Wasps, a fruitful vine and stitching...

 

It's been nine days since my last blog post, and it seems a long time ago now, and yet a short time, for many things have happened, and I find that when a lot of different things fill a week, or a month, or even a year, time itself feels stretched in one way, and reduced in another. I wonder if you feel that way too?

Last week on Thursday, I decided to finally begin pruning the various shrubs in and around our garden areas. I grow many herbs, but none as large as the Tulsi bush (also known as holy basil). Unchecked it would become a tree, but I keep it at shrub height so that I can easily harvest the leaves for herbal teas. After the monsoon last month, and the garden being soaked beyond saturation as the yards flooded around our home, we had some plants that couldn't cope and died off (or should I say drowned?), but we also had some that simply thrived. They were the ones in raised beds, and boy did they shoot up and out through February and into March.

After that we had about ten to twelve days with no rain at all, just fierce dry scorching sun, and to be honest this was good for drying out our sodden yards, and allowing time for fixing a few more leaks. Anyhow, last Thursday as I pruning the sides of the Tulsi bush, something quite unexpected happened. As I began to trim closer in, three large wasps came at me. One stung my hand, the other my neck, and as I automatically opened my mouth in shock and pain, another flew into my mouth and stung the underside of my top lip. I cannot describe the pain. It was something I never want to feel again. Being home alone, all I could do was drop my shears and run like the wind inside, splash water over my face and neck, and suck on a ice pack we had in the freezer. Then I smeared Stingose over my mouth and neck, and into my lip. I could barely see from the pain in my mouth, and my lip was swelling. That ice pack was the only thing that kept me going for the next fifteen minutes until I could think what else to do. I remembered we had phenergan tablets in our first aid kit from when I had contact dermatitis a few years back, so I took one of them and laid on the bed with that ice pack stuffed in my mouth. And that's where I stayed until hubby came home a couple of hours later. 

It took six days for all the swelling to settle in my lip, and for all the pain to subside. Though a horrible experience, and having no-one here to help, I knew the Lord was with me, and that was my greatest comfort. 

I missed Rafaella's pool party with her friends (her 7th birthday) on the Saturday, as I felt the stinger still in my neck whilst in the shower, and pulled it out, not realising that was a silly thing to do. It released more venom and almost immediately I got sick with migraine, nausea and exhaustion. The day was spent on the couch, doing some very simple sashikostitching to keep my mind occupied...and a few movies to watch in the background. 

I had already drawn a graph on some more of that recycled linen sheet...

...and calmly stitched away, slow stitches having always been very soothing to my mind. Here's the completed piece, six inches square. Think it will become the centre of a pillow. 

This week has had ups and downs, but I had my 'happy cup' filled twice - once with Blossom and the children, and again with my friend Rosie. Spending quality time with people you love, and who love you, definitely has its own medicinal qualities! 

Peaches, plums and nectarines are at the very end of their season, and they usually disappear from supply around the end of March, so I made more nectarine relish, and tried the pickled peaches recipe (in the pantry staples ebook I shared with you HERE) Well, I already knew the relish was good, but wow, those pickled peaches are delicious!

You just make the pickling liquid, pour it over thinly sliced fresh peaches (must be fresh), leave to cool, and then store in the fridge. Use within a couple of weeks...ours did not last that long so I'm making more.

I have had to keep preserving limes, as our tree has still not stopped giving. I found more limes up high and also hidden in the middle (before the wasp incident). I decided to measure out juice and rind in quantities to make cordials over the coming winter and spring, and now have four containers in the freezer for that purpose. I also froze juice and rind in smaller quantities for making lime curd as well. Plus there are some whole limes in the freezer, along with lots of lime juice frozen in ice cube trays - these will be great for curries, and tapioca puddings. 

I've also chopped up nectarines and red onions in small containers, enough in each one to make a batch of nectarine relish whenever we want it. I think this is the first time I have ever thought to freeze ingredients together to make a fruit recipe out of season. I would have loved to do the same with peaches so I could pickle them, but after making the pickles, you can't beat the lovely firmness of fresh peaches in that recipe. 

