Use it up, mending, learning...

 

I've been planning a blog post for the past two weeks, but life steps in and those plans fall by the wayside. I'm sure you experience this yourself at times? There's nothing wrong with making plans, in fact I think its wise, but an important life lesson is always be ready to put those plans aside, or alter them in some way, due to the inconstancy of everyday life. 

Labelled organsation with purpose...

It's the first week of spring here in Australia, and over the past few weeks I've gradually been working on creating more orderly spaces in our home, rather than the usual spring clean. Staying on top of housework means I am not needing to do a 'deep' clean very often as the daily and weekly maintenance tasks keep the home clean and tidy, but there are times when large heavy items such as fridges, freezer, washing machine, tall cupboards etc need to be moved, and that's when my husband steps in to the do the muscle work. 

So with no actual spring cleaning to do, I have used my time to order different areas in such a way that if anything happened to me, my husband would be able to find whatever he needs. This is not at all to sound morbid, as I have no life-threatening illness that would prompt such a plan, but I believe it's an important step as we get older, to consider what we'd be leaving behind should the Lord call us home unexpectedly.

My husband can often be seen or heard rummaging in cupboards or drawers looking for things. I ask can I help and what is he looking for, but he always says, "No, I'll find it", because he never wants me to have to do something he feels quite capable of accomplishing himself. Bless him! 

Anyhow, I bought some lovely wire basket containers with solid wooden lids for the pantry, and have sorted items into them and added labels to the lids. Now he can find whatever he's after, and is even putting things away because he knows where they go (normally I say, "just leave it there and I'll put it away"). I've done the same thing with other household items we store in bulk such a soaps, medicines, razor blades, candles, cleaning products, personal care products, extra cutlery, and so much more. They are in two areas of the house (part of our wardrobe and part of the linen cupboard) so all he need do is look in those cupboards and read the labels to find what he's after. 

In the midst of this I have donated quite a few blankets we never use and some electrical items that are also not in use, and this has given us more open space in the limited storage areas we have in our small home, thus allowing him to find things easily.

I am now about to do the same in my small craft/sewing/business room. The containers I bought for the pantry in blue and green, have been purchased again but this time in pink. They will not just look pretty, but also make the organising of things much easier. I am really enjoying all this! 

Learning new things and a wonderful blog...

My favourite blog is Grandma Donna's, which always gives me food for thought, especially with regards to homemaking as we age, but her most recent post gave me something else to consider, and my goodness I got excited.

She and husband Charles are always learning, refining what they do within their home and garden, and being mindful of mending, repurposing, simplifying, and caring for what is already in their possession. Donna cooks fairly simple foods, relying a lot on their garden for ingredients, but she also tries new things as a way of providing experiences they could not afford to explore otherwise. For example, she'd love to have croissants, so she decided to learn how to make authentic croissants. She use to do tatting, but after years of not doing it she forgot how to start off, so she looked to Youtube and had a refresher course by watching others. If you have a read through her blog you will find many things to inspire your homemaking, as well as many things which give cause to stop and ponder in this world gone crazy. 

So what was I considering? Learning new things. The things I have long wanted to learn but have not taken time to pursue. Though I am not on social media, and am very grateful for that, I do watch Youtube as a source of information and inspiration with regards to homemaking, sewing, knitting, gardening etc. I actually thought in my next blog post that I'd share a list of my most watched Youtube channels and tell you why. Would you be interested in that?

I am a visual learner, so I like watching how things are done rather than reading a book about it, so I'm preparing for myself a list of six things which interest me and which I'd like to try or learn more about, and once I have the basics the decision will be made as to whether its worth my time and effort or whether I should try something different. I believe at my age (67) it's important not to plod on with anything new that isn't do-able, enjoyable or productive in some way, so I have no qualms about moving on from a disappointing 'new' interest and investigating another.

Mending...

Most of my wardrobe consists of cotton or linen dresses, and I wear them all year round. As we live in the tropics of northern Australia, it's only a few days through winter when there's a need to wear a cardigan over a dress, or linen pants under the dress, so dresses really get their share of wear and tear, as well as constant washing and hanging out on the line in our bright sunshine. Over time the hem edges begin to wear away, though the rest of the dress is fine, so I began last summer to remove the bottom hem from some of my dresses and replace with a fabric edge in complimentary colours. The dress below is a real favourite, and last week I replaced the lower hem with some fabric I've had for more than a decade, so it now has new life. I also have two more dresses on my sewing table which need hems replaced, and I must admit, when I wear one of my mended dresses it feels brand new. 

