The Notebook: files for April...

Tut, tut. 

I missed sharing a Notebook: Files post last month, so if you'll forgive me I'll plan two for April so we can get back on track.

If you've missed January and February's Notebook: files, or you're wondering what in the world they are all about, why don't you brew a nice cuppa, cut yourself a deliciously decent slice of cake, and have a catch up read here and here.

This month I've chosen to browse the pages of Notebook: magazine's January 2008 issue. The cover is my favourite blue and the word 'nourish' is one I hold dear this year, so it simply had to be dusted off, smoothed over, and re-read from start to finish. 

After careful elimination (because this old and no-longer-in-print magazine overflows with goodness) I've decided to share a few things with you from the monthly Calendar section which offered pages of wonderful ideas to enrich our lives and some excellent project suggestions which I intend making use of.

In fact it had so many good ideas that I needed to take notes. 

First off I should explain something...

The home we are renting at the moment is, as of March, the place of our longest residence since marrying in 1991. We've been here exactly 2 years and 8 months, and I do believe we may stay a while more before packing up and relocating.

However, I could be wrong and we may be crossing a new threshold as soon as August, BUT, for the first time in many years I have decided to live in the moment and follow through on some projects I've wanted to do for ages, but not begun due to my "why start a new project when we will probably move soon" mentality. 

So therein lies the reason behind today's Notebook: files blog post. 

I had began reading this issue during our short holiday in Cairns over my birthday weekend, and when the last page was turned and the magazine lay spent on the motel's balcony table, all I could think of was how eagerly I desired to be home and 'play' within my house.

I had a bevy of things needing to be done, like:

Sorting through all my old folders and tossing what's no longer needed or useful and re-housing the rest in pristine white folders along one lovely shelf, a shelf that could be decorated with a pretty blue floral liner...

 Purchasing herbs to display and grow inside the house. 

It's so hot here in the tropics most of the year that many of my herbs simply wither and die regardless of the water we give them, but we do have the perfect sunny spot near the living room to grow them inside! The air inside, thanks to air conditioning, is a constant 24-27C  which should be quite suitable.

I think a burst of green edible foliage would be life giving to the room - not to mention the delight of having fresh herbs at my fingertips to cook with.

Purchasing cane baskets, shoe boxes, and new hangers to organise the shelving in our walk-in-robe. 

Our bedroom has a good size walk-in-robe but there are no drawers, just hanging space and open shelving which means all our clothes (and undies!) are on display all the time. 

We also use the top shelf as general storage for items around the home not regularly needed, so that too needs better organisation and visual appeal.

Another wardrobe that requires attention is in the study. Originally a second bedroom, Mr E and I have always used it as a shared office, and I store all our linen inside, along with many of my pattern samples. I shudder when I open the doors now as it's jammed to the hilt, so deciding on a wiser use of the cupboard's space is very important.

Simplifying in the kitchen.

The food I mean. I've been experimenting over the past month with meal planning and have discovered that Mr E's favourite dinners are the ones which require the least fuss, minimal ingredients and freshest produce.

Perhaps I've watched too many seasons of Masterchef and have forgotten that they cook for a living, whilst I make food as a necessary family requirement and only occasionally for pure delight?

(I design and stitch for a living, so if you wonder how I get so many patterns completed each month, there's a lesson in here somewhere)

 I saw this recipe for old fashioned coconut macaroons and remembered how much my children loved them for after school snacks; so very simple, so quick to bake, only a handful of ingredients.

A cheerful (or pretty) noticeboard!

I'm a note maker, a list writer. Pieces of paper are all over the place with ideas, shopping lists, appointments, sketches and more. On a weekly basis I remove a wad of these lists from the bottom of my bag, beside my laptop, and off the fridge - but if I looked further afield I'd find even more in notebooks, folders, between pages of books and magazines, even in the car. 

Having one place, one creative and beautiful place, to pin all my lists and notes would be brilliant.

 Door stops.

