Summertime......

What are your plans this summer??

My first plan is to get all

my garden going. Get all my starts

in the ground, the 9 tomatoe

plants a friend gave

me, some transplants sent home

with me from my trip.......

Then I just need to catch

up on weeds, it has been

raining, with thunder and

ightening and even hail!!!!

Very Crazy!!! But boy do

the weeds love it!!

After my garden is planted,
I will begin preparing for my

May Farm Cottage

Summer Daze Tea on the Veranda.

Every Tuesday and Thursday

through July and August,

Ladies can come have

tea on the porch.

So I am going to create a

"Tea Room"

at one end of the porch with

some fun finds from my trip. Had my

first call yesterday for a group

of 8-10 for a birthday celebration!

Then a lady I know is having an
"Upscale Yardsale"
in July.
She puts a pretty big ad in the
paper and it is not just a yard sale!

There are homemade items,

she has ladies serving

lemonade and cookies,

she has lovely

things on a clothesline, a

place to sit in the shade with

your refreshment,

several vendors as

well as we can bring our yardsale

stuff that is in good condition.

I have several things I want

to make, so that is in my plan.

Yummy Rhubarb Sauce....and I will

make some Strawberry and

Strawberry Rhubarb Jams.....

And, last big thing

of the summer,

well maybe not last

if I do an end

of summer tea in my

friends garden

.....but almost last

.......have not really

decided if I will do this.....

Prairie Day Camp!!

Yep!! Girls come for a

day camp, 3 or 4 days in

a row. First we

make bonnets and aprons

so they have them to wear,

then we do all

sorts of fun things,

from making candles

to embroidery......

Prairie stuff!!

Here they all are having

afternoon tea....

Ever seen girls have so much fun

washing dishes!?!

Sitting around doing handwork.......

Oh, yes, and in between

all that, I will be

busy keeping

the quail and such

out of the garden!!!

The girls love washing clothes in

the washtub with a washboard and

hanging them up to dry......

And just so you do not think I am a crazy woman......all these things just take a bit of initial organizing and then they are really very fun!! Also, my husband has not had much work and this is a little bit of income and a way I can help from home.

And, I do plan on having some nice breaks.....July is our 30th wedding anniversary and we plan to go somewhere nearby for a night or two.....On the Tuesdays and Thursdays that no one has called to reserve tea, I may have my own friends over for a time of relaxing and chatting......And, I do want to read this summer....in the shade......yes!! Not sure what I will read, nothing too intense, just something fun......

Some friends and I plan to go to the Coburg Quilt Show and take our own "Tea Party" picnic. We also have a fun local camp we attend that is very relaxing for me.....

And if I had small children around, which sadly I do not, I would have them by my side in the garden, they would help me make cookies and serve tea to the ladies, and of course they would enjoy Prairie Camp!!! And when it got too hot.....they would dip into their wading pool, while I cooled off in the hot tub which will be set on a low temperature......Enjoy your children this summer!! Keep them nearby, they will soon be grown, very soon.....

What are your summer plans???

The Sun is Shining!!

Just thought I would "pop" in for a minute.......

Well, the weather report was actually

right!! It has been

warm and sunny and beautiful.....

I have planted many of my seeds in pots indoors, today

I am heading out to plant some outside that will

have to be covered at night.

Made our weeks bread yesterday, off to

Gramma Belle's this afternoon for a bit

of crocheting.

Just stopping by to

say "hi", been busy

outside. Oh and the wonderful sound of

the sprinkler watering the grass to make it

green again. In the high desert, the grass

is brown most of the winter and the hose

is frozen, so this is the first bit of

watering I can do. Trying to at least

green up the grass around our firpit by

Sunday so we can cook out on the fire

with the family Easter Sunday.

Proverbs 2:3-4

"...yes, if you want better

insight and discernment, and

are searching for it
as you would for lotst money or

hidden treasure, then wisdom

will be given you......."

Wow......lost money??

hidden treasure??

Lately I am actually searching just

that hard for wisdom. My husband

continues to not have enough work,

and we are day by day by day

"clinging" to wisdom and

trusting God to lead us.

I just continue to do my part in

making our home a refuge, a place

to come in out of the storm. :D

Hope you are all

enjoying Spring Days

wherever you are!!!

Early Spring

We have been having snow today....

Yes, snow, then hail, then the sun

comes out :D, then just black clouds....

then it does it all over again!!

Spring comes soooo slowly here

in the high desert......

May I just dream of sunny

warm afternoons spent in

the shade of the porch.........

Today our high has been about 45 degrees,

by Sunday we are supposed to be

up to the mid 60's....

Oh Happy Day!!

I'm Back...........

Although, I am not sure where I have been!! LOL.

Just busy, living life and taking care of the family!!

Anyway, I am sorry for those of you who are so kind to

check in regularly that there has been nothing new since

Valentines Day.....but I will take the next few

days to catch up, I promise. :)

I loved this winter cheer in my kitchen window.......

