A New Year's Blessing...

New Year's blessings from our family to yours!

 ~

"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God."

~ Hebrews 6:1, KJV

 "If you have reason to hope you are ready, I advise you to make sure. Walk more closely with God,-get nearer to Christ,-seek to exchange hope for assurance. Seek to feel the witness of the Spirit more closely and distinctly every year. Lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily besets you. Press towards the mark more earnestly. Fight a better fight, and war a better warfare every year you live. Pray more,-read more,-mortify self more,-love the brethren more. Oh that you may endeavour so to grow in grace every year, that your last things may be far more than your first, and the end of your Christian course far better than the beginning."

~ J.C. Ryle {1816-1900}

{Read the full sermon, 'Are You Ready?' here} 

A blessed 2017 to you, dear readers!  

Kelly-Anne

Christmas Blessings!

"And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."

~   Matthew 2:11

 

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

~  John 1:14

 
All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning,
O Jesus! for evermore be Thy name adored.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

~ O Come All Ye Faithful

"And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."

~ Matthew 2:11

Silent night, holy night!
All is calm, all is bright.
Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child.
Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace
Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight.
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia,
Christ the Savior is born!
Christ the Savior is born
Silent night, holy night!
Son of God love's pure light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth 

~ Silent Night 

~

Christmas blessings to you in the name of our precious Lord Jesus, dearest readers!

Let us sing praises to the glorious, Eternal One and worship His Holy name!

With love this Christmas!

Kelly-Anne

Thursday Pearls

"And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."

~ Matthew 2:11, KJV 

Blessings this Christmas....

Courgette, Chive and Cheese Scones

Our vegetable garden is producing in abundance this summer and courgettes are being harvested daily...I grew a couple different varieties of summer squash this year and I actually have more than we could possibly consume!  

Thus, I have been selling and giving away surplus as well as using as much as possible in all our cooking...  I have many ideas for using up too many courgettes, but for now let me share my current favourite recipe for courgette, chive and cheese scones with you...

Courgette, Cheese and Chive Scones

 

240g Plain flour

10ml (2 tsp) baking powder

15ml (1 tbsp) brown sugar

2.5ml (1/2 tsp) salt

115g soft butter 

100g cheddar cheese

100g courgettes (zucchini), grated

15ml (1 tbsp) fresh chives, finely chopped 

180ml (3/4 cup) buttermilk or plain yoghurt

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

Cube butter and use your fingers to rub into the four

until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Stir in the grated cheese and courgette, finely chopped

chives and buttermilk.

Dust a clean surface with plain flour and turn scone mixture out.

Use your hands to gently pat into a large circle about an 2 inches in thickness.

Do not knead the dough too much.

Cut into triangles or use a cup dusted in flour to cut circles

from the dough, placing on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.

 {Note:  This recipe I adapted so that it would contain more courgette and less cheese.  I also omitted with garlic and used regular cheddar in place of the stronger Gruyère...}

Serve with butter and topped with homemade apricot jam...  We like ours with homemade preserved beetroot for a savoury variation...   

Enjoy this final week of Christmas preparations, sweet friends...

My sisters and I are off to choir practice this afternoon - we will be singing a few beautiful 

Christmas songs in church on Sunday...

With love and joy in Christ,

Kelly-Anne

♥ Country Diary Entry ~ December ♥

^ Tis the season for out of door eating...  The girls love to relax on their campy chairs while we have a barbecue!

 A glimpse into my world...in December
 

A glimpse into my day...♥

As today is Sunday, I am enjoying a beautiful day of rest which began with a wonderful church service, singing hymns and fellowshipping with dear friends..

Upon returning home, I baked some delicious courgette, chive and cheese scones again because...they're so good!  {{smiles}}  Look out for the recipe tomorrow... 

^ Precious Caleb plays with his blocks...can you believe he is nearing his eight month birthday?

Watching...♥

Having now sadly completed watching the first Road to Avonlea series as well as all the Love Comes Softly films, I don't have anything more to watch which is not so bad seeing as I haven't any handwork to complete...  Besides, summer is not really the time for wasting precious hours by watching television!

What I am Reading...♥

I am still loving Amish fiction, particularly the books by Beverley Lewis...  The series I am currently reading is Annie's People and it is just beautiful...I would highly recommend her novels as they are good, wholesome stories with so much to cause you to stop and ponder...

Listening to...♥

I rediscovered my love for The Piano Guys and am enjoying a few songs from their new album, Uncharted.  Apart from that, Christmas worship music from Chris Tomlin and a few beautiful carols by Haley Westenra.

 

^ Fresh ingredients from the garden mean delicious gourmet meals...a new favourite of ours are these homemade chicken and salad wraps which Nancy makes for us...

Sewing...♥

Ah...I have now laid aside my work sewing for the year, although I am hoping to complete a few of the projects lying in my drawers before the close of the year...  I just decided that these holidays are so very short and I wanted to enjoy some quality time with my precious family as well as have a short rest...

