An unimagined rest...

Almost six months ago I wrote my final blog post saying goodbye to seventeen years of blogging and sixteen years of designing hand embroideries. 

So here we are at very end of November and for a variety of reasons, and after a long season of physical injuries and enforced rest (still), the desire to write for you again, to share a simple life through the pages of my blog, has been restored. 

When I closed the door on blogging, it was with a genuine permanence of heart. During the first two weeks of stepping away, I cleaned out every cupboard and drawer and file system, shredding more than a decade of Elefantz business paperwork, and donating a great deal of fabric and sewing notions. A weight lifted, and I was excited to begin a full makeover and clean up of our quarter acre.  

For the next three weeks, after the household chores were done, I worked hard in the gardens, bringing long awaited plans to fruition, and creatively making more. My to-do list for the front and back gardens was long indeed, but I was content, and incredibly happy, to start from the top and work my way through - as well as adding to what was quickly becoming an even longer list!

But then, I had an accident with my knee. Weeks and then a month went by, and the doctor I'd been seeing for quite a while could not diagnose what was wrong. Pain was rather dreadful and I could barely walk, and certainly could not attempt gardening. Eventually I requested an MRI and it was discovered the meniscus in my right knee had detached, and it also had a horizontal tear right through the centre. The delay in diagnosis had made things worse and I was eventually informed that with physio it may take up to a year for healing. 

For a few days after the accident (before the eventual diagnosis) I sat on the couch, unable to do much else, feeling rather sorry for myself, lamenting my ability to work in the garden and pleading with the Lord to heal me. By the third day, I decided reading would be better than watching old episodes of Poirot, and peering over at one of my bookshelves, I spied "Knitted Tea Cosies", a book I'd purchased at a sale many years ago but had never even browsed through. A plan was born, and after gathering yarn and knitting needles, I was already a quarter way through my first tea cosy when hubby arrived home from work. The following three months were spent knitting almost every day...

I practiced a few different styles, learned to knit leaves a couple of different ways, knitted berries and swirly things, all with the idea that they'd make lovely Christmas gifts at year's end. This was my very first completed tea cosy, made for myself as it was late July at this stage and mid-winter here in the tropics of Northern Australia (though a very warm winter as it turned out) and herbal teas were a daily treat using mint, tulsi, lemongrass, fresh ginger and lemon balm - all grown in our garden...

These leaves were knitted with garter stitch but I later began knitting leaves in stocking stitch. I got so fast with them that I ended up with a whole container of leaves in different colours. I made another tea cosy with cabled rows, another in moss stitch, and so things went on. I had absolutely no desire to do any hand embroidery. When I stepped away from blogging that day in mid June, I did not realise my desire to embroider would be set aside as well. 

My daughter Kezzie loves colour, and so I began a cosy for her, using a teapot from my collection, and choosing colours to blend with the design on it. She will love this...

A softer pink for a friend...

...and an autumn themed cosy for myself, still waiting to be assembled. 

I also knitted a bunny with dress and shoes for Rafaella, though at this stage I am yet to sew the bunny together and stuff it. 

And spying this gorgeous cropped cardigan pattern in Blossom's extensive collection of The Art of Knitting magazines, and knowing she would love a cropped cardie knitted in cotton yarn, I made it for her during the month of October. I don't have a photo of her wearing it, as she is rather camera shy, but it is worn to church every Sunday due to the air conditioning being even cooler than we have at home (we skipped spring and went straight to summer from the last week of winter/August!)...

And therein lies the next hurdle to my physical health. A trapped nerve in my elbow from the endless knitting for months on end. I've had an ultrasound and an MRI again, which ruled out a few things, and landed on Radial Tunnel Syndrome. The nerve pain was intense and endless. As you can imagine, knitting has stopped, although after four weeks since this happened, I did try to knit on Wednesday this week but after twelve stitches, no way...the pain! I stirred things up, which was quite unwise. My knee is still healing but I am coping well with both arm and knee pain now, and have almost finished weaning myself off the painkillers (they gave me a lot of dreadful side effects). 

