A new season, letting go and The Homemakers Heart...

Peace in our home is welcome, and so is peace in our heart.

I recently had a long encounter with God which began around 3.30 am one morning and continued for many hours and on into the next day as He began to peel away things in my life as one would peel away the layers of an onion.

It's been quite a wild ride in many ways since we bought our first home in September 2018. A new experience for us, these past 18 months have brought many surprises along the way - much joy, muscle-fulls of hard work, a flood, a productive food harvest during our tropical winter, a string of house repairs, health challenges, and many other highs and lows scattered in between. 

To be honest, we never realised what owning a home of your own entailed, having previously been renters all our lives...and I doubt anyone could have adequately explained this to us as it's something which needs to be experienced to truly grasp. But we wouldn't have it any other way.

Sitting outside each morning to share breakfast before my husband leaves for work we marvel at the gift of having this small patch of earth to ourselves...though of course we do share it with a variety of feathered friends!

Yesterday we watched red backed parrots in the feeder, while a flock of cockatoos waited their turn.

The yard was full of over twenty cockatoos as one stage, the tree branches bent with their weight and the newly mown grass almost white with so many.

Once everyone had their turn at the bird feeder and filled their bellies the sky filled with the flapping of white wings and we bid them farewell for another day.

But I digress...back to my time with God that morning.

It was like watching a slow video of life, with all the responsibilities and exhaustion I sometimes feel becoming vivid in a different way...not the feeling of it, but the observance of it.

Little by little He led me to understand that it was time to peel away some of the things which have a hold on my time, time that for a homemaker and small business owner can be quite precious due to not having much of it to spare.  

A number of things are already been removed from my every day and business life, and the sense of release and freedom which is settling in my heart is indeed peaceful.

On Sunday I deleted my Instagram account, and tomorrow I will be deleting my Facebook business page. Over the next week I will also be deleting the two groups I run on Facebook - these take time because I must delete each member individually before FB will allow me to properly delete the groups, and one group has 3000 members...sigh, they make things hard. And the last thing is to delete my personal FB page which will then leave me totally free from social media...and my heart is so joyous about that.

You see, even though these avenues have been how I promote my designs and earn a living from them, I've not enjoyed being on social media. Now that I am almost done with their hold, I will be placing my trust in the Lord to bring customers to my pattern shop or to the new stitchery club...and you know, there is such peace in that.

This 'new' season of life will free me up to do what I love most - blog regularly, encourage homemakers, design for God, and share tutorials for simple projects around the home.

I an excited to focus more on my Faith in Hand Stitchery Club, bringing more of the Word of God to life as needle and thread pictures...and very excited to have extra time each week to devote to this blog where I can share so many home-inspired ideas, projects and topics with you all. 

I'll also cancel my regular free newsletter from Friday 6th March as with the $ exchange rate these days it's costing a whopping $72 AU per month and though I've enjoyed giving the 5000 subscribers who receive it every week or two an easier way to stay in touch with what's happening on the blog and access to my free patterns or tutorials, financially it's just not wise anymore. 

You can always find me here on the blog should you want to continue following along, and in the blog sidebar there's a 'contact me' button if you genuinely need to email me. 

(please note you cannot see the sidebar on a phone...you need to be at a computer or using a tablet)

The "Peace to our House" stitchery you've seen in photos above was completed as a door stop over the weekend, because I do love doorstops and once the sting of this long hot tropical summer passes around early May we'll have doors flung open until mid-October when it returns...and door stops are marvellous for avoiding door slams during the season of trade winds.

The stitchery is HERE in my Etsy Shop now, but I was wondering if you'd like me to share a tutorial for making a door stop?? Let me know in the comments.

How did you go with your task last week? Did you clean your washing machine?

I had a few people ask for the recipe to make the washing machine cleaner I showed in last week's post...

I fill a glass spray bottle with plain white vinegar and add 10-15 drops each of lavender and tea tree oil. That's all. Give it a shake before using. If you missed last week's Homemakers Heart post it is here.

