Homemaking Mondays: Oak and Vanilla

Hello! 

How are you today? 

I wanted to share the progress the little oak tree is making. 

It's so cheerful to see these lovely leaves emerging.  

It's been a lovely week here enjoying 

the winter.

We have been out learning to ski and 

working on the snow castle. 

I followed my children down a hill on my skis.

I made it down on my feet....

minus my poles and most of my dignity.

Ha! At least not too many people were looking.

Evening walks have been so delightful

as you don't even need to use a flashlight with the 

moon shining so brightly!

A friend also came to see me and brought me a gift.

Some vodka to make some vanilla with. 

I've never done this...

but it's already starting to have a touch of colour. 

Now to wait and wait and wait for it to be ready.

I've been knitting more. 

I received a great deal on yarn 

at one of our local shops and so I was able to buy 

even more sock yarn. 

Lots of feet to cover. :) 

My son needed some zippers fixed on his snow pants.

I don't know about you but zippers are not my friend and so

I opted for sewing on some velcro that thus far has 

seemed to do the job!!!!  

Now he doesn't get snow up in his boots anymore. 

Sometimes I think it would be nice to knit this little girl some

socks for her feet.  

Out in the cold often tucking her little toes into her tummy to warm them.

I've also been making lots of hot chocolate mix as we've been taking our 

little thermos cups with us out on outings.

I use a big mason jar (1/2 gallon).

1/3 cocoa, 1/3 powdered milk, 1/3 sugar, & 

a couple packages of vanilla sugar.

Easy and more economical then buying the mix at the store.

I hope you are all enjoying the day! 

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

 

Homemaking Mondays: Broadening My Canning Horizons

Hello! 

Today I would love to show you

some of what I have been learning over the past year.

As the snow falls softly outside 

I have tucked yet another item into my pantry

as I have been

broadening my canning horizons. 

I have always loved to see rows of mason jars 

full of delightful colourful things. 

I have been canning jam for quite a long time,

 relish and salsa for not as long. 

I wanted to see what else I could put up in my pantry

for the cold days of winter. 

Today I tucked in some pressure canned beef stew 

to my pantry shelves as the newest addition

to my canning journey.

I really wanted to have some meals put away 

for days that we are rushed or 

not feeling up to cooking.

 

Then this year I also learned to can chicken.

I canned up some pint jars because they are the perfect

size to make a pot of chicken noodle soup. 

The chicken pared with some canned bone broth

and some canned carrots is perfect.

Throw in some noodles and 

you have a hearty meal for the whole family.

This  year I also learned to can 

roasted tomato soup. 

It is so delicious and next year I want to 

can a lot more of it.

I also learned to can pears.

Well....I do have a bit of learning left as you can see

my pears ended up floating.

I canned quart jars of carrots for meals,

and pint jars of carrots to go into soups.

I learned a new salsa recipe 

and it's delicious with chips 

or put into a meal. 

I like to mix a pan of chicken with a

jar of salsa and then put it into 

tortilla wraps with some cheese. 

So..just thought I'd share that as I was puttering in my pantry today.

This past week has been full of wonderful 

outdoor activities.

My boys have been working on building a snow castle

at the local community centre.

We had a nice break partway through our first day

and enjoyed some frozen M&M's on a "couch"

my son had chiseled out.

We've been meeting other homeschool families for outdoor 

skating at the rink.

The one day I forgot to bring my skates but enjoyed staying 

close to the wood stove.

I sure miss the feel of wood heat at home. 

~So this is a nice treat! 

Our community centre is hosting Saturday Family Fun Days.

We were able to borrow some skis for the winter,

and then get a ski lesson.  

Our family has never been cross country skiing together 

and so a couple lovely young ski coaches 

gave us a private lesson. 

I was so impressed with how well the children did for their first time

and it was really fun. 

SO now as the snow is falling outside 

and the children finish up their lessons for the morning

I shall make some lunch and then 

settle down for some knitting. 

Thanks for dropping by! 

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: Fill Your Home With Colour and Pleasant Smells

Hello! 

How is your day today? 

I'd love to share with you some pictures of the lovely

flowers that are blooming in my home today. 

I think that homes need to have colour.

Not loud in your face colour,

just gentle notes of it here and there.

Just enough to make you take pause to notice.

Colour in the home 

makes me think of joy.

Not the loud shouting kind,

but the gentle peaceful kind.

When I was young I remember on a cold winter's day

looking into a window and seeing flowers.

Now I see flowers in my windows and it brings 

me back to that moment. 

Seemed a bit out of place with the snow...

but it brought a slow dreamy smile to my face. 

Now colour doesn't have to come in the form of flowers

although they are wonderful.

Just a colourful blanket or quilt put out to snuggle in,

or a picture on the wall that has a lovely colour to 

draw one in to have a better look.

In our homes...

 we can give those possibilities to those that dwell in them?

