Making our own...

 

TEA CUP BLESSING:

This is my new tea cup and saucer set. Last post I spoke of how I'd seen a mini ironing board at the op-shop a month previous, and regretted not buying it, so I'd prayed and asked the Lord to hold it there for me, or have another one at the shop next time I visited...and a month later, there it was waiting for me. 

Well, when I finally bought that little ironing board I saw this beautiful tea cup and saucer, and thought to myself, "Now that's a gift I'd love, exactly the set I'd choose for myself with that wee birdie and flowers." But I did not think it in my budget so I left it there and hoped someone else would enjoy it. 

Yesterday I had some errands to run, and popped into that op-shop to see if I could find a cheap cotton sheet to use for sewing up a new thin summer blanket for the Kelly-dog's bed. (He loves to wrap himself in a blanket at night and is still using the polar fleece blankie from winter, though I can see he's kicking it off before waking up each morning as its very warm and humid here this spring) Praise God, I did find a lovely blue pinstripe sheet and now that its been washed and sun-dried I can begin sewing it into a doggy blanket later today. I was so happy with that sheet, a good cotton one, barely ever used, and perfect for a boy-dog's bed, but then as I walked towards the counter to pay there was that same cup and saucer on a shelf nearby. If my heart could smile, it would have been a mile wide! After thanking the Lord I purchased it, for less than half the price it had been originally. What a blessing! I am reminded yet again, to pray over everything, even small insignificant things, and then leave it with God. Have you experienced a simple yet unexpected blessing lately? 

SASHIKO Question asked:

This comment was left on a previous blog post recently so I thought I'd answer today in case there's more of you with a similar desire to dabble with sashiko but not knowing where to start? 

"I love your work with the sashiko sewing. It is so beautiful that I was wondering what your source is for the patterns and the fabric with grids, etc. I would really like to get into that and I am not sure where to go for the supplies., maybe online? Thank you so much, Devonna"

My first suggestion is to visit your local library and borrow some books on sashiko. That's how I began. There are numerous books which can help with learning the basics, offering templates to trace, or grid pages you can photocopy. I branched out fairly quickly to Boro as well and made over a dress into a Boro top, something I will do again one day, but sashiko is part of my stitching journey now and I find it very soothing, gentle and satisfying. 

There were two books at the library which I borrowed a few times, and eventually bought my own copies, but one was more about boro and darning stitch, and that's not really for beginners, however, the other is Essential Sashiko: A Dictionary of the 92 Most Popular Patterns by Boutique-Sha, which includes 11 easy projects as well. In fact I loved that this book has grid sheets in the back to photocopy and last week I used a sheet to draw up the wickerwork design...

Then I traced it onto some repurposed pink linen fabric (which had once been part of a blouse), and chose the sashiko thread colour to match the centre of the flowers in this older Tilda print fabric.

I traced the design onto the linen with a heat erasable pen, after fusing some very thin stabiliser behind it. Linen can be quite fine so I find some stabiliser is important when employing any kind of hand embroidery to it. The fusible stabiliser I use is Staflex 3045, which is as thin as tissue paper and makes a world of difference when hand stitching. 

I have not finished a project from the completed Wickerwork block yet, but it will be done soon and I'll share it here for you to see. 

Something new for me was to buy a set of sashiko stencils, and I got these from Temu. There's 24 different sashiko templates to trace from and in keeping with my "sewing with purpose" mindset, I set about using the #1 template, which was a hexagon shape, and made a pouch to house the complete set. 

I featured the completed hexagon on the front of the pouch, and used press-studs as the closure. The templates now have a home, and I can find them easily. Actually, one thing I am enjoying about sewing with purpose, is making 'homes' for various sewing supplies. "A place for everything and everything in its place" as Nana used to say. 

The blue fabric background for the sashiko block is cotton that I dyed last year, and the thread is a DMC Perle 8 which matched the pouch fabric nicely. The sweet floral pouch fabric is a sturdy linen also bought on Temu, and the lining is made from the remnants of an old linen sheet. 

(I need to say that the few sewing items I have bought from Temu this year have not just been cheap, but they have all been excellent quality. I read all the reviews first of course, before adding them to my cart.)

Other good books I've borrowed from the library for sashiko are these. I'll include the Amazon Australia links so you can see the covers (I am not an affiliate, and just sharing links so you can 'see' the books)

The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook by Susan Briscoe

Simply Sashiko by Nihon Vogue

Sashiko Color by Boutique-Sha

Sashiko 365 by Susan Briscoe

MAKING HEALTHY CAPSULES:

For about the past 26 years, I have studied many various aspects of health, with the focus on natural ways to optimise my family's personal health through diet and supplements, as well as natural skin care and homecare products I could make myself.

Hubby and I have been taking turmeric/pepper capsules for many years, but over the past twelve months we have noticed the cost of these have gone through the roof and for a while we just didn't buy any. We also eat fresh ginger everyday - some from our garden, but in the off-season we buy it instead. I dehydrate much of our home-grown ginger for herbal teas, because that way we have it on hand for years. (I'd need to have an extra 1/4 acre just for growing ginger if I was to make my own ground ginger, so that's not an option)

A few months back I watched a woman on Youtube making her own capsules. She had dried herbs from her garden, ground them up and filled empty gelatine capsules, then given them as gifts...but it made me think about turmeric and I went on a little journey to find out more. Along the way I discovered that ground ginger is far more potent and beneficial than fresh, so with my new found knowledge I purchased a capsule making kit, 500 'slow release' empty capsules, and a kilo each of organic ground turmeric, ground ginger, and whole black peppercorns (which I grind myself as needed). This past weekend I made 200 turmeric/black pepper capsules, and 100 ginger capsules. 

I thought this would all be difficult, but as it turned out, I simply followed the photo tutorial inside the kit, and found it all quite easy indeed. 

We take the a ginger capsule and a turmeric capsule in the mornings with our other supplements, and I take another turmeric capsule at night. 

THIS is the capsule filling machine I bought, and THESE are the gelatine capsules. Again, these are links to show you what bought as I am not an affiliate. 

The health benefits for ginger and turmeric w/pepper are vast and we are thrilled to have found a more economic way to make our own supplements from ingredients we chose ourselves. :-)

OTHER THINGS:

I am baking one loaf of sour dough per week because if I bake more we eat more! Having that Monday 'prepare' and Tuesday 'bake' routine is good, just like my 'write a blog post' every Thursday routine is good. Routines are my favourite thing when it comes to homemaking, and just as needful as when we followed a routine through those eleven years of homeschooling. I am a girl who has always thrived in a routine, and I wonder if that's natural or whether it came from growing up with Nana? Her routine appeared so natural because everyday flowed seemlessly in our tiny flat, but I wish I'd asked about it when I had the chance (she passed away when I was 23 and I still had so much to glean from her). Was it self-dsicipline, or just the everyday life of a happy and calm woman who took pride in her little home? I think perhaps the latter, for my darling Nana smiled and laughed a lot. :-)

News of Blossom and Ross - it's time for the rental home they are in to be sold and at the 11th hour, our Father God has provided for them a new home, one that has more to offer than the previous one. It's still near the beach, and in the same suburb, so they're the same distance from us (1/2 hour drive north)as before, but what a blessing! They move on the 24th of this month so we ask that you would pray for no rain that day, and a smooth transfer from one house to the other. What a wonderful answer to prayer!

NEXT WEEK...

I have an idea, which I shall share with you next week. Something you may like to stitch for Christmas gifting. I suggested this to Blossom for the two girls, Cully May and Rafaella, and she shouted YES into the phone with such enthusiasm that I thought it might be a pattern to share here. Please pray the Lord adds His own creative touch to this idea, and that it may glorify Him. May His own heart smile...

God bless precious ones!

Until next time,

PS: My Etsy Shop is always open, so please drop by if you are in the mood for something new to stitch.

CLICK HERE

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With a purpose in mind...

One of the channels I watch regularly on YouTube is Kiko Sabi. She is a Canadian wife to a Japanese husband, and is quite prolific in the variety of handcrafts she carefully learns, practices, and then creates with.

Initially I found her interesting to watch each Sunday afternoon, and enjoyed the silent 30ish minute videos with gentle music and subtitles. She was a beginner to many crafts and each week there was something new to be seen as she began making various items, often with a Japanese theme or technique. 

But there was something I enjoyed even more, especially now, two years later. It was the purpose she had for each item made. Rarely was it whimsy, though in the beginning there were practice pieces, but over the past year and a half Kiko has had a very clear purpose for all the things she makes - whether that be spinning yarn , knitting, crochet, embroidery, boro, sashiko, darning, sewing her own clothes etc. 

I have been pondering her way of thinking for a month or two, and it's changed the way I plan and create. Looking back, especially those first few years before I started designing, when I was teaching myself to embroider and quilt, I saw something lovely and immediately made it. It really did not matter whether it had a place in our home or a purpose, because I just loved the various aspects of sewing and had a project (or five) on the go all the time. Some were given to family and friends as gifts, some were placed around the house, and some were stored away in large plastic tubs because I did not know what to do with them, or were donated. After a while it became clear that other people like me were doing this as well, as though it were a natural part of the sewing/quilting culture in that time. 

Now I want what I make to have a purpose. Just having this mindset has allowed me to slow down and enjoy the sewing/stitching process more than I ever did, because I no longer feel the need to make so many of the lovely quilts or projects I see online or in books/magazines (and I no longer design 4-6 hand embroidery patterns a month for a living).

Back at the end of 2018 God directed me to "use what you already have" and eight years later this is the first thing that comes to mind when I'm considering what to cook, or sew, or plant, or create with. Lately I've been going a bit further and looking at ways to keep using what I have by repairing or mending or altering those items. My clothes have become a good avenue for living out this habit, and many dresses, linen pants and nightgowns are now mended and back 'in service' again - but I also spent an afternoon cutting up the items that are too worn and discarding the fabric which is unusable, whilst saving the good sections of fabric for future use. 

Now with Kiko's philosophy, and creating purposefully at the forefront of my mind, I began to look around our home to see what was actually needed. That tiny red rice bag I made last month was sewn from scrap fabrics (vintage linen I bought years ago mostly) and my own sketchings for the embroidery. Along with the tiny pinushion and needlebook made the following week, this item is in use every single day now. It holds all I need for my evening embroidery, looks lovely, is small, taught me how to make a rice bag, and makes me smile!

This past week I made another three purposeful projects. The rice bag pictured above, and below, came about because I had been working on some sashiko embroidery blocks, learning the rice flower stitch, and making use of some reclaimed blue cotton dress fabric. Initially I'd considered making this larger rice bag for holding yarn, but in my sewing room, something that bugs me is the foot pedal and power cord for my sewing machine. I wind them both together and push them loosely into the throat space of the machine to keep them out of the way - but they do not have an actual place to be stored.

So over the past few days I made a larger rice bag with sashiko on four sides, fabrics cut from two old dresses, and smaller offcuts of quilt wadding. Each square was 7.5". This now houses my foot pedal and power cord beautifully. 

