The creative ways of a homemaker...

 We woke around 5am this morning to flashes of lightning, loud rumbling thunder, and then the wonderful, cooling rain which soon followed. On days like this I love to stand at the front window and watch the transformation of our dry, and often parched summer gardens, to a lush green as it soaks up the gift of heaven and hydrates once again. 

As hubby starts work a half hour later on Saturdays, I took the extra time to make gluten-free waffles and a blueberry compote for breakfast, served with homemade strawberry jam and sour cream on the side. I often see Olesya, in Belarus, making pancakes served with jam and sour cream, so this morning we tried something similar. I shall confirm it is delicious to have the compote, or jam, with sour cream. 

You've heard me speak often about watching Olesya's YouTube channel. Her simple life, creativity, positive and caring character, along with her sewing skills, all combine to inspire my own homemaker heart. Recently I started over with the videos she has made over the past two years, with the intention of writing down many of her recipes, and saving a lot of her sewing tutorials and patterns. There's no fanfare with Olesya, just a happy smile and straight forward instruction and encouragement for the homemaker. 

So, with my own homemaker heart inspired, I thought about the things I'd like to do this year in our home, and what I'd like to make that is pretty, useful and practical. There's a number of items I am sorely in need of for the kitchen, such as pan liners for the ceramic cookware my husband bought me for Christmas 2023. In the year that we've had them I have used old cloths to place between the frying pans, baking pans and saucepans. The brand is Greenpan and I LOVE them. They are the best investment we have ever made in cookware...

...but as they are ceramic, you can't stack them without a liner, or you will crack the ceramic coating. These old facewashers and dishcloth have saved the pans over the past twelve months, but I really want to sew some proper pan liners this month. 

Blossom recently gave me a huge piece of soft and thick white terry towelling, so my plan is to use this between my pots and pans...probably bound with scraps of fabric that I save for just such a project. 

Another thing I need in the kitchen are oven mitts, as my old ones fell apart many months ago and I've just been using a folded tea towel since then.

Yesterday and this morning I watched Olesya make two styles of oven mitt HERE and HERE and her method was much nicer than others I have seen, as hers are lined, and she also shares the template to download. I have it printed up and waiting on my sewing table right now! Fortunately there's still a good size piece of Insul-bright on my shelves, and that will be wonderful for padding and insulation inside the oven mitts.

Another kitchen project is to make a cover for the KitchenAid Bowl Lift Mixer that my husband bought me for Christmas 2024. Perhaps you see a trend in his gift giving at Christmases? He always asks what 'big thing' I'd like, and we both know it will be something useful that is meant to last a very long time. 

We got it on special for less than the cost of a regular KitchAid stand mixer and as we are facing an exceptionally lean year in 2025 while he completes a year of study for a late-in-life career change I at first declined his offer...but he was insistent and so it was purchased. I shall make jolly good use of it, too. Having the stand-lift is wonderful for arthritic wrists. :-)

For now I just have a tea towel covering it...

So there are three projects for the kitchen which shall be made, hopefully before February, as I'd like to focus on one room at a time, wisely making things that add to the homeliness of each space, whilst also being very practical and useful. 

I'd also like to make some microwave bowl cosies, something my clever friend Rosie makes a lot of as gifts, and I shall also be sewing bowl covers - I made my first two for Rosie at Christmas, and I lined them, so even though they were fine, I believe the pattern needs tweaking because they do not need to be lined. 

I have a Pinterest Board HERE, "Homemade Stitched With Heartstrings"  that has loads of links saved over the years to inspire and instruct me in sewing for the home, and sewing for gifts as well. People can share so many wonderful tutorials and patterns for the things we enjoy making, or need to make, on Pinterest, that its always where I look first for ideas and sometimes answers. You may find some useful things on my board for your own homemaking plans.

I also gain inspiration from books. They may not necessarily have instructions for things to sew or make, but they often give me ideas about what I could make and how to bring even more homeliness into our dwelling. These books have been saved over the years, some purchased new, others found at garage sales or the op-shop. I have more on my shelf, but these are the ones I mostly peruse on a rainy day with a hot cuppa.

And I really want to sew a pretty ruffled liner for this basket, something I have watched Olesya make (I truly do get SO much inspiration from her!)...but I shan't make one until I am very sure about what fabric to use from what I already have. 

