He is here...

 

Joy. Such joy.

Wednesday night our beautiful Blossom had a very quick labour and her darling little man made a gentle entrance to the world, just as we all prayed for.

Joy has flooded our hearts and our family want to thank you for every prayer made, every caring thought offered, every message of encouragement and concern that was sent.

The Father heard and in His perfect timing a child was delivered without anxiety or fuss, a little boy who has already captured hearts.

Blossom, Ross and the girls are besotted and now that their family is complete they shall enjoy every moment raising their brood of precious cherubs. 

Keep praying for Blossom, would you please? Every pregnancy did more internal damage and sadly this means no more babies for her, but with extra care and time we pray that God's healing touch would bring about a perfect recovery and healthy life ahead. 

And you know that hole in the heart Charlie David has?

He has no more.

One week ago at the final ultrasound it was still there, had not changed. But after his birth no sign was found. This is how the hand of our God works - miracles when we do not imagine them, in ways we could not predict, in His timing...oh, my, all glory to Him!

Nana and Poppy are a bit tired now after caring for our precious granddaughters while Mummy was in hospital but what a delight to be tired from such a God-gifted time with them. As close as we are to Cully May and Rafaella, the bond strengthened even more and we feel more blessed than words can say. 

Cuddling our new grandson, already a bond grows, and as with the girls we know that it will strengthen with each passing day. One day all three will run through the garden, pick our tomatoes, feed kale to the chickens, swim in the pool, ride on Poppy's back and repeat almost hourly "Nana, I'm hungry" as they head into the kitchen to see what treat has been prepared for them.

This is HOME-making dear friends.

Home is not a house. 

It's a feeling of welcome, love, belonging, blessing and grace. 

It's where we long to be when we're away and where we lay our weary bones at night to rest.

It's where welcome arms wrap around you and where your own arms reach out to those who need a hug, assurance, comfort, hope.

Home is family.

Making a home is more than pantry preparedness, swept floors, washing on the line...it's a matter of heart and filling every room with the fragrance of welcome and love. It's where we share Jesus and where He shows Himself glorified by how we treat others and how we care for ourselves.

Blossom has a home-maker heart, always has, and this Scripture I know will be her legacy in days to come...

"Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also and he praises her."

Proverbs 31:28

May our dear Lord guide each of us into a deeper understanding and love for home-making in the months and years ahead.

Now, I'm off to brew a cup of tea, gather some stitching and maybe defrost some of the scones I baked last week to slather in butter and boysenberry jam. Oh delish. Oh sweet simple delights. My heart overflows and I shall count my blessings as I sew...

Loving hugs

Let me brag...

It's a Nana's responsibility to show off her new grand babies, right?

Cully May, 19 days old (Blossom's daughter)...

Austin Knox, 4 months old (Aisha's son)...

Just had to exercise my bragging rights.

Have a lovely day,

And the cold wind blows...

Winter actually, truly rooly, arrived today.

This is a big deal. I am cold and don't own enough suitable winter gear to keep warm so I'm wearing my one black cardie, pajamas, a quilt and very thick bamboo motor bike socks. 

I am loving every frosty nip at my nose, even the bones which I'd forgotten used to ache when we lived in a cooler climate and are today giving my memory a darn good jog.

Sadly this cold snap is only due to last a few days, but hey, I'll take what I can get. 

Soup was on the menu tonight, Monks Lentil Soup. When we homeschooled the kids this was a favourite winter lunch I'd serve with fresh baked focaccia and a plate of apple and cheese slices. 

No more homeschooling, and the kids grew up and left home to raise their own broods, so it was just Mr E and I slurping and munching across the dinner table as the 6 o'clock news drifted in from the living room on this mid-winter July evening.

 Most of today was spent sitting in the office writing patterns and formatting the July Stitchery Club issue. I didn't realise how dark it had become until I saw this photo I took before packing up...

More than a few pots of tea were brewed over the course of those seven hours, and between patterns I got to chat to my girls, Aisha and Blossom, via group phone texts. 

I love these kind of days when we three banter back and forth from our various homes, sharing the moments as they happen with Aisha's two little ones, Bloss's pregnancy, housework, husbands, and lots of laughter. 

Aisha's little boy Austin is 3 months old today! How quickly the weeks have passed since our precious grandson greeted the world. He's a handsome cutie...

