Rain, a new video, good food and stitching...

The rain fell last night and we had a most amazing light show from the sky with deep booming thunder as well. When you rely on the wet season to water an ailing garden, and when your town needs more water to top up the dam before the dry season returns, then a good soaking late in January is most welcome, even if it is a couple of months late. Now we pray it keeps coming. Though not as much as last year's wet season floods. 

We water the garden where it needs it a few times a week for about 20 minutes and at the moment that is where my out-of-season tomatoes are bearing fruit. Not a lot of fruit on them and the vines are only small, but considering the extreme heat and humidity which refuses to abate, the little gems deserve some care. 

Sadly, many of the herbs have withered under the stress of heat and even 'dried' in their pots, like this sage which has battled on bravely since the heat set in a few months back...

I've put all the potted plants close together near the garden bed which houses the bird feeder and they get a bit of shade from the taller shrubs around them but it's just scorching outside and too many have burnt up in distress. 

Though I must say the basil, Thai basil and thyme are thriving! 

So last night's downpour was a gift from God and just looking out over the front yard glistening with water droplets this morning filled my heart with sweet delight.

This little old cubby house was a find on Gumtree by my dear husband just after Christmas. It's battered and bruised but give us time and we'll have the prettiest little house for Cully May and Rafaella to play in over the late autumn and winter when our days here are like spring in most areas of the world. 

Today is day seven of the transition to a ovo-vegan diet and it's been wonderful. This morning I 'felt' the difference because the pressure was off my chest and I could breathe a bit better. My heart ultrasound is scheduled for January 30th and I'm so hopeful that over time this change of menu will be exactly what I need to heal my heart.

I've always chosen alternative over medical if I believe there's merit and in this situation I am encouraged by many avenues. Have you ever watched the documentary "Forks Over Knives"? It's on Netflix if you have it (we don't) but we purchased the DVD and have watched it a few times, most recently with a genuine focus on heart health.

Removing dairy is easy as I've been off and on dairy for two decades, always checking if it made a difference to my migraine frequency (it doesn't) and tummy pains (it does)...but now hubby and I will eliminate it permanently. To be honest I was shocked when Mr E told me he was happy to use almond milk in his morning lattes. Bless him! 

A few days ago I made this delicious Cashew Parmesan and it's so good I'd choose it over dairy parmesan any day. My Kitchen Aid whizzed it up very quickly...

There's only four ingredients - raw cashews, nutritional yeast (tastes very cheesy and is super healthy), garlic powder and a little salt.

We had a good serving scattered over vegetable pasta salad that night which was loaded with fresh veg and roasted carrot and beetroot.

A yummy treat are these raw 'Lamington' bars which also whizzed up in the Kitchen Aid in just a few minutes. Pressed into a brownie tin and scored before leaving in the fridge to set, they are yummy and have become our current dessert each night along with a handful of green grapes.

Burgers were on the menu at the weekend and I used what was already on hand to create these morish patties from canned lima beans, sauteed zucchini and onion, garlic, ginger, chopped fresh coriander, a few breadcrumbs and a jolly good dollop of curry paste.

Rolled into patties and browned in a little coconut oil they are very filling and truly addictive.

In my sewing basket is the second version of this year's Block of the Month, Psalm 23.

I'm stitching block 2 at the moment, which I'll share with you on February 1st. 

If you've missed the first block go HERE to download the pattern. 

The Psalm 23 patterns will be free all year.

NEW PATTERNS

I realised this morning you've not seen the three new patterns for my next Faith In Hand Stitchery Club issue...

If you are like me and love having the Word of God displayed beautifully around your home then you might just like to join myself and the many Club members who each month bring Bible Scriptures, hymns or inspirations to life with needle and thread.

These are the three designs for February.

They will be emailed to all my Club members on January 31st...

Joining the Faith in Hand Club is easy, and you're not locked in to any particular length of time. You can join and leave whenever it suits you because I understand life is never static and your needs or situation can change - and I'll never require you to tell me why you need to leave. Your privacy is important to me.

Go HERE to find out more

The previous designs from the December and January issues of Faith in Hand can be purchased  as single patterns in my Etsy Shop.

The birds...

Many of you love seeing photos of the wild birds in our yard so I thought I'd pop a quick little video on YouTube so you could really see and hear them as I do. 

A theme for 2020...

There was a lot on my mind and heart to share with you as this new year began to unfold, but a trip to hospital kind of detoured me for a bit. In coming days I'll be back to blogging regularly as Mr E returns to work for a new school year and the rhythms of home life slip back into their normal ebb and flow.  

