Monday, May 31, 2010

Little Garden Gloves Giveaway!



I have a very sweet friend named Melissa, who I was able to meet when I first started blogging. She is having a contest. Her blog is called Lilac Lane by Melissa Stramel. I am also in a quilting blog group called a Dozen Quilters that Melissa started.


Melissa is having what she is calling Trimmed With Love contest


over at her blog. If you have something that you have made with trims, buttons or lace, go to her blog and put a picture up! She will be having a judging party! She has instructions on how to put your work up on her blog, so that it can be judged.


The little Garden Gloves in the picture above is what I made for the contest. I thought it would be fun to have a little contest here at Prairie Flower Farm also. It will go until this coming Friday June 4th at noon for the "Little Garden Gloves" shown in the picture.


Here we go! ! ! !

1st vote,

leave a comment


2nd vote,

sign up on the side or tell me you are already a follower


3rd vote,

become a subscriber to our emails

(if you already are, just tell me please).


4th

Sign up for facebook


5th vote,

tell someone we are going to have a party

tomorrow.


You can comment on all of these on one comment if you like.


PLEASE LEAVE AN EMAIL

IF YOU DON'T HAVE A BLOG! ! ! !


Now tomorrow on June 1st, here at Prairie Flower Farm we will also be having a fun overdue celebration, because we are


1 Year Old!!!!!!!!!!


Are you ready tooooooo Party?????? You know me, I am always ready for a fun party! ! ! ! ! ! 1


I can't tell you thank you enough for making my days so fun!!!! It has been such a delight to read the thank you's from you ladies who have downloaded our freebies along the side. Some have told us what they have done with the patterns. Love it, and a big thank you to you for taking the time to come back. I love your comments! I have also enjoyed praying for so many of you who have personally written with your prayer requests.


So please back tomorrow and see what is happening here!

I will try to make it a real fun celebration for you! ! ! !


Also the 2nd free stitchery called,


Winter All Year Long

Summer Thyme Yellow Work Stitchery


will be ready for you to download. I am so excited for you to see. Now are we going to have a fun time or what?


So please start getting the info out to your friends and be sure to tell them that there is a PARTY GOING ON!!!! OVER AT PRAIRIE FLOWER FARM! THANK YOU!


ONE MORE THING!

Miss Clarice's Vintage Apron Pattern will be ready

for sale in paper form and an e-pattern tomorrow. Can't

wait to show you!


Blessings,

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Sunday, May 30, 2010

Just saying hello,


Hello, my name is Little Jack and I am doing very well, even after experiencing a little flight before I started living on Prairie Flower Farm with Mr. Farmer and Miss Prairie Flower. If you want to read my story scroll down. It is amazing story of how much God cares for even a little duck!


Good morning ladies,
What a beautiful crisp cool morning here on Prairie Flower Farm. Grateful for another day! Just thought it would be fun to put up our newest miracle baby. As some of you know that we had a mishap here, but the Lord came in with a huge blessing. Read the post about Little Jack.


Yesterday after all the work was done, some of our family went to Peace Creek to do a little splashing and fishing. Not all in the same spot...... smile.

Little shoes mean Grammie has a little one on the farm to love and play with. Hmmmmmmm I think I like........ a lot!

Okay, just want you to know something very special will be happening on Monday and then again on Tuesday. Remember Prairie Flower is over a year old now. It is time to celebrate!! and I can't wait for see what we will be doing! I have been waiting tell the end of March to tell and show you!!!! I will do my best at letting everyone who has followed us know.

May the Lord bless those who will be going to the cemetery who have huge open hurts in their hearts because of loved ones who are not here anymore. Know I am praying today for you.

Blessings and love you bunches!!!!!!!


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Saturday, May 29, 2010

Busy Weekend?

You are welcome to use our picture. Link it back to us, if you wouldn't mind. Thank you!
Our Mrs. Puddle Duck and Miss Americana are sharing the nest, quietly.


I love seeing what the farm has for me. Beauty..................for sure! Hope you all are enjoying your weekend. We will be in the garden with 7 of our grand children. Can't get better than that.

P.S. Something is going to be going on, on Monday! Can't wait to show you!!!!!!! You will want to tell your friends!

Blessings,


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Thursday, May 27, 2010

Garden Talk


Hello sweet ladies,


These flowers were planted a long time ago, by my Mother in Love! Every year they come up. Reminds me of her. Such a nice memory.


