Homemaking Mondays: A Taste of Cheerfulness

 

Hello! 

This week I've had a taste of cheerfulness. 

It is that time of year that I start dreaming of spring and planting things.

I found these new seeds at Canadian Tire

and no I didn't go there for that reason...but strayed into the garden section. 

Then I found these lovely daffodil bulbs in the grocery store this week. 

I love their cheerful yellow blooms and the scent of spring.

The one stem had 3 blossoms on it!

We had a couple birds come spend some time in the sun against the 

living room window.  

There was a magpie that was actually pecking at the window 

and talking to us wanting in. 

Still a good time for hearty soups. 

I made a sausage and tomato soup topped with 

cheddar cheese for lunch one day.

I've also been eating some more smoothies.

This one was a blackberry/cranberry mix with hemp and flax seeds.

My family has also been enjoying putting puzzles together.

Below is a 2000 piece one that we just finished no long ago. 

Do your families enjoy doing puzzles?  

We are currently having a nice chinook and the sun is shining! 

A nice break from the cold in the middle of the winter. 

Thanks for dropping by! 

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Into the Forest with a Daypack

 

Hello! 
This past weekend I went on a small adventure

with a couple of my children and our dog. 

The weather has been so warm and the sun has been shining.

It beaconed us out to enjoy the forest.

We hiked from our place up to a lake close by.

We built a fire

roasted some hotdogs and marshmallows

and had a lovely cup of tea 

with melted snow water.

My brother's family just gave us 

a wonderful day pack to take with us on our

excursions to the wild. 

It had that lovely kettle in it along with a bunch 

of other goodies! 

It is a perfect way to carry those things needed 

to enjoy some time outdoors.

Do you have one of these?

We used to just use a backpack, 

although this is much better as it's waterproof canvas.

Below is a picture of the open running water from the

springs across the lake.  

It's lovely to stand and listen to the running water in the

middle of the winter.

It was also super warm and you could hear the snow

melting in the trees and it sounded like 

it was raining. 

Sometimes it's just good to close our eyes 

when we're out

and listen to the forest sounds. 

I think the Lord draws us out of the busyness of life

to just listen to what he has created.

The evergreens along the trail

had some amazing frost on them to.

If you look closely the snow is quite

pokey looking with the crystals.

In the daypack were some great new cups!

Perfect for holding a cup of tea.

I love going through the trails and seeing all the different ways 

the trees fall when they are covered in snow.

The sun has been beautiful these past few days.

As the days lengthen it's so nice!

I know some may create amazing structured fires

but as you can see...

mine are just functional! :)  

I created a flat area to put the kettle 

and then just built up wood around it.  

We cooked our hot dogs, enjoyed our tea

and then pulled the fire apart a bit 

to roast marshmallows on the coals. 

We could have stayed out for hours....

but alas, it was time to head for home.

Sometimes it seems hard to get things together to go out.

It does take a bit of planning...but it's so worth it!

Praying you have a beautiful day!

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: Treats and Cold Days

 

Hello! 
Fun things to do on cold days! 

It's been down in the -40's C and we needed something sweet! 

Of course there is always hot chocolate....

but cookies...yes please! 

I made some short breads and used a rubber stamp to add some

designs to it. 

Then I made some cookie dough and cooked it in 

mini muffin tins. 

Then as they came out of the oven I pushed a mini aero 

chocolate into the top to melt.  Yum! 

Then there are the brave kids out doing 

tea throws as the sun hovered over the trees.

The one back door we have was covered in lovely frost

and we covered the door with a wool blanket to help keep the cold out. 

I found a couple new rugs at the Dollorama in town. 

These are a bit more like the colours in my kitchen and

add a nice fresh feel to the room. 

I really like braided rugs and they make it so much 

nicer to stand in the kitchen while doing

cooking and washing dishes.

Plus the dog loves to lay on one while supervising 

the making of dinner. :) 

Thank you for dropping by! 

I hope you are staying warm this winter. 

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: Snacks and Snow

 

Hello! 
It's a cold winter's day and the temperature

is dropping. 

Strange...but I'm looking forward to it for one reason.

The sun should shine!  Oh I miss the sunshine at this 

time of year. 

I made some delicious hummus recently and I must 

say that it's delicious without tahini.  

For some reason I can't eat tahini anymore but this recipe 

doesn't include it and is wonderful! 

It's great to have this as a snack or a light meal with bread 

or tortilla chips.

Do you eat hummus?  What do you like to eat it with?

I learned that if you take the skins off the chickpeas

then it makes a much smoother hummus.  Yum! 

One can chickpeas

1 large garlic clove

1/4 cup olive oil

3 Tbs lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

Then I added extra olive oil to the top

along with a sprinkle of cumin and dried parsley.

I use an immersion blender, but any blender will do.

With the cold and snow the birds haven't been 

going far from the feeders. 

They are so fun to watch as they eat and fly about. 

There is a record amount of snow thus far this year.

It seems that we've been shovelling snow almost every day. 

Sadly our greenhouse roof collapsed from the weight of the snow.

We had tried to clear some but it was just not possible to do.  

So...springtime will entail some reconstruction. 

The snow is so beautiful but there is just so much of it. 

If you go off into the bush it's almost to my waist. 

With the winter darkness I did do some shopping therapy. ha! 

