Thursday, October 10, 2013

Appreciation...

My heart swelled with appreciation today.
A parcel was waiting for me when I  got home. Mr E had placed it on my desk so it would be the first thing I saw when I sat down.
A very kind and thoughtful blog reader, Robyn Marginson, had made me a gift.

I felt immense gratefulness for the time taken to make a special present just for me, by someone I have never met.
I love the tiny little hand quilted stitches across the top of the pincushion. I'm very tactile, and something beautiful to do is run my fingers across hand quilting. It's real, honest, full of care...takes me to a quiet, gentle place in my memories. There's nothing quite like it.
And the pins...aren't they the cutest?
I felt appreciation for Robyn, and I also felt appreciated...

{{thank you Robyn}}

 I'm working on another design for the "Girls, Girls, Girls!" issue of Elefantz Home. 
Simple and sweet...

There will be two versions of this stitchery; one for us who spell "mum" with a 'u', and another for those who like the spelling "mom" with an 'o'.
I have a very special frame that has been waiting for a special project to display. So glad this is it.

Another new design is my monthly freebie. It will shared tomorrow here on the blog, so drop for the download link.
The fabric is one I've had for ages, sourced from the bolts of children's dress gingham at Spotlight. It just looked perfect for what I had in mind...


It's getting very hot in the tropics now. We've held off using the air conditioner as long as possible to save $$ on our power bill, but I have a feeling we won't be able to wait much longer. 
It's also the start of my daily 'make a fruit salad' ritual. Through  most of spring, and all of summer, I have a large bowl of fruit salad prepared in the refrigerator for cooling, healthy snacks, but it also becomes my breakfast most days. 
This bowl held kiwis, blueberries, apple, rockmelon, and oranges...

 ...but tomorrow's will have strawberries and honeydew melon as well. I can't wait for the stone fruits to come in season as we devour peaches and nectarines on sight in this house.

This afternoon I'm making mango ice-cream from a very simple Jamie Oliver recipe. I'll show you pics tomorrow, as well as the ingredient list. So simple. Finding healthy, cooling recipes, is what I'm doing at the moment in menu planning. If you have some ideas, please share them.

Thank you very much for all the responses to yesterday's blog post! My mind is brimming with ideas now...

hugs
Jenny

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pad is amazing!!! I'm impatiently waiting for the ice cream recipe)) we Have and autumn, quite cold already, but you want to pamper their Pets with something tasty!

Noela said...

What a lovely gift. You do give so many designs freely on your blog Jenny. I think all of your followers, me included, love your designs and appreciate your generosity in sharing them. Hugs......

Peg - Happy In Quilting said...

So very thoughtful Jen, you are so giving....love the look of your projects and that fruit salad..

Jeanette said...

Beautiful gift. I love mango icecream & so looking forward to eating yummy fruit salad. Hugs, xx.

margaret said...

a well deserved gift for you Jenny you share so much with all of us.

Anonymous said...

What a lovely gift for you! Thanks for sharing pictures of upcoming projects. I always love your teasers. The fruit salad looks delicious - I can't believe it is already getting so hot there. We're just cooling off a little bit here!

Lisa E said...

Robyn, you are so thoughtful!!! Jenny, you deserve thanks from all your followers! I love your designs and your inspirational words.

Tammy said...

Jenny what a beautiful gift. And a total surprise to you. I know that made you feel absolutely wonderful to receive it. Enjoy it. You deserve lots of nice things. You share so many beautiful things with all of us in blogdom. Blessings to you.

Alice said...

What a sweet gift! She is right, you do give us so much with your thoughtful words and generous goodies. Can't wait for the next magazine issue and I joined you for a giant fruit salad only sadly, our season of yummy is coming to an end. It will be apples and pumpkin very soon.