Morning Light

 

During these past months, I have never felt so disoriented or sad.

Even tho so many dear ones are praying for us and giving us so much support,

it still just feels so very heavy.

And yet the morning light breaks through each day.

We do feel those prayers but the lumps in our throat just keep getting harder.

The tears flow unexpectedly and sometimes not at all.

And yet the morning light breaks through each day.

The frequent trips to emerg are becoming too familiar.

I find myself numb and hardly even

able to speak or to seek God's face for guidance or for strength.

And yet the morning light breaks through each day.

How does one prepare for what's to come.

A large, still unfamiliar new house to rattle around in,

so many loose ends and unfinished plans.

And yet the morning light breaks through each day.

Worry, pain and fear daily and nightly robbing calm and sleep.

And yet the morning light breaks through each day.

I know in my heart of hearts that God has a plan for all of this.

Please Lord, help me to understand and to trust!

To seek the new morning light.

Help me to open your Word daily to read your words of love and hope.

Dear readers - thank you for bearing with me through this lament!

These are my raw and numb feelings.

I know we've been blessed beyond imagination

and I treasure each morning.

Thank you for your precious gift of prayer.

Trusting that the future will be OK.

I will be absent from blogging for some time or perhaps for a very long while.

I know not what lies ahead ...

I want to be fully present during this time!

Farwell for now - love one another, be kind and stay well.

"I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth."

Psalm 121:1-2

"In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice;

in the morning I lay my requests before you

and wait in expectation.."

Psalm 5:3

Until next time ... when things feel lighter and the morning light is brighter!

Seeing Red

 In the good sense of the word, RED!

SO MANY TOMATOES!!!!

and, they couldn't be nicer this year ...

I don't remember ever having such nice big tomatoes - these are sitting on top of 

the stewed tomatoes that are in quart jars to show you the size of them.

Becky and I planted them at the farm and it's a bumper crop for sure.

We stewed,

We froze,

We salsa-ed

We relish-ed

Mom's Fruit Relish - click to link to recipe

And, there are still many more tomatoes to preserve - eek!

More salsa?!

I actually never made salsa and never really liked homemade, however,

we found this recipe on-line and it is really quite good.

It includes tomato paste in the recipe and I think this gives it a wonderful layer of flavour.

We followed the recipe - included all the jalapeno seeds and

the only thing I did different was add 1/2 Cup of Sugar and added a bit

of thickening at the very end of the boil (2 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 1 Tbsp. of water). 

For my next batch I must try Judy's recipe (click on this link for the recipe)

which is very similar but with some extra special ingredients like cilantro and cumin.

Do you have a favourite salsa recipe?

Some other random reds ...

In front of the famous Stratford Festival Theatre

With my favourite chauffeur

The "classic" red Adirondack chairs

assembled and ready to grace the

fire pit, once it gets put in place.

A fun day out with our friends

to Goderich.

Always love seeing the beautiful lighthouse there.

My struggling dahlias - need to find a better spot for them next Spring.

Happy zinnias at the farm

Thankful for the drenching rains (tomato wash)

In other news:

A wee bit of decorating has been completed here at the "city" house:

I've been making use of my mom's old crocks in new ways.

By adding some glass circles they make fine patio tables.

Always have loved using the smaller ones for my kitchen counter items. 

I can recall my mother sharpening her knives on these old crocks.

A new "old" cabinet/side board for cookbooks, table cloths, kitchen linens, etc. 

As you can tell, I am having such trouble shaking the old farm house style.

You can move her to the city but you can't take the country out of the farmer's wife, I guess?

A bit of kitchen window treatment - so the neighbours don't need to see

me constantly at the kitchen sink - lol!

Slowly getting things on the walls and actually taking the time to look

at some artwork - stay tuned.

By the way ...

Have you been following Lovella Schellenberg on instagram?

If not - you should!

Check out her instagram account @lovellaschellenberg

Lovella is a co-author of Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog and cookbooks 

and everything she makes is truly awesome and delish.

She has been posting some fun baking tutorials

This peach pie and pie dough one is not to be missed.

I had to make it right away!

Possibly the best peach pie I've ever tasted!

A farm sunset picture as we were driving out the lane.

I posted it on our local TV station Weather Watcher site and it was selected

for the noon hour news picture the next day.

How is everyone out there? 

Is your garden bountiful this year?

Are you able to stay cool during the many heat waves?

Are things beginning to feel a bit more normal with Pandemic restrictions easing somewhat?

We are living in a very uncertain world these days.

It was a very difficult week for me ... I lost my BFF in Canal Flats, BC

Such a very helpless feeling - there really are no words!

She was the funniest and sweetest friend anyone could ever have.

Her motto was always - "sing and dance" "pray but don't worry" and she lived her life to the fullest.

May you rest in peace in God's loving arms dear friend ... Nonie!

Deepest sympathies to your precious family ... you will be sorely missed and loved forever.

My heart is broken!

Till next time, stay safe, stay cool, stay humble and kind.

July Joys

 The joy of sultry lazy summer days ...

Sunning Sully - perfect example!

Sourdough baking

(aka - heating up the kitchen)

Giving an old chair a new wings ...