A new store in town had some lovely 

craft papers and chipboard butterflies that 

were just too hard to pass up.  

I hope to make some lovely cards

with these papers soon.

Something to do as the temps drop to the -40C at night this week.

Thank you for dropping by! 

Praying you are enjoying your wintertime.

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: Local Tea and Winter Days

 

Hello! 
Deep in winter and the days are darker

and the cold is settling lower.

It's nice to hunker down and enjoy some times just 

watching winter from the inside 

of the windows.

The birds have been a source

of wonderful entertainment as they

gather round the feeder and perch up in the trees.

We have lots of chickadees, pine grosbeaks, and 

also some regular grey jays.

My younger daughter is especially friends with them 

and they come and eat from her hands

and will perch on her hat or shoulders.

When the weather turns a bit colder

or the the winds pick up they come to the feeder

more often and the flocks of "regulars" gets bigger.

The resident squirrel at this feeder is often chasing 

the birds away for her chance to snag some seeds.

She's one tough squirrel and has lived through visits by 

a weasel that comes around.

Fry bread/ bannock is a great quick bread to make

when I don't feel like baking.

Below this one turned out like a heart 

and my son says he can see the word love 

written in it.

For the comfort of tea

it's nice when you can enjoy some local 

blessings with it.

I have some wonderful fireweed tea that I bought from a local lady 

with some added rose and calendula petals.

Can't just have one cup so you need to make a pot.

Stir in some local honey and it is a wonderful treat on a cold day!

My daughter has been making some of these beautiful snowflakes.

They are crocheted and she says they are 

very easy even though they appear quite intricate.

With the cold we've been using up a lot of our canned chicken.

So when I found some chicken breasts on sale, 

I bought a bunch and canned up some more. 

The jars are wonderful to have on hand for quick meals.

Here is a sunrise we saw this past week.  

The light is precious at this time of year and when

the sky starts to glow I find myself at the window just watching.

Well today is my daughter's birthday 

so I'm off to put some chilli on and ice a cake. 

Praying you have a beautiful day!

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: A Bit of Time in the Kitchen

 

Hello!

I know I've been quiet on here but I needed a bit of a break. 

A bit because I needed a refresh 

and a bit because of needing to attend to some other 

things more. 

Time...it goes swiftly. 

Yesterday evening I sat in my chair by the window 

and was enjoying watching the sun set 

through the trees. 

Yes, it was early..about 3pm. 

Soon it will be the shortest day of the year.

I've been spending a bit more time in the kitchen. 

Below is a pic of the crumb mixture that 

I was making for apple crisp. 

I love the frothy warm melted butter. 

With this I mix up the crumble by hand.  It just seems to 

come together easier for me for some reason.

I have also started to propagate some more violets. 

The main plants have started to die off so I thought

it was just time for something new. 

I have to break off the big leaf so that I don't end up 

with a whole forest of violets. hehehe

I have two kinds started. 

One is a double purple and the other is a purple with a white ruffle.

I made some more apple hand pies.  

They are a delicious snack and the addition 

of chunky sugar on top is perfect.

In the picture at the top of the blog you can see 

the reflection of my geranium in the tea.

I love that my geraniums bloom in the winter. 

Also...I like to have a cup of tea while I work in the kitchen. 

Do any of you like to do that? 

Do you find that you have a special kind of tea for when you're

working from when you just sit and rest for a bit? 

I like black tea with peppermint for when I'm working 

and herbal mix tea for relaxing. 

Praying you have a blessed day! 

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: Frosty Air and a Cup of Tea

 

Hello! 
The air here is getting frostier!  

Before the dusting of snow came there were lots 

of fun frosty things to see.

Down at the water's edge the grasses had some great spiky frost.

The time of running around without mittens is over.

It's strange how when you first head out into the cold air

the first shiver seems energizing. 

I brought home some tea from a friends estate.

We always enjoyed a nice cup of tea when we had visited.

Now I shall drink tea as I remember her. 

On cold days a nice hot cup of tea 

is just the thing to make me feel cozy...

that and snuggling under a warm afghan or shawl. 

I also changed out some of my canisters on the kitchen counter top.  

I got these big glass ones (to the right in the pic below)

to put the sugar (B/W) and baking powder in.  

I kept my salt canister as it's just the perfect size for me. 

The white ones I had are washed and put away 

and the blue ones I stashed in the cupboard.

It makes a nice fresh look and is less cluttered.

Down at the lake the ice is nice and thick.

It still makes noises and cracks...but is safe to be on.

There are now lots of skate marks as the kids and neighbours 

have been out enjoying the clear ice before the snow.

The little tufts of frost are very cool and sprout up all over.

The frost on the wind chimes is so pretty.

As is the frost that covers most surfaces.  

One of those incredible canvases of God's artwork.

The only place I don't enjoy frost is on the truck windshield

when it's so hard that it won't scape off well. :) 

Down by the lake we've put out a bench.

For changing into skates or just sitting 

to enjoy the scenery.

When we go skating I take a blanket down to sit on.

The sun is coming out later in the day now

and when the sky is clear enough for it to shine

it's breathtaking.

As winter is settling in things are getting into a new rhythm.

More knitting and reading.

More baking and soups.

Praying you have a beautiful day!

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer