for dropping by and visiting with me once again.. 

So love your notes here and on Face Book and on Instagram.. 

Appreciate you girls.. 

For the questions and such.. 

I picked those blue bowls up that was on the last post at a thrift shop.. What a scoop.. lol.. 

And I will be making the bunting for the farm and will explain that then Donna.. Sorry to take so long.. 

and the recipe for the perfume is so easy.. 

Just use an unscented lotion.. 

And add essential oils.. 

I think it was 15 drops of patchouli, 2 drops of ylang ylang and 2 drops of orange..  

I think next time I will just use patchouli and perhaps lavender.. 

Just adding till I get the scent I like.. 

Hope this helps.. 

God bless..