Our handmaidens and another free Postcard...

 You know, for so many years I have heard women lament of not having any handmaidens, such as the Proverbs 31 woman mentions in verse 15, and it always astounds me how they have completely overlooked the handmaidens in their own homes today. I think Mrs Proverbs 31 would have loved some of the ones that work in my own home.

Growing up I saw my Nana work hard each day, never begrudgingly, and for us not having a fridge or washing machine or vacuum cleaner or hot water in the home was quite normal. I did not realise that some people around us had a real refrigerator, a twin tub washer, or that they could turn on a hot or cold tap right inside their own house. My little world revolved around the home Nana and Pop made for us and in comparison to many of their peers it could even be called primitive by late 1960's standards, in fact I was thirteen when Nana and Pop moved into a different flat, one which had hot and cold running water at the kitchen sink (though we had to light the gas for it). Up until then Nana boiled water in the old copper (which doubled as her washtub as it had a detachable wringer) and every few days she'd carry bucket loads of hot water from the copper, up the back path to the bathhouse and pour it in to the old tub for us to take turns bathing in. 

Then the water had to be emptied from the tub, bucket by bucket, and the bathtub cleaned and dried. On in-between days Nana, Pop and I would scrub our hands, faces, feet, behind the ears and wash our hair under the cold tap by the back door. This was our normal and I never imagined life to be different.

I can still remember the Ice Man arriving every week to deposit a huge cube of ice in the Icebox because until I was thirteen we did not have a refrigerator. 

Now, you know, I love the old days, the old ways, and enjoy learning the skills of those times, and there was a time where I expounded over and over how if it was good enough for Nana then we should all aim to step back and do things the way they used to be done. But things change. A child, which is still what I call myself before God, grows up and the Lord instils a bit more wisdom and common sense along the way. 

When Nana finally got a twin tub washing machine in the early 1970's it was a gamechanger for her. She was getting older, around the same age I am now, and she did not have the strength of her younger years, so for the next ten years she delighted in her new handmaiden until she passed away in 1982.

And one day this came home to me as I studied Proverbs 31:10-31...the fact that if Nana were alive to day she would love a front loader like mine. She would have thoroughly enjoyed using my vacuum cleaner and steam mop. She would definitely find my two refrigerators quite a step above the small second hand Kelvinator she eventually got around the time we moved in 1972.

My dishwasher, iron, sewing machine, coffee machine, blender, oven, cooktop, hair dryer, hot and cold taps, water filter...every one of these is also a maidservant in my home, just as they are in yours.

Pondering lately how well my Nana kept house, how everything she owned was appreciated because my Pop worked hard to purchase them, how her little abode twinkled and shone with care and homemaker pride, how her days reflected a gentle unchanging rhythm of habits and routines...I've been struck by my own lack of appreciation for all the modern appliances which fill my home and make my life easier.

Though our homes are larger today on average, I can easily mop a three bedroom house far quicker than Nana could scrub the one-bedroom walk-through on her knees.

I don't have to shop every day or two for fresh produce as she did, but can shop weekly and store it all in a larger fridge and freezer as well as the walk-in pantry.

My washing is done one load per day, on a 30 minute eco cycle, before I hang it all out in the sun on the clothesline (I don't have a dryer nor want one). Nana spent many hours every Monday doing the weekly wash and until we got the twin tub (which was still far more work than our modern machines) she did it all by hand.

Nana would take all the rugs outside and hang them over the clothesline to beat them with a huge broom to dislodge the dust each week. I just vacuum.

How wonderful are our handmaidens?!

I'm writing about this today because like most things in life that we take for granted, a lack of appreciation for what we now consider basic everyday items, can creep in to our hearts.

This next month, as you and I fill the washing machine, vacuum the carpets and rugs, cream butter and sugar in minutes with our electric mixer (Nana had a hand beater that took forever), brew a coffee, heat up leftovers in the microwave for dinner, or attend to any number of household requirements, let us give thanks for each of our labour-saving handmaidens, okay?

This week's Postcard from Heaven is number four in the series of six.

Over the past year or more I think there have been many tears shed across the world, and many hearts do not realise that those tears matter deeply to our Heavenly Father.

If you know of someone who needs comfort, hope, or affirmation that their sorrows matter to God, this postcard would be a precious gift given from the heart or posted anonymously.

