The rain, budgeting and growing in contentment...

Living in the dry tropics, we only really get rain during the wet season from December to April, so it was lovely yesterday and today that those precious water drops from heaven fell early. 

Yesterday morning I went out about 5:15am to take some photos, after light rain had fallen overnight. It's my favourite time of the day, so still and not yet hot enough to feel the humidity or the burn of the morning sun. 

Sophie cat is recovering from an attack by a young rogue tomcat who took a bite from her back as she ran away. The vet was wonderful, so very gentle with our 12yo girl. Sophie needed to wear a collar for a few days so as not to lick the wounds, and she absolutely hated it, even refusing to eat or drink...but late on day three we thought it best that it be removed as in our climate dehydration comes fast. 

The wounds are healing very well, and she's picked up a lot since eating and drinking again. Sophie loves the heat, which I imagine is because she was born here and its all she's known, but laying on wet grass in the early morning is also one of her delights. 

The Elder trees are laden with flowers, and there's many hands of small berries already. The birds keep taking them, but I can see quite a few large hands of them untouched so hopefully it won't be too long before I can make syrup.

Whenever it rains the birds seem to fill the yard, all sorts of them, so I keep the feeder filled with seeds, or bread ends which have gotten stale. 

I am blessed to always have fresh roses to pick and fill a vase or two, and the last of the petunias give the yard a lovely burst of colour in the garden.

This past week has been a rewarding one with family and also my design work. Last night we took homemade curry pastries and a pasta bake to Blossom's, where the whole family gathered for a dance party with the children. Cully May only recently began attending school after homeschooling for two years, and the school had a halloween themed disco for grades kinder - 6...but being believers in God's Word we do not embrace the custom of halloween, so we had our own disco party at home with faith based music and it was a wonderful night! Poor Poppy is aching all over today after dancing with his granddaughters (whom he had to pick up and carry as they danced - it was so much fun to watch!) but he said the pain was worth it. 

I've given the menu a bit of an overhaul this week as well, especially after reading a post (and the comments) by Grandma Donna. You can read it HERE, and do so until the end because it's her response to a reader which made me nod my head and think more about my own food experiences with Nana and Pop. That in turn gave me cause to consider, genuinely consider, the need to simplify our meals and step back from recipes with lots of ingredients, expensive ingredients, and too many steps. 

I realise this has been something I've attempted to follow through on before, but with the economy such as it is now, my resolve is much stronger. 

On Wednesday for lunch I took out some random vegetables which needed using up - potatoes, onions, cauliflower, beet greens and tomatoes. After sauteing the onions with garlic and ginger, I added the vegetables with a tablespoon of korma paste, two teaspoons of tomato paste, sea salt and a 1/2 teaspoon of garam masala. Half a cup of water was poured over everything and with the lid on I let everything simmer very gently for about half an hour. Then I added half a can of coconut milk (also left over from the fridge) and simmered another five minutes. Poured into a bowl and sprinkled with chopped spring onions from the garden, I thoroughly enjoyed this meal made from vegetables almost past their use by date, leftover coconut milk, and pantry staples. The remainder of the meal I had for lunch the next day. 

And that's also what happened with the curry pastries I made to take to Blossom's last night. I had a little beef mince to use up, plus another two potatoes, some green peas, onion and garlic, more of the Korma paste, half a lemon, and four sheets of puff pastry from the freezer.

The pasta bake I made was simply cooked pasta, with the remaining sauce from Porcupine Meatballs which we had for dinner on Monday night poured over. I grated the last of our tasty cheddar cheese and sprinkled it generously across the top, and baked it until bubbling. My grandchildren love any kind of pasta bake, and it's especially yummy using the leftover homemade sauce from the meatballs. 

It's a good feeling to see your fridge contents being used throughout the week and not leaving anything to waste. That's what I mean about simplifying our meals and menu. Checking what's needing to be used up each morning gives me a clearer idea on what to cook for our dinner each night (or lunch for me at home). 

This morning I decided to make a simple and small Shepherd's Pie for tonight as I have some leftover lamb from Tuesday night's roast dinner. I bought another bag of potatoes this morning, and have plenty of carrots, green beans, onions and garlic on hand already. All the other ingredients I need are already in my pantry. As we only eat small meals, this Shepherd's Pie will become two dinners for us, so I'll freeze half for another night. Must admit I was so surprised to see a small cut of lamb leg for $10 at the supermarket on Tuesday, but knew it would stretch to three night's dinners for two people, which made it $1.66 per plate and that's great for our budget. 

