Reading, a peek, and other things...

I think I've watched the movie Julie & Julia about 27 times now.

It could be more because I can lip sync the dialogue. 

Yesterday, while sketching a new design, I watched it again. 

There's something familiar and comforting about having a much loved movie playing in the background while you're pottering around the house, playing in the kitchen, or doodling on a sketch pad.

In fact, I'm so familiar with the story now that as I watched the credits roll and sang along with Margaret Whiting to "Time After Time" (take a few minutes, close your eyes, and slow down while you listen)...

...I felt compelled to borrow Julia's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" from the library down the road to indulge myself in a little 'cordon bleu' education.

Dashing in just before closing the two volumes were on the shelf, waiting for me. I'm sure they were.

So I scooped them up and brought them home...

...along with a few other items that caught my attention.

It's amazing how many books can fill a library bag in just eight minutes.

Now that I've returned to my long-forgotten love of classic fiction after an eight year sabbatical, there was one book in particular which I'm looking forward to getting lost in - "Dumb Witness" by Agatha Christie. It's my favourite David Suchet film episode of Poirot, but I know the book will be even better.

The copy I found was an older one, and nothing says good classic like an old pre-loved edition. It gave me thrilled goosebumps...

So this weekend I'll be wandering through the pages of Julia's books, imagining her bending down to my ear (she was 6 foot 2 and I'm 5 foot 1),  laughing as she attempts to teach this French novice; preparing an applique block for the centre of my first medallion quilt design; and relaxing with a good dose of vintage Agatha.

I can feel my shoulders falling softly already, my mind excited but strangely calm, and a satisfaction in my heart of doing what I've too often planned to do, but not commenced.

And that new design?

I like it.

Lecien sent me some of their new  "Retro 30's Child Smile" fabrics to play with and they're so sweet that it's been no effort at all to create a design with them...

In a few days we'll be a third of the way through this Year of Gentle Domesticity.

I do believe I'm finally  getting the hang of it.
If you missed what my Year of Gentle Domesticity is all about visit HERE...

hugs

Slowing down with a good book...

The middle week of any month is the one where I push myself further than I should; the week when both my body and mind cry out in exhaustion, begging me to slow down, breathe, and drink deeply from the well of calm that is actually just a thought or two away.

Choosing to slow down, making conscious decisions to stop 'doing' and just 'be' for an hour or two is a lesson I'm learning this year but it's not as easy as I imagined it would be...

...because I discovered it has needed more intentional thought than just writing my desire for a simpler life in a journal or framing my mission statement by the bed so I can remind myself each morning what this year is all about.

Yet as the days and weeks of this year have gathered into months, the intentional discipline of slowing my overactive mind so that it can close the door on work and hide itself away in the delights of a good book without a giant dose of guilt as an unwelcome accompanying melody, is a pleasure I'm very slowly giving way to...

I finished a wonderful 1929 classic last week and fell in love with reading again.

You know I couldn't remember the last time I read a good book from cover to cover.

I read so much for the blog and for business, for health and faith...but purely for pleasure and relaxation? No. 

How very different to the delight I found between the well worn sleeves of old books less than a decade ago when I would read marvelous stories to the children (right into their mid-teens) for hours every afternoon, their plea for "just one more chapter, Mum"  encouraging me on.

Then at night after everyone was fed and satisfied, the house tidied, dishes washed, and lessons planned for the next day (we were homeschoolers),  I'd  snuggle down under the sheets, fluff my pillows, and delve into another world, and another time, with a book just for me. 

 And not once did guilt knock on the door of my thoughts.

So I've ordered another old book written by the same author and it should arrive in the post any day now. 

Then I shall fall back in step with the old me, the girl who loved to read for pleasure each day, and found herself laughing or crying or thinking deep thoughts - because that's what happens when you set yourself free in a good book.

In the meantime, now that the middle of the month rush and stresses have passed, I've discovered a wonderful magazine that has added fuel to my desire of living a life-slowed-down, of stopping to smell the roses (or the mock orange flowers in my photos above) and to live and love my life.

