Sunday Scripture...

 hugs

A well needed break...

It's my birthday on Sunday and when Mr E asked me last month what I'd like as a gift the only thing that came to mind was a weekend away. 

Away from the house, away from the office...away so I could catch my breath and sift through everything running through my mind and leave much of it behind by the time we return home.

Bless his heart, we're off to Cairns for two nights. How God thought I was worthy of having that man love me is a mystery! 

I've packed some newly designed and prepared blocks to stitch for my Gentle Domesticity BOM...

...my Cath Kidston yarn so I can make a start on these crochet  crotch-et granny squares...

...a new book which after the intro and first chapter has me excited to read the rest...

...and my own teacup with my favourite tea.

It's ghastly hot here in the tropics at the moment and we're holidaying in it (Cairns is 400 klms north of where we live) instead of heading south to cooler climes! Ah well, we weren't to know when we booked, but the nice thing is that we have an air-conditioned suite overlooking the ocean, a pool, night markets, excellent street stalls, restaurants, and each other.

We can walk after dark along the Marina, get up at dawn to go get coffee, veggie juice and breakfast, and spend the rest of my birthday relaxing in the suite with no 'work' to do (always a distraction when you work from home).

Reading, sewing, crochet, swimming, sleeping, and watching good movies.

Yep, my kind of break away from home.

And because this is out-of-holiday season we got our motel suite for a bargain. 

What will you be doing this weekend?

Are you looking for something new to stitch?

My friend Allie just released the cutest stitchery pattern "Whirly Twirly Garden" and I love it! Designs like this make me smile as I dream of lazy afternoons in a spring garden or if you live in the tropics like me this is definitely a winter scene. Hard to imagine if your winters involve snow, right?

Visit Allie HERE and see more of her pretty pattern!

 

I'm sorry I didn't share the recipe for my Pear & Cranberry gluten free loaf this week, but I'll definitely have it for you next week. With Blossom moving house, then unpacking into the new home these last seven days, I've not been home much and the blog was mostly ignored. 

But life's like that because family comes first. 

See you next week!

hugs

What makes a birthday special?

Loved ones make it special.

I like very relaxed birthdays, the kind where there's not a lot of fuss and you don't have to spend the day going to and fro or being rushed. My loved ones know that and they made sure Saturday was laid back and totally chilled out - well, as chilled out as you can be during high summer in the tropics!

Mr E and I met the sunrise with a coffee by the beach before he headed out to work, and then I spent the next six hours in my office with Elefantz correspondence.

Early evening and we caught up with dear Blossom and her beau for a cafe dinner before heading home to watch a movie. It was a very special day and I knew beyond doubt how much they love me.

Mr E bought me a beautiful bouquet of Australian natives, and a new handbag. Sweet Blossom blessed me with a matching wallet...

A day earlier on my birthday eve the love flowed from my small circle of kind and precious local friends -

Wendy, Heather & Barb.

Wendy drove up from Ayr earlier than usual so we scurried out to The Cat's Meow for breakfast after she gave me a bundle of delights - a sweet heart inspired topper, a pretty-as-a-picture mini birdhouse, and a plaque of inspiration....

Then off we went to Heather's where the most delicious cherry cheesecake was served for morning tea, with a huge bowl of refreshing punch...

Heather gifted me with handmade soap, the cutest little elephant pouch, and an adorable jewellery tree that has a tiny little birdie perched high...

Dear Barb was there too, and I was so touched that she allowed me to wear her new apron for the day...

...UNTIL she dropped the news that 'her' new apron wasn't really for her.

It was made for ME!

Isn't it gorgeous!? 

I may have 'screamed' when I was given the news it was really all mine...I might have. 

When I arrived back home the postie had been for a visit and once again my jaw dropped and my heart beat faster, because lovely Shez had made me the prettiest of all needle-books,  and with it was a paper-cut card.

I'm going to frame the card, it's far too pretty to leave in a drawer don't you think?

Family, friends...blessed.

Thank you to everyone who has left birthday greetings and love here on the blog, on the Elefantz Facebook page, on Instagram, via e-cards and emails.

I truly felt the love.

So I'm going to gift all of YOU with a free design  later this week.

Little peek so far...

hugs

'Fessin up, and birthday pics...

It's now day two of being 55.

I confess that I must be as vain as the next person. 

Looking at myself in the mirror I am rarely greeted with the image I'd like, and thanks to some rather excellent image alteration gadgets available through Picmonkey, a couple of weeks ago I was able to change the view from this, my natural untouched complexion...

 ...to this. The enhanced and air brushed version.

After a few comments about my flawless complexion, I decided I must confess to my detour down Vanity Lane and inform you that an airbrushed Jenny does indeed have a flawless complexion, but the real Jenny would now like to embrace her flaws. See the top photo, and you see *me*.