Being mindful of how long food lasts in the freezer is just as important as stocking up our pantries. It's no good filling the freezer with foods that only last three to six months, which is the case with many meat products, because you've wasted your $ should they be forgotten and not used. Our neighbour's freezer broke down last year and she was devastated because she had it full of meat, some of it dated four years ago. To be honest, it looked ghastly, and she admitted to being shocked, having never thought to research how long it's safe to freeze foods. So we are very mindful of what's in our own freezer now, and making sure we eat from it regularly, replacing with fresh items later. 

How have you fared this year? My focus this year was to embrace contentment, and though I may not have written as much about it as first intended, there has indeed been a decidedly more contented change in my heart, thoughts and life choices.

Choosing to let go of some things which though not bad, simply weren't right for me, and discovering afterwards that a weight had lifted from my mind and precious contentment had more room to fill that space - this was the biggest change. Some other wonderful changes (or perhaps I should call them growth?) have been a much deeper sense of personal wellbeing; a greater sense of gratitude for all I have and the people in my life; and the intentional slowing which is now my 'normal' pace in life. 

What about you?? How have you grown in contentment this year? Did you let anything go, or take on something new? I'd love to hear about your own journey. 

NEXT YEAR...

In my next post I'll share a few things with you that will begin next month, and flow through into 2023. Upon much reflection and prayer, I feel rather excited to be pursuing avenues and themes which feed my joy...and I hope they are a blessing to you as well. 

So until next week, may the Father's hand be clearly felt upon your shoulder, His voice a gentle loving whisper in your ear, His desire for your life become an overflowing truth in your heart, and His perfect love felt as strong encouraging hugs through your day. 

Hugs

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Appreciating the garden...

 If there's one thing which resounded through my reading of chapter four in Emilie Barnes' book "Simple Secrets to a Beautiful Home" it was the many simple ways we can add beauty and function through gardening - whether you have a large acreage, an allotment, a small backyard, an apartment, a room at a nursing home, a van at the caravan park, or even a bedsit. 

"You don't have to have acres of land or an emerald thumb in order for gardening to be part of your life. Your garden can flourish in whatever space and time you have to give it." (page 53)

Emilie recounts her early days of marriage, living in a tiny apartment which needed much imagination and creativity to bring about an atmosphere of 'home'. The shelf below her kitchen window soon became a garden of potted herbs and bright cheery geraniums, sparking within her a love for gardening as a source of beauty, and also as a way to add flavour to their simple meals. 

There are  many books on the market which offer ideas for balcony gardening, and some of the sites I have visited and the photos seen, show abundant greenery and a variety of edible plants almost within arms reach of the living room door. 

We live in the hot humid tropics of Northern Queensland, and as you drive by the populated shoreline of our town, there are hundreds of balconied apartments to see...but the ones which stand out are those filled with miniature fruit trees, climbing vegetables, herbs and flowers. If the balcony is large enough there may be a swing seat, but most balconies are smaller, yet spaces of real beauty and productivity. 

Emilie reminds us that God created the earth out of nothing, and with that in mind, she encourages us to look with creative eyes at our own blank space of dirt, imagining what we can do to add life and bring abundant growth. 

Even though many of us do not have a green thumb, and neither did she (though her husband was blessed that way) she advises all who are starting out to research what will grow well in your individual climate and area - because she planted a number of things that failed.

These are her tips for garden planning, gained from her own experience...

1. Some plants do better in the shade than in the sun.

2. Not all plants will grow in your region.

3. When planting trees, the hole needs to be twice as big as the ball of the tree, and use a very good quality soil mix.

4. Weed regularly to avoid them taking over your gardens.

5. Apply a good balanced fertiliser regularly.

6. A well thought out watering schedule is important for good growth.

7. I love this one..."With a garden, God always gives you a second chance. With time, patience, and fertiliser, even major mistakes can be corrected and beauty will be the result."

With regards to the poem (above) which Emilie includes in this chapter, I'll be quite honest and tell you I never really liked it. I thought how wrong to imagine you'd be nearer to God's heart if you were in the garden...and that belief still holds true for me.

However, when we moved to this home, our very first purchased residence, four years ago, the garden was pretty much a blank slate and we had no idea where to begin, but we both loved trees and greenery, and we both wanted to grow our own food. Hubby was less fussed on flowers, but when I explained we needed them for the bees he came on board with my floral plans. 