This evening we worked on getting more paper and straw down around the tomatoes. It was a beautiful evening with just enough wind. I was working along listening to the grandbabies playing in the fresh tilled soil, giggling and having a great time. I heard things like, "Grammie, look at Reid (our 3 year old grandson) working along side Poppa" or Krissa our 6 year old granddaughter wanting me to see her black legs that had dirt up to her knees. I love the memories being made during planting time. I was also praising the Lord for giving me seeds. It always amazes me that I can plant a seed water it and it comes up. It is such a nice gift, wouldn't you agree? He is so good to us. I always want to thank Him!


Little Jack our duck, is doing so well. Can't believe that he is alive! We are very, very grateful!


Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. We will be taking flowers to the grave sites of our family, who are not with us anymore. Bitter sweet time. I am sure it will be the same for you. You are in my thoughts and prayers.


Blessings,

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Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Whole Wheat Pita Bread & Jack

Hello everyone,

I told you I would do a tutorial on the Whole Wheat Pita Bread and here it is. If you have not ever made pita bread, be sure to try this recipe. I promise it is sooooo easy and your family will love it!!!!!!! I like using my bread machine on most of my breads. I let it do all the work for me. I never bake bread in it though, I only use it for the mixing and raising part. It is such a time saver!!!!! This recipe is very easy and it is soooooo good in the summer to make all kinds of sandwiches. One of our favorites is to make a Chicken/Grapes Salad for the fillinging. Mmmmm good and great to take on picnics. Don't fill them until you are ready to eat. Put the chicken salad in a wide mouth mason jar, put it in the fridge to get it real cold, before you take on your picnic.


Whole Wheat Pita Bread Tutorial:

Okay lets start. Remember I told you, it is so easy to make. Take the bucket from your bread machine to the counter. Add 1 1/4 cup

warm water. Then continue to add the rest of the ingredients below.



1 1/2 tea. dry yeast, 1 T. oil, 1 tea. salt and 2 tea. sugar.

Add 1 3/4 cup of unbleached flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour (you may use just wholewheat instead of adding the unbleached flour, but we like ours a little lighter),

and 1/3 cup gluten. Use your dough cycle and let rise. Now you wait until it is done rising.


Take dough out of the bread machine after it has risen.

Note: yesterday the weather was very humid. If your dough seems to be a little sticky, that is not a problem. Just knead in more unbleached flour.


After you have kneaded the bread a bit, cut into 8 equal pieces.

Flour your counter again and roll each piece out to 6".

Cover with a tea towel and let rise for about 30 minutes.


Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place two circles on a wire rack. Bake for 4-5 minutes. Your children will enjoy watching them through the oven window, when they puff up. We think it is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!! Remove from the oven and immediately wrap pita breads in a damp tea towel to soften. Continue to cook the rest of the pitas. Allow breads to cool.



Cut pita's in half and fill. You will see how they make perfect little pockets. Are they just not the cutest????????? Store in plastic bag.


I revised my recipe from this recipe.

Tammy's Recipes is a real fun place to go to!



We made Chicken/Grape Salad for the filling. I cooked 3 large

chicken breasts in water on the stove in a sauce pan,

until thoroughly cooked. Let cool.


I was going to do a tutorial on this also, but my sweet daughter Tressa, (while I was outside) made it up for me. She did not know that I was doing the tutorial. Smile! That is okay. This recipe is so easy to make up you won't even need one.


In a food processor, chop 1/2 cup walnuts, 1 stalk of celery/leaves,

1/4 of onion (optional) chop and place in a bowl. Now add the chicken and chop it up just a little bit. Start with a half a cup of mayonnaise, if it is too dry keep adding a little more at a time. Take a handful of grapes and cut them in half. Add grapes to chicken salad mixture. Mmmmmmm good. This is really good. I even add more whole grapes on my filled pita bread. Love the burst bite!


I like to add a piece of leafy lettuce to the pita sandwich before I fill it. If you would like to use this recipe for a tea party, cut dough into 16 small circles. Be sure to watch the oven as you cook them. Won't take as long. Just cut the top off the pita bread, then fill.


Tell us what you would stuff your pita with.


A MUST READ LITTLE STORY OF GOD'S GOODNESS!


