Adjusting and choosing joy...

 

I'm adjusting to the slower state of days, the importance of not doing more than my heart can handle, longer periods of appreciation for who and what are right before me, and acceptance that though God holds my life (and yours) in His care, that I also have a part to play in doing what I can to breathe life, health and happiness into the years still to be lived.

Ordering my days is somewhat natural to me after all these decades of homemaking, and much of that order will not change, it just needs a little adjusting to suit the season I'm in right now. 

Simple things, like preparing and baking malted fruit bread early in the morning, draws satisfaction to the surface of my thoughts, and a sense of accomplishment. Preparing food for my family is a great delight, both for me and for them, and it also brings my blood pressure down to normal. 

The cardiologist listened as I described to him the activities which lower my blood pressure - being in the kitchen, the garden, swimming, cleaning the house, even vacuuming and mopping. He smiled, and then said "Obviously those activities are calming and enjoyable to you...keep doing them." :-)

The plump fruit within the honey drizzled loaf reminds me that my life can bring forth good and bountiful fruit if I use my time wisely, consider my words carefully, and live with holy purpose. I think it's marvellous the way God can teach us lessons through the motions of our every day life, don't you? Even in a malted fruit loaf.

"The way you keep your house, the way you organise your time, the care you take in your personal appearance, the things you spend your money on, all speak loudly about what you believe. The beauty of thy peace shines forth in an ordered life." Elisabeth Elliot

I've found that many things around home can be done without much effort on days when I'm too weary for heavy chores - like filling the dehydrator and letting it work on my behalf. 

Following Annabel's example a few weeks back I bought up on bags of frozen mixed vegetables, 100% Australian produce, and continued to fill the pantry with dehydrated veggies in large glass jars - stocking up while the prices and supply are still reasonable. 

During my rest times I am slowly re-stitching an older design in colours more suited to my preferred pastel palette as I watch a new mystery series on Britbox Australia - "Sister Boniface" - which I'm rather enjoying. 

Watering the garden in the shaded early morning before the humidity gets the better of me always brings calm to my soul and joy to my thoughts, especially with so many native bees darting in and out of the two huge Thai basil shrubs. We don't eat Thai basil as we're not keen on the flavour, but we grow the plants simply because they encourage native bees to visit.

It's hard to get good photos of the bees as they tend to move faster than the honey bee, but here's some of the lovely blue-banded bees that frequent the shrubs. I've added a circle around the bees so you can find them in the photos.

The quote "busy as a bee" was penned by Geoffrey Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales (1392), and he used it in reference to women, busy about their daily chores. 

Here's a great carpenter bee. They love the huge hands of elderflowers on our elder tree.

For a better photo here's one I took in the garden two years ago. These large bees are my favourites in the garden and I often just stand outside talking to them as they buzz around.

Day by day I am adjusting to an enforced slower life, and though at first I was (to be honest) rather rebellious about it, once the shock wore off and I spent time researching enlarged hearts, and especially their connection to Hashimoto's, then shed a few tears (oh woe is me, you know?), I did what most women do when faced with an adjustment to their lives...

I put my big-girl panties on and chose to be grateful for every new day, and to do all I am able to in order to regain health, energy and longevity for the years ahead. 

My plans are to keep trusting God with my heart and life, giving thanks for EVERYTHING He brings my way, plus - planning and eating a more heart-healthy diet, continuing to swim gentle laps in our pool every afternoon, learning new things because my time is now freer to do so (watercolour painting is top of that list), accepting help if I need it, blogging more regularly, trying a variety of crafts that take my fancy...and spending more time with my loved ones. Can you imagine the smile on my face? I'm beaming! 

Well, that's it for today. Hope you're doing well wherever you are, that you've got support if you need it, that you are supporting others if you're able, and that you are making time to step outside and appreciate the natural beauty which the Lord created for His pleasure and ours.

I shall sign off with this video, which really inspired me to explore things like natural dying, and using old clothes and fabric to create new things. Simply wonderful story of an 'old' Japanese lady!

You'll need to click on the 'Watch on YouTube' link below. 

hugs

Growing, baking, covid and a new appliance...

 Every day has its own rhythm, but on the weekend I can take things a little slower, though some things stay the same.

I always water the garden just after dawn, check the roses for bugs, trim away dead branches or leaves, fertilise certain plants if they're due...

...and do a little bit of weeding, because the weeds are endless and aggressive. Sigh. 

As it was overcast yesterday morning I took the opportunity to pull my spring onions (green onions/scallions) from their garden beds and pots where they have been growing for almost three years. As these are my most prolific vegetable crop I had them scattered wherever there's a space in the raised beds, however, we're at mid-summer in the tropics and it's time to tidy everything up, rest a few beds, and prepare them for our mid-autumn planting. 

