Harvest Lane Cottage

The little girl with white paws was adopted by my daughter.   I've learned many things from reading other ladies' blogs: ~to make laundry soap from scratch ~to count my blessings ~to sew tea wallets ~to sew a tote bag ~to make bread from scratch ~to make new soups ~to make new desserts ~to put photos on my blog ~to decorate my blog ~to make paper snowflakes ~to be more frugal ~to enjoy great music on  Pandora . ~to enjoy new artists and works of art ~to make a refill for my foam soap dispenser ~to knit dishcloths and scrubbies ~to enjoy my family more ~to enjoy the seasons more ~to write better ~to get free books for writing reviews ~to use YouTube to find video tutorials ~to enjoy new genres of reading and new authors ~to make, do, and enjoy lots of things ~to be more self-sufficient in pursuing the old-fashioned arts ~to get closer to the LORD Jesus Christ. It is great to be part of a bigger community of Christian ladies who believe in femininity not feminism, home living, h...

    It's a new season in my life.  I've had many seasons— childhood teenager college young married mom to littles homeschool mom mom to teens cancer fighter and a retired homeschool mom when my youngest graduated   Until last summer, I had three young adults in my home. Then there was one.    First comes love. Then comes marriage... then my last little birdy flew the nest!    So now I'm an empty nester. It's come a little later for me than some. I'm well into my fifties. I'm very blessed to have the privilege of spending my empty nest years with my high school sweetheart.    Lowell and I started dating in October 1981, he asked me to go steady in November 1981, he gave me a gold necklace with a tiny diamond in it for Christmas. The hook was set, he just had to reel me in... or did I reel him in? Either way, he gave me a promise ring with six diamonds in the spring of 1983, and May 10, 1985, he gave me a diamond solitare and asked me to m...

 Hello everyone!   I've been doing thrifty things and forgetting to share them! Today is the perfect day for it. I'm taking a break after vacuuming our enclosed back porch. It doesn't seem like it would be a big job, but... let's just say I was dewy when I finished!  Honey Oat Bread We're still eating primarily from our freezer and cupboards.  I'm brainstorming gifts I can make from what I have on hand. I've been checking Facebook Marketplace for months in search of a new couch. I found one recently that is high quality and comes with a matching arm chair. I asked the lady to consider $400 and she agreed.  I hope the furniture will last into retirement.  I made 2 loaves of homemade honey oat bread for less thant the price of one at the grocery store. The second loaf was a couple of days old, so I made french toast and my Grandma Bern's raisin bread pudding with it. I didn't have canned milk, so I used the whole milk that I had on hand. It worked ...