New Year, Same Hope

 

Hello everyone,

I'm back..sorry for my long absence. It was grief, pure, tough and simple and just needing a little space while I went through it and processed some things...but my heart has mended and I feel more peaceful again. I wanted this post to be a little update on what's been happening around our little homestead and in my heart...sort of reflections of 2021 and goals for 2022. The title is New Year, same hope. My hope is always in the Lord !!! :) 

Hebrews 10:23 'Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful' Amen

Plus a ton of pictures, please feel free to scroll through or whizz through it all if it's all a load of waffle to you. We've also had wonderful grandies days with little ones visiting :)

 

 

2021 October: We extended our vegetable garden - exponentially !!! and I'm thrilled with the results. We have a total of  16 - 17 total vegetable beds now and I probably still need a large spare one to have room for successive plantings of things like lettuce, spinach, cauliflower, cabbage etc. We have plans to make a proper screened in area for raspberries and boysenberries and a couple of small cloche style boxes fitted with old windows, to act as little hot houses for Spring & late Autumn/Winter use. 

We planted some more fruit trees too: 1 x Cherry, 2 x Nashi Pears, 1 x Prune Plum, 1 Dwarf Pear tree and a Feijoa Hedge. I'll make a little video/tour and upload to You tube and then put here for the next post.

 

I also wanted the garden space to be filled with pretty flowers, so we planted Sunflowers, Cosmos, Nasturtium, Marigolds, Poppies and 'O' how pretty they look !! How majestic soaring up towards the sun. Every time I go out there, whether its just to walk and talk with the Lord, or to go out purposefully to harvest something, I come back feeling in my heart happy, thankful and with an overarching sense of blessed peace. 

We've been eating fresh salads from the garden daily plus harvesting cabbage, cauliflower, beetroot, spring onions, red onions, zucchini, lettuce, spinach, kale, silverbeet, a few carrots and herbs - which is fantastic for our budget. I've been making sauerkraut, grating, freezing and dehydrating zucchini, and making Relish from zucchini. I bottled some Beetroot, plus froze and vacuum sealed a whole lot of celery. The tomatoes are yet to ripen, so no doubt then I will be up to my eyeballs in produce :) We have Apricots and Plums ripening..so plenty of bottling coming up soon too.

So that pretty much covers what we did and have been busy with in the garden. It amazes me over and over again the vast quantities of food that can be produced from a simple suburban property !!! With hard work and a couple working as a team, all this is possible.

2021  R E F L E C T I O N S

1. Always put the Lord first. Even if its tough at times, we must prefer God over the affections of people. This is easier said than done and I fail in this area at times, because like most of us we don't want to hurt people, especially when we have to take a stand as a Christian. Being a Christian isn't always easy. If we desire to walk in holiness with the Lord, we need to make sacrifices, tough choices and be prepared to walk the narrow way with Him alone. This is relevant to so many situations and struggles from the past year...and I see more on the horizon, more challenges and hard choices. We need to be ever so close to the Lord, keeping short accounts and seeking to hear the Holy Spirits quiet voice. So often we don't need to give an answer, and silence is best. Keeping our opinions to our self is best. Sometimes when asked for my opinion about an issue, (and aren't their so many 'controversial issues' out there today), my response is often: "I don't have an opinion. As a Christian my life is lived in submission to God and to His Word. My will, my thoughts, my desires must come into alignment and into submission to what the Word says." (even when it may be hard).

2. Sometimes people will just not like us, often just because we are a Christian. There is nothing I can do to make it any different. I can pray for them, ask God for strength to not get down about there opinion and attitude and still purpose in my heart to love them and be kind. Otherwise I am no different.

3. Achieving goals brings joy: In my heart for a long time I had wanted to focus more on the garden, eating from it, preserve more food from it, have successive plantings of lettuce/cabbage etc, sow my own seeds, save seeds, plant a bigger medicinal garden to create a home herbal apothecary. I am well on my way towards this goal :) 

4.Stay out of debt. Its a good feeling when you pay off the credit card !!! I know - happy dance... even though we still have a mortgage. Be vary careful about incurring anymore debt, whether that be getting a new car etc. Can we go without or wait longer? Living a frugal life makes me feel like I'm not wasting what the Lord blesses us with. Drawing up goals for the year holds me accountable. Planning/praying about it all is wise and invites God into all choices.

5. Busyness can often unravel goal no.4 (its true). If my life is out of control and too busy I don't stick to budgets or meal plans. I impulse shop, Vegetables go to waste in the fridge, I eat more takeaways, I wind up gaining a few pounds and I also end up with unfinished projects all over the house. It makes me feel defeated. Balance in life for me is KEY!!!!! I took my Heart & Hand products out of a local shop that stocked them as it was a big contributor to the 'busyness' and constant need to have to make more stock. If I was 20 years younger I might have enjoyed all that, but at my stage of life I need more simplicity and peace. I now only sell my products online and feel more in control :)

that's about it for reflections.

