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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A special May bookmark and tutorial...

 

I've been patiently waiting to share the May stitchery and bookmark idea since I first drew it up and stitched it in October last year!

But here we are, the first day of May, and finally you can see it, and download the free pattern if you'd like to make it for yourself, or as a gift.

My inspiration was the library.

My granddaughters simply LOVE going to the library, and they LOVE for me to read book after book to them during our visit. Needless to say, a throat lozenge and bottle of water becomes a necessity for this Nana after the first half dozen stories.

Whether you take young children or your aging aunt to the library, or simply wander the aisles to browse titles to borrow for your own enjoyment, a book bag is a must. 

Gone are the days when I would balance a dozen books in my arms and try to unlock the car door without dropping them all (if I hadn't already done that when hunting in my shoulder bag for the car keys) because after making a specific bag for library visits many years ago, all that fuss about balancing disappeared. I also admit to grossly over-estimating how many books I planned to borrow each visit. My plan is no more than 4-6 but the reality is somewhat different because there's always a pretty cover on a sewing book, a new publication on breadmaking, or ideas for homecrafts...and I could go on, but you get the picture, right? Are you like this to??

A library bag also helps with not miss-placing the books after I've read them, as once finished they are returned to my library bag which sits permanently beside the bedside table, unless on it's library outing.

Whilst trimming my library bag stitchery in order to create the May bookmark, another idea struck! Why not add a pocket for my library card?

So I did. 

If you want to make this bookmark and add a little pocket, it's not hard. 

I trimmed my stitchery block to 3.5" high x 3.25" wide and cut a piece of fabric the same size.

I pinned the two pieces together along the top edge of the stitchery, inserting a piece of cotton lace between them, and then stitched all three together with a 1/4" seam.

Sew a line of running stitch 1/4" beneath the lace edging.

Cut two pieces of fabric for the bookmark (3.25" x 7") and fuse a piece of thin wadding (such as Parlan) behind one piece and if you like, machine quilt a few lines down it. You can see mine in the photo below. Pin the pocket to the bottom of the quilted fabric and sew it to the bookmark along both sides and the base with an 1/8th inch seam.

Pin the other piece of fabric over the pocketed front of your bookmark, right sides together.

Sew around all four sides with a 1/4" seam, but leave a 2.5" opening along one side (not where the pocket is) for turning out.

Turn the bookmark right side out, pushing out the four corners gently with a rounded tool. I use a large wooden knitting needle which is lightly rounded at the top. Slip stitch the opening closed.

To complete my bookmark I used a hole punch at the top and threaded through a blue ribbon. Oh, and I inserted my library card!

A HINT: for those who intend to add the applique section onto the stitchery as I have done. Trace the flowers onto your applique fabric before fusing the shape to the background fabric. So much easier! Also, the applique is one piece with the pocket curve chain stitched over the fabric to make it seem as if they are two separate pieces.

Use the link below to download the May pattern.

DOWNLOAD Books & Roses stitchery pattern for May.

I've had a lovely time this past week because my husband is home everyday. After 16 long months of work, he's finally taken a three week break and I think we're more inspired than ever to get things done around home and in the garden, especially as the weather has slightly cooled and the days are getting shorter.

He recently bought a mulcher/chipper and spent a few hours the other day turning "many" accumulated piles of pruned trees and branches into mulch. It was wonderful to see the yard again without my eyes falling on mountains of branches.

I've been back reorganising the pantry after Annabel's suggestion to use spare spaces for food storage, and as I'm doing a lot of dehydrating at the moment the first thing I needed to do was put 'same with same' in our pantries. The more I worked through the main pantry and the cupboard pantry, the more often I found the same items in two different places...so this past week that has occupied quite a bit of time - the planning, the reorganising, and also making notes to use certain items in the next month before they are out of date. 

In the kitchen I'm using my grain mill a few times a week to make the flour for bread, and I also bought my first ever bread tin. 

