Welcome to the 44^th edition of the Homestead Carnival, wow doesn’t time fly and I don’t know about you but I just love the Homestead Carnival as I am sure you all do too.

This edition is not going to be in any particular order for a change but you will have tons of fun anyways I can assure you of that.

We have some great recipes just to kick start this week’s carnival. What better way to start your day off than with delicious wholesome Oatmeal Pancakes.  These you can find over at The Funny Farm

If you are after a healthy pancake recipe – then this one by Flossie is a must to try.  So Oatmeal pancakes here we come over at The Funny Farm for this delicious and wholesome recipe.

Then hopping over to Meredith at Humble Beginnings, there is a delicious recipe for Cream of Mushroom Soup – this is one of two canning recipes on this weeks Homestead Carnival .

Our second recipe is for a delicious canning recipe for Tomatoes. As Grandma Rosie sums it up in her own words “Summer wont last forever but the taste of summer can carry us through another winter” So come on over as we are shown what to do with the glutton of tomatoes we get this spring.

Next, how about Dying wool with Kool Aid with your children – doesn’t that just sound like great fun.  This method seems so very easy to do so why not join me in giving this a try and just think of the different colours you can use – what fun! Join me over at Dora’s to see how this can be achieved.

Have you ever wondered how to conserve electricity without resorting to air conditioners? Ceiling fans are just what you would probably be looking for. Join Andrew over at Home Decorating Reviews, where he shows us just the place to get ceiling fans that are stylish and will help keep you cool without having to resort to other means.

Wild garlic only comes out for a short season and this is an article about this wonderful plant that can be so versatile in so many dishes.  To find out more, hop on over to Valeree’s blog. Article on wild garlic from Cincinnati Locovore – check who

Balsamic Vinegar is a fantastic condiment and can be used for so many dishes. So check out Surfer Sam’s blog. Balsamic vinegar is vinegar made from grapes and aged in wooden casks.  It is not wine vinegar, because the grapes are never permitted to ferment into winde.  Far superior to other vinegars, the flavour of balsamic is rich and slightly sweet. It is culinary delight when used in sauces, marinades and vinaigrette salad dressing.  Italians have enjoyed “balsamico” for more than 900 years, but only recently did it become popular in the United States.

 Have you ever wondered how to dry roses properly, How To Me shows you how to dry these beautiful flowers. When dried there are numerous ways you can display your dried roses and other flowers too.  Dried flowers are great for home décor and can grace any room in your home – so the next time you are given roses, why not give it a go and you will see just how easy this is to do!

Bees are great for making honey and wouldn’t it be great to have pure honey from your garden, but obviously you can’t do this without keeping bees.  Brenda  over at the  cfarm has a great link to an article if you are thinking about adding bees to your garden. So for tips on beekeeping

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to wash our hair without the use of store bought shampoos – well you can as Belle takes us into Day 5 with no shampoo. You can also catch up with Belle’s diary from the beginning for using an alternative to store bought shampoo

Jennifer shows us tips on the best plants for kids to grown plus a fun themed garden. Gardening with children is fun – so come on over and have a look at Jennifer’s ideas.

Have you ever wondered or heard of Coconut oil, well here you can find out more about this oil and included is a delicious recipe for Coconut Bark using this coconut oil. Jessica has a wonderful post all about this.

I don’t know about you, but I love paella. Here is a recipe that Nichole has made for a vegetarian version of this delicious main meal – so why not give it a try – it looks so yummy!

Abi over at Teaching4him shows us how to make a teacup bird feeder – and this looks so pretty too.

Next weeks carnival will be hosted by Diary Of 1

We have finally found a church and venue for our reception.  We will be holding the legal part of our wedding on Friday 27th June. Our Thanksgiving & Blessing Service & our reception will be on Saturday 28th June at 2.30pm. Obviously, the service on Friday is the legal part only  only but Saturday will be our Wedding Day - this is only four months away and there is a lot to organise.

I will be having three bridesmaids and one flower girl so I need to look for outfits but I am also seriously thinking about having the bridesmaid dresses made by Lillies Apparel in America.  I have seen a couple of dress designs that I like and I would like dresses so that the girls can wear them again rather than for them to have a dress, that will probably be sitting in their wardrobe gathering dust, if you know what I mean!

