Getting the Pantry Ready for Christmas...

Good Evening my dears...

Another weekend almost over.. Only tomorrow left...

Today Terry went to town and did a few chores and I stayed home so that I could finish up a few things..

It is hard to get a lot done when he is home.. smile..

I don't know why that is.. He is always busy, too..

I finally finished cleaning the pantry.. This used to be a walk in closet type of pantry but awhile ago Terry put in a counter so I can do my baking in there.. It is small but I love it.. Kind of old fashioned with gathered curtains.. Let's just say it works... smile..

Today, I put in a few Christmas decorations..

A little tree..

It is in my Gramp's big crock.. I treasure that as my Dad gave it to me before he went home to be with the Lord...

The tree is decorated with tiny utensils, cinnamon stars, copper pots and tiny prim cookie cutters..

It does need another set of lights put on... Later...

I thought I would just show you a few pics of the pantry..

A sugar jar with an old blue willow cup for measuring..

And a pic of a person who has inspired me for years..

Tasha Tudor.. She is actually in her pantry..

I love her dishes...

She was an artist and lived the simple life..

An angel and greenery...

Just a touch of the season...

I love old jars and this one is filled with cookie cutters..

I just found the other one and will probably put some cookies in it ..Later.. smile..

Herbs and spices..

Black pepper, bay leaves, cloves and parsley...

A set of old jars filled with spices that used to belong to my great aunt Emily...

And a wee snowman..

When Terry arrived back home we took a drive down to our cottage and unhooked the pump.. It is now completely finished ..

I did bring home a couple of things that I plan on showing you next week... Surprises.. grin.. 

Tomorrow we will enjoy the Lord's Day.. 

It is His day.. I am so thankful that we do not have to work and can go to church.. There are so many though that have to work and can only get there every couple of weeks.. Our boys, included.. 

But God is faithful... Even when it is impossible to get to the House of the Lord we can let our minds dwell on Him.. 

His presence is available wherever we are...

On the way home tonight Terry and I were talking about how life has evolved.. 

Materialism has taken over this old world.. 

It has crept into our homes and into our churches.. 

Sometimes, it seems as if we have lost our purpose... 

The Lord gave us a command... 

We are to be witnesses... Yes, our lives are a witness but as an individual and as a church our priority should be to the lost.. 

Reaching out... Telling the lovely truth that Jesus still saves.. 

He stills loves the sinner and no matter how far you have gone He is still reaching out for you... 

He is Someone you can depend upon.. His mercy is renewed each day.. 

We talked about this and we as a couple want to reach out and do what we can to let people know that Jesus is coming soon..People need to be ready to meet Him.. To find salvation and hope..

I pray that you won't mind me sharing my heart a wee bit tonight.. 

Jesus is my everything....Without him I would be a lost soul without hope but tonight because of Calvary I am a sinner saved by grace with the knowledge that I can make heaven my Home someday.. 

I am so thankful for the peace He gives..

Love to you all..  

A Snowy Friday...

Happy Friday to you all..

Here is how it looked here in Eastern Canada when we woke up this morning..

Pretty, eh? 

The house across the road from us looked so lovely..

The icicles are hanging from the bird feeder...

And you have  seen our old carriage before..

The snow did not stop any action around here, though.. smile..

It is the last week of hunting here in New Brunswick..

But these guys are going 4 wheeling..

Pretty soon they will be changing over to snowmobiles.. 

It just seems like yesterday that they were out doing that.. smile.. 

While they were gone I started some chores.

I started cleaning our living and dining rooms and getting them ready to decorate..

Here is some pear butter in the crock pot..

The star anise in this makes it so delicious and  different..

I just love it... Nice gifts for some elders in our church...

Then I made some Bubble and Squeak for Supper..

We do not have this very often but today felt like that kind of a day.. grin...

One of Terry's faves...

I don't use a recipe for this.. I just throw in bacon, onion, green pepper, salt and pepper in a large frying pan..

Cast iron is great for this...

Then I add several sliced potatoes and 1/2 of a sliced  small cabbage..

At the end add chopped parsley and lemon juice..

That is it.. Lovely with homemade bread and pickles..

Thank you all for dropping by and for all of your sweet comments ..

Please take care and have a great weekend...

May God bless and keep you.. 

Faye.. 

A Prim Christmas Gift Idea and Wreath How to....

Good Day everyone...

I feel as though I need to mention the weather.. smile..

We started out with a gorgeous warm day.. The sun was out and then around noon it clouded up and then later this afternoon it turned cold.. I just noticed that it is now snowing... Big fat flakes... It is almost 9 p.m. here ..

Terry said he felt like having some popcorn.. grin. . It smells good ..

After supper I decided I needed to finish a Christmas gift I was making...

I must say that I saw this on Pinterest...

I just did my own thing with it.. That's the great thing about it all.. You see an idea and run with it.. It is on my creative ideas board..

It is called An Apron in a Jar..

First I made an apron.. A prim one made out of homespun..

It is very plain.. Just gathered with ties...

Here it is hanging in the laundry room..

It needed tea dyed and  is hanging up to dry..

Then all I had to do is find a wide mouth mason jar as the apron is quite full...

Then I just folded it up and put it in..

You can also add a recipe which I will do later.. maybe..

I had some little wood gingerbread that we had made so I tied that on along with a little tag.. It has to and from on the other side..

A prim friend might like this, eh?

And...

My sweet friend Judy who works at the awesome prim shop in town emailed me and asked how I made the wreath in my bathroom along with some emails from a couple of others...

I thought someone might want to know so I took a couple of pics when I was making it..

Remember, I found this idea on pinterest too..

It is on my sidebar there if you want to click on it..

Anyway..

I have gathered many old pics because I used to make vintage crafts..  I had a drawer full of old pics in the workshop..

You can also find some pics on the web ... There are some sites that have free ones and you can just copy them..

Or scan some of your own if you don't want to use your own good ones.. My friend was telling me you can get copies at Walmart for only 20 cents each..

I just sorted through and picked out different sizes and shapes..

Heated up my glue gun ..

And started sticking them to this embroidery hoop..

I believe the directions on pinterest was to use a wire wreath but I thought they would stick to wood better..

And that was all there was to it..

It took about an hour, I think..

Here it is bedtime again, my dears.. So, I will say good night for now ...

Thanks so much for all your sweet emails and comments..

I love hearing from you all..

What are you girls making for gifts?

Talk to you soon..

Take care..

Hugs..

LINKED TO FRIEND FRIDAY..

       ALSO  LINK TO ..     TEACH ME TUESDAYS...    

ANOTHER GREAT LINK...FRUGAL DAYS SUSTAINABLE WAYS

A Day Sweetened with an old Banana Cake recipe...

Hi everyone...

How are you all?  We have had another warm and lovely day here today.. My clothes blew out beautifully.. Rain in the forecast for tonight, though.. Much better than snow in my humble opinion..  I heard on the radio the other day that Canadians are known for their love of weather talk.. They begin and end their conversations with weather comments..

So please excuse me as I am a Canadian... grin..

I did attack my kitchen as I mentioned in my last posting but did not get it finished.. (big surprise) smile.. Actually, we had company..  A good excuse, right?  Today we had to go to the city for some errands that Terry had to do and he wanted me to go with him..Our dryer broke and he had to get the part.. Thank you, Lord it is all fixed.. Do you know dear ladies that in 41 3/4 years of marriage we have only had 2 dryers... The first one lasted 24 years and this one is on it's 16th and still going.. So thankful for a handy husband.. smile..  With the Winter coming I really enjoy having a dryer...

 I still have the pantry to do and the inside of the cupboards..

I did get the counters, the outside of the cupboards, the stove and oven finished and I cleaned out the fridge..

When I did that I came across a couple of things that needed used up or I would have to throw it...

Instead, I turned on the oven and made a couple of goodies..

There was some leftover pumpkin puree and I made some pumpkin chocolate chip breads to freeze for Christmas..

I will show you them later with the neat packaging idea that I found on pinterest...

And I had bananas...