This is my favourite photo of Aisha and Austin. Melts my heart, I'm so proud of the gentle and selfless way she mothers her children...

Tomorrow I'm venturing out for a few hours to meet with Heather and Barb for some 'up the mountain' sewing. We haven't been up to Hervey's Range Tea Rooms for a stitching day since last year and it's a winter tradition for us to make at least two or three visits before the heat returns. Being that it's so cold today and set to be colder tomorrow I will be ransacking Mr E's wardrobe for a jacket, and swathing myself in scarves, socks and boots. Thankfully the Tea Rooms brew huge pots of tea and have lots of hot comfort food, scones, and other sweet delights to warm us from the inside.

I decided to prepare another Splendid Sampler block to stitch while we're up there. This is Pat Sloan's tomato pincushion design and I've used little bits of my Retro 30's Child Smile stash for the applique...

 I've promised Mr E that I'll spend the following day (and maybe the day after) in bed, resting. He's also gone and put new tyres on my car so I'll be safe driving the one hour round trip up the mountain in the rain. He's not just my husband, he's my guardian angel.

A lovely gift arrived last week, all the way from the United States. Kim McCool is celebrating her 60th birthday this year and she decided she wanted to make 60 gifts and send them to people all over the world. And you know, she asked if she could send a gift to me.

I usually say no to gifts, but this was such a beautiful quest Kim had set for herself - blessing others during her own year of celebration - that I said yes.

She made me a porcelain trinket box, a pin keep, and a scissor fob. Simply beautiful, and as I've been so unwell and home alone most of the time this meant even more. Aren't I blessed?

You can visit Kim's blog over here...

Well, the July Stitchery Club issue is written, been proof read by my dear Allie-girl, and is ready to be emailed to Club members on Sunday morning (or Saturday night if you're in the northern hemisphere).

As I've been so unwell this past month there is no bonus project in the July issue, but I did spend time today browsing through my old tutorials for one which could be used with the six new patterns.

I found a few actually, but this one got me excited because it's something I loved making back in 2014 using a UFO stitchery with some faded fabric, and would be perfect for these Club designs or any other stitcheries and quilt blocks you have already on hand.

The stitchery becomes a mini quilt, which is then sewn to front of a small, simply made pillow.

See my tutorial here...

In fact, I've put aside two Tilda prints and my Spin Prim Rabbit block to make a cushion at the weekend...

...and I have a feeling more will follow.

They'd make wonderful Christmas gifts, right?

(Club membership closes on the 16th July - info here)

Have a snuggly evening wherever you are. I'm going to make cocoa, slice some banana loaf, and settle in with Mr E to watch our new favourite show, The Durrells.

hugs

Baby Austin arrives...

My sweet daughter Aisha and her loving hubby Tim welcomed this precious little son into their arms a bit before midnight on Thursday...

Austin Knox Rolestone M.....

7 lbs 8 oz

Absolutely Adorable.

A blessings from On High to be sure.

So very proud of my girl. Five days of labour, but worth every moment for the gift of Austin.

He's a young brother to two big sisters. Lucky little man to be so loved.

A new day, and my granddaughter...

I've not introduced you to my sweet little granddaughter Frankie before.

Our family is rather private so I don't share a lot about them, but my daughter Aisha has two gorgeous daughters - Ebony & Frankie - and little Frankie has been accepted as an entrant in the Bond's Babysearch 2015 and we thought you might like to meet our cherub, and hopefully vote for her...

Go HERE to the voting page, ok?

Honest, she's adorable...and as I have not yet been able to hold her (we live a long way apart) having regularly updated photos to swoon over is a true blessing, but in a few months she may well be wrapped in Nana's waiting arms and my gushing will move into overdrive. Be prepared. 

As promised yesterday here are some peeks at my 'work in progress'.

The first is where I'm at on a design by my friend Cori Blunt of Chitter Chatter Designs. This will have it's full reveal during Mdm Samm's blog hop in April....details soon.

The project below is a progress peek at one of my own new designs, also being prepared for a blog hop (in June), but the full reveal will be late in April. I love spotty curtains and apple pie, don't you?

I'll close out this week on the blog with some photos I took at sunrise today.

Mr E and I rose early before work and headed towards the beach and port with large coffees and our cameras.

It's still very hot in the tropics and the forecast is for a sweltering autumn so dawn in Townsville is alive with activity before the sun makes sport and exercise too hot to handle.

Enjoy...

hugs,