When Tea Calls...with Honey...

It's a delightfully cool, rainy day for a cup of hot tea...or two

while the Lord causes the ixora to bloom with His own watering system...

and brings into our rock garden large blooms of red fire...

and while I wait for the hens to finish up their egg laying for the morning...

the honeybees are working faster than expected

surprising us with some extra cones on the inside walls to let us know...

they need more frames

because with the rains that bring more flowers...

there is a heap more nectar to be carried to the hives

which means more honey for tea

and still, the drawing for a jar of Pilgrim's Farm honey goes on this day...

and through June 20

so, if you're interested...

please do leave a comment with a name to let me know

Pleasant words are as an honeycomb,

sweet to the soul,

and health to the bones.

Proverbs 16:24

May your day or night be pleasant as a honeycomb by the Lord's grace.

Honey and Nutmeg, and Cinnamon...

Sometimes...

a week goes by like this for me...

where I can only live, lying down and no matter what I lay on...

it feels hard as a rock

(the goat is okay; she is just resting from her romp on the rock)

when I have accidentally ingested gluten, my functionality goes out the window

and my world looks like a blur where things can look doubled and foggy

where pain and darkness exists for a while...

but then, God in His mercy towards me...

will graciously lift me back out of that terrible aversion to grain proteins...

and I feel better and ready to go on with life

for anyone who has celiac, you know what I talk of

in any case, I'm happy to say...

raw honey, nutmeg and cinnamon are on my thankful list of foods the Lord has given me to enjoy

and He has blessed our nutmeg trees with good growth and a few early nutmegs

they grew from these tiny "beads"...

to palm-sized balls with a most delectable spice in the middle

not only does it come with the nutmeg spice but...

it comes twice as nice with the mace covering over the nutmeg ball

feel free to click on the names for more info on these wonderful spices

how wonderfully sovereign God created these strong, aromatic, warm jewels

one can see the intricate mace indentation...

 as the nutmeg grew inside it's outer flesh

the red lace of mace is also used as a spice and I like to throw it into a pot of roasting meat

soft and pliable, it peels off the nutmeg shell easily

and again, one can see the detail of the mace indentation against the dark shell

to crack open the nutmeg from out of it's shell...

I put it on a cloth and cover it...

and give it a good, firm whack!

but, not too hard so the nutmeg does not break into pieces with the shell

a rather beautiful little thing that will give dishes a wonderful culinary event

and the cinnamon tree has been growing quite a bit...

and lately flowered very nicely...

except that I missed getting the blooms on camera

it is the bark, of course that is used most often...

and the leaves, too, can be used as a tea or flavoring a dish

raw honey, nutmeg and cinnamon make a great threesome

if one is making this for sweetening tea, coffee or drinks...

leave out the butter

otherwise, this is what I do for making pancake syrup

2 Tbsp of butter

1/4 tsp of grated nutmeg

1 stick or 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon

1 cup of raw honey

heat all together in a saucepan over low heat until the butter is melted

put into a small serving bowl and serve, stirring when ready to pour over pancakes

or, just lightly heat the raw honey in the pot with the spices to help bring out the flavors...

and, I put the syrup made without the butter in a jar for use in sweetening drinks, tea or coffee

I like to leave the cinnamon stick in the honey for a stronger cinnamon flavor over time

I make enough to last just a few days

I promised a give-away of a jar of Pilgrim's Farm raw, pure honey...

so anyone interested in trying out for the honey...

please do put in a comment so your name can be put into the bag for random picking

I will be giving more info on this with a photo of the honey and jar next week...

in the meantime, consider the give-away now started

May your day or night be sweetened in the grace of God.

When it Comes to HoneyBees...

One of our favorite things about homesteading on Pilgrim's Farm...

is beekeeping

it's a whole world of  bee cities that thrive on being busy...

in a most delightfully sweet way

to watch the honeybees as they bring alive the jungle of bush...

and in the gardens as they hum and buzz...

winging their way back and forth...

never complaining of hard work

just doing the duties that sovereign God gave to each little bee

truly, the honeybees work at making honey much harder than we do at beekeeping

and the end result is this...

we get a lot of requests for our honey...

sometimes, we have enough to sell to a few...

sometimes, not

I do have one special little jar of Pilgrim's Farm honey...

just for my readers

next week, please do look for a sweet give-away from our farm

I'll let you know more, then

If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death,

and those that are ready to be slain;

if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not;

doth not He that pondereth the heart consider it?

and He that keepeth thy soul,

doth not He know it?

and shall not He render to every man according to his works?

My son, eat thou honey, because it is good;

and the honeycomb,

which is sweet to thy taste:

So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul:

when thou hast found it, 

then there shall be a reward,

and thy expectation shall not be cut off.

Proverbs 24:12-14

May your day or night be like honey in the grace of God.

Amber Sweetness...