(This is the outside before sewing the sides together. The lining is the same, also made from five equal measure squares)

Last week I burned my hand getting a tray out of the oven, because silly me used a damp tea towel! I had some small leftover pieces of Insulbrite in the cupboard and decided to purposefully sew some pot holders, and I chose a design which had caught my eye over ten years ago. The pattern was a free one by Amy Sinibaldi of Nana Company, and though her old blog is no longer around, she has republished this free tutorial on her new webpage HERE

These are the two I made on Saturday afternoon. Two layers of Insulbrite in the base (for extra heat protection) and one layer of cotton quilt wadding in the top. The fabrics are by Lori Holt and mostly leftovers from a quilt project (still not sewn together years later...oh dear). These are actually quite easy to make, which surprised me, and would make excellent useful gifts with Christmas just a few months away. I intend making more and gifting some to my daughters. 

Something else I did this past week was to makeover a mini ironing board found at the opshop for $5. Cully May and I saw two of them there a month ago, in very dirty and tatty condition, but I had not stopped thinking about them since, regretting not getting one at the time because I currently use a piece of wood with Insulbrite and fabric wrapped around it. So I prayed and asked the Lord to hold one for me until I could get back to the shop, or for another to be donated before I arrived there.

On Tuesday I went back to the shop and could not see them, so I went for a short wander around anyhow. And there it was, hidden behind a stand of large framed pictures, but I could not mistake the horrible tattered fabric that poked out from behind them. 

Once home I threw away the old cover and removed the thin foam which was glued to the wire top, gave it a jolly good clean and got to work on giving it purpose once more. 

I traced the ironing board shape onto the old Insulbrite (previously wrapped around my piece of wood) and was able to get two pieces. Yay! Then I cut a wider piece of scrap cotton quilt wadding, and some sturdy cotton fabric for the outer cover. 

What a blessing! Just $5 for the donated mini ironing board, and everything else was reused from what was already in my sewing room. 

Such a productive week, and all projects had real purpose. :-)

I did also make time for baking a fresh loaf of sourdough, which was enjoyed with all we had left of the apricot jam I made last season. Soon the apricots will be back, hopefully before Christmas, and I'll be able to restock the pantry with another year's worth of delicious apricot jam - though I do wonder if this is in fact apricot conserve because I use whole fruits (halved) in my jam. I absolutely love getting those big bits of apricot when I have it on bread or toast!

There's more purposeful projects on my list now, and my heart is very excited about that. In fact, it seems that the Lord has opened my eyes to 'see' what I've missed by too often being swept away and tempted by other things that are lovely to the eye, but not particuarly of any great use. 

Message to self - "Useful projects can be beautiful too you know, Jennifer".

God bless dear ones, and please let me know if you've had similar thoughts of being more purposeful in what you make. Have you discovered projects that make a difference in your home, or in your life? Useful and purposeful gifts to make? What are they?? 

Much love!!

Until next time,

PS: My Etsy Shop is always open, so please drop by if you are in the mood for something new to stitch.

CLICK HERE

  

 

The Book Reminder Challenge and boys to men...

 I've had an idea on my mind for months, something I wanted to share with you but was waiting for all my ducks to be in a row...and of course, well you know yourself, that's something very rare in life. So this week I decided to just forge forward because for me, this challenge needed to begin, sooner rather than later. 

I love books. Always have. As an only child my constant companion, other than Nana and Pop and Sox our dog, was books. Our library was my second favourite place to visit (first was the beach) and I would spend ages in there reading or browsing through books on many different subjects, before gathering an armload to take home. I occasionally wonder if that's what was most appealing about homeschooling? We followed the Charlotte Mason method and if you know anything about that you'll be quite aware it is wonderfully literature based, all good literature, with no twaddle. Blossom developed a lifelong love for good books during those years and created her own home library, which is wonderful for her homeschooled trio, though the kids still love visiting their local library and filling library bags to bring home. 

But I digress...

Having books on hand, in my lovely solid bookcases, is quite a joy. It means I can never be bored. I do not have modern fiction, but have a good selection of novels written by Agatha Christie, Tolkien, Austen, and Laura Ingalls Wilder which are enjoyed seasonally. Mostly I have a lot of books on faith, gardening, natural health, crafts (knitting, embroidery, quilting, crochet, beading, dressmaking and Japanese sewing), homemaking, self sufficiency, and cooking. We also own a lot of Bibles. 