Gentle smiles and appreciation..perhaps some joy?

One little speck of joy I have is seeing the leaves unfold 

from this little oak tree.

I love when the house smells good. 

On bread baking day the smell is one of my favourites.

Sometimes one can add a fresh scent by cleaning or 

putting essential oils in a diffuser.

I find I tend to lean towards those smells that come naturally.

Like fresh laundry and sheets, 

good food being prepared for those I love,

and fresh air that comes in when the doors/windows are flung open.

Good smells make the home inviting.

This past while I have started to add some sourdough 

to my bread and leave out some of the yeast.

It makes the bread taste so nice, but using 

the yeast still it makes it quicker 

then the traditional sourdough. 

It's about a cup of sourdough starter subbed for 1 Tb yeast. 

It makes lovely fluffy bread. 

A bit of buttermilk and some eggs make it even nicer.

Below is the leftover cinnamon bun dough 

that didn't fit in the other pan.

It made a lovely loaf. 

Of course it was all drizzled over with orange glaze. 

This week has been lovely in the little things.

There has been snow much of the time and sometimes

the flakes are big and fluffy and give me pause as I peer out the windows. 

I finished a pair of knitted woollen socks for my husband. 

I have a few socks planned so my work basket is full of woollen yarn 

awaiting being shaped into something useful. 

School lesson are going smoothly.

It is so nice to learn new things even when they are hard 

to figure out at times. 

So how has your week been? 

What kinds of colour and smells 

have filled your homes today?

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

 

Homemaking Mondays: Lending a Hand

Hello! 

It's a lovely morning here

the sun is just lightening up the sky 

and there is a tint of yellow over the mountains.

It is clear today

and I woke to moonlight 

streaming in my windows.

Such a change from summer.

I have pulled out my new sock yarn and 

am working away on some socks. 

Some for my husband and then some for my kids.

I know you can just buy socks at the store...

but these homemade ones are so comfortable.

After all that snow we received last week,

there has been much shovelling going on. 

We made it out to the end of our driveway! 

What a feat that was! 

Then I took some of my children to help

shovel out a lady's drive so she could get 

her vehicle out of her garage and then a bit about her house.

Some spending money for them and a lovely gift to! 

My favourite colours and it's perfect 

for up next to the tea hutch.

There is no end of shovelling needs....

the boys during one of their homeschool activities 

helped to shovel out part of the community centre as well.

This is one place we are blessed to spend time at. 

It is wonderful to be able to lend a hand.

Then with all the snow outside...

we have a new little tree starting inside. 

We were gifted a few lovely little acorns by a dear friend.

Three of them had sprouted and so we 

decided to plant them and see what happens. 

First one has come up!!! 

Kind of excited about this.  

This week we had some excitement by waking to a fire alarm.

The alarm went off on it's own and there was no fire.

There was a smell in the house and we 

had some trouble breathing. 

We called the Fire Department and they came to check it out.

They found a fuel leak.

Thankfully the repair man was able to come right out and fix it. 

The alarms don't usually go off for fuel leaks...

so I truly believe the Lord was waking us up to the danger.

There are so many little blessings the Lord Jesus 

has placed in our lives.

Praying you have a beautiful day!

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: Hello November! Hello Winter!

Hello! 

How are you this fine November day?

It's a snow day for us here. 

The roads are closed and we've just ended 

a winter storm. 

The sun is out and it's beautiful!

I made some chicken noodle soup today.

It is wonderful to be able to pull all these

ingredients out of the pantry

as we can't go anywhere. 

I had some broth in the fridge and then 

added canned chicken/ carrots.

I like these tiny noodles that

I've found at our local store. 

One bag will do three pots of soup.

It was the perfect fuel for heading out to shovel. 

Above is the before and below 

is to show you where we stopped....for now.

It's a lot of snow and I think we're gonna need 

some heavy duty kind of help for the rest. 

Would you like to come to a picnic? 

My boys have already been out sliding on 

a little hill in the yard. 

One of my boys was the first to strap on his snowshoes and 

pack a trail around the house to another door.

My daughter was out early to clear away the snow from the bird feeders

to let her little birdie friends have breakfast. 

I found this lovely new to me cup at the free store

this past weekend. 

I have a teapot/cup set that my Mom gave me

that matches. 

It's rose brocade and it has such 

a nice handle. 

I love hot chocolate in it. 

We also had this lovely little fellow visit us. 

He is so fluffy and my daughter says 

he has murder mittens on. 

We first discovered him

having a bit of a snooze 

out in the yard in the

morning sunshine.

It has been a blessed week and I am so thankful to the Lord

for this warm home and all of His provisions.

I am knitting some socks and enjoying much of this 

stormy winter weather we've had from the inside of the house.  

There is some plastic on the inside of the main windows to help keep out the drafts.

The oil stoves are on and keeping us warm. 

Thank you for dropping by! 

How has your November started?

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer