Refreshing...

Can you believe we're in our sixth month at this new home?

A lot has happened in that time and many plans we had made early on needed to be re-thought, postponed or cancelled. It's not been the best start to a year that's for sure but really, that's okay - because each new day offers opportunity for refreshed focus and a clearer view of what can be done. 

This week I decided to take a good look at our living/dining room area and assess how well the placement of furniture has worked for us since we moved in late last September. 

Now that I no longer have a big office space and corner desk, it's been difficult to spread things out when writing patterns at the small desk near the front entrance. 

The dining table was over by the kitchen where it's handy for meals but I never take my work over there because I need to go back and forth between the laptop and what's spread on the table. 

Refreshing.

So in a moment of inspiration whilst vacuuming and mopping the floors on Wednesday I moved the dining table behind my desk and put the couch over by the kitchen. My husband never thought this would work (which is why we didn't try it when we moved here) but it has. 

There's beautiful natural light at the table and now I can sit there to write patterns, do a bible study, plan my week, or just enjoy a cuppa with a magazine or book. 

I love where the turquoise couch is now - just right for cosy prayer time, quiet reflection, or having an arvo rest.

My new Autumn mini quilt is hanging close by...

Bob-the-dog is getting older, turning 12, and likes to sleep under the coffee table so I put his comfy green bed there with an orange mat for when he wants to spread out and rub his back. 

I did a bit of refreshing last week too, in the pantry. 

Again, I was assessing how the placement of things when we moved in was working after five months of daily use. Some sections definitely needed to be swapped about and besides, a good scrub of the shelves and checking for expiration dates was due...

I'm going to sew little tags for the large green storage tubs so my husband knows what's inside them!

As there is no door on our walk in pantry I like it to be more than functional, it needs to be pleasing to the eye when you walk past. It's right across from me as I prepare meals at the kitchen bench and I admit to being joyful when I see the order and simple layout. 

I've hung Allie's Lemon Tree quilt just inside the pantry entrance and this weekend will buy a white board to hang there as well to keep track of my grocery needs each week. 

I'm a list maker and there's too many shopping lists around the house on scraps of paper (and in my handbag) so a white board will be a most worthwhile purchase.

I've been refreshing in other ways too.

Like "My Vintage Kitchen" wall hanging from 2015 

Originally it was designed as a set of small redwork blocks and I shared them over the course of nine months on the blog, but I'm not much into redwork anymore.

With all our discussion of late in the book study about using colour around the home and in our lives, a second version of My Vintage Kitchen has been developing because I find beautiful pops of colour make me very happy...

These are the same three blocks from the original redwork version...

Once I've completed all the blocks and designed a new mini-quilt layout to display them I'll have the pattern ready for you.

I'm still working away on my "Phyllis May's Kitchen BOM" but there's a few more blocks to complete before I can bring them all together in one project...and I'll tell you a secret. 

It's not a quilt. 

I wonder how you feel about that?

I'm quite excited.

I'll sign off today with the birthday card my sweet Blossom gave me last month.

We both marvel at the gift God has given us through each other, the bonds we share, the trials we have faced and the ongoing desire we have to grow into better mothers, wives and women.

She's become my closest and dearest female friend, my prayer partner, Bible study buddy and in her own fresh way - a mentor. 

I admire her gentle humility; her honesty about where her life is each day and what she struggles with; her constancy and faithfulness in the roles of wife, mother and daughter; her offering of weakness before our strong God when it all gets too much; and her resilience, faith, hope and laughter which showers sunshine on a cloudy day.

I'm so incredibly blessed...

May the Lord shower your life this weekend with sunshine through the clouds, joy to wipe away tears, hope to fulfill long-held dreams and a heart that chooses kindness and compassion when emotions are frayed.

Bless you always,

PS: Visit my Etsy Shop here if you need something to stitch this weekend.

Brightening...

There's no getting away from the fact our house has felt a bit like a war zone of late. Things that had to go, things that needed scrubbing to within an inch of life, holes in the ceiling, and sheer exhaustion because there is always something else to do.

I decided the best way to lift our spirits was to add some bright and cheerful colour to the unaffected areas, and to buy some new indoor plants for that spark of 'life'.

This morning we slept late - first time in so long I can't remember. We gave in to the weariness and allowed ourselves to forget about chores and just drift into deeper sleep. I highly recommend this.

Once awake and able to think clearly we headed out to Bunnings for those plants.

For inside we bought a beautiful glass bowl with three lush greens to display on the 'restored after the mould' coffee table...

...and two single plants in beautiful blue ceramic tile pots...

For outside in the garden I also bought a tray of coleus seedlings and planted some under the shade of our big ixora bush, and planted two more in Mr E's old black boots.

After a simple lunch of crackers, dip and boiled eggs, I chopped up our very ripe peaches and made a couple of pots of jam. We'll savour some on fresh scones tomorrow and I'll use more in a Matrimony Slice for hubby's work morning teas next week...