 But what has been on my mind these past months is this - do I revisit my books on a regular basis? Do I take them off the shelf to reacquaint myself with them? If I were to read/browse through one or two each week, would I find them still worth keeping or would I discover some are simply shelf-fillers with a nice cover and not useful or purposeful to me anymore? 

Have you ever wondered such a thing?

Today I have begun my own 3-month challenge. Each week I will read or browse through at least two books, and decide whether to keep them or donate/sell them. These are the first two books I'll be sitting with in the next few days, alongside a lovely pot of tea and a bikkie or two...

I may go through more than two each week, but my base plan is to do at least two each week as there's no pressure in that. If there's still a lot to consider at the start of 2027 then this habit shall continue until all books have been interviewed for suitability moving forward. ;-) Would you like to join me?? Are you able to choose two books and go through them with an afternoon cuppa or a cool drink in the shade of the garden, or in a cosy chair each evening? 

I've begun with books not visited in the past year or two. There are books on my shelves which are visited on a regular basis so I already know they have permanent residency and shall stay, but the ones rarely visited (and there are many) shall be my focus.

I'd love to hear your own thoughts or experiences with an abundance of books and whether there came a time to gather some close, whilst saying farewell to others?

Last week I showed you my first practice of a decorative Japanese darning/weaving design, a rectangle made with two yarns, red and white. After that I tried a circle, using a 4ply cotton yarn of variegated peach/orange colours, following the directions in the book I'd purchased. This was not as easy as the rectangle, but I definitely liked it better, so I made another using Cosmo variegated embroidery thread (I used 3 strands) but chose the colour to match a preloved linen fabric I'd cut from an old dress. 

The fabric I stitched on is also from a pre-loved dress, which I hand dyed from cream to blue a while back. I was not sure how I'd use the green darned/woven circle, and wasn't happy with its seemingly pointed sides (well, not seemingly because they ARE slightly pointed), so I put it aside and moved on to another idea for using both the linen dress fabric and the blue fabric with some sashiko. 

I really love the little red and white rice bag and sewing set that I made last month (HERE) and use it daily, so I thought a larger rice bag would be wonderful for storing yarn when I'm knitting or doing a spot of crochet. 

Just as the red and white rice bag has embroideries on the sides, I wanted to do something similar, but this time with sashiko. 

So far I have stitched two identical blocks with the Rice Flower stitch, and I used a Perle 12 thread in a similar green to that of the linen fabric. I'll choose another sashiko design to stitch the remaining two sides over the weekend, but right now I am working on this cross-back apron. 

It's the same apron as the two I showed HERE when I removed the decorative tag that was already on them and made my own (you can see what I mean by the tag on the apron above). I will still remove the tag from this pink apron, but right now I'm stitching a sashiko design traced from a book purchased as a digital download from Etsy. I chose the cat because just as my husband is a dog-lover (we have Kelly aged 2½), I am a cat-lover (Sophie aged 16 years). I'm using 3 strands of another Cosmo variegated skein for this embroidery.

Another sewing project this past week was to re-hem two old nightgowns, and to cut up an old apron that has worn out in a few places (I have an apron on every day and they all eventually wear away). With the good remaining fabric I sewed a 12" mat for under the white fruit bowl which sits on our kitchen bench top. The backing is cream linen and then a thin wadding was fused behind the tulip fabric on top before I completed the project with hand quilted diagonal lines. I simply love hand quilting things like this as it adds such a homely finish. Isn't that a sweet word - homely...

THANK YOU...

How lovely that some of you dear girls left messages of encouragement for Blossom and Ross after last week's blog post. They thank you from the bottom of their hearts, as do I. 