Nana had a bread tin, but I've always used a cotton bread bag to store our loaves (I even shared a pattern HERE with some bread recipes). Must admit though, this tin brightens the kitchen and is very handy indeed. When I ordered mine, it seemed only sensible to buy one for Blossom too, and she's just as impressed with hers. 

I've begun a new sour dough starter as our very hot April (we live in the tropics if you're new here) killed my last one. Hopefully with the temps settling at a daily 30C the last week, and winter only a month away, when the days normally dip to 27-28C, the starter will do well. I'm also sprouting mung beans for salads and nourish bowl dinners. 

The mesh sprouting lids for wide mouth jars are brilliant, and the beans began to sprout overnight.

I make a large 2 litre jar of Ma's Ginger Water (from Little House on the Prairie) every couple of days, and hubby finds it the best hydrator after working outside in the heat and humidity. The recipe is very basic...

1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup of raw honey, molasses or maple syrup

1 heaped teaspoon ground ginger powder

juice of half a lemon

Place in a large 2 litre jar or drink container and mix until combined. Fill to the top with water, shake to mix, and store in the fridge. Drink a glass whenever you're thirsty! 

Our lemon tree provided us with an abundance of huge juicy lemons this summer and autumn, and now we are down to our last seven lemons, so I thought this was a good time to learn how to preserve lemons...because I love preserved lemons in guacamole, cous cous salads and lamb casseroles, but they are very expensive to buy.

Maggie Beer is a cooking icon in Australia, so I was thrilled to find she'd done a video on preserving lemons, and it was so simple to follow. Our lemons are HUGE, so I had to cut them into eighths to fit the pieces tightly into the jar. 

In about six weeks or so we will know if I was successful with this first attempt. Hope so!

If you'd like to watch Maggie's video I'm sharing it below.

Not wanting to waste a single lemon from our first harvest, I baked a very simple Coconut Lemon Slice yesterday morning as we were going to Blossom's for lunch and I offered to bring dessert. 

This is a no-bake slice and absolutely delicious!!

I couldn't find my own recipe, no idea where it has gone to, but was able to find it online HERE though she uses more icing than I do, so I reduced her quantity by a third and that was quite enough sweetness to top the base. 

It's a very soft treat, and little Charlie loved it so much he squashed a whole piece into his mouth to enjoy. We all stared at him and the burst out laughing. 

Two nights last week we watched movies - "Rams" and "The Courier" and other nights we've sat quietly and read books.

In fact I read two books in the past week and have begun a third, biographies from the Plainspoken series by Herald Press. The first was "Called to be Amish" and the author is one of only 75 people ever to have joined the Amish and stayed. 

I do not like Amish fiction, nor many books 'about' the Amish...but this was written by an Amish woman, and it was riveting. I came away from the book changed, or should I say re-inspired, towards my God given role as a homemaker and the hard work this entails.

The second book was "Anything But Simple: My Life as a Mennonite", another in this autobiographical series, and was written by a 30 year old Mennonite woman. Once again, I came away feeling inspired and challenged to see hard work as a joy, and especially working together with my husband. The author wrote her own story, but also the story of her parents, and it was those sections which had the greatest impact on me - in fact my heart was overflowing with happiness and praise for God.

The third book, "Hutterite Diaries", which I only started last night, is written by an older Hutterite woman, and I think this is my favourite of the books so far. I had no knowledge of the Hutterites until this book and I find myself looking forward to tea breaks so I can sit down and read a bit more! 

The links I've shared are from Amazon (NO, I am not an affiliate) because that was the easiest way to find all of the movies and books in one place, so if you're interested in any do a google. :-) 

Okay, enough for today. I have bread just baked and ready for lunch, brown rice in the rice cooker to make nourish bowls for tonight, and strawberries freshly rinsed and drying to make a strawberry shortcake for dessert over the next few days. 

God bless you, and may He keep you inspired and learning new skills, so that each day you grow in various ways...but mostly I pray that you find the most inspiration and essential life lessons in His Word. 

