Another Tea Party

Some dear friends and I had the opportunity to "take tea" last week at a local bakery. Our delicious menu included four courses:

* Cranberry Almond Scone with Clotted Cream & Orange Marmalade
* Feta, Tomato and Cucumber Salad with Toasted Walnut Croutons
* Chicken Salad on Mini Croissant, Roast Beef and Cheddar on Multigrain, Cucumber and Dill Round, Roasted Red Pepper Quiche
* Coconut and Pineapple Cheesecake, Pecan Studded Apricot Bar, and Fresh Fruit
* Masala Chai and Mango Black Tea








Thanks, ladies, for a sweet time!

More Blooms

A glimpse from the window of our lilac bush and my Mother's Day apple tree the boys gave me when they were little -


















Our watermelon, cantalope and honeydew seedlings are growing well inside - we put them on the porch in the warm sun during the day. After Mother's Day they'll go into the ground.


















This is a gorgeous violet that a sweet lady from church gave me. She has me feeding it watered-down tea once a week!

Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania

We spent the past weekend at the cabin. Amidst naps, bike riding, rounds of Rummikub, reading, and watching the "Lord of the Rings" triology, we found time to visit the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. We hiked the Turkey Path that goes down into the canyon and then back up - 45 minutes each way and what a workout!!

Good Morning

The view from our schoolroom window right before 6 a.m. -

Ben & The Bull Frog

Ben has been trying to catch this bull frog out of the pond for about two weeks. It has continually escaped him, but today Ben was victorious (and the frog looked quite humbled)! We took pictures, marvelled over the frog's fatness and length of legs, and promptly popped him back in the pond.

Photos From Our Sunday Afternoon

Eli was helping to dog-sit Jack (his cousins' dog) this weekend. Since Jack HATES thunderstorms and we were in the middle of one, Eli crawled under the table to comfort him -


















While Eli and Jack were under the table, the rest of us were mixing up and cranking homemade ice cream - a batch of blackberry and a batch of peanut butter. So good . . .

Recipe for A One-Gallon Batch of Homemade Ice Cream

5 eggs, beaten
2 - 13 oz. cans of evaporated milk
2 C. sugar
3 C. whole milk
1 tabl. vanilla
Pinch of salt

Whisk together the above ingredients. For blackberry ice cream, add 3 C. of blackberry juice (from blackberries that have been cooked, smashed and drained) OR you could add 4 C. of whole blackberries. For peanut butter ice cream, remove 1/3 of the ice cream mixture into a pan and add 3/4 C. of peanut butter. Heat over low and stir until peanut butter is dissolved. Then pour back into main mixture and stir well. Pour mixture into ice cream maker.

Desserts From Our Tea

White Raspberry Mousse - a light, pink-swirled mousse on a chocolate crust drizzled with raspberry sauce and garnished with fresh whipped cream and a chocolate wafer


















Coconut Cream Cake - a dense cake with creamy, custard-like frosting sprinkled with coconut and a dollop of fresh whipped cream

Technical Difficulties

I am unable to load photos onto my blog as there is a problem with my blog host. They are working on the problem, so hopefully I'll be able to have photos up again soon!

High Tea

My mother, sister and I spent the afternoon enjoying High Tea at a local tea house. Thought you might enjoy reading our mouth-watering menu:

* Ambrosia Fruit Cup
* House Salad (see photo below)
* Rosemary & Thyme Scones and Apricot Scones with Clotted Cream and Strawberry Jam
* Country Mushroom Soup or Meatball Pasta Soup
* Cucumber & Lemon Pepper, Seafood Salad, and Date & Walnut Tea Sandwiches
* Coconut Cream Cake or White Raspberry Mousse (photos next week)
* Springtime Tea and a Cinnamon Vanilla Tea

Delicious!

House Salad

This lovely salad contained mixed greens, pinenuts, dried cranberries, and mandarin oranges with a raspberry poppyseed dressing. Light and delicious -

Beauty Along Our Daily Walking Route

Let all the earth fear the LORD;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
- Psalm 33:8-9

Mrs. Dunwoody

This is a fun and charming resource that I pull off my shelf from time-to-time. Here's a sampling of the chapters: The Art of Homekeeping, Miss Sallie Anne's Splendid Directions for Laundry, Notes and Recipes from the Kitchen, and Matters of Formality. The book is a neat mixture of quaint, old-fashioned ideas that can be used and adapted for the modern homekeeper. And don't you just love the cover?!

Flowers & A Memory

The wild grape hyacinths are blooming in different spots around the farm. Eli calls them "bluebells," as I used to when I was a little girl. These flowers always remind me of collecting handfuls of them with my sister from our neighbor's meadow. Remember, J.?

Caleb's Woodworking

One of Caleb's recent jigsaw projects -

Along Our Lane

Morning Tea

Here's my daily teapot of red raspberry tea (good for ladies). The first sips are savored while I visit a favorite blog and the rest is polished off during my time in the Word.

Caleb's First Limerick

There once was a man from Maine
who got his name from Spain.
He hit his head on a rock
and then he put on his sock
and now he's jumped on a train.

(Notice I said "Caleb's FIRST Limerick" in the title? Since Caleb was introduced to limericks this morning, he's taken great delight in making up several and declaring them loudly as they enter his mind. Makes for a interesting day!)

Asparagus

Marty and the boys picked the first asparagus of the season on Saturday afternoon. Just enough for Sunday dinner and to share with some friends. Ah, spring has sprung!

First Wild Violets of the Season

The boys and I were out in the yard picking things up before mowing when I came across these lovely wild violets. After recently reading of an idea to pick wild violets and/or clover to make tiny bouquets, I decided to give it a try. Quite successful, I think. Now to make some of that gorgeous violet dye I read about, too -

A View From the Porch Swing

Mint for Tea

My mom and I went to an herb festival yesterday afternoon and this little plant came home with me. It's a variety of mint called Mint Julep which I was told is a combination of spearmint and peppermint. I brought it home with Ben in mind - he's our resident iced tea maker. He enjoys going out in the pasture and picking meadow tea or scavenging some spearmint from behind his aunt and uncle's shed. Ben makes delicious iced tea for us all summer long -

Delight

Every Spring I delight in the snowy beauty of this tree -

Spring Wreath

Thank You

I am overwhelmed by your kind words. Thank you SO much to all of you who have taken the time to comment on the blog, send e-mails and/or verbally express your encouragement over the past few days. I am having lots of fun blogging and am learning lots, too! It's good to be able to put images to the ideas that I've written about in "A Heart for Home" over the years. That's one of the reasons I've begun blogging. But the main reason is that I might inspire and encourage each of you to discover the sweet joys and simple pleasures in your own lives. God has blessed us with rich and abundant lives. He's given us light, color, sound, scents and textures - all combined in many ways to create beauty. A thousand times a day God shows us His majesty, beauty, creativity and love in that which is all around us. I pray that the words you read and images that you view on this blog would inspire you to look for God's beauty in your own lives.

A Candle & A Piano Lesson

This morning, Eli requested that we light a candle and put it on the piano while I give him his piano lesson. A boy after my own heart!

Caleb's Stamps

This is what a large portion of Caleb's bedroom floor looks like at the moment! He's been working on his stamp collection and assures me that he needs to spread out to see everything. About a year or so ago, my grandfather gave Caleb the stamp album that HE collected stamps in as a boy. Caleb and I count it as something very precious -

Little Lady

One of our "Little Ladies" - as Eli and I affectionately call the
chickens . . .

Timothy

Timothy is one of four new calves. His front leg muscles were weak, so The Farmer made him some "braces." He's walking better, and we hope he'll soon be romping around with the calves.

Cloth Shopping Bag

My latest sewing project - a cloth shopping bag! I LOVE the cherry-spreckled fabric I found at a flea market (click on the bag photo to get a better view of it). Here's where to find the tutorial for it: http://pleasantviewschoolhouse.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-to-sew-cloth-shopping-bag.html. It was easy to follow and make - and, believe me, I'm definitely a beginner!

Daffodils from my littlest -

Eli picked these from along the creek, tied them together with yarn and tucked in his card. He then proceeded outside, knocked on the front door and announced that he had a flower delivery for me.

Waiting on Spring . . .

I cut a few branches from my lilac bush on Saturday to try and force the blooms. The green buds are already beginning to open!

Hello!

Here I am:














Just doing a little testing -