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

Books and Roses BOM - April...

 

APRIL

For some it draws us closer into autumn and a welcome season of rest, for others it offers the promise of warmth and a season of growth.

This month my bookmark was completed a little differently because I cut the sides of the stitched block with my quilting ruler positioned on a 90 degree angle. Then all I had to do was sew strips of red fabric along both sides, followed by more white linen.

I filled the centre of the applique bow loops with satin stitch, tied a couple of simple white buttons in opposite corners, and finished with a length of doubled white satin ribbon sewn into one corner.

Do you like it? I wasn't sure I did at first. 

Sometimes I remind myself of Poirot and his obsession with order and sequence, straight lines and nothing off centre! 

So I looked with fresh eyes and decided it wasn't so bad after all. Though I may not make another angular one again, it's good fun to play around with a small stitchery and see if there's a different way to display it. 

Use the link below to download this month's Books & Roses stitchery pattern.

DOWNLOAD APRIL PATTERN

This past week or so I've been mostly confined to home, which never really bothers me as I enjoy being home, but for the first time in my life I learned what it was to have vertigo, and therefore needed to be in familiar surroundings when alone.

I sympathise with those of you have had it or still suffer with vertigo. What an unsettling experience it can be! At first it was thought to be BPPV, and perhaps it is, but my doctor believes its a new migraine aura...which isn't surprising as these past few months the auras have become quite intense and the migraines a tad nastier. 

So, being that I was sequestered at home for almost a week, I got stuck into slow cleaning with no bending, lovely seasonal baking, reading books about homemaking and learning new skills, finishing a small stitchery project to share with you soon, and creating a new framed picture for the laundry.

BAKING:

Every year around this time I bake a "once a year cake" with plums, lemons, almonds and a delicious syrup to pour over the top...

I'm also working my way through another of Paul Hollywood's bread books, and this time I baked his Malt Loaf (two in fact) which is full of sultanas and absolutely scrumptious sliced and buttered fresh, or toasted the next day. I gave one to Blossom and already she's requesting another.

My first batch of sour dough scones a couple of weeks ago weren't bad, though a bit doughy, but the second batch last weekend were really good! Especially with some freshly made plum and cinnamon jam. I have four new jars in the pantry now, which will keep us going for a while.

SEWING:

I've actually finished this little stitchery now, and am ready to get the sewing machine up and running to complete it as a handy kitchen project. I stitch slower now as the nerve damage in my fingers tends to flare up if I stitch too often or with gusto. ;-) 

Small designs are perfect for my good days. I'll be sharing this simple project with you soon, after I make sure it will work. Life is all about trying new things, right? 

I watched some Miss Marple along the way...

READING:

I really enjoyed browsing a few books I'd recently found at a charity shop, and the bread book is wonderful! The previous owner had written notes inside which made it seem as though she was chatting to me about her favourite bakes and the occasional changes she made. Can't wait to mill some grain and make some of the whole-wheat loaves. Probably tomorrow or Monday. 

FRAMING:

Remember in my last post I had photos of some favourite homemaking books? One of them was Simple Country Wisdom and I have to admit I originally bought it for the cover because it captured my heart, but it turned out to be a real gem.

Laundry is one of my favourite household tasks, especially hanging it on the line and then bringing it in to fold and put away. The gorgeous laundry basket liner had always been an inspiration on my sewing to-do list, but it has been a while since I took that particular book off the shelf to read so I'd forgotten about making one.

Well, isn't it funny that as I was about to sit and re-read it last week, I thought to remove the dustjacket and see if the same photo was on the cover underneath. And it was! So I decided to cut out that lovely laundry basket photo from the dustjacket and put it in a frame to hang in my own laundry. I love how it looks...

And the cover of the book, minus the dustjacket, still bears the same photo, so I'm doubly chuffed.

HOME RENOVATION: (or, the beginning of a few small updates)

Two weeks ago we decided it was time to finally get rid of the very old interior doors within our home. The previous owners had three dogs which slept in their bedroom and the ugly mid-brown coloured bedroom door has a doggy-flap. It was always on the to-do list but the outside repairs and chores were more important.

Now, however, we have made the first steps towards a bit of interior renovation by buying new doors. We have five interior doors to replace in the house, so at the moment my beloved does a bit of undercoating each night after dinner.

I'm really excited! They will be painted 'natural white' and so will the door frames. This will blend very well with the beige walls and add a lot of light to the house. The old mid-brown coloured doors are drab and tend to rob the rooms and hallways of light...and I love a home with lots of calming white. 