2022  G O A L S (for me)

1. Complete and add to the home apothecary. Plant more medicinal herbs that we will actually use. Make salves from the infused herbs and a herbal cough mixture so it will be ready for Winter.

2. Plan a small vacation. We never do this :)

3. SEW MY WINTER NIGHT GOWNS. I started this project last Autumn and still haven't finished..sigh

4. Finish painting the house (Hubby mostly).

5. Have more extended family dinners :)

6. Save more, continue with goals.

7. Strive to walk in the spirit each day, seek the Lord at all times and draw closer to His presence.

8. Try not to get completely overwhelmed and discouraged with the state of the world/covid & the division it's causing within families, churches and Christians. I must admit at times it's a daily struggle for me.

~  ~ ~

Bye for now everyone. Thank you for those who said they had missed me, it warmed my heart and encouraged me xox love you ~ Linda

Final Pic: Me joyfully holding this book. Mrs White if you read this, it gave me a little thrill to know that I own a book you published and recommended. It is so charming. Thank you. My husband purchased it for me for Christmas :)

Psalm 105: 4

'Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His presence continually'

 

End of an Era

 

Hi friends and quiet followers,

My Dad 'Rae' passed away 4th July 2021 aged 81 years. He'd been ill for about two and a half years and more so the last year, following another heart attack. He also suffered from diabetes.

I didn't want to let this time go without recording it and also my feelings, as this is one of the ways I remember significant events in my life and also how I felt about it at the time. A couple of hours after he passed I felt a sense of calm, like I'd been holding my breath and was finally able to exhale. The past months have been harrowing for Dad, with many hospital stays, falls and bad ulcers on his legs that just wouldn't heal. His body was shutting down. Our life had taken on a rhythm of checking in every day or two to see how Dad was doing and also how was mum coping.  Mum's life was filled with appointments for Dad, care workers coming to their home to help and a lot of frights for mum when Dad would have yet another fall. He had so many falls at the end, yet never broke a bone - a true miracle. 

When my mum called us Saturday morning at 4.45am to tell us to rush to the hospital as Dad was dying, I didn't know it was possible to get ready so fast. I ran into his room upon arrival, but was too late by minutes. My mum was too late as well. We all sobbed our hearts out and couldn't believe Dad was no longer with us. Even the lovely hospital staff were crying and hugging us. Dad's was still warm and we hugged him and said our goodbyes, letting him know once again how much we all loved him. But more than anything we were so relieved for his sake that he was no longer suffering. Through all of this I have witnessed that ageing takes great courage.

One of the greatest blessings for me was that Dad had a faith in our Lord and while he may not have been one to talk about it a lot, he tried to live it out in his own ways. He had enough humility to know that we are all imperfect and just try to do our best each day as disciples of our Lord.

My Dad was in the army as a young man, but didn't fight in any wars. He loved my mum, his children and grandchildren. He especially loved gardening, specializing in growing shrubs and vegetables. He was not able to do this in later years as he had very little energy after his second heart attack. In the final months he didn't even have the strength to lift himself out of a chair and needed someone else to shower him.

Dad as a dashing younger man.....

Courting and marrying mum...

~ Lessons I've learned, some from Dad and some from witnessing ageing  ~

1. Caring for a sick loved one is not easy and no matter how patient you strive to be, you will lose your patience (says mum and later regret that you did). Bless her

2. Don't delay each day to live life well and live out the fruits of the spirit of: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness and Self control.

3. Keep short accounts with God, friends and your loved ones. Apologise quickly when needed.

4. If you've always wanted to travel, and your health permits it and you have the finances - just do it !!! (now we have silly old covid 19 and can't) !!!. Mum and Dad made two vacations to Australia with other family members after they had retired (in their 60's and 70's), so it's never too late and they had a blast :)

5. Don't hesitate to share the gospel with those you love, even if they reject it, seeds are still sown and they can work through it with the Lord themselves and in their own time. My Dad made a confession to my husband just weeks before he passed. He gave his life to the Lord as a young man, but confessed again that he believed that Jesus died for his sins. My Dad had a very peaceful passing and told us all that he loved us. He didn't seem to have unfinished business. He accepted the state of his health and was ready to go on to whatever God had in store for him.