Perhaps your are the one who is in need of strong arms to carry you for a while, an ear to listen and a genuine infusion of compassion and love? Stitch this for your own heart dear one. Know, and do not doubt, that the Lord cares, and as it says in Psalm 56:8 -

"You keep track of all my sorrows; 

You have collected all my tears in Your bottle. 

You have recorded each one in Your book."

Use the link below to download the free pattern.

DOWNLOAD "Postcards From Heaven" week 4.

Other things around HOME...

I clearly remember Nana mending, always mending, making things last. As I was going through my dress patterns the other day, looking for one to make that was cool and modest, a memory of Nana mending Pop's woollen socks came to mind. As with many memories, this led me on a journey of thought which eventuated in my decision not to make a dress, but to mend a few dresses which had been packed away due to various unravelling, holes and other problems. 

Each day I've been working on one or another during the late afternoons while waiting for the washing to dry and the chickens to finish their free-range time.

I uncovered a few more items than can either be mended or repurposed after cleaning out the wardrobe in the bedroom and giving the inside a good scrub. It's funny what you find when you take things apart to clean. There was one bag of old things which made their way to the op shop, but everything in need of mending made a tidy pile in the sewing room.  Which made me think how blessed I am to have a sewing machine as a handmaiden! 

The south of our state is in Covid lockdown again, and up here in the north, for the first time we have mandatory wearing of face masks. As this has not been needed until now our dear Blossom set to work on her own sewing machine to make fully lined masks for the family. 

I prefer ties to elastic and she wisely chose to tear strips from one of Ross's old t-shirts for stretchy ties. 

We tried them out yesterday when we went out shopping to stock up on essentials and she's made them very comfortable and quite easy to breathe through.

I came home with a good number of glass jars for the pantry so as we won't be leaving home again for a while I can finally get in and sort out the walk in pantry, removing the last of the plastic containers and replacing with the glass. I'd wanted to do this last week but other things cropped up which needed more attention. Tomorrow this will be my focus and I'm very excited about it. 

It's raining! Hang on for 5 minutes...

Well, I got the washing off the line just in time, one egg collected from the coop, and as dinner is already in the crock pot I shall brew myself a cup of Earl Grey and nibble one or two Ginger Kisses before returning to the mending.

How are YOU faring this week? I'd love to hear what's occupying your thoughts and time. 

Bless you heaps,

PS: Block 3 of Simple Days is now in my shop. Go HERE to purchase as an instant download.

The Homemakers Heart and a Nana story...

Though I have always made nearly all our meals and snacks from scratch anyhow, these new restrictions to stay home have stretched my creativity in the kitchen just a smidgen. The new normal does not lend itself to an evening out or brunch at a favourite cafe with Mr E. It's very truly home-focused and most especially time heavy in the kitchen. I admit to missing those lazy Sunday brunches which someone else made for us. And Mr E misses hot chips and grilled fish down on the beach.

But today those thoughts, those longings for what we once took for granted, made me think of Nana and the way she would soldier on with a cooked breakfast, simple lunch, hearty dinner and dessert, seven days a week without a murmur - because this had always been her normal. 

This epiphany came with a little nudge from God to be thankful I can cook, bake and create in the comfort of my own home as Nana never had her own home, they lived in small low-income rented flats all her married life, and she never complained. After all these years I am still learning lessons from her character...how blessed I am.

So I thought I'd share one of my Nana stories today as I think it's been a month or so since the last one.

The Kitchen Table

When I was growing up and living at Nana’s, we only ever drank tea as our hot beverage. Coffee was something you drank when you were out, and cocoa just never appeared in her kitchen.

Each morning, upon waking, I would take my place at Nana’s simply set table, and await my first cup of tea. Always in china tea cups, and always white with two sugars.

Nana religiously set her breakfast table before bedtime and on a full-moon night when I needed to make a midnight visit to the outside toilet, I would creep past my sleeping grand-parents, and step into the softly illuminated kitchen that led off their bedroom, into a magical world.