I think I'll take time next week for some real shots, front on, and replace the airbrushed version in the side-bar. 

Yes, I'm 55 and it seems as though I may be growing up.

Yesterday was birthday day, and it dawned overcast with a few scattered showers about.

I had a *beautiful* time with the Lord and He blessed me with three Scriptures to encourage me over the next year.

Next was the gift opening, and I was indeed spoiled by Mr E with this ceramic bird (and you know I adore birds)...

...and a gorgeous candle in a stone filled bowl!

Later in the day a bouquet arrived in the florist's van, another exquisite gift from my beloved husband. Just look at that rose!

Miss Blossom had her thinking cap on when choosing my gifts. I leave for Melbourne in less than two weeks so she bought me a beautiful new handbag, and a voucher to be pampered at the Body Shop!

And as everyone knows, I can never have enough flowers so she gifted me a bunch of my 'happy' flower favourites - gerberas...

Us girls have worked out that we prefer birthday breakfasts over birthday dinners, and this birthday breakfast was the best ever.

We arrived at the Jam Corner restaurant just after 9am, and feasted on the most amazing cuisine!

Blossom had the 'eggs benedict with smoked salmon on toasted brioche with house-made hollondaise'.

Mr E spooned the 'house-made granola with banana and organic honey, swirled with a raspberry sauce'.

My breakfast delight was the 'roasted field mushrooms with esquites, noodle wrapped fried feta cheese, poached egg and quinoa'....

If you want to drool over their menu (which I find brilliant for menu ideas at home on a simpler - far simpler - scale...) it's HERE.

Once home again, the postie arrived with this sweet pair of pears and a cute card from my friend, Angela...

The rest of the day was very quiet - we watched some Miss Marple and a Disney movie, stitched a bit, nibbled on cheese, fruit, and crackers, chatted with my grandsons on the phone - then laughing our way through a few old episodes of Frasier before bed.

It was a GOOD day.

Thanks for all those birthday blessings you've left on previous posts. What an incredibly kind and thoughtful group you are. I truly appreciate you. xx

Now we shall not discuss my birthday again for a whole 'nother year, I promise! 

Have a blessed weekend, just as you have blessed mine.

hugs

Talented fingers, gifties, and a winner!

The other day I shared some photos of gorgeous doilies I'd collected over the years, and how I had used them for little display vignettes around my home. You can read it HERE if you missed it.

Lline emailed me afterwards and asked about one of the doilies peeking out from under a pile of vintage classics...

 

She noticed the applique was puffy and asked if it had been stuffed from behind or during the stitching.

Here is the back of the doily, which shows that the stuffing was actually done during the applique...

Like Lline, I am in awe of such intricate craftsmanship in applique! You cannot even see the needleturn stitches...

Exquisite.

Today is my 55th birthday. Mr E and Blossom are taking me out for breakfast to Jam Corner and then I have no idea what they have planned. I'll show you my gifts from them tomorrow, but today let me show you the sweet delights some beautiful friends sent me by post this week.

Allie and I have been friends-of-the-heart for many years now, and we both yearn for a heavenly hug one day as we are on opposite sides of the world here on earth. She knows my need for simplicity, and her gift went straight to my heart when I opened the envelope. 

Look at these teeny tiny rose buttons! They are exquisite...

During my two years living in Esperance, Western Australia, I made friends with a lovely lady, Barb. She was the one who showed me how to bind a quilt, and encouraged me to pursue a career in design. She believed in me when I could not believe in myself.

It's been almost five years since we last sat across the table sharing a cuppa, but we stay in close contact, and always send gifts at Christmas and birthdays. I think you all know that I love birds because they feature in so many of my designs. Well, this birthday Barb added to my little bird collection...

Vickie lives up in the Northern Territory at Humpty Doo, which is in wetter tropics than the tropics I am in! We caught up 'for real' last year when she had a few hours between flights here in Townsville and we'll get to catch up again next month down in Melbourne at "Let's Get Stitched".

In an envelope with the cutest card was this beautiful tea-themed hanky...

And not a birthday gift, but a sharing between the best of friends, this leaf punched bookmark arrived recently from dear Ruth, whom has been a nearest and dearest for over 13 years!

We're both reading ( and re-reading) Rhonda Hetzel's "Down To Earth" book, and I've been using a cut off piece of cotton lace as my bookmark (a marvelous and simple idea if you're in need of a quick bookmark yourself) but I find I need about six bookmarks for such an interesting book as this so Ruth's sweet gift was perfect!

The thing I'm coming to appreciate more as I get older are the small, simple gifts that are made or chosen with the recipient in mind. I think in my younger days I tended to choose gifts that "I" liked, rather than making the effort to give something that was meaningful to the person of celebration.