As we began the long process of planting (both successful and unsuccessful) and almost lost the lot in the floods of 2019, a deep delight began to take root within my heart, and you know, I can tell you today that even though I can feel close to God anywhere, it is when I am tending my garden and chatting away to Him that I seem to have my most profoundly gentle and inspiring moments - so I look upon Dorothy Gurney's poem with delight now. 

The rest of the chapter is filled with different areas to display plants, such as the front entrance (inside and out), hanging pots around windows, or growing herbs on windowsills. Emilie also encourages her readers to involve our children and grandchildren in the hands on work of planting, caring, weeding, and harvesting. 

Lastly, when setting up your garden be it large or small, work with the seasons, visit open garden days in your town for ideas, buy or borrow books which are relevant to your climate and region, and most importantly, make a start. Just jump in and get your hands in the dirt...so much delight awaits you. 

Here's some pics from around our garden this week - some planting, some harvesting, some simply beautiful for bringing in the house. 

Radishes sprouting, which we eat in salads, but also use the leaves for delicious radish pesto...

More radishes and mizuna greens...

The final crop of baby beets pulled and ready to be washed and pickled. We use the beetroot greens in salads...

New beetroot seedling planted in hopes of more baby beets, but if not, the greens will do nicely...

A volunteer tomato popped up in the front garden, and though our tomato season is over (once it gets too hot and humid the pests destroy them) this one is doing well. Of course, being the only tomato we have growing now we can check it multiple times a day to remove bugs. 

The birdhouse hubby built three years back became home to a family of Myna birds this spring, so he was really chuffed! I can hear the babies, but can't see them yet and don't want to disturb them.

Beauty...tending my roses is a joy I cannot express well enough. They do much better in partial shade as their petals burn in our fierce tropical sun, so our large Poinciana tree has become for them a spring/summer shelter.

They make the most beautiful vase display on my desk. Cutting a few blooms every couple of days means a heady rose scent surrounds me as I answer emails, type and work on other computer things. 

The pink rose is my hardest, and the one with a fragrance that lingers and assails your senses. It's called Perfume Passion, and apart from this one we bought two seasons back I have never seen another. 

These two were picked at dawn...

That's all for today. Hope you're doing well and finding delightful tasks to do around home and the garden. If you have any gardening ideas, experiences, or know of interesting books on gardening, please let us know in the comments below. I found a wonderful book for growing fruits and vegetables in the Australian tropics that has proved invaluable for understanding this particular climate and its challenges (HERE) but as you, my lovely readers, are wide spread across the globe, please share titles you have found helpful because it may be just what someone else is looking for. 

Before I sign off, my darling friend Fee has begun blogging again, and her focus is on the garden, living simply and food preservation. Pop over HERE and say hi - she'd love to catch up with you. We've had some wonderful phone chats lately, about the life changes we've made to nourish and bless our souls, changes that show you're never too old, or too unwell, to make small or large positive steps towards a fuller and more productive life. 

I have always believed that as long as I have breath, God has work for me to do, to His glory...and if you're reading this today, dear one, He still has a plan for you too.

hugs

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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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Lessons of the past...

 

It's been quite a shock to skip over spring, and have summer arrive three months early, but that's the way of seasons around the world now so I have quickly adjusted my expectations to accept whatever the good Lord sends our way. After all, just waking each morning next to my beloved is a gift which I never fail to thank God for, and that perspective helps me to focus on everything I can give praise for, rather than what I could lament.

THE GARDEN and GROCERIES...

Yesterday I pulled up the remaining tomato plants as the green vegetable bug infestation had become too difficult to control. Jennifer lost and the bugs won. The hot and humid days bring them out 'en masse', each day adding more to their numbers than the one before, and far too many tomatoes were lost. Best idea was to take away their 'dinner' and bring the remaining fruit inside. 

Some will ripen on the dining table near the front window, others will be fermented, and still more shall become a fried green tomatoes side dish this week. I may dehydrate the ripening cherry tomatoes, but I'll see how things go. Chutney and pickles are another option.

The last butternut pumpkin, lettuce and bok choy were picked today, but we've still got snow peas growing so we feast on them each night. Spring onions do well here all year round, as does rocket (arugula), plus the 'new to us' beet greens are in abundance for the time being. It's wonderful to still have greens for our daily salads, but I've planted out more radish as we've gone through the last lot already. All the cucumbers, which gave us a bounty this winter, are gone, as is my coriander (cilantro) patch as they do not like the burning heat. 

I'm so glad that strawberries are cheap at our supermarkets right now, having arrived very late in the season, so I'm stocking up on them for jam making later in the week. This is the end of the tropical growing season, so I'm gathering locally what I can to preserve, freeze and use immediately. We will very soon be reliant on the spring/summer growing seasons of the cooler southern states (I'm in Australia if you weren't aware) and already we see prices higher than I can ever remember. 