This week around home I decided to tackle the pantry. I have one really great galley shaped walk in pantry and another simple white pantry cupboard. Both of them store slightly different things and once every six month I like to go through and check 'use-by' dates as well as wiping down shelves, emptying open packets in their proper containers, writing a list of items to stock up on, and generally freshening the organisation of everything.

I've purchased some large airtight glass jars recently as well as a set of small screw top jars for spices and over the next week a lot of my non-perishables will be transferred from plastic to glass.

When I first stocked the pantry after we moved here I chose cheap plastic containers because some of the shelves are quite high (I'm only 5'1") and I was worried that putting up and taking down heavy filled glass jars would be dangerous...but my husband got me a wonderful step-stool and after making sure I would be safe we've decided to switch to glass. 

Tomorrow night Mr E and I will drop in to see little Rafaella for her 2nd birthday, and then we're going to do a store cupboard shop of non-perishables. With the corona virus crossing borders and oceans it never hurts to replenish a pantry with everyday staples which can be made into meals. Honestly, this is so much easier to do now that we don't eat meat or dairy.

A friend of mine in Canada put me on to an MD who shares recipes for natural remedies and one she recently had on her IG account (before I left) was a cough mixture made by placing springs of fresh thyme and sage into the base of a glass jar and then filling the jar right to the brim with local raw honey.

So I made up two jars, one for us and one for Blossom. You leave it in a cool dark place for a few weeks at least and use as needed.

Nana always had a jar of honey and lemon on her kitchen shelf for sore throats, which is what we have used all my life, but this is apparently wonderful for coughs so am happy to give it a try should winter coughs arise this year.

NOTE: Sage should never be used in pregnancy as it can trigger a miscarriage.

Blossom gave me a couple of new recipes last week. It's been fun for both of us trying new vegan recipes and if they are successful we share them!

Tomato Pesto... perfect tossed over hot pasta or gnocchi.

Also delicious as a large spoonful dropped into a bowl of hummus and served with rice cakes - Cully May and Rafaella 'love' this.

recipe here

Banana Bread Cookies...these are soft, morish and a great way to use up very ripe bananas.

My recipe was tweaked because I chose to use rapadura sugar (you could use raw) and spelt flour (you could use white) because that's all I had and it's a healthier option. 

These are not crispy, they are like little handfuls of yummy banana bread with plump and juicy raisins throughout.

Here's my altered recipe:

·         1/2 cup (112g) vegan butter (or dairy butter if you're not vegan)

·         1 cup (200g) Rapadura Sugar (raw, or white)

·         1 cup (250g) mashed banana (around 3 medium)

·         1 tsp vanilla extract

·         2 cups (250g) plain spelt flour (or plain white flour)

·         1 tsp Bi-carb (baking) soda

·         1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

·         1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

·         1 cup raisins or sultanas

1.    Preheat the oven to 180°C (350 F) and line two cookie trays with baking paper.

2.   Cream the sugar and butter together with a hand mixer, then gently stir in the mashed banana and vanilla.

3.    Add the sifted flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and raisins, stirring with a spoon until everything is mixed well. (don’t use the electric mixer for this part).

6.   Spoon mounds onto the cookie trays. I made 24 of these cookies from the mix. 

7.    Bake for 15 minutes.

TASK:

Shall you take up the challenge this week and give your pantry a good clean and re-order?

Next week I have a great project to share with you that may make this Homemakers Heart year even more fun and will simplify a lot of what we're doing within our homes.

Before I go, I wanted to leave you with another way to follow my blog if you've previously relied on FB posts, IG or my newsletter.

Go HERE and follow this blog on BlogLovin - it's free and you won't miss anything. 

I pray you find your own peace of heart in the days and weeks ahead.

Letting go can often free up our hands and thoughts, allowing them to explore new and wonderful things, or simply giving us back the TIME we've been missing.

hugs

The Homemakers Heart - week 2...

How did you go with your tasks last week? I'm sure some of you already had lovely clean kitchen drawers but I must admit some of mine were in need of a jolly good de-clutter, scrub and some thoughtful re-organisation.