So here's the thing. God steered me away from the blog that day in June and I needed to remove myself permanently, or so I thought. There have been times the past two months when I have considered coming back for two reasons - to share about Jesus, and to steer those who are interested in embroidery patterns back to my Etsy Shop. I want to be transparent, as I hope I have always been here, which is why I'm sharing that desire to increase Shop earnings due to hard times here at home, as one of those two reasons.

But then I pushed them aside, deciding that God gives the increase anyway, and so unless I had a real prompting from the Lord, I'd stay away. Many weeks have passed, many human decisions for and against, but then surrender to Jesus and His will be done. There's a testimony of Jesus, day by day in life, that needs to be shared. I still have a massive readership here on the blog every month, over 200,000 - and that's a God-gifted platform to share about Him. 

He also gave me a personal epiphany about what I needed to learn about myself from Him during the unimagined rest these past many months.

For sixteen years I have designed hand embroideries, quite successfully. By the gifting of God the designs came easily, the JOY to create and stitch them overflowed. I was just turning 50 when God gave me that gift, and after years of homeschooling, He was opening a new door for me. It was to be a lot of years of lessons from Him and His Word, and so many opportunties to share them with you in my blog posts...but in June, He had a new lesson for me.

I didn't get it at first. Busyness from clearing out the paperwork and the sewing room, daily jumping in to the garden and setting to work on my garden dreams, not once picking up my camera to take photos along the way, and ever so slowly separating myself from Jenny of Elefantz.

When He had me off my feet and needing to rest limbs for months, I was able to face a few things - such as 'who am I' now that I'm not designing? Was it easy for me to leave the blog because I no longer wanted to design?

Friends, the truth I have discovered is this - I no longer got the same delight in designing because of the pressure to do so. Being that for sixteen years I'd shared a free block of the month, sometimes two or three, EVERY single year since 2009, the dread of needing to keep coming up with ideas for another year was swallowing my peace. My heart wanted to stop, but how? That day when the hard drive crashed to the floor, and I thought everything about Elefantz, all the digital files over so many years, were lost...well, I felt God closing the door. I was shocked, sad, and yet secretly relieved. And He did close the door, but for a reason I never knew until recently. 

(By the way, when my husband arrived home that day and picked up the hard drive with its rattling of little pieces, he thought all was lost too. And then he plugged it in to my computer, and it worked perfectly. That still gives me goosebumps.) 

You see, I had become 'Jenny of Elefantz, an embroidery designer', and I wasn't sure how to be anyone else publicly. Behind the blog I am just Jennifer to my husband, Mum to my kids, and Nana to my grandchildren - and oh how I love that. 

The enforced slowing of the past four and half months from injuries has brought forth great fruit in how I view myself, and now, how I view the blog. Elefantz is the name God gave me in a dream way back in 2003 or 2004, and I thought it would be the name of a bookshop/cafe one day. Ha ha! God was so far ahead of me with His plans. So I cherish the name of my blog! But me, I am just Jennifer, and from today I look forward to writing here again about the things that matter in my life...Faith, Family and Home.

Sorry for the very long post, but I hope you'll drop back soon as things return to the simplicity of homemaking, God, garden, and my family. Allowing God to strip away the expectations I'd attached to myself was worth the injuries and the enforced rest. He led me beside still waters, and He restored my soul. Just call me blessed.

I've often prayed for you, and that won't change. Chat soon...

NOTE: I did pop in once after waving goodbye, in September, to offer some biblical thoughts about a sad event, and to share some of my dear Nana's wisdom, however, I eventually deleted it due to the harsh nature of some comments, an outcome I had never intended, and which served to prompt the removal of that blog post. Elefantz was never intended as a place for anger and hostility; it was, and is again, a place of refreshment, encouragement, faith, crafting and the love of homemaking. God bless!

Goodbye…and thank you xxx

 Today I’d like to tell you about a decision which I made recently, but which is coming to pass a little sooner than I’d first thought. This afternoon, whilst in the midst of a deep clean of our livingroom/dining area, the external hard drive from my computer smashed. I was careless whilst cleaning my desk, which resides in a corner of the living room, and now we shall need to wait until hubby has the time to see if any files can be recovered. The hard drive holds all my Elefantz business files and information, but as it smashed rather badly after hitting the hard tiled floors, this may take a while. When I picked it up, I could hear lots of bits being shaken around. Oops. 

Funnily enough I’m not concerned about how long any recovery of files will take, as I decided a few days ago that it was time to retire from blogging and Instagram. 

I’m longing to spend time in our garden, lots of time, to prepare better garden beds and grow more food than flowers (we already have loads of flowers). As hubby works long hours to provide for us, he can’t do as much as he’d hoped in our garden, but freeing up my time by winding back all aspects of Elefantz Designs will give me the opportunity I crave to really make a go of growing a lot more food in our tropical climate. For a garden to truly thrive, it needs a lot of time and care…something I am happy to give. I also look forward to more time with my loved ones, unencumbered by business commitments.

These photos above were taken two years ago, after I made this little wall hanging for my sewing room. Fortunately I still had them on my iPad, which I’m writing this post from today. It’s very apt when applied to my decision to walk away from blogging…because as much as I’ve loved writing, sharing, and getting to know so many of you over the past 17 years, it’s the right time for me to choose the next path, a path which makes me happy and feel productive once more, in this later season of life. 

The Lord has been my confidante for almost 34 years now, and He has never led me astray. His gentle hand on my shoulder, His soft voice in my ear, His strength and assurance, His divine correction…always leading, in times of joy, sorrow, trial and triumph. He is always there. And I am sure that closing this door after almost two decades is with His blessing. 

My Etsy shop will stay open, as all the hard work of these past years is done and I only need to maintain it for about ten minutes once a week. 

So today it is goodbye dear friends. The blog will stay up, and the free pattern links will stay active for another couple of years. You’re welcome to visit and scroll through my posts anytime you need a bit of encouragement, for especially over the past ten years or so, encouraging you was my hearts desire. 

God bless and keep you always in His perfect care. 🙏🏻

Thanks for being here and sharing this journey with me for so long…you blessed me more than you’ll ever know. 

love,

Jennifer (and dear Blossom) ♥️

Treat yourself, and two UFOs...

 

After so much happening lately within the family, my plan for this week was to catch up on things around home, work in the garden, and go visit a friend. But the best laid plans can easily be changed.

I began to feel unwell last Saturday night, and by Sunday morning I suspected there was more to it than I'd at first thought. By Monday morning I had a full blown virus, and it's been downhill from there every day since. So I've not left the house in a while, and have had to pace my days between shorts bursts of energy, and long hours of feeling blah. 

Kelly-dog has stayed close to my side, perhaps sensing that I'm not on top of life at the moment? 

This morning (Thursday) after doing the basic chores of breakfast, dishes, making the bed, hanging the washing, and feeding our pets, I was preparing to settle down with a herbal tea and watch Olesya's new vlog (a new one is up every Thursday my time), when I thought "Jennifer, why don't you make yourself a nice morning tea? Do something special."  And so I did. 

You see, I never bake scones for myself. I only bake them for family and visitors. With hubby at work six days a week, it has never occured to me that I could just bake them for my own delight. 

As the scones were baking, I went out in the garden to pick fresh herbs to make a pot of tea, and pondered the idea of making a fuss of oneself every so often, with a special morning tea. It just didn't seem right, and yet, why was that so? I still cannot answer that question, but I think many of us need to take a moment some days, to treat ourselves by the simple joy of creating a special meal for one. 

I found my lovely white tray, gave it good dust and wipe down, lay one of my very favourite little welcome mats across the base, and once the scones and tea were ready I headed out to the garden where the view is so lovely now that the petunias and dahlias are coming in to flower. 

Instead of sitting inside to watch Olesya's vlog on the telly, I popped the iPad up on our outside table and spent a lovely relaxing half hour or so watching her and her husband working to create rustic beauty in their remote forest house in Belarus. You can watch her HERE

I chose to finish off the last of the marmalade and the raspberry jam with my scones, and enjoyed two large mugs of delicious lemon balm, mint, tulsi and ginger tea. Kelly-dog thought he needed a treat too, so I had added a plain scone to my plate for him as well. It appears he and I will repeat this morning tea regularly. 