I decided to divide the plants between three pots and no longer have them in garden beds, as being alliums they aren't always good growing companions for other veggies. 

First I pull them up, then I cut the bottom section off, about three inches from the roots. With fresh soil in the assorted pots I've allocated for spring onions, I planted the ends as these will sprout new growth again within 24 hours.

Three pots and twenty six spring onions later, I washed the tops for kitchen use in the coming week or two.

Some of them I chopped finely and stored in a glass container inside the fridge for salads and garnishes. The remainder were sealed in a vacuum seal bag an hour or so later, and stored in the vegetable crisper where they'll be fine for a month or more. By then the rooted stems I planted in pots yesterday will be full grown again and I'll just cut the tops off as I need them, same as I've been doing for three years. (actually they had already grown an inch by this morning!)

I also picked some fresh lemon balm from the huge amount I'd pruned to use in herbal tea this week. 

After two hours in the garden I was dripping in perspiration because the sun was now quite fierce and the clouds had departed, so into the pool for a swim before heading inside to the air conditioning and a refreshing morning tea.

Banana and Raisin Loaf, with sparkling soda water to which I'd added a tiny bit of ginger cordial...

We always have loads of bananas as my husband eats one or two every day, but in this heat they ripen very quickly and I do not like ripe bananas, so this loaf is a great way to use them up and if stored in the fridge it lasts a week. We like it spread with butter, especially when it's more than a couple of days old and has begun to dry out. 

But let's go back a few days...

On Thursday I made that no-knead bread I told you about in my previous post, and I promise you I will make it again!

I'll share the video below. Connie has VERY easy instructions so let me encourage you to give it a try.

Also Thursday...a purchase arrived, one I have had on my wish list for over a year!  An Instant Pot.

After doing a test run with pressure cooking water so that I could acquaint myself with how it works, on Friday night I made something completely different for us - Chicken Taco Soup. I know this sort of meal is pretty common to Americans, but it's not common in Australia. Anyhow, there's a few homemakers I like to watch on YouTube during my morning or afternoon tea break, and one of them is Robin from Faith & Flour (she shares this recipe at 21:40 minutes through the video I've linked). Robin made this soup and I thought, wow, this looks simple, so I chose that as our first Instant Pot meal.

I did have to make my own Ranch Mix for the soup and used another of Robin's recipes to do so because that's another thing we don't use/have in Australia...but I had the individual ingredients in my cupboard so it didn't hold me back. I still can't get over how moist the chicken breast was, but I'd never used a pressure cooker before in my whole life so there may be many more surprises in store for me!

Earlier on Friday...

I hadn't seen Blossom for over a week due to the long wait for a result on my Covid test last Sunday 9th. In home isolation I got lots of odd jobs completed and introvert homemaker that I am, enjoyed the inability to travel, but when my result arrived via text late on Friday 14th as negative I quickly baked a Cinnamon Tea Cake and headed over to her place for some love, hugs and tea with her, Ross and the children. 

On the way home I dropped into the supermarket for a few supplies and found cheese, meat, yoghurt and many other items completely missing. Fortunately we had abundant pantry supplies at home, but I was overjoyed to see loads of fresh fruit and vegetables still available because that's what I wanted more than anything. 

Sunday breakfast...

I tend to have the same breakfast most days - fresh fruit and coconut yoghurt, soy decaf cappuccino, and a little bowl of our mega-vitamins. Hubby adds cereal to his breakfast.

We've been doing mega vitamin therapy for about five years now, and every day we take things which serve a purpose in our health and support our shared auto-immune disease. We choose good quality vitamins and supplements and have found them to be amazing for our overall health. 

4,000 mg Vitamin C; Zinc Picolate; Niacinamide; Vitamin E, Vitamin D3, Phosphatidylcholine; Tumeric; Hemp Seed Oil; Multivitamin; Magnesium...and Thyroxine medication for our Hashimoto's Disease.

At the start of a cold we increase the Vitamin C to 10,000 mg per day and it's usually gone the next day or within 48 hours. 

Sunday afternoon as I write this...

I've thrown out the old dry roses from my vases, and replaced the kitchen vase with my favourite variety, a beautiful scented pink bloom. 

Now we're about to clean up and head off to Blossom's for a visit. I have some of the Chicken Taco Soup to take with us, plus an old animated movie we used to love but have not seen in many years (I bought it last month off eBay) - The Iron Giant. Do you remember that one? I much prefer the old animated style to the new one...back when children knew it was a cartoon and not real. Nowadays the animations are far too lifelike and the themes far too adult for children. Just my opinion. 

Bless all of you as we embark on a new week. Like a new year, there's no mistakes in it yet, so chin up my dears and put a smile on your lovely faces. There's so much beauty in the world, and though at times we have to look hard to find it, the effort is worth the result. 

God bless you and keep you safe in His care always,

hugs