Hugs and blessings,

Need something new to stitch? Pop over HERE to my Etsy Shop!

Free Project to make and a week in this life...

 

I love discovering new kitchen crafts to make, new recipes to try, and new decor ideas to ponder and plan. In fact anything to do with adding life, beauty and function to our home puts a smile on my face and a skip in my step. 

Years ago I saw a very cute 'string' bag in a magazine and thought to myself, "I'm going to make one of those bags someday"...well friends, my someday arrived. I'm sure these little bags with a hole in the front for pulling string through hung in many kitchens when my Nana was a young wife and mother during the Depression, but I can't remember seeing one in modern times. Needless to say, they are quite a handy tool for the homemaker, so why not make it really pretty as well?

I drew my little bird up on a piece of linen, then fused a piece of very thin fabric stabiliser behind the traced stitchery.

A tiny hole was cut at the centre of the flower, and for a few days I spent a little time each afternoon on the slow stitching of my bird.

 

The linen measured 10" high by 12" wide, and I folded it in half so that I had a 10" x 6" linen bag shape. I measured up 2.5" from the base of the bag front and traced my bird so that it would sit in the centre of the bag. See in the photo above.

Once the stitchery was completed (the hole is made with buttonhole stitch) I opened out the linen and measured down 2" from the top of the bag as a guide for sewing some cotton ribbon casings, which would later be threaded with string to close the bag. 

Isn't this old Tilda ribbon lovely? I discovered it hidden at the bottom of one of my lace and ribbon boxes where I had forgotten all about it! 

Next I made a hanging loop from more of the ribbon and hid the ends under the centre of the ribbon at the back of the bag. 

Then it was time to sew the bottom and the open side closed with a French seam. If you're making this for yourself...

French Seam: Press the piece of linen in half to create the bag shape, with the bird stitchery centred on the front half of the folded linen. Keeping the wrong sides together, sew down the side and across the bottom of the bag with a 1/4" seam.

Now turn the bag inside out, and sew another seam down the side and across the base. This now encloses the raw edge, and you have made a French seam.

Turn the bag right side out.

A few final steps followed. 

I sewed a double 1/4" hem around the top edge of the bag...

...then threaded a 20" length of string through the ribbon casings so that both ends of the string come out on the right side of the bag.

Bag complete, I popped a ball of string inside the bag and pushed one end out through the hole in the bird. Pulling the casing strings through the ribbon and tying a knot to secure the bag closed, my new string bag was ready to hang in the kitchen!

I wonder where you'll hang your string bag?

I have mine hanging near the pantry door, where it looks pretty and is easily accessible should I need a length of string.

This Kitchen Craft project would be great to make for homemaking friends so why not sew a few and pop them in your gift box? Use the link below to download the free stitchery pattern.

DOWNLOAD the String Bag stitchery pattern.

For the rest of the year I'll bring you new ideas for Simple Kitchen Crafts, but if you have some ideas of your own please leave them in the comments. Next week I'll have a different version of the string bag to show you, and a second free stitchery for it. 

READING:

I began reading a new book this week, one of four I recently purchased, and it's even lovelier than I'd hoped. "For the Love of Homemaking" by Mrs Sharon White is a collection of her blog posts from 2009-2012 and I am so inspired in my own homemaking by her writings, so I'll share titbits on my own blog as I journey through this book.

I was also surprised by how much I'm enjoying Shana Schutte's devotional book "Two Minutes in the Bible for Women". None of the devotionals are more than two pages, but they pack a punch so be forewarned. By the sixth day I had ordered another copy for Blossom!

Another book by Mrs Sharon White looks promising too, though I've not yet begun it. "A Mother's House: the Blessing of Being a Christian Housewife" were blog posts published in 2015-16. 

You can no longer read the blog posts, but I find it wonderful to have them all together in a book.

The fourth book I bought was a children's story about that wonderful man of God, George Muller, and this morning I sat at Blossom's with the children gathered around and read it to them. So many questions they had, especially as they are privileged not to live as homeless starving orphans and were wanting to know more. 