To keep my hands entertained during the past few days, I pulled out a few UFO projects that would be easy to pick up and put down. The first is a crochet blanket I began last year around August, the end of our winter season...but our short winter was even shorter and it was soon far too warm for crochet, so it was put aside for this winter. It's a warm winter so far, but very pleasant, and the evenings are good for crochet as we have all the doors and windows open, allowing the cooler night air to fill the house. 

Now, at this stage I must tell you what happened last night. I was in the kitchen tidying up not long after my husband had arrived home from work. It was dark outside, and I was just using the pantry light as it offers enough vision into the kitchen. Hubby had gone up to the pool to clean it and to check on our cat Sophie. I had packed up the blanket and the balls of yarn, and carefully placed them in a basket on the small table by the couch, ready for me to work on a little later. 

When I finished in the kitchen, I came into the living room and discovered Kelly-dog in his bed with a ball of yarn, and then looked over near the couch to see the basket upended on the floor and my blanket was nowhere in sight. 

Well, I found the blanket wrapped around a tree in the backyard. Yarn was wrapped around plants and strewn across the ground, and my favourite purple crochet hook was missing. Hubby and I searched with spotlights in the dark to find all that was missing, but we were unable to retrieve my crochet hook. half an hour later I had rewound yarn, removed all manner of leaf and twigs from the blanket, and given Kelly a jolly good talking to. 

This morning as I hung the washing on the line I spied a flash of purple under the passionfruit vine, which is so wild it has covered the large red Ixora, and heavy with fruit, lay mostly along the ground. I thanked the Lord because I think that hook has moulded to my hand and is incredibly comfortable, so I was not looking forward to breaking in a new 4mm hook at all. 

The second UFO project I have been working on is the remake of Phyllis May's Kitchen (here is the original), but this time as a quilt and with my own name in the main block instead of Nana's. 

I began these more than two years ago, and after completing eight blocks I put it aside, with the idea of getting back to it a month or two later. Last year I did the embroidery and applique on the final four blocks, but then put it all away again, as I was not very inspired to do the borders at that stage. This week I felt it was the perfect time to do a little each day, and yesterday had completed the final four block borders. 

Throughout this remake I have added vintage lace, vintage buttons, and old doilies to most of the blocks, and am now planning how to display all twelve blocks as a quilt. Below are some of the photos...

I think I shall sew some favoured patchwork blocks to fill out the quilt, making it a better size for our bed. And if I'm honest, this may take a while, just as every step of the project has been thus far. ;-) 

There was also a third UFO I'd begun to complete, but my computer has been acting up today and I can't get the photos loaded, so it can wait till another day. All I did with the third UFO was finish one of the eight blocks, and then trim them all...while I figure out how I shall display them, for this will not be a simple idea and I shall need time. 

I do hope you are all looking after yourselves? Are you in need of a special treat for one? I have decided life is too short to wait for company, or a visit to a friend, before enjoying a lovely morning tea. In these wintry years of life, we should make time to not just be a blessing to others, but a blessing to ourselves, especially, if you're like me, and are blessing others in one way or another almost all the time. I do love to bless others, it comes quite naturally, a gift from the Lord to be sure, but I am realising it's okay to bless myself with a simple and special morning tea on a regular basis as well, for I love morning teas! What about you? 

May the Lord bless each of you with wisdom to understand His Word, so that you may know His good and perfect will in every situation you face. I find that no matter what is happening in our day to day lives, whether in the valleys or on the mountain tops, we need to know our Bible so that we can draw from it all the wisdom, faith, courage, hope and direction we need - and so that we will not be deceived by false teaching, which appears to be rampant now. 

Currently I am working on the next Bible Study to share with you, and as my love is for ministering from the aspect of womanhood and gentle domesticity, it will be about one very special Biblical woman whom some may overlook, but her example is profound and covers many exemplary qualities. I am excited to gift you this soon. 

Hugs,

Living in your season...

The first eight verses of Ecclesiastes chapter 3 describe various, seemingly opposing, seasons that we may face in our lifetime, such as a time to tear and a time to mend, or a time to plant and a time to pluck what we have grown...and so they go on. 