So the first door to be installed will be the bedroom, and then he will work his way through the house with the others. No rush, but it's lovely to know it will eventually be done. 

The vertigo eased right up after a massive migraine mid-week so I finally ventured out alone in the car on Thursday and had a very nice morning tea, catch-up and a bit of stitching with Shez, Rosie and Shirley. Shez has recently moved to our town and kindly invited us over. She's settling in nicely and is even adjusting to our seemingly endless heat. I'm sure she'll love our winter, as it's warm and fresh and the perfect season to be out in the yard or walking along the beach. 

Friday (today) I went out and did the groceries, taking advantage of the half-price sales to continue stocking our pantry, and also dropped into a few charity stores along the way to see if I could find anything useful and came home with one book on health and a gorgeous Royal Doulton serving bowl for $4 which will be wonderful for family dinners. I don't buy what I cannot use or what I cannot fit in my home anymore, which is very different to the me of ten years ago. Really glad I'm learning to be mindful with my acquisitions.

This Year of Contentment is truly a blessing. I hope it's so for you as well.

What things or habits are changing in your life for the better?

Personally, I'm feeling more satisfied with life, and definitely happier, despite things that don't go as I'd planned and the unexpected events which would normally have caught me off guard but I now take in my stride. 

I also feel far more confident to close the door on things that aren't right for my life, or which have become a struggle, and I do this after much prayer, for without Christ I can do nothing. (John 15:5) 

Best sign off now as hubby will be home soon and I still need to fold the sheets and put them away, have my swim, and water a few garden beds.

Bless you heaps and may the Lord be on your mind and in your heart now and always, leading you out of darkness and into His marvellous light.

hugs

Quietly living each day...

The daily rituals of homemaking have a way of slowing the mind and building contentment as the tasks we attend to through the hours of our day are accomplished one by one.

My days lately have mostly been a mix of gardening in the early hours before the scorching sun hits the back garden, washing, cooking, stitching, spending time with our grandchildren and Blossom, general repairs, dusting, re-arranging furniture and the weekly vacuum and mop of all rooms.

As I mentioned last week, doing a little gardening each day adds up to quite a bit over time. We've had some good days of rain on and off, which have made things more bearable outside, so I gather cardboard boxes we've saved and lay them over weeded garden areas, before positioning pots and covering everything with sugar cane mulch. 

I'd love to have the energy (and strength) to get it all done in a couple of days, but I cannot, so I simply enjoy the results which accrue after these 30-60 minutes spent weeding, repotting, and laying out board and mulch  most mornings after hubby leaves for work. 

I'm learning to work within my limits, especially as some recent bouts of intense fatigue has slowed me considerably. Fortunately my new doctor was wonderful and did extensive tests to check on a number of different health issues which I was having and discovered my auto-immune disease was flaring up (first time in twenty years) and I needed my medication increased. It will take a couple of months to get the new dosage correct, but how grateful I am to know what the problem is and that in time the new symptoms will lessen. 

I rescued this dahlia from the nursery for 50c about six months ago. My husband was sure it was wasted money because "it looks dead"...but I have nurtured it well and now it's blooming. Surprise bonus, it has also sent up new plants nearby!

Do you remember the tiny Poinciana tree we planted in our yard in August 2019?

At that time it was just 12 inches high...

Well, 2½ years later and it's huge!

In fact we sit outside under it on Sunday evenings with a cool drink, and just smile at each other in complete satisfaction of a dream come true.

My husband calls it the Jennifer Tree because I always dreamed of having a Poinciana to sit under. Creating a pretty area beneath the lush branches will become a task for April, as we move into autumn.

With all the rain these past couple of months, the trees which grow beside the bird feeder have actually 'overgrown' and the feeder was completely invisible so the native birds no longer visited. 

On Sunday I set to work trimming away the branches and making a lovely wide space for our feathered friends once more. It did not take long for them to return, and you know me, I adore the birds, so my heart is very happy.

Last month I bought a cast iron Dutch Oven (from Kmart of all places, and it's excellent) but didn't get around to using it for baking bread until the other day.

The bread was wonderfully crusty and quite delicious, exactly what I'd hoped for when purchasing the Dutch Oven, so that day my afternoon tea was a lovely thick slice with butter and apricot jam.

