An eventful week...

 Well, some weeks surprise you, don't they?

Having decided to take my husband's advice and make time last week for genuine rest stops between my activities around the home and garden, plus a few hours of watching Cully May and Charlie while Bloss took Rafaella to the dentist, things unfolded a little differently.

Hubby had a day off work on Wednesday and we decided to drive out to a little outback country town where we lived from 2009-2011. It's a beautiful place and we have long held hopes of moving back there when he retires, but it's really just a dream, so these slow days when we visit are very special as the atnosphere is so calm and peaceful - something we love. 

It was a lovely day, but a bit wearying, so we had an early night and woke next morning to RAIN. Oh thank the Lord, we finally got RAIN! Since March we have only had one day of very light rain (in June), but this ended up being three days of gentle showers and a few heavier ones - the garden was ecstatic! On that Thursday I gathered my sewing and sat quietly with my needle listening to the raindrops and enjoying the cooler temperature. 

But of course, over at Blossom's the children wanted to go outside and play in the rain...as most children do! Naturally she sent them out with her blessing, but within a few minutes, Cully May had slipped and was crying out in distress. Fast forward an hour, and Blossom dropped off Rafaella and Charlie to me, and headed off to the hospital with Cully May, where Ross would meet them. 

I kept the two children occupied with a variety of crafts (and plenty of nibbles) while we waited for news on Cully May...

...and once that news came, it wasn't good. Our sweet 8yo has broken four of the toes in her left foot. As everything was still swelling, the orthopaedic surgeon has put her in a boot for 8-9 days, and will then do another MRI before making the decision about putting pins in before switching her to a cast. She has a lot of pain right now, but the painkillers help her to also have some good hours each day and in the night. She had crutches until today, but they are difficult for children and the hospital thought it best she get a paediatric wheelchair, which they picked up this morning. She face-timed me to show how well she uses it around the house - wonderful news. :-)

Yesterday (Sunday) we decided to bring Rafaella and Cully May to our house for the day, and do some new homeschooling lessons, plus give the girls some fun activities with Poppy as he doesn't get to see them as often as me. 

Cully May is very bright and has long wanted to build a robot, so Poppy bought this kit to do with her...

...and they spent five hours building Tobbie together. Hubby's previous occupation as a technology teacher certainly has advantages for our grandchildren, and he was simply amazing teaching and assisting her. As you can see, she was a very happy young lady working on her robot with Poppy...

Meanwhile, Rafaella and I baked some bread rolls from a favourite recipe, to use at lunchtime for making mini hamburgers (the girls LOVE hamburgers!), and then we baked a gluten free pineapple upside down cake for dessert (I am gluten free) - but we forgot to take photos. Too much fun!

Then Rafaella had her first sewing lesson. You see, the day before I had bought a second hand Janome off FB Marketplace for $75 and it was in almost new condition. My plan for a while has been to teach the girls to sew on a machine, and this one was listed at just the right time.

I set it up in my sewing room, on the little table from their cubby house. First I had Rafaella practice sewing lines that I had drawn on paper. She did three pages of lines until she could see they were practically all straight - and then we began with the fabric. 

She wanted to make a yellow pincushion, so that's exactly what she did. I instructed her along the way, and helped with things like turning the pincushion right side out, and afterwards stitching the opening shut by hand...but she sewed all the seams, stuffed it nice and firm, and then together we sewed two buttons either side. 

So excited was she, that she went on to make another two little cushions for her dolly beds at home! I will get photos when I visit them tomorrow, as I forgot yesterday amid all that was happening during the day. 

Rafaella is Level 2 Autistic and is mostly non-verbal. She has sensory issues and is non-social, and as per her assessment (by a beautiful Christian psychologist whom we have known for more than 20 years) will lead a very different life even in adulthood. Homeschooling helps her to feel secure, as she does not have to leave the home or deal with others. That's the simplest explanation that I'll share with you, for as in all cases with precious children like her there are a lot more issues as well, but we keep them within the family. 

After the robot was built, Cully May wanted to learn how to sew on the machine as well, but we needed to get her settled on my old comfy chair so she could use my own sewing machine - there was no way with her foot that she could get down low and use the small machine Rafaella had used. 

While Cully May was learning how to sew, Poppy took Rafaella out to the pool for a swim and to help her practice her backstroke. We took the girls home in time for their tea and stories and bedtime. It was a wonderful day!

Here's Cully May's pincushion all finished...