Home life...that's so deeply embedded in my thoughts and prayers to write about, and I hope as we journey through 2020 there'll be a lot of encouragement and discussion between us about the joys to be found in the ordinary everyday life of a homemaker. 

Bless you sweet friend, and may the favour of the Lord shower you with every precious kindness from above,

hugs

Head colds, a makeover and a video...

The first week of the new year (and some of the old)...

MONDAY:

As is my normal morning routine I got up around 5:15, fed the chickens, gave Bob-the-dog the last of our lamb bones, filled the bird feeder for the cockatoos, corellas, and rainbow lorikeets before brewing  a cup of fresh coffee and settling down to open the Bible and fill my soul with nourishment from on High whilst our animals chewed, pecked and scratched around me.

Before the sun became too fierce I pulled the dead dill plants from our garden and began removing the seeds; then I did the same with the basil before removing the dried red fruit from the jalapeno bush, again to harvest seed for next planting season...

Our summer is so incredibly dry, the tropical wet season late again this season, so I've also been picking sage and thyme and letting it dry on the outdoor table.

More remnants of spring (green) onions have been planted and I am pleasantly surprised at how easily they grow again. I shall remember to take a photo tomorrow. I simply push these 'ends' into a pot of good soil and water each day...and up they come. Marvellous!

Our precious girls, Cully May and Rafaella, were over on Monday with Blossom and we had the loveliest time together. In fact we had another tea party and the little darlings discovered they could make a table from one of our couch recliners. 

Children really do have the most marvellous imaginations. 

Cully May always has real tea in her cup with lots of milk, but Rafaella prefers just milk - though she insists it is tea. 

TUESDAY:

I spent most of the day preparing photos and the pattern to share block 1 of Psalm 23 with you (here) and then Mr E and I went for a lovely visit to Blossom and Ross's before the children went to bed and then we came home and took the CHRISTmas tree down.

WEDNESDAY:

I pulled my sewing room apart from top to bottom (and shared this as my very first live video in our Gentle Domesticity group as well as a shorter version on Instagram) and even though I regularly clean and declutter that room so I can design and sew without visual distraction, this January 1st makeover was far more thorough.

It took nine hours and New Year's night I was plumb tuckered out with aching legs, arms and back.

I inspired Mr E as well because while I was busy working on my creative space he decided to give his study a good scrub and declutter as well, which is good because as a teacher there's a lot of school stuff which tends to 'gather' in his study over the course of a year.

THURSDAY:

I woke a few times last night with what seemed to be an increasingly blocked nose.

I ignored it as best I could but by this morning it was obvious a head cold had arrived and after talking with Blossom discovered she and the girls had it as well. We do love to share, you know.

A blogging friend from right down south of our state was up in Townsville for a visit to see her family who were also holidaying here from elsewhere in the state and we'd arranged to meet early for coffee down on the Strand where we could watch the ocean and chat face to face for the first time.

I texted Chel (you can visit her blog here) to let her know about my early stage head cold and see if she'd prefer to cancel our coffee but she was still keen to catch up so after breakfast off I drove and we had the nicest hour together, though keeping distance between us so I'd not pass my lurgy along.

Unfortunately the humid heat, as so often happens with me, took a toll and just as we were preparing to say our goodbyes a migraine began to build. 

Home again, I took pain killers for the migraine (and they thankfully worked rather fast) but my head cold began to escalate and hubby insisted I do 'nothing' but rest up. Bless him!

But you know, doing nothing, while your nose is running and your throat is increasingly scratchy, just isn't as easy as it sounds. I like to do things to get my mind off pain and that's why I push through the beginnings and middle of a migraine, so I tried to do the same with this jolly inconvenient head cold today. 

And this is when I thought why not make another video of my sewing room, now that it's all nice and fresh and ready for me to begin designing in 2020. So I did.

...click below...

Blossom's rather proud of me, you know, because apparently she's wondered 'when' I'd start doing the odd video or two but just hadn't yet broached the topic.

Well, surprisingly it was quite easy to do from my phone!

So in future I'll do them more often ...perhaps show you 'for real' what I'm stitching, maybe share what I'm gleaning from my Bible reading, or take you on a walk around the garden? 

Let me know what you think and then I can ponder the prospect further.

But right now I shall bid you good evening and gather to myself a large box of tissues infused with eucalyptus and put the kettle on to brew a pot of lemon and honey tea.

My prayers tonight will be focused on the raging fires across our beautiful but dry country, prayers for rain, prayers for the loved ones of those many people who have lost their lives, those who are missing, and those hundreds of families who have lost their homes.

Pray for them will you please?

hugs