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Saturday, September 23, 2017

Farm Journal 8


Hello there everyone.. 
Welcome to the Blessed Hearth today.. 
I am home and so can get here on the internet and touch base with you all once again.. 
Sorry it has been awhile but as you can see by the pics that Fall has arrived here in Eastern Canada.. 
Sept. 21.. 

Terry's sunflowers are blooming in the garden! 

And when we go for our little drives we can see the changes in the colours on the roadsides.. 
I have refused to even admit to myself that Summer is over until it was over.. grin.. 
No early Fall decor for me as I just wanted to bask in the Summer sunshine and all of it's doings.. 

Now we need a comforter at nights and a couple of mornings Terry has put a fire on in the stove in the back porch.. 
I tell him to just make a small fire as it is not that cold and then I have to open the front and back doors and try to get a breeze going through along with the ceiling fans..
I know the poor guy.. 
I am hard to please sometimes.. 

Anyway.. 
The days of sitting here in this room are almost over.. 
Probably only a couple of weeks left I am thinking..
And then we will be here at home again.. 
Home Sweet Home.. 
Summer is good for a season but when the frost is on the fields and the sunflowers are blooming my heart turns towards this place.. 
smile.. 
Terry and the boys have once again gone to the last race of the season so we are staying here for the night.. 
Looking forward to my waterbed.. smile.. 

Anyway.. 
Back to the story line here.. 
Did up 18 bottles of blueberry jams this week... 
Our blueberries are long gone and were not that great as we did not have a lot of rain this summer.. 
He found a box on half price and a little squashed at the store but they were great for jam.. 

Our garden has produced very well.. 
He has been digging potatoes and they are lovely.. 
Taste so fresh and kind of waxy if you know what I mean.. 

Been putting away herbs galore.. 

A little line of them here where our new chimney will be going when there is time to put it in.. 

This was a pic I took early this morning out of the Living room window.. 
We had a frost the night before last and I lost some of my basil but that was all.. 

Making some sauerkraut with dill seeds...

Washing bottles and sterilising them for more pickles.. 

The gardener just brought in this box of cukes this morning.. 
They will be mustard pickles hopefully next week.. 

I have done a few things not vegetable related this week.. grin.. 
A sweet lady came into the yard sale we had at the cottage and wanted to know if she could order 6 air fresheners..
So I did get them done so we can deliver them next time we go to St. Martins.. 
Vanilla and Clove... 
Here is the recipe.. 

My favourite room freshener recipe:

Fill a spray bottle with 1 1/2 cups of distilled water and 1/2 cup of white vinegar and as much essential oils as you like..
This one is lavender.  Sometimes, I add rosemary oil to the lavender..

Or you can use just rosemary or sweet orange ...
Clove and Vanilla or Patchouli and Grapefruit are lovely.. 

Add the oils until it smells the way you want it to...
Make sure to shake it well before you spray..


He also brought in a 25 pound box of green tomatoes..  
I haven't done a bit of Chow Chow yet so they need to be done...

Here is a recipe I want to try out on our grandsons.. 
They love grilled cheese..  

I came across this pic when I was waiting for the blog pics to upload.. 
It is of my maternal grandfather.. 


I blame him for my love of cooking.. 
Notice his apron.. 
He was a cook in the lumber camps here in New Brunswick.. 
I never got to meet him though as he passed away when my Mom
was only five years old and the youngest of 12.

He looks so kind I think.. 
I wish I had some of his recipes.. smile.. 

Well, dear hearts I will say good evening once again.. 
Thank you so much for dropping by.. 
Someone told me this week that they went to bed on Monday night and woke up Friday morning.. That is what it feels like to me lately, eh? smile.. 

Tomorrow is the Lord's Day and we are having a picnic after church so I need to go and get a bit of cooking finished.. 

Looking so forward to hearing from you all.. 
My dear sister reads your comments to me over the phone as I will only be able to check tomorrow morning .. 
I really do appreciate hearing from you here and on the Facebook page.. 

God bless... xo



Thursday, September 14, 2017

Farm Journal 7














Good afternoon dear hearts.. 
Just a quick little post for you while I am waiting on my laundry.. 
Hope you are all well and enjoying the last days of summer.. 
So sad.. 
I want to hang onto her coat tails.. grin.. 
They do say that our Maritime Fall is to be very warm and nice so that is lovely if it happens..  

I have posted some pics that has been taken since my last time on here.. 
We are like you sweet people.. 
Busy.. 
Being at the farm and making and doing and running the roads.. 
Lots of pickling going on.. 
The gardens are wonderful and the herbs are calling my name each morning when I let the dog out.. lol.. 
I heeded the basil and did a bit of pesto.. 
It looks messy but will freeze in nice little squares and pack them in the freezer for the winter.. 
Love adding it to spaghetti, soups, tomato sandwiches, salad dressings and the like... 
Do you make pesto? 

Made lots of dill bean pickles and canned a lot.. 
Green Beans are one of our fave vegetables and are also lovely added to soups.. 

We have been to the cottage much more often this summer then last.. 
The last time down we had a gorgeous humongous wind.. 
Terry was away and when he came upstairs to bed he said the curtains were straight out and I was all wrapped up like I was in my nest.. The window was up as far as it would go and I was loving every moment.. That was when he decided to sleep in another bed and in another room.. lol.. It was fun!  We also had an evening down by the waves listening to them crash to and fro while we ate a dish of homecut frenchfries from a new take out there.. 
All covered up in throws and snacking away was so much fun.. 
So glad he mostly enjoys my bad weather love affair.. grin.. 

When we came home I made a couple of loaves of Artisan Bread.. 
One was for a gift for a young fellow at our church but he wasn't there on Sunday.. So we had them both.. smile.. 

The wind has been rather fierce at the farm too and disabled our flag.. AGAIN.. So up goes Mr. Superflag.. 
All fixed but not without a bit of praying, as always.. 

God is so faithful, isn't he?? 
Not just in the big things but in the little everyday normal things.. 
And answers us so personally that we know that it is from the Lord because who else knows all about us like He does.. 

We all face troubled times even during the best days of our lives.. 
Life is life and we have our trials.. 
This week the Lord brought back to my memory an old chorus we used to sing when I was just a kid.. 

It went like this.. 
He will calm the troubled waters of your soul.. 
Takes your broken heart and make it whole.. 
When the storms of this life seem dark and cold.. 
He will calm the trouble waters .. 
The dark troubled waters of your soul... 

And he does.. 
He grants us peace that can only come from him..
When we put our trust in the fact that He does all things well..  

The trouble might not be anymore then a couple of broken trucks or overwhelmed by all one has to accomplish in a day but He can pour the sweet oil of peace over us and give us our joy...  

God bless you sweet hearts and will be back as soon as I am able... 

Hope to hear from you all.. 
Peace....