Atop a freshly laundered and pressed tablecloth, a delicate square of lace covered the cups, saucers, tea pot, plates and cutlery. The moonlight reflected through that lace cloth would cast a shimmering web over everything, and a starlike twinkling would dance across the silverware adding to the ethereal atmosphere. Often I’d pause by the table on my way back inside, and try to guess what breakfast nana had planned for the morning. She never, ever, served a cold breakfast. It could be leftovers from the evening meal the night before, eggs and sausages with thickly cut grilled toast, butter fried kidneys and bacon, or if Pop was coming home after night shift at the wharf he’d hopefully make fresh chips in lamb fat. Nobody made freshly chipped potatoes like my dear old Pop, and Nana never set her hat to take that crown from him because it was such a blessing for her to sit and be the one served for a change.

Our teapot was large and metal, leftover from Nana’s days as cook in a pub after WW2, and she only ever used loose tea leaves. Nana made a point of teaching me her recipe for a good brew – before the water, add to the pot one teaspoon of tea for each person, and another for the pot. Once the boiling water was in the pot, and an oversized hand-knitted tea cosy in place, her next instruction was to turn the tea pot around and around, using a different calculation – one for each person and one for the pot, and halve your total. I still do this today, even when using (shudder!) tea bags.

Morning-tea on weekends offered the delights of tea cake, buns, or biscuits to accompany our pot of tea, as did afternoon-tea on weekdays when I’d arrive home from school.

Nana religiously served a baked dinner, usually a leg of lamb,  for lunch on Sunday’s,  but Sunday night it was her custom to take the evening off,  baking a fluffy batch of scones to have with thick lashings of butter and her homemade jam. On Sunday nights it was also usual for us to linger longer at the table and finish a second pot of tea whilst playing cards!

As I think back on my childhood days and the nurturing of my love for tea, a favourite memory is when Pop would be working afternoon shifts, and it was just Nana and I for dinner. Every so often she’d have a cheeky twinkle in her eye and ask me, “How about we skip dinner tonight and share a loaf of fresh baked bread between ourselves? I have a pot of strawberry jam, plenty of butter, and we can drink all the tea we like. Just me and you and we won’t tell Pop I didn’t cook a meal…”

Now, Pop knew all about this, but he never let on. It was a little game they played with me to create a special ‘Nana and Jennifer’ occasion, and it lasted until I was into my teens and let slip I knew exactly what they were up to.

 I cannot brew a pot of tea today without remembering the taste of fresh bread, butter and jam, and seeing Nana’s clear blue eyes smiling across at me over her teapot. Such a lovely legacy.

A pumpkin vine popped up in the front garden recently and if you know my husband you're aware he does not like pumpkin and would normally have pulled it out without a second thought, but three months into our vegan lifestyle change he's become a rather different fellow. Now, he's not going to embrace cauliflower or broccoli in the near or distant future, but he does accept that pumpkin can be used in many ways, many delicious ways. And he loves me. And I love pumpkin and have always dreamed of growing a nice productive patch so it's staying put and we're all smiles.

No idea what type of pumpkin this is but it will be either a Butternut or Kent as they are the only type I've bought in the past year and this plant has self seeded from our compost.

It rained very hard here yesterday afternoon which was most welcome as the mid autumn weather is still very hot and humid and not at all pleasant to be gardening in between 10am and 4pm.

I captured this photo as the sun came out again just as the last drops of rain passed by.

I imagine you're wondering what a toilet is doing in our backyard?

One of the teachers at Mr E's school had five to get rid of and for some odd reason my husband thought I'd have some creative way of using it in the yard. It's a Royal Doulton, very good condition, but...well...I'm still pondering what it can become. Perhaps I'll add a large plate to the top and turn it into a bird feeder? And then plant something pretty around it. 

Ideas anyone??

The chooks love the rain too, and on the many days we have no rain but ghastly heat my husband turns the sprinkler on lightly for them for about fifteen minutes mid afternoon. They dance around, cooling themselves and almost crowing with delight.

This was the only rain we'd had in a while, but there's been cloud cover and high humidity for about a week now (which triggered a 24-hour migraine the other day). The birds gather as usual each morning for their feast and the longer we sit and watch them the more arrive to take their turn at the feeder...

In the kitchen there's been a lot of different meals made including vegetable lasagne, vegetable pad thai, dhal and rice, loaded baked potatoes with guacamole and coleslaw, and assorted leftovers.