This, is pure gold candy for me...

my husband and I have bits of honeycomb instead of buying candy...

for the times we get a little sweet tooth

the honey is sweet and flowery which gives me a boost when my sugar is low

and the wax is a delight to chew on...

helping to clean the teeth as the honey is savored from the waxy candy

while store candy doesn't benefit the body...

raw honey has so many nutrients in an anti-microbiotic environment...

that feeds the body vitamins and minerals rich in raw honey

B vitamins, calcium, chromium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese...

 phosphorous, potassium, selenium, silicon, zinc...

and of course, amylase which helps break down starches into sugar

I love to decorate the jar with some real greenery out of the garden

and how the honey matches my bamboo lamp...

amber is a beautiful color...

it just smacks of delicious

this little crystal jar holds the bits and pieces of honeycomb we harvest with the honey

keeping a hor d'oeuvre fork next to it makes the honeycomb bits ...

easier to pick up out of the jar

and we just take the bit in our fingers and chew that golden sweetness out

this is indeed, a golden blessing from the Lord

May the Lord bless your day or night with sweetness.

Pilgrim's Farm Honey Winner...!

We now have the winner!

Soozeedoozee was the randon drawing name picked 

Soozeedoozee...

your honey is waiting in it's box to come across the Caribbean sea to you

I want to thank everyone who participated!

It was fun and I'm only disappointed that every name couldn't be drawn from the bag

Have a sweet day, or night in the Lord's grace.

Last Day for Giveaway...

The labels came in...

since this honey is going on a long trip...

I sewed up a little bag to soften the bumps along the way

nothing to crow about...

but, just a wee extra to go as part of the giveaway

if you look at the jar carefully...

you will notice that we do not over strain our honey

we like to keep the goods intact for their nutritional value

if you are new to the blog...

feel free to look over the posts for this week on the giveaway...

for Pilgrim's Farm raw honey

if your country accepts imported raw honey and you are one of many honey lovers...

slip in a comment with a name...

for a chance to win this 8 ounce jar

the winner will be announced Monday, Feb. 20.

Have a great day, or night.

Roses & Honey...

When I picked up my latest rose bush at the nursery...

I had no clue what color would burst from this bush

well...

I now have my answer...

and isn't it just gorgeous?

so I'm a sucker for pink roses...

any shade of pink will do

and may it bloom more roses in the near future

if you haven't done so...

please do leave a comment on any of this week's posts to enter the drawing for...

Pilgrim's Farm raw honey

you only need to enter once

tomorrow  (Saturday, Feb. 18) will be the last day to enter

we will do the drawing this weekend...

and the winner announced on Monday, Feb. 20

you can enter from anywhere in the world...

as long as your country accepts gifted imported raw honey

please check with your postal or customs service to find out

and also tomorrow, I will post showing the actual jar in the drawing...

which is not the one in the above photo but...

it's just as nice and is re-usable as a preserve jar

May you have a beautiful day, or night by God's grace.

A Sweet Deal...

Yesterday...
we made a deal with the bees

getting the smoker ready to keep those little sweet bees calm

taking off the protective tin roof and the top super off

more smokin' those little bees to show our persistence in gathering the honey

after all...

they aren't likely to volunteer the honey

taking one frame at a time and scraping the caps off...

although, we would rather harvest before the cones are capped by the bees

but, they worked faster than expected...

and the trays were FULL of golden honey!

that's me on the right...

not helping much...

but, I got to hold the lid - most of the times...

and take the photos

and my Honey husband did the fun part of hand cranking the honey from their combs

he deserves the fun part...

because he gets to stick his hands into the bees

and they let him know with several stings he was stealing their hard work

my Honey husband knows how to take them in stride...

and doesn't let them bully him into backing out of the harvest

bucket filling of something yummy...

done right under the cocoa trees in the farm bush

we get to keep some of the combs filled with the fragrant, golden honey...

to eat as candy...

only not too much at one time

oh yes - better than candy...

full of nutrition as well as the sweetness of flower nectar

we left the bees enough honey for them...

after all...

it's only fair, you know?

I think we both got a sweet deal all the way around

and the nuke on the right is the recovering hive after the wax moth invaded it...

it's doing well and busy with bees and queen...

and over time, we'll start adding more boxes to it

the fruit of the bees and of my brave Honey husband's labors...

waiting to be strained and settled for bottling

all 44 pounds from just 16 frames...

all the glory and credit to the Lord

after all...

it was His idea in the first place

don't forget to enter the Pilgrim's Farm raw honey giveaway...

just by leaving a comment with a name, if you haven't done so already...

so I know to put your name in the drawing bag

it doesn't need to be about honey...

and you can leave a comment on any of this week's posts

please do...

have yourself another butterfly...

May the Lord sweeten your day, or night with His grace...

more sweet than honeycombs