It bloomed just in time for the Valentines tea,

gave us a touch of fresh red.....

So, where have I been, what have I been up to??

On Valentines day I did two teas....

one for the ladies at noon.

and one for couples that evening......

I am still canning.....I am trying to stock up on some meals
and have a back up if I should not be able to use my
freezer or the electricity would go out or something.......

This is, from the left, kidney beans, spaghetti sauce
and chili without beans.
I am thinking I could use one of each and have a pretty good chili.

In this time some where we had another Titus 2 meeting.
We talked some about gardens, brought healthy, easy kids snacks
to share and had "Gramma Belle" come to help with
our crocheting. She loved it so much, we are
going to her house next time. :)

We have also been keeping our daughters dog for a bit, she can
not have animals where she is renting.....our only grandchild..... :)
Oh me, then since I talked to you last....I have done another tea!!
Spring Fling, Health Nut Tea
and of course, I keep on baking.....
Sunday morning Banana Raisin Muffins.

My husband has been very slow for work but he has just enough
to keep us going mostly. And we are very thankful and
Praising God for providing work in May that will help us alot.
We are looking forward to that. In the meantime,
we keep going, keep busy, and most of all keep our
eyes on Jesus the only one who can work all this out.

I am planning on getting some recipes on here soon, as well as
more canning info. Right now, though, I am "home alone".... :),
so I think I shall go spread all my stuff out on the table and make
a plan for my garden!! Just bought seeds and want to try some
early covered with plastic, so I need to make a plan.

I will show you all these things as they happen, as well as
catch up on some of what has already happened.

Hope your still with me....are you enjoying spring weather where
you are? We will have a "spring" day, then a snow day....
that is why I am not too worried about changing my background

yet...it looks "springy" to me :) our joke is for the rest of the world

April showers bring May flowers....i

n our part of the world April (snow) showers
might bring a few May flowers. :D

Just Dreaming and Keeping Busy......

Dreaming.......

Gathering a few seeds, reading up to see what can be planted early.

I am determined to try this year to grow some things in

a cold frame type structure......planning it out.......

More Dreaming.......

Have you ever seen these books?!?!?

I just got these three from the library. I had run across the

name awhile back when one book was part of a give

away over at "Warm Pie, Happy Home".

I have NEVER had so much enjoyment from

reading a cookbook. I am sure we are related, when

I browse through these books I just

feel a connection with this woman!! :)

Between my garden books, "The Pioneer Lady", reading

"Granny Miller's" blog and some of her links.....

I am anxious to grow more this year, trying to

supply us with our years food. I am excited,

we will see how it goes.

My husband built this new addition to our back

sunroom/dining room.....I love it, there will be doors later.

It is all from scraps off a job he did. It is right in the corner as

a built in....someday off the side of it will be

a bench that goes to the corner and around

for seating at a table. All built in...like an old

farmhouse breakfast nook. :)

Besides dreaming, I have been

Busy..........
Made some Nutty Coconut Granola.....

Bought a 25 pound bag of carrots to freeze or can....
and a large box of apples....
so....how about Apple Carrot Cake!!

Our food co-op had some end of season apples for a

very LOW price....when they came,

they were actually free!!

So, I am also drying a few for winter snacks and lunches.

And then, yes, it is time for yet another Tea!!

Valentines Tea in the waiting......

I am doing two Teas on Valentines Day!!

Ladies Victorian Pink Tea

and

Couples Candlelight Tea

in the evening. 21 ladies at noon and 7 couples that night.

In the above picture are some teacups I found for the

men, a bit bigger and a bigger handle that they

can hold on to. Can you believe they were 50 cents!!

Not my usual choice for a teacup, but they are red

and will go very well with the decos and I think

look quite elegant once on the table.

Best get busy....making Cornish Chicken Pasties today,

made the Cornish Beef Pasties yesterday. These are for the couples

since there will be men with heartier appetites.

Which, by the way, I was beyond excited when in

one of the "Pioneer Lady" cookbooks, I found

the recipe for Cornish Pasties.....and they

sounded EXACTLY like what we had in Cornwall.

I made some to try for lunch yesterday and

they are just the same.

Now, if I could just get down that

Cornish Clotted Cream recipe. There is

nothing here or a recipe for "mock" creams that

comes even close. But a friend found one on line

that looks and sounds just like the real

thing. Tried it the other day with store bought

cream and it does not work, you need unpasturized

cream for it to work properly. Alas, I shall search!!

Probably won't be back until after Tea....lot's to do!!

In the meantime, have a WONDERFUL

VALENTINES DAY!!

"Greater LOVE hath no man than this, that a

man lay down his life for his friends".

John 15:13

"We LOVE, because He first LOVED us".

I John 4:19

Titus 2 Day

I am sad to have no pictures of our day together....

but we just started up our meetings again now that the

holidays are over. We are only going to

meet once a month, that way we can meet just

a little longer and do more.