 We have three already, because I jolly well love them even when they're not holding a door open. Two are made from extra special vintage style Australian tea towels, simply sewn and filled with sand. The third was an applique design made as a commission for a craft magazine back in 2010. Wherever we go, they come too. Standing responsibly by their respective doors they tell me I am home, no matter where the house.

But I'd like some more, have for ages, yet I never remember to make them. Until the one in Notebook: jiggled my little grey cells. And it's a pyramid shape too! Must make one, but with prettier fabric.

Turning the pages of the old magazine, I wrote and wrote. My list grew longer with each page turned until the Calender section of the magazine was exhausted. Fortunately I haven't thrown that list away and when I make my noticeboard it can live there until all my 'want to dos' are 'been and done'.

You know, it wasn't the particular Notebook: projects in that January 2008 issue themselves that I wanted to replicate, but the ideas which sprang from them in my own imagination. The visual promptings which flowed from the daily Calendar pages helped me to define what was most needed in my home - whether this house or another in the future - needs which I could produce or source to help in my journey to live a Gentle Domestic Life.

None of them are particularly difficult to achieve, taking time more than expense as I have almost everything I need already on hand. For me it's really about re-adjusting my personal perception in actually "living" each day where I am and not wasting concerns on where I might  be next year.

It's about making a start and following through to completion. 

It's about homemaking, and the joy it gives me.

I'll leave you with one of the marvellous and thought provoking quotes scattered through Notebook: pages...

 Indeed it is.

Bless you always,

The Notebook: Files - bold blooms and colours...

This month I've been browsing through the September 2010 issue of Notebook: magazine...

...and this is what immediately caught my attention. 

In fact, that photo is the sole reason I decided to re-read this particular issue for my Notebook: Files this month. 

(If you missed my January blog post on The Notebook: Files you will find it here)

You see, I used to think I was your average shabby chic style gal because I adored photos of calm white spaces, soft linens, and old lace on ever-so-creamy white furnishings. I began collecting pretty rose adorned trinkets and scattered them around the house, inhaling and exhaling gently as I stood back to gaze on my new-found floral on white shabby chic display. And I still love them!

BUT.

Over the last year or so much time has been spent pondering the depths of my inner Jennifer, an adventuresome journey of discovery with the sole purpose of meeting me - the me that somehow got lost in the busy and dizzy, hustle and bustle of motherhood, wiving, homeschooling, designing and business managing. The me who wanted the world to stop for a while so she could catch her breath and examine her surroundings to see if they really reflected her style and who she was today.

(by the way, I highly recommend such an adventure)

As the months rolled by I discovered white places were no longer where my eyes would automatically travel when I entered a store or browsed books and magazines. Increasingly my gaze would search for colour, vibrant vintage style colour and design,  with a bit of cream or white thrown in for background or contrast. 

And that is why the cover photo on this month's revisit of Notebook: and the companion article inside immediately captured my heart.

As I turned each page and drank in the lively domestic friendship of pastels sitting beside bold blooms of colour I knew this was confirmation of where my own decorating path was about to flow...

Let's detour a moment, shall we?

Last year, during the first few months of my inner delving, I haunted the local library on a weekly basis poring over their two rather impressive shelves of home-decorating books.

There was one I borrowed three times, and after being reminded by the lovely librarian on duty that third time, "You know you've already borrowed this twice, don't you?", decided if I liked it that much I should probably buy a copy of my own. So I did.

As my heart skipped a beat over the photos in the Notebook: article I remembered this book, sitting 'over there' on my homemaking bookshelf almost forgotten, so I brewed a big pot of Vanilla & Rose tea before settling down to compare and enjoy both.

The vibrant colours, vintage style, pastel accents, mismatched chairs, bold florals with touches of cream and white had stamped themselves firmly on my heart and I knew there was no turning back.

At the moment I'm really drawn to kitchens (maybe because of that dream?)...

Oh, this kitchen. My heart almost jumped from my chest! 