Fresh bread is high on the weekly menu rotation every couple of days. In the past week I've made a multigrain loaf, focaccia two ways (which made the most delicious sandwiches the next day) and today's new loaf, a light rye...

Dessert at the tail end of last week was a lemon yoghurt cake baked in a baba tin which I served each night with a raspberry coulis and coconut yoghurt. (I used coconut yoghurt in the cake, not dairy)...

Today was a big day in the kitchen because hubby was off working on a new/old car he's repairing so that he can finally sell that trouble-ridden Jeep (which will bring an end to the almost five year saga of endless repairs) and I find it's always easier to get a lot of food prepared for the week ahead when he's occupied elsewhere. Monday just seems to be my best day for baking every week.

Last week I baked jam drops because Mr E 'loves' a biscuit or three (cookie to my US friends) with his cuppa...

...but now that he's finished them it was time to bake again so I chose choc-chip biscuits this time.

You know, I've not made choc-chip biscuits in many years, no idea why. 

As well as the bread and the choc-chip biscuits I looked for ways to use up what was left in the fridge to avoid wastage. The offerings below show the blueberry crumble cake (our dessert for the next few nights), coleslaw (without the dressing, which will be added later), quick pickled radishes (the pickling liquid had just been poured over), marinated green beans, and thrice cooked chips which at the time of the photo had only been cooked twice so far (boiled then deep fried quickly before letting them go cold) as the 'thrice' cooking is just before serving. 

I am hopeful that this thrice cooked technique gives my husband's chips a nice crunch as he's truly missing his chip-fix right now.

I made them last week but they more like wedges and I peeled the potatoes, whereas this batch were small potatoes which were about to start sprouting so I cut out the little eyes only and kept the skin on. Less wastage.

On Saturday I unpacked all the stored seed packs that Woolworths gave away last year and divided them into zip lock bags so that I can save some space and also plan out what to prepare for planting first. With Mr E home on school holidays we are aiming to get a bit further with garden bed preparation out the back as winter is our growing season in the tropics...

This week my big task will be to pull everything out of the linen cupboard and sort through it.

Then I will re-organise our small linen space so that it functions better for my daily and weekly needs. At the moment there's stuff being pushed in wherever I find space and that's making it difficult to keep ordered. And I do love order.

Will you take up this week's task with me?

Is your linen cupboard in need of a makeover or reorganisation?

Well, dear friends, I must away to dress the coleslaw and prepare spicy koftas using a bean mix. I'm salivating thinking of that!

God bless you and may He keep your heart hopeful, your countenance joyful and your spirit in total peace...

Loving hugs

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The Homemakers Heart and a little story...

Let me begin today by telling you how much I'm enjoying the theme this year, and that I hope as we share this year of practical homemaking you, like me, will increase your love for home, hearth and the gentle arts.

A little over nine years ago, right at the beginning of my journey as a designer and just as my years of being a homeschool mum drew to a close, I started publishing an online magazine which I filled with recipes, stories, patterns, book reviews, home hints, remedies and other such homely occupations.

It also became a fairly regular thing to write stories about my Nana and what I remembered most about growing up in her care. These proved to be very popular so I thought it might be nice to share some 'The Nana Stories' this year in my Homemakers Heart blog posts. Not every week, but often enough that you get to glimpse a little deeper into the home life and relationships which birthed my love for homemaking. 

Today I'll share a short extract from the July, 2013 issue of Elefantz Home magazine.

"Soxy"

Less and less movement is required these days than when I was a small child growing up in the 60’s. Back then with no regular public transport my walk to school was a good mile and half (about 2.5 kilometres) each way, and like all children of that era in Australia I had a heavy brown port (or school case as you may call it) with handles that wore callouses into my palms. So tough were the callouses that my friends and I would push needle and thread through them in running stitch fashion! We thought we were so brave piercing our hands and making those black dashed stitches that we often left them in all day though Nana was not impressed and quickly removed them at bath time.

My constant walking companion from the ages of 5 through 8, to and from primary school each day, was our very intelligent and faithful dog, Soxy.

Our Soxy was a bitsa – ‘a bit of this’ and ‘a bit of that’ - no true distinguishable breed to call his own. That may well be why he was such a clever fellow; he had the smarts of many breeds!