I do have some pleasure sewing to work on, though...  We picked names for gift giving this Christmas and I got little Sofia's name, so I hope to sew her some little horse softies as she loves anything equine!  {{Smiles}}

Dreaming of...♥

My upcoming twentieth birthday picnic with a few dear friends and my sister, Nancy at beautiful Jubilee Creek...  A youth camp the Lord led me to volunteer as a counsellor at in early January and a picnic supper at the beach with my sweet family and friends!

In the Garden...♥ 

 

Oh my, our garden is producing over time!  We are harvesting ever so many courgettes now as well as gem squash, Swiss chard, carrots, herbs, cucumber, lettuce and beetroot.  Butternut are growing beautifully and beans will soon be dry for harvesting...  We seldom buy vegetables now, nor fruit as we have fresh gooseberries, blackberries and strawberries on hand!  Oh, what a wonderful feeling to sit down to a homegrown and homemade meal!  {{smiles}}
 

Thankful for...♥ 

A very special Christmas tea party with dear friends as well as a ladies Christmas party at church which was oh, so lovely!  Grocery shopping with my mom, Dad and Caleb but stealing a few moments for browsing the scrap booking section of a stationary store as well purchasing a pretty new tea cup!  The kindest, most generous gifts and letters from dear friends across an ocean...

Happy new week to you, dear readers...enjoy the final week before Christmas! 

Blessings in Christ,
Kelly-Anne 

~ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6, KJV ~

Thursday Pearls

 Painting by:  Sydney Percy
"My brethren, let me say, be like Christ at all times. Imitate him in "public." Most of us live in some sort of public capacity—many of us are called to work before our fellow-men every day. We are watched; our words are caught; our lives are examined—taken to pieces. The eagle-eyed, argus-eyed world observes everything we do, and sharp critics are upon us. Let us live the life of Christ in public. Let us take care that we exhibit our Master, and not ourselves—so that we can say,"It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me."

~ Charles Spurgeon

 

 ^~ Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.  Matthew 5:13-16, KJV ~

 

Blessings to you, dear friends... 

Pretty New Crocheted Earrings in the Shoppe...

 Hello dear readers a happy Tuesday to you!
This morning my dear family and I had a most delightful walk on the beach before coming home to delicious homemade courgette, chive and cheese scones...look out for the recipe coming soon!  {{smiles}}

I have also been restocking my little Etsy shoppe with these charming vintage style crocheted earrings...

These earrings were designed and crocheted by my incredibly creative sister...I have a few in my own wardrobe and simply love wearing a pair whenever I have a chance!  {{smiles}}

  ~ Light blue vintage style earrings ~

~ Yellow vintage style crocheted earrings ~

~ Olive green vintage style earrings ~

And remember that I am offering FREE SHIPPING worldwide for the duration of the Festive season!

~

I have also happily been creating some new lovelies lately...and I am also hoping to restock my shoppe with some handmade cards and tags as well as bookmarks very soon! 

In the meantime, you have a truly wonderful week further, sweet friends, and enjoy this blissful Christmas season!  

We will be putting our Christmas tree up tomorrow and decorating it whilst sipping coffee and eating homemade Christmas fruit mince pies, my favourite!

Blessings and love,

Kelly-Anne

Quilting Delights and Summer Loving...

“All in all, it was a never-to-be-forgotten summer — one of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going — one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends and delightful doing, come as near to perfection as anything can come in this world.”
~ L.M. Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams

 

 Granadilla Flower...

 Summertime has arrived in all its splendour and glory and my days are spent juggling seasonal preserving with sewing, quality time spent with my precious family and tending the vegetable garden.  

 

In this hot weather, it is virtually impossible to maintain a beautiful garden, but I am determined to keep it well watered, mulched and weeded to ensure we have plenty of delicious produce pouring in throughout the Summer, with hopefully enough to put away for Autumn and Winter too...  Ah, how richly satisfying it is to sit down to a meal prepared with fresh vegetables straight from the garden!  {{happy sigh}}

 

 

When I am not in the garden or preserving our harvest of squash and fruit (I have been making apricot jam and gooseberry jam these past two weeks...such joy), I am lending a hand in the home as we hope to have a pretty, well-kept house throughout the holiday season and hopefully work on some home improvements here and there too...

 

Reindeer in the process of being sewn up...

Each year when the busy season rolls around, think, "If only I had worked more diligently on making stock during the quieter months!" as is so wonderfully busy and I don't have near enough stock to see me through the season, especially as the Lord recently blessed me with another two shops to supply!  

I love creating pretty things and so it is still a delight to be able to do what I love as a means of earning a small income...

Let me show you a couple of the items that have passed through my workroom lately...

 

 

 

 

Of course there must be time for pleasurable sewing too and just the other afternoon my dear creative mom walked into my room with a big smile on her face saying that she had found the perfect project for us!  Well, we both decided that it was far too wonderful to put off till the new year, so we got started right away...   Shall I show you what it is we are so thrilled about?  {{smiles}}

Mom, Nancy and I are each working on a quilt using our treasured fabric scraps...  Mine is to be different shades of pink in various patterns and designs and Nancy's to be a combination of colours and designs...  Mom is making two quilts, one for Rebekah and one for Sofia.  The fabric scraps she is working with are bright, funky colours and designs, just lovely for two sunshiny little girls!  {{smiles}}

 

I completed three blocks for my quilt this week - there are 98 in total!  Here is what one block looks like and below are the other two I had a most delightful time sewing...   