I've also mended nightwear, and some linen tops I like to wear occasionally over linen pants. Before putting anything aside as no longer wearable, I leave it on the cutting table for a week and try to come up with a way to make it wearable once more. 

Use it up...

Late winter and early spring is strawberry season in my part of the country, when they are at their peak sweetness and cheapest to buy, so this is when I make a year's supply of strawberry jam. I have three main jam seasons each year - January for mango jam and apricot jam (mid summer), March for plum jam (early autumn), and August for strawberry jam (end of winter). 

Last week I went through the fridge and garden to see what needed to be used up. I had bought a few kilos of strawberries and they needed to be made into jam before they turned, plus I'd picked carrots and radishes from the garden that I decided could be refrigerator pickled to have with salads or side dishes.

I also had beef mince and potatoes to use up, plus carrots and an enormous glut of tomatoes and parsley from the garden, as well as a tub of apples in the fridge, and a container of passionfruit pulp in the freezer from last summer's vine. So apart from making jam, I did pickle carrots and radishes, and made a delicious Cottage Pie that we ate over three nights...

...as well as an apple and passionfruit crumble, also enjoyed over those same three nights.

We have "tomatoes coming out of our ears" right now, and I am picking at least a kilogram every day, so my freezer is fast filling up with 400g bags of cherry tomatoes for use in cooking between now and next winter's growing season. This is one of the reasons I am needing to use up previously frozen fruits such as last summer's passionfruit from our vines and some purchased peaches which I stewed, plus lots of stewed autumn plums. With the next stone fruit season only a few months away, we can enjoy the rest of the frozen peaches and plums right now.

End of season garden...

Spring in the tropics heralds the winding down of production in our garden as it will soon be far too hot and humid to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, snow peas and such...but we're still growing bananas all year round, the new crop of passionfruit will be enjoyed, our lime tree is already bulging with fruit, both lemons trees have buds, the orange tree has tiny fruits, there's five pomegranates on our relatively young tree, and the elder tree is bursting with flowers. We also have an abundance of herbs, bunching shallots, rocket, baby leeks and spring onions.

(the pomegranates have to be bagged otherwise bugs destroy them)

Can you guess what I've been nibbling on this morning?? The mulberry tree is lterally dripping with lush purple/black fruit and I get to enjoy them every day after hanging the washing on the line...

And for those who asked about our Kelly-dog, he is fine. Kelly would much rather be inside than out, so we do have to encourage him to spend time in the garden every day by locking the back door and having him wander the garden while we water, weed and pick produce. He's a true couch potato, which is unusual for a large two year old dachshund! 

It's been exhausting some days to stay on top of the garden, harvesting and preserving for the future, but it's also been a lot of FUN. My knee cries out to stop and take a break every hour or so, and I do, but even going slower than before the accident, so much is being achieved in those short but regular pockets of time around the home and in the garden. 

Rather than focus on what I can't do, I had a mindset change one day in the swimming pool (thank you Lord) and began to give thanks for all the things I CAN do, and there's a lot! When I'm in the pool swimming laps, I am reminded that apart from the area around my right knee/calf, the rest of my body is fine. I feel no knee pain in the pool as I swim, so there's a very real consciousness about how normal the rest of my body feels, and when the Lord brought that to mind a few months back, I was so overjoyed I cried tears of gratitude and continued to swim with the happiest heart. 

In the midst of trials, any trial, there will be things we struggle with which can almost take over the workings of our mind. Those challenges might magnify and sadly become the focus of how we see our life, or ourselves, and those around us. God knew I needed to have my eyes shifted from the pain and loss of what I could no longer do, and open them to see all the things I could still do...and to be glad of them. 

Learning, mending, using it up...

Through the past 14 months since my accident God has had me learning more about Him and how I am to live the rest of my earthly life than ever before, through the best textbook a woman can read...His Word.

In that same period of time, God has mended decades of brokenness and grief in my heart, buffed away many of my rough edges (still a work in progress) and refined my character with such strength and yet gentleness so that I am becoming a kinder, more forgiving, and Spirit-led daughter of the King. 

And He's reminded me to use what I already have - the gifts He gave me to be used for His glory, a mind for learning, a desire for obedience to Him, words to write, a glass-half-full attitude to life, and the ability to care for my family and home with a full and loving heart. 

I am so very blessed. And if you allow Him, He will show you just how many blessings He's brought into your life as well. It's easy to look at what we don't have, what hurts, what is lacking. But pray that He will lift your eyes to see what you've been missing, sweet friend. 

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.

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