On Sunday my head had settled, but we still stayed home as I needed to rest a bit more. In between rests, I baked some slices (I think in the US you would call these a bar) to freeze - a ginger lime slice, and a lemon coconut slice. I froze half of each, and the rest I shared between Blossom's family and my husband, who takes a packed lunch to work every day and likes a little sweet treat included. Today I baked a chocolate peppermint slice, and I'll freeze half of this as well, as soon as I cut it into 24 pieces.

The sage I cut and hung inside just a day or two before the monsoon hit at the end of January, was ready for processing yesterday afternoon. I removed all the leaves, then chopped them in the food processor, so now I have about two cups of chopped dried sage to add to my home grown herb supplies. I LOVE the smell of sage! Fortunately we still have plenty in the garden, but the rain has returned and everyday we are getting heavy storms, so I can't pick any more bunches for drying just yet.

Here's the stitching I am currently on during my afternoon tea break, and in the evenings. I stitch the Yumiko Higuchi design during the day because there's a lot involved, but at night when the light is dimmer and I'm getting tired, I work on sashiko...

The backgrounds are both repurposed linen. 

BIBLE STUDY

My favourite part of any day, apart from when my beloved returns home from work, is time spent in the Word. I bought this large lined notebook at the beginning of the year, and use it for word studies.

So far in the past six weeks or so, I have studied 'work', 'contentment', 'humility', and being a 'wife' - all from a Biblical perspective. The more I delve into the various teachings, and study the root meanings of each word and verse from the Hebrew, the more our Lord opens wide my understanding of what He wants from me, and what He meant when He inspired the text. I cannot recommend word studies highly enough!

I'm just finishing the 'wives' study with regards to the verses and passages of Scripture, and am now about to delve into every character trait the Bible says about wives, the good and the bad. I don't think women take as much note of the bad traits, as they do of the good ones, and I confess that its made me really pray about my own role as wife, and wanting to overcome anything negative, whilst building on the positives.

Years ago I used to draw and colour in my Bible journals, or studies, but these days I like to use pretty washi tape and stickers...I'm more focused on the words themselves than drawings. For some of the previous studies, like the one on Work, I cut photos from my Country Living magazines of people working in the home and the garden. I'll show you some of them another time. 

The first character trait I'm looking at is from Psalm 128:3 - "Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine, in the very heart of your house." as this was the Psalm we read at our wedding in 1991. 

So far, this verse has shown to be a bit different to what I used to think. I associated her fruitfulness with having children, but that is only one aspect of the meaning, so if you'd like me to share more about these studies, just let me know. 

I am praying to be fruitful in ALL things to do with our home, and my treasured role as wife. 

I shall sign off now, as this has become a long post, and you may be yawning at this stage. ;-) I pray for no more wasp attacks in future, and hope to be blogging again early next week, as I have something else to share. 

God bless you, keep you safe, watch over your coming and going, surround your home with His comforting presence, and guide you into the fullness of His Word so that you may overflow with wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and a desire to do all He has commanded. 

Until next time, love and prayers, 

You will find me on Instagram HERE @jennyofelefantz

And my NEW IG account just for homemaking HERE @elefantzhome

Subscribe to my free Friday newsletter HERE and never miss a blog post, pattern or tutorial

Stitch my free 2025 block of the month 'The Sewing Room' HERE

Changes at home and Block 3 of The Sewing Room...

 

Once again, as appears to be my habit this year, you're receiving the next block in my 2025 BOM, The Sewing Room, a day early. But I do not think you're compalining about that. ;-)

I had a few things I wanted to chat about in blog posts this past week, plus the recipe file I promised many of you, but a lot has been happening here and time got away from me. The Lord has allotted us just so many hours in the day, and lately my days have been full with homemaking, food storage and family.

But first today, let me tell you about Block 3 of The Sewing Room. I chose my sewing machine as the theme in the March pattern, as what is a sewing room without a sewing machine? It has so many functions and can be used to make almost anything to do with fabric decor, clothing, patchwork, dolls, mending, alterations and useful items around the home - and I'm sure you can think of other ways your sewing machine earns its keep. 