This day will obviously be the beginning of the rest of our lives & therefore will be a simple but meaningful time as well as being a day that we will remember & cherish. We desire for the Lord to bless our marriage s& to be the center...........

The service will not be typically "English" as I would like some "American" elements added and once I have more of an idea then I will keep you posted. We have songs,music and so much to organise for the actual service which will be around 45 minutes.  The wedding invitations & order of service will be handmade so we need to start thinking about designs and wording - these I will be making myself.

A really close friend will be making our wedding cake.  I have a hairdresser booked, so that is taken care of. 

This is an exciting time but I am already becoming stressed so I need to "chill" big time.

One thing that does need prayer is our interview with the registry office here.  We have to have an interview in order for bans to be made but the fact that my divorce is through an American court makes things slightly more difficult. There are only certain USA States that are recognised in England (I am not sure if this applies to the whole of the U.K.). If the state that my divorce was held in is not recognised and/or if my divorce paper does not seem legal (which it is as I have already had this checked out), then this has to go to "a higher authority" over here which takes longer.  We have our interview booked on Monday 17th March so please would you mind praying that the State of Pittsburgh is recognised and also that my marriage certificate is totally legitimate......Without the Court of Law here recognising that my divorce is legal and above board, then we will be unable to get married until everything is sorted out.........This needs to go through smoothly..........................

Thank you so much and I will keep you updated as our Wedding plans progress

I do realise this is a bit of a bolt out of the blue but I am so so very happy.  Let me tell you a little about my fiancee.  Andrew and I have known each other for almost 26 years now, we met via his step-father and my father who used to be work colleagues and friends.  I was Andrews first girlfriend when I was seventeen though we only dated for a short period of time.  Andrew then married an old school friend of mine and sadly to say, the marriage went horribly wrong and Andrew was deeply hurt over events that happened - events which I will not go into at all.

Even though over the years, we chatted from time to time, it wasnt until I came back to Hampshire in October last year that we met up again.  This meeting happened at Andrews work (he works as a  baker in a local town and has been in the same job for almost 28 years now). I decided to visit a friend who also works in the same place as Andrew (again, this friend was a friend of my mums) and she asked if I wanted to see Andrew, so I replied ok.  On meeting up something just clicked, I took Andrews phone number and email address and we started corresponding.  Now the funny part, Andrew also asked Joy for my number but this got washed in the washing machine (which I thought was quite funny) so when I phoned, this gave him the excuse to ask for my number again.  We started staying in contact before meeting up in November whereby Andrew took me out for dinner and then from December we started courting.

Unbeknown to me, Andrew told me that he almost asked me out two years ago when we bumped into one another outside the local library where he lives. I mentioned that I was moving to Somerset so he decided against the idea - so obviously this wasn't meant to be at that particular time.

We both knew very quickly really that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together and this guy is one very special person.  I have never gone out with anyone who has respected, cared or loves me as much as Andrew does. He is very shy and very quiet but over the last couple of months especially, he has come out of his shell more and more and we talk and get on so well.   He is just one awesome guy, he really is. 

Andrew spends time with me through the ups and downs, listens to me, calms me down when I become stressed and is there for me in so many ways.  He surprises me with flowers from time to time, little notes to say how much he loves me as well as my finding cadbury's cream eggs (which I love) which Andrew hides for me to find - little things like this that go a long way.

Andrew proposed to me on Valentines Day.  This was a very special day and I was very spoilt.  I had balloons, valentine cards and of course cadburys cream eggs which Andrew had suprised me with throughout the day.  I prepared a three course meal and it was during the meal that Andrew got down on one knee and proposed to me, of which I said yes of course.  Andrew then gave me an engagement ring and even though we had discussed marriage prior to this day, I was still pretty stunned and very quiet plus I cried.  A truly lovely & memorable day..................

We are planning on doing a Marriage Preparation course with a local church which could possibly start towards the end of next month which will be brilliant.  We are planning on getting married either towards the end of June or the middle of July this year. 

So, this is a little introduction into Andrew and I will keep you updated as our wedding plans progress.

Today is the birthday of a very dear friend of mine, Catherine who is over at Hawthorn Cottage - please take a moment to stop by her blog to wish her a very Happy Birthday. 

Catherine I hope you have a wonderful and very blessed birthday my friend

This post will remain at the top until December 8th - so please scroll down to reach recent posts.....