One of the core homeschool skills the grandchildren are learning from their parents during this rather different season of life, is the value of caring for the home, and being a participant in the tasks required to look after it. Charlie David is just 5 years old, but Ross has always made sure that he is teaching Charlie how to one day grow into a good man, husband and father. It's something he himself missed out on growing up, so this has been important to him fathering a son of his own. 

Together they take care of not just things inside the house (along with Blossom and the girls), but the garden outside, which for the two of them is real men time. :-)

Charlie David now mows the grass on his own, under Ross's supervision, while Ross attends to the edges and garden beds. We are so proud of Charlie David!

I had a conversation recently with a lady we know, a woman not at all interested in God, or Christianity. In fact she says it opposes all her own beliefs. Anyhow, I often make things for her (she is elderly and lives alone) and this particular day I was delivering jam because she loves my jam and often requests some when she knows I'm cooking up a batch. 

We chatted for about 45 minutes and then I returned home. She has always pointed out to my husband "Jennifer is a glass half-full person all the time. She always makes me smile!" and I reflected on this because she said it again while we were talking. You see, it's rare to hear anything positive from her, and she will even describe herself as glass half-empty, and this gave me cause to consider just how important it is to always look for positive aspects in life and not to get pulled down into negativity, gossip, harshness, resentlfulness or criticism. 

I'm not saying this is easy, especially if you are someone who struggles with a less than positive attitude to life, but what a testimony to the Lord it is when others are lifted and encouraged by our words and behaviour, and not left feeling hurt or even more negative than before. It's true that I am a naturally happy person, something my husband marvels at (especially given the intense physical pain of the past 15 months - though this has really improved over past weeks thank the Lord) but that happiness was borne of some very deep sorrows. When I placed my life in Jesus' care 35 years ago, He changed me little by little, and I learned to accept the sorrows and the struggles and the losses, because I had been given something so much more than what I'd lost. I was given life in and with Jesus Christ. 

Our friend said "Christianity works for you and Mark, but it's not my cup of tea" - and yet when she has troubles, she likes that I pray for her, she likes that my husband can fix things for her, and she likes that she can trust us implicitly.

We plant the seeds of Christ in her life by how we conduct ourselves, how we speak, and how visibly she herself positively views our life as followers of Jesus. We pray God will reach her with Truth before her eyes close on this world, but in the meantime we must still work on being who He needs us to be, and giving thanks for His forgiveness every time we fail (which we do!). 

Friends, I pray that you are finding good things each day to cheer your heart and the lives of others. May goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life, and may you dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 

Much love!!

Until next time,

PS: My Etsy Shop is always open, so please drop by if you are in the mood for something new to stitch.

CLICK HERE

 

Family, pugs, garden harvest, and sewing...

 

CROSS STITCH - another finish

I am genuinely loving my return to cross-stitch this year. Before I ever taught myself to hand embroider and design, I used to do cross-stitch, and taught all of my children to cross-stitch as well. My eldest girl, Kezzie, has done the most beautiful pieces, and gifts them on special occasions. 

You previously saw the large strawberry design I completed in July, and here's the one I completed in August...gorgeous folk art style ducks. 

I have decided to finish the ducks as a cushion cover for our bed. The colours and design are perfect for this spring and on into summer. Still deciding on the fabric for the borders, but over coming days I intend going through what I have on hand and choosing from them. 

Now I am working on another cross-stitch, and this one will hang in a hoop when it's completed. The rabbit is surrounded by a blueberry wreath, and I think it will be lovely hanging in the living room...or perhaps the bedroom... we shall see when its done. ;-)

GRANDCHILDREN & PUGS

Yesterday I headed off to spend the morning with my grandchildren and Ross. Blossom is working as a house cleaner these days, and as Ross has been unemployed since last November, he is the one now homeschooling the children. Both Ross and Blossom are amazing parents, and an amazing couple, who put God and family above all else, so they accept the blessings and challenges of life with grace, and do what they can to care for their three cherubs, working with whatever season the Lord has them in. 

