Answering a question about my planner...

 Lori in Missouri left a comment recently on my post about planning ahead (you can read that post HERE), and asked if I would do a show and tell about the planner which was open on my table, so Lori, this is for you and anyone else who might like some inspiration for creating their own planner. 

First of all, let me say this isn't an actual planner in the ordinary sense of the word. It's more of an inspirational compilation of ideas in various categories, sourced from old and very old magazines or articles. Having this folder on hand helps me plan what I intend doing on the blog next year, things Id like to learn, plus ideas for homemaking improvements, gardening, tutorials and health. 

The folder is a large A4 arch lever, and I made the cover many years ago. 

Inside I have plain brown cardboard dividers and have embellished the first one to suit my style, because opening a folder or planner which looks appealing really makes my day. 

Here's the first divider, which is more accurately known as my main page. 

I'm no paper crafter, though I'd love to have those skills, but simply adding lace, pieces from old doilies, some inspiration tags, buttons and a pretty photo, made this divider very pretty to my eye. 

There's nothing wrong with working to your abilities and being pleased with the result. I think when we stop comparing our work to that of others we have more satisfaction in our accomplishments. 

I have received hundreds of emails and comments over the years from lovely ladies lamenting that they cannot stitch like me...and some put hand embroidery aside because of it. How very sad. I have always counselled that hand embroidery is my occupation, my "bread and butter", and I practice my skill every day because how I stitch and the finished effect matters greatly to how the designs photograph and how well they present as a pattern to purchase.

But a paper crafter I am not, so rather than compare my very basic attempts to those of someone who is quite accomplished (like my friend Rosie for example), I simply enjoy the little that I do and gain delight from my task. 

Inside I have plastic sleeves filled with many and varied things which have caught my eye over the years, and mostly they came from a very large number of old magazines which used to take up almost two shelves in my largest bookcase, but which I chose to go through during the covid lockdown of 2020 and remove every page I wanted to keep and then disposed of the rest. From two shelves full, down to one folder. Lovely. 

Along the way I also collected quotes and saved them in a plastic sleeve inside the cover.

So, lets go through my folder. Behind the cover page of my folder I keep patterns and craft items I'd like to make; there's about thirty so far and I have indeed made a few...

That painted metal colander tutorial (above) was a wonderful craft one Sunday afternoon and I have two of them holding my petunias in the garden now. 

Then I have a 'business and branding' section, which has become more about office organisation than anything else. As you can see I make the divider pages easy to open by sewing lace or printed ribbon across to create a tag.

Then we move on to ideas for patterns or tutorials which focus on the home. I'll take an idea that I like, then draft a pattern and play around with it for a while until I'm happy with it. I'm playing around with similar fabric plant holders for gift giving and displaying around the house at the moment. Once I'm happy with the final item I will do a tutorial on my blog (I plan to do quite a few tutorials in 2023)...

The following section is for information about herbs, flowers, natural remedies and herbal recipes...

I also have a section for 'teaching me', where I store simple tutorials and steps for things I'd like to learn in the future...

Moving on, the next section is health and self care...

...followed by cleaning, home-making and planning (pantry/menu related).

The last section is for projects I'd like for my home and office, most especially my office and sewing room. I've pulled out this idea for a pocketed corkboard and can't wait to get started on it later in the month....

There's still two dividers in my folder which are at present unused, but it's good to have extra because you never know when a new subject will become an interest and if so, there's already somewhere to store information and inspiration. 

This is only one binder of the many I use for various purposes, but the others are predominantly work related...

I also have a day to day planner, and for years have used Day Designer. This year I went with the smaller 'week to a double page' instead of the usual 'day to a page' and found that in order to balance home and blog/designing/business I needed to go back to the day to a page format again, so I invested in the original style I preferred and ordered my new 2023 Day Designer planner when it became available a few months back. It's only just arrived so I'm thrilled to have it ready to open at New Year. 

I love looking back through my old planners and reading what I did each day or through a season, do you?

I wouldn't recommend this unless you need plenty of room for the planning of home and business each day as it's quite pricey, but for me it has proved invaluable over the years and I genuinely missed not having this larger version of Day Designer during 2022. 

I know for some of you this is all over the top, and that's fine! I have been a planner and list maker all my life. I used to make library cards for all my books as a child and 'lend' them out to myself, and even had a list inside the wardrobe door of everything I would wear each day that week. It's who I am and its helped me function through life...but it may not be your thing at all. I do marvel at how incredibly unique each of us are, and how truly evident that is of God's creative hand. 

If you do things similar to this let me know, or if you have ideas to share, please do as I'd love to hear them, and so would a lot of readers. 

Before I go, a sneak peek at a new free pattern I'll be sharing with you at the end of the week....

Bless you heaps, lovely ones.

hugs

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Planning ahead...

Do you plan for the week ahead? Perhaps the next month or year? My personality is such that planning ahead helps me stay focused, calm and practical - especially around the home and also with my home-based business, Elefantz. 

As a homemaker, planning mostly entails a weekly cleaning routine and menu, with extra plans for any baking or the making of condiments. 

Most Fridays I like to do big chores, such as vacuuming and mopping all the rooms, cleaning the bathroom and washing bathmats, popping out for a quick 'fruit and veg' grocery shop, washing and changing the bedsheets, and cooking meal basics such as brown rice, roasted vegetables, cookies, bread, poached fruit, boiled eggs, and chicken breasts for the following week. 