One final thing which I shall be making, though not for the kitchen, is a cover for my ironing table in the sewing room. Today is the day for this project! As you can see below, the old faded pink fabric has just been folded around a block of wood hubby had in his shed (there's also a layer of Insul-bright and cotton quilt wadding), but I'd like to make a fitted cover with elastic edging, similar to an actual ironing board cover. 

Wish me luck with this, as it is an experiment. First though, I need to choose the fabric. Perhaps I can use some of the recycled linen sheet which has been so great for other projects this year? I shall have a play around today and share the results next week. 

Tell me, what would you like to make for your kitchen? Or for your home? I'm ready for more ideas as this year is well underway now, and having rediscovered the joy of using my sewing machine (a big change from designing hand embroidery patterns and focusing almost solely on stitching them for fifteen years) I am actively looking with fresh eyes around our home...I just need to get those kitchen things done soon as they are rather needful. 

Along with this year's blog theme of...

...I am also focused on my role as a Bible-believing homemaker, and the accompanying blessing and warning for women found in Proverbs 14:1. 

I dearly long to be wise with regards to my God-gifted role in our family, and that only comes about by being in God's Word every day, and being still long enough for Him to illuminate new truths through the sixty-six books of His Divine Word. The last thing I want is to tear down my home through a lack of integrity, wisdom, godly character, and Biblical instruction. So Proverbs 14:1 is another verse I shall ponder and pray over in 2025 (the other is John 2:5 which I wrote about HERE)...

I wonder if you have a verse or two that you'll be focused on this year? Or perhaps a quote that resonates with you? 

Whatever we do, sweet friends, let us love our homes and families, love the Lord, and make our dwelling places somewhere we, and our loved ones, long to be. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love,

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Tiny bears, jar covers and a free pattern...

How was your weekend? Did you get out and about to enjoy the sunshine and breathe in some clear fresh air? 

UNEXPECTED THINGS:

Our weekends are usually spent that way but alas, this past weekend was overflowing with unexpected home maintenance work for my husband - I was there to hand him a cool drink, and to hold a flashlight, but not much else. There's a rather large hole in the kitchen ceiling now due to heavy rain and a leaking skylight the previous owners covered up and never secured when they plastered over it. We've had torrential rain for days, and hubby had to climb on the roof in that rain to see where the leak was coming from. Turns out the old skylight had cracked open, so when he removed it to cover the roof with a temporary tarpaulin, the other end of the skylight, hidden unsecured above the thin plastering of our kitchen ceiling, fell right through the plaster and shattered over the floor. Aah, the fun of it all. And I won't bother to explain about the water coming through the bedroom...just know that he fixed that problem and all is well in that room again. Until he can fix the roof, he's temporarily screwed a slab of wood over the hole in the kitchen ceiling. So we're nice and dry again, but unsure about how things will go now that we're in the tropical wet season and the rain is not letting up. 

I just laughed by the time the bedroom welcomed rain without my permission, and handed it all over to God. After all, He sees all and He will guide my man along his maintenance journey, just as He always has in the past. 

TINY BEARS:

So what was I doing while my beloved was on the roof, inside the roof, and mending ceiling holes?? In the sewing room of course, out of his way, just as most men like us to be when they are in the midst of a challenging project. 

And this is what I was making...

Tiny Tilda woodland bears for Rafaella's Christmas gift. Oh my goodness, these are barely 5 inches high, and so fiddly with all those wee bits and pieces that need to be stuffed and sewn on individually. My plan was to make the bears, the fox, the deer and the bunny, and lots of little skirts and scarves that she could mix and match with because she adores little things like this and they help with her sensory issues...but to be honest,  after the first one (below)...

...I was not going to make another. It was just so fiddly and my fingers hurt, but by the next morning I was ready to begin another, and found it slightly easier as this time I knew what I was doing.

I am so thankful for Olesya's videos on YouTube as apart from homemaking in Belarus, she cooks and sews, with wonderful tutorials within some of her videos. I watched her step by step making four of these tiny woodland creatures on Saturday as I worked on the first bear...

They are found in this Tilda book....

...but the instructions are not very good. So Olesya's skill shone forth on Saturday as by watching her I "got it". She's made quite a few Tilda dolls in her videos over the past couple of years and once I have finished these little ones for Rafaella, I'm going to make myself a doll, but a much larger one. ;-)

JAR COVERS: 

Earlier in the year I showed you the lovely jar covers I was making, and then I progressed to crocheting the edges which made them ever lovelier. But then I was cleaning out my sewing supplies and found that I had far more lace than I'd originally thought, so I began using it to trim more jar covers. 