It's usually every twelve months or so that I begin the rotation of 'deep' cleaning various areas of our home and I find that the kitchen is my favourite place to begin because it's the most-used room in the home and with so many drawers and cupboards it's also a collection magnet for stuff I'm not sure whether to keep, donate or throw away. Fortunately with every year that passes there's less of that kind of stuff to collect because we're always looking to simplify, but some still manages to find it's way into what should be purposeful places within the kitchen and the end result is not pleasing to my eye.

This last week was very full with family and health and work and a broken refrigerator so it was only yesterday that I was finally able to slow down and apply a few hours to cleaning out four drawers. Fortunately, once I got going my cleaning extended to the storage container shelf and a restocking of the new refrigerator we bought on Saturday. 

My drawers are large and deep in the kitchen, which I love. When I think back to Nana's kitchen there was a small half-hutch with three tiny drawers across the top and two open shelves along the bottom hidden by a short floral curtain she'd made.

These are my four drawers completed...

It gets easier each year to 'let go' of the excess and keep that which we use regularly along with a spare, but when it comes to mixing bowls I keep a good amount because I use multiples each day - though I have become mindful of keeping the better quality ones, and I do rather like bowls with a spouted lip for pouring batter into cake pans or egg-y mixes into pie plates.

My storage container shelf was dreadful, things everywhere and difficult to find two parts for one container when I need it. This was another area where I was able to discard what isn't needed and keep only that which is used regularly. 

I like to prepare food ahead for the week so having enough containers to fill with grated carrot, corn kernels, chopped melons, various pickled vegetables, fruits, vegetable salads, baked goods and dressings etc is very important. I recently bought some new containers for specific purposes and this helps enormously with my enthusiasm for weekly meal preps each Sunday or Monday.

Of course the biggest barrier to my meal prep this weekend was the fridge dying late on Friday. Still under (extended) warranty it's not a brand with parts easily available so it will be around 6-8 weeks before we get a working fridge again. Living in the very hot tropics mid-summer means you simply must have reliable refrigeration to keep food from going off, which it can do when left on the kitchen bench in one night. 

On Saturday after discussing this news my husband decided we'd go ahead and buy a new fridge, a larger one, and so we did. He hired a large trailer and brought it home that day.

We have a very small spare fridge out back that has been struggling and was in need of repair (everything in it freezes or melts depending on the day) so I was able to save some of our cold items for 24 hours (praise God it only froze the melons) until the new refrigerator was cold and the freezer chilled. Phew!

This morning I did a grocery shop and all is well again. The larger fridge is way better than the one which chose to quit on Friday and will suit this vegan lifestyle because we load up on fruit and vegetables and nuts every few days. The freezer section holds all our nuts, seeds, frozen berries and veg, plus ice for smoothies.

Once the old fridge (old as in four years, sigh...things are not made to last) is repaired in 6-8 weeks it will replace the 'truly old' fridge out back as that's where all our cold drinks, juices, kombucha, animal food, potatoes and onions are kept.

Yesterday afternoon I finally got around to baking that Apple Bread recipe again (which I mentioned last Friday) and what I like about a second bake is that you get to tweak it. Though I liked the first one I made, there was just a couple of things I wanted to do differently.

As you can see it's loaded with yummy apple pieces, but I must warn you it's not sweet. A few people commented to me that the Black Bean Brownies recipe I shared last Monday wasn't sweet enough for them and that next time they'll add a bit of sugar or rice malt syrup, but hubby and I find it sweet enough because we rarely eat sugar these days and served with berries and coconut yoghurt it's quite delicious. 

So here's the recipe for Apple Bread which I've tweaked from the original at ifoodreal.com

If you want it sweeter increase the maple syrup to 1 cup.

4 cups of chopped un-peeled apples

2 large eggs or 3 small

1 cup of pureed stewed apples or grated zucchini

½ cup maple syrup or honey

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tsp vanilla powder (or extract)

2 teaspoons mixed spice (or combine cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon bi-carb soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup plain spelt flour

1 ¼ cups plain white flour

Preheat oven to 180C (350F)

Line a 5” x 9” loaf pan with baking paper

Whisk the eggs together in a large bowl. Add everything except the flours and apples. Whisk together.