Rockmelons (cantaloupes) are already $7 each, so next winter we will grow them.

Our local egg farm just closed because they cannot get workers to collect the eggs...no wonder there's an egg shortage every second week in the supermarket. 

As I pondered all this last night, and reflected on the menus of my childhood living with Nana and Pop, I acknowledged that we've really strayed away from the simple fare of those days. Today, with all the cooking programs, social media sites and cookbooks, many people are buying a lot of different ingredients for just one meal...and that can be expensive. Add up the cost of spices (some you may only ever use once or twice in a year), special cuts of meat, vegetables which are out of season locally and so they're flown in from overseas, and any other number of ingredient requirements needed to re-recreate the recipe which caught your eye and made you salivate...it won't be cheap. 

Now I don't know about you, perhaps you're quite well off and can afford those luxuries, but as house mortgage rates rise (ours has gone up four times in the past four months, and we feel the pinch, even with a small mortgage) my husband and I have had to sit back and assess all our expenditure - deciding what is necessary and what is not. Considering this, we reminded each other of what it was like growing up with grandparents (he was raised by grandparents too, just like me) and how very wise they were with money, having gone through the Great Depression and WW2. They experienced first hand what it was like to raise a family in those years and and learned what it was to go without. Those lessons were ingrained in their mind, and we want lessons like those to guide our ways in the difficult time ahead.

I've begun making bottles of natural teas every few days. Hibiscus for bringing down blood pressure (and it's working), and a mix of lemon balm/mint/ginger as a night time tonic to help me sleep (also wonderful). I used to have these as hot teas every so often, but now I have them as iced tea straight from the fridge - and neither of them are sweetened, as they're lovely and fresh just the way they are. 

READING...

I'm currently re-reading The Servant Queen, an inspiring book by the UK Bible Society about the faith of our late Queen, Elizabeth 11, her legacy coming to mind often over the past two weeks. Did you watch the funeral? We did...so full of respect and dignity and love. 

Another read, though actually a daily study, my husband, Blossom and I are reading from the Complete Jewish Bible these days, and I cannot recommend this highly enough as it explains so clearly much of Jesus' teachings and what they meant to the 1st Century Jews He was living and ministering among. Brings the Bible, and especially Gospels, alive in quite an unexpected way.

In the evenings before bed I have another re-read. This book by Mrs Sharon White (you'll find her blog HERE) is one a handful of titles by her which I have purchased...

As you can tell, I love to fold over the corners of pages/topics I want to re-read! Her books are mostly blog posts she has written since about 2009, and full of her love for home, family, and more importantly, Jesus. In so many ways, as I read, it's like my own story of life. 

MOVING THINGS AROUND...

With every new season I tend to look over our living space and attempt to make it function that little bit better. Last week it occurred to me that when we walk in the back door, from the garden, no matter how much we try to avoid it, we bring in leaves, grass and sometimes muddy water. I've always had either the blue couch or the dining table against the wall of the back door, so dust and debris end up either under that couch or scattered under the table and between the chairs. 

My new re-arrangement is probably the most sensible one yet! I made a walkway from the back door into the kitchen at long last.

My desk is now in direct line from the new air conditioner, which really is important as I need to do work each day there and our spring/summer/autumn is ghastly hot.

THE OLD WAYS...

I hope and pray each of you are doing well, in whatever circumstance you are facing. Though a believer for 31 years, the Lord is still stretching me, He is still guiding me, and He is still forgiving me when I fall along the way. You may have that same testimony? 

No matter the mortgage increases, the cost of groceries, or the scarcity of eggs, if we can curb our spending, eat and live more simply, be mindful of not using the car more than we need, switching off appliances at the wall when not in use, give thanks for all we have, and above all be content knowing that we are children of a great and mighty God who shall supply all our needs according to His riches in glory (note, the Word says needs, not wants)...then we shall be okay. 

The Bible directs us to look to the old ways, and the old ways for me are the examples I saw growing up in Nana and Pop's tiny flat. Simple meals, small delights, contented hearts, creativity, beauty in flowers, there's no garden too small, hard work, staying home each day and not wandering off to socialise because attention to keeping home was most important, cleanliness of self/belongings/home, regular daily rhythms, respect for God, generosity to those in need, and restful evenings together as a family.

What have you learned from the old ways of your childhood? I'd love to hear them.

Bless you heaps,

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