The Book Reminder Challenge and boys to men...

 I've had an idea on my mind for months, something I wanted to share with you but was waiting for all my ducks to be in a row...and of course, well you know yourself, that's something very rare in life. So this week I decided to just forge forward because for me, this challenge needed to begin, sooner rather than later. 

I love books. Always have. As an only child my constant companion, other than Nana and Pop and Sox our dog, was books. Our library was my second favourite place to visit (first was the beach) and I would spend ages in there reading or browsing through books on many different subjects, before gathering an armload to take home. I occasionally wonder if that's what was most appealing about homeschooling? We followed the Charlotte Mason method and if you know anything about that you'll be quite aware it is wonderfully literature based, all good literature, with no twaddle. Blossom developed a lifelong love for good books during those years and created her own home library, which is wonderful for her homeschooled trio, though the kids still love visiting their local library and filling library bags to bring home. 

But I digress...

Having books on hand, in my lovely solid bookcases, is quite a joy. It means I can never be bored. I do not have modern fiction, but have a good selection of novels written by Agatha Christie, Tolkien, Austen, and Laura Ingalls Wilder which are enjoyed seasonally. Mostly I have a lot of books on faith, gardening, natural health, crafts (knitting, embroidery, quilting, crochet, beading, dressmaking and Japanese sewing), homemaking, self sufficiency, and cooking. We also own a lot of Bibles. 

 But what has been on my mind these past months is this - do I revisit my books on a regular basis? Do I take them off the shelf to reacquaint myself with them? If I were to read/browse through one or two each week, would I find them still worth keeping or would I discover some are simply shelf-fillers with a nice cover and not useful or purposeful to me anymore? 

Have you ever wondered such a thing?

Today I have begun my own 3-month challenge. Each week I will read or browse through at least two books, and decide whether to keep them or donate/sell them. These are the first two books I'll be sitting with in the next few days, alongside a lovely pot of tea and a bikkie or two...

I may go through more than two each week, but my base plan is to do at least two each week as there's no pressure in that. If there's still a lot to consider at the start of 2027 then this habit shall continue until all books have been interviewed for suitability moving forward. ;-) Would you like to join me?? Are you able to choose two books and go through them with an afternoon cuppa or a cool drink in the shade of the garden, or in a cosy chair each evening? 

I've begun with books not visited in the past year or two. There are books on my shelves which are visited on a regular basis so I already know they have permanent residency and shall stay, but the ones rarely visited (and there are many) shall be my focus.

I'd love to hear your own thoughts or experiences with an abundance of books and whether there came a time to gather some close, whilst saying farewell to others?

Last week I showed you my first practice of a decorative Japanese darning/weaving design, a rectangle made with two yarns, red and white. After that I tried a circle, using a 4ply cotton yarn of variegated peach/orange colours, following the directions in the book I'd purchased. This was not as easy as the rectangle, but I definitely liked it better, so I made another using Cosmo variegated embroidery thread (I used 3 strands) but chose the colour to match a preloved linen fabric I'd cut from an old dress. 

The fabric I stitched on is also from a pre-loved dress, which I hand dyed from cream to blue a while back. I was not sure how I'd use the green darned/woven circle, and wasn't happy with its seemingly pointed sides (well, not seemingly because they ARE slightly pointed), so I put it aside and moved on to another idea for using both the linen dress fabric and the blue fabric with some sashiko. 

I really love the little red and white rice bag and sewing set that I made last month (HERE) and use it daily, so I thought a larger rice bag would be wonderful for storing yarn when I'm knitting or doing a spot of crochet. 

Just as the red and white rice bag has embroideries on the sides, I wanted to do something similar, but this time with sashiko. 

So far I have stitched two identical blocks with the Rice Flower stitch, and I used a Perle 12 thread in a similar green to that of the linen fabric. I'll choose another sashiko design to stitch the remaining two sides over the weekend, but right now I am working on this cross-back apron. 

It's the same apron as the two I showed HERE when I removed the decorative tag that was already on them and made my own (you can see what I mean by the tag on the apron above). I will still remove the tag from this pink apron, but right now I'm stitching a sashiko design traced from a book purchased as a digital download from Etsy. I chose the cat because just as my husband is a dog-lover (we have Kelly aged 2½), I am a cat-lover (Sophie aged 16 years). I'm using 3 strands of another Cosmo variegated skein for this embroidery.

Another sewing project this past week was to re-hem two old nightgowns, and to cut up an old apron that has worn out in a few places (I have an apron on every day and they all eventually wear away). With the good remaining fabric I sewed a 12" mat for under the white fruit bowl which sits on our kitchen bench top. The backing is cream linen and then a thin wadding was fused behind the tulip fabric on top before I completed the project with hand quilted diagonal lines. I simply love hand quilting things like this as it adds such a homely finish. Isn't that a sweet word - homely...

THANK YOU...

How lovely that some of you dear girls left messages of encouragement for Blossom and Ross after last week's blog post. They thank you from the bottom of their hearts, as do I. 

One of the core homeschool skills the grandchildren are learning from their parents during this rather different season of life, is the value of caring for the home, and being a participant in the tasks required to look after it. Charlie David is just 5 years old, but Ross has always made sure that he is teaching Charlie how to one day grow into a good man, husband and father. It's something he himself missed out on growing up, so this has been important to him fathering a son of his own. 

Together they take care of not just things inside the house (along with Blossom and the girls), but the garden outside, which for the two of them is real men time. :-)

Charlie David now mows the grass on his own, under Ross's supervision, while Ross attends to the edges and garden beds. We are so proud of Charlie David!

I had a conversation recently with a lady we know, a woman not at all interested in God, or Christianity. In fact she says it opposes all her own beliefs. Anyhow, I often make things for her (she is elderly and lives alone) and this particular day I was delivering jam because she loves my jam and often requests some when she knows I'm cooking up a batch. 

We chatted for about 45 minutes and then I returned home. She has always pointed out to my husband "Jennifer is a glass half-full person all the time. She always makes me smile!" and I reflected on this because she said it again while we were talking. You see, it's rare to hear anything positive from her, and she will even describe herself as glass half-empty, and this gave me cause to consider just how important it is to always look for positive aspects in life and not to get pulled down into negativity, gossip, harshness, resentlfulness or criticism. 

I'm not saying this is easy, especially if you are someone who struggles with a less than positive attitude to life, but what a testimony to the Lord it is when others are lifted and encouraged by our words and behaviour, and not left feeling hurt or even more negative than before. It's true that I am a naturally happy person, something my husband marvels at (especially given the intense physical pain of the past 15 months - though this has really improved over past weeks thank the Lord) but that happiness was borne of some very deep sorrows. When I placed my life in Jesus' care 35 years ago, He changed me little by little, and I learned to accept the sorrows and the struggles and the losses, because I had been given something so much more than what I'd lost. I was given life in and with Jesus Christ. 

Our friend said "Christianity works for you and Mark, but it's not my cup of tea" - and yet when she has troubles, she likes that I pray for her, she likes that my husband can fix things for her, and she likes that she can trust us implicitly.

We plant the seeds of Christ in her life by how we conduct ourselves, how we speak, and how visibly she herself positively views our life as followers of Jesus. We pray God will reach her with Truth before her eyes close on this world, but in the meantime we must still work on being who He needs us to be, and giving thanks for His forgiveness every time we fail (which we do!). 

Friends, I pray that you are finding good things each day to cheer your heart and the lives of others. May goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life, and may you dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 

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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