Fold through the flour and the apples until just combined.

Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out.

Optional: throw in a cup of raisins or dried cranberries with the apples and sprinkle flaked almonds over the top before baking.

Do you ever buy a piece of fabric for a particular purpose?

Have you discovered years later that same piece of fabric languishing in your stash and still not made into the project you'd planned for it?

Me too!

Once the kitchen was cleaned and the apple bread baked Mr E trotted off to the shed to work on his dirt racer (go-kart) and I was free to play in the sewing room. I did have a certain project in mind but I couldn't get my eyes off this lovely linen bird fabric which I think is about five years old, maybe six.

When I saw it at Spotlight all those years ago my idea was to make a simple tote bag because I use them a lot and find totes to be incredibly useful when you only need to carry a purse, sunglasses, keys and phone - which is all I take when we go to garage sales or markets. 

So I postponed my original sewing plan and in an hour had myself a new and pretty linen tote ready for next weekend's bargain hunting.

It has nice long handles and I've boxed the base so things sit nicely inside...

Some red buttons below the base of the handles...

...and inside the lining is made from an old Tilda print which compliments the bird fabric beautifully.

You may be wondering what project I postponed yesterday? Well, it has to do with a new bag of pegs my dear husband bought me...

It's so incredibly hot here almost all year that pegs tend to dry out in the insane heat, crack and break.

There was a time when I'd remove the pegs when I brought the washing inside but then I decided it was easier to leave them on the line. Downside is that they will indeed dry out, crack and break over time. 

My intention yesterday was to make a peg apron with a decent sized front pocket where I could simply keep my outdoor pegs when not in use, and they'd be right within reach when I was hanging up the washing next day. This was what Nana had and funnily enough one of the very first designs I had published in a magazine (2010) was a peg apron!

My style and skill has changed so much in ten years but I still love this pattern because it was created with Nana in mind. 

Hopefully in another week a new version will be ready to show you and I won't have so many broken pegs in future.

It's been a while since I visited the local library, something I used to do a lot before last year's floods. So many things changed after that and I'm not sure why, but the daily rhythm of life took a different turn and I simply followed along. 

But recently I was pondering our eleven years of homeschooling and the books we read together as a family, the memories made, and the ones Blossom and I will still talk about...like the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. You know, there is so much written within those wonderful books about homemaking, family, faith, cooking, sewing, preparedness and walking through adversity.

And that's what prompted my visit to the library. 

I intend to read them again.

I used to read loads of historical fiction to the kids, many of the books hundreds of years old (we certainly expanded our vocabulary!), but once homeschool was over and my own life veered off into the path of embroidery designs, I was never interested in reading any sort of fiction again. I tried and have successfully read four books in the last ten years, though each of them was based on medical facts about certain brain injuries, but honestly, the urge to read fiction is not in me these days.

The Little House books are based on Laura's own life, her own stories, her memories so dear of her mother, father, siblings, husband; the highs and lows of a prairie life, motherhood, loss, joy, relationships and making do with very little. Reading through each one our whole family were enthralled - we even took audio books of them on holidays.

And this is why I'm starting over with them; because there's much to learn and ponder and be grateful for as each book closes and another begins. I'm not embarrassed to sit in the doctor's and read them whilst waiting for my appointment or a test. Quite the opposite! If anyone asks I get to share the wonderful experiences our children had when as a family we gathered around and settled in for hours to draw mental images of Laura's conversation as she wrote about her life.

So that is where life is at for us at the moment. Quietly and thoughtfully pottering along, doing what needs doing, picking up that which inspired in the past, embracing the day as it dawns and giving thanks for simple things, the love we have for each other and the love our Lord Jesus has for us. 

I had my heart ultrasound last Thursday but won't get results for a few days yet, and then it's off to the hospital on Friday for the cardiac stress test. 