This photo of Nana and Soxy was taken in the laneway beside our little flat in 1964. I was five at the time, and Soxy was my dearest and best friend. In those days children roamed far afield during play hours, but I was never allowed out of the gate without Soxy to watch over me. 

1964 was the year I began Kindergarten and it was Soxy’s responsibility to walk me to school each morning. Once he’d safely seen me inside the school gate he would scamper home alone to wait out the day until Nana sent him back to school for our afternoon return journey. I was overjoyed to see him wagging his tail and giving a few gleeful yelps as my class streamed out in Indian file at 3 o’clock, because I loved our Soxy to pieces, but also because I was the only student being collected by a four legged family member. This daily event, stretching over three school years, ensured a small measure of admiration from my otherwise unimpressed school chums. 

Did you notice Nana is wearing an apron with rollers in her hair? I laugh now when I look back at this photo, yet when I was a child almost every woman in the neighbourhood would have her hair in rollers while she went about her morning chores, but when it was time to go out in public her hair was beautifully curled and stiff with hairspray. The strongest breeze could not move a single strand!

I'm sure Nana is the reason I love aprons (I have many) and you may be wondering if I finished my peg apron this past week?

Almost.

I just need to hand stitch the back of the waist band  and I can fill it with those new pegs I bought last month and finally toss away the old brittle and breaking ones which have lingered too long on the clothesline.

I looked all over Pinterest for ideas on making a peg apron, eventually choosing a simple style that I hoped would be easy to replicate. 

As with most things like this I made it up as I went along, correcting mistakes along the way until I was pleased with how it was coming along. I'd do a few things differently if I made another one, but as I only need a single peg apron for now I shan't dwell on the improvements but move along to the next sewing project on my list.

Last week I mentioned adding two little egg pockets to the apron for collecting Bess and Daphne's eggs each day but then it was pointed out to me (shan't name names) that I rarely hang washing and collect eggs at exactly the same time because our hens tend to lay any time between 7 am and 3 pm and washing is hung anytime between 6 am and 5 pm. Husbands do make wise observations. Oops, I said I shan't name names!

Yesterday Blossom, the little ones and I went shopping because Bloss needed a food processor and a good blender. Both our families have now decided to go vegan and these are two essential appliances for our style of eating because we pretty much make everything from scratch and rarely eat out. Can't tell you how exciting it is for me, as a mother, to watch my daughter embrace homemaking with such devotion more and more as each year passes.

After placing her appliances in the shopping cart Blossom noticed a breadmaker and mentioned that was the next big thing she'd be saving for because they go through a loaf every day and it would not just save $ but be healthier too. I love how God works because I'd not been using my large breadmaker lately as with only Mr E and I at home now, and not eating a great deal of bread recently, baking large loaves didn't seem to be worth the effort.

Well it's my birthday on Friday, and hubby has been asking me for weeks "What would you like for your birthday?" to which my only reply has been "I don't need anything"...which totally frustrated him. 

So having this breadmaker conversation with Blossom yesterday whilst standing in the middle of the home appliances section of Big W gave me an idea. I'd get a small breadmaker and give her my large one. Now we're all happy!

First loaf was a simple white because I needed to gauge how the measurements of various ingredients (yeast in particular) would affect the proving and baking of a loaf in our hot and humid conditions, something I knew easily with the larger breadmaker. 

First loaf in the new machine was almost perfect but I could tell I need to reduce the yeast by about a quarter teaspoon. My next loaf with be a pumpernickel because that is one seriously delicious loaf and lasts a few days. I'll be sure to share that recipe when I make it again.

Blossom sent me a text photo this morning of her first rye loaf which looked so delicious. It's a real blessing to be sharing another 'craft' with her.

Elsewhere in the kitchen I've focused on preparing in advance things like bulgur salad, coleslaw, miso tahini dressing, 'cheesy' tahini sauce (over roasted cauliflower this is delicious), pickled vegetables, almond milk, cashew parmesan 'cheese' and rice paper rolls.

Not sure why I never thought to do this before but I now keep the salads and the dressing I make separate in the fridge until we're ready to eat them. This way a salad, like the bulgur salad above, stays fresh for 4-5 days and all we need do for my lunches at home or for Mr E's work lunches is add some of the dressing just before serving. The remainder of the salads are undressed and stored in the fridge until the next time we want them.

