The first week of the new year (and some of the old)...
MONDAY:
As is my normal morning routine I got up around 5:15, fed the chickens, gave Bob-the-dog the last of our lamb bones, filled the bird feeder for the cockatoos, corellas, and rainbow lorikeets before brewing a cup of fresh coffee and settling down to open the Bible and fill my soul with nourishment from on High whilst our animals chewed, pecked and scratched around me.
Before the sun became too fierce I pulled the dead dill plants from our garden and began removing the seeds; then I did the same with the basil before removing the dried red fruit from the jalapeno bush, again to harvest seed for next planting season...
Our summer is so incredibly dry, the tropical wet season late again this season, so I've also been picking sage and thyme and letting it dry on the outdoor table.
More remnants of spring (green) onions have been planted and I am pleasantly surprised at how easily they grow again. I shall remember to take a photo tomorrow. I simply push these 'ends' into a pot of good soil and water each day...and up they come. Marvellous!
Our precious girls, Cully May and Rafaella, were over on Monday with Blossom and we had the loveliest time together. In fact we had another tea party and the little darlings discovered they could make a table from one of our couch recliners.
Children really do have the most marvellous imaginations.
Cully May always has real tea in her cup with lots of milk, but Rafaella prefers just milk - though she insists it is tea.
TUESDAY:
I spent most of the day preparing photos and the pattern to share block 1 of Psalm 23 with you (here) and then Mr E and I went for a lovely visit to Blossom and Ross's before the children went to bed and then we came home and took the CHRISTmas tree down.
WEDNESDAY:
I pulled my sewing room apart from top to bottom (and shared this as my very first live video in our Gentle Domesticity group as well as a shorter version on Instagram) and even though I regularly clean and declutter that room so I can design and sew without visual distraction, this January 1st makeover was far more thorough.
It took nine hours and New Year's night I was plumb tuckered out with aching legs, arms and back.
I inspired Mr E as well because while I was busy working on my creative space he decided to give his study a good scrub and declutter as well, which is good because as a teacher there's a lot of school stuff which tends to 'gather' in his study over the course of a year.
THURSDAY:
I woke a few times last night with what seemed to be an increasingly blocked nose.
I ignored it as best I could but by this morning it was obvious a head cold had arrived and after talking with Blossom discovered she and the girls had it as well. We do love to share, you know.
A blogging friend from right down south of our state was up in Townsville for a visit to see her family who were also holidaying here from elsewhere in the state and we'd arranged to meet early for coffee down on the Strand where we could watch the ocean and chat face to face for the first time.
I texted Chel (you can visit her blog here) to let her know about my early stage head cold and see if she'd prefer to cancel our coffee but she was still keen to catch up so after breakfast off I drove and we had the nicest hour together, though keeping distance between us so I'd not pass my lurgy along.
Unfortunately the humid heat, as so often happens with me, took a toll and just as we were preparing to say our goodbyes a migraine began to build.
Home again, I took pain killers for the migraine (and they thankfully worked rather fast) but my head cold began to escalate and hubby insisted I do 'nothing' but rest up. Bless him!
But you know, doing nothing, while your nose is running and your throat is increasingly scratchy, just isn't as easy as it sounds. I like to do things to get my mind off pain and that's why I push through the beginnings and middle of a migraine, so I tried to do the same with this jolly inconvenient head cold today.
And this is when I thought why not make another video of my sewing room, now that it's all nice and fresh and ready for me to begin designing in 2020. So I did.
...click below...
Blossom's rather proud of me, you know, because apparently she's wondered 'when' I'd start doing the odd video or two but just hadn't yet broached the topic.
Well, surprisingly it was quite easy to do from my phone!
So in future I'll do them more often ...perhaps show you 'for real' what I'm stitching, maybe share what I'm gleaning from my Bible reading, or take you on a walk around the garden?
Let me know what you think and then I can ponder the prospect further.
But right now I shall bid you good evening and gather to myself a large box of tissues infused with eucalyptus and put the kettle on to brew a pot of lemon and honey tea.
My prayers tonight will be focused on the raging fires across our beautiful but dry country, prayers for rain, prayers for the loved ones of those many people who have lost their lives, those who are missing, and those hundreds of families who have lost their homes.
Pray for them will you please?
hugs
