The last Vintage Kitchen block and a special gift...

When I was growing up and even in my teenage motherhood years nearly every home had a display of canisters in the kitchen, typically holding flour, sugar, tea and coffee and occasionally salt. 

I remember a particular canister at one home labelled bi-carbonate of soda and though at the time I wondered why anyone would have a big supply of it on hand as I only used a tiny amount when baking Anzac biscuits or banana cake, these days I use it all the time for cleaning and need a very large container to store it.

The set of canisters I've stitched in this final block of My Scrappy Vintage Kitchen are very much like the simple ones my Nana had on a shelf in her kitchen. They were plain, melamine I think, with solid green lids and raised red letters glued on to make the words. 

These days many women tend to store their ingredients in glass jars but in Nana's time she would save glass for preserving her pickles and jams. 

The complete My Scrappy Vintage Kitchen pattern can be found HERE

If you missed the previous blog posts for blocks 1 - 8 they are listed here

Next Friday I'll share the finishing instructions for bringing all nine blocks together as a small wall quilt.

After spending Wednesday morning at Blossom's I wasn't expecting to see her and the girls again until next week but what a surprise when they turned up at my door yesterday with a gorgeous vase of flowers, doughnuts, huge cuddles and the happiest smiles!

While Cully May and Rafaella played (we have a good supply of toys, books and pencils on hand all the time), my sweet Blossom opened the Word of God and we read together, discussed what we were reading and pondered the importance of applying the lessons within to our individual lives. 

Though unprepared for their visit, I was struck by the simplicity of our day as it unfolded.

I think many times we over-plan when a visitor is coming, at least I do. It seems there's always a rush to make sure the house is 'right' and food is abundant and fresh.

But yesterday's impromptu visit was incredibly simple because all we thought of was the joy of spending time together. Bloss had brought with her a delicious bottle of kombucha (which we both love), fruit juice, a tray of cinnamon doughnuts, bananas and blueberries - so the four of us feasted well. 

The little ones climbed all over me and cuddled till I almost couldn't breathe, in between peeling stickers from my stash of colouring books and playing tea parties, then at lunchtime they finished off pasta leftovers from the night before. Truly it was a simple and simply delightful day and we both agreed these are the sort of days we enjoy the most. 

The other day I mentioned a very special gift which I'd received from my dear friend Rosie and today I shall show it to you...

For the longest time I have watched Rosie make the most exquisite books from cardboard and paper; each one a work of art and an example of her craftsmanship with paper.

I never expected to receive one of her unique creations yet wrapped carefully in a large blue box, last Friday this became my own. 

Every page has pockets, many hidden inside the page itself, plus all sorts of cards and labels...

...where I can put photos, write recipes or quotes, special notes and thoughts.

You know, Rosie was the first person I shared my heart with about pursuing a gentle domestic life back in 2014. We'd spend hours at each other's kitchen table, stitching in hand, discussing our love for the simplicity of the old ways, the gentle ways.

So I think you can see Rosie poured a lot of that sentiment into her gift for me.

My heart was overwhelmed with this, and it shall be treasured.

How blessed am I?

Another thing I mentioned the other day was sharing a sneak peek at the free BOM I'm working on for next year, but I've decided to hold back on that for a little while...after all, it's still October.

So let's wait until November's page is turned on the calendar, for I think this project is worth waiting a little while longer for, plus my mind continues to think of extras I can add to the final display.

Hint. It's not a quilt.

May the Lord's day of rest refresh you this coming Sabbath and be a true delight to your soul, 

hugs

End of a week...

It seems this week chose to roll along at a faster pace than I'd anticipated. 

But some weeks are like that. 

I prefer slower weeks with relaxed hours that seem to linger longer, giving the soul and body a bit more time to unwind and relax, regardless of chores or work or visitors or sunsets.

Gathering plums on sale before the season is over has me stalking the supermarket and fruit shop so I can make a few extra jars of my plum & cinnamon jam, hopefully to see us through winter and spring. Seriously, I would choose this jam over any other and because of that it never lasts long in our house. Which is why over the next week I'm planning to double what I usually make.

Rosie came by this morning and I also invited Debbie, a new acquaintance from our Gentle Domesticity group, to visit as well. 

The three of us had a lovely morning tea, sharing stories of younger school days, the endless heat, floods, sewing, education, family and other 'getting to know each other topics' whilst sipping cappuccinos and feasting on fruit cake, matrimony slice and some lovely biscuits Debbie had brought along. 