I have another little Prairie Flower "miracle story". As you know Little Miss Fluff' had all her baby chicks and her duck named Bartholomew. She still had two eggs left. She kept rolling them out of the nest, so I thought it was because they were bad. I set them aside this last Sunday, because I thought that since she kept discarding them, they must not be good. Well....... last night (Tues) our two grandchildren came to stay on the farm with us. Ian saw the eggs. I told him that they were bad, he being a boy wanted to see the inside. I thought that it would just be a yolk, so I told him that he would have to throw it out in the field, because it would smell real bad. We had another bad egg from Little Miss Fluff's first batch and it was horribly smelly. Anyway, Ian throw it and we came up on the egg very carefully and it had a little beak looking at us and was peeping. As you can imagine, I freaked!!!!!! Here we are standing in a field and I am feeling horrible. We gently picked up the little duck egg and took it to the Milk Barn to be doctored. I am not kidding here, but I was praying and sniffling like you would not believe. I kept asking God to help us with this little baby duck. I knew my Ian was watching me and I so wanted to point him to the Father. Mr. Farmer said that I should help the baby out of its egg. Usually you shouldn't do that, but in this case it was a must. I was a little squirmish, (if that is a word) as you can imagine. After I got little duck out he still was attached to the yolk sack. Ick! I now wish I would have taken pictures. Ian kept saying we should. Sad me! Next time I will listen. It really was quite interesting.


Long night.......... but we woke up this morning and Ian said, "lets go out and check the baby duck". We did. He was alive and all fluffy. We were so excited!!!!!!!!!!!! Please pray for our little duck, Ian has named him "Jack". He is so precious, but not a full term baby duck. He is maybe minus a few days. It is truly a miracle and we are "Praisin our God" for his help! He made him, He can take better care of him than we can.


I took a few pic's of Jack and Ian.


Ian was so sweet and gentle with "Little Jack". Animals teach children lots about life. Grammies also!


We are very very grateful!!!!!!!


Momma Kitties baby, stretching.


P.S. Don't forget to tell us what you would fill your pita pockets with!


Blessings, Linda Ian and Little Jack






Monday, May 24, 2010

A Mother's Prayer


You are welcome to use this picture, if you like.


In 1999 our youngest son Jarad gave me a book called Prayers From A Mother’s Heart, by Ruth Bell Graham. It is a collection of different ladies prayers. One that I have prayed over and over for my children (and now grandchildren), was written by Shirley M. Dobson. Dr. James Dobson’s wife.

This is what it says,


Heavenly Father, I praise and thank You for the privilege of coming before You humbly and interceding on behalf of my children and grandchildren.

Keep their hearts tender and sensitive to Your voice. Give them a love for Your Word and willing hearts to obey it. Help them to desire to walk before You in righteousness all the days of their lives. May they grow in the wisdom and knowledge of the Lord. Give them a heart of compassion and concern for the lost and the wounded. Lead them to a place of service in

Your kingdom’s work.

Lord, send a guardian angel to watch over their going out and their coming in, and lead them not into temptation, but deliver them from the evil one.

Send enough rain to keep them depended on You, but enough sun to give them hope and encouragement. And, Lord when they’re standing at the crossroads trying to decide which path to take, put a person of faith there to point them in the right direction.

Thank You for Your blessings, Your provision, and Your great love for my family. I ask this prayer in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen


I just love this prayer. I prayed it again today. When I had my children all tucked in my home when they were young, I thought life was always going to be so simple. I just taught them and most of the time they did what I asked. Now, I see some of their decisions and think, I didn't teach them that. smile. So what I have to do now is tell the Lord all my concerns. I do that a lot when I am gardening, sewing or hanging up my clothes on the line. I guess that is just "my me time". Same as last night, I was out working by myself in the garden. . . . . . praying to my Lord. Quite a few times I was on my knees........ just telling Him my concerns. My heart was trying to stay calm, but my body was not cooperating, if you know what I mean. I was trying to have peace, but it was not coming, but in the midst of it I knew where I could get the peace. So many times it seems like the Lord is quiet, but I know one thing for sure. He is there and working. I believe that even in my times of despair. The Lord answered me in such a precious and very direct way. The son I was praying for, called. "Is anything too hard for me says the Lord"? That was all I needed. The Lord heard me!!!! I looked at my cell phone and it had my son's name on it! I rejoice in the one who says, "He will never leave me alone! I have Him for real!!!!!! Thought maybe some of you might need a prayer to pray for your kids or for yourself. I have also been praying for those who read my blog. Just want you to know! So for the wife who misses her husband who is now in heaven, or the momma who's son or daughter is a prodigal. Don't give up!!!! Even in that time when you think your faith is gone. Keep praying. God will show Himself mighty, in His time, sometimes on the other side of the battle!


If you need prayer, please write me!