We went to bed early again last night, as Nana and Poppy were plumb tuckered out...but what a happy and productive day we'd all had together. 

This morning my beloved once again instructed me to take things slow, as I waved him off to work. So I went out back and spent two hours cleaning the undercover area next to the carport, and that led to lots of bits and pieces of washing and rearranging, and repotting a few plants...until at 10am, I felt myself being so emptied of energy that I came inside and switched on the air conditioner, brewed a decaf coffee and covered it with leftover whipped cream from the upside down cake the day before. A couple of gluten free muffins I baked the other day filled a plate, and I was ready to put my feet up and truly rest. 

Rest is such a needed thing for us all after busy days, stressful trials, recovering from illness, or having to deal with unforseen concerns. No matter what you are facing today, sweet ones, rest in Jesus. Make time, even if you only have fifteeen minutues, to sit down, put your feet up if you can, and lean on Him. He has restored my soul today, for I was feeling every bit of my 65 years, and more, when I woke this morning, but I pushed myself further than I should and by 10am, my body gave out. Surrendering to rest isn't laziness, my dear sisters...it's humbling, it's showing kindness to our body/mind/spirit, and it draws us into the arms of Jesus. 

I had another blog post I wanted to share last week, but life stepped in, so I'll get back to it for you in a few days. It's all about working with woven wool felt...my new pleasure. 

Oh, I have a NEW newsletter that you can sign up to! 

It is free, and I'll email it out to you every Friday (Australian time). 

Please use this button (pictured below) in the right-hand side bar of my blog to subscribe to it, OR you can click HERE to go direct to the subscription page. 

This is not the same as the newsletter I was sending out for about eleven years, it's a new company and therefore you must subscribe again as the old list is no longer valid. 

And for those who get confused - my newsletter is not my blog, and it is not a blog post, it is something else altogther and I often share freebies and news this way, as well as links to current blog posts. :-)

God bless each and every one of you,

Till next time...

Joy in the Ordinary block 5...and hats...

 

I enjoy watching and re-watching the Miss Marple movies with Geraldine McEwan more than any other version...but I think some of you may have preferred Joan Hickson or Julie McKenzie instead? It really doesn't matter, but I would be interested to know your favourite.

In Murder at the Vicarage, the vicar's wife Griselda loves hats, and has many beautiful ones to choose from. 

In fact, in every Marple movie (they were set in the 1950's) all women wore a hat. 

I have often pondered with Blossom our combined love of these movies, and how we never, ever, tire of them...and you know, it's all about the little English villages, the flower fronted cottages, the afternoon cups of tea and scones or cake, hats and dresses, and the homes. We are very much drawn to the very simple, ordinary life which is portrayed by everyday people in many of these movies.

My Nana wore hats, though we rarely took photos 'back in the day' as we did not have a camera, but I do have this one from the mid 1950's of her and Pop. 

And this is a photo of my mum, aged 19 (1960) at a family wedding, and me at that same wedding a little later when mum took off her hat and placed it on me. (((my favourite pics to remember her by)))

Blossom loves hats, and has one of those heads that really suits them! Here's an old photo of her (aged 20) from 2014 when we tried on all sorts of dress-up hats one day at Spotlight. 

And this trend carried on with her daughters Cully May and Rafaella, who also like trying on headwear at Spotlight! This is a photo from 2019...

Now all this hat stuff today was to explain why there's a hat in this month's free pattern for my Joy in the Ordinary BOM! 

I was thinking about Griselda's hats when I watched Murder at the Vicarage for the umpteenth time last month, and well, it inspired me. Hope you like it. Thought I'd add the phrase too, as it has always been my intention to have it displayed somewhere on this small quilt before we finished it. 

Do you wear hats?? Do you have childhood memories of hat wearing women? I only wear one for gardening these days, but to slip back into the 1950's would be such a treat if I could wear those lovely dresses and a pretty hat like Griselda's.

Use the link below to download the free pattern.

DOWNLOAD Block 5

If you missed the previous four blocks you will find them HERE

Now I'd best be away and water my garden. Barefoot. It's a wonderful thing to walk in the grass, don't you think? God bless and have a wonderful first week of May!

hugs

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Rafaella, my new apron and news...

Rafaella spent the day with me on Tuesday and, as promised, we baked unicorns, of the gingerbread kind. 

We also baked gingerbread men, and rose centred rounds. My pretty little granddaughter had so much fun, and it was pure joy to my heart when she said, "Nana, we have the best times together!"

