New 2024 free block of the month and the annual tea towel post...

 

In 2024 the theme of my blog will be “finding joy in the ordinary”.

As a homemaker, it is quite easy to allow the everyday matters of life to become so routine that they lose a bit of sparkle. Delight in having a floor to mop, a meal to prepare or a bed to make, dulls with each passing year. In its place the tasks become hum-drum, boring, endless, unimaginative, and may even provoke an attitude of bitterness or agitation.

For many years I’ve been writing here about the love I have for my privileged role as a  homemaker, and how that came about through the example of my Nana, who lived a very simple ordinary life with many hardships along the way -  yet she always found a reason to smile by looking for the joys around her, and that attitude created an atmosphere of love and gratitude which permeated every nook and cranny of our very tiny home. She made it known that Pop and I were her favourite joys, and therefore everything she did was done out of love for us. She had a deep respect for Pop, and taught me at a very young age to honour his position in our home. He in return adored her, and by extension heaped so much love on me that even today I shed tears thinking of how much I loved that dear little old man.

Nana’s example taught me to honour my own husband one day - to ‘do him good and not harm all the days of her life’ (Proverbs 31:12), a lesson which resonated with me later in life. The more I glance back into my memories of her life, the more nuggets of wisdom rise to the surface, and now I clearly see the many lessons she had taught, not in words, in fact rarely in words, but just by being herself and living an ordinary life in a very simple home with the people she loved.

 So, Nana is the sparkle behind this year’s blog theme, and as we traverse the months ahead, I am praying our homemaker hearts expand with more joy, grace and hope in her honour. 

To kick off 2024 I have a brand new, free, block of the month, “Joy in the Ordinary”, which over the course of a year will become a small wall quilt to hang in your home. Each monthly block has a little stitchery encased in a log cabin style border.

Today you can download Block 1 and each of the remaining blocks will be shared on the 1^st of the month throughout 2024.  Use the link below to download the free pattern.

DOWNLOAD Block 1 of Joy in the Ordinary BOM

 

Now, what about my annual January Tea Towel post and pattern?! Did you think I’d forgotten? Not at all.

As you know, the past few months my fingers had moved from stitching to crochet edging on a number of table runners, small doilies, and a pile of new tea towels to carry me through 2024. Oh, how I LOVE replacing all my tea towels in January! The old ones then become cleaning rags – those in good condition are for use around our home, and those that are stained are given to hubby to use in his shed.

 This year’s free tea towel stitchery ties in with the blog theme for 2024…

 

Perhaps you will crochet an edge on your towel as well? Or you might like to sew some decorative crochet cotton lace along the edge instead?

I am always asked if I fuse any backing to the tea towel before I embroider, so I shall answer up front – no. I just weave the thread ends into the stitches already made and they have never come away in the wash (yet).  Use the link below to download my free 2024 tea towel pattern.

DOWNLOAD the Joy in the Ordinary Tea Towel pattern

 

Family Update:

Thank you for all the emails which arrived asking if we were okay, as I had not posted on the blog in a while.

As you know, Blossom and the children had Influenza A…but then they got Covid over Christmas so we were all isolated and had to resort to a Facetime call to watch them open presents. It was sad not to be together and have our plans come to nought, but how grateful we are for the technology on hand to still ‘see’ each other and be entertained by the children!

Just when they came out of isolation, darling Bloss was diagnosed with pneumonia, and if you’re a long-time reader here you may remember that she gets it almost every year. 2023 was particularly difficult health-wise for my girl, and having Influenza, then covid, then pneumonia back-to-back without a break has created havoc with her immune system. Please pray for her, that the Lord would heal her and bless her with a healthy and strong 2024. (thank you xxx)

At our home, I was health compromised too, but it was over quickly and I recovered well. On Christmas Day hubby battled with our four pumps to keep water out of the house as we were hit with a tremendous storm (we got 7 inches of rain that day), which continued off and on for days. Two of the four pumps broke on Christmas Day, as well as the dishwasher, and the cold water tap in the kitchen, and the internet. Honestly, all we can do is laugh now…even though we’re still waiting for things to be fixed. But praise God we’re all fine here and nothing major happened that cannot be fixed. In the big scheme of life, these were minor annoyances and nothing more. I have to say that after only having a dishwasher for five years, it was a delight to revert back to hand washing again. Standing at the kitchen sink looking out the window was always very meditative for me, and with soapy rubber gloves and dishwashing cloth in hand, I had many of my aha moments with God. I always believed He chose then to speak into my thoughts because I wasn’t distracted by other things, but present in the very lovely task of washing dishes. Just as Nana did. Now I am wondering if I really want that dishwasher repaired after all.

The future...

A new year is upon us, dear friends, and I am hopeful that the Lord will allow me to blog regularly, to inspire and encourage your homemaker heart, and to live an ordinary life with JOY for my grandchildren to see and remember when I am gone. If this becomes my last year blogging (we never know what is ahead) then I’d love for it be a good year. And I shall be praying for you too. 

God bless you all, and may 2024 be a new season of life which we each approach with HOPE, leaving the past struggles and disruptions behind because we cannot change them. Shake off those feelings which darken your thoughts, and seek out all that is good, and lovely, and pure and hope-filled. Seek the Lord daily, and if you still find it hard to be cheerful, ask Him to gently sweep away emotions that are unproductive (or even harmful). You may still have to work through grief, illness, separations, financial strains (as we are) and other life challenges, but don't allow the weight of these trials to block out the light, darling girl. It is there. His Light is always there to shine a path forward, even if its only one step at a time. 

May the Lord bless our year ahead as we seek out simple joys in the everyday, very ordinary, matters of life.

Hugs

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