Fourth of July Goodies

 

Hi friends, if you have a star coookie cutter you can turn plain into fancy for your July 4th goodies that you make.  It doesn't have to be for July 4th only. I love stars so I plan on doing this often. I saw in a magazine where someone cut stars out of watermelon. 

We went to a few picnics this year and I'm sharing with you what I took. I made a tomato basil salad and cut the cheese with a star cookie cutter to place on top of the tomatoes. I made two of these salads. One I cut up the tomatoes and basil mixing it all together because the one crowd was larger 

I made a cherry tart and gave it a flag appearance by cutting stars out of the dough. The recipe came from an old friend. Farmer Dave said it's the same recipe that his mom made so that was a bonus. 

Old Fashioned Cherry Tart 

3 cups flour

1 cup Crisco

2 1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 t vanilla

Mix flour, baking powder, salt and Crisco.

stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients

dough will be sticky ~ you have to work with it

Save 1 cup of dough for lattice top

spread dough on greased 10 x 15 tart pan

cover dough with 2 cans of cherry pie filling

cut and cover cherries with the remaining dough

roll out the remaining dough and here's when you can be creative!

Bake 350 for 25-30 minutes

Here's a few helpful tidbits on the recipe.

I covered my hands in flour as I was patting it down on the pan because it was very sticky.  I saved a cup of the dough for the topping and added 1/4 flour to make it roll out better. 

 I hope you're enjoying your summer! 

                                                         much love, aa

FARM UPDATES

 

There's times when Dave and I are sneaky taking pictures of each other.  He took a few of me in the Autumn time and I took a few of him the other day.  

Dave was cutting branches to decorate for my shepherdess friends that were coming to visit. 

Many of you have been messaging and calling asking if the store is open, any events and how we are all doing here. We are great! As we all knew the shop, it is no longer open any more. We made it into a workshop space for me and to hold workshops in the future. Dave has been busy with blacksmith orders and we made a space for his goods with a table nearby to make it easier to discuss orders with customers. Janice still holds her space in the Walker house basement for her workshops. We have decided to take down our business page on Facebook to simply simplify our lives. I guess you could say I replaced it with Instagram. To make it easier I post to Instagram and then share to Facebook ~ making it a one time post. I plan on being better with posting recipes, decorating, farm life and SHEEP!

That leads us to the subject of being hacked on Facebook and Instagram. Because of being hacked ourselves several times we have decided to resurrect the blog. We will try to do farm updates and post recipes in the blog space. That way if we get hacked on Facebook or Instagram and loose our accounts some of our information will be available through the blog. A close friend of ours got hacked and has lost all her information so this is what got us thinking to bring our blog back.  We have thought of youtube...but perhaps too much. 

My joke is years ago we would get a call and they would say they were told to "call the young couple because they like to buy the old stuff" now they say "call the old couple because they like to buy the old stuff."  So we still go on calls and buy. As we gather now and then along with our candles that we make for a hobby we will post when they will be available here. 

As you know we are back in the sheep business and I am out helping shepherds during lambing time so lots still to keep us busy. We hope to have an "open farm day" here and there. We still have scheduled farm tours and groups gathering here for their meetings. It's been all word of mouth and loads of fun. So life keeps us very busy only in different directions...can any of you that know me and Dave really think that we are sitting....lol! It's not how we are wired...Dave has been taking down around 30 dead trees around the house and informed me he is going to put in more pasture. 

This coming Sunday (April 25)  we will be shearing our sheep if you'd like to come watch.We will have the "wool shed" open (as Dave renamed the shop) at noon and shearing will be at 2pm. Janice is holding a workshop and there are available openings if you check her page out at The Garden Shed in Cabot. Our shearer is Teddi from Birch Creek Farmery. She will be bringing her meats and eggs for sale. We will have a few things available and candles.

There are different seasons in life and we love the one we're in. We are most grateful for you following along with us on our journey and as we continue to be in our seasons of our lives. A few of you have asked how is Bobby doing? Most of you know him from carrying packages to your car, working the shop when we weren't home and he has said he has moved enough furniture than he really would have liked, lol!  After a few other careers he is now a professional fireman and loves it.

He and our two girls are doing wonderful. We are grandparents of three littles and hoping to spend more and more time with them! Thank you so much for staying in touch with us...you are more than a customer but our friends who we hold dear to our hearts!  

                                                all our love,   Dave and Audrey

FARM NEWS

Our farm is waking up from the dormancy of Winter. The trees are blooming, buds are popping, the grass is greener and I know Spring has arrived. I let the dogs out early in the morning and I am comforted by the song birds loudly singing to me as they always do every early Spring.  Spring is here but yet I feel somewhat of a silence in my spirit. I've started this blog post over and over in my head. So many messages to answer and hoping to do it in this space. I want my words to be right. It's easy to say be positive and find your happiness but we know many are not really feeling that way and I want to be sensitive to all. Almost feeling guilty, if you will, that my world still remains in my bubble and yet we know many are suffering. Yes I miss my family terribly but I am not suffering as many are. I see a common thread on social media ~ kindness matters ~ small things matter ~ isolation brings on reflection.  It's so true, last week we received a few cards that comforted us and made us feel extra special. A priest I used to work with wrote to thank me for always making him laugh. A childhood friend sent a card. Kindness matters ~ phone calls, letters, notes, reaching out, lights on, clapping ~ kindness matters.

 

With a heavy heart we decided to cancel events for the remainder of the year. We planned a fun farm day with the shearing of the sheep, our county agent here, our large animal vet here and a farm educational guest speaker. I spent the day today cancelling all the farm tours and lavender workshop that was scheduled. We were thrilled how many we had but...  Janice's workshops will remain on pause. We are committed to the health and safety of all our customers and we are grateful for all your support and love ~ always.

 

Being on the farm hasn't changed much. We know what time it is because we have animals to feed and put to bed at certain times. We are in the process of making our shop a shop/studio/workshop for me. Janice still has her workshop space in the Walker House.

We will be opening by appointment as we have farm items to offer but perhaps you will be stepping around the items I have foraged, a spinning wheel, loom, wool area and the meeting place of our new formed Shepherdess get together. We have a new lavender patch up top and so far it likes it there. So hopefully next year you can come pick your own lavender! Still there is fun on the horizon.

 

Starting this Thursday we are trying something new with the candles. You can schedule to come for a "porch pick up."

We will have a table on the shop porch filled with candles and you can pick what you like and take them with you. We appreciate you schedule your pick up time by messaging us on Facebook,

texting or calling 724-304-1271.

We will be scheduling by the hour. Please wear a mask.

The first one will be May 7 - May 10

Thursday through Sunday

They make great Mother's Day Gifts! We will not be mailing any.

Some of the labels will have Twisted Thistle on them because we were commissioned by them to make candles but then they had to close. We have a nice variety. We will have a farm stand this summer ...but one thing at a time.

 

I believe that life is a gift and I am grateful for the time given here.

 

Stay well friends and stay in touch!

         Love to all,

                                         Dave and Audrey Ann

 

 

 



Where Did January Go?

 

Where did January go? It flew for me. The weather in Western Pa. was not overly snowy ~ sort of rainy and windy. I love to hear the rain and wind against the glass outside my window ~ maybe that's odd. It's probably my Irish blood ~ rainy and windy are normal for them.  In the winter I use to judge the snow on weather it would be easy to get to work or not. Now that I am retired I judge it if it's easy to get to the barn or not. It's always easy to get to the barn so I always love the snow. I never want to rush the seasons. I love all of them. For me ~ there is something special about each one of them.

I knew someone that died in January ~ suddenly ~ unexpectedly. I knew her since she was a little girl ~ us playing together in the neighborhood. Pictured is me about the age I met her. Dave said it put me in a funk but I didn't think so ~ he said I was too quiet for a few days ~ so maybe it did. I kept thinking everyday is a gift ~ and thinking about home and heaven.