I have made plenty as gifts, and I highly recommend you consider adding this idea to your own gift making this Christmas and through next year because they're very pretty and liven up a drab pantry full of jars. 

I hand-sew the lace into the very edge of the cover so that it looks the same on both sides (the covers are lined)...

Sometimes I make an embroidered side, while still keeping the other side floral or check or spots. Lining all the jar covers gives you a lot of options. 

I have completed all the covers needed for gifts now, so I'm working on a lot of gingham and spots for myself as I love a vintage look to the kitchen pantry, and spots and checks really do add that feel to the space. You can see in the first jar cover photo some of my checks and spots, but I have many more to make, and they're really simple once you get going. 

Once again it was Olesya whom I watched make one of these, and from there I changed sizes for different jars, and began adding crochet or lace, or embroidery. 

If you'd like me to do a quick tutorial here on the blog just let me know in the comments. 

FREE PATTERN: 

Over the next couple of weeks I'll be sharing a number of free patterns with you. Today's can be stitched up rather quickly (I tend to stitch while listening to an audio book or 'watching' a favourite episode of Marple or Poirot to avoid having to look up very often), and finishing it simply as a pincushion would make a lovely gift for Christmas. But you could also pop it inside a little hoop as an ornament, or use it in a handmade card. If you have other ideas please share them in the comments as we're all welcome to ideas, especially at this time of the year. :-)

Use the link below to download the free JOY pattern.

DOWNLOAD Joy Pincushion Pattern

Okay, that's enough for today, as my tummy is rumbling and I need to make some lunch and probably a lovely decaf soy cappuccino before I finish another project to share soon. I'll be back tomorrow or Friday with another freebie, and if you would like to stay on top of things and not miss any of my blog posts or freebies, just click on the photo below and subscribe to my new Free Friday Newsletter...

Did you notice the Christmassey new blog dress? As hot and wet as our summer is here in the tropics, I still love the look of a cool wintry Christmas. 

God bless you, one and all, and may this season of contemplating our Saviour's birth be more vivid and life-giving than ever this year. There may be wars and struggles and darkness around us in the world, but HE is the Light of the World, the Light this world needs. Praise Him always, dear friends, and walk in His Light. 

Love and hugs

Keeping busy and making time to breathe...

 

This quote by Laura Ingalls Wilder is one that I come back to regularly, as it encourages my choice to live a quiet life, a life unhurried, closed away from the world outside by a tall fence on all sides. Surrounded by the many trees my husband has planted in our six years here, and the gardens we created to provide beauty, food, herbs, restful places to sit and watch the numerous birdlife our quarter acre attracts each day - this is our sanctuary, our quiet place, where we truly do take time to think our own thoughts, talk to God, and separate ourselves (as much as we can) from the chaos of a world that shouts increasingly louder, demanding more attention than we choose to give.

 

(the garden is flourishing right now)

It sounds as though we live somewhere out in the country I suppose, but in reality we live on a very busy main road, and when we first moved here this challenged our heartfelt desire for peace and quiet. For those of you who were reading the blog back in 2017/18 you may remember that we spent almost a year searching for our first ever home, after renting all our married life. We had a list of things that we felt were important, and we offered this list to God each day, trusting that in His perfect timing, He would lead us to the right home - and He did, just weeks before our rental lease expired. 

(winter blueberries ripe for the picking)

It was a sunny end-of-winter August day, exactly six years ago last weekend, when we first came to see the house. The road had traffic, but not so much that we thought about it on that Sunday morning. Going through our list of requirments we were surprised to see that it had everything, plus a swimming pool - the one thing we did not want. Ha ha! The price was a bit more than we could spend, but we went away and sat by the river to pray and wait on God. About a half hour later we went back and made an offer 20K below the asking price, fairly sure this was what we were meant to do, and completely putting our trust in the Lord...and the offer was accepted. The house had been empty for months and the owners just wanted it off their hands.

(the cosmos are self seeding everywhere)

It wasn't until we moved in that the almost constant stream of traffic drew a line through "peace and quiet" on our list of requirements. Fortunately the excitement of setting up a real home of our own subdued that particular disappointment for a couple of months, but eventually reality took hold and we struggled to sleep with the zoom zoom of cars and trucks passing through the night. 

