LEMON LIFE!

Our little lady is 8!!!!

And when her wish was for a lemon cake

(with a Little Mermaid theme)

I was happy to oblige.

Breakfast waffle with Daddy and theatre with friends - what a fun day!

After two full days of celebrations

Eight is Great and so are you my sweet girl.

May God bless you and keep you humble, kind and curious ...

All things Lemon seems to be the theme for this July life.

Homemade lemon-aid to enjoy on the deck.

Lemon birthday cake

Limoncello

Lemon curd

Lemon water

The Limoncello

is bottled and in the freezer. 

Dreaming of some apres dinner sips with friends on hot summer evenings

and remembering our trips to Italy!

Limoncello Recipe:

8 large organic lemons - washed and peeled with a vegetable peeler being careful 

not to include any of the white pith.

Reem the peeled lemons and save the juice for other uses.

Put peels/rinds into a glass jar and soak in 4 Cups of high proof vodka

Store this mixture in a cool dark place - giving it a good shake every day for 2 weeks.

After 2 weeks make a simple syrup of 3 Cups Sugar and 4 Cups water.

Bring to a boil and then cool.

Strain the lemon peels from the vodka liquid and discard them

Add the cooled syrup to the lemon infused alcohol - stir

Pour the liquid into bottles leaving some head space for freezing

Store the filled bottles in a cool dark place for 1 week and then

pop them into the freezer

Best served ice cold in small shot glasses for sipping.

I froze the juice from the peeled lemons into cubes and used it for making lemon curd etc.

Where did July go?

It was filled with sunny lemony days...and some heavy downpours of rain too.

Vacation Bible School

5 days of songs, memory verses, crafts, snacks, dramas, experiments, change maker machine,

making bed mats out of milk bags, comforter knotting, bouncing bubbles, all with lot's of energy!

What a joy to see these young folks so engaged.

Our future "Change Makers".

Admittedly I was exhausted by day 4 (or was it by day 3) - eek!

Evening walks down to the park/river.

Razzamajazz on the barge always delights.

Pretty poppies in the Festival Gardens!

Bread baking days with this guy ...

Daily struggles and lonely evenings ...

Morning coffees, like so many things, are when I miss him the most!

Trying to live my best life over here.

These two and their mommy and daddy are what keep me going.

So thankful for them and for 

dear friends and family!

Saluti  ...

Till next time ... stay safe and when life hands you lemons - you know what to do.

June Joys

Continuing to seek the joys - June was full ...

 

Strawberry Pies and cute taste testers!

Shenanigans, ice-cream and hot tubbing!!

Moon Flower (a.k.a. evening primrose) watch is on.

This never gets old.

Blyth Festival - "Liars at a Funeral"

Theatre with dear friends - always a treat!

June 15 came and went ...

with beautiful flowers from thoughtful

family arriving at the door.

My "charge" and gifted bougainvillia - babysitting the hanger one for my sister

while she is gone to her summer home in Newfoundland. 

Finally finished and hung ... 2020 "Wish You Well" block of the month quilt.

Limincello on the go - see you in a few weeks!

My darlings - school's out for the summer!!!!!

Happy Canada D-eh!!!!!

Till next time ... finding joy in the faded patina and even more beautiful flowers of June.

Rhubarb and Quilts

It's been awhile since I've posted anything ...

Many things for me to "journal" here!

A new King - did you watch the crowning?

I found it intriguing and, yup, I got up early to watch!

The traditional ceremony reminded me of the biblical stories of

how ancient Kings were appointed and anointed by God.

Made some tea biscuits to enjoy with my very early morning coffee ...

I have also been binge rewatching "The Crown" on Netflix

There was a heavenly birthday in April and I was smitten by all the feels!

At the same time I was smitten with a very good dose of Covid too - that certainly

didn't make things easier.

BTW the "Farmer's Daughter" Quilt is at the quilters.

Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Speaking of quilts .... I went to a most wonderful quilt show,

Piecemakers Quilt Show in St. Mary's, Ontario

I literally stood in awe of the talent and beauty.

This display was my favourite ...

The sponsoring Stonetown Guild challenged it's members to make a 

20" X 20" quilt, any theme, but using mostly Green and Blue fabrics.

I love these creative pieces

At the end of May the Mennonite Central Committee's annual Relief Sale

took place in New Hamburg - more quilts galore and more!!

(perhaps I should rename my blog to Rhubarb & Quilts?)

The Friday Evening 4 part Hymn Sing - so lovely!

Also, once again our church supplied the Rhubarb for Relief stand 

at the sale. We sold all the rhubarb and made a pure profit $1,065.00 for relief.

I think my rhubarb patch at the farm has never been as good as this Spring!

A few pies and a few batches of muffins have been made so far.

Last November in my "November Be Gentle"  I posted a photo

of something in a box that had arrived on my front porch 

from British Columbia ...

It's out of the box and I'm loving it ...

my new e-Bike made by RIZE.

Trail Riding with Family and Friends

The trails around here are awesome ... a Mother's Day Gift from

my dear son-in-law for his mom, Becky and I to go on a walk

along the trail, led by a local herbalist Evelyn Mueller The Lion's Tooth.

What a great experience ... we only walked a few metres it seemed and

identified so many plants that have medicinal, culinary, and historical significance

(i.e. dandelion, St. John's Wort, horsetail, cramp bark, raspberry leaf, garlic mustard,

and plantain). We enjoyed a delicious foraged dandelion summer drink, a creamy herb spread

on nettle infused sour dough bread!