We even stitched a bit too. 

I sent them both home with jars of plum jam which I do hope they enjoy as much as we do. 

Yesterday I spent the morning at Blossom's, filling my heart with granddaughter love and lots of cuddles. My darling daughter is glowing, in spite of the lack of sleep and if you saw her you would say "Motherhood definitely becomes her". 

Ross is home on paternity leave which has given their little family time to bond with Rafaella, and that lovely bonus of sharing more of the parenting load has drawn them closer than ever as a couple.

Cully May loves being a big sister to Rafaella.

Earlier in the week I was reading about Miracle Spray for home cleaning on Annabel's blog and decided to make some as I genuinely prefer products without harsh chemicals but haven't really liked what I've tried in the past. 

This one was different, and I cannot imagine using anything else now!

With five very simple ingredients, all found in my pantry or the local supermarket, 2 litres of Miracle Spray ended up costing about 80c to make.

I decanted some in to a spray bottle...

... and as I was doing this thought it would be a good idea to take this first batch in to Blossom, and the wonderful thing about that was when I gave it to her yesterday and showed her the ingredients list she said, "Mum, that's amazing! I was only just thinking the other day that I hate using chemicals around my daughters."

When I came home I made a second batch for myself and decanted some of the mixture into two spray bottles so I could keep one in the kitchen and one in the laundry. 

It's funny, though. The smell of eucalyptus is so fresh in my spray that I keep looking for things to clean. Before the girls arrived for morning tea this morning I even wiped down all the dining chairs, something I rarely think do, but what a blessing that was as I discovered one chair had many faint little Cully May fingerprints (from peanut butter and pasta sauce) which I'd not noticed when she was here.

If you'd like to make your own Miracle Spray the recipe is HERE.

On Wednesday I needed to pick up a prescription and decided to have a browse through the newly opened op-shop (St Vinnies) next door to the pharmacy. I found a lovely little $1 crocheted blanket, about 16" square, for nineteen month-old Cully May to wrap her dolly in, just like Blossom wraps Rafaella. 

When I gave this to her Cully was the happiest little munchkin around, and for much of the three hours I was there on Thursday she'd bring dolly and blanket to me, asking "wrap dolly blank?" I'd wrap her dolly and she would gather dolly to her chest and rock back and forth for a few minutes...then remove the blanket and come back to me so we could repeat the wrapping of dolly all over again. Her attention was only diverted when I changed Rafaella's nappy and then her chatter switched to, "get nappy, dolly poooooo!" ...and therein lies a whole 'nother story.

But back to that op-shop.

They had a good selection of books and very well priced too. Any three books for $5 said the sign above the wide bookcase and these were my take-home bargains...

I have already ear marked three of the potholder patterns for gifts (and my own use) so I'll be spending a few hours next week digging through my scraps and gathering other supplies to start sewing. 

But what I loved most was the Bible. All through it are excerpts from the writing of C S Lewis, pertinent to a passage of Scripture on the same page. The Bible appears new and the font is large and easy to read, it falls open and stays open too.

I collect Bibles, and did not have an NRSV version, so this was a wonderful blessing!

I am going to make a cover for it over the weekend and have already completed the stitchery, which is Easter Sunday inspired. In fact, I'll be sharing it with you this Sunday as gift pattern.

I'd best sign off for tonight as Mr E is ready to take me for a drive beside the beach now that the sun has set and the air is cooling. Then we'll come home and share dessert (chocolate brownies with raspberry coulis) before settling into our new couch to watch a movie.

He has a big day tomorrow with a new hobby (lawn mower racing) and I have to work as it's Stitchery Club day and there's a lot to do. Sending out issues to all Club members, updating the Club webpage, uploading separate patterns to the shop, new photos etc etc...it will take all day. 

So tonight, this lovely early autumn night, he and I will enjoy just being together.

I pray your weekend brings special moments too.

hugs

The need to weed...

Do you remember that I was taking time this month to plan the year ahead?

I'm praying through a number of areas in my life, specifically spiritual, relational, household, finances, business and health, so I can bring wisdom to the order and rhythm of each day by eliminating time wasting activity, financial drains and unnecessary pursuits.
Just saying that makes it sound like a huge endeavour! And it really is.

Last year I purchased two 2018 planners because I want to keep particular areas of my life separate (business and private) and one of them, the Tilda Planner, I'd bought sight unseen. Turned out to be quite pretty on the outside but totally useless for what I intended so I needed to get something better suited to my needs.

