The next postcard and a trip to the thrift store...

 I really love the Scripture verses which inspired this "Postcard From Heaven" design because they deeply console my heart in the twists and turns of life's circumstances. 

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father." (Matthew 10:29)

"Therefore you should not fear; you are worth more than many sparrows." (Matthew 10:31)

"Look at the birds of the air; They do not sow or reap or gather in to barns - and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" (Matthew 6:26)

God values us beyond comprehension. Never will He leave you or forsake you. He knows the exact number of hairs on your head and every thought you have before you speak it.

You are PRECIOUS to Him, my sweet friend!

As you embroider this postcard, imagine the words were written by our Father directly to you, His child, and let them be gently stitched across your mind and upon your heart for always.

Use the link below to download the free pattern.

DOWNLOAD WEEK 2 POSTCARDS FROM HEAVEN

It's even hotter today than when I wrote earlier in the week. Normally February is our hottest month  but this year it's transferred to March and we are surely feeling the sting of the sun's deeply burning rays amidst the humid air. 

But when you have errands to run the weather must be overlooked - thank the Lord for air conditioning in the car, I say!

First stop was Bunnings for some 'S' hooks and new plants to display in the two macrame hangers Rosie made me for my birthday. Thank you to everyone who identified the Pothos cuttings from Blossom which I am patiently waiting to sprout roots because I like it so much that I bought one for the cream macrame hanger and one for the blue. One will become a feature in our bedroom as its a wonderful air purifier, whilst the Pothos in the blue macrame hanger looks lovely in the living room hanging between our two recliners.

Next stop was Spotlight for another ball of yarn to finish Charlie David's wrap cardigan. It's coming along nicely; the back is finished and most of the left front so it shall surely be ready for him when the weather cools.

While at Spotlight I also purchased some linen on sale, a beautiful green and a musky pink. I got just enough for two new aprons, and instead of making my usual full aprons these will be mid-calf length half-aprons with a bit of gathered frill edging. As I am wearing aprons all the time now it occurred to me that I'd like them to be made of hardier fabric and be pretty as well. 

From Spotlight (which is like Joans for my US friends) I headed across the highway to rummage through a couple of op-shops for good glass jars, 100% cotton sheets to make dresses from, and long scarves. I had success and came home with these lovely fringed scarves...

...a navy blue gingham sheet which has barely been used and will easily yield enough fabric for a dress or pinafore, a skein of chenille yarn (which was such a bonus because Rosie is making a cushion with chenille yarn and calico, which inspired me to try one too - now I can!)...

...a set of three floral curtains for the sewing room and which I've now washed and hung on the line to dry...

...and this fully lined and pocketed elephant bag which I shall use on library days with Cully May and Rafaella, and on Sunday market days with my husband.

And I did find some lovely glass jars but I popped them straight in the dishwasher when I got home and forgot to take a photo. They are clip fastening and have pretty lids too. 

I achieved a lot in just over two hours this morning, even dropping in to the supermarket to stock up on fresh fruit and veg, but the best thing was I hardly spent any money from the allowance I'd given myself. What I purchased was on sale or marked down on the reduced rack - even the op-shop purchases were half-price at just a dollar or two. 

Whilst I do enjoy thrift shopping, I don't do it very often, only going if I have a few things on my list to look for. For too many years I went all the time and came home with things because they were cheap and not because I actually needed them - it was more of a want, than a need back then. Today I'm very mindful that my husband and I work hard for what we earn and even shopping at thrift stores can eat into the budget because all those little things add up to big dollars spent over time. Today's purchases will all be used immediately, but I won't be revisiting the op-shops for a while now. 

Bob-the-dog has come to stay for a week while Blossom gives her house a deep autumn clean. He's more than happy to come here on 'holiday' every so often but it was very funny when he followed me into the chicken coop yesterday afternoon because the hens scattered, unsure if he was friend or foe. He's quite fascinated with them and once I'd shooed him out and they settled down, he just stood at the door of the coop and watched them...much like Sophie Cat does each morning. 

I'd love some chicken advice from those in the know, please? We have five raised garden beds and now that we have young chickens that can jump, they have decided it's fun to dig up the beds! I have all these herbs and kale ready to plant out in the two beds my husband just made over for our autumn planting (remembering that we grow summer crops in winter here in tropics) but I am holding back now because of the hens. 

It's important that they free-range for a few hours every afternoon as it's good for their physical and mental health...but. If you have ideas I'd love to hear them. The raised beds are only about 18 inches high, which we know is a problem with chickens. Sigh.