Cully May, Rafaella and Charlie David, as well as the two pugs - Barney and Tucker - cover me with hugs and kisses, and we have the best time together! 

Ross has a chess table set up all the time for the kids because they love to play, even 5yo Charlie David has become a chess addict!

You can see the cat poles in the background above, but I rarely see the two cats - Kiki and Howl. They sleep all day in hidden places, then come out to play all night. The pugs and the cats get along wonderfully, which is nice because our 2½ yo dachshund Kelly hates our 16yo Sophie cat and goes after her. It has been very sad having to keep Sophie up the back in the pool enclosure, though we have made it into a safe and comfy sanctuary for her, and spend time every day with her for long cuddles and brushing her fur. 

Cully May is learning French now, and this has made me think it could be time for me to brush up on my high school French so we can have conversations...though to be honest, I only did one year and wasn't all that good at it. Ha ha! Perhaps she can teach me in time?

GARDEN 

We pulled the remaining carrots last weekend, along with the white sweet potatoes. The carrots are delicious and I'm finding ways to use them, other than just roasting or boiling. Hubby loves my pickled carrots, and I will make a carrot cake for Rafaella before I see her again next week, but I was thinking I'd try fermenting some as well. Have you fermented carrots before? Any tips??

We had rain yesterday afternoon and into the night, our first rain in six months. Oh it was glorious!! Apart from us getting a break from all the watering each day, this gave all our trees a deep soak, and may help the grass come back to life. Currently I stand on hard dry dirt whilst hanging the washing, although Kelly thinks its great and digs holes all over the place which I have to mindful of as one unforseen foot fall into a hole sets my leg and knee recovery back many weeks. 

SUNDAY DRIVE

Last Sunday we went for a drive along the coastal side of Crystal Creek...

It was a glorious day, not too hot and very peaceful. The creek, though I do think of it as a river because it's very wide as it nears the ocean, is a popular spot for locals and tourists alike. On the mountain side there are waterholes where many come to swim. On the coastal side there's a track we drive along that takes us past many tiny shacks, privately owned for many decades, where the owners come for weekends to fish and relax. 

We drove until we found the one spot open to the public where they can access the beach. We didn't go walking there as I am not stable enough to walk on sand yet, but there were a number of tents and BBQs set up where people had stayed the night. We get a lot of backpackers in our part of the country, and they know where the free camping areas are so as we drive around we see a lot of them in tents or sleeping in the back of cheap old vans they buy on arrival in Australia. 

You can just see the ocean in the distance as we turned off the track to go home. Such a beautiful day. 

SOCKS 

I wrote recently about learning new things, and I've been going through my list of skills to learn, things to do, or things to make, deciding which one to do next. One of those things was the rice bag I shared back HERE and HERE, and another thing, a skill actually, is to knit socks. I asked Lin about 'where to start' as she is a prolific and very skilled sock knitter, and she suggested beginning with the free beginner pattern from Christine at Winwick Mum in the UK. So I have that downloaded and printed up, and am just deciding on the yarn to use (gosh, I nearly died when I saw the price of sock yarn online - Australian prices are around $40 a skein). I have plenty of the cheap 4ply merino yarn I bought from Temu, which I used to knit fingerless gloves for Blossom and the grandkids this past autumn, and think I may use that as my practice socks. Apparently socks wear better if there's nylon mixed with wool, but my yarn is 100% merino wool. Anyhow, using what I already have is the best option, especially when learning something new.

If you'd like to see Lin's socks, just go HERE to visit her blog and scroll through. So many gorgeous pairs! Thanks for the help Lin. :-)

FINALLY, another Japanese sewing skill to learn...

I thoroughly enjoy stitching the occasional Japanese hand embroidery patterns by Yumiko Higuchi and Yula. I also enjoy repurposing old clothes into Boro style tops, and sewing Sashiko blocks. But recently I came across something I'd not seen before - mosaic darning. This began with a talented young woman, Tomomi Mimura, who elevated the basic art of darning into something beautiful and artistic. 