Jocelyn is hosting this year's Holiday Bundle for 2007 - this is a fantastic giveaway whereby quite a few companies have contributed to the giveaway that Jocelyn is hosting.  This is a wonderful opportunity for you all to join in too - so why don't you hop on over here to join in the fun - go on what's stopping you.......

Ok, one of my special memories of the past is of Christmas spent in Vienna in several years ago whereby I went to spend this special holiday with a friend and her family who lived in Vienna. I had met Margarite when I had worked as an Au Pair for a family back in 1984 and she had worked for the family I had gone out to au pair for before I went over.  Margarite had married a policeman in the meantime and they had two children (I have sadly lost touch with her now).

This Christmas I went over, was beautiful as everywhere was covered in a white blanket of snow and it was awesome - definitely a picture postcard scene without a doubt! The first day I arrived Margarite and her husband (who was Austrian by the way) went out to a winebar as these type of winebars were all over Austria and it was a lovely evening - though I could just about pick out various phases around me that I could understand - a lot of the Austrian I had learn't whilst working out there I had forgotten.

Margarite had one family who were next door neighbours who were a Committed Christian family which was great as I got to spend some time with them over the 10 days or so of my visit. It was quite funny as their English was limited but we managed to communicate somehow, with times where they ended up phoning my friend to get translate - there were times were this was quite funny but we had great fun.

On Christmas Eve we went to the Christkind Markt which is a famous Austrian Christmas market. In fact, other European countries hold similar markets. I just loved the Austrian one as the whole atmosphere was buzzing with anticipation, excitement as well as all the wonderful gifts, music, food stalls etc.  I was also glad to visit as there were these fast food stalls that used to sell a particular Austrian meat that was fried  which you used to get in a bun or similar that I just loved - not very healthy but so delicious & mouthwatering.  I had over the years tried looking for this meat (of which the name now escapes me) in England but have been unable to find it.

Christmas Even we all went to midnight mass - wow the streets were covered in people going to various churches for this special Christmas Eve service. The churches would all be lit up on the outside, traditional church bells being rung and various sounds you could here for miles around and then of course the snow, which just made this Christmas night.  Inside the church, the service was very traditional and I just loved the carols and just sung along in Austrian. Candles were lit up everywhere and we all given a candle which we took up to the front of the church and placed in special holders whereby the idea was to say a short prayer - the atmosphere of this evening was just totally awesome and perfect. We then went home where the children went to bed and we stayed up to  decorate the Christmas tree and  place gifts underneath.

Christmas Eve night in Austria is where the tree is normally decorated and gifts put underneath. The children don't get to see the decorated tree until Christmas morning which is very different to what we are used too but this was so special. 

To go down on Christmas morning, adults & children together - the faces of the children were a picture. Their eyes would light up and they would just stand looking at the tree in amazement - trust me this is something special to be experienced.  Then the children go and get their gifts and open them.  After the gifts were opened, drinks and traditional Austrian cookies were handed out (I actually started making some of these traditional cookies a couple of years ago), we would then gather around whilst Margarite read out the "Christmas story". Then the children could go and play with their toys and the adults would relax with drinks before the meal. The afternoon & evening was spent with the children playing games and so on - very relaxed and chilled.

The following few days were spent with the next door neighbours plus other friends & neighbours.  It was great as I was able to attend church with my friend's family which was interesting plus challenging due to my limited Austrian vocabulary - the church was an Evangelical one and I met so many wonderful people. 

During my visit we went shopping & out to coffee houses which is a big thing over in Vienna especially, oh and the cakes are just mouth watering.  I went back to visit some of the historical buildings that I had been to a few years back including the famous Opera House & of course the Spanish Riding School & so on.....

During my visit Margarite and I also had conversations about the Lord and I purchased a bible for her.  She did start reading it and I know there was one particular verse or verses that touched her quite deeply whereby she started questioning her faith (I am unable to remember which verses though). I just pray that through her next door neighbours and reading the Word that she has given her life over to the Jesus. That would be just awesome, but sadly I have no idea where she & her family are now.

So, this is one memory of a very special Christmas spent with friends in the beautiful city of Austria.

Do join in this Christmas Holiday Bundle though - you do not want to miss out.......................

On that note, have a wonderful blessed SONday