Ordinary things...

Our dwelling place - whether it be a house, a flat, a caravan, a yurt, or a room in someone else's place - is perhaps something we too often take for granted. Where we live may not be where we'd most like to be, but if it's where we are right now, then we need to be grateful for it. 

A bowl of nourishing food and a thick slice of bread on the table when the family sit down together for dinner, a pillow beneath your head at the end of the day, clothes to wash, floors to sweep, windows to look through as you go about your ordinary daily tasks, creativity to move things around and add small displays here and there...a home encompasses so much, regardless of its size, position, or appearance.

It is almost 9am on Monday morning as I write this, and as I went about my early morning home blessings (for I do not think I like the word 'chores' anymore) it occurred to me that with each small task I felt a tug to give thanks for the privilege of doing it. 

Making the bed, preparing a healthy breakfast for hubby, making a good lunch to take with him to work, washing and drying the breakfast dishes, cleaning the bathroom, watering the indoor plants, feeding our pets, getting a load of laundry in the washing machine...each task was done with love, and a prayer of thanks offered. Many days I don't think to do this, but today, as I pondered Gratitude (our monthly theme) I felt a deep sense of privilege to have this small home and call it our own. 

Mondays are my meal planning day, but before doing that I check what fresh fruit and veg we already have in the fridge that need to be used up, and plan to use them tonight and perhaps tomorrow too. 

 Now that I have an idea for tonight's evening meal, I can plan the rest of the week and a shopping list for extra ingredients. Recently I began a new monthly habit of going through my very large recipe folder, and removing some recipes that would be good to make in the following weeks, and then storing them in a smaller comb-bound folder. This makes meal planning much easier...

This week I'm going to try the Cheese and Herb pie, a recipe found in an old magazine I was pulling apart but have yet to make. As we choose to be meat free two to three times a week now, I'm enjoying making things I know my husband will eat. For many, many years I would make things he wasn't very keen on simply because I liked them and hoped eventually he would too. But that did not happen. Lesson learned...at last.

I think he will like this new pie recipe, because he loves Spanakopita, just like Ross, my Cypriot son-in-law. I baked both men a tray of Spanakopita each last week, and they were soon demolished. Oh how happy that made me!

Last week I also baked a delicious Focaccia with rosemary, Celtic sea salt and red grapes (my favourite topping for Focaccia), a Coconut Jam Slice with my last jar of homemade mixed berry jam, and two Malt Loaves which I shared with Blossom. Every member of our family got something they loved to eat last week...and each of them was very grateful. What a blessing it is to be able to cook, don't you agree?!

I haven't had many roses lately in the garden, they always seem to come out in a flourish of abundance together, then they do nothing together for weeks on end. But I did notice two pink blooms opening when I watered them yesterday, so after those early morning tasks I went in search of other pops of colour in the garden to create a small bouquet for my desk.

How grateful I am for these blooms! Flowers, no matter how small or sparse, can lift a dull corner just as much as they lift a weary heart. Oh and my heart has been a little weary the past few days...for I tend to forget about my 'enlarged heart' condition, and push my body a bit more than it can manage on such hot and humid days as ours. After our lovely Sunday morning drive down south with Molly-dog to Alva Beach and Claire, I was in the garden yesterday afternoon trying to prune and trim and water and tidy, when I realised my heart was not happy at all as tiredness swept over me and breathing became less easy. Dear hubby sent me inside to cool air conditioned comfort and for the rest of the afternoon I rested a while, baked a bit, and prepared some sewing tasks - all of which made me feel quite normal again. So very grateful for a cool house, and Molly-dog is happier inside as well.

Our pug, the Molly-dog, can be a handful at just over a year old, but she's a real delight too. A constant companion, fortunately she enjoys sleeping beside me on the couch when I'm resting each afternoon with some stitching or crochet to do. She adores my husband, and sleeps beside him on the couch during the evenings when we watch a movie, sermon, or documentary. But, as with pugs in general, she doesn't cope well with the high heat and humidity of a tropical wet season. We are both hanging out for the warm (not hot) winter.

I have planned some afternoon sewing for this week, and a bit more crochet edging too. Last year's old tea towels will be cut in half and re-hemmed for cleaning rags...

Some of my oldest cleaning rags will be retired as I have worn them out, and they frayed dreadfully over the past two years (lesson learned about hemming every raw edge this year). 

And the crochet edging will be on the final four new tea towels I purchased for 2024. I thought I'd lost them, but discovered they were sitting underneath all my crochet cotton yarns, neatly stored in their own little tub.

I'm also working on a new little bag, one that I can take in the car on our Sunday morning drives through the countryside. It always seems odd to be taking my handbag on a country drive, especially when we're only stopping to have home-made morning tea in a grassy patch somewhere. I originally designed this about nine or ten years ago, but the bag I featured the stitchery on wasn't as useful as I'd hoped at the time. 

The fabric above the stitchery is actually a good solid tea towel, and that's what I'll be using for the bag. The stitchery will be needle-turned onto the front of the bag...well, that's the plan so far. The other part of the plan is to use that cotton yarn in the photo to crochet a pretty edge around the top of the bag as well. This may or may not work, though in my mind's eye it is simply lovely...but the execution of my ideas don't always bear fruit. I'll show you when it's done, and if you'd like it, I can share the stitchery design as well. Let me know. 

Ordinary days are, to me, the foundation of living a calm and happy, simple life. Many women don't hold much stock in a clean sink, a made bed, fresh meals, a swept floor, clean clothes folded neatly or hung and put away. But I think these everyday tasks hold hidden joy for the homemaker heart within us, when we remember to be grateful for all we have in the home to care for...and especially, who we care for. 

Take care dear ones, and may the week ahead be one that shows gimmers of joy here and there when you least expect them. Water that grateful heart attitude inside you, and let it bloom brighter than before. 

Let me know what you've got planned for this week, will you? I imagine all of us in our homes, tending to the ordinary things of our individual and unique lives, and then I ponder our quiet times of rest and I lift my tea cup to God in honour of all the like-minded women who make their homes a sanctuary. God bless you precious sisters, and God willing I'll chat again soon...

Hugs

Don't miss out on any Elefantz news or free patterns. 

Subscribe to my blog posts HERE and receive them direct to your email inbox.  

Or sign up HERE for my free newsletter which often has extra benefits, freebies & tutorials!