This delicious thing came out of the oven...

Well... minus the icing... grin..

That came later when it cooled..

I must say that this is one of the best cakes that I have eaten in ages... (to be honest.. I have not had cake for ages.. grin)

Anyway..

I thought I would share this recipe.. I did not get it off the Internet but from an old cookbook that I have had for years..

BANANA CAKE..

1/2 cup of veg. oil.. I used canola

1 3/4 cups of white sugar

2 eggs

1 cup of sour cream

2 1/2 cups of cake flour..I used all purpose minus 2 T.

2 large well ripened bananas.. mine were very ripe

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

Stir together the wet ingredients except the sour cream..

 Place dry ingredients in a separate bowl and blend with your whisk.

Fold flour mixture into the wet ingredients alternately with the sour cream..Beginning and ending with dry ingredients..

Pour into a 10 inch well greased bundt or tube pan..

Bake at 325 degrees for 50minutes or until done.

Cool in pan for a few minutes and then place on rack..

I  used  a butter cream icing and put it on after it cooled down..

This is a large cake and very moist..

Enjoy...

Thank you my friends for dropping by..

You guys are great.. Thank you, too  for all the wonderful comments on the last posting about our bathroom redo...

That was great..

For now I think I will make a cup of tea and have a piece of this cake..

There is not much left.. I cut it in two and took it to our youngest..

He loves a treat and only has his Mama to bake for him.. smile..

Terry and I sure don't need it..

I found a wonderful place in town to get cheap books..

Today I found a great magazine, a book about a Halifax, Nova

Scotia family in the early 1900s and another historical one..

Also, I am studying  the book of Corinthians..

Such wonderful teachings by Paul to the early church..

Do you know that I have been reading the Bible for over 50 years and yet I will read a verse and go back and think that I have not heard that before.. Imagine.. His Word is so filled with truths..

Love to you all..

A Frugal Country Bathroom Fix-up Completed...

Greetings to everyone..

As promised here are some bathroom redo pics for you..FINALLY!! 

It has taken us quite some time to get it finished.. But good things come to those who wait.. eh?

This is what one would call a frugal fix -up..

We are not a young family here anymore .. just a couple of empty nesters who can see selling and downsizing in the future.. We thought we would just make it look better.. I do like it..

I think it is better than BEFORE ..much better..

I put together a few ideas that I picked up on pinterest and elsewhere.. This is what we came up with..

 We put on this wallpaper that my friend Tammy showed me.. It looks like wainscoting and you can even paint it..

I left it plain.. Much easier and cheaper than the real thing..

We had to keep the vanity top.. It is marble and no way was Terry parting with that..

 I just added the odd touch of the rust with mats and such..

The floor was already there.. pine boards that Terry had put down..

 I found this old medicine cabinet at a yard sale and painted it black..

And made the curtain with a piece of toile..

  Here are some old antique dishes that are useful and frugal for the bathroom accessories..

The old photo is of Terry's grandfather..

He was a C.N. Railway engineer...

 Then I changed the towels and I was happy to find these toile dish towels at Mardens to add another touch..

We had made the prim candle holders a while ago and had one left over...

I forgot to turn the battery candle on..

 The prim bear was something I already had ..

I thought his colors went along with everything..

He is holding an OLD pic of yours truly...grin.. 

A little paint goes a long ways..

So we just touched up a few things..

I tried to find something different for over the flush...

This star candle holder was something I already had..

And then I made this wreath to go along with the other old photo sort of theme...

I found this idea on pinterest and spent about an hour making it..

Easy..

If you like you can click on pinterest on my sidebar and go to bathroom decor and see some ideas...

As you know I love old stuff and I had these old photos.. I just bought some new glass which was only $5.00..

On the back of the bottom right one was written Baby Stuart... 1739...

The lad who was replacing the glass and I were really excited for a few minutes until we realized that it was not possible..

It could not be that old with the quality of the paper it was printed on.. It has to be just a copy.. smile..

And last but not least is another frugal buy..

Waverly toile curtains that I picked up in New York at a Goodwill the last time we were down for $5.99..

