Country Girls Heartstrings Our Friendship set on Fire with Love

A morning walk

Making homemade bread and cinnamon rolls

Today I got busy and am trying to make a homemade loaf of bread and fresh cinnamon rolls.....  I have only made one edible loaf of bread before, so I am praying all turns out well.  So far it has already rose and doubled and now I am waiting for the second rising.  I really want to be able to make our own breads, as I want to get away from all the bad things they put in everything we eat now a days. 

I hope everyone had a great week-end.  Ours was wonderful weekend.  Hubby got off early on Sat. and had Sunday off.  All the grand kid-o's playing in the pool, snadbox and on the little fort my dh made for them.  It was wonderfully warm 87 so the pool was great.  We BBQ salmon and hamburgers and dogs.  Yummy!!!  Everybody will be here on the 4th too, it looks like.  I can't tell you how blessed I feel to be surrounded by love.  On the 4th our little town of Lind, puts on quite the show at the high school, but if you sit in my front yard..... the view from the whole town can be seen.  so here we will be, BBQ, Pool and fireworks....AWWWWW  I can't wait. 

Madison my dog is doing better, her swelling is finally down, what ever she got into did not like her, she even broke out in hives, poor little thing.  She looked miserable.  And her face doubled in size.  She looked like the Abominable Boxer.  LOL! 

The Best part of our weekend though was we were able to have a ministy few moments with our son and his wife.  The have many questions about Jesus, being saved for the last days and all eternity, religion, and faith.  It was awesome.  My son was baptized as a young tween, but has never really showed much interest.  He just always said he didn't need church.  It was a blessing to see him thinking about his after life, and his now life too!  Thank you Jesus, Bless my son with your wisdom and bless my husband and I with the answers we need to help lead him and his family to you.  Amen. 

Blessings and Grace to all

Saturday's Thoughts

I have a few minutes, and this morning has already been hecktic.  My family is coming over for a fun day in the pool and a BBQ.  My son and his new wife are headed off to Montana for a week of scouting around, Gen is applying to the Collage in MT. so they want to see the area, and sites, since they just got married this will be a family trip/honeymoon, as their kid-os will be with them....They are stoping here for the night as we are about 1/2 way for them, and when ever they come the family trys to get together for all my kids to see each other and the cousins to play.  It will be a nice time.  All 8 of my grandbabies will be here...... that makes me happy.....  My dh had to work today but he will be here tonight for dinner and yeah he has tomorrow OFF!  Thank goodness, I worry about him working so much and hard.  He is a wonderful provider, I am blessed.  My little miss Madison got into something this morning and her face has swollen twice its normal size.  I rushed to the store and bought some childrens benadrly.  I am worried about her, but she has had this reaction before when she was stung by a bee.  Poor thing looks so funny.  I love her sooooo much, it is funny how dogs or pets can weave their way into your lifes and hearts.  I can't imagin being dogless!  My boxers are just like my children.  Silly me I know!   Hope everybody has a great weekend. 

Grace and Blessings to all.....

A Blessed get away on Fathers Day Weekend

What a Blessing, We have not been able to get away to our property in quite a while now, but this week end God blessed us.  My DH was off for the whole weekend and I got everything ready so when he got home Friday night all he had to do was gather up a few of his tools and shower.... And we were Off....  We have 20 acres near Lake Roosevelt, and we built a little cabin (12x12) with a wrap around deck, where we run away to for peace of mind.  We watch the deer and turkey, birds and check out all the wild flowers this time of year.  It is beautiful.  When we left we ran into Thunder, lightening, pouring down rain, so hard we had the windshield wipers going full blast, what the picture above does not show is this was a double rainbow.... and when we got to our little neck of the woods the sun was shinning, everything was freshly washed and new just for us....  I love it there.  Of course we had to do a little work, we moved our out-house, and place a 55 gallon drum in the ground, with a few seeping holes cut in the drum for drainage, Oh it is so nice to have a fresh out-house!!!!  LOL!!!    Next time we go we have to peel the paint on the deck and repaint it with some deck paint.  The sun is so hard on wood there.  While we were relaxing I searched for wild edibles on our land and I found wild Yarrow, Currants, and Wild Raspberries.  We also saw beautiful yellow sunny flowers, a Mock Orange and lots of wild flowers which now I will have to research.....  It was a wonderful Fathers Day Retreat, for both of us. 