 So it seems that the second quarter of my Year of Gentle Domesticity is harvesting some good changes, and that warms my heart because I think with each passing month the good 'fruit' of this harvest will bring more than a year of benefits.

If you've joined me in this year of gentle domesticity I'd love to hear about some of the changes that have occurred which you've found delight in.

If you can, please share in the comments below as there's so many of us on this journey that your own experience will be an added inspiration and blessing.

gentle hugs,

Weekend reading....

I don't normally post on Saturdays, but as I'll be offline on Monday finishing some rather pressing projects I've popped in a short blog today instead.

This year my love of books has returned so each weekend a small pile is stacked by the couch or on my bedside table to browse through and be inspired by. They also elicit a sense of homely calm because each of them take me on a journey that knocks on the door of my homemaker heart, and that's a wonderful head and heart space to be in, don't you think?

Here are this weekend's lovelies, all off my own shelves instead of the library...

The BAKING book was a purchase last week from my local post office. As I browsed through the vintage inspired pages and saw that it not only had wonderful recipes from years past but simple kitchen crafts as well, there was no doubt it needed to come home with me...

And who can resist a pretty red and white ribbon bookmark and velvet embossed words on the cover?

Not me.

 So there is every chance I'll have biscuits to show you next week, and a sweet new apron!

GIFTS

Wendy Ford was my partner in the first Stitchery Club Swap of the year and on Thursday her parcel arrived all the way from Alabama. The chocolates were gone within the hour as I was in swappers heaven with these pretties and needed reviving....

On Friday my dear friend Janelle, whom I've not seen in over 3 years, came for a visit. We had a precious few hours of catch-up over lunch and afternoon tea, and she gave me a belated birthday gift of gorgeous vintage laces and ric rac, a silk rose and some sweet fabric.

She knows me well... 

 What's on your reading list this weekend? 

hugs,

 

Brushing up on skills...

I've been out on my own since I was 15 so you'd think keeping house would be a walk in the park by now, right? And in many ways it is.

But I believe there is always something new to learn, and something OLD to re-learn.

So over the weekend I gathered some books around me to glean ideas from...

A mix of the old with the new...

...and I'm making notes about so many things.

Yesterday I scrubbed my oven till it shone using basic ingredients of vinegar and bi-carb soda. 

I've done this before, but half-heartedly.

Now it will become my 'normal'...

 (page open from Rhonda Hetzel's book 'Down to Earth')

Actually, room by room this home has begun to sparkle...

...and I'm loving my role as a homemaker once more.

 

This morning I've begun another new routine. I cut a lemon into 8 slices and drop one into a glass of sparkling water. Through the day I'll continue until all the lemon slices have been used...

 

This way I know I've blessed my body with two litres of water and the alkaline benefits of lemons every single day.

Although lemons are acidic, once they hit your body they turn alkaline and that's great for migraine sufferers. 

Enjoy your day, dear readers.

I'm going to sit by the window with my lemon water and watch the birds for a while...

hugs

Books and chairs and cookies...

Do you have a pile of books atop your bedside table too?

I like to browse some favourites for about thirty minutes before the day draws to a close, and at the moment this one is having a big impression on my plans for decorating...

You see we have three dining table chairs, yes, just three. Our son took the fourth with him when he left home and we've never really thought to replace it.

The chairs are very old but very sturdy, and for the longest time I've wanted to give them a makeover by stitching some simple but sweet chair covers...

...like the style that features in this book. 

Aren't these gorgeous...

...and this one is so pretty!

I like how it buttons around the base...

If only I had an armchair to play with, this would be attempted...

All I need to do now is decide on a design that will work with our chairs, and to get me inspired I've purchased some white Essex linen as the embroidery background...

That aqua and red fabric behind the linen may feature as well. There's something about aqua and red that says 'home' to me.

While pondering a stitchery design to use on my chair covers I took time out to bake a big batch of Anzac biscuits (cookies) for Mr E...

These are Mr E's favourite biscuits and I'm sorry to say it's been maybe a year since I've baked them...

...so when he arrived home from work yesterday I served up a plateful with fresh brewed coffee. 

My husband is still smiling.

What's your favourite decorating or sewing book at the moment?

hugs