I am feeling wonderfully healthy at the moment, in fact with more energy than I've had in months and no migraines. If you've been praying, THANK YOU. I'll be sure to let you know what these tests reveal when I've got something concrete. 

Now I must be away to begin dinner and soak some buckwheat kernels for dehydrating later in the week so I can begin again the old habit of making our own granola.

WEEK 2 TASK: Your task this week, should you want to accept it, is to finish cleaning out your remaining kitchen drawers and organise your storage containers. 

May the favour of the Lord be upon you, and may His generous love spill over in your life with such abundance that you simply must share it.

hugs

The Homemakers Heart - a new theme in 2020...

You all know by now that this girl's Jenny-heart resides firmly within her home and that I have a great love for encouraging women to find joy in their own domestic space, amidst the ebb and flow, rhythms and bumps, of an everyday ordinary life. 

For a number of years I've written about the ideals of a gentle domestic life, and throughout last year we explored that theme with a book study which to be honest really made me look wider than I'd previously done with regards to the different aspects and variations within a homemaker's life.

Now here I sit munching on delicious red and green grapes and sipping a warm cup of tulsi tea as the rain steadily beats away on the tin roof and covers the yard, and FINALLY able to share with you what's been on my heart and in my prayers for the blog in 2020.

Side-tracked two weeks ago by a trip to hospital and spending the time since then adjusting our menu to an ovo-vegan diet as well as regaining energy and breath, I'm ready now to begin a year long adventure with you, a year of expanding on those gentle domesticity ideals with practicality. 

Not just the talking, the reading or the ideas, but the doing.

Throughout 2020 we're going to celebrate The Homemakers Heart: a year of finding joy in the ordinary rhythms of life.

I made a little button you can pop on your blog or share in social media. Just alternate click on the photo above and save it to your computer or tablet or phone.

An everyday ordinary life is comprised of a million different things because we're all created wonderfully unique. Each of our home circumstances will be different as are our budgets, food requirements. climates, health, relationships and family responsibilities - so not every post this year will resonate with you, but I hope many do and that they encourage you to love home, to be glad in your homemaker role, and to find contentment in ordinary and simple things.

Each week I'll share what I did the week before and also set you a task or give you an idea which you can then tweak to suit your abilities, time or lifestyle.

So let's make a start on our year of The Homemakers Heart, okay?

This week we're looking at two things.

1. replacing the old

2. re-purposing old into new

We'll begin with the old. I love to kick off a new year with fresh tea towels! In fact during the year I purchase good quality tea towels on sale and put them away for use the following year. I also purchase a few extra for the gift box. These are a few of the 'new' tea towels I'll be adding to my kitchen drawers this week after I clean them out (this week's task for you).

Last year I found myself with an abundance of extra tea towels from bulk packs I'd bought and decided to use the lesser quality ones first. These were actually very absorbent and washed up well, but can you believe these worn and stained tea towels were once hot pink, vibrant deep turquoise and lime green? Oh they were so pretty last January. Sigh.

Last Friday I ironed them flat and  removed the side hems with a rotary cutter before dividing each trimmed tea towel into two halves.

Then I went through my fabric stash for fat quarters I'd never use or which had fade lines across them. Some of these were part of bundles I purchased a long time ago and never really liked. But for a project like this one they were perfect. I'm quite content to have brights in the cleaning cupboard.

I found that I could cut two same size pieces from a fat quarter which was then sewn to one side of the old trimmed tea towels.

I didn't hem any pieces, just a straight stitched line a quarter inch inside the raw edge to join both fabric and old towel together.  It took me half an hour to make ten 'new' and cheery cleaning cloths.

I've seen this re-purpose project done before as dishcloths but had an idea to make cleaning cloths instead and I love how they turned out.

What about you? Is this something you'd be ready to make for your cleaning cupboard? 

They're lovely and absorbent for spills or dusting and I loved the little bit of fraying after I popped them in the wash later that day. Just added to that warm and fuzzy homemaker heart feeling I get when using up what I already have to make something useful and 'new'.