LOTS of research later I settled on the Happy Planner because I could also purchase extras inserts like 'health planner pages', 'lined notebook pages' and a zippered pouch to store monthly receipts...

I first saw it on Annabel's blog and loved the cover, but I needed more than a nice cover so I investigated quite a few different planners before returning to this one. It's an 18 month planner, but I removed the July-Dec 2017 pages and added the extra inserts I purchased, so now my planner is full to the brim and SO useful.

This entire planning process for 2018 has involved way more than I first imagined and I'm only about half way through, but in reality I want to do this right and intend using all of January to sift through two notebooks of ideas, all our financials, and other important stuff from my old household folder.

After writing copious lists which covered all the aspects of my life I felt quite overwhelmed by what was now in front of me and needed to put it all aside and give my mind a rest for a few days.

Until you put on paper a detailed list of all the things which pertain to each area of your life you don't really know just how full it is, so no surprise that I now understood why I've been struggling the past couple of years to come up for air. 

And that's why doing this slowly, but thoroughly, is the wise path to take. I'm not just planning out this year, but building a blueprint for the years to come. I imagine over time some things will be tweaked, deleted, or added to...but I'll make those changes wisely, with clear purpose for improving the day to day care of my home, health, family, and future design work.

The past two days I've been able to sit quietly with a rested mind and sift through the information before me. I'm so glad I wrote everything I could think of on my lists because what stands out are the numerous 'little' things that add up to huge blocks of time or expense over a week, month or year, so erasing at least half of them will definitely give me breathing space to enjoy better things.

Carefully tracking finances, even that $1 pencil from Officeworks, has given me a much clearer view of monetary wastage and the dollars which could be growing our house deposit fund faster than it already is, because again, it's the 'little' things combined which add up to big expense.

Another thing I'm doing this year is following along with Rhonda as she guides her blog readers through her book "The Simple Home".
I've had the book for a couple of years now (I have her first book too, which was read cover to cover a few year back) but am really enjoying working through it this way each Monday with the author herself and the input of women all over the world sharing their comments.
(you'll find Rhonda's blog here)
It's very much a household planning book which takes you through the months and seasons with the objective of running a simple home your own unique way.

I'm setting up a new household folder too, which will include a monthly menu plan with recipes.
A long time ago I put together a file of my family's favourite recipes and sent it to my daughters. It includes a number of the slice and cake recipes I've shared here on the blog over the years, as well as many treats both savoury and sweet that I've not made for a while...so I printed it up and will revisit them this year.
I'm also printing tried and true regulars that appear on our dinner table, so at the end of each month I can compile a selection of 28 main meals and 10 slices, cakes or desserts for the next month and place them in the grocery & menu-plan section of my household folder. We may not use all the recipes for that month as we tend to have leftovers some nights, so any recipe sheets not used in a month will be moved to the following month.
This will make my grocery shopping and menu planning much easier on time and finances.

Yesterday Rosie came by for the morning and we had a lovely time. Since moving closer to her we don't have as much travel time between houses so we can visit each other more often and now it's not a full day excursion...we simply enjoy a relaxed morning with coffee, a sweet treat, stitching and long discussions about life, the universe and all things in between.

I baked bread and sent her home with half a loaf, and we licked our lips over Matrimony Slice...

...whilst challenging ourselves to plan some sewing projects with fabrics that weren't what we'd
normally choose. It really was a kind of  'this is what we have so let's find a way to use it' challenge and though at first the obstacle seemed too high to overcome, once we eliminated what really wouldn't work and concentrated on what was left behind, we saw hidden beauty that sparked our creativity (especially hers).

This reminded me of my year planning and the need to first of all weed out things which cloud the good and the necessary and the fun. Once removed you are left with what remains, and those remains are what you can draw on to plan a more relaxed and useful life routine, a clearer thought process, and a wiser use of time and money.

I'm reminded of the Scripture from Song of Songs 2:15 -
"Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines..."

I'm praying for God to show me those little foxes which have overrun my life, the ones I still can't identify, because in the big plan of things I would like my life to be lived to the full in every area that matters - faith, relationships, health, home, work and play - with clear air to face both seasons of trial or seasons of pure delight, and anywhere in between.

Did you notice that beautiful little doll on my desk?
It was a gift from my friend Agueda in Spain who made it herself...

