Marching into March..

Well Hello again :)
I'm super excited right now because we've had rain...oh how glorious. When I awoke last week and my husband said it's been raining in the night, I felt like running outside and doing a little dance :) Our property was crunchy, plants were withering and the grass is mostly all brown. We've been under a fire ban for months and only allowed hand held hose watering every second day, early morning or evening. If your not a super early riser and tired in the evening, that made everything garden related a little bit difficult. Anyway a little spot of rain was wonderful. Now a whole lot more of it would be great.

It's officially Autumn now here in New Zealand and we're having cooler mornings and evenings, which I'm very grateful for (not being a hot weather lover).  We're gathering in the last of the harvest..tomatoes, plums and beans etc. We've also come up with a plan to manage our large garden, to make it easier on ourselves as we get older. This mainly involves turning areas of garden we never get around to weeding back into lawn. Initially this idea saddened me, but now I've come around to the realization that this will take away a lot of stress and worry about the property getting out of hand. I know life is all about change and adapting. I remember a wise teacher once saying 'If you keep on doing what you've always done, you'll keep on getting what you've always got...something like that. So..if I want to enjoy the garden and not have it looming over me like an out of control monster, then we just need to make changes, even though I've never been very good with change ...but I'm slowly learning that change is good and necessary. And... the sky hasn't fallen down yet. Thanks Chicken Lickin :)

In the above pictures my husband and myself (the little painting snob) are painting the back (south side of our old house). It's a section that was added on in the 80's or 90's..so doesn't look like the rest of the house (Villa circa. 1880). It may not look like it in the picture, but it was actually a stinking hot day !!! This was taken about 10.00 am and the day proceeded to become a scorcher. We managed two full days at the painting lark, then took one day off and continued on again for another day. We may do a little bit more before Winter, then the rest will wait until Spring.
Painting our weatherboard house is a huge project for us, but broken up into sections, even if it takes a couple of years, is definitely achievable and cheaper than paying someone (which isn't in the budget :)

OTHER THINGS:
This year I am focusing on my health and working to achieve balance in my life. Maybe it's my age, but I easily become overwhelmed and can become anxious. I run a small business from home (making soap) and at times (leading up to Christmas) it's been a bit too much work...and before I know it I've been working every hour that God sends :( night and day. That's been my life for the last few years +  cooking, cleaning, and gardening here at home and helping my daughter two days a week. I might not have been truly 'working outside the home', but sometimes I felt like a freight train out of control. People suggest I expand the business and take on a person to help, but I have never desired it become 'bigger'. My priority has always been my husband and family and so I work to hard to ensure it doesn't have a negative impact on my role (which I love) of wife and mother. So anyways I realized I was just doing too much and something had to change. It was either give it up altogether or seriously put the brakes on. My health was suffering, I have problems sleeping and I was under a lot of stress.

~Apple Blossom Rose ~

~ Coconut Milk and Calendula ~

So after much prayer, I feel able to let a lot of things go and I feel so much better for it. If products are out of stock..well they just are, and I'm not panicking or busting a gut to get things made quickly. My husbands always telling me 'You started all this and it's up to you whether or not you want to continue' :) I think it's finally sunk in :) It all started as a hobby, then just snow balled. Anyway enough about all that. Maybe if I was a lot younger things would be different, but I'm not.

DIET/HEALTH RELATED THINGS:
I'm back into THM (Trim Healthy Mama) style of eating..back on the trim train as I call it. I was noever completely off it, I just got slack and ate too many treats over Christmas :(
In an earlier post I shared about my desire to eat more vegetarian meals like I did when I was younger (which I want to continue including), but to fit into the THM programme, the carb meals need to be very lean. This seems to be the only way my body can tolerate carbs. They also have to be wholegrain. I need to be very careful with how much fruit I eat. Sourdough bread in moderation is fine..but regular old bread from the supermarket is a no go. I just turn into a puffer fish and get bad tummy issues. I guess everyone has different metabolisms/digestive systems. THM worked great for me about two years ago and really helped me to have a healthier gut, corrected my digestive issues and I lost weight. THM does include eating meat and I'm okay with that.  I can regulate it myself. It's all about change...adapting...accepting :)

~ Carb free muffins I use as bread or hamburger buns ~

(Made from egg whites and nut flours, oat fibre - not bran, etc)

~ Here the bun is used ss a little burger, with chicken ~

~ Homemade Almond Butter = delicious, nutritious and easy)

EVERYDAY LIFE:

I caught up on some mending.

I rearranged, sorted and cleaned out the linen cupboard. It's an enormous space, with high shelves and things had just been getting stuffed high up in there for yonks. It had really become a dumping ground of sorts :(

It took me 3.5 hours to go from this .... (above), then I took everything !!!! out and spread it around the floor and sorted through it. Some was getting thrown out, some was going to the second hand store and the rest was sorted and tidied.

Now we have a lovely clean and well organised cupboard :) The next project is my pantry !!!

It's such a good feeling to tick something of my to-do list :) and to prioritize the time for these sort of projects.  These sort of jobs have been on the back burner for a long time because I was too busy. full stop.

~ ~ ~

Well friends, I am going to close with this little pic of my sweet granddaughter Poppy and I. We have a lot of fun together in the kitchen. This picture pretty much sums up my heart and life focus. To bring glory to God through the work of my hands and love in my heart for my family first, friends and whoever else God might send my way.  I purpose to leave a legacy of love, and whether or not I achieve that is best judged by those on the receiving end of my work/service. I was sharing with a sister at church on Sunday and she said she felt she hadn't been a good mother :(  Oh how we beat ourselves up as woman. I don't know if this was the case or not, but what I do know is that God will meet us right where we are. He knows our hearts and he knows our sorrows. He knows when we are sorry for our failures and when we ask forgiveness. I believe His loving arms are there to embrace us before the words even leave our lips. His love is wider and deeper than we could ever know.

Oh to LOVE like that !

Be blessed dear friends. I pray this week you embrace His love ~ Linda xo

~ O ~