Contented and unrushed homemaking...

In  Australia we welcome Spring on the first day of September, so this past week I invested my days working through our home to give it a good and thorough Spring clean. 

I have a regular rhythm of daily cleaning, plus there's another regular rhythm which brings me great satisfaction, and that is to deep clean a specific room every month.  But the spring clean is a bit different, for it is when I make a plan for every room, roll up my sleeves, put on my prettiest apron, and prepare to scrub and wash and redecorate with simple loving touches for a solid week. Some lovely music, or a nice audio book in the background adds to the 'romance' of a spring clean! 

Giving my full attention to the home this week has kept me from sharing the next chapter of our Emilie Barnes book study, but we, as homemakers, must always stay close to our priorities and not stray or be distracted by the things which can wait - which assures me you understand. :-)

There were so many little things that were accomplished, things a visitor or my husband would never notice, and I do think they more than anything else brought me the greater sense of delight. 

Things like taking all forty-five indoor plants outside for a good shower and soak to remove the dust of these winter months...

...or descaling the electric kettle with vinegar and water; then there was the cleaning out of kitchen drawers and laying beautiful liners inside, and the windows and screens scrubbed before hanging a handmade curtain across the window (a long-overdue plan which exceeded my hopes).

Having those 'handmaidens' to help every day really made the work easier. We are incredibly blessed in this day and age to have appliances such as vacuum cleaners, steam mops, washing machines...and I have heard people say "back in the old days they worked hard without those things so we should too", but growing up in a home where Nana had to boil the water in a large copper and carry it bucket by bucket to the outdoor bathtub so we could bathe, let me assure you she would have jumped at the chance to have the 'handmaidens' which grace my home today. 

This week I moved all the furniture away from the walls, one side of the room at a time, scrubbed those skirting birds (baseboards) and window sills, washed curtains, re-potted plants, shook rugs, vacuumed and mopped.  This photo was yesterday as the living room was the final room I tackled because until Thursday afternoon we had a queen size mattress still in the middle of everything, waiting to be sold. 

Praise God, when the mattress went to its new home, I couldn't wait to pull apart the office/living/dining room! Next week the old cream air-conditioner will be removed and a brand new one will be installed. Ever since the 2019 floods we've not been able to stop this old air conditioner from growing mould rapidly between the professional cleaning twice a year, so when hubby's tax return arrived in our bank account we chose not to pay it off the mortgage but to purchase a new air conditioner. The one we're getting cleans itself every forty hours, and is way more energy efficient too.

A couple of months ago I bought some non-adhesive wipe-clean rolls of drawer/shelf liner and I think they have been my second best decor investment this year (sewing the kitchen curtains took first place).

The rolls are 10 feet x 12 inches, and I bought four because I had plenty of use for them, beginning in the sewing room. The built in shelving is very old and would take more work than we have time for to sand them down and paint, but just lining each shelf has made a world of difference. 

I also used this to line my kitchen drawers - it's amazing how quickly 40 feet of liner can be used up, but I have another roll with a simple red and white vine design which I'll use for the white bookcase in the kitchen which holds my bulk food containers. 

The walk in pantry is incredible now, so beautifully displayed, full and labelled in such a way that my husband can easily read the jars and tubs. His eyesight has declined quickly over the past few years, so the hand painted italic writing previously on all my jars was difficult for him to read easily in such a small space as a walk in pantry, but once removed and then replaced by printed labels, he's having no trouble at all. I bought a Dymo LetraTag from Amazon and it's brilliant for this job.

There's still a number of cosmetic jobs to be done, a bag of unnecessary items to be dropped at the op-shop, and an inevitable mess to clean after the air conditioner installation next week, but right now I'm very content with the fruit of my labours this past week - both inside and out (I gave the back porch a jolly good clean too).

I did not rush, I went at my own pace and took regular breaks to have a snack and drink, and also to rest my knee (which is still giving me trouble). Apart from a short visit to Blossom's on Monday morning, and a quick grocery shop after lunch yesterday, I've not gone anywhere in the past week...and that's the key to achieving tasks at home and being totally at peace with them, working at a slower pace and appreciating the joy of caring for your sanctuary. When you remove the 'going here and there' from your life, you don't fall behind or feel rushed (usually)...your day is remarkably lovely, quite satisfying, and a real source of contentment. 

Naturally there are days when we must venture out, or attend to unplanned urgencies, but generally, the choice to be pottering at home and tending your nest, blesses you and your loved ones. I also find it gives me so much time to talk with God, pray for those in need, sing as I tend the garden, and listen to books on audio while I bake, cook, pickle and ferment.

I also find there's more time to consider what meals to prepare for myself when hubby is at work. I make sure he always has a healthy and tasty lunch, but its also important to take the time to nourish my own body each day. Whether it's a brown rice and vegetable nourish bowl, a whole-wheat egg and greens sandwich with a smoothie, or pesto and salad on toast...taking the time for self care is vitally important. 