MACHINE OPTIONS:

Now, you may not have a Janome like I do, and be disappointed that I've chosen 'my janome' to stitch above the applique machine - but do not be concerned, for I have eight different options on your pattern sheets! 

You can choose from Janome, Singer, Husqvarna, Brother, Juki, Elna, Pfaff, or 'my machine'. 

I wish my own machine was decorated with pretty roses like the fabric used in the applique. It looks so pretty. 

Use the link below to download the pattern-

DOWNLOAD Block 3 of The Sewing Room BOM

If you have missed either of the first two blocks they are HERE

Just out of curiosity, what make of sewing machine do you have? 

Back to what's been happening here at home (interspersed with photos of some homemaking things from this week...)

On Monday hubby went to work at the car yard as usual. On Tuesday he handed in his notice. On Tuesday afternoon he accepted another job offer. On Thursday he started working in real estate. 

You remember I wrote about the course he was doing to retrain in a different profession (risky when you're hitting 60)? Well the course ran for twelve months, but he completed it in two months. After all, the age clock is ticking and he's an intelligent bloke.

(lime and coconut tapioca pudding with fresh mango and lime zest)

With nudging from the Lord, he heard "Just do it now" instead of waiting to start a real estate position in May...so he rang the company again and asked if he could start now. They were excited and said YES! This firm has mostly older employees, and many of them have left the 'cut throat' RE businesses around town to build a firm of agents who encourage and support each other. Just one day in and my man told me how lovely it was to work with generous and hard working people all wanting each other to succeed. 

(one of the bulk pantry items I've been putting together from individual ingredients - this is spaghetti sauce seasoning)

There's also been Bible study, yard work, preserving, bulk pantry building, Blossom and the children, deep cleaning, sewing - and very importantly, a new budget to plan because hubby is on base wage traineeship for a few months before receiving his full registration from the government to sell real estate. Hence my increased desire for conscious thrift and building up the pantry with homemade products that reduce trips to the supermarket. I am loving it!

(some of the bulk items for cooking made on Wednesday, and more are in progress - I was able to make them all from supplies already in my pantry)

After three near misses with his life this year, God stepping in every time to save him (two times when the tree split and fell in the monsoon, and another time I never told you about when he drilled through electrical wires in January), God's voice is strong and clear in my man's heart and head, and he knows that this path forward in our future is the one with God's light shining ahead of him. 

(plum jam and tomato sauce, or you may call it ketchup, made this morning)

One thing I have often said to family and friends, is that if we're still here, God hasn't finished with us yet, and He still has a plan for our life and work to do, and hopefully we will live that life and work in that life for His glory. 

(watching Olesya's latest video while I prepare strawberries for the freezer, and stew peaches)

Around the home I am busy as usual because there's always something to do, new ways to build up our home economy with common sense frugality and careful planning, a desire to learn and try new things, and a willingness to put my hand to the plough so to speak. 

(yesterday's stewed plums with fresh yoghurt for lunch today)

Something I hadn't noticed until today is that the more work I do around home, on a daily basis, the easier it is on my body. There's a lot of pain in my hips (I have hip bursitis on both hips) every day and night, but I have found myself managing better a little more each day by working for a few hours, then sitting for one. Then more work for a few hours, and another hour of rest to follow. Every few days I take a breather, and rest for a whole morning or an entire afternoon, keeping my hands busy with sewing while I watch YouTube for homemaking ideas that tie in with running a home economy, preparing pantry staples in bulk, gardening or some solid biblical teaching for women. 

It's wonderful how the more I do, the stronger I feel and the better I manage the pain. Praise God. 

(A day before the monsoon began on February 1st, I hard pruned all my rose bushes...and that's what saved them. Two of them are already blooming again.)

It's really all about balance, and being reminded of those women who lived before us, the ones who never had an easy life, but worked hard and prepared season after season for the family from what they had grown or purchased in cheap abundance, and genuinely kept the home fires going, whether resources were abundant or scarce. 