Gingerbread dough is stiff, so I did help a little, but my girl had her hands in every step of our baking that morning. I rolled out the dough and she pressed the shapes ready for the baking tray. While everything cooled we made the icing and enjoyed some sparkling lemon barley water because baking is thirsty business. She was so proud of her work...

Rafaella decorated everything with icing, sprinkles and roses.

There was a tiny bit of gingerbread mix remaining after pressing the shapes, so she made it into a little heart for her mummy, Blossom, decorating it all over with sprinkles. 

We then had lunch, made necklaces with beads and 'jewels', played hairdressers, and of course she played with Harry-dog. Before driving her back home we walked up to the corner shop for ice-cream and chatted about all the fun we'd had that day...the kind of day we love to spend together. 

Rafaella is a little homemaker at heart, and loves to learn about all the things her mummy and I do as housewives, but most of all she loves to bake. You can't see it but she did wear the purple chicken scratch apron in the kitchen, but it was in fact a bit long, so before our next bake-date I shall make her a popover apron in just her size. 

She loved the new apron I had made myself the day before, using that 1929 pattern from this blog post...

...and I was very pleased with it too! This was the fifth time I'd used that same pattern, but the first time I've hand sewn binding around all the edges. Have to say, it really added that something extra.

I also made two lined pockets and added a lace trim to them because lace gives an extra touch of pretty femininity, something I love in an apron.

That Apron Swap...

Wow, I have had a wonderful response to the Apron Swap which was announced in my last blog post!

There's going to be a lot of aprons winging back and forth across the globe around December 9th...and I pray they all arrive by New Year. Won't it be lovely to start a new year of cooking, cleaning, gardening and baking in a pretty gifted apron lovingly made by a new friend and kindred apron-lover?

There's still time to sign up if you'd like to join in, but I'm closing the window for joining at midnight on Friday (November 18th). Just go HERE to email me before then, with your name, address and country.

The 2022 "Books & Roses" bookmark BOM...

I apologise for not getting the November bookmark out to you on time, but I needed to get things rolling with the new free BOM "The Virtuous Wife" for November 1st. You see I'd thought this new BOM for next year would run over twelve months, but there's so much in it that I had to change that to fourteen months, which is why we began this month instead of January. 

I'll have the November bookmark ready for you on the weekend, and the December one as well. So one is late and the other will be early. This way you can get your bookmarks completed before the year ends, and use them as gifts or finish the stitcheries inside quilt blocks (which is what many of you are doing). 

Changes to my new "The Virtuous Wife" BOM...

If you missed the first free block in this brand new BOM, pop over HERE to download that pattern. 

Originally I'd decided to offer each block free during it's month, then pop the pattern in my Etsy Shop when the next block was shared the following month...BUT...I have decided to keep every block free until the end of the BOM. "The Virtuous Wife" is a project years in the planning, covered with so much prayer, and designed with the Holy Spirit as my guide so that it can be a blessing to all who choose to stitch it. And the added blessing now is that it will remain a free gift. 

Last reminder for those who would like to sign up for the Daisy-a-Day BOM...

Memberships to join this 9-month block of the month will close on November 24th, and there will be no more sign-ups accepted after that date. The patterns will not be available in my shop, only through this membership program. There are 12 patterns sent via email over nine months, and the cost is $6.95 AUD per month (approx. $4.70 US). 

To learn more and sign on, if you'd like to, go HERE

IMPORTANT: I have problems with three new memberships for Daisy-a-Day. 

The email address these ladies have used with Paypal are invalid, so if you have signed up for the BOM but not yet received your first email with the gifted double pattern for blocks 1 and 12, please email me HERE with your correct contact details as soon as possible, otherwise I'll have to cancel your membership on the 24th of November when sign ups close. I hope those ladies read this as I have no valid email address with which to contact any of them.

I realise many people do give 'fake' email address to Paypal in order to protect their privacy, but it also prevents you from receiving digital items you have purchased. 

Goodness, that's it for today, I've talked your ear off I think! 

It's definitely time to brew a nice cup of turmeric latte, put my feet up as I have a dreadful flare up of 'pes anserine bursitis' after falling on my knee late Tuesday and now have to rest it a lot, continue stitching block 8 of The Virtuous Wife quilt (I am excited to be so far ahead!) and continue listening to Agatha Christie's 'Postern of Fate' read by Hugh Fraser who is my favourite Agatha Christie narrator (though Emelia Fox is excellent too). 