I hope you're taking time to tend your nest and delight in the work of your hands; tending to your health by making time to create simple nourishing meals; and most importantly tending to your heart by spending time in the Word and in prayer with our God.

Next week I have some recipes for you, plus a new pattern release. Here's a peek...

Bless your precious hearts, and may the new month which will soon be upon us, inspire you to wipe the slate clean, forgive past hurts, refresh your thoughts, and bring you JOY. 

hugs

Posies block 10 and planning ahead...

 Another month has passed and October came knocking on our door this morning. Every year about this time I seem to be saying "goodness, the year is flying by quickly" and today was no different.

I like new months, and I like new years, but when I see them advancing quickly I feel inspired to do a deep clean of my sewing/office space and make sure everything is back where it should be so that I can begin the new month or year with visual, mental and creative clarity. 

After a cloudy morning with a light rain shower, perfect for cleaning and tidying whilst listening to an audio book, the skies cleared at lunchtime and the bright spring sun came streaming through the window, so the 'after' photos reflect this...

I moved a few things around so that now I can stand at my cutting and design table and feel the full benefit of the air conditioner coming towards me (tropical heat takes a toll) instead of having it above and behind me. I can spend many hours at that table, sketching, re-sketching, drawing the final design, tracing onto fabric, preparing applique...it really is a work station, and being cool through the many long hot months here is important.

The air conditioner is above my fabric shelving, and as this is a small room and some of the fixtures are permanent, I can really only move the cutting table direction or placement. But I really like the way it is now and wonder why I haven't thought to face the other way before? 

Its especially important around now that I focus on, and finalise, the plans I've made for Elefantz in the coming year, and as you can see by my desk after everything else was tidied, pages of plans sketched over the past few months were everywhere!

I tend to write lots of notes and ideas through the year and gather them in groups, folders, notebooks - so spending an hour going through each page or book allows me to eliminate some, throw away duplicate ideas (if I have a duplicate of an idea then I am pretty sure it's something I'll definitely work on), rewrite a few more, and then order everything in sequence of importance or time frame. 

Once this was done I brewed a lovely cup of vanilla tea and treated myself to some delicious jam tarts whilst preparing to write the rough drafts of ten brand new patterns.

Before deciding on a start date for my new stitchery pattern club, I decided to have three months worth of patterns sketched, traced, embroidered, patterns written and then everything photographed. My plan is to always be a full season ahead as life has a tendency to step in and upset the apple cart when you least expect it. Forward planning and then following through with those plans can eliminate any future hiccups or anxieties when running a home business on your own. 

I'm also working on two new block of the months for next year. One of them is my regular freebie and runs for 12 months, and the other will be a subscription membership which runs for 10 months. 

I'm loving them both, and can't wait to show you, but let us all slow down that wee bit and enjoy the moments yet to come our way through October, November and December. Every day is a blessed gift, something I understand more and more as I age. 

Besides, you still have three more Posies block of the month patterns to receive, and today one of them is all yours...

Isn't that bird in the vase beautiful? And I love the fabric borders too. 

I stitched a double row of chain stitch across the vase, making sure it did not cover the dove in flight. The flowers are made with blanket stitch and the centres are satin stitched. Backstitch the stems and sew tiny lazy daisy leaves before adding your border fabric.

UPDATE...

POSIES was free until January 1st 2022.

The complete 2021 POSIES quilt is now available from my ETSY Shop.

In case you're new to Elefantz Designs, here's a photo of the wall quilt we're making with the Posies blocks this year.

The monthly blocks are all free to download until December 31st, 2021 and I share a new block on the 1st of each month. If you've missed any of the previous blocks just pop over HERE

Last week Blossom and I ventured to Spotlight with her trio of pre-schoolers in tow. The girls love the store and offer numerous suggestions for various fabrics their mummy can buy to sew pretty things for them, but Charlie was more interested in watching everyone go by and all the bright colours of fabric around him. 

Bloss eventually purchased a few cotton spandex prints for leggings that will be finished with ballerina ribbons at the ankles (she is an in-demand pattern tester for many children's wear designers), and fabric to make Charlie a summer cot quilt; but we also found these tape measure lanyards and thought how clever they were as we can clip our embroidery scissors onto them and avoid that constant frustration when at the sewing machine of looking for our little scissors (usually hidden under fabric, right?) as well as having a tape measure at our fingertips the whole time. Brilliant.

Hubby is on holidays for a week and I'm so happy as he's had no time off work since last December, and six-day working weeks are exhausting (especially when you're not so young anymore). We went for a drive by the sea this morning with coffee from Zarraffas before heading home for brekky and getting stuck into our various tasks - me to the cleaning/tidying/sorting/writing, and he to repair the car lights and generally give our 4WD a good clean and service. 

Tonight I'm roasting tomatoes from the garden and tossing them through fried gnocchi; and we'll enjoy that with a side salad and fresh sour dough as well. Ice cream and strawberries will finish off our dinner very nicely. I wonder what you're preparing for dinner tonight??

God bless each of you, and may the love of our Father above abundantly fill your lives in this new month, and lead you closer to His Son.

hugs