This was to become a new skill for me, and once I'd purchased a PDF copy of her book, Darning Embroidery, I could not wait to begin working on her practice samples. The book is in Japanese, but there are photos throughout, and if you already hand embroider, as I do, it's easy to figure out. 

The hardcover cost was too high for me, but I have purchased a number of great Japanese embroidery books from KaylieBooks for around $6 -7 USD (currently $10.20 AUD) and that's how I bought this one.

The first practice sample was completed today, and the photo tutorial was excellent.

Fortunately I had linen, 4ply cotton yarn and a darning needle on hand to use. The first sample is a square darned with two colours, and I chose red and white. 

Normally I never use an emrboidery hoop for anything, but as this is weaved across the fabric and hardly ever goes through to the back, I prepared a small hoop, drew a 2" square with a Frxion pen, and began. 

I LOVE the feel of texture in embroidery and patchwork (a reason I love to hand quilt), and this has a beautiful texture. 

This is the back once the piece is finished.

I've begun the second sample, a circle that is not made as easily as the square, and I chose a thicker yarn, but I'll show you that one next time. In the meantime, it's such fun to be cross-stitching, and darning, each day. Each is slow, each is pretty, and each one is incredibly peaceful to work on. 

What are you working on that gives you a sense of peace and joy? 

As I was doing that square darning sample my mind kept going back to childhood, and the evenings when Nana would be darning Pop's thick woollen socks, the ones she had knitted to keep his feet warm on cold nights down at the wharf where he unloaded cargo from large ships. 

As I progress with the darning, it will become a mosaic style and I cannot wait to do that and show you. 

In Closing...

I had decided not to share about the unexpected switch from Ross to Blossom as the breadwinner when it began about five months ago. It felt strange to them, as it did to her dad and I, and we all questioned God. But with so many jobs applied for, Ross still had not been successful, and a friend of the family offered Blossom some work in their house cleaning business so she accepted. It turns out Blossom is their best employee, and she loves cleaning...though she spends all her non-work time with Ross and the children as they are the lights in her life. She knows this is for a season, and accepts that in God's perfect timing things will change. 

From Ross's perspective, this was a huge life shock, but also an unexpected blessing. He is a natural teacher, enthusiastic about encouraging each child's individual skills and interests, and over time has discovered what it really means to be there for your children, to listen and hear what they say, to be a more intuitive husband and able to use his own skillsets to add routine and order and fun to each day. He is currently working at night on building a business of his own online, but his first priority is Blossom and the children. He is Blossom's greatest supporter and is so very proud of her for stepping out and trusting God in their current season of life. 

My husband and I are VERY proud of our daughter and son-in-law, and we know God has used their situation to teach us some things as well. 

In our mind's eye, we plan our way and visualise how it will turn out if we do this, or that. We offer it to the Lord, and if you're like our family, we ask Him to close any door we should not walk through, and swing wide the doors He would have us proceed through. None of us expected that Bloss would do what she is now doing for her family. But God knew, and it is God alone who has strengthened her and carried through. It is God alone who has used this time with Ross to bless their family in ways there had been no opportunity for in the past. God carries them both. God leads them both. And God will change things in His perfect timing, if it be His will. 

I have been reminded to step aside and let God be GOD in every way. All through the Bible He surprises us with the unexpected, and He is the same God today as He was thousands of years ago. Have you needed a reminder to step aside, or to let go of your own ways in order for God to have His way?

(pattern duo here in shop)

Have a lovely week ahead my friends. Posting on Thursdays seem to work best for me, and I'll send out a weekly or fortnightly newsletter as well on that day. You can sign up for the free newsletter HERE, and that way you won't ever miss a blog post. 

Much love!!

Until next time,

PS: My Etsy Shop is always open, so please drop by if you are in the mood for something new to stitch.

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