(lemon balm, chives and pentas mixed with morrocan mint)

The neighbours assured us "you'll get used to it" but we found that hard to believe. Our greatest desire in having a home was to live in peace and quiet, to have sanctuary away from the outside world, a place to refresh, renew, and flourish in our later years. It had been a family joke for decades that whenever our children asked their father what he wanted for his birthday/Fathers day/Christmas, his answer never changed from "peace and quiet, please."

(white yarrow, so pretty, and lovely in teas)

God's plans are regularly not the ones we'd choose for ourself - have you found that? The swimming pool we did not want has become an integral part of our health regime, with both of us swimming year-round, regardless of the weather or temperature. It's a blessing we never forsaw, yet we cannot imagine being without it now. 

(another self-seeder, sweet basil)

But that lack of peace and quiet...mmm...?? Well, as the years passed by I learned a very big lesson. Peace and quiet can be found anywhere, if you just focus on what's important within your home, the people within, and the GOD who is the real peacegiver, the One who will meet you in the storm, in the scorching summer days, in the noisy daytime traffic, in the partying of neighbours, in the (eventual) quieting darkness of the night...in your prayers, and in His Word. That changed everything for us.

(more self-seeding, pretty marigolds)

Seeking peace in a loud world is something many of us need more than ever these days, especially since 2020, as that year triggered more rapid changes across the globe than any year in my lifetime, and the changes continue to increase. Life as we know it now, especially for children, is nothing like the life my husband and I grew up in. I won't go into that too much, but I do lament the loss of those carefree years of old which my grandchildren have never experienced. But what I can rejoice in is their visits to our quarter acre, where they roam and play and wonder and explore and discover in complete freedom for hours on end...and that is something I am sure God planned when He led us here. 

(we have so much sage, lovely in teas and cooking)

So where am I going with all this? Well, we may never get all we ask for, and God may lead us in ways we do not understand at the time, but with our very limited view of tomorrow, next month or next year, we can be confident  that when we lay all aside to trust the Lord and follow His lead, we will one day see with fresh eyes all that He was preparing for us, all the goodness of God displayed for we who love and worship Him. 

The past few days have been very busy with not much time to rest up, but oh what a wonderfully productive few days it has been! I go to bed each night aching, but arise happy to start a new day. 

Last post I think I showed you how I am growing and drying calendula again. Our calendula flowers are harvested every day, and left to dry outside on the back table. Once dry they are stored in a glass jar, ready for using in herbal medicines/balms/tinctures. 

Firstly I make a calendula infusion of the dried flowers in extra virgin olive oil, leaving it sit in the dark for a month or more. Then I strain it and bottle the calendula infused oil, or use some to make balms and salves. 

Last Sunday afternoon (after a visit to the farmers market that morning) my kitchen looked more like an apothecary's back room, but I did tidy along the way so that ingredients didn't get mixed up. 

The final result was worth the month long wait for the infusion to be ready, as I ended up with pure calendula oil, calendula & lavender balm, and calendula & lavender salve - all of which I share with my daughters Blossom and Kezzie. 

Of all the many books I have on making herbal treatments, this is my current favourite, The Garden Apothecary. The pure oil is beautiful as skin care and also put away for making more balms and salves. The balm is lovely for dry patches on the skin and on my hands after gardening, and the salve is especially made for Cully May who comes up in the most painful sores when bitten by mosquitoes. It really makes a difference for her, praise God. 

I've run out of the shea butter component, but have ordered more, so when my next infusion is ready at the end of September I can make more salve and balms, plus some lip balms too. 

Sunday morning we had been to the farmer's market and arrived home with a bounty of fresh produce - far more, and much cheaper than the supermarket. Weighed down with overflowing bags of produce, hubby and I both were surprised when our bill was just $23! 

I spent all day Monday in the kitchen, storing, preserving, roasting, pickling...and baking some sweet treats for us and Blossom's family of course! 

Here's just a few things I made for the week ahead (the rest was preserved in other ways, or vacuumed sealed in the refrigerator to use fresh) - pesto made from the green radish tops, pickled radishes, pickled red onions, garlic mayonnaise, fresh tomato salsa, roasted garlic & chive labne (made after hanging Greek yoghurt for 36 hours), and herbal tea to serve over ice. 

Blossom and Cully May LOVE the labne and enjoyed a batch with crackers yesterday. I now need to make more!

On Monday I also made 2 litres of almond milk, trays of roasted capsicums and tomatoes, a tray of peanut butter stuffed medjool dates, and some sweeties were baked - ginger & coconut slice, and a chocolate slice. 