Today we are having a friend come and help us plant a big watermelon patch of Moon and Stars Watermelons. We grew them last year and sold them at Farmer's Market. Everyone loved them. They are so sweet and tasty!!! Our friend is a bachelor,so we love to make him something we know he wouldn't make for himself. Fresh homemade bread! Since we will mostly be working we want it simple. We will have chicken salad/grapes and then we will put it into Whole Wheat Pita Bread. As I make it today I will take pictures and put up a tutorial for you all to make it for your family. They are wonderful on a warm day! I will go to the Potter's Shed and pick some homegrown lettuce and get it nice and crisp to slip in the sandwich. Mmmmmm nummy!


Here is a picture that we took last year of our Moon and Stars Watermelon. Most of the time there is a huge moon and then little stars all around. Do you notice the leaves? Same little stars. Oh my, our God is so fun and creative!!! Yup fun!!!!!!!! To put moon and stars on a watermelon?


You all have a special day with the Lord today. He wants you to tell Him your needs and give Him your praise. I am so thankful I have Him. I totally would be lost without Him!!!!!!!!! Even in my times of despair and doubt, He is with me. Ya know, I have been reading in 1 Samuel. Eli thought Hannah was drunk when he saw her praying. Wow! Sometimes I guess when I am crying before the Lord, I may not always look so in control! Just a thought.


For those of you who loved our Lemon Verbena Bread, don't forget to pick up a plant at your favorite greenhouse. I did. Stutzman's in Hutchinson had it!!!!!


Hey Heather, so glad you figured out how to get your

sweet little face on our followers! Welcome!


Thank you to all the other new followers! I am so enjoying those who have a way

I can come to your blog.


Love you bunches, everyone!


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Our Winner is.................

Yellow roses means friendship!
Thank you for
signing up for the party last week!

First off, I just want to take the time to tell you all how much you mean to me. When I started the blog it was mainly to encourage anyone that would come (family, friends that I already knew). I wanted to share my faith in Jesus. I wanted to do craft items, cooking and have a way to sell our products, so that we could still live on our farm. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever thought our blog would grow as it has. I love seeing ladies come to my blog, the comments you say make my heart smile. You have said so many nice things and when the days are hard and grey, I can go back and reread and be reminded that there are a lot of ladies that are enjoy coming to Prairie Flower Farm. I just wanted to take the time to thank you soooooo much for the orders and for downloading our freebies and letting us know how you use them. I have been getting emails with pictures of all your handwork using my ideas and creations. Thank you so much! I will be putting up more of them on my posts.

I also want to thank you for entrusting me with your life concerns and hurts when you need prayer. The emails that I receive are heart tuggers. They make me cry, because I know that life is hard and sometimes we just need that reminder that Jesus is for us and will never ever be against us!!! I need that reminder today myself. I know without a shadow of a doubt that my God is for me. Just a blueeeeee......y day! Please pray for us! Thank you!

I guess what I am trying to say is THANK YOU SO MUCH for being YOU! A REAL BLESSING in my life, that I would not want to live without!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I bet you all want to know who won the Coffeehouse Scones and our nummy Strawberry Rhubarb Jam.......... and the winner is:


Vivian Lee,

she is one of my Sugar Pie Sista's!! Yea!!!


Well, Mr Phil was my drawin man and he thought we should pick

a few more!!! So.............


2nd place

Linda

she doesn't have a blog, but she said:

I am a follower, please count me in!!


3rd Place is

The Thrifty Designer

She said, That sounds like a tea party waiting to happen!


She has a beautiful blog so you might want to go and

check her out!!

Thank you for the party. It was very fun to meet some new ladies!!!!

Keep in touch, there is a biggie party still coming. I am over a

year old, my blog that is. Still workin on it. It will be a special time.


My sweet man and I went early this morning to pick up all this.

Garden here I come!! Tressa Taylor????????? (my girls........ can't find em, but I will, smile)


This is Little Miss Fluffs last baby chick. We got 9 babies and 1 duck. Pretty good, if you ask me. He is a little Americana fatty watty. That really isn't the name of the kind of chicken. I never can remember the right name. So I name them what I want. Works for me! Isn't he the sweetest. They have little puffs of feathers on their cheeks. Miss Prairie is a very proud momma!

Well, love you sweetie ladies, children and now I guess we have some men who also get read to by their honeys. Now that is fun!!!!! I am off to the garden. I am working a little bit in the Milk Barn rearranging the babies. Then I am off to the garden to get paper and straw down on the tomatoes. Tell me what you are doing today!!!!! I so want to hear from you all!!!!
Blessings,

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