 My sewing room has been scrubbed, anything remotely affected by the water damage removed, and new curtains hung after Mr E added an extra shelf above the sewing machine. 

Next week I will re-cover all the dining chairs (one is in my sewing room) but for now they have white cloths over the padded seats so having the sewing room up and running again is needed.

Today it was a joy to work in...

On my list of 'brightening' activities was to finish that sweet little row of sparrows I appliqued last week as a cushion for the couch.

I love the large floral print because it's blends beautifully with the gingham and brights of the birds...

Simply machine quilted and with a zippered backing, this was a quick finish...

With the new plants and the cushion we're on the way to bright and cheery again.

Let me show you what came out of just one air conditioner yesterday.

It took the cleaner two hours to remove all the mould and looking at this it's no wonder I've been so sick with a mould allergy. Last night, with clean air flowing through our home again my recovery began.

Back to something nice - some brightening things for home and heart, yes?

I'm crocheting the Sweet Pea blanket for Rafaella's 1st birthday early in March so shall revive my yarn mojo next week and get it finished. This was such a joy to do before I was otherwise occupied and I'm ready to pick up where I left off and enjoy some more crochet bliss before her big day...

At night my downtime before bed is being spent inside the pages of this really lovely book.

Who thought boiling water would be such a special experience? Loving it.

In the kitchen Mr E was spoiled with a lemon meringue pie for Valentines...

...and during my afternoon cuppa I've been really enjoying episodes of  Michael Pollan's "Cooked" on Netflix. In fact, I'm about to watch episode two again because it inspired me to return to slow cooking once more.

Well, that's it from me this early Saturday evening. I have a leg of lamb slowly roasting in the oven and need to peel the potatoes for creamy garlic mash. 

We'll feast on more pie afterwards and watch a movie if we can stay awake that long.

Slow cooking, brightening the home, sewing, reading books that inspire my gentle domestic heart, adding a splash of living green around about and planning for the week ahead...it's been a good day.

Thank you Lord for carrying us through this month and for being faithful in all things, even when we falter...may your kindness and care overflow into every heart reading this post and bless them abundantly.

hugs

Third time lucky?

Two months.

We've been in this lovely home, our home, for two months.

And my heart wants to take the best of this gentle domestic life I've lived for years in various rental homes and make it flow with rhythm and joy in the ordinary, right here in our own new home.

Now, I'm not sure what constitutes 'ordinary' to you but top of the list for me is breadmaking. There's something about pulling a loaf of bread you've made yourself  out of a hot oven and being enveloped in fresh crusty bakery aromas which immediately cause your taste buds to salivate and your heart to melt.

My plan this week was to return to the regular baking days of earlier this year, when every loaf was delicious, not one failed, and my beloved's tummy was quite content with fresh crusty fare.

But the thing with a new house is you have a new stove top and a new oven. And they don't usually work the way you expect them to. At least that is what I have found in the twenty plus homes we've lived in since we married in 1991.

Usually I play around for a while and eventually work out whether the thermostat is perfect of not (only 2 from 21 have been) and then adjust up or down with temperatures until my degrees for each recipe are just right. This new oven, and it really is quite new, has stumped me a few times already just with regular baking but I've tweaked a bit and and now can be assured of a relatively good result. 

Except with bread.

Two loaves, Monday and Tuesday we shall call them, have landed in the bird feeder so far this week and I have made them up exactly the way I've done in the past so I was genuinely confused as to what is going wrong. The birds really don't mind and are quite joyfully picking and pecking at my failures...but I asked Mr E "do I give up or persevere?" and he chose the latter. 

So today I decided to bake a fruity loaf for breakfast toast and not to finish it in the oven but let the breadmaker do all the work. 

Normally I let the breadmaker do the kneading and bring the dough to it's first rise, then I punch it down, shape and place in a bread tin for the second rise before baking in the oven. Always successful.

Anyhow, while I'm figuring out what's going on with my oven I'll let my Breville knead and bake for me. 

Today's Wednesday loaf didn't have a burnt bottom and overly crunchy sides like Monday and Tuesday did, but it was a bit flat. Still, the fruit loaf is more dense than a sandwich loaf and it jolly well smells amazing...

My new oven is fan forced and should have even heat all around but I've been reading online and I may need to bake the next loaf on a higher shelf as this is quoted as being a problem with some ovens.

We shall see...Thursday will be another loaf and another experiment.

Next year draws closer and like many people I'm considering a fresh start with a few things, whilst letting go of others. Perhaps it's due to finally having our own home, knowing we're settled now and don't have to plan our next move ever again, that I'm excited to explore some new paths that have been on my mind for years?

There's a part of me which cannot wait to tell you what I shall be doing, but there's also a knowing that everything has its season and I cannot rush any of it, regardless of how much I'd like to. Being content to wait is a good thing because each day the vision becomes clearer and I can see the obstacles as well as the benefits to these new ventures, and I can also discuss them with my husband and some close friends who know me very well and allow me to bounce ideas off them. Having people who will pray for you when big changes are afoot (thanks Allie) or who know what running a business whilst being a committed homemaker is like and call you almost every week to check up and keep in touch (thanks Fee) is a God given blessing I treasure. 