Okay I'm off to water the garden and take corn cobs to the hens because they follow me straight back in to the coop when they see a cob in my hand - it's their most favourite treat beside porridge and peas with yoghurt. 

May you mid-week be lovely, productive and blessed.

hugs

Two years later...

In January 2015 I wrote a blog post about how to stay on top of housework and give each room a touch of your own personality without becoming overwhelmed or wondering 'where do I begin?'.

I came up with a simple idea called "Walking the Room" and it involved a master planning sheet (which I offered as a free print out) and taking some time to walk through each room of your home and writing down all the changes you'd like to make, chores needing attention, what you want to remove and basically any other ideas or plans you dreamed of doing.

Here's a snippet of that blog post...

"With an entire year to immerse my soul in the domestic arts ahead of me, I've been meaning to fill my diary with all my 'home-centred' ideas so I don't forget them, but...I keep forgetting to write them down.

Do you find yourself doing that?

A great idea (or three!) comes to mind and you plan to follow through but are remiss in making a note of it, so pretty soon you've forgotten what it was?  The story of my life. 

Another thing that stalls my good intentions for bringing some domestic control to my home is feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work I see before me and simply not knowing where to begin...."

The inspiration for tackling one room at a time, acquainting myself with it and making notes about everything from 'we should invest in curtains' to 'need to remove at least half the ornaments' came from a particular movie I'd watched about the transformation of a run down Tuscan villa and these words...

"Pick one room and make it yours. Go slowly through the house. Be polite, introduce yourself so it can introduce itself to you." 

(Frances Mayes, Under The Tuscan Sun, movie 2003)

Even though I was not renovating a neglected Tuscan villa, I did desire to make every room in this rental house a place of 'welcome' and refreshment, a sanctuary, so I decided Frances had sage advice for me to draw from that year. 

One room at a time, politely re-acquainting myself with it's nuances, I wrote myself notes about the things I needed and wanted to do with the house to fulfil my hopes. 

And that's when I prepared the first very simple "walk the room" planner page.

Page after page, room after room, the ideas were written down...

...and I found this to be the most wonderful way to remember all the new ideas which filtered through my mind as well as keeping me on track with the bigger picture.

There was no time limit either as I did not want that pressure added to already full days, but this way I could look over my Walk the Room sheets each day and see if there was something I could do in whatever time I had free - which could have been 10 minutes or 4 hours.

The sense of satisfaction as ideas or chores were completed and accomplished over the course of that year was wonderful!

Now here I am two years later and ready to Walk the Room(s) of my home again so I wondered if you'd like to join in?

I have updated the room planner sheet and it's lovely and cheery...

...plus there's also a second sheet which is empty so you can sketch in any room re-arranging plans too (something Blossom enjoys doing).

You're welcome to download the free set of "Walk the Room" planner pages HERE.

The other week whilst op-shopping I found a sweet little handkerchief bag which at first I mistook as a very small peg bag...



At just 12" long it was filled with freshly laundered handkerchiefs and cost a mere 50c. I showed Blossom, who was with me at the time, and she was as astounded as me.

Of course I tucked it close to my chest along with the books I'd found and after paying for my purchases came home rather chuffed.

One of the hankies has machine embroidery in a corner, very pretty machine embroidery too...

I've popped a mini quilt hanger inside to display it properly and will fill it with my countless other orphan handkerchiefs when I gather them from the many hiding places they've been stashed away in.

The little hanger is hand made which made me ask "where did you come from?" as I hung it for the photo...naturally I received no response, but I'm sure it has a story to tell.

How do you store hankies? A little hanging bag like this is a rather cute idea.

Our current chat topic in the Gentle Domesticity FB group is about sharing simple ideas or strategies for de-cluttering a home or room.

The change of season is a perfect time for sifting through what we have and moving some things along which no longer serve a purpose, do not reflect our style, or have simply become too much.

Even if you're not a member of the FB group I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments below as would many other readers I'm sure!



Visit the Gentle Domesticity Group here.


Have a blessed and joy filled weekend dear friends!

We've been assured by the Bureau of Meteorology there's a cyclone on the way which will probably make land somewhere along our northern coastline on Monday morning so I've stocked the pantry and Mr E will secure everything in the yard tomorrow morning.
I pray no-one is hurt and no property destroyed, wherever it lands.

God bless, and hugs

Rescuing vintage linens...