Children are never too young to learn about great men and women, for in teaching them about such people we can encourage them to be good and kind and brave too.

COOKING:

When I went to Blossom's this morning I took a batch of sour dough raspberry and lemon muffins. I cook a lot with sour dough these days, and am regularly experimenting with new recipes that make use of my sour dough discard.

A favourite recipe are these sour dough crackers which I find hard to stop eating once I begin! The only ingredients are -

185g of sour dough discard 

30g melted butter 

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix everything together well, then spread thinly on a parchment lined tray. Scatter a little more sea salt across the top. 

Bake at 160c (325f) for ten minutes and then take the tray out of the oven to score the batter into squares with a knife. Place back in the oven and bake for another 20-30 minutes until golden brown.

Remove from the oven, cool, and then break apart along the score lines. Seriously delicious!!

I find myself baking two loves of bread a week as that is sufficient for the two of us. My Mockmill 100 grain mill is amazing, and the home milled flour has added a wonderful flavour and texture to all my baking.

Another recipe for using sour dough discard is this Banana Bread. Wow, this was really good, and if you'd like to try it pop over HERE to the King Arthur Flour site. I replaced half the ordinary white flour used in the recipe with my own freshly milled flour and the banana bread baked beautifully.

I was cleaning out the fridge yesterday and discovered a kilo of organic pears I'd purchased at Coles, reduced to $1 - how often do you come across bargains like that? I don't, so it was important to make use of the pears before they ripened too far. 

My husband doesn't like pears, but I love them, so I decided to make a jar of pear jam. HERE is the recipe I used. I haven't tried it yet, but as soon as my next loaf of bread is cool it will get a trial run. Hopefully it will be yummy.

Much of what I've made in the past few days has been chosen as a way to use up what was already in the fridge. 

The sour dough discard needs to be used every few days. The banana bread was made because I had five almost black bananas in the bowl. The raspberry muffins because I had almost two punnets of raspberries which needed to be eaten quickly. The pear jam because the pears were almost too ripe. And then there was this bread and butter baked pudding, which used up the last of our milk, eggs and bread - but also the last bit of apricot jam in the jar. 

I must say that spreading the apricot jam over the buttered bread before pouring the custard mix across the top is something I shall be doing every time I make this recipe. Hubby and I both loved it. 

Meals have been simple and delicious - chicken and roast vegetables / chicken and corn soup made with my own bone broth and the leftover chicken / nourish bowls with brown rice, fresh vegetables, black beans, brown rice and Korean sauces / and yummy dahl with brown rice were some of the dinners we enjoyed this past week.

I had my second ever trip in an ambulance on Wednesday, just a precautionary measure ordered by my doctor. I spent the afternoon and evening with simply wonderful nurses and cardiac doctors, and was allowed back home by bedtime with a list of tests and procedures to look forward to in the weeks ahead. At least now I know one thing - I have an enlarged heart. 

I'm totally calm and at peace, grateful for such good care on Wednesday, and relieved at knowing the Lord holds my life in His care and will be by my side in the journey ahead. Your prayers are appreciated, because who doesn't want prayer? We are called to pray for one another, so if you have a prayer need right now leave it in the comments below and I will pray for you, and I'm sure every believer reading your request will pray as well. 

Just so you know, I'm feeling very well today and have been back in the garden for an hour to keep doing those little things that all add up to big things in the end - atomic habits. 

Bless you all so very much, and know that you are loved and treasured by an awesome God, and that your life has meaning, no matter what season you are in. 

Ephesians 2:10 is a verse which has helped steer my course through many moments of doubt, and I pray you take it to heart as well because God created YOU for a purpose and if you still have breath, dear one, you have a purpose. 

(If you'd like to stitch this pattern you will find it HERE)

Hope you didn't mind the long blog post today. From Monday I'll be doing a few shorter blog posts each week instead of one large post. Much easier to read and write I think. 

hugs