On a personal level what I really want from 2019 is to more fully embrace the gentle domestic life and chat with you about it...in fact Fee and I will be working through the book which started it all for me (The Gentle Art of Domesticity) and sharing a lot via our blogs. I think you will love what we have in mind, but I shouldn't run ahead as we still need to plan that out.

I mentioned next door's poinciana tree last Sunday and thought you may like to see it?

Those long hands of red blooms look like flames and though not a true flame tree it's what Mr E and I call it...

I have always longed for a poinciana tree and to think God gave me one where I love to swim and talk to Him, right beside our fence should not have surprised me but it did.

Frangipani are another of my favourite trees and recently I took cuttings from four different ones in our neighbourhood - white, red, orange and yellow. Following instructions from our gardening books I let the cutting-ends dry over for a couple of weeks before planting in pots. They've all sprouted new leaves and I'm quite excited as one day they'll be planted into our yard and that wonderful frangipani fragrance will fill the air.

Bob-the-dog is still chasing the Ibis out of the yard if he sees them but if he sleeping inside they fly down and dig in the garden for bugs so I was finally able to get photos though I must keep my distance because they're not as comfortable with me as the cockatoos and rainbow lorikeets are.

We have a lot of aloe vera plants in pots that we brought from our old place and they're all sprouting new shoots so we'll re-pot some and put the larger plants into garden beds. Hubby slathers his face and neck with the fresh juice from the aloe each night after being in the garden or teaching classes outside at the school.

Our menu is still being simplified and we chat about the need to push aside current trends which encourage people to try all cuisines, and cook recipes which use twenty (or more) ingredients for one dish...which leads us on to considering just how much we need to eat, how many ingredients are necessary and how do we feel after we eat. It's been a great thought provoker but mostly we're listening to our bodies more and have found that too many ingredients do not bode well with our digestive systems. So I've gone back in my mind to growing up with Nana and simplifying again.

The shopping trolley isn't as full but the ingredients are better quality. Less has become more.

And speaking of simple food, something I used to love for lunch as a child was curried egg and lettuce sandwiches with a cup of tea and I've been having this three times a week for the last month!

 It's cheap, nutritious and delicious. The eggs are free range, the bread is light rye and the lettuce must be iceberg for the crunch. 

Seriously, I never tire of this, but it's not on Mr E's list of favourite lunches so I have it Monday, Wednesday and Friday when he's at school. I boil the eggs for seven minutes (I boil enough for a week) then peel and mash with curry powder, mayonnaise, salt and pepper...

Served with a hot cup of back tea this suits me fine.

In the sewing scheme of things I am very patiently awaiting delivery of some Tilda solid cream fabric so I can begin sewing my new block of the month. I walk past this lone churn dash block and that lovely fat quarter bundle of Apple Butter at least five times a day and sigh...so excited am I to make a start. 

Also finishing a supper cloth with the designs for December's Stitchery Club. My idea is to make something in a vintage style so that one day it can be passed along to the next generation - just the way I collect old doilies and linens. It's up to us to make for those who come after us, yes?

Oh, in case you're new here and wondered, that Joy in the Ordinary stitchery from the first photo is still a free pattern download here in my shop and always will be.

Well, enough of my ramblings today, but I'd like to leave you with something I shared on Facebook and Instagram yesterday after I took a rare selfie.

May it encourage all you dear beautiful women because you truly are precious, just as you are.

I don’t wear makeup and I don’t dye my hair so this is me, as me, all day every day. Although this is my first hair bun! Finally my hair is long enough.

Thought I'd share a photo (a rare selfie) so you can put a face to my name. Many of you only know me as 'Jenny of Elefantz', the designer of patterns, encourager in the gentle domestic life, blogger, Christian and homemaker, but it's nice to see who I am every day, yeh? 
Have to tell you I'm pretty comfortable in my own skin, aging naturally, cherishing the lines of life which each year grow deeper, the silver hair which brightens my blue eyes and the 'cuddliness' my husband, daughters and grandies love. 
Looking back on my life I wish I'd not placed so much focus of the outward appearance, but looked deeper inside my heart and worked on refining things like kindness, grace, mercy, compassion, honesty, humility, faithfulness, generosity and patience...these came along later (and are still being refined). Can I encourage you today to look at yourself, as you are, without any adornments, and give thanks for the wonderful woman you are becoming? Yes, becoming. Because we're all growing, all changing, all undergoing changes that will only make us more and more beautiful if we allow them to. 
Don't compare yourself to anyone else, just be a better version of yourself tomorrow than you are today...that's my way of thinking as I draw near to the end of my 50's. It's not about how I look, it's about what others see IN me and praying that they see those very traits I want to embrace - kindness, grace, mercy, compassion, honesty, humility, faithfulness, generosity and patience.
Girls, you are beautiful. Just wanted to tell you that today.

hugs,