On Tuesday I spent the morning in the garden as I had potted plants that needed to be moved into shaded areas, seedlings planted out, fertilising and a bit of pruning, and planting out the coriander roots from the two huge bunches of coriander (cilantro) we got at the farmers market. I had removed all the coriander leaves and stems for use in salads, curries, and salsa, plus a lot was frozen (for use in future curries), leaving around 4 inches above the root base for planting out. In just 24 hours they were already sprouting new leaves, so we will probably be able to harvest right up to November hopefully. Coriander doesn't like our heat or humidity and when I grow it, it just withers by mid spring, and this winter (when it normally flourishes) it just didn't grow well at all. 

After gardening, I went back to the kitchen and roasted pumpkin for salads, mashed pumpkin for pumpkin bread and muffins later this week, made a huge batch of meatballs and sauce (using some of my roasted tomatoes, garlic and capsicums from the previous day), made a bowl of French chicken salad to have on rolls, sliced up the pineapple and some watermelon, and made a chocolate avocado pudding. 

So you can see that I had three busy days back to back...and then yesterday (Wednesday) I did our regular grocery shop, and popped over to visit Blossom and the children who were excitedly waiting for Ross to return from a work trip away in Brisbane. 

When I arrived back home, and after watering the garden, I decided it was time to stop, to allow the satisfaction of a productive few days to settle in my thoughts, and take some time to breathe...a good reminder from one of my Gentle Domesticity designs. 

A cuppa, some ginger slice, and time with my sketch pad brought the afternoon to an end. I prepared another pattern for my free Promises Project (here), and shall spend the next few afternoons stitching it.

A long blog post, I know, but I hope it encouraged you in some small way to trust the Lord with His plans for your life, be they large or small, and to find delights within the sanctuary of your own home. 

This verse says it all really...

Oh, and I have been working on more UFO projects for this month, another three blocks in the Anni Downs quilt pattern, and more of that cross-stitch a began a few months back. Have you been working on some August finishes too??

There's a number of questions which readers have emailed me or left in comments the past couple of months, so I shall endeavour to do a blog post to answer what I can in the near future. But for right now, I'm taking time to breathe, to rest from my labours, and possibly to give the blog a bit of a holiday very soon. 

God bless, and many prayers, 

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Go on as usual...

 

We had a few days of heavy rain this past week, which curtailed all my gardening plans. But with every cloud, there is indeed a silver lining. We have had no rain since the end of March, apart from one morning when it pretty much evaporated before it hit the ground, so these days and nights of constant downpour from heaven were greatly needed and much rejoicing was made. 

My only complaint was finding the passionfruit vine raided by our local cockatoos. A few were scattered over the backyard and immediately I knew that was because I'd forgotten to fill the bird feeder with sunflower seeds, so I quickly remedied the situation and saved the rest of our passionfruits. 

It was providential that just as the rain set in I read this quote by Louisa May Alcott - "Go on with your work as usual, for work is a blessed solace." 

With that in mind I considered indoor tasks for occuplying my time and hands, tasks separate to my ordinary housework routines. We had run out of strawberry jam, so one morning I made four jars...

And of course, once I got started in the kitchen, it seemed a good idea to keep making and baking. Soon followed small spanakopitas for hubby and I, plus a larger one for my Cypriot/Greek son-in-law Ross who only gets to enjoy the foods of his heritage when I make them for him (this naturally makes me a popular and much loved mother-in-law). I also baked a sour dough loaf (it is still rising in the photo below)...

...and baked later that day. 

We were out of breakfast cereal so I made up a large batch of delicious granola...

...which we have with Greek yoghurt (me), or milk (hubby), fresh blueberries and raspberries. 

I also baked peanut butter cookies and rock cakes, by which time I was ready to enjoy a tall glass of herbal tea whilst waiting to bake the bread. I make a large pot every morning at sunrise, after picking a variety of herbs from the garden.  That first cup is hot, but later in the day and in the evening I have it over ice. 

This tea was made with fresh mint, rosemary, self-heal and tulsi, plus dried ginger, sliced lemon, and dried rosehips. It's absolutely delicious!

Afternoons were mostly to do with sewing, reading, and working on the herbal remedies course I began recently. I'm also continuing to sort out the sewing room, as I have a good deal of fabric in plastic tubs that must be sold soon and they take up precious space. But bit by bit it's coming together nicely...