That's what I remember about Nana. I never realised just how poor we were until I was an adult, because it wasn't obvious. Pop worked hard for a low wage, and Nana stretched that wage to create for me the most wonderful childhood abundant in LOVE and simplicity. The older I get, the more I appreciate her example and the values she taught me along the way. 

(Blossom saw this pattern in one of my Japanese embroidery books, so I stitched it for her and will complete it as a key holder over the weekend)

I shall definitely share the recipe file requested from last week, with some extras from this week's kitchen joys, in my next blog post. 

How are you all doing in your corner of the world? Today is the last day of summer in Australia, though for us living in the top end of the country, summer heat won't subside till the very end of April or early May. I can't wait. I literally dream about the slightly cooler months of May, June, July and August, when we finally get to enjoy soups and stews for a while, and luscious hot puddings with vanilla custard. Oh, and hot chocolate before bed! I think I need to put aside a few wintry books to enjoy in those months as well, and I shall definitely be re-reading The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder as its one of my all time favourites at that time of the year. 

May the Lord bless you day and night, keep watch over your dwelling place, and provide for every need. May His presence be felt in your coming and going, His ear attentive to your prayers, and His grace in a measure we cannot fathom. May your heart rejoice in His love for you, and in the faithful promise of eternity in His presence. Oh dear ones, bless you so much, and thank you for visiting with me here...you bless me. 

I shall leave you with this thought which I found on Pinterest. It made me stop and consider many things...

Until next time, love and prayers, 

You will find me on Instagram HERE @jennyofelefantz

And my NEW IG account just for homemaking HERE @elefantzhome

Subscribe to my free Friday newsletter HERE and never miss a blog post, pattern or tutorial

Stitch my free 2025 block of the month 'The Sewing Room' HERE

Week 2 of the Stitchalong and a reveal...

 

I'm sharing part two of the Stitchalong a day early as its my birthday tomorrow and I shall be enjoying a morning tea with hubby and the family, and then a quiet rest of the day at home, possibly making tomato sauce, and possibly beginning a new project. I shall see how the day progresses, but you can be sure I'll be taking things easy. 

Have you stitched the first six hexie flowers? Or will you be using the little embroideries for a different project? I'd love to know what you're making. 

My final decision for displaying the twelve hexie flowers was a sewing machine cover. I had a few other ideas but kept coming back to that, so then it was just a case of measuring up the size I needed and playing around with my hexie flowers for a pretty arrangement. 

I liked the idea of filling empty spaces in and around the flowers with hexagon shapes in running stitch, and the overall effect was better than I'd hoped. 

I apologise for the quality of the photos, but it is threatening rain this afternoon and the overcast skies make the house very dark inside. 

My machine cover is 25" x 20" and the hexie flowers have been needleturned onto a linen background, the same linen I used for the embroideries, which also happens to be the very same recycled linen sheet I have used for a number of projects so far this year. 

I added medium weight fusible Pellon before hand quilting the running stitch hexies. The cover was completed with more reycled fabric for the lining, and some extra pieces of the Tilda Sunday Brunch fabric for the side ties. 

 

Use the link below to download the pattern sheet for the final six stitcheries...

DOWNLOAD part two of the Sunday Brunch Hexie Stitchalong

Next week, as requested by many, I'll have a recipe file for all those yummy things I made HERE in the previous post, and I also want to chat more about being a homemaker, and the various responsibilites that entails. Looking back in time, I have discovered some fascinating things to share with you.

In the meantime, I will be praying you each have a lovely weekend ahead, days of joy and delight, even if things are hard at the moment. A lesson this week for myself, has been to let go of what is no more, and see with new eyes what is still before me. 

You see, now that our huge poinciana tree is no more, I am sorely missing all the birds who visited every day and made their nests in the thick limbs and branches, because birds are my favourite creatures and living amidst abundant birdlife has been a source of inexpressible joy for me. Many of you already know that from all the bird photos I have shared over the years.