Thank you New York:-)) grin...

They make lovely shower curtains and I only added a liner...

I could not find them anywhere for about a month or more.. I searched at the cottage, the shop and finally the workroom in the basement here at least twice.. Then thank you, Lord I found them down in the workshop in a bag..

Hallelujah!!  smile...

And that is all for now..

I know it is not great but different and frugal..

In the last Keepers Meeting we talked about how necessary it is for the homemakers of today to try to be frugal..The Proverbs 31 lady did what she could to help with the housekeeping costs.. We can use many creative ways to cut down our overhead even on such things as our bathroom redoes... Right?

Thank you to all for dropping by.. Welcome to the new followers of the blog.. Here's hoping you will find something to inspire or even make you smile..

Today, I am attacking my kitchen.. grin..

The cupboards, pantry and counter tops are my goal.. They need decluttered and scoured for Christmas..

We are having a party... For the Keepers of the Home and their husbands..

Bless their hearts.. So Terry and I are preparing.. Will let you know about our progress as we go along.. smile..

So for now.. ta ta...

And remember... the Lord.. He is good... 

Linked to TEACH ME TUESDAYS LINKY PARTY..

INSPIRE ME FRIDAYS

GIVING THANKS FARMHOUSE FRIDAYS

A Keepers of the Home Meeting and Felted Sweater Projects..

Happy Sabbath, everyone..

Here  is the Lord's Day and a lovely one it is here in New Brunswick...

I thought I would post a few pics of our last Keepers of the Home meeting.. It was last week but my camera acted up and I could not get the pics off.... I could only get half of them .. Yesterday, I figured out that if I would crop them all then I could get them and voila... Here they are..

We always start out by cooking our breakfast together..

As usual, I forgot to take pics until we are sitting down.. smile..

While I was waiting for Terry in the doctors office the week before the meeting  I came across a recipe in the Canadian Living Magazine for a breakfast sandwich..

I felt impressed to try it out on the girls.. hehe... 

So... here they are sampling  them...  

Here is Steph and Kristal...

Aren't they cute?  The keepers are such dear girls..

 And there is our youngest keeper.. Emily..

Hasn't she grown?  Such a happy and lovable baby..

Her mama dresses her so sweet, too.. 

Lindsay threatened me if I took a pic of her bad side..

I think I took the right one.. grin..

There is her sandwich.. She is the picky one of the bunch and I think she forgot most of  it... smile..

She has come a  long way, though with her food experimentation..

Sorry, dear..smile..

 You girls who read the blog probably recognize Lindsay's name.. smile..

We had a couple of guests..

Sandra and Laurie..

They were a lovely addition to our day..

We enjoyed having them and hope they will return.. smile..

And here are Charlene, Stella (mama to 6 children) and Nancy..

I hope that they enjoyed the sandwiches.. Charlene also brought some lovely fresh homemade biscuits and her sweet mama sent us some muffins..

We appreciate that so much.. Thank you, my dears..

Here is the recipe in case you would like to try them..

Tomato, Bacon and Avocado Buns..

For 2 sandwiches...

1 avocado scooped out and mashed.. Add 1 green onion, chopped, 1 tsp. lemon juice, salt and pepper..

4 slices crisply cooked bacon

1 tomato sliced..

2 crusty rolls, split...

Spread avocado on each slice of your rolls..

Add bacon slices and tomato, salt and pepper..

The magazine also added scrambled eggs but we served them on the side...

I love the avocado.. I think the girls mostly did too..

After a lesson on the Home and the one who makes the Home...

The Homemaker and what she has in common with the Proverbs 31 woman we did a felting project...

Busy hands...

And here are some bags that they made out of their felted sweaters...

Lindsay's...

Kristal's.....

Charlene's..

And mine...

I guess the rest of the girls took theirs home to finish...

I also missed getting a pic of Jackie.. I don't know how that happened.. I guess she was busy in the kitchen when I was snapping the camera..

Jackie is such a help to the Keepers.. She usually has a package of something to help out..

Well, my dears ... I need to go as it is almost time for church..

Have a blessed evening...