6. Don't waste time - We hadn't redecorated our bedroom or the kitchen since we moved into this house 14 years ago and I felt like I was wishing for things that could be done, but just not getting on with it. Dad taught me each day is precious, and time is short. So we finally just did it. My husband took 10 days off work and we just worked very very hard, staying up several nights until midnight to get it all finished. I posted before and after pics on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/__thelittlehomestead__/

                                                                       ~with curtains up ~

I'll include pics of our room another time when the lighting is better. I also sewed all the curtains for the kitchen, French doors and our bedroom myself. It was quite a challenge for me as I am not an experienced seamstress. 

..continuing with final lessons learned:

7. Be confident in the final time that you have left to do things the way you want to do them. Don't worry if other people are disappointed or think you should plan a different funeral. It's your final moment and I think its right that the person dying should be able to choose how they want things to be. Dad has chosen to be cremated and have a simple service back at home. He wants a few hymns and for there to be just family and close friends (mostly family) to just enjoy time together celebrating Dads life and recalling memories. It surprised me that Dad wanted such a simple, no fuss sort of send off. But I see that a lot of older people choose this option at the end, foregoing fuss and crowds and just choose something simple and intimate.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Well that's all for now friends, I just wanted to be able to mark my Dad's passing and share the things he taught me in the final years God gave him when he was declining. I loved my Dad with all my heart, even though I didn't always agree with the things he said at times or how he sometimes acted. I chose to love him anyway and take the bad with the good. Learning to tolerate and accept each others foibles makes life easier. We all have room for improvement and God loves us still. My Dad was a man of integrity, hard working and meticulous. He kept careful records. He saved his money, lived frugally, but also well. He planned and gave my siblings and I wonderful childhood memories of great holiday camping adventures, which still remain some of the best moments that I recall from my young life. He shared nearly every Christmas with our family and we will miss him greatly. Thank you for your life Dad xo and Love to you all ~ Linda

Happy Mothers Day

 To all my dear followers who are Mothers, I just wanted to pop by quick and say Happy Blessed Mothers Day.

I'm so thankful that even though my husband and I were very young when we had our first child, he was loved and welcomed into our hearts and homes. Since then followed another son and a wee daughter. Of course these children are all grown up now and have blessed us with beautiful grandchildren to love. Life is good.

I pray dear Mothers that your child or children showed you love and appreciation today. I know as Mothers we can be our hardest critics and think our children might be scarred for life for the times we lost patience or said a harsh word. No Mother is perfect all the time and most strive each day to do the best they can. 

All mothers want their children to do well in life, and to one day marry and have children. If your anything like me you've probably prayed a thousand prayers for your children. When you see them  marry and then in turn become good parents, you feel like maybe you passed on something good after all, even if at times you felt like you didn't always know what you were doing - smile.  

It's a blessing that this special day is still celebrated ! It's a blessing anytime a wee child is

loved and welcomed and protected when in the womb. Their is no place more sacred and it should always be a sanctuary for a developing child. When I'm out and about and I see Mothers speaking to their children in a loving way, it makes me so happy inside because I know those children will grow up well and have good self worth. 

It doesn't matter how humble your home is, but only how big your heart is, how loving your arms are, and how gentle your words are that they hear.  When I reflect on myself as a young mother, I sometimes think I could do a better job now, but that's only because I have grown and matured through being a mother and not the other way around. 

Our children are very dear to us and I consider it a great privilege to be called mother.  

It brings me enormous joy to watch our own daughter grow as a wife and mother and even be inspired by the selfless choices she continues to make and to see our daughters in law also grow to become beautiful mothers. I consider it a high calling and a very worthy work of Love to be a Mother.

Much love to you all ~ Linda xo

Changing Seasons

 Hello :) and happy belated Easter to you all,

I know as a Christian the birth of Christ, the death, burial and resurrection and Pentecost are the most significant events we get to celebrate, reflect on and give thanks for. I pray that this Easter for you was a memorable and joyful time. A time when you were able to be lifted up from earthly concerns and simply focus on all that Christ has done for you.

In my corner of the world we celebrated this way: On Sunday we hosted our little house church here (we meet in different homes) and a wonderful message was shared about the Passover and how the Israelites needed to obey God's command to put the blood of a firstborn, year old lamb or goat over the doorposts of their house so the angel of death would pass-over their homes and no one would die. Then their was an explanation of how Jesus is our Passover Lamb today. When we participate in taking communion, Jesus blood covers and protects us. When God looks at us He sees us as spotless, made righteous by His Son's blood and sacrificial death. It was a very meaningful, rich time of worship and fellowship. :)

Scottish minister Horatius Bonar wrote: Upon a life I did not live, upon a death I did not die; another life, another death, I stake my whole eternity. 

(I love this)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In other news - It's Autumn here now, and it just happens to be my 2nd favourite season; Spring being my first. :) It's a wonderful drawing in sort of time for me and there's a slowing down that I relish. More time is spent indoors and less on the garden as things finish off out there. I'm not a hot weather girl anyway so the cooler days suit me very well too. 