So small, so intricate, this is one of the national dresses of Spain and Agueda has added what each part of the costume is in Spanish.
Two of my favourite sportsmen are Spanish (Rafa Nadal and Jorge Lorenzo) and I now have a little bit of Spain right here in my home, gifted from the heart of a generous and talented friend.

On my sewing table at the moment I'm stitching a new design for February, a design which will become a useful and organised project. I wonder if you can guess what I'm going to make?

Well, it's Saturday morning in my part of the world and my husband is ready and waiting for us to have breakfast so I shall bid you farewell and leave you with something that sits on my desk to remind me each day of a very important truth.

Take this to heart, dear ones, speak it out loud and let it sink into your heart...

God is good.
God is good to me.
God is good at being God.

...I'm praying for you today.

hugs

Vintage popover, papercrafts and a recipe...

Last weekend when Mr E and I, grande size coffees in hand, drove from garage sale to garage sale in the early morning light, we were sorely disappointed.

 "Slim pickin's again" said Mr E after a 2 hour jaunt around town. 

But all was not lost. At our final stop, where we almost did not get out of the car to have a look-see, I found a vintage child's popover apron for $1.

Mr E gave me a quizzical look as I handed over my lonely coin but once I'd explained my plan to use it as pattern he was rather more understanding - well as understanding as a man who has no interest in sewing can be... 

Blossom on the other hand was VERY excited about my plan and drooled over the vintage find.

I measured it up against Cully May yesterday when they were here for lunch and it just needs to be about 2" shorter, so I've gathered some vintage style fabrics from my stash and hope to have a few made for her birthday on Friday...

Because Bloss shares my love of vintage and retro I've decided that a few crochet embellished pockets will add that something extra to the popover aprons.

We think these will be perfect for our tropical climate. Cully May can wear them over a t-shirt or blouse with a little pair of shorts or frilly bloomers.

If  this works out I may draw up the pattern outline for you?

Last Friday I drove north to visit my dear friend Rosie for a day of laughter, heart-to-heart sharing, good food and crafting.

It had been over six weeks since our last catch-up, far too long, so we had a lot to chat about. I love how easily the conversation always directs itself to home, family, baking, sewing and womanhood - all inspiring topics that we embrace.

In previous visits I've been drawn to Rosie's skill with papercraft, sighing with delight at the beautiful memory books she makes yet never seeing the 'how' of her hobby.

This was all to change last Friday. 

After morning tea I brought out my embroidery ready to stitch and Rosie gathered the bits and pieces for her latest papercraft project and set everything up opposite me on the large dining table. 

She made it look so easy and yet I knew it had taken years of experience to be so deft with every step of the process.

To say I was entranced is an understatement and you can be sure that not much stitching was done on my side of the table.

Rosie has a far more detailed post on her blog and I'd love you to hear about all the extras that are added to her memory books and read why she makes them.

Visit Rosie here.

After sharing my baking last week and earlier this week I've been swamped with requests for the Matrimony Slice recipe as well as the meaning behind the name.

The base and topping are the same recipe but between them is a luscious layer of thick jam...

You press half the base into the slice tray, then spread the jam before pressing the remaining half of the slice mixture over the top.

The base and top are representative of a husband and wife.

The jam in the middle is the love which binds them together.

Matrimony Slice is our family's favourite of all slice recipes and disappears rather quickly. In fact I'm baking more this afternoon.

If you'd like to make it I have prepared the recipe sheets for you in both retro and pastel bunting style...

...with a simple and sweet stitchery design on the last page so you can stitch while your treat is in the oven. 

It's even 'matrimony' inspired.

Download the retro recipe page here.

Download the pastel bunting recipe page here.

I have some popover aprons to sew, a matrimony slice and another loaf of bread to bake so I'd best sign off and let you get on with your own day.

We really like this yummy soy linseed loaf so I'll probably make that again...

Thanks for dropping by and journeying with me in this rather lovely, sometimes challenging, but always life giving gentle domestic life. Even though I work from home in my design business it's the working 'for' home that brings me the greatest satisfaction.

And I believe this is just as it should be. Dorothy was right when she said, "there's no place like home".

Your comments, thoughts, experiences shared and encouragements offered, water the seeds of my own growth as a wife, homemaker, woman, mother, nana and craftswoman. You bless me more than you realise and it's my desire to be that blessing to you too.

I hope today the fruits of your hand and heart overflow with goodness,

hugs