It's a wonderful thing to question your own style, and to allow yourself a slow and delightful time of re-discovery. It's like switching the light on in a room you'd forgotten you had.

Something else I've discovered through this past year is that my previous attraction to the white shabby chic style was actually a reflection of my emotional need for calm. When I would sit for hours on a Saturday evening browsing shabby chic books and blogs it brought a still silence to my mind, a needed few hours of mental rest. I came away relaxed and temporarily restored. Interesting, yeh?

About the same time I began my year of self-discovery I created a Pinterest board to gather ideas for designing a kitchen in case one day we were blessed to buy a home of our home and escape the rental roundabout. It's over here if you'd like to see it.
I've also started a Notebook: magazine Pinterest page here to keep track of the monthly musings I'll be sharing through 2016 and 2017. So much easier if you want to go back and reference something.

Do you need a journey of self-discovery too?

I wonder what you'll find...

hugs

Fear of failure...

 Years ago in Australia we had this brilliant magazine published monthly which celebrated the art of homemaking - Notebook: magazine...

I only discovered it about six months before the final issue was published and felt like a friend, a kindred spirit, had left my life when the newsagent told me it 'was no more'.

Since then I sporadically scour op-shops, ebay and markets for second hand copies and to date I have built my collection from six to twenty-two issues, with only one duplicate magazine.  

The other day, with three fresh copies having arrived in the mail from a bargain ebay auction, I decided that during the course of this year and next I'll 'imagine' I'm receiving a new issue of Notebook: each month and read it cover to cover, highlighting all the good things I want to ponder or attempt, as well as things I'd like to share with you. 

So here we go with the first Notebook:  blog post for January. 

I randomly chose this issue and it just happens to be the final one ever published...

Before opening the cover I brewed a cup of rose petal tea and buttered the last slice of ginger cake.

This will become part of my Notebook:  ritual.

Tea and cake and a jolly good read...

 "Feel Free to Fail" was the first article that made me want to knock on your door and ask if we could chat about it, if you'd offer your thoughts alongside mine so we could solve this problem together and change the world...

 It's all about failure attitude; how we hate failure, feel mortified to fail in front of others, and how easily most of us give up and try something else.

I like the author's statement about the exhaustion of seeking to be excellent...

...and by the time I'd finished her article the page was awash with lime green highlights.

As a mother of seven, having watched my babies crawl, fall, walk, fall, run, fall, the statement below made a lot of sense and I couldn't help but feel sad that I'd not read it before now.

"We're hard on ourselves. Look at a child learning to walk. They fall over, we encourage and praise them, so they get up and try again. If we treated children the way we treat ourselves we'd still be crawling"

(Angela Heise)

 I'm guilty of giving up. Sometimes I only have to look at a project, activity or recipe and I quickly step back with my hands thrown in the air insisting I cannot do it.

I have adult children who are guilty of giving up, too - in fact one of them told me recently "If I can't succeed in something at a high level I will stop and move on to something else."

I wonder how many amazing opportunities I've missed?

I wonder how much fun my child has robbed herself of?

Well, the times are a-changin', my friends.

Something I've been avoiding for almost a year, because I don't think I can do it, is drive Mr E's Jeep.

I have a lifetime problem with co-ordination and balance (can't ride a bike, drive a manual car, or close my eyes and stand upright) so I steer away from anything that may require me to tackle these things.

The Jeep is a US import and has a lot of the operational stuff (like indicators) on the left, not the right side of the steering wheel as Australian cars have. This may not seem big to you, but it's huge to me. 

And it's kept me out of the drivers seat.

It's also big and a 4WD, and I've never driven an off-road vehicle. 

This weekend I'm driving the Jeep.

I may not be great at it, but it's a skill I need in case one day there's no choice but for me to take the wheel. After all, we drive up mountains, over creeks and along forgotten misty tracks. Both of us should be Jeep and 4WD capable, right?

After that I'm going to try free-motion quilting, choux pastry and paper-pieced clam shells.

What haven't you tried because you think you might fail?