A KEEPER OF THE HOME'S RESOLVE FOR 2011...

Good Evening to one and all...

It is certainly winter here in New Brunswick...

It is also a new year with a new slate... Everyone's making their lists of goals and commitments for a new start...

We are so blessed when we remember that God's mercy is renewed each morning and whether we keep true to our resolutions or not He remains the same and faithful is He.  

I, too have made new resolves... to have a closer walk with Him...to do more for His kingdom... to be a brighter lighthouse for Him..

And then as a keeper of our home I want to do all I can to make it a place of contentment.. A haven against the storms of life...No matter what year it is there will always be trials and storms... 

So, I would like to prepare my home this winter to be at it's best.

My resolve is to get it in order... 

Many years ago (almost 45) as a small girl  I sat in a little church and listened to an old saint - a keeper of the home - testify to the fact that Jesus is coming soon and she wanted her earthly house to be in order as well as her spiritual home... I never  forgot her saying that....In fact I remember it every Janurary....lol..

I love to do sooooo many things... Housework is not the top of my list sadly to say... 

I would cook up a four course meal or cut out a pattern and make it or paint an old piece of furniture or rearrange and decorate a room much sooner than clean out my fridge or sweep the floors or clean up my mess..lol...

I usually add that it is because of my nature.. God made me creative...lol...

True but I have also realized that he loves a well ordered home...

I know that a lot of you girls out there have it all together and your home is in excellent order... Oh, to be like you... My sister is like that.. Actually,  I have a friend who is as close as my sister and she too (Sadly)  has the same talent as does my daughter... 

Sometimes, I ask ... Lord, why not me?  lol.. I really don't laugh but I am who I am and that is a person who needs a LOT  of work... 

So...... with all that in mind I am going to STRIVE to the best of my ability to get this dear old place in order... 

I love my home the same as I am sure most of you do... 

But.... it needs some work.... 

I need to clean out some cupboards.... Not just this quilt cupboard but the linen closet and the clothes closet and the china cupboards..

Do you see what I mean???

I also want my home to be a place of hospitality...

I want to invite some neighbors in for tea and perhaps some cookies..( oh, the recipe for these chocolate chip cookies are on my other blog PRIMITIVE LACE  at the bottom of the page..)

I want to come home to a place of peace where the fires are burning and soup is on the stove for whoever drops by....

The recipe for these soup herbs are on this blog ....

I am sorry I don't know how to link you to them but just look and you will find ...lol..

I also want to do something creative every day to make my home more beautiful or to add to my shop...

I need to paint this cupboard (black) ... I bought it at an auction for 17 dollars... What a buy but there it sits not finished...

So ... I think you are probably gettting my drift by now..

I read this and loved it.

"WINTER IS A TIME FOR COMFORT, FOR GOOD FOOD AND WARMTH, FOR THE TOUCH OF A FRIENDLY HAND AND FOR A TALK BESIDE THE FIRE:

IT IS A TIME FOR HOME."

-Edith Sitwell, British Poet....

I hope that this blog will inspire you as keepers of your homes to make it a place where the Lord is the centre and your family comes first...

 I want to thank everyone who stops by and reads this so faithfully... I know we come from all different walks..

But we all love our God and our families...

So from the depth of my heart I want to thank God for the blessing of all the friendships that I have made through The Blessed Hearth..

 

I will keep you up to date in what I am doing to accomplish this HUGE resolve...lol...

Today, I am feeling soo much better and actually put away a lot of Christmas... It will take a couple of days to do that... And then onward I will go with the help of the Lord...

I hope you will leave me a comment and let me know what your resolves are in connection to your home...

Take care, now...

Love to you all...

Faye..

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

JUST WISHING EVERYONE A HAPPY NEW YEAR AND PRAYING GOD'S DEAREST BLESSINGS UPON YOU ALL..  MAY JESUS CHRIST BE THE FIRST PRIOIRTY IN YOUR LIFE AND MAY HE BLESS YOUR HOMES WITH HIS LOVE AND JOY AND THE PEACE THAT ONLY HE CAN BRING.

THANK YOU FOR VISITING THE BLESSED HEARTH THIS PAST YEAR...

LOVE AND PRAYERS

FAYE

A winter's drive to the olde homestead....

Hello my dear friends... How are you all doing?  Everyone very busy with holidays and such... I have been housebound for awhile so my dear husband took me for a wee drive up to our old homestead today.. Just checking it out until we can go up for a day or two.. We like to go and make a fire and a few meals and perhaps have some friends in.... It is our Winter getaway... But we have not had much chance to get there the last few weeks...

Christmas and all...

Anyway, it was a simply beautiful drive and I thought I would share it with you... I tried so hard to upload it all as a slideshow but I could not accomplish it.. sorry..

The old farm is about a half hour from home ....

Along old country roads...

We have just had a winter's storm the last few days...

As you can see we are in a  very rural part of our province...

We are headed towards the Kent Hills....

Driving through lots of woods and the wilds of Eastern Canada...

Not a lot of traffic on these old back roads...

The further we go the higher the hills...

It is certainly a wooded area...

This is Prosser Brook hence the name of this little place.

                     Can you believe the colors that God has created....

An old country church....

And there is the olde farmplace....

The drive is full of snow so my poor hubby has to walk in with snow up past his knees....lol....It's a good thing he loves this old place so much...

As I am sitting here in the car I can't help but marvel at the beauty that surrounds me... God is such an Artist...

Now we need to go up the hill and turn around...

There are the Kent Hills in all of their glory...

Arn't the colors amazing?

Back home we go....

Ahh.... there's the lights of home...

Thank you Lord for such a lovely drive...

I really needed to experience your spectacular artistry today...

Have a wonderful week girls and hopefully I will soon be back on tract and give you something a little more interesting...lol..

May our God bless and keep you safe...

Hugs...

Faye

HAVE A BLESSED WEEK....

Just a line to say that I pray you all had a lovely Christmas with your families.... We had a very nice day.  Dustin came out and we opened our gifts and had breakfast and then we all headed to Shonda's for a beautiful dinner.  Trevor had to work so we will all gather here on New Year's Day and we are looking forward to that...

When all is said and done it is the joy of being with your family that makes the day so special..

This week I need to dig out my new notebook that my sweet husband gave me... It is spiral and thick.  There are even cats on the cover...

I have so many lists to make..

Actually , that is a chore that I enjoy.  My first goal every year is to grow in the Lord and to be sure that I put Him first in my daily life..

After that there are numerous way that I need to strive to improve.  Pray for me.... 

Well, this is short and sweet.  Just wanted to stay in touch over the holiday week...

A time to be thankful and to count our blessings..

GOD BLESS...

THE REAL REASON FOR THE SEASON....

If you look for me at Christmas

You won't need a special star

I'm no longer just in Bethlehem

I'm right there where you are...

You may not be aware of me

Amid the celebrations

You will have to look beyond the stores

And all the decorations....

But if you will take a moment

 from your list of things to do

And if you will listen to your heart

You will find  I am waiting there for you...

You're the one I want to be with

You're the reason that I came

And you will find Me in the stillness

As I am whispering your name..

Love

Jesus

WISHING YOU A JOYFUL TIME IN THE PRESENCE OF JESUS THIS CHRISTMAS..

FAYE FROM THE BLESSED HEARTH..

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart....Jerermiah 29:13

NewSong - The Christmas Shoes (video & lyrics)

A Day with our Daughter.....

Happy Friday my dears...
Just a short posting before the weekend... Are you all ready for Christmas?  I still have much to do but am working away at it.. A bit here and a bit there...lol...
Shonda, our daughter came up this week for my birthday.. She called and wanted me to write up a list of chores that she could do while she was here.. I ran out of paper...LOL...
I was thinking about children and what a blessing they are.  Once they have grown and gone away life changes so much... You pick out the good things and concentrate on them.  I am one of those Moms who had a hard time letting them leave the nest... Missed them so much and still do... Anyway.....
Shonda came with birthday presents and a homemade apple pie and all the fixins for Shrimp Pasta (my favorite)  ....
While she was here her brothers emailed and called to wish me a happpy birthday... Sweet boys... Men now, I guess...
Shonda made this lovely candle hugger for me...

The girls learned to do this at Keepers and she loves doing this kind of stitching...

Then she and her Dad put up this prim border that I had bought ages ago .... We are working on our kitchen so thought this would be a nice change until we can get to the hallway..

It has prim blessings written on it...

I had some valances on the door windows that matched the previous border but kinda clashed with this one so the dear girl did a magic trick on the windows with some silicone and a toothbrush...

Doesn't that look professional?  She just taped the edge of each window with scotch tape and then took the silicone and squirted some on and then swirled it with an old toothbrush..

You could do this on French doors or bathroom windows, etc...

And then she trimmed the Livingroom tree...

This tree is not real or that great... We did not get a chance to go and get a real one so she put boughs and branches in it and it is not that bad... 

If the kids were all going to be home it would be a big real one but this year everyone can not get here at the same time until New Years Day.... Soooo.... this will do for Terry and I...

I just need to add some glitter to the old angel for the treetop...

I thought I might add that the tree skirt is made from an  old quilt and some large buttons...  

During all this work we had coffee that she brought from Tim Hortons and I made lunch...

(I had to do something even though she helped with that ,too)

Would you like the recipe?

I forgot to take pictures that day while she was here...

But anyway here is the recipe...

A kind of a pinch here and there one...

My favorite Shrimp Pasta...

Put some pasta on to cook... As much as you need for your family..

We like spagetti..

Remember to put lots of salt in the water before adding your pasta..