My mind slowly turns to warming foods such as soups and stews, to making sure blankets and quilts are washed and aired and also sorting through our wardrobes, putting away excess summer clothing to make room for bulkier Winter woollies. 

On Good Friday we drove 3 hours to Lake Taupo for the day to pick up a large cupboard that we purchased for our bedroom. I've said in other posts that the storage in this old house was not very good, and as I'm the sort of person that likes everything to have it's place, its meant we've either purchased more storage cupboards or had extra things built. The wardrobe in our room is small - its divided into two sections (half mine, half my husbands) and I've always found it squashy and inadequate, so that's why we finally (after 14 years) purchased an extra one. The lady we bought it from said it was handmade by a Dutch man and I love it. It's very roomy and the drawers slide out well too. It's just perfect for what we need. I'm including some extra pics so you can see the set up.  It's actually like a large cupboard with two big drawers at the bottom, so now I have plenty of room to store everything. 

*Please excuse the hideous lime green stripe around the wall. We are yet to decorate this room lol :)

My husband also added extra shelving in his little wardrobe for clothes and shoes (and he's happy with that much space) - men lol - and he has separate drawers for other clothes too. That's all my scarves hanging on the door :)

It's all in an effort to reduce clutter, so I can vacuum easily and not have any shoes or other things on the floor to slow things down, or to gather dust. If you hadn't noticed organisation is one of my favourite things to do :) I've slowly worked my way through every room, cupboard, pantry, hot water cupboard etc in the house and I even tidied up the little area under the sink to make everything more assessable. Who else likes doing this sort of thing in their home? Is it only me, or does this sort of activity bring you a feeling of peace and calm as well? It's the orderliness of it all that I love too. I know exactly where a thing will be when needed so it saves time as I don't need to go in search of it :)

Just more Autumnal joyful images.... stacked firewood, plain biscuits filled with bran and spices, neatly trimmed hedges - all things I appreciate.

Autumn is a sensory experience too: I do love all it's sounds - the crunch of leaves underfoot, rain on the roof - especially at night and the crackle of the fire which will be lit as we get ever colder weather. I like feeling the wind on my face as I go outside to get the washing in or to pick a late apple. It's all good. It's seasons, its life and continuity. It's familiar and that brings me peace.

~  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I felt my last post was a bit dreary (even though its my real life) and mostly just concerned my own health and that of my parents. I am very pleased to say mine has greatly improved, but my Dad still has ongoing health issues - because of his heart, diabetes and his age (80 yrs).

Over the past two years it's caused me to have to make changes in my life so that I can be more available to visit and support my mum and also take times of rest so my own health remains stable. I'm often one to balk at change, but really it's God's way of nudging me ever so gently to help me to reprioritise and to be available in a joyful way and not with a stressed or grudging spirit. It's meant I'm not as busy with my business (out of necessity) and I think that's a good thing too, as more balance has come back into my life. I'm getting my priorities right again. My home is cleaner and tidier too :)

This year I consciously chose to not do as much preserving/canning at the end of summer as I've done in other years because I just didn't want to feel as stressed or weighed down with it all. I wanted to enjoy my days more and do other things, and I can tell you it's been good. As I said earlier I've mostly been focusing on cleaning and organising our home and helping my parents. 

My ultimate goal is 'balance' in life, relationships and in the home. I want to have a place for everything, preferably in a cupboard or on a shelf and if theirs no room for it and we don't use it much, then it is given away or donated to the op shop/thrift store. I want to have more time for people and there needs. I need to take care of my health - it's a major investment... and I think it's working too :) Everything in my life is flowing better. I first started talking about al this a few years back, how I felt my life was out of balance and that I wanted change. I'm starting to see the fruit of all that effort now.

I like this quote by Sarah Young (based on scripture): Each moment you can choose to practice My Presence or to practice the presence of problems. 

Problems won't actually just go away on their own (although sometimes they do :), but usually something needs to be done. My attitude and what I do about them is what's important. Having a plan is necessary. Being prayerful and purposeful each day is another vital key and having achievable goals means I will gradually make progress and good changes will come. The Lord has been helping me to be focused and I am grateful :)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Well I think I will close with a pic sweet little Freya in a splashy tub - our oldest son Max and his wife Marias wee girl, dear wee Isaac John (newest little grandson) and also one of Laura Joy and Poppy May. Don't they just bring so much joy, these little grandies. I think they are the icing on the cake of this life. 

~ Poppy and Laura Joy ~

eating Smores.

*Be blessed and thank you so much for stopping by. I appreciate you all so much xox ~ Linda