Easy fix - slip cover ordered online

Yummy summer salads ....

Directly from my sun dappled raised garden ... borage for the win. 

New to me daylilies ... thank you former owner!

Mom's quilt stands coming in handy ...

And "sew/quilt" it begins ...

Striving for smaller stitches - eek! This project might take me another year?

Time spent with this little farmer ...

tractor fixin'

And then, this happened ...

she turned 6!!!!

Love her SO much.

Pictures by her momma

And these ...

The ultimate joy of finally having a summer family gathering

The traditional summer family gathering at the Freeman Farm pond!
It just isn't summer without this.

Celebrating some special twin 65th birthdays, walks down the lane, and so much delicious food!

These are the best of July's Joys.

Hope you are en"joy"ing this renewed spirit of summer 2021.

Sent to us from their vacation at the cottage ... perfection!

Until next time ... love to all and joyful summer days ahead!

Scapes and Such

When life hands you garlic scapes,

you make pesto and whipped garlic scape butter!

A fun mum and daughter project.

Nothing tastes better on grilled cheese sandwiches or scape butter on steak!

We had enough scapes from our patch to make many batches of each.

The scapes are taken from the garlic plants to encourage better garlic bulb growth.

The bulbs will be pulled in a few weeks (as the plants die down a bit and the bulbs 

are fully developed).

Always a lot of work but so worth it for that fresh juicy Ontario grown garlic.

Not too much has happened since my last post, other than more and more

doctoring and treatments for the farmer.

We continue to be so humbled and thankful for all the prayers and love!

We have been making treatment days an excuse for patio dining, now that things

are opening up again.

After treatment treat

The crusty bread dipped in EVO and Balsamic Vinegar, 

disappeared almost immediately as we waited

for the delicious Italian entrees of

stuffed Penne and Lasagna.

I loved their oil and vinegar dispenser and am keeping a look out

for a similar one.

The Balsamic Vinegar inside the oil looks like a clump of grapes!

The waiter told us they were purchased at the Dollar Store.

Our weather has been very hot lately (not as hot tho as

my readers from the West), and the banana's needed attention.

A little hotter in the kitchen that afternoon ...

This is one of my favourite banana bread recipes:

https://www.lecremedelacrumb.com/brown-butter-banana-bread/

I just added some brown sugar icing to the top - so delish. 

Also managed to make a fresh batch of our favourite granola

The peaceful Stratford Festival Gardens deserve an almost weekly Sunday visit.

Soon the "tent" will be lively with some patrons

watching an outdoor production or two. 

This is the second season for the festival being mostly cancelled

due to Covid - as is with all things!

The show must go on ...

Here we are July 1st

and the field corn is definitely knee high ... so much moisture and heat units!

We are blessed.

"knee high by the first of July" - maybe a giant's knee? #little farmers

And, July 1st brings us to Canada Day.

A somber Canada Day this year ...

Till next time .... Happy, Happy 4th of July to all my U.S. of A. friends. Stay well and let there be much

love and light in all your summer days.

P.S. Pardon my "header" picture. Can't figure out why it's so small and what has changed on blogger??? Will try to figure it out.

And then Came June

 June has arrived and here we are already on the eve of the Solstice!

The Spring flowers have bloomed

and I snagged some peony buds from the farm to bloom in July (hopefully).

I did this experiment once before and am trying it again.

Will let you know if this works.

Newspaper wrapped soft buds and then refrigerated 

Farm blooms

Our long awaited bedroom suite arrived and the quilt has found it's home!

This king size bed was worth the wait - who knew we'd ever have such luxury?

Focaccia sourdough bread is my new favourite treat.

Love sharing this with my family and using herbs from my little snipping garden.

Strawberry Season has arrived and these sweet beauties have been

served as fresh pies and on simple bowls of vanilla ice-cream.

What's not to love!

I make these every year and love having

baked pie shells on hand.

This is simply made with crushed fresh strawberries, thickened with instant clear-gel and sugar,

topped with fresh sliced strawberries whipped cream (and a few optional mint leaves).

So easy and always delicious.

48 years was celebrated at a recently opened patio.

It was lovely to have dinner served on plates rather than in a to-go box!

So glad we are slowly reopening over here ... 

We actually "dressed up" for the occasion in clothing that haven't been worn

for many months.

However, this is the only picture I took!

Got a bit of my quilting mojo back by making this simple rag quilt

for a sweet little girl across the street who just recently lost her dad!

It seemed to be the only way I could give her a warm hug ... 

So excited that the "moon flowers" have survived the move and

are starting to bloom.

My snipping garden is growing gang busters and the kale is amazing.

It seems any recent joys have been tempered with the sobering discovery

of the unmarked grave of 215 children at a residential school in our country!

Our patriotic "glowing hearts" are feeling tinged and just a bit dimmer.

So much sadness ...

This is our happy spot as we enjoy the warm weather, watch the life giving rains roll in,

soak up the sunshine, and watch the world go by.

The storms of life are warmed with hope and gratitude as our Lord

watches over us this Father's Day!

We are blessed beyond understanding to have had godly fathers here

on earth who watched over us and loved us.

Till we meet again ...

Till next time - Happy Father's Day and welcome to summer 2021!