I hosted a shepherdess gathering in January. I made my Cherry Almond Scones and made up another recipe ~ Bacon Cheese Scones. I'll make them one more time then share the recipe. We had other friends that stopped by in January ~ we love company!

We went to a friend's house who has bought antiques from us and wanted to share how she styled her things. It's so fun to see what happens to the antiques once they leave our shop. She is teaching me the craft of rug braiding. I love learning new crafts.

Those that remember way back when we opened the shop ~ I use to sew & sew & sew. I started sewing again along with my fiber arts. I've really been enjoying this. So many ideas swirling in my head!

There is so much shop news but more on that next month. We've been in the candle making mode and thankful for all the shops that carry our candles. My friend Janice (The Garden Shed in Cabot) and I have been working on dates for workshops. Also many dates are booked for Farm Tours and we are thrilled about that. We love to share our farm. I have been living my last year's word ~ "sharing" ~ and it's been fun. I'm on Instagram and sharing a lot there. In between posts I share in "stories" but I'm not good at sharing when I'm with my family. I try to keep a balance with social media. It's a place where I've met so many other gals that raise sheep. We plan to meet in May at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival ~ I'm looking forward to that. I love sharing about my old fashioned ways ~ the youth have a movement about this and it's called

 "slow living"

That's a good thing!!!

In the winter on the farm we watch the ground, watch the weather, watch how much hay the sheep are eating. We just bought hay that should last till Spring. We are fortunate that we buy our hay 1.5 miles down the road. I love to help unload. It's good exercise.

...and we have had a little set back on the farm. We had a handsome fellow coming for date week (actually scandalous) because he was having date week with all the gals ~ wink ~ wink ~

We have another farm bringing their gals too.

However I wanted to check all my girls for parasites and Genevieve has some. She was treated, cleared and then got another parasite. We NEVER had these problems before and that's for another post but I want Genevieve clear before Oakley comes to visit. I don't oppose breeding out of season because we have before and never had problems. Until then please say a little prayer that Genevieve is clear for her next test and Oakley comes to visit!! wink ~ wink

 

Love to you all and grateful for this life I love,     Audrey Ann

 

 

 

 



 



12 Days of Christmas

The Kings have arrived so it's safe to say we can all put the Christmas decorations away. At least that's how it was in my home growing up. Christmas came and went and I always say some Christmas's are better than others...no matter where you're at in life.  This past Christmas was so special for me.

 I received my yearly secret Santa gift.  It's from my brother (it's a secret) and usually a nun themed gift. I collect nun things. He always finds me something different and makes me feel special. (I'm the baby.)

 

 Lots of extra sheep decorations went up this year!

 I didn't get all the cookies done I wanted to bake. I cut my list in half and still didn't get them all baked. I did try a new cookie recipe thou. I made Linzer cookies for the first time. I used the King Arthur Flour recipe. There are so many Linzer recipes. I would like to try a different one and compare. I'll do that in February.

 Of course I made pies and I always put out my mom's Lefton sleigh and reindeer. I still hear her telling me to be very careful with the reindeer because they are so fragile.

 

  

 I received some awesome homemade gifts!  

I received this sheep ornament along with a few other gifts. They were a big surprise from a friend that lives far away.

Surprises are fun!!!  She makes everyone feel so special!!!

 It was so special to watch the grands interact with each other.

The older ones helping the little ones. Santa brought a share gift for the little ones. I think I heard grandpa say it needs a garage with the tractor Santa brought them a few years back.

 You can't see my other gifts.

My daughter moved back home from Oregon and I truly consider that a gift.  I was able to be with my brother and sister another year on Christmas day. As the years go by and our families grow things change but I felt I was gifted another year with them. I can't imagine Christmas without our laughing, sometimes tears (probably tears because one year I put two huge turkeys in the oven and they were taking VERY long to bake!) spinach balls, turkey dinner, and pitchers of Brandy Alexander's (that my dad started making a million years ago) on Christmas. This Christmas my brother made a special toast to my dad...it's those toasts to the ones that aren't here that always brings me tears. A huge gift was that this Christmas we had all three children home. That hasn't happened in years and it was a huge gift to me...I kept pinching myself through out the day.  And the Lord gave me another gift that's too precious and too private to share but one that truly was a "God thing"...if you know what I mean. I usually don't do a Christmas blog until after the fact. I love the space in-between Christmas and New Years. I love the time to meditate and hang on to the gifts in the

                    12 days of Christmas ~ and beyond.