This year, I have come to realise that many things I used to do with ease, now require much more strength, time and energy - yet I have still been pushing myself to do them. This week I was needed to care for my grandchildren (and their new puppy) a few times, and it is such an enjoyable time for all of us when they are here with me for the day. I prepare food, set up activities, and give them my full attention until it is time for mummy to come and pick them up. The children shower me with laughter, love and hugs, and always look forward to our next visit. I feel so blessed to be their Nana.

There was a time when I could visit with them almost every day and still be fresh and energetic, but the time is passing, and over the past year or so, I have needed more recovery time after their visits. 

Another thing which is noticeable is recovery time being needed after working in the garden, deep cleaning the home, or spending a day in the kitchen preparing meals in advance and baking bread. 

Growing up, I watched my Nana and Pop working hard each day - Pop to provide for us, and Nana to create a tiny comfortable home with nourishing meals to fill our bellies - but I also watched them relax at the end of the day, and especially on Sundays. When the work was done, it was done. Nana did not write herself a list of things to do the next day, or concern herself with what the morrow would bring. Instead, when the dishes were done and her apron was hanging behind the kitchen door, she would sit with Pop and I to play a game, or drink iced cordial on the front steps while we children in the street played and the neighbours walked to and fro to chat before the sun set. 

The rhythm of their life was slow and steady, rarely changing, and to my young mind it was a life of surety, simplicity and delight. Nana was just 51 when she and Pop became my parents, a time in life when her child-rearing years were well behind her, but neither of them shied away from the responsibility of becoming 'parents' to their 3yo granddaughter who had just lost her mummy. 

I can look back now and see that they were quite intentional about drawing me in to their slow-paced quiet life, and perhaps its why I still prefer peace and quiet rather than excitement and people and noise. By the time I was a teenager Nana was 62 and Pop had retired. Their lives slowed more, and again, I was drawn in to that precious quiet, that wonderful day to day rhythm of doing what they'd always done, even though by now both of them had dropped a few pastimes by the wayside. I realise now that they were adjusting their life to what they could still do, rather than pushing themselves to do what they'd always done before. 

And that's what the Lord spoke into my thoughts this past week, after I had struggled to get as much done as possible during the in-between days of having the grandchildren. 

I heard that still small voice say, "It's time for you to do what you can, but lay aside what you now cannot. This season of growing older is a time to let go of old expectations, and be content with the things you are still able to do."

You know, I was speechless when I heard that. 

It was on my list to write two blog posts this week, but time was not provided to do so. Instead, I was blessed to spend time with family, and be 'all there' with them. You cannot put a high enough value on that, can you. 

Today my husband had a rostered day off work, and we worked side by side in the garden...such a treat. He prepared a new raised garden bed for growing sweet potatoes, at my request, and I was able to replant many of our older bushes into areas where they can thrive all year (they were all in the winter shade and quite unhappy). I also planted a new bareroot rose, a red one called Oklahoma, and now all the roses are in the dry area of the front yard where they get a lot of the winter sun. Some have already come alive after pruning, but the new one, and another that needed a hard prune, will begin to sprout new leaves and stems soon. We're both tired now, but thoroughly happy we spent the day in our garden.

Last night I made a chocolate mousse pie from a recipe in the Blue Zones Cookbook, and it is delicious, so we enjoyed that after a lunch of cornbread (another recipe from the same cookbook) and black bean chilli. 

The recipe calls for a graham cracker crust, but we do not have them in Australia so I made a pie crust using Arnott's Granita biscuits instead. I also make my own almond milk so used that and added some homemade vanilla extract. My husband was pleasantly surprised by the lack of sweetness in the pie, but mostly impressed that it was made with tofu. I used a 70% cocoa chocolate (180g) instead of chocolate chips, and will use an 80% cocoa chocolate next time for even less sweetness as we love bitter dark chocolate. 

Charlie, with the family's new puppy, Tucker. He's 10 weeks old, and already best friends with their older pug, Barney. Our own Kelly-dog simply adores him too, but trying to get a photo of the two of them playing was impossible as they never stood still. ;-) All three dogs love playing together so we make regular playdates at Blossom's now. This week was the first time Tucker had come to visit us...

