Homemaking Mondays: Let Gardening Begin!

 

Hello! 
It's time to start gardening again and I'm so happy about that!

The sun is shining more and more and is warmer.

Today my boys had a homeschool garden planning day.

We had a great discussion and note taking time and then we got 

our hands dirty! 

Because of course you can't garden without getting dirty now can you?

I'm not one for gloves so my hands have dirt in them often 

from now till fall time. 

We headed out to the shed to collect trays and pots.

I have some heating mats and a grow light to that will be plugged in.

OH, and this year the boys put together

the indoor greenhouse for me. 

It was a gift from my husband and I've had it for years.

Still works great and I've used it inside and outside.

Sometimes I think that I need more pots...but really 

no, I don't. hehehe

Now with seeds...I can't be honest with myself and always buy more then I need. 

But then again...I always plant more then I need. 

No problem really as I can give them away.

Pulled out my seeds and found the ones that I can plant early.  

Tomatoes, herbs, and some flowers.

I lined up the seed packets on the trays so that I could 

see what I needed to fill with soil.

I don't like to pull out more soil then I need to for it often just gets 

dumped or just dries out and gets dusty.  

Of course I could just plant some extra plants???

Soon there will be lots of little seedlings to care for and that will be lovely! 

I think gardening is one of the many blessings the Lord has given.

To watch each stage of growth and pay attention to the details of 

God's creation is amazing and to me calming. 

Thanks for dropping by! 

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: Renewed

 

Hello! 
It was time for some renewing in the house. 

Sometimes in the middle of the winter things just need 

a fresh touch.  

I changed up the top of my one kitchen hutch

and dusted off this little framed verse that was there. 

I must admit I am not great at dusting often.

This is one of my favourite verses and it is a good 

reminder as we can loose our focus on things. 

God's will is much different then the worlds.

It is good to have verses put up around our homes to bring 

our attention to the Lord and what His will is for us.

A short bit ago a friend of ours retired from his job so we made 

some fun carrot cake cupcakes for him and his wife to enjoy.

It's a diabetic carrot cake with lots of carrots and flaxseeds. 

So it's not only delicious but better for us. Not that cake can really 

be labeled healthy...but it sounds good. :) 

We have accumulated a few different fun cupcake papers. 

I did have them stuffed in a drawer but saw this

fun idea on Pinterest.  

Yes, sometimes creativity needs a boost at times. 

I had just finished using this one jar and thought it would 

make a great place to store them so that we could enjoy 

their cheerful colours and then be inspired to use them more. 

I found this beautiful large doily at the free store and it 

was perfect paired with a blue ribbon and bow.

I put a new plant on the top of my hutch as I sadly

ended up killing my ivy that was there.  

Not sure what I did, but it didn't make it through this winter.

I have started a new jar of clippings that will hopefully take root

and become a new plant in the spring. 

I still very much enjoy using the little candy jar with the bird on top. 

It was a gift from a friend and it makes me smile. 

It's been fairly warm and I was surprised to wake up to 

almost -30C this morning.  

The sky is mostly blue and the sun is shining on 

the icicles hanging from the eves.  

The sunshine brings a warmth to the inside of the house

as it shines in the windows. 

Thanks for dropping by! 

What do you like to do in your homes to 

renew them in the middle of winter? 

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

Homemaking Mondays: Pink Petals and Darning Socks

 

Hello! 
It has been so wonderful to have more sunshine!

It seems to brighten so much and not just with light.

My husband bought me these beautiful flowers 

for the remembrance of 26 years since he proposed to me. 

I've stared some darning.

It is a sad reality that with wool socks 

come holes  that need to be fixed. 

I inherited a darning egg and it is quite helpful.

So...with the holes comes a new

skill to learn. 

I collected all the socks to be mended

some extra wool, my darning egg, a darning needle,

my glasses and my sharp scissors that were a gift from a dear friend.

The first one wasn't too pretty...but 

I think I got the hang of it as I went along. 

The next time I might try the knitting patch technique

just to see what I like to do better.

It is so fun to have cheerful flowers in the house.  

Plus...I think they smell lovely to.

I made a few cards with the new papers I've acquired.

It's nice to be able to give a personal touch to what is sent.

I'm truthfully not good at making wintery cards...so

flowery it is. :)

Thank you for dropping by! 

I hope you are having a lovely day keeping your home as well. 

Love and Prayers,

Jennifer

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