Our favourite dressing is so simple and will stay fresh in the fridge for weeks (just give it a good shake before you use it)...

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

We use it sparingly because we don't enjoy salads 'soaked' in dressing, just adding enough for that zing of extra flavour.

Another addition to salads is the cashew parmesan 'cheese'.

This is made in the food processor from cashews, nutritional yeast flakes (they have the cheesy flavour and are loaded with B12 which is essential for vegans), garlic powder and a little bit of salt.

I make two cups at a time and it lasts about a month stored in the fridge.

Sprinkled over salads and sour dough lunches it's sooooo good...

A new recipe for something to serve with a decaf cappuccino or a cup of herbal tea are these Ginger Berry Kisses, which believe me are delicious.

They are vegan, gluten free, sugar free, grain free, dairy free...ticks a lot of boxes if you have a special diet which excludes those ingredients.

The recipe is inside "Whole" and I highly recommend this book by Australian Harriet Birrell. You'll find her blog here.

I used to make almond milk regularly but then we went back to dairy for a few years and it became an occasional thing during detox weeks. But now I make it three times a week (it's that easy) and Mr E told me the other day that he prefers this than any other 'milk' because it never makes him sick and it tastes good too. Big tick on my prayer chart cause men can be the hardest to move from what they grew up on to what heals their bodies.

I soak 1 cup of almonds in water for about four hours or overnight, then rinse them before adding to the blender with five cups of cold water.

My blender has a nut milk setting and it's made in 60 seconds.

Then I pour the blended almonds and water into a nut bag and squeeze all the milk out.

Store almond milk in the fridge and it will keep for around 5 days.

This makes just over a litre of almond milk which we go through in around two or three days as we begin each day with a bowl of fresh fruit salad and an iced almond milk latte (decaf).

My Homemakers Heart task last week was to clean out the cupboard underneath the kitchen sink. Did you do that too?

My timing couldn't have been better because after I pulled everything out I discovered water all along the back of the cupboard due to a leak in the dishwasher hose. 

As soon as Mr E came home he fixed it and I could finish cleaning and re-organising that area. Crisis averted!

I added an extra task to my kitchen clean up over the weekend by scrubbing the exhaust fan over the stove. Let's not even ask how long since the last time it was cleaned, okay? Let's just focus on how bright and sparkly it is now. LOL!

My task for this coming week is to sort out the laundry room. It's a tiny space and when we moved here hubby fitted some wire drawers for me because there was literally nowhere to store anything. 

Now it's become a big mess so I'll go through everything and make some changes. 

The other side of the laundry is just a tub and the washing machine. We recently gave the tumble dryer to Blossom because we don't use it and this has freed up space on top of the washer. I have a plan to utilise that space with a couple of  nice baskets where I can keep the new cleaning cloths and washing powder.

I have a friend who has the most beautiful laundry and when I visit her I love to walk through it. It's large, yes, and organised, but what catches my homemaker heart is the beautiful touches of homemade and other items which decorate the walls, bench and free standing cupboard. 

It had always been my intention to pretty up my little laundry when we bought this house in September 2018 but when the roof came down during the floods last February and then we had to wait months to have it repaired and the walls repainted, I think a lot of my good intention was redirected elsewhere. Over the next month I plan on bringing this little space by the back door to life.

Shall you join me this next week in the task of giving your laundry a clean and de-clutter?

Does your stove top exhaust need a scrub as well?

Hopefully in next week's Homemakers Heart post I'll have made some good progress on my laundry to show you. 

I'll leave you with a HAPPY photo today...

While Blossom and Rafaella were in the chemist yesterday, Cully May and I sat out front chatting away while we waited for them.

She sparkles, this little granddaughter of mine! Time spent with her and Rafaella always leaves me overflowing with love, and as they drive away later in the day I can hear them calling "Bye Nana, I love you!"

You know, I think I need to shout out to God "I love you!" more often, with that same delight and enthusiasm these precious little girls show me. He'd be just as chuffed as I am.

Bless you heaps, sweet friends, and may the days ahead be bright and hopeful no matter what trials you may be facing. Lift your eyes unto the Lord and worship Him with praise for in His strong and gentle hands you are held safe and sure.

hugs