 

Love to all,    Audrey Ann

 

 







WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES

It was a year ago after our Christmas open house that some of my friends and I were gathered in the shop chatting away.  Kelli asked if we could do another Friday evening open house. After me fighting anemia Dave and I thought it best to do one day open houses and not two. Kelli said "Audrey we will all help, we all miss Friday night open houses"  We've been doing Friday night open houses for so long that deep inside I missed them too.  My cousin Kim told me how important it is to let my body rest when my blood count is low ~   Kelli said as she used to say all the time "don't you worry about a thing."  She was coming to clean, ticket and work to get ready. Everyone agreed and the year went on.  We decided to have our Friday night open house.

We had so much fun getting ready for the open house.  Farmer Dave was getting ready like a well oiled machine...lanterns...lights...straw ready...parking planned....

The farmer and I had so much fun shopping, decorating, cooking ham in the hearth, cleaning and everything else that needed done.

Our Daughter Sarah moved back from Portland, Oregon and she was helping at the counter. We were so excited to have her here and her friend Brian help park cars along with a neighbor boy and Stephanie's husband Brian. My brother came dressed as Jonathan Walker and greeted customers in our Walker Farmhouse.

My friend Jenn made sheep that looked like Colleen. My friend Jeannie made lots of goodies out of wool...oh but her cookies ~ so many of you asked for the Raspberry Bar recipe. Sonya was here running the shop with Jeannie, Jenn and Sarah. Stephanie and Cindy ran the downstairs with Janice and Karen. Lauren from Kindred Palette had her signs here and we introduced Berry Hill Farm.  She almost sold out of honey and has repeat customers already.

We had a wonderful crowd, family, friends, my childhood friend Cindy came to support us, new and old customers...some I haven't seen in such a long time.

But...someone was missing...our dear Kelli passed this year...
Kelli was missing.

One of my friends who was here last year called and said "let's dedicate Friday evening to Kelli"
I kept thinking of her while I was getting ready for the event...Kelli would like this...or Kelli would like that...wonder what Kelli would think...Kelli...Kelli...Kelli
Half an hour into our event and into our home comes Jack! Jack is Kelli's husband and he knew Kelli wanted to bring back Friday evening...she was so excited last year when she went home telling Jack how she was going to help get ready, etc.  I was so excited to see Jack! Jack is blind but he experienced the evening with the smell of  ham in the fireplace...conversations...a few tears shed and a toast celebrating Kelli's life. My friend knew we would love Jack being with us...she surprised us with Jack's presence. Dave and I are forever grateful for her bringing him.

The night before the event I was finished in the shop and said as I walked outside "Kelli, what do you think" I looked up and the sky was the most beautiful I've seen.  I felt Kelli, it was a sign from her and God. When I saw the line to get in the next evening I thought Kelli was looking down smiling.

Everything went so smoothly ~ so smoothly ~ Kelli had to be here.
So much can happen in a year ~ Kelli passed ~ her one friend here with her moved far away and another friend that was chatting with us here has been battling breast cancer.  ~ love more ~ love more ~

We are grateful for all the hard work everyone puts into our open houses, we are most grateful for the customers that come. Thank you for your messages and well wishes, your pictures (I only took the sky picture on this blog post) and for pictures of your bought items in your homes. We certainly miss Kelli but it was one of the best Christmas events we've had. We are grateful!


My last blood count came back with much better numbers ~ now that the open house is over I am going to do less ~ less cookies ~ less decorating ~ less shopping ~ less

I am going to find more ~ more time for silence in the Advent Season ~ and love more ~ love more ~ because you really don't know what can happen in a year. 

               Love to you all and grateful for this life I love ~  

                                                             Audrey Ann & Farmer Dave