I also have some tea towels which hang in the kitchen just to look pretty, or to be used for serving guests and popped under my baked treats for a pretty photo. Some of these special ones were gifts from friends, some found as treasures in op shops, and others I made myself.

Here's a few I've made over the years...

Would you like to stitch a pretty tea towel to hang in your kitchen or pop in the gift box?

I'm going to share this simple Harvest pattern with you today. It's a free gift to kick off our year of The Homemakers Heart. Click on the download link below.

DOWNLOAD THE HARVEST PATTERN

Mine has been stitched onto unbleached flour sack which I bought as a very large tea towel and cut in half to make two regular sized tea towels. After the embroidery was done I added a sweet fabric trim across the bottom. 

In the kitchen last week I played around with some really lovely meals and a couple of simple desserts.

Stewed apples with cinnamon and raisins were delicious served with a spoonful of vanilla coconut milk yoghurt. I scattered a crumble mix of shredded coconut, flaked almonds and rolled oats (I browned the crumble mix in the oven with one tablespoon of brown sugar for 10 minutes) over the top and Mr E was a happy man. 

Next day there was a little of the apples and yoghurt left for my after lunch treat.

Black bean brownies? I'd heard of them but never thought to try them until this switch to ovo-vegan, but they will be appearing as regular guests on our dessert menu - they were that good!

Blossom tried them as well and just as we thought, she said they're just like a normal brownie. So moist and fudgy and chocolatey. 

This recipe is gluten, sugar and dairy free so perfect for many of you with food intolerance or special diets. I got the basics from this recipe and simply tweaked it a little.

You'll need :

+ One can of drained and rinsed black beans - 400g (14 oz)

+ Two large eggs or three small

+ 14 medjool dates (medjool are fresh dates, not dried, and found in the cold fruit section of the supermarket)

+ 30 ml cold decaf coffee (I don't drink caffeine but feel free to use that if you do)

+ One teaspoon of vanilla extract or vanilla powder

+ One large apple, stewed in a teaspoon of water and mashed to a puree

+ 1/2 cup raw cacao powder (or regular cocoa powder)

+ 1/2 teaspoon bi-carb soda (baking soda, not baking powder)

+ 1/2 teaspoon salt

Add everything to a food processor and blend until smooth.

Pour into a paper lined brownie tin (8" x 8" was my tin) and bake in a preheated 180C oven (350F) for around 30-35 minutes. 

Leave in the tin for 10 minutes, then carefully remove to a cooling tray. Slice into 16 pieces when cold. Try not to eat it all at once.

Ours lasted three days because we used restraint. LOL!

The wet season in the tropics of North Queensland has finally arrived and the weeds are flourishing faster than we can keep up! This was the resting garden yesterday morning (it's used for winter tomatoes and herbs and rests in the hot seasons) where assorted pots reside during the steaming hot spring and summer.

And then hubby weeded it, along with the front garden, while the ground was so soft the grass and weds pulled out easily, roots and all.

He put a lot of the grass in our tumbling compost bin and the rest went to the chickens who thought it was Christmas lunch...

Today the rain has been much heavier, the yard began to flood, and right now my husband is relocating the chicken coop under cover near the pool until he has time to finish the new chicken enclosure. 

In coming months our yard may look even more different, but for now we are loving the rain and giving thanks to God for the watering our town needs. You really notice when the wet season is two months late because we get no rain from around March, and our city of Townsville is renamed Brownsville.

I'd love to hear from you in the comments below; your thoughts on this year's theme and the type of homemaker things which interest you.

My task this week is to clean out four kitchen drawers and donate all my excess coffee mugs, plates and bowls. I also need to replace cutlery and will be looking for a bargain on a good quality set.

Your task, dear Homemaker, is to go through your old tea towels and follow my lead (you may have a different way to re-purpose the old ones?) - and then if you'd like that extra task you can clean out four kitchen drawers.

Ready?

Bless your precious hearts, and may the Good Lord above show you the abundance of simple joys which may already be right at your feet but somehow overlooked...

hugs