This month we focused on:

"Peace in Perilous Times"

Everything we did was in an effort to help

bring peace to our own hearts as well as

our families and in our home.

As they arrived I had bread dough ready to go and

each rolled out Cinnamon Bread. The point was, when you

make a batch of bread, once in awhile do a cinnamon one for

a treat, nothing like Cinnamon Toast with a bowl of

hot cereal on a cold winters morning. Sounds

peaceful right?? Making our families happy and

contented brings PEACE.

Then I had our soup done to a point, meat browned, veggies

chopped, and it had to be boiled for just 5 minutes

before you could can it in the pressure canner.

Food ready to go in the pantry keeps us at PEACE.

So, we enjoyed lunch together and then had a short devotional

about peace in our lives. Peace comes when we draw

closer and closer to God. When we are close to

Him, we will be able to trust Him more

and that brings PEACE to our whole household.

Then we did a project that is fun to use with homeschool

curriculum or just for a fun scrapbook project idea. We made

a Lap Booklet with Minit Books inside.

Lap books are a file folder folded to the center so it

opens like shutters and you put different bits of

information or pictures or whatever on the little

booklets that you glue inside. Fun for all

ages. Once the older kids master the little

books, they can help the younger ones.

Busy children on a cold winters day

is very PEACEFUL indeed. :)

Then I showed them how to use a fabric pen

and write a verse on a piece of fabric to

embroider. Scripture on your walls is a

very good thing.....it reminds us of God and

who He is and keeps our minds focused

on Him throughout the day. Which brings

more PEACE to our homes.

The verse I chose is one that has ministered to

me ALOT lately.....

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect PEACE,

whose mind is stayed on thee."

Isaiah 26:3

So, some knew embroidery and some learned that day

as we moved on and learned how to do a granny

square. Some knew crochet and some had to

learn. So, at that point we just spent the next

bit of our time crocheting or embroidering

and encouraging one another. :)

All in all it was a very PEACEFUL day. :D

Next month, we will do two more embroidery stitches

and possibly work on crocheting a bit more. And

some other fun things I have up my sleeve. :) Our

theme next time is PREPAREDNESS.

(But not to an extreme, just some things we

can easily do).....which also brings PEACE!!

If you are ever interested in doing your own Titus 2 group,

Lisa at New Harvest Homestead

on my side bar will send you a free meeting

guide. It has some fun ideas and encouragement

for how to start a group.

Christmas Blessings........

"What do you do? You're just a housewife and slave, aren't you?

A nursemaid to a bunch of kids?" ~ "NO. I have a

fantastic job, a terrific career! I am a curator in a

museum ~ a museum of memories!!"

~Edith Schaeffer, What is Family. (Very good book by the way:)

That is what I have been up to....a very, very busy

week creating memories!!

Even though my children are all grown, it is fun to still
make memories. I have been sewing up a storm!! Making a
couple lap quilts, PJ pants and I am about done. :) We
basically have no money this year for gifts...so it has been
such a BLESSING to see God provide just what I needed out in
my "stash" of fabric. God is so Good and I feel richly Blessed!
I will show you some pictures of what I have done after
Christmas, just in case anyone "peeks" at this blog before
tonight. :) Our children are all here tonight for a very healthy
fish dinner....mmmm, can't wait!!..... and gifts and tomorrow we
go to my hubbies Uncle's house for Christmas dinner. We were
just going to hang out here at home and not do a big dinner
Christmas day, but with the snow and the storms, his aunt
and uncle will be alone since they cannot get anywhere and
their family cannot get to them. :( So, we are happy to spend
the day with them, they are the only "aged" family we have left
that are like my children's grandparents, we
have many happy memories with them.

Hope and pray for you all today.....Peace to you as you

go about your preparations....May Love and

Joy and Peace abound in your homes

tonight and tomorrow and always!!

Jesus is the Reason for the Season!!!

May your days be filled with the Glory that shines around us

because Jesus came, He died and

He Lives Today to bring us that Peace

and Joy that passes ALL understanding!!!

Christmas Kitchen

I love how that little light reflects a star on the wall!!
The last few years I have not had a place for my little houses.

So this year I put them in the kitchen!! Most
people collect beautiful Vicotorian house. Not Me!! Mine is this
very fun barn and look at the little lady feeding her chickens
and behind her there is a chicken coop!! Oh yeah!! Love that!!

And MY beautiful house is made of LOGS!!

One other thing I always want to do is have a Christmas tree in

the kitchen.....to decorate with popcorn and cranberries and

gingerbread.....well this year I decided to put this tiny tree in

my kitchen and adorn her with cookie cutters, dried orange

slices and my wooden garland that is sliced

apples and gingerbread men.

And of course....no Christmas kitchen is complete without the

wonderful smells of baking sifting through the air,

warming and cheering the whole household!!

Hope you are all enjoying these days leading up to

the celebration of our Saviour's birth!!