I am praying for each of you who take the time to visit this blog and read my posts - that your hearts and mind are calm, that your days bring more peace than turmoil, that your plans are directed by the Lord, that your needs are provided for by God's providence, and that you are never lonely, but always, always, conscious of the loving arms of Jesus wrapped tightly around you. 

Bless you heaps,

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October bookmark pattern...

This month's bookmark is finally done, thanks for your patience. 

I drew up a sweet stack of teacups to applique, perched them on a stack of books and popped a couple of red roses in the smallest cup. 

On your pattern sheet I've drawn little roses inside each tea cup, just in case you'd rather stitch them than add applique. 

Something else I did this month was to hand quilt the top and bottom feature fabrics, one with diagonal cross hatch, and the other with squares. I also made this bookmark much larger than previous months as some of my reference books require more than the average size to save a page. 

A triple layer of lace and ribbon completed the October bookmark. 

Hope you like this one! Use the link below to download the free pattern.

DOWNLOAD Books & Roses October stitchery pattern

 

Early each morning there's been cloud cover for a few hours, so usually I'm found pottering around the garden, doing what I can to prepare beds and pots for the very hot months ahead. 

There's not a great deal of food you can grow here outside of the winter months, strange as that may seem to most of you, but I'm studying up on what might work. So far, we've got two new pumpkin plants doing well, sweet potatoes just kicking off, more spring onions (green onions) which always do well year-round, radishes, rocket (always does well), a capsicum plant which resides in a pot of snapdragons, and beetroot greens. Much of these are under shade cloth in the raised beds, or for the smaller pots I've used old net curtains to shade them. 

I roasted the last butternut pumpkin yesterday. It was only a small one, but perfect...

For fruit we have a paw paw tree which has established itself well the past two months so we're hopeful of fruit (probably next year), and the passionfruit vine is vigorously spreading over the structure hubby built for it. Our sole blueberry plant surprised us with six blueberries last month, and has suddenly had a growth spurt, so we're hopeful for future fruit. The blackberry bush was so dormant the past six months that we though it had died, but no, it's sprouted to life and is beginning to spread it's limbs across another structure hubby built for it. 

Ginger, which we're growing for the first time, has burst to life in a pot, so I got keen and planted another ginger corm in the raised bed where we had grown tomatoes over winter. 

With regards to flowers - the geraniums, snapdragons, calendula, roses, dianthus, seaside daisy (which grow in the shade of the elder tree) and zinnias are all doing fairly well. Amazingly, the chrysanthemums are still bringing forth a few blooms as well! I have to keep my eye on everything though as our sun is already scorching petals if I'm not checking often and moving pots around to shadier spots if needed.

After browsing one of my garden books, I picked some chive blossoms the other day to make a flavoured vinegar. 

I only made half a jar as I didn't have enough blossoms for the full recipe, but it will be fun to watch this jar turn a deep pink over the next two weeks...

Apparently the flavour is delicious, and as the only ingredients were chive blossoms and white wine vinegar, if we like it I'll make more each year.

This is the book I'm reading - full of garden ideas!

Remember those pretty china teacups and saucers I showed you in the last blog post? Well, Blossom and the children were over on Tuesday and the girls couldn't wait to have a tea party! They even asked for a refill. 

Charlie is almost two now, can you believe it?! 

Every time I try to get a photo though, he's jumping around and not wanting to stand still so the photos are blurry...but, you can still see how he melts my heart!

Migraines are hitting very hard at the moment, so blog posts have slowed...but I didn't want you to wait any longer for the new bookmark stitchery, so thought while I have a free hour I'd give you a catch up on home life as well. 

I truly hope that each of you are doing well, that you're finding joyful things to put your hands and minds to...and that you remember to give thanks each day for the sacred gift of life. Beginning each day with prayers of praise and gratitude, we set our thoughts on the Father above, and this in turn brings blessing to the hours that follow. 

We thoroughly enjoying the extra time spent reading God's Word before breakfast, as well as after. My beloved, who has a stressful job, drives off in a much calmer state of mind. Spending that extra time each day in our Bible study has been, and is, incredibly life giving. In fact, I hear my husband let out a sigh when it's time to close his Bible and go get ready for work...and I think, that's what it should be like, right? We should love reading God's Word so much, that we don't want to put it down. 

Bless you heaps, lovely ones. I've got notes for the next book study chapter, but with this barrage of migraines (weather related) it's not been easy to assimilate it all into a blog post. Soon, though.

Hugs and blessings

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