Back to these changing life seasons...I choose to live in the rhythm of this season of life, not with regret or bitterness about what cannot be done, or my physical/health restrictions, but with gentle delight about embracing the things I still enjoy and can still do, as long as I can. 

I pray that whatever season you are in, you are finding delight in all you can do, and that if you're struggling to achieve more, or attain higher expectations of yourself, that you lower the bar to where you are today, to the season you are now in, and that in doing so, a weight lifts from your mind and you see delight in all you can still do, and perhaps just live a little slower to enjoy the journey. 

May God bless you, refresh you, open your heart to hear His still small voice, and bring His peace to rest in your life. 

Bless you heaps,

Block 6 The Sewing Room, and a trip to Lucinda...

 

I'm sure you'll agree that you cannot have a sewing room without fabric, and whether that be a small amount, or a large stash, it's what we rely on to sew garments, quilts, gifts, useful things for the home, and also for mending. 

I chose to feature eight different fabrics (perfect for scraps!) and sew them together in two rows of four. The squares were cut to 1.5", and after sewing together with a 1/4" seam, and turning the outer border under by a 1/4" before appliqueing to the background fabric, I had myself a cute little 2" x 4" "quilt". 

When I completed the hand embroidery, I hand quilted the little appliqued quilt with small running stitches. I hope you enjoy making this block and using up your own scraps. :-) 

Use the link below to download the free pattern...

DOWNLOAD block 6 of The Sewing Room

If you missed the first five blocks in this nine-month BOM, you will find them HERE

Today we went for a drive north to Lucinda, a beautiful spot on the water, and with a great fish shop. The weather is glorious for the first day of winter, 27C (81F), which is what it will be most of winter. It's so nice not to need air conditioning for a few months, and also a blessing to be able to sit outside and not dissolve in a pool of perspiration. 

We had grilled coral trout (our favourite fish) and salad, overlooking the Lucinda Bulk Sugar Terminal. Kelly was at our feet, waiting for titbits of fish to come his way (and he did indeed enjoy our leftovers!). 

The Terminal is the longest in the southern hemisphere at 5.76 klm long (almost 3.5 miles) and has been called an engineering masterpiece because it follows the curvature of the earth. 

The terminal allows Lucinda to handle large bulk sugar ships of up to 50,000 tonnes, and around 20 ships every year export from here to markets all over the world. In case I've not mentioned it before, we live in the midst of the 'sugar cane capital' of Australia, and right now many fields of cane are ripe for harvest. The sugar crush begins in June and finishes in December. During the crush, when you drive north or south of our town, you will see cane trains moving across the highway, carrying cut cane from the farms to the sugar mills (of which there are many). The smell of molasses fills the air, and the steam rising from the mill looks like thick smoky tornadoes. It's an amazing sight and one we love to watch on our Sunday drives. When the crush begins I'll take some pics and show you. 

As lovely as the beach is at Lucinda, you cannot swim there due to crocodiles. One day we were there enjoying lunch and watched a crocodile enjoying the water, so we take the warning signs along the beach very seriously. We come here for a nice fish and salad lunch, not to be his lunch. ;-)

Now that its June many of the mango trees are in bloom, which means its only 4-5 months until mango season again - something we all love in our family. Christmas just wouldn't be the same without fresh mangoes. I plan to make lots of mango chutney and mango pickles in February as the season winds down.

Where we live there are also loads of strangler figs, and though the host tree beneath eventually rots and dies, these monstrous figs are incredibly beautiful, and can live for hundreds of years.

I hope you are having a relaxing weekend, wherever you are. We did some gardening when we arrived home in the early afternoon, and I roasted a chicken for meals during the week. I also tried something new - roast a sweet potato, then scoop out the flesh and mash it with coconut milk, salt and pepper. WOW!!! It's delicious...and I had to hold back from sampling the lot as its a side dish for dinner tonight. 

God bless you dear ones, and I shall be back during the week to chat about homemaking and gentle domesticity...

Bless you heaps,