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 ~

A haven of rest

Home...oh that they would be 'havens of rest for the weary'.

My sweet mother always made our home such a 'haven' when I was a little girl. It was a very clean and tidy home, but more than that, my mum also had, and has a sweet disposition and gentle ways, which created an atmosphere of peace in our home.

You might be surprised to know I wasn't raised in a christian home. I was raised with morals and we did attend a church a handful of times through my growing up years, but I had no proper instruction or any understanding about God, or if He was was even real. God simply wasn't a topic in our house.

I sought the Lord of my own volition when I was in my early 20's.  I did have a childhood friend whose family was christian and I always loved being at there house. Her mum was a stay at home mum too...well the majority of mothers didn't work outside the home at all when I was growing up. That's just how it was in those days and if they did work (some must have :), I wasn't aware of it.

Please don't think I am condemning anyone who is a working mother, as I know many woman do need to work and there households wouldn't make it without an additional income. I just think it's ideal if a woman can be at home with her children. When my children had all grown up and left home I worked in a childcare centre for three years and during that time, my heart would often break when I saw children so very upset at being left there. Yes they were well looked after, there was plenty of toys, other children to play with etc, but still all they really wanted was mum...(always).

Our lives were simple. We wore handmade clothes. Mum cooked basic, nourishing meals from scratch and preserved our harvest each summer. We rarely had birthday parties or anything like that, that may have cost extra money. Christmas was special, but also simple. The big treat of the year in our home, was a summer holiday. This is what my parents saved for. We would go away for at least two weeks, touring around New Zealand, sometimes towing a caravan or in the early days, sleeping in a tent. it was enormous fun !!

But back to my home as a child.....I knew if I was troubled about anything or had a bad day at school I could tell my mum all about it. I'm thankful my mother was always there when I arrived home from school. She did have a part time job for a year or so, just in the mornings, but even that I remember as a child, I didn't really like. I felt safer if I knew mum was at home.
I vividly remembering returning home from school one day and mum wasn't at home and the back door was locked. My sisters and I were all in a panic and could not imagine what might have happened to mum. I can't even remember now what did happen, but it shook my little world at the time. I think the car had broken down ?? :)

Later in life, when I was married and had my own young children, my dear mum did start working full time, because my father had a heart attack and couldn't work. If she hadn't they would have probably had to sell their home. I found it very hard, as a young mum and always missed her not being around for me to visit or ask for her help. But I knew she had no choice.

Why am I rambling on about all this?  Well I just wanted to encourage mum's who may be a stay at home mum, or a homeschooling mum, that what you are doing is worthy...so very worthy. You are creating a haven of rest, not just for your children but also for your husband. You may not have any children and still choose to be a stay at home wife, and I think that's just beautiful.

I often say to my husband when he returns from his job (which is quite a stressful work environment), that I am so thankful I don't work full time outside the home and that I can be here for him to quietly listen as he tells me all about his day. I see the stress roll of his shoulders as he talks and a quiet peace comes over him. Just having someone who listen is a blessing. We can be pleasing to the Lord in such simple ways, simply by being keepers of our homes and serving our families.

I'm so thankful to be able to be at home - full stop. I love to prepare meals for my husband and so look forward to him arriving home each night. I strive to have our home clean and tidy and to not be a frazzled wreck when I greet him at the door :) But..having said all that, we live a very simple and quite frugal life. We have an older home, built in 1880, that requires quite a bit of work and we do most of that work ourselves. We are currently painting the outside of the house !!! I preserve food that we grow, and make pretty much all our food, baking, bread etc from scratch. My husband cuts his own hair and he cuts mine. I have not been to a hair salon in over 20 years. I have never had my nails done. This just is not part of my reality. But I am still very joyful, content with my lot and feel blessed and thankful. I know many other woman also choose this sort of life. and know the same peace as me. It's a peace that God promises.

I truly hope this lengthy bit of writing will be an encouragement to someone. It was just on my heart and I wanted to share it :) Blessings to you all ~ Linda

A Love Song

Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands

Psalm 96: 11 - 12
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant and all that is in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.

What a joy it is to have a garden. Whenever I'm out there, I feel calmer, more peaceful in my spirit and close to the Lord. I've probably said these words countless times over the years on this blog, but it is so true for me. I also feel this way when I am by the sea, walking along a beach. The beauty and vastness of it all amazes me. The hand of our loving father is so visible.

~ by Abbott Fuller Graves ~

When I was in the garden today, gathering in the bounty from the plum tree, I thought of that plum tree offering up it's gifts so freely, doing so splendidly what it's designed to do and it felt like the garden was singing me a love song. Then I thought about the hand that was behind all this, the hand of God...who causes the sun to shine, who sends the rain and the wind. His plan and perfect design.  I picked some courgettes and then some beans and meditated some more.

I wandered down the back of the property and just smiled so wide to see the fig tree full of green figs which will ripen to a beautiful deep purple. I spent time watering and tying up tomatoes. I weeded and laid the weeds scrunched up as mulch around the base of plants. I walked past the apricot tree and said hello friend. Don't laugh at me, I am so grateful to that marvelous tree and all its wonderful gifts it gave us this year. An apricot is such a nutritious fruit.

~ Eastman Johnson ~

I'm thankful the Lord laid it on my heart to plant this food forest all those years ago; to care for this land and to make the most of what we have. His tender heart, provision and love all speak to me so clearly while walking in my garden. He tells me He will always provide and everything I need is right at hand. I believe Him and trust Him. When I am in the garden cares wash away and for a time life seems very easy.
I took my sandals off and walked around in bare feet. It was wonderful..childlike..and free. As I was down there thinking all these thoughts, smiling to myself in the quietness of the garden...I felt like I had a little glimpse of heaven.

~The Spiders Web - Jessie Wilcox Smith ~

Thank you Lord for a a beautiful day,  a sunny day...some Vitamin D, and time with thee :)

If you have a garden, take time to walk in it.

Blessings to anyone who stops by ~ Linda xox

What Matters Most

Hi friends and quiet visitors,
Today I wanted to share a few thoughts and also some images of our summer thus far. If you've been following this blog for any length of time then you probably know I strive to live a simple, old fashioned, handmade life.
I also love to read/follow other people's blogs with similar ideals and receive inspiration for what I do in this way.  One lady who greatly inspires me is Grandma Donna - gdonna blog. Her posts are quite simple, just talking about her life and what they are doing to live an old fashioned life style. They live their life like it's 1930 (really and truly). Reading her posts is a tonic for me. If I feel burdened down, she seems to lift me up. I also feel encouraged in my role as a homemaker.  She's even encouraged me to have a routine when it comes to deep cleaning my house.

So this year my husband Bruce and I are planning to take things even further and also try to live very frugally (but not stingy) like people did in the past, being very conscious of what we are spending. When I look at cookbooks from earlier era's eg. 1940's, meals were quite basic, with few ingredients being required. Flour, sugar, fat, spices, vegetables, fruit and meat were the basics. