Homemaking Mondays: Scent of Home

 

Hello! 
A beautiful rainy spring day here. 

yesterday we got some sunshine and decided that 

yes, it was time to start putting out the flowers and the 

tomatoes.  
They are all planted and are covered with frost blankets.

It was down to 2C last night but everything is doing fine. 

Above I planted some stocks in the planter by the front door. 

In time I'll add some sweet peas that I have germinating in a tray inside.

They smell so beautiful! 

I think it's a wonderful way to be welcomed into the home.

The tomatoes are happy in the greenhouse

after being put into bigger pots.  I added some 

marigolds and basil to each of their pots.

I find that by adding those plants

it makes the tomatoes sweeter and keeps 

pests away. 

I have a variety of tomatoes this year. 

Above the yellow pear and below the tumbler 

ones are producing fruit already. 

the others are showing signs of flowers so they won't be too far

away from joining the production lines. 

I'm looking forward to enjoying some fresh 

produce from our garden on our table. 

For me to be able to do this is a very rewarding
part of homemaking.

Yesterday I also planted the strawberries.  

We had bought a few plants *the ones on the left

and then dug up and combined the ones that were 

spread around the greenhouse.  

It will be interesting to see what fruit we get. 

I hope the voles & squirrels don't discover them.

I found this beautiful zinnia 

and yes...it had to come home. :)  

I planted it beside the delphinium.  

Then of course there are pansies!!! 

My favourite and even though this year

there weren't many colours to choose from we did find

these pretty ones!  

It's been a challenging week for my husband who had a bad fall. 

He's progressively doing better but we are sticking close by if he needs us.

My children decided that they should start swimming. 

"Let's go swimming they said....It will be fun they said."

They did have fun...and then shivered for a few hours afterwards. 

Yes...there is still a lot of snow on the mountains. 

Thank you all for dropping by! 

It is so encouraging to hear about your lives 

that you share in the comments. 

Praying you have a beautiful day

and enjoy the blessings of the Lord Jesus! 

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: Sometimes Waiting is Hard

 

Hello! 
Sometimes waiting is hard. 

Yes...in many different aspects of life. 

Today as I went to check on my greenhouse 

and clear the roof of water pockets 

from last night's rain...

I passed my pot collection. 

They are all waiting for their flowers and herbs.

The weather has been quite cool this spring 

and it's going to take longer to 

safely put out the plants. 

Below I bought a new planter to go on at the top

of the steps to the front door.

I hope to have sweet peas there to smell nice as you come in.  

The plants coming up on their own 

are slow coming as well.

The chives in the one garden bed,

some delphiniums in another. 

Then I have some happy little garlic sprouts 

that have come up. 

Little bits of joy to make our 

gardener hearts to smile.

There is new life in the spring. 

It gives us pause to observe it's beauty.

Here are some of the flowers and berries 

waiting to be planted. 

Some new kinds to try

and then my beloved pansies. 

There were not many blue varieties this year

and I'm glad I could snag these ones.  

They are covered with a frost blanket at night in the greenhouse

just to make sure they don't freeze.  

Some of the garden space we have 

is quite old and has not been used for some time.

The grass, trees, and weeds have taken over.

Yesterday my daughter helped me clear and dig up one section

of an old bed to plant some raspberries in. 

As time will allow in the future 

I hope to clean up the other beds to be used as well.

These raspberries are from a dear friend's yard.  

Planting them in memory of her. 

It has been a treasured thing for my children to 

pick her raspberries. 

After checking on the greenhouse 

I wandered down to the lake's edge.

It's a bit of a cool day with rain

so peaceful though. 

Sometimes the clouds feel like a blanket.

The comfort of the Lord is here

when days are hard, when there are struggles. 

Psalm 27:14

"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, 

and he shall strengthen thine heart: 

wait, I say, on the LORD."

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: New Beginnings

 

Hello! 
Glad you have stopped by! 
It's springtime here in the Yukon

a time of new beginnings.

The crocus are blooming and the trees are starting to

show little buds. 

The starter plants in the house are about ready 

to go outside as soon as it warms up a bit more at night.

This year in our new place we are blessed to have this huge

greenhouse space. 

My children helped me get some new plastic put on 

the old frame and we cleaned out the roses an trees from the 

inside....although we have not dug out roots. 

We will be putting our plants out there in pots. 

It's nice and warm in there!  

Lots of condensation on the inside 

as we work on getting some more ventilation put in.

We did get some snow this past week and it turned to slush quickly. 

