Showing posts with label looking after ourselves 2017. Show all posts
Showing posts with label looking after ourselves 2017. Show all posts

Monday, March 6, 2017

A slower pace...

The last couple of years I've been 'listening' to the almost daily conversation two of my daughters have about babies, husbands, health, home and the future. Living more than 2,000 kilometres apart our little 'messenger' group keeps the three of us in touch with what's happening in our day to day lives. 



Our chats can run from teething and nappy rash to losing the car keys at the supermarket and choosing to stay calm with two toddlers who just want to go home now, or offering recipe advice and cleaning ideas, a sounding board for future plans, or a safe place to collapse into armfuls of loving encouragement when life is a tad overwhelming and only a mum or sister can understand. 




My girls inspire me with the women they have grown into, indeed the women, wives and mothers they are still becoming. I love that they ask my advice, but I also appreciate that they are there when I need it too. This giving and taking, sharing of what we have learned and what we still would like to know is such a gift and the fruit of it is mutual respect for each other, a trust and honesty which has been built over time. 

Though their lives are somewhat hectic with little ones to care for, there's also a slow simplicity and 'joy in the moment' which resonates through both of their personalities. The delight they have in their family, their husbands, their homes, is beautiful...and last week it reminded me that I may have begun to rush again, not intentionally, but enough that I'm not taking time to enjoy my ordinary moments as often as I should. 




This needed pondering.
Working backwards I discovered my return to rush and busyness coincided with the increase in migraines the past couple of months. My neurologist has me keeping a migraine diary now and it's quite clear three weeks along that I try to do twice as much work on my good days to make up for my bad days.
No wonder the sense of bustle and hurry follows me.




This weekend I decided not to sew. Now believe me I thoroughly enjoy stitching, but it's work and I rarely sew anything that's not work due to the many hours my designs take (from drawing board to the end process of pattern writing)...so I made the choice not to do any Elefantz work until Monday morning. 

Instead I baked, read, did a little housework, went for a wonderfully long and relaxing drive in the country with my husband, and I knitted.




It's been a long time since I knitted anything, and it was only going to be a plain garter stitch dishcloth at first, but you know, that's because I didn't think I had much time for anything else.

So now, valuing the slowing of weekend time, I decided to play with a stitch design from long ago (Old Shale), one all my children have worn in little cardigans when they were babes. 
It will be a pretty woolen polishing cloth when I'm done, and my fingers are sore because they're being used in a different way, but my it was a delight to be knitting again.




And the baking. 
Rosie Heather came for a visit on Friday and I played around with a recipe in my head which turned our beautifully (blueberry & lemon ricotta muffins).
Sunday afternoon I baked for Mr E, a moist apple chocolate cake, also delicious. In fact it's a recipe you make in a food processor and my beloved husband had bought me a new processor for my birthday last month but I've been 'too busy' to use it. Isn't that sad?




Returning to a slower pace is good for my soul, it's a blessing to my family and it's better for my health and state of mind.

I knew that as soon as the decision was made to separate work and the weekend...as though I needed to give myself permission to have two days off and enjoy other things. 
I know it's great to work from home and I'm blessed to do so given that with migraines as prevalent as mine working outside the home is not a possibility, but it also has it's drawbacks because work is always there right in front of you and there's truly always something to be done.

I'm so very grateful for the insights into my own life which God brings about through the conversations with, and between, my dear daughters, and this insight especially because it has given me what was needed to step off the busy-go-round and choose the slower path once more.

Are you needing to slow down or step back a little?


hugs



Monday, February 20, 2017

Being indulgent with yourself...


Mostly we can't accurately know exactly what the week ahead will hold, but for sure there'll be a to-do list, a hope-to-do list, and perhaps even a 'wish-I-could-do-that' hope fluttering around in your heart.

My friend Rosie Heather made this beautiful hanging heart for me recently and I think it sums up what I'm thinking today about the week ahead, or perhaps even the year ahead.




Often the little things we do, or don't do, seem so simple and insignificant that we are surprised when they turn out to have consequence later on, and that can be either good or challenging.

The good - teaching your little girl to sew when you're only just learning yourself. 
Now she has a little girl of her own and is skilfully designing and sewing beautiful baby and toddlers clothing.

The challenging - cleaning the oven. Number one on my to-do list this Monday morning but a chore I've neglected for months, moved from Monday to Monday in my diary and found plausible reasons for doing so because next to mopping floors it's my least enjoyed domestic responsibility. 

In early January, as is my yearly ritual, I scrubbed and re-organised my kitchen from top to bottom...but I managed to overlook the oven, promising myself to do it the following week.  Here we are about six or seven weeks later and that oven is still ignored.

Last night I was winding down after another migraine and Mr E wasn't very hungry so we decided to heat up some leftovers from the freezer in the oven. I did notice on Friday when I was baking Rock Cakes that the oven was a little smoky, but last night it smoked out the house! 

This morning after Mr E left for work (the Jeep is back on the road and he's driving himself again) I sat down with an old favourite read for a bit of down to earth homemaker inspiration...




...read through a few simple steps...





...and gathered my supplies for a workout.




While I'm writing this my oven is heating a large bowl of vinegar and water to boiling point, which will steam the inside walls and the glass, softening the grease buildup. Once done I'll leave it for about 60 minutes to cool down enough so I can begin scrubbing with bicarb and vinegar.

Now if I were a wise woman I'd do this every month and not every 6-9 months, which would save me a lot of elbow grease. It's in my diary now...hopefully lesson learned at last.

I like using natural products that can be put together at home as much as possible, but I'm not averse to taking the easy route as well for some things because I only have a limited number of hours each day. Picking and choosing carefully where to cut corners whilst still doing a good job is important to me, so last week I decided to try these wipes on our wooden drawers and you know, the drawers came up beautifully! 
After the oven scrubbing today I'll do the rest of our woodwork...




The washing is done and  hung on the line, bed is made, plants watered and the cat fed.
I still need to plan the week's menu and grocery list, and give the bathroom a quick once over, but all that should only take about 40 minutes (the oven could take an hour??).

I'm becoming a true believer in self rewards after mornings of physical household labour and what I like about it is how 50's house-wifey I feel - in fact, I was even tempted to go grab my pearls on Friday when I did this! 
I'll brew the kettle to make a pot of tea (or switch on the automatic cappuccino machine if I want coffee), get out the vintage cup, saucer and cake plate, grab a magazine or book, and sit 'proper' at the dining table to enjoy my treats. With a vase of colourful blooms beside me by the window I can relax for 20 minutes or so, a lady of leisure. 

It's not a long time, but I was quite surprised on Friday how refreshing a 20 minute indulgent break can be, and I call it indulgent because I'm choosing to give it to myself as a gift, and because it's a gift I'll plan to have my favourite tea on hand and also a pack of special biscuits (cookies) that I enjoy for days when I haven't baked.

I already purchased a very special Caroline Zoob coffee mug late last year which shall be used on my coffee days, but I intend shopping this week for a special tea cup, saucer and cake plate for the 'indulgent' tea days. Having special cups for that daily 20 minute indulgence break adds to the ceremony of it, I think...and I'm one who likes that sort of thing. 

What about you?

On the stitching front this week I am playing with the March block for "The Love of Home" BOM, another sweet reward...




I'll have this ready for you to download on March 1st. 


Well my lovelies, I've just heard the "ping" of my oven timer which means it should be cool enough for me to don my apron and go a-scrubbing...

have a wonderful week,