The chefs say that it needs to taste like the Bay of Fundy..lol..

Then in a frying pan saute in olive oil..

1/2 of a red onion or whatever kind you have on hand

2 good size cloves of garlic, sliced

a bay leaf

a pinch of red pepper flakes

1 cup of chicken stock

This does not take very long so make sure your pasta is almost cooked before this is ready...

Then add some precooked shrimp... however much you like...

Make sure their tails are off of course

Then have a tomato and some fresh parsley chopped.

Drain your pasta and add to the above mixture in your frying pan.

Toss with the parsley and tomato and squeeze 1/2 of a lemon and sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Shred some nice parmesan on top if you like...

Delicous!!

Serve with a salad and  some fresh bread.

Or if you are like me ... just eat the pasta...lol...

Thank you everyone for all your prayers..And thank you Shonda for being such a precious daughter..

 I am on the mend... Thank the good Lord.. He is faithful.. And our Healer...

So have a lovely pre-Christmas weekend and enjoy your children..

God's blessings upon you all...

A Christmas Memory....

Hello... just a wee note to let you know that Suzanne over at Blueberry Cottage had invited me to write a Christmas memory for her series ... Thank you, Suzanne for letting me share a precious recollection  with you.

I should have explained though that we were a very poor little family.  A lot of folks were back there in the 1950's. 

I really did not realize it back then.  When parents take the time to wrap each wee gift in tissue and tie it with love a child looks through rose tinted glasses and sees plenty...

And I am sure it took awhile to save the precious dollars for two small dolls to delight two little girls...

It was many years later before I realized how hard Mom and Dad had worked to provide such a glorious day for us.  Appreciation certainly comes when you grow and need to do the same miracle for your own children. 

 Love can make such a difference especially at Christmas...

And the reason for the season comes to us in the name of Love...

So, girls if you have time please stop over at Suzannes and check it out and leave a comment if you can...

Have a happy week...

A wee bit of Christmas...

Good Evening my dears.... Another weekend is here already.. I received an email the other day and it was a pic of a poor old plucked over chicken which said... "It's been a rough week but I made it.." lol... 
Let's just say that I think it could apply to me..lol...Still, I am very thankful to be on the mend...
I have been able to do a bit of decorating here and there so here are a few pics to share with you....ok?

Part of the mantel... I still need to add fresh greens but will do that later...

A twenty-five year old craft...

But Jesus is the reason for the season, eh?

The kitchen chandelier.. love rusted bells but need more greens here too.  We have wood heat and they dry out so fast.  So, will add them a week before Christmas...

Meet Fred and his snow pal.  He came all the way from England

This year's addition to the snowman tree...

The bench in the foyer....

On top of the vintage lace cupboard...

Do you think someone around here likes snowmen..lol..

As you all know I love country primitive decor style even at Christmas....

I have so enjoyed your visit and please come often..

Have a God blessed weekend and thank you so much for your prayers and emails...

Love to you all..

Faye...xoxo

.

Gotta love those house plants.....

Hello everyone... A wild and windy day here today... Not a  speck of snow, though... They are getting it in other parts but ours is all gone and nothing but rain.  Personally, I think that is a good thing..
I am sorry for not posting .  I have kind of been down for the count the last couple of weeks.  I guess I will be for a bit more but that is fine.  At least I know I am on the mend... Enough said... If you know me you remember I dislike medical stuff... LOL..
Besides that God is good and He is faithful...
Since I haven't been getting out much (a drive here and there)  I have been in my sewing room trying to make a few things... I love my sewing room... It is actually on the back of the house and looks out on the deck and backyard.  I have some of my plants on the window ledge... There are a lot of windows and they seem to thrive in that room...
I thought I would mention the benefits of house plants.  I know every blog is involved with Christmas so I guess this is a change...lol...I wish I had a Christmas cactus... oh well.... 
There are several websites quoting the great advantages that plants bring to our homes but I will mention a few that seem good to me..... 

They increase creativity....

They can provide healing.... The gel in the aloe vera is wonderful on burns..... Just slice the leaf and place it on the burn....

That wee plant is a dolphin plant.  It has wee red blooms that look exactly like a dolphin..I have been growing this for a whole year and it has just started doing well....

They reduce stress....

They improve the air quality in our homes...

They help control humidity....

They improve the quality of life....

They improve your health...like when you put herbs in your cooking...

Or use them to make salves, etc...

Not as important but they do add to your decorating...

Color and texture...

Terry had to go up to our old farm to get some boughs and little trees to decorate outside ..

Sammi was helping.....lol...

 I went aong for the drive and look what I found growing even after all the snow that we have had...

Johnny Jump-ups.... Aren't they darling?

I brought them home as I knew they would cheer me up...lol...

Are you girls already for the Season?  Hopefully this week I will be able to do some more puttering... lol...

Thank you for visiting and have a lovely week...

May God bless and keep you...

Hugs....