We even made a plantain Tincture!

THANK YOU EVIE

My front porch needed some love 

so I decided to chalk paint this old chair.

It was from our old church building and used by the quilters

for many years. I was able to get one of them.

Also, notice the church bench that now sits 

on my back porch.

It too was from our old church and purchased at an auction

for approximately $30 several years ago.

Perfect for the back porch.

A light sanding, one coat of paint,

some more light sanding,

and wax was all it took.

I love it as my "fern stand" at the front door.

This past Sunday my sister and I had the privilege to host a baby shower

for my niece.

She had her first baby during covid - no shower, just visitor views

through their patio doors!

Now baby #2 has come along and we knew we had to properly celebrate these

two adorable new leaves that have been added to the Gerber family tree.

We are blessed ...

The chatter and fellowship was just what this heart needed!

Family!!!!

The summer solstice is nearing and there is always much to be thankful for

even tho a 50th anniversary is not to be ...

Till next time ... stay well and stop to admire the quilts and taste some wild herbs or rhubarb!

SUPER HERO FIVE

 Our blue eyed sweet boy turns 5 today!

A fun day celebrating with his school buddies at 

"Your Way to Play"

Today - we will see him for his super hero birthday supper.

The cake is ready to go ...

His mommy and daddy have planned a wonderful celebration

Bless you and keep you sweet always my little love, Sully!

You are loved - more than you can ever know.

Until next time ... feeling the sting of the second round of special days without my beloved Jim.

A quick update:

Such a sweet super hero boy!

Three days later was his Popa's 2nd birthday in heaven

Summer in April

 Spring has truly arrived.

The snow has melted,

the swans have been released and have begun nesting,

Easter came with meaningful gatherings,

the butter lamb made it to the table,

today we went from early Spring to mid Summer,

windows open,

sun umbrella is up,

garden Spring bulbs are popping!

And the Lenten Rose is abloom ...

I love it so much but am aware that cooler temps and rains are still to come.

For the weekend, tho, summer was here!

Record setting temperatures soared,

and 4 special friends came through my door.

We yoga-ed, shopped, ate amazing food, hot-tubbed,

and had many laughs, tears, and heart-to-hearts.

Then ... we had the privilege to see a live performance at the Festival Theatre.

RENT - wow!

"Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes

How do you measure the life ...

... Let's celebrate

Remember a year in the life of friends"

                                            Season's of Love by J.D. Larson

Thank you Karen, Yvonne, Sandi, and Karen 

How did I ever deserve to have such wonderful supportive friends?

I will draw strength from the warmth of this special weekend.

Lemon Loaf was my small contribution to the breakfast table.

Here is the recipe ...

It's one of those tried and true ones - probably from the 1970s...

EVELYN'S LEMON LOAF

(my sister's recipes are the best)

4 eggs well beaten

1 pkg. lemon cake mix

1 pkg. lemon instant pudding

2/3 Cup Oil

2/3 Cup Water

Glaze:

1/4 Cup Lemon Juice

3/4 Cup Icing Sugar

Whisk the cake mix and pudding together.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, add the oil and water and mix that into the dry ingredients.

Mix well - 5 minutes till smooth and shiny.

Divide batter into 2 parchment lined loaf pans and bake for 45-50 minutes at 350F

Rest baked loaves in pans for 5 minutes, then poke holes into the loaves with a chopstick

or knitting needle. Pour the glaze over warm loaves and then cool for 

20 minutes before removing from pans.

Enjoy!

I forgot to mention, probably because no photos were taken,

that 3 or our "only" daughters crashed our little party on Friday evening.

What a nice surprise ... so great to see them all again and for them to see each other as well.

Easter Sunday afternoon - Lego time!

Till next time ... treasuring my friends and family.  Happy Springtime (or is it summer) to all!

Farmer's Daughter

And "sew" it begins again ...

February,

doing almost exactly what I was doing last year this time.

Working on the shirt quilt for Becky and the fitting name of this block is

Farmer's Daughter!!

It went quite well until I got to the vague instructions on how to attach a border,

sewn with angle cuts and block finishing triangles, and the dreaded mitred corners - eek!

"needles" to say after much stitch ripping it is almost finished.

Not perfect by any means, but almost complete!

Perhaps the quilting can smooth out some of the imperfections?

The stormy days and some lovely bright sunny ones lent themselves

well to spending time in my sewing room.

It was a distraction from the thoughts of doing the upcoming income tax prep

(a task not quite as much fun).

The biggest storm of the year so far, thundersnow and all, hit us with a vengeance and left

deep and very heavy snow.

My poor shrubs and tall cedar hedge trees.

Their heads are bowed low and hopefully not broken.

In between storms and sunshine I was delighted to lend a helping hand

to my sister who scored these beautiful crazy quilt blocks from a 

neighbour at her summer Newfoundland home.

We just inserted the navy sashing to make this stunning wall hanging!

What an honour to spend some time with this special sister.

There were some sleep overs at their house and at mine...

So lovely to see that bay window sunset again

She's the best little companion

 

Fun times ...

Tacos for the win!

Oh and, one of my orchid's bloomed!!

March came in like a lamb but it's been "growling" in these beginning days.

Hoping this means it will go out like a lamb too!

Till next time ... watching for signs of Spring!