Yesterday Blossom asked if I wanted to visit a large op-shop around 20 minutes north of here as she was looking for cheap scrap fabric to use in mock-up baby and toddler patterns she'd been working on. Wise girl, keeping her good fabric for the real outfits she'd make when happy with the final design.

I was happy to tag along and we had so much fun browsing the store looking through their large displays of books, dvds, vintage linens, craft supplies, books, furniture, and sheets. 

Bloss found two beautiful queen size cotton percale sheets in perfect condition for a few dollars and these will give her plenty of fabric for the practice dresses and rompers she's working on at night when Cully May is asleep!

I found two knitted tea cosy books which thrilled me because last weekend I was combing the internet for just the 'right' tea cosy pattern and still hadn't come across one that I really felt inclined to knit, but now I have two books filled with choices. 

I also bought a lovely book on peasant embroidery which a lovely lady I got chatting to near the book aisle found for me...

She also pointed out a box of old linens, placed high on a shelf and labelled incorrectly so I doubt many people would have taken note of it.

It was filled with embroidered treasures, and all a token 50c each.

Every piece was stained and that's part of the pleasure of a doily's story for me...

...but the interesting thing was that apart from the four pieces in the photos above all the others I found were about 90% hand embroidered and never completed.

I studied the stitching and am quite sure they've all been embroidered by the same person, so I wondered why put in so much time and effort only to stop with about 10% of the design left to stitch? On one piece I'd not question this, but on so many?

Isn't the cat's face mean? I know that's just the design which is stamped on the linen, but I wish he was a little cheekier rather than 'angry'...

All of the doilies are Semco designs, pre-stamped on linen with pretty crochet cotton edging and I've decided to put them away until one day when I can complete each one, even if that's a decade from now. It just seemed a shame to leave them there 'undone'.

The stain on the peacock doily will need to be removed but I'll  go gently with that and try hand washing in pure soap first.

After all that excitement I'm afraid my body just refused to work properly today, something I'm still adjusting to since the brain trauma diagnosis last year. Fortunately I could still sit at the computer this morning and work on pattern writing and cleaning up April's photos and pattern sheets, but right now I'm going to brew a cuppa and finally put away all the threads I've used recently on my designs...

...and then I have a few episodes of Father Brown to catch up on while I stitch.

Have you found some vintage treasures recently too?

hugs

ANZACS recipe and the story behind it...

Last week when I shared photos of the yummy ANZAC biscuits I'd made for Mr E there was a flurry of emails asking for the recipe...

...so HERE it is. Simply download the pdf file and you can save to your computer or print it up and start baking today!

This is Mr E's most favourite  biscuit.

If you're not an Aussie or a Kiwi perhaps you don't know why these biscuits are called ANZACS?

Back in World War 1 concerned Australian mothers of soldiers fighting in trenches overseas came up with this recipe for its nutritional value and also its ability to not spoil during the very long months of transport between Australian shores and wherever their menfolk were fighting.

They chose staples of oats, sugar, coconut, plain flour, butter, golden syrup (or treacle), bi-carb soda and a touch of boiling water to create "Soldier's Biscuits". As eggs were scarce during the war the recipe does not use any.

After the landing at Gallipoli (read about that HERE) they were renamed ANZACS in memory of the Australian and New Zealand soldiers who fought and died there. 

The biscuits were transported in air tight tins, such as those used to store tea leaves, and groups such as the CWA (Country Women's Association) would gather to bake thousands ready for packaging and sending to our troops.

 

Today they are a beloved biscuit in our nation and you can usually purchase vintage/commemorative style tins full of them at the supermarkets in April as ANZAC Day draws near (April 25th).

I was out visiting 'Marci's Quilt Shop' yesterday for a look at Marci's new Tilda room (it's gorgeous), and on the way home I stopped at the Salvo's op-shop to see if I could find some useful treasures.

I'm still smiling over what I discovered...

Isn't this THE cutest elephant?!

Look at his ears...

As I handed my $2 coin over to the counter attendant a plan was forming to use this sweet guy as a thread holder for stitching projects. Those ear holes looked perfect for securing lengths of floss cut from different skeins.

But alas, that plan did not work out as the ears are thick and it's not easy to thread the floss through them after all.

Plan 2...

His official position has now been elevated to 'Guardian of the Earrings'...

Obviously he was made for greater things.

On the stitching front I've made a start on my secret project  for Mdm Samm's April blog hop using Cori Blunt's "Tea For Two" stitchery....

...but that's as much as you'll see between now and April!

Have a day filled with blessings,

hugs