 These rainy days also gave me more time to complete another couple of UFO projects. One of them is a favourite pattern of mine, as it's very near to my heart! You may have seen it HERE in my shop? Now it has been given a purpose as a notebook cover to keep track of my long list of partially made, ongoing, applique quilt projects...

Once the cover was completed, I listed all the quilt projects on the first page, and then chose one to work on this week. 

I  think if I do a block or two each week these lovely quilts will eventually be made, so I'm using this notebook as a journal now, with a hand written update every Sunday of what I made, and for which quilt, in the previous week. 

For this week I chose Anni Down's "Where We Love is Home" to work on. About half the blocks were already made, and as I do love needleturn applique so very much, rather than one block I ended up making another three. My colours are much brighter than the ones Anni used in her version, though I'm trying to keep a vintage feel to the fabrics I have chosen...and I'm only using what is on hand, not buying any fabrics at all. 

I'm wondering if I'll keep going with this quilt, or switch things up to a different one next week? Mmm...decisions. Maybe stay with this right now and see how far I'll get by the end of the month. 

Reading has been a mix of library books, and books off my shelf, with the focus being on living with a Mediterranean diet for better health. I had a wonderful chat with my doctor recently and though she is Indian, she is a great encourager for using the Mediterranean diet (diet as in a healthier way of eating as we age, not a weight loss diet) and as hubby's ancestry is Italian, and Ross's is Cypriot/Greek, the whole family is happy to know I'll be planning our menus around traditional foods from those regions in future. 

With the books off my shelf the focus is on a few things - herbs, foraging, more food, and a wonderful book set in England during WW2.  

And there's always time, rain or shine, for Bible study...

Finally the sun came out!! 

And I did not need to water the garden, in fact, today I only need to water the potted plants and herbs as the ground is still wet three days later. 

The cockatoos, rainbow lorikeets and red tailed parrots are happy as can be, and I am not forgetting to top up their feeder. I love sitting outside watching them, listening to their chatter and squabbles with each other....

Out the front, we have kookaburras on the power lines every morning laughing up a storm and causing me to stop what I'm doing and just gaze at them with pure delight. They truly are my favourite bird. 

Now that it's sunny and blue skies, I am back to sitting under the large poinciana tree to watch the to-ings and fro-ings of life in and about our quarter acre every afternoon. The late winter garden is bursting with life, and this recent rain is part of the reason. 

I have taken quite a liking to homemade mayo and sliced tomato on sour dough toast, with a sprinking on fresh basil, for lunch - the sunshine and very warm days seem to call for it...

...and a cool snack of watermelon and passionfruit is perfect when sitting in the garden.

Each day I pick a bunch of herbs to serve in meals, or make teas, and there's always a few cherry tomatoes and chillies as well. We decided not to grow tomatoes or cucumbers this season after the infestation of bugs the previous four growing seasons, but hubby ended up planting one cherry tomato up the back beside the pool and though it doesn's supply all our tomato needs, we do very much enjoy just snacking on them.

The herbs below -parlsey, spring onion and dill - were used in the spanakopita.

I really do believe the sentiment in that quote, for no matter what is happening in life, as much as is possible, stick with your usual rhythms and routines. Having a routine is one of the kindest things I do for myself as a homemaker living a gentle domestic life, and there is indeed solace, comfort, and a firm reassurance for our family when they see Mother going about her day in the usual way. 

As a child I found this with Nana, and I believe its why those childhood memories of life with her are so indelibly eteched in my memories. 

I had forgotten some of my childhood, by choice at first when it came to the bad memories of my father, but over time I no longer think of those bad times, but have gathered to my heart the GOOD memories, the patient and self-sacrificing love of my Nana and Pop - and everything else has drifted away like dandelions blown in the wind. 

If I can offer any words of advice today, it would be to let go of the hard memories, and treasure the goods ones. Fill your heart with goodness, and close the door on memories that draw you into a dark place. Pray and ask the Lord to help you do this - He helped me by shining the Light of Christ into every room in my mind, so that over time, the dark rooms no longer came into view. I am so grateful for the gift of Jesus, for the hope and happiness which fill my heart each and every day! I pray that for you too, my sweet friend. 

Another week is passed...I wonder what next week will bring? Let me know how you are this month. Many of you are no-reply commenters, but rest assured I read every comment, I pray for you, and I am also encouraged BY you. 

Till next time, bless you...

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