And also as I get older I find myself wanting to give and receive 'smaller' things...after all, we can only own so much can't we?  

And simple little gifts need not be restrained to birthdays, anniversaries or the like - they can be given as the mood strikes, and I just love doing the unexpected to surprise someone, don't you?

I'm feeling very loved this birthday, and I don't feel old. 

I'm rejoicing that I've made it this far, and that God hasn't taken me Home yet because He still has a purpose for my life that has not yet been fulfilled. Isn't that an incredible thought!?

Of course I do want to go Home, because in reality I'm a spirit having a human experience and not the other way round, but whilst I am here I shall thank Him for being able to use me - for wanting to use me. 

YOU are here today because you still have a purpose to fulfill.

Honestly, that is the most exciting revelation I've had in years and every day I wake up and thank God I'm not too old, and that I really do have a purpose to fulfill. \o/

You, dear lady (or man) are a miracle, and your very special self has a purpose in this earthly life. 

To have a purpose is empowering.

Be empowered, and wake each day excited to discover how God will use you.

I pray the Lord bless YOU on this, my 55th birthday.

There is a Papillion Honey Bun WINNER!

Thank you to the 329 readers who entered my birthday giveaway. What a beautiful gathering of hearts you are, and I thank you for all the warm wishes you shared. xx

But there is only one honey-bun and the lucky winner drawn by Mr Random is ....

Congratulations to Sisababestitches!

I'll be emailing you today for your address details and then I can post this sweeter-than-sweet honey-bun your way.

The day is about to dawn, so I'd best get off here and pretty myself up for a very special birthday brekky with my beloveds.

Love and hugs to you all,

Being spoiled...

The girls came by for our fortnightly sewing day today, and they came bearing gifts.

I was pretty much gobsmacked at the time and thought they each put into a birthday gift for me.  

To say "I felt their love" is an understatment.

Michelle (no blog - yet!) used to paint, which is something she has never revealed to the rest of us, but for my birthday gift she picked up her paints and brushes again for the first time in 19 years! She knows I love having a little garden and painted four of the sweetest herb signs you have ever seen - all peering brightly from a pot of basil and thyme. She also hand embellished my card with pretty pencil drawings and a message that went deep into my thankful heart. And isn't that snail the cutest little guy?

Heather knows I have an insatiable delight for tea cups and birds, and her precious gift had both!

The tea cup and saucer are by Ashdene, a company who make my all time favourite tea things, so now I can officially say I have a small Ashdene 'collection'. Heather is also an amazing paper crafter so I was blessed with a sparkly jewelled card too. I love what was written on the front, "delight in simple things" - so very me.

Wendy's gift was a double gift of nourishment. 

One gift for my spirit - because writing is in my blood, I can't not write. This Footprints writing pad will be put to work immediately. You see, not to write is to shut off my air.

She also ministered to my soul. Self care isn't high on my agenda very often, but she made sure that for one day very soon I can leave work behind and enjoy a jolly good pampering.

My oh my, she knows me well...

We stitched and laughed all day, watching the heavy rain and listening to it's serenade through the large front windows...

Michelle is making an appliqued bag from a Leeanne Pitman design (Country Threads Issue 13.4) to carry her stitching in...

Wendy started work on a block in her Smee Designs quilt, "The Street"...

...and Heather is continuing with her "Best Friends Forever" stitched hexies. 

 I can't show you my project yet, at least not from the front...

 Remember my fly stitch tutorial a couple of weeks ago?

You can find it HERE.

Heather made a little pin book and pin cushion the same as mine, but I love hers more! 

In fact I almost made off with it when she wasn't looking...I'll try harder to distract her next time. ;-)

Mr E and I both have Hashimoto's Disease. He was diagnosed in 2009, and I was diagnosed a few weeks ago. It's an auto-immune disease, and one of the things that helps the body cope is to go gluten free, so I've been playing around with our family's 'normal' favourite recipes and making them GF. 

So far so good, with minimal failures.

Today for morning tea I made a GF version of "Matrimonial Slice", and the girls loved it as much as Mr E did...

For lunch I made a quick and delicious chicken and mushroom risotto which also went down with a smile all around...

I think we may have licked our bowls clean because they didn't even look as though they needed washing!

If you want to try these recipes I made today, leave a comment and I'll make up a pdf to share later in the week. 

Such a special day, made extra lovely because the friendship we four share is genuine, heartfelt, crazy, and exciting. 

Tomorrow...

I will share the remaining photos of home that I was going to show today, and it's also the release of the next double block set from Shabby Roses Home!

One last pic to share. I stole this from Wendy's blog HERE. 

She took this photo today of me and my sweet Blossom...

hugs