Heritage Schoolhouse is Eight Years Old!

Eight years ago today, May 4, 2008, I was sitting home alone one evening, under the weather if I remember correctly, and I started a blog called Heritage Schoolhouse.

So...on the eighth anniversary of Heritage Schoolhouse I thought I'd come back to this long neglected place. :-) I can't believe the last blog post I wrote was back in July!  

Since that time I've been blessed, and busy, and challenged, and tired, and working, and playing

and of course cooking and baking ;-)

and time just got away from me.

And, I sure have missed posting here!

So, I'm back and here are a few pictures of what's been going on around here lately...

I have four chickens right now.

A Rhode Island Red,

a Silver Laced Wyandotte,

a Gold Laced Wyandotte,

and a Welsummer. 

I love my chickens!

I lost my favorite cat, Reese's, several months ago and it just broke my heart,

but thankfully, I still have her baby PB.

I got some ducks again!

We named them Buttercup and Honeysuckle.

Butter and Honey for short. :-)

And Miss Daisy will be nine this summer. 

I bake when ever I get the chance.

And we have a little bit of a garden growing this spring - 

tomatoes, peppers and squash.

My kids are growing like weeds!  They're 16 1/2 and almost 19!

And Mr. H. is still the most handsome fellow around. :-)

I'm happy to be back! 

Three Truck Family :-)

An old truck for a young boy.

1987 Ford Flareside 

It needs a little work.

But, that's the way it should be. :-)

Wintertime Hot Cocoa Bar!

I had such a hard time putting away my Christmas decorations this year.

Much more so than usual.  I tend to be chomping at the bit by New Year's Eve and 

New Year's Day usually finds all the decor safely tucked away and a cleaning spree in process!

But, this year I just seemed a bit more reluctant to start putting things away

and would you believe January 3rd! was looming on the horizon by the time 

all things Christmasy had been stored away for another year. 

I had planned to keep my hot cocoa bar up through New Year's Day,

and then put it away,

but I thought, "why not leave it up all through the winter?"

So I did!

I removed all the red and green and just created a simple array of hot cocoa fixings 

to look nice with my "winter" china. 

"Winter is the time for comfort,

for good food and warmth,

for the touch of a friend's hand 

and a talk beside the fire;

it is the time for HOME."

~Edith Sitwell

And, then, on Sunday, after evening worship, a sweet lady from our congregation

gave our family a care package of marshmallows, hot cocoa packets, popcorn 

and these incredibly cute mugs!

It was like it was confirmation that I should keep my hot cocoa bar up just a little bit longer! ;-)

Fall Inspiration and a Favorite Fall Meal

I always look forward to the first supper we have in the fall after I put out 

my fall table linens and dishes.

That supper was tonight this year!

I started getting out some of my fall things over the weekend after I was inspired by this sweet little gift.

One of my college-aged nieces came over to eat supper with us on Saturday 

and watch the Aggie game.

She walked in the door talking about how much she loves fall 

and how she wanted to share her excitement with me.  

Then she handed me a goody bag. :-)

How precious and thoughtful she is!

Our supper tonight was made up of two of my favorite recipes to make together -

baked lemon chicken with new potatoes and vegetables

and

so easy rustic bread.

I like to make them together because the oven time and temp is the same for both recipes. 

Doesn't that bread look like that expensive "artisan bread" you can by at the grocery?!

You have to plan ahead a little to make it, 

but it's just SO easy to make at home.

The lemon chicken and vegetables always smell so good while baking.

We couldn't wait to dig in tonight!

What are some of your favorite fall meals? 

First sign of fall...

american beauty berries popping out all over the yard.

Such a happy day!

Today marks 10 weeks that I have completed in my neck brace!

My next doctor appointment is just a week and a half a way. :-)

Happy, happy day!

~Keurig Love~

Well, I'm on the Keurig bandwagon now.

I got one for Mother's Day and for the past week I have absolutely loved it.

I got a couple of boxes of our favorite k-cups at the grocery last week.

But then my amazon order came in of 36 different kinds and 

that sent me from keurig believer straight into keurig love! ;-)

My whole family had fun looking at all the different kinds!

And, then I loaded up my carousal. 

The assortment came with plenty of coffees of course, plus hot cocoas and ciders,

teas and decafs,

and flavored varieties.

I said this one, called "dark and handsome" must have been sent for Mr. H. ;-)

My daughter and I said we'd fight over the "pumpkin vanilla creme" one. 

(Of course I'll let her have it though!)

The first one I tried was the "peanut butter and jelly sandwich" crazy cup flavor!  How fun!

I plan to also get an insert that keurig sells were you can just use your own regular coffee in your machine instead of the k-cups.   

But, for a while I will love, love, love the novelty of a whole coffee shop sitting on my kitchen counter!

I am just loving my Keurig.

I can't wait to have company over and have them be able to select and make

 any hot beverage they'd like.  How neat is that?! :-)