One day a week I do a bit of homeschooling with Cully May and Rafaella, which allows Blossom some one-on-one time with Charlie. I have genuinely missed homeschooling since my kids grew up but found I quickly slipped back into the familiar rhythm of the Charlotte Mason "living books" based curriculum with my two granddaughters.

After our lessons last Wednesday the girls set the coffee table for afternoon tea and we feasted on lemon iced carrot cakes and Prince of Wales tea with a little milk and sugar. This was so good that the girls had three cups of tea each! They are just like their mumma, who loved our morning and afternoon teas every day during all those years of being homeschooled. Sometimes we would pack everything up in  a hamper and have a picnic tea by the ocean or in the garden, depending on the season or where we lived at the time. When the weather here cools down I'll take Cully May and Rafaella on picnics like that.

My sewing has been a mix of a few projects. I have some very pretty Sara Kay fabrics to work with for the distributor, 2 Green Zebras, and decided to make a gift for Rafaella's 4th birthday in March. I began with 27 large hexagons, but shan't tell you what they will become until the end of the month.

Blossom was given some of the fabrics to work with as well, and her project will also become a gift for Rafaella. Can't wait to show you our completed projects! These fabrics won't be in quilt shops until April, but as you can see they are the cutest little prints.

I'm also stitching a new design for my Faith, Heart & Home pattern club...needle-turn applique this time. At the moment I'm not sure what month this pattern will be available, but hopefully soon.

Whilst preparing for my doctor's appointment on Monday I thought it wise to take a book along as waiting time can run from 20 to 45 minutes. At first I packed my latest homemaking tome in my bag, but then reconsidered and replaced it with my absolute favourite Jane Austen novel, Persuasion.

Whilst most will wax lyrical about Pride and Prejudice, and I admit it's a wonderful novel, my heart was captured by the story of Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth many years ago, a story which even today brings me joy to read. So once again, I'm turning the pages and relishing the slowing - because that's something wonderful about Austen's books, they are slow, oh so wonderfully slow.

Morning Bible study is the best start to the day, though.

After preparing my husband's work lunch, I set the table for breakfast, make the coffee, fill tiny bowls with our assortment of vitamins and minerals, and then we eat together and chat about the day ahead.

Once done, we both settle into the couches with our Bibles for a half hour until it's time for him to leave.

This week my study is 2 Peter, and I've been struck by two things...

1.  How important 'these qualities' which are mentioned in chapter 1:5-7 were to him, because he makes numerous mention of practicing them throughout the first chapter. 

2. One of 'these qualities' - steadfastness - means 'cheerful endurance' and really fed my desire to pursue a steadfast nature (along with all of 'these qualities')

For a few years now, when I study my Bible, right beside me is the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, because I learned it was not enough to just read the words in my English Bible - it's important to understand the full meaning from the original language as this brings the Word alive in a deeper way and opens the eyes of my understanding to the fullness, complexity, pure truth and divine authority of God's holy Bible, especially as we seemingly face end times.

The roses all decided to rest for a couple of weeks, unusual as they tend to take turns in producing a full flush of blooms so that my table is always beautifully displaying a vase or two or three. 

I gave them all a little trim, more soil, mulch and fertiliser, and carefully removed spent leaves...and within ten days they came alive with abundant beauty once more! First, the beautifully fragrant Perfumed Passion rose offered forth her fluffy pink flowers, which delighted my senses as this is my favourite rose. 

Now the blue rose is flush with blooms so they'll be cut for the vase today. The long stemmed reds are almost ready and will be ready to cut at the weekend. I'll prune them right back at the end of April, but for now it's still summer and though they need care not to burn under our tropical sun, I find immense joy in this expanding hobby. Come winter I shall purchase a few more bareroot roses and large pots and continue to 'grow' my new hobby...one day perhaps my garden will be a rose retreat, for beauty's sake alone.

Before I sign off today, here's some photos of the new designs for the next set of Faith, Heart & Home stitchery club patterns.

It was our 30th wedding anniversary in December, and I designed and stitched this lovely memento to frame and hang in our home. Often I'm asked about patterns for a new marriage or a wedding anniversary, so you may like to stitch this for that purpose?

There's also this appliqued "love begins with home" design...

...which I finished as a cushion for the bedroom.

And there's also a new block for the Heart of Psalms / Heart of Home quilt project.

The text for both versions is included in the pattern sheets.

To find out more about receiving Faith, Heart & Home patterns just pop over HERE

I hope your own week has offered some slow days and quiet times to simply rest in the goodness of home, family and God.

Until next time, God bless you and keep you safe in His care.

hugs...