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.

CLICK HERE

More redwork, links and general homemaking...

 As I mentioned last week when I showed you progress photos of my first Japanese style rice bag, the completed bag would be used to hold small stitching projects, once I'd made a matching pincushion and needlebook set. And that is what I've done since we last chatted here.

The rice bag is small, with a base and sides which measure only 5.5 inches square, so my pincushion and needlebook needed to be smaller still.

The pincushion is 3" in diameter, and filled with crushed walnut shells. I used some of the striped fabric from the rice bag to add a little tag, which is most helpful when pulling it out of the bag. I drew two little vines and embroidered them onto two quarters of the pinnie, then added two wool felt hearts from a small scrap of rich red felt I'd saved for a 'one day' project. You never know when bits of left over felt will come in handy. 

The needlebook - well, I actually made two covers for it, but decided the first one was too busy with not enough solid linen behind the embroidery and applique. As the French linen used is over a hundred years old, it was important that it should shine. I really loved this second version of the needlebook cover and it genuinely compliments the rice bag and the pincushion beautifully (plus another tiny felt heart to match the pincushion).

Inside the needlebook I added a pouch to protect my tiniest pair of embroidery scissors, plus more of that lovely scrap of rich red felt on both sides for holding needles and pins. There's also a wee pocket on the left side to store threads...

To keep those tiny scissors in their pretty scabbard I've added a press stud closure...

The closing ties are made using a 1/4" bias tape maker from white embroidery linen (the kind I use for most of my stitchery designs). Now my set is complete and I can plan the next project!

In the Kitchen...

On Monday I decided to clear out a few more things from the freezer, and one of those items was pumpkin I'd mashed up after our very abundant pumpkin harvest in May and June. We gave pumpkins away, and I made plenty of meals with some more, but for the rest I cook it and mash it for things in the future. 

Last year I was planning to bake a Pineapple Fruit Cake (recipe HERE in my free e-book) but realised we'd run out of tinned crushed pineapple, and I had no fresh pineapple on hand either as I could have put that in the food processor and used it instead. Something I am grateful for is a Nana who was resourceful and could swap around ingredients without ever blinking an eye! If she did not have what she'd normally use, she would use a substitute, and the final result was always delicious. And so, with Nana's example to draw from, I used mashed pumpkin in the fruit cake instead of pineapple. 

Well, hubby and I loved that pumpkin fruit cake, and so it's become the regular way for me to bake it now, which is wonderful when cleaning out the freezer and a use for mashed pumpkin is quickly required. 

I bake it in a large bread tin, then slice it when cold, and freeze half. 

Plenty of bread flour is also kept in the freezer, so I decided to bake a delicous focaccia to serve with meat balls that night. We had some leftover olives to use up so they covered almost two thirds of the focaccia, and the remainder just has fresh rosemary from the garden. Celtic sea salt and olive oil is added across the top before baking, and from the bottom of my heart, I can say this is my absolute favourite bread to have with anything. 

Half of this is kept in the freezer, along with half the meatballs I'd made, so we have a hearty meal to look forward to on nights when we're busy or simply exhausted and cooking is not an option. 

Removing some chicken breasts from the freezer gave me more room for preserving the last of our garden produce, so I cooked them in butter and diced some for sandwiches and a pasta salad, and the rest were sliced for use in chicken/avocado/cucumber sushi rolls which hubby takes to work with a satay dipping sauce I like to make.

Homemaking...

I have a set of binders in my sewing room/office and one of them is the very well used Household Binder. It holds a lot of things that are referred to regularly...

One of the things I needed to do this week was replenish my supply of Miracle Spray, which over the years has proved to be the very best cleaner and the one I use daily for general cleaning, spot cleaning and washing stains. The recipe ingredients are always ready in my laundry storage area, and as long as I have an empty 2-litre vinegar bottle on hand, a quick supply can be made immediately. 

I decant some of the mixture into a glass spray bottle, and can happily tell you that my husband loves using it too. 

Generally...

We're in the process of pulling up most of the vegetables we have grown over our tropical winter, as the season is over and the spring/summer bug brigade have arrived in full force already. There are some things they leave alone, such as beans and snow peas, so they'll keep producing for a while yet, and the citrus trees are already showing signs of being quite fruit laden in coming months. We have more bananas growing, which have been bagged to deter the fruit bats which fill the skies most of the year, especially now in mango season. We lost half of our last banana harvest to fruit bats last month - they even tore into the bottom of the bags. Being mango season they will probably be busy elsewhere for the next few months and may leave our bananas alone. 

I completed another large cross stitch, but will show that next week. 

We sold my beloved and very old yellow Mitsubishi Lancer. I did cry. It was my dream to own one the first time one drove past back in 2007. In 2013 hubby saw a second hand one and bought it for me. What a marvellous car it has been all these years...and not just for me, but for hubby when his car was off the road, and for Blossom when their car was off the road. It was loved by all the family, but being 22 years old now, it had a lot of breakdowns over the past six months and we simply could not pour all the money needed into a car that would continue to have problems. A young man has bought it as a project to work on over time, and I am hopeful the 13 years of prayer and worship almost daily as one of us was driving along, will bless him. 

My beloved is having a birthday today... 

He has turned 60, and with almost 35 years of marriage behind us, I give all the praise and glory to God for the ever-growing love we share, and the countless blessings He has showered over our marriage through these decades. Would you pray a blessing on him today sweet sisters in Christ? God knows what he needs most, and in that we can surely rely. Thank you. xxx

With regards to sharing links to some of my preferred YouTube channels, I shall create a page on the blog you can access and have a scroll through. You may like some and not others, and that's fine. :-) 

I am quite eclectic in the things I watch and do not like wasting uneccesary time scrolling channels, so these are the channels I enjoy for inspiration, information, and pure delight. 

Go HERE to the "Channels I Watch on YouTube" page on my blog. 

Hope this wasn't too long for you. I've come to realise that it's best if I just do one blog post per week, and hopefully encourage you in some way to see joy and beauty in the everyday ordinary things, especially during these times of unrest and change across the globe. 

When we put our hands to work within our homes, our very own family sanctuary, and keep the world at bay, our mind, heart and body relaxes. Physical 'stress' from housework, the garden, or cooking, is good stress. It's productive. It's healthy for us, and it glorifies the Lord who has provided what we need, when we need it. Removing our thoughts and focus from an ever increasing darkness around the world, allows peace to settle within us and within our homes. We pray for those in need, and then hand it over to the Lord. We do not scroll and scroll social media, or watch for every new bit of news on the television...we look at what is right before us, and what needs doing. Pray about your day. Ask the Lord to guide you through it, and give thanks for all you have. 

Don't look to the lives of others as your guidepost. You and I are unique in this life, individuals with our own resources, relationships, health challenges, limitations and life skills. I am inspired by those who work hard and simply 'get on' with what needs doing, those who create beauty in the simplest ways, those who are not out to copy others but to use their own mind and imagination to bring about a life worth living to the glory of God. 

The older I get, the more at peace I have become with the life God has gifted me to live. It's something that allows me to be myself at all times, and to be content in all situations - maybe not immediately, but it comes about the closer I walk with Jesus. 

I like who I am, I like that my heart desires to be refined, I like that God knows this and even though I am so very imperfect, He is patiently changing me day by day. What a gift that is! 

May the days ahead bring you many happy moments to treasure in your heart, and may you find all you are looking for in our Saviour, Jesus, who loved you with His life before you were even born.

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