Basic Herb dip for veggies

11/2 cup plain yogurt  ( can also use 3/4 c. yogurt and 3/4 c. sour cream or even 3/4 c. mayo and 3/4 c. sour cream)

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/4 cup fresh dill

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

1/4 cup minced chives

2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

salt to taste

Mix all indredient together; Chill in fridg for 2 hours or more.  Serve with fresh sliced veggies, or crackers.

Herbed Croutons!

These are great for salads, soups, or use as a topping for a casserole!

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp basil leaves

1/2 tsp marjoram leaves

1/2 cup butter

1/2 loaf of Italian bread

Trim crust of Italian Bread and Cut 1/2 loaf of Italian bread in 1/2 inch slices, then cut into 1/2" x 1" peices.

Mix herbs together well, and melt together with butter on low to medium heat.

Saute bread in hot melted butter mixture, until crumbs are brown on all sides. 

Drain on paper towel.

*Varations* that can be used

1/8 tsp. chives

1/8 tsp tarragon

1/8 tsp thyme

Makes 1 1/2 cups of croutons.

Thursday is a good day for Viola Spearmint Sun Tea

Chicken and Fish Herb Blend

2 Tbsp Basil

2 Tbsp Thyme

2 Tbsp Parsley

1Tbsp grated lemon peel, dried

This is great on Chicken, Fish and vegetable dishes.

Herb Blend

2 Tbsp Marjoram

2 Tbsp Winter Savory

1 Tbsp Basil

1 Tbsp Thyme

1 Tbsp Tarragon

This is an All Purpose Blend.  Useful for meat and vegatable dishes.  Blend Well and Store in an air tight container.

Salt Substitute

2 cups Parsley

1 cup Oregano

1/2 cup Dill Weed

1/2 cup Winter Savory

1/2 cup Majoram

1/8 cup Rosemary

2 Tbsp. Sage

2 Tbsp. Lemon Thyme

1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Blend Well and Store in an air tight container.

Awww... The joy of your first harvest....

Last night for dinner we had a fresh salad with all our own garden herbs and a mixed salad blend that I planted.   Yummmmmmmyyyyyy to my tummy... I must say.  Fresh is always so much better.  I added a little apple mint and lemon balm and I wasn't so crazy about the apple mint, but everything else was so good.  I even put pretty little wild blue viola's in the salad.   

The viola's leaves are rich in Vitamin A and C.  And the leaves and flowers are edible.  I am learning all I can about edible wild plants.  I just love herbology.  I also was able to harvest some strawberries, and they have grown so much this year that in fall I will have to add another bed of strawberries, and thin out the currant bed.... Everything is growing soooo good this year.  I am blessed.

Budgeting

Do any of you have a good plan for a montly or yearly Budget?  With my hubby being out of work for the last 6 months things were getting a little tight here, and now we have to play the catch up game, plus I really want to save, for the next rainny day.....  I would love to hear if there are any of you out there with a plan that is working for you.  I also want to save for our 30th anniversary in January so I don't have alot of time....  Ideas Please!!!!!! and thank you in advance

Blessings and Grace to all.

It was a Beautiful Wedding

The sun was shining, the sky was bright and it was a beautiful day.  I couldn't be more proud of my son, JB.  He and his new wife Gen, had a great day shared by many.  It was a long day for us though, Jeff had to work until 2:00 am and we were out of here at 9:30,  It is a 3 1/2 hour drive for us to Preston and afterwards we took our grandaughter Amber to the Kingston Ferry to meet her Mom, so JB and Gen could have their night at the Willows Lodge!!!  Traffic was well horrid, as always in Seattle.  I must say I really do not miss it over there.  I love our quite little town.  We don't even have a stop light.  LOL!!!  It was a great day though.  We got home at 11:00 p.m, as my dh was on call for work on Sunday, thank you Lord that call did not come in.  Here are a few photos of the Wedding. 

This week I have to catch up and get lots done.  My house is soooo dirty, with my dh being off for so long that I am going to do all the deep cleaning I can while he works....  With that and gardening, getting some of my ceramic projects finished up I will be frazzled by friday.  Thanks for looking!  Hope your day is Blessed.

Busy Busy Monday Morn

Good Morning to all.... I have been up and at 'em this Morning, cleaning carpets, laundry, dusting, vaccuming and of course the dishes had to be done.  You know typical Monday Chores for me anyways....  I still have to mow the back two lots, they are horrible, But I might just wait until tomorrow morning, if it warms up much more here.  Friday I ended up having to go to the Dr.'s.  I have acute Sinusits and was getting dizzy.  After the flu and stiches in Feb. my daughter Kandi talked me into going in.  I was in shock as my meds cost us $193.00, we almost fell over.  I just don't know how we are supposta get ahead of the game with surprizes like that!  Needless to say I didn't get much done over the week end so I am going to try and work hard before I fizzle out. 

We have our Son's wedding on Sat.  I am so happy for him and Gen.  They have been together 5 years so it is time.  They were having a hard time with their vows so Jeff and I shared ours from almost 30 years ago, and Gen really liked them so we will see, they might use all or part of ours.  That would be nice for us.  We put ours together ourselves, way back when.... 

Well guess I should go I still have some chores to finish and I have to transplant a few things before the heat sets in.  Have a nice day!  Blessings to everyone

Pics of the garden

Here it is,  I still have a one more bag to lay down, but it is going to look sooooooo good and most of all I am hopeing help keep the weeds down.  Thanks for looking~

This is my little bed of herbs and flowers....The sunflowers are all from last years seeds that fell to the ground.  So free beautiful flowers. 

Puppy treats and more weeds and gardening

Boy it seems like just more of the same....weeds, weeds, and more weeds.  Kandi and I just got back from a quick trip to Moses Lake, we both wanted something to place between our garden plots..... We ended up with pine shavings.  I hope they work good.  I will have to let you know.  The doggie treats turned out cute and my two boxer babies seem to like them.  I made them in little heart cut-outs. 

They were really easy. My hubby found this recipe on the net somewhere and I thought I'd share

Doggie Cookies

1/2 cup powdered milk

1 egg

2 1/2 cups flour (white or wheat)

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1 1/2 tsp brown sugar

1/2 cup water

6 Tbsp gravy

Mix dough and roll out on floured board. Cut into any shape you'd like and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.  Store in an air tight container. 

Well off to the garden I go I have to put out my shavings.  Blessings and Grace to all.

Tuesday Morning

Well here it is Tuesday, and I am lifeless.  Allergies have gotten the best of me so I need to find my get up and go today.  Have you seen it?  Today I am going to make homemade doggie treats for my Maddie and Hootch!  If they turn out good I will share the recipe.  And so far I have cleaned the tub, done dishes and I am finishing up our laundry.  So much for exciting.  Huh!  I need to change our sheets and vac. still, before I run low on energy.  I am hoping I feel better tomorrow.  This morning I opened my Bible, as I often do, and God lead me to this verse. 

Proverbs 16:3  Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. 

Wow that touched my heart as I have been thinking of doing something with the local Farmers Market,  I want to share my herb crafts.  Maybe this is his will for me.  I want to help my husband and contribute to our home, but still be a wife and homemaker, so my hubby's home will be his paradise.   have a Blessed day and enjoy what God has given us.

My big Melt down

T*G*I*F

Thank Goodness It's Friday!  We are adjusting I think *smile* to my hubby being back at work.  He just found out that he will be moved to nights as of June 6th and will be working 7- 12 hour days!  UGH!!!!  It always seems feast or famine for us.  The extra $$$ will help us get back on top of things, but I so worry for my hubby, as that is going to be rough and long hours.  This is said to be about 3 weeks but last year we heard that and it lasted for 18 months......  I am praying for my hubby Jeff to be able to get the rest he needs. 

Other than that our last puppy went to his new forever home yesterday, it is so sad to say good-bye to the little ones.  And we have our garden finally in and I think it will take this time.  We had a frost two weeks ago that hurt and or killed some of our plants.  But we replanted and things are looking pretty good.  I am hoping to build a hoop house before Sept.  so we can extend our growing season, and next year I will be using one. LOL!!!  It will be in the 90's today, so hot, hot, hot, thank goodness we have a pool to cool off in.  Our goals for this week-end are to put in the air conditioners, (Jeff will need these to help him sleep in the day) An oil change for the car, and to put our refridgerator (it needs repair) in the garage.  We just bought another from a friend who is moving, but ours is so nice and big, we want to have the seal replaced so we can put it back in our house.  And of course we have to grocery shop, I just hate the stores.....  I hope you all have a wonderful week-end and Blessing to all.

Thank You to my sweetest daughter