Wasps, a fruitful vine and stitching...

 

It's been nine days since my last blog post, and it seems a long time ago now, and yet a short time, for many things have happened, and I find that when a lot of different things fill a week, or a month, or even a year, time itself feels stretched in one way, and reduced in another. I wonder if you feel that way too?

Last week on Thursday, I decided to finally begin pruning the various shrubs in and around our garden areas. I grow many herbs, but none as large as the Tulsi bush (also known as holy basil). Unchecked it would become a tree, but I keep it at shrub height so that I can easily harvest the leaves for herbal teas. After the monsoon last month, and the garden being soaked beyond saturation as the yards flooded around our home, we had some plants that couldn't cope and died off (or should I say drowned?), but we also had some that simply thrived. They were the ones in raised beds, and boy did they shoot up and out through February and into March.

After that we had about ten to twelve days with no rain at all, just fierce dry scorching sun, and to be honest this was good for drying out our sodden yards, and allowing time for fixing a few more leaks. Anyhow, last Thursday as I pruning the sides of the Tulsi bush, something quite unexpected happened. As I began to trim closer in, three large wasps came at me. One stung my hand, the other my neck, and as I automatically opened my mouth in shock and pain, another flew into my mouth and stung the underside of my top lip. I cannot describe the pain. It was something I never want to feel again. Being home alone, all I could do was drop my shears and run like the wind inside, splash water over my face and neck, and suck on a ice pack we had in the freezer. Then I smeared Stingose over my mouth and neck, and into my lip. I could barely see from the pain in my mouth, and my lip was swelling. That ice pack was the only thing that kept me going for the next fifteen minutes until I could think what else to do. I remembered we had phenergan tablets in our first aid kit from when I had contact dermatitis a few years back, so I took one of them and laid on the bed with that ice pack stuffed in my mouth. And that's where I stayed until hubby came home a couple of hours later. 

It took six days for all the swelling to settle in my lip, and for all the pain to subside. Though a horrible experience, and having no-one here to help, I knew the Lord was with me, and that was my greatest comfort. 

I missed Rafaella's pool party with her friends (her 7th birthday) on the Saturday, as I felt the stinger still in my neck whilst in the shower, and pulled it out, not realising that was a silly thing to do. It released more venom and almost immediately I got sick with migraine, nausea and exhaustion. The day was spent on the couch, doing some very simple sashikostitching to keep my mind occupied...and a few movies to watch in the background. 

I had already drawn a graph on some more of that recycled linen sheet...

...and calmly stitched away, slow stitches having always been very soothing to my mind. Here's the completed piece, six inches square. Think it will become the centre of a pillow. 

This week has had ups and downs, but I had my 'happy cup' filled twice - once with Blossom and the children, and again with my friend Rosie. Spending quality time with people you love, and who love you, definitely has its own medicinal qualities! 

Peaches, plums and nectarines are at the very end of their season, and they usually disappear from supply around the end of March, so I made more nectarine relish, and tried the pickled peaches recipe (in the pantry staples ebook I shared with you HERE) Well, I already knew the relish was good, but wow, those pickled peaches are delicious!

You just make the pickling liquid, pour it over thinly sliced fresh peaches (must be fresh), leave to cool, and then store in the fridge. Use within a couple of weeks...ours did not last that long so I'm making more.

I have had to keep preserving limes, as our tree has still not stopped giving. I found more limes up high and also hidden in the middle (before the wasp incident). I decided to measure out juice and rind in quantities to make cordials over the coming winter and spring, and now have four containers in the freezer for that purpose. I also froze juice and rind in smaller quantities for making lime curd as well. Plus there are some whole limes in the freezer, along with lots of lime juice frozen in ice cube trays - these will be great for curries, and tapioca puddings. 

I've also chopped up nectarines and red onions in small containers, enough in each one to make a batch of nectarine relish whenever we want it. I think this is the first time I have ever thought to freeze ingredients together to make a fruit recipe out of season. I would have loved to do the same with peaches so I could pickle them, but after making the pickles, you can't beat the lovely firmness of fresh peaches in that recipe. 

On Sunday my head had settled, but we still stayed home as I needed to rest a bit more. In between rests, I baked some slices (I think in the US you would call these a bar) to freeze - a ginger lime slice, and a lemon coconut slice. I froze half of each, and the rest I shared between Blossom's family and my husband, who takes a packed lunch to work every day and likes a little sweet treat included. Today I baked a chocolate peppermint slice, and I'll freeze half of this as well, as soon as I cut it into 24 pieces.

The sage I cut and hung inside just a day or two before the monsoon hit at the end of January, was ready for processing yesterday afternoon. I removed all the leaves, then chopped them in the food processor, so now I have about two cups of chopped dried sage to add to my home grown herb supplies. I LOVE the smell of sage! Fortunately we still have plenty in the garden, but the rain has returned and everyday we are getting heavy storms, so I can't pick any more bunches for drying just yet.

Here's the stitching I am currently on during my afternoon tea break, and in the evenings. I stitch the Yumiko Higuchi design during the day because there's a lot involved, but at night when the light is dimmer and I'm getting tired, I work on sashiko...

The backgrounds are both repurposed linen. 

BIBLE STUDY

My favourite part of any day, apart from when my beloved returns home from work, is time spent in the Word. I bought this large lined notebook at the beginning of the year, and use it for word studies.

So far in the past six weeks or so, I have studied 'work', 'contentment', 'humility', and being a 'wife' - all from a Biblical perspective. The more I delve into the various teachings, and study the root meanings of each word and verse from the Hebrew, the more our Lord opens wide my understanding of what He wants from me, and what He meant when He inspired the text. I cannot recommend word studies highly enough!

I'm just finishing the 'wives' study with regards to the verses and passages of Scripture, and am now about to delve into every character trait the Bible says about wives, the good and the bad. I don't think women take as much note of the bad traits, as they do of the good ones, and I confess that its made me really pray about my own role as wife, and wanting to overcome anything negative, whilst building on the positives.

Years ago I used to draw and colour in my Bible journals, or studies, but these days I like to use pretty washi tape and stickers...I'm more focused on the words themselves than drawings. For some of the previous studies, like the one on Work, I cut photos from my Country Living magazines of people working in the home and the garden. I'll show you some of them another time. 

The first character trait I'm looking at is from Psalm 128:3 - "Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine, in the very heart of your house." as this was the Psalm we read at our wedding in 1991. 

So far, this verse has shown to be a bit different to what I used to think. I associated her fruitfulness with having children, but that is only one aspect of the meaning, so if you'd like me to share more about these studies, just let me know. 

I am praying to be fruitful in ALL things to do with our home, and my treasured role as wife. 

I shall sign off now, as this has become a long post, and you may be yawning at this stage. ;-) I pray for no more wasp attacks in future, and hope to be blogging again early next week, as I have something else to share. 

God bless you, keep you safe, watch over your coming and going, surround your home with His comforting presence, and guide you into the fullness of His Word so that you may overflow with wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and a desire to do all He has commanded. 

Until next time, love and prayers, 

You will find me on Instagram HERE @jennyofelefantz

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