I find that by spending one day each week focused on creating a clean and welcoming home (the other days I do smaller tasks and maintain things) and having pre-prepared ingredients for various meals stored in the fridge or freezer, that the other six days are enjoyed at a much simpler and slower pace. If for some reason I have to be away from home on Friday I will still do the sheets and a grocery shop, but leave everything else to the following Monday. This too, adds peace and calm to my day to day living, because as wonderful as steady routines and rhythms are, we must always be flexible and ready for a change of plan. 

This week I am blog planning for 2023, as well as preparing notes and ideas for a brand new series of The Homemakers Heart digital magazine. 

This, along with regular blog posts, a newsletter, and the next free block for The Virtuous Wife project along with the accompanying Bible study this coming Thursday, takes time, so having some meals prepped and my house relatively organised, clean and tidy in advance, means I can think clearly and give myself a few good days this week to properly plan and prepare for the coming year. 

Those roasted vegetables become my lunch each day...

I simply cut up a tray full of carrots, sweet potato, potato, cabbage and cauliflower, then drizzle them in olive oil, scatter some garlic over the top and roast until they just begin to caramelise. This is a great way to use up vegetables from the fridge before I stock up on more. 

Usually I place a portion of the roasted veg, straight from the fridge, in a frying pan on a very low heat and cover it as it warms. We no longer use a microwave so I'm becoming well educated in warming food without over-cooking it. :-) Some days I'll add a few slices of the previously cooked chicken breast, other days (like this day) I'll cook an egg in the centre of the veg just before serving. 

Some fresh rocket (arugula) with a drizzle of balsamic glaze, and a sprinkle of cashew parmesan completes this healthy and delicious lunch. 

The cashew parmesan is so much nicer than real parmesan, and very easy to make. In a food processor simply add 2 cups of roasted cashews (you can use unroasted if you like), 3/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, and 2 teaspoons of salt - whizz it all up until it's the texture of fine breadcrumbs. We use it most days, so I'm usually making a new batch every month. 

Can you see that little jar above the salt? About four or five months ago we stopped using black pepper (oh, that was hard for me)and began sprinkling cayenne pepper over our savoury meals instead. It has an abundance of great health properties, and hubby really wanted us to try this so we did. Now, let me tell you that I used to be able to grind black pepper over my meals until they looked as though the food was overrun by black ants! That's how much I have always loved black pepper. But once we switched to cayenne instead, something unexpected happened. The irritation in my oesophagus, which I'd had after every meal and would often cause a lot of pain, has practically disappeared. 

We bought that little bottle of cayenne pepper, and were so impressed with my health results (and some of hubby's) that I bought a huge jar and now re-fill the little bottle from it. 

Last Friday I also baked a sweet loaf of pumpkin bread, made four jars of strawberry jam, and a batch of our favourite almond and cherry biscuits (cookies). I had to laugh when I'd printed the labels from our Dymo label-maker...just where did that missing "R" go?? Not one to like waste anymore, I accepted that it was no big deal to use those labels instead of printing new ones, as they are for our own pantry supplies. However, when I make more jam for gift giving next Friday I shall hand write pretty labels with no spelling mistakes. 

These biscuits are really scrumptious and rarely last a week, but I did bake a pineapple fruit cake two weeks ago which we have plenty of so our tea time treats will make it through until next baking day. 

I want to make some ginger syrup next Friday because it's a real favourite in our home as a refreshing cordial mixed with lemon juice, soda water and fresh mint from the garden. Fortunately I got large knobs of ginger at the supermarket for almost half the price of a few months back. Many things have increased in price, but I get such a surprise when I discover something we use regularly has gotten cheaper.

My planning ahead has also included some extra crafting. Lucy of Attic 24 is hosting her regular yearly crochet-a-long in January and as my dearly beloved was quite insistent that I tell him what he could get me for Christmas, it seemed quite providential to suggest her Spring Frost yarn kit...which he promptly, and quite cheerfully, ordered. The fact that I crocheted two of Lucy's blankets this past Australian winter convinced him that I would most definitely enjoy making another. 

You can have a look at Lucy's Spring Frost blanket HERE.

I may not start it until late Autumn (May) but having it there to make means my winter nights are planned ahead.

Being very mindful about not wasting anything (if we can help it), my husband's employer recently offered him an extremely good office chair to bring home because the business replaces all their chairs every year or so. It is of very high quality, and you would never know it had even been used, but hubby likes the chair he already has in his home study so he asked if I'd like it. Due to all the ongoing issues with my knee these past five months, this was a real blessing because when I sit at our dining table I've needed to prop up my chair with pillows and put things under my feet, just to keep my knee in a comfortable position. This 'new to us' office chair makes sitting at the table far more comfortable for me, but I really don't like black - so the blessing continued when I was in Spotlight last week and found a pink cover for it, reduced to $10. 

It's lovely to be able to sit and plan ahead comfortably. But it's lovelier still to know God has been in the details - and I thank those of you who have been praying for my knee, because it is slowly healing, and this gifted chair really makes a difference as I can't even sit comfortably on our couch right now. I am blessed and grateful. 

I'll sign off today with a picture of Harry-dog, who is 3½ months old now, growing larger than we thought he would (he's already bigger than his mother was) and showing definite dachshund stubbornness, loyalty and appetite. His cavalier side is easy to please, and he's a wonderful night sleeper now as I can finally sleep in until 5am - and believe me that extra hour makes a world of difference. 

When I clean up after him of a night, my mind goes back to when I would gather the children's toys and place them back in the toy box at bedtime - for Harry loves his toys, especially an old doll Rafaella used to cuddle as a baby. 

Love to know about your planning. Would you tell me about it? Any good planning-ahead ideas or tips you can share? 

May the Lord bless you and keep you in all His ways, protect and guide you each day, and bring you rest and refreshment as you sleep in His care. Hugs, 

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