The plastic  held just fine although we did need to help 

push some of the puddles off the one corner. 

I have no way of heating the greenhouse at the moment 

so I'm waiting until it's not freezing at night. 

I have frost blankets...but tomatoes and cukes don't like the cold 

and I don't want to chance them.

This week I found some chow mein noodles at the store.

They don't always have them. 

I also found oyster sauce so decided to make some 

chicken chow mein with my son.

We put in chopped onions, garlic, diced carrots and celery. 

Sautéed it up with some olive oil. 

Then added a bit of oyster sauce and soya sauce. 

Mixed in diced chicken and then the noodles. 

I used the onion greens from our sprouting onions.

I also wanted to ask how many of you like to use

the little mini graders? 

It is one of my little kitchen treasures. 
I think it works perfect for garlic, nutmeg and other odd things.

The home seems to be in transition now.

Setting out plans for homeschooling for this coming year as per 

our required paperwork with our Territory.
I am only planning for two this year as my 

second daughter is graduating this year.

Another new beginning for her. 

A couple of my children have had the first canoe paddle 

of the season on our little lake and today I saw

a kayaker out. It's cold, but the ice has finally gone.

This week some friends of ours place has flooded unexpectedly. 

Our daughter has been over helping a lot. 

(she works there and has her horse there)

There are lots of people and crews working to save the house. 

The horses were evacuated. 

We have been blessed to help some with feeding all those 

who are working there. 

It is an extension of homemaking that we homemakers 

are blessed to share in. 

Just heard a trench was dug and that water is starting to 

be diverted away from the homestead. 

Hope it continues to flow away.

Praying you have a beautiful week! 

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: Refresh the Virtuous Woman

 

Hello! 
It is a beautiful thing homemaking is.

In all the stages of life it's important to come back to 

the Word of God and refresh.

I've been reading through some of my old studies on the

Proverbs 31 virtuous woman. 

Thought I'd share some links if you were interested in

this study as well.

A Virtuous Woman 

A Virtuous Woman part 2

A Virtuous Woman part 3

A Virtuous Woman part 4

A Virtuous Woman part 5

The worlds around us is changing as the seasons change. 

Our little lake is starting to open up as the ice melts. 

There are some perennials starting to emerge from the soil 

as it thaws.

This past week we got the greenhouse's old plastic removed 

and the boards cleaned up.

Then we got rain and it stopped the project...for now. 

Soon we'll get the plastic on and then 

we will start to get things put out.  

We are now above freezing much of the time at night. 

Not that warm during the day...but it's coming. 

There are little bursts of colour inside as the plants mature.

There are cheerful tiny sunflowers, geraniums, cosmos, 

and some tomatoes. 

Promises of what is to come in the summer garden. 

As things in the garden progress...

inside the home there is bread made, soup bubbling, 

fresh laundry folding, sock knitting 

and restful cups of tea.

Praying your day is filled with the love 

and contentment of homemaking. 

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: First Picnic of the Season

Hello! 

Today we got out for our very first picnic 

my children and I. 

It was a beautiful spring day and so we decided to 

enjoy our first picnic of the season. 

We went to a place not far from home. 

The wind was still quite cold

but the sand was still warm in the sunshine.

We spread out our blanket and relaxed for awhile.

 

We had a simple meal of peanut butter and bumble berry jam on

fresh homemade bread. 

Yes, it was white bread this time with flax seeds.

We had it with chips and seaweed snacks. 

Not the most nutritious...but it tasted so good!

Then there was a bit of exploring and nature watching.

Much was done in bare feet! 

The aspen trees on the one ridge were putting out an amazing 

fresh smell as the sap is running in them.

They were starting to bud out and it smelled so good!

We saw a family of eagles and a couple 

squirrels racing across the sand from tree patch to tree patch.

We found this great climbing tree as well.

There was one huge branch near the bottom on the other side

of the trunk and you could just sit on it. 

From our picnic we headed over to a friend's place.

The family taught my kids how to do some archery and it was really fun. 

They learned the mechanics of the tools and also the important safety guidelines.

Then we joined them for the first marshmallow roast in their fire pit that

has just been cleared of snow.  

The open patches of snow have mostly melted...

but the sheltered places and in the trees still harbour much.

Our yard is slowly coming out from under the snow.  

We are hoping that in a couple weeks we can start planting in our garden beds.

The seedlings inside are growing like crazy and there are even a few

little blossoms on a couple of our tomatoes. :) 

The squash already need bigger pots as well and the herbs need trimming. 

Hope your homemaking this week is blessed! 

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer