Happy New Year.....

Blessings, 

Julie

The True Meaning of Christmas....

Luke 2:1-20

2 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. ² This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴ Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵ He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

⁸ In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹ to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah,^[a] the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,^[b] praising God and saying,
 
¹⁴ ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’^[c]
 
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ ¹⁶ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. ~ Biblegateway.com
 
May your heart always know the true meaning of Christmas!

Blessings,
Julie

Congratulations!

Congratulations....

NANCY!!!

You are the winner of my Spring drawing.

 Please send me an email with your mailing address, and I will get your gift out to you.

Thank you for all the comments everyone! I really loved reading what you were all up to.

Have a great weekend!

Blessings, 

Julie

The Past Week and A Spring Drawing....

 Homemade toast on the cookstove...

with a hot cup of tea, of course.

Mmmm!!

Time with Papa.

 A bit of cupboard rearranging.

I re-upholstered our bench with burlap.

 

Dehydrated zucchini and summer squash.

Pumpkin patch biscuits. Simply delicious!

Recipe  

I stenciled our entry...

...and found more pewter on Ebay to add to our collection.

It's been a fun week, and a busy one. The snow has melted tremendously. I cannot believe just how quickly it has gone. Today it is raining a bit, so even more will go. 

There are lots of flood warnings in our area, as this is the time of year when the ice breaks up and causes problems. I do love spring though. The flowers, the smells, the GREEN! I didn't know how much I missed that color. It has been a LONG winter for everyone this year, but spring is here now. FINALLY! I think we all wondered if we would ever see it again. LOL! 

Well, you have seen what I have been up to. What about you? Has the snow melted quite a bit in your area? Is spring your favorite time of year? Leave me a comment, and your name will be entered into my spring drawing. I have a "special something" waiting for a special someone! 

I will announce a winner on May 1st.

Blessings, 

Julie

April Keeper's of the Home...

 Yup! It's just that kind of day today... 

Sleet and freezing rain.

Which for me, calls for footy pajamas! 

(Giggle)

Last night we had our monthly Keeper's of the Home meeting.

We had a wonderful time making homemade ricotta cheese and rosemary bread.

Both were delicious!

 This is the kit we used for making the cheese. All you need to add is the milk. It's fun and easy...even if you have never made cheese before.

 Jean made sure we stayed on track, by constantly checking the milk temps. VERY IMPORTANT!

Time to drain the cheese curds, which is done using cheesecloth and a strainer.

 

Just look at that yumminess!

 You'll have to trust me when I tell you just how delicious this cheese really was. 

Everyone was happy to take home a little dish of ricotta.

 

The bread recipe we used, is one I have used MANY times over. I have also made this recipe using sundried tomatoes and basil instead of the rosemary. It tastes like pizza bread. 

The bread recipe can be found on Faye Henry's blog...www.theblessedhearth.blogspot.com

You can find lots of great recipes on her blog, as well as daily inspiration. Please visit her and check them out.

 

Oh the goodness!

 

Let me give you a closer look...

Can you smell it?? Mmmm! 

Go ahead, have a slice. You won't be disappointed!

Blessings, 

Julie

Bits & Bobbs….

I apologize for the lengthy absence. We have had a lot going on here, so blogging had to take a back seat. 

I'm back now, though!

Here's a few pictures for you. For Christmas, my husband bought us tickets to see Neil Diamond in Boston. The concert was this past Monday. We drove to Portland and then took the train into Boston. What a fun trip! Oh, how I love Neil Diamond! He was actually the only thing I had written on my life list. I should probably think of a few more things now.

Our son came down from the old farm to borrow a couple shovels for the grand kids. I think they were making forts. Since they only live next door, they sat on the back of the truck. I remember how much fun that was when I was a child. 

Today I made a homemade peach pie. My husband's favorite. We'll have it later with a cup of tea. I must say, it looks quite delicious!

We both gave up sugar, wheat, dairy, corn, soy and caffeine for a month, so I bet it will be mighty tasty on our taste buds. (smile)

 

 I think spring is actually going to come after all...what do you think? I am seeing a lot of melting these days. I was able to hang some clothes on the line this past week, although I did have to do a bit of shoveling under the line. I hung our bedsheets out, and just melted into them that night. I love the smell of line dried sheets! Do you line dry your sheets and clothes? I prefer hanging jeans and towels out when their is a nice wind so they don't get too stiff. My husband always give me a funny look when they can stand on their own. (giggle)

Spring is also mud season. Oh! The dreaded mud! If you have a dog, then you know just how horrible mud season is. I have to stop Hollie on the rug as she enters so that I can wipe her feet off. Just one more spring chore for me. I love the smell of it, though. I know what you're thinking....that is a bit weird, but I think for me, it is the smell of spring. If they could just bottle it up and make it into a candle scent I would be a happy woman!

Spring is also list time for me. I start making all kinds of lists of things that need to be done on the outside of the house or in the yard. Do you do that? We still haven't done any landscaping, so that is one of the things at the top of our list. I have been working on designing our flower beds, and I think I have them figured out. That though, is the easy part. We have ordered a few seed packets of things like lovage, chives, broom corn, and gourds. I have so many other things to get, but that is what I have so far. 

We also need to move our garden spot, so that is actually number one on our list to do. Last years spot just wasn't big enough and expanding it isn't an option, as there is just too much ledge in that area. I wish we would have done it last fall so that it could have wintered over to kill the weeds, but oh well. Live and learn, right? 

So much to do! I hope we have plenty of great summer weather with just the right amount of rain this year. I can wish right?? (smile)

What are your spring plans? I'd love to hear about them.

Thank you for stopping by our little red saltbox. I do enjoy your company!

Blessings, 

Julie

Keeper’s of the Home….

This past Thursday night was our February "Keepers of the Home" meeting. As always it was packed with a lot of fun.

Marianne brought in this beautiful braided wool rug that she has been working on. She is doing such a great job!

 

Hollie thought she was doing a great job, too!

 

This month's meeting was really packed. We split up into 2 groups.

The first group made homemade granola.

These are the ingredients we used, minus a couple I forgot to add in the picture. I did take the liberty of adding in the Craisins, even though the recipe doesn't call for them, but that is what is so great about this recipe. You can add so many wonderful extras...raisins, mini choc. chips, pistachios, cheerios...the list goes on!

YUM!! 

You can find the recipe, complete with pictures and full instructions, here. 

I have tried many granola recipes, but this is the best one I have ever made, by far!

 

The second group made homemade mittens out of old sweaters. We intended on switching groups halfway through, but the second group wasn't finished with their mittens, so the first group just joined them in making mittens once they finished the granola.

 Look what I made!

 

Everyone got to take home some homemade granola and a new pair of mittens.  

 A fun evening was had by all!

Blessings, 

Julie

Sled Dog Races, Ice Fishing, and Fun....

 On Saturday, my sister, her husband, and my husband and I headed 70 mi. north to watch the dog sled races.

We had never been, but always wanted to go. For more information on the races click here.

Look at these little dog sleds. They aren't like the ones you see in movies. They are made of lightweight aluminum.

I didn't expect that. 

The dogs were ready and raring to go.

For a better view, just click on any one of the pictures to enlarge them.

 My beautiful sister, Robin.

Some of the sled dogs patiently waiting for their turn.

 

I love this little guy peeking out of his kennel. He had the bluest eyes.

Pink booties!

Folks came from all around. Some pulling kids in sleds, and some riding big toys.

After the dogs left on their journey we headed over to the lake for the ice fishing derby. More info on the derby, as well as winning fish sizes, click here.

We ventured out onto the lake, so I could get some pictures.

This is the first time I have ever done something like this, my sister and I were pretty sure we were going to fall through. My husband and brother in law kept reassuring  us, but we were still on pins and needles the whole time.

These are some of the ice fishing shacks.

This one has an ice auger sitting by the front door. That's what they use to drill the hole in the ice. I wish I could have gotten a picture of that for you, but all the holes were drilled already. I wanted to knock on one of the doors and ask if I could take a picture of the inside, but my husband didn't like that idea, so that didn't happen.

 Most of these little shacks have wood stoves inside for heat, and maybe some fish frying. (smile)

This young man was eager for us to get a picture of a couple fish he caught. The bigger of the two was almost 3 lbs. As you can see, he was pretty happy.

This is what the the ice trap looks like. It sits above the water, the line hangs below, and when the fish bites, the flag flips up telling you that you caught one.

 

A young fellow is checking his line.

 

Sadly our day came to an end. We headed back home after a full day of fun, laughs, and almost peeing our pants.

A really great day! Any day spent with my sister is an absolute blast. We laugh so hard and do such silly things…even at our age. 

Yes. That's me in the picture above. My ears were freezing, so my sister offered me her scarf. A little wrap here and a tie there, and VOILA! You have Jacob Marley!

As you can see, I was laughing too hard to even open my eyes for the picture. 

Have you ever laughed so hard that you almost pee yourself??

That's what happens when my sister and I get together. 

Our poor husbands. They were pretty sure we had lost it.

I am so fortunate to have my sister so close by. She and her husband recently moved down the road from us, so we are able to spend much more time with each other. I love my sister. She is my very first best friend.

This is the end of just one adventure, but we have many more planned for this summer. I can't wait!

Blessings, 

Julie