 

 

The neat thing about this project is that it uses up a lot of my scraps...and I have boxes and boxes of scraps leftover from Heartmade products (thus, they're free!)...  Also, it can be completed over a long period of time if I so choose...each week I hope to complete a couple blocks and put them away for the grand day I can assemble my quilt!  My goal for next year is to finish decorating my bedroom/sewing room as I managed to paint it this year!  {{smiles}}

 

 

 

Oh and I also spent a pleasant afternoon sewing a new peasant blouse for myself...  This time I decided to use a bright viscose to make a short-sleeved peasant top...I also altered the pattern so as to include a tie on the one side to create a more fitted look which I prefer.  It came out so beautifully and is so comfortable and feminine...{{Smiles}}  I will show you a picture of the finished garment very soon...

 

~

Ah...how splendid it was to spend a few moments updating my little blog.  Sadly I seldom find time for writing during the Festive season, but I hope to stop in every once in a while to share what is happening in my world... 

 

In the meantime, be sure to stop by my Etsy shoppe...I'll be adding new items over the next few days and would love to mail something your way...isn't mail such a wonderful thing?   Oh and remember the tutorial for my fabric Christmas trees that I promised to share?  Well, it is almost completed, so look out for it next week!

 

 Blessings to you, dear friends...enjoy this wonderful season, shedding the light and love of Christ wherever you are!

~  This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalm 118:24 ~

Our Short But Sweet Family Getaway...

The weekend before last saw our family going away for a short but very sweet getaway...

It was so wonderful to enjoy quality time together without having to worry about housework and farm work…a welcome reprieve right before our busy season began!

We were blessed with a two night stay at a cabin surrounded by trees, tame deer roaming the property and plenty of space for the girls to enjoy hours of playing. 

There also happened to be a pool and everyone but Mom and I spent hours in the water despite it being a little chilly.  Even Caleb had his first swim which he absolutely loved!

Both Nancy and I took photographs, so there are a great many to share…I am sure you’ll enjoy a peek into our lovely family weekend away…

Seriously handsome… I am even more in love with this baby brother of mine than ever…

A small playground kept the girls occupied when they were not swimming.  Gabrielle poses for a picture…just look at the little lady she has become…

Sweet Rebekah poses…Nancy had a wonderful time snapping pictures of the girls.

Gabrielle and I on the swing…  It was so lovely to do nothing at all and not worry about all that had to be done…  I find it challenging to take time off and so being away from home meant I had to relax!

~

Rebekah delighted to be having tea and rusks on Saturday morning…

Breakfast on Saturday morning consisted of homemade granola, yoghurt and fruit salad, a real treat…

The four younger girls who fill our home with laughter and tears, smiles and sorrow, but ultimately plenty of love… 

From left to right:  Rebekah Faith (7), Gabrielle (9), Beth (12) and Sofia Cherish (5).

~

Nancy and Sofia did an impromptu photoshoot on Saturday afternoon…

Aww...those dimples!  {{Smiles}}

~

Me with Caleb (7 months), otherwise known as our “Buddles’’ which is basically a cross between the word “Buddy” (he is our best buddy) and “Cuddles” (he is the best little person to cuddle!).

Sofia feeding the tame deer…the little girls were able to feed the deer in the mornings and evenings, thanks to the kindness of the owner.

Nancy and Sofia…  If I didn’t have a vegetable garden or a dog, I would consider owning a few deer…they are such sweet creatures!

Gabrielle, still in her pyjamas mind you, feeding one of the deer…

Now…Caleb wasn’t supposed to swim.  On Sunday afternoon, just before we packed to leave, the girls were swimming in the pool and I sat on the edge holding Caleb, the two of us dangling our feet in the cold water.  He began splashing his little feet wildly and straining against my grasp so as to get into the water.  Eventually I gave in and held him over the pool so he could get wet up to his waist.  But that wasn’t good enough for him…next minute he was in Nancy’s arms, delighted to be swimming as well!  This pool had a wonderful shallow area where he could stand up against the side and splash happily in the water.  This little boy isn’t afraid in the least and the fact that the water was cold didn’t deter him in the least!

Sometimes we find it difficult to believe he is only seven months…he is such a boy and already gets into mischief  whenever possible (we dare not leave him alone in his walking ring for more than a moment!).

And so a most delightful weekend came to a close and life resumed its usual chug, although somewhat busier than the usual with so much happening during this time of the year.  

We all long to return for another peaceful weekend…you won’t believe how tired we were after all that sleeping, relaxing and resting!  {{smiles}} It makes us realise how tired we really are after such a full year.  

We look forward to resting and recuperating once all the festivities are over but for now, the preserving season has arrived and we are busy as bees from sun-up to sundown!

Happy new week, dear friends!