But today a kookaburra sat on the power pole out front, my favourite bird, and I felt the arms of God hugging me. Then cockatoos returned to our bird feeder, followed by the rainbow lorikeets. Just before I began writing this our old Black-faced Ibis friend was wandering through the garden with his long beak, digging for worms, and then a sweet song from the tiny honeyeater in our pretty Maraya bush serenaded me when I gathered washing off the line as tiny raindrops began to fall. 

Life will always have its losses, but the Lord also provides joys, often in unexpected times or ways. For me this time, you may think 'its just a tree', and you'd be right, but it was our tree, and it had a story behind it that we shall remember, just as we remember how we lost it. 

The Bible tells us in Ecclesiates 3:1, "To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven." I find many things in that verse - comfort, hope, acceptance, and even contentment. I pray you feel the loving arms of God hugging you today if things are hard, or you're feeling lonely or concerned. Fall into His Word, and let His love surround you, dear one. 

Until next week, 

Love and hugs 

You will find me on Instagram HERE @jennyofelefantz

And my NEW IG account just for homemaking HERE @elefantzhome

Subscribe to my free Friday newsletter HERE and never miss a blog post, pattern or tutorial

Stitch my free 2025 block of the month 'The Sewing Room' HERE

Kitchen days...

 With our lime tree literally staggering under the weight of so many large juicy limes after all the rain we've had, I needed to find different ways to preserve them from now until next season's crop. 

A family favourite, especially for Rafaella and myself, is lime curd, so I made a few jars of that, and would have made more except for the scarcity of eggs. I'm going out to get some groceries later today and am praying to find eggs so that more limes may be used this way before the end of the week. 

I had intended making cordial last lime season (and the season before!) but never got around to it as our limes were smaller and we had less of them, but with this bumper crop I happily made up four litres on Saturday. 

It was an instant hit and very refreshing with soda water and ice, especially for hubby who spent two full days chopping the limbs of our fallen tree into smaller lengths, stacking them in a truck and a trailer, and then taking them to the council tip, before unstacking them all and leaving them in the area where they make mulch for the council gardens around town. It was a huge job, and hubby is still aching, but as tree limbs piled high in a yard attract snakes, they had to go. 

I juiced more limes and froze the juice in ice cube trays. These will be used this year in the many curries I make, and in the asian noodle dishes my man loves. I will probably do larger containers of juice and freeze them as well, for making more cordial in the months ahead. 

The dehydrator is working hard too. I used the mandolin to make uniform slices of lime so that they'd all dry at the same rate. Once done I plan on storing some in jars, and processing the rest as lime powder for flavouring cakes,other baked goods, and probably icing for Rafaella's 7th birthday cake in March. 

I found a recipe last night (when organising my recipe folder - gee, the things you find!) for a lime and coconut tapioca (sago) pudding, which only has a few ingredients and will make a lovely dessert. I've added tapioca to my shopping list as I'd run out of it a while back, and plan to make use of it a lot more in this very frugal year ahead. Nana used to make a lemon sago pudding, and I remember it had golden syrup in it (which I have a good amount of in the pantry) so I'll see if I can find that recipe. 

I made a big batch of protein balls yesterday, and instead of adding grated lemon or orange rind, I used lime rind this time. One thing I've been pretty lazy about the past year or so, is making most of our snacks from scratch. I don't know why, but I started buying the protein balls I add to my husband's packed work lunch, instead of making them. After watching prices continue to rise at the grocery store, I've renewed my weekly meal/snack prep to what it used to be a year or so ago, buying ingredients in bulk and making much of what we use from pantry supplies. 

Protein balls are easy to make in a food processor, and hubby finds them great for mid afternoon energy boosts. I don't add anything fancy, just medjool dates, cashews, dried cranberries, coconut and citrus zest. 

As this is stone-fruit season in Australia, I have quite a lot on hand right now. At this time of the year nectarines, plums and peaches are cheaper than apples. 

So far, peaches have been stewed and frozen, plums have been made into jam, and yesterday I tried a new recipe for nectarine relish. YUM. This recipe is a keeper! 

I spread it on gluten free sourdough toast and topped it with pastrami and swiss cheese for lunch (with a side of fresh nectarine and lime cordial). Hubby will try it today on his work lunch. 

So before the end of February I'll make more of that nectarine relish, plus more plum jam, stewed plums to freeze for winter porridge, and more stewed peaches. I also found a recipe for pickled peaches which I'll give a try. I'm also hoping to find apricots cheaper than they have been so far this season, as Blossom loves apricot jam and it would be wonderful to have a few jars in the pantry beside the current jars of plum jam and last year's strawberry jam. 

Oh, and I think I'll make lime marmalade again. The batch I made in 2023 was delicious and we have none left. 

Refilling staples for the pantry, or the fridge, is high on my list of to-dos before the month ends, and a favourite of mine that had just run out is cashew parmesan. As with all the recipes I have been making, there are only a few ingredients, and they are all staples, so as I work on menu planning and pantry building in the months ahead, it will be those simple staples that can be used multiple ways, that I shall focus on. I have to be careful with the amount of dairy I consume, which is why I make almond milk for us, and even though we do still indulge in a bit of cheese each week, I found that this cashew parmesan is even nicer than the real thing, so I make it regularly. 

It's just cashews, nutritional yeast, salt and garlic powder. I have many recipes for cashews and almonds, which is why they are staples in my pantry or fridge.  

Remember the almond butter I made last week? Turns out I made the equivalent of four $9.50 jars from the supermarket, with just $7 worth of almonds! For some reason I got my numbers wrong last week, and thought I'd only made double, and that the almonds were $8...but I checked the brand at the supermarket for size, and weighed what I'd made. So I made $38 worth of almond butter for $7. How wonderful is that?! 

We had run out of biscuits (cookies) by the time I packed my husband's work lunch on Monday, so I used some of our almond butter to bake a batch of almond, maple and sultana biscuits (cookies). These are gluten free and really good with a cuppa. 

The grandkids like choc chips instead of sultanas, but we prefer dried fruit in them. 

In the seasonings section of the pantry, I made up some rosemary salt from the rosemary I dried last week, and some of the pink rock salt we had on hand. We use celtic sea salt for cooking and our meals, but I find the pink rock salt to be excellent for making herb salts. I'll use the rosemary salt to sprinkle over roast potatoes and lamb, or across focaccia before it bakes.

I've also been chatting with Janice about making tomato sauce (ketchup) from tinned tomatoes, as she had kindly shared with me her grandmother's recipe and a CWA one as well. I found a couple in my own QCWA book from 1959, so now I have a few to play with, though they all use fresh tomatoes. 

Janice suggested I may need to cook the sauce longer when using tinned tomatoes, which is what I'll do. The reason I am using tinned tomatoes is because after the 'blown' tins in the study pantry last week, I want to use up all the remaining 'good' tins before restocking tinned goods in the cooler kitchen pantry. 

Have you made tomato ketchup from tinned tomatoes? Any hints or tips you can share?

Well, I'd best be off and do that grocery shop. I have my budget, my list, and ideas. Working with the seasonal produce is obviously wise, so that's where my focus is, plus gathering things like almond flour when it's on special for our baking. I use it mixed with good GF flour that I buy online, and find it's pretty good for most things, but there will always be a bit of experimenting happening...just not as much as there used to be, as failures mean $ wasted. 

God calls us to steward all we have wisely, and stewarding can mean many things, but finances are a big responsibility and it always makes me extra conscious of this when I re-read my life verse as a wife, Proverbs 31:11-12...

My man will change jobs on May 1st, and the budget belt will be significantly tightened, but we have no concerns about that because where God leads, He also makes provision. We're looking at this as an adventure...hand in hand with the Lord. 

God bless you dear ones!

hugs

You will find me on Instagram HERE @jennyofelefantz

And my NEW IG account just for homemaking HERE @elefantzhome

Subscribe to my free Friday newsletter HERE and never miss a blog post, pattern or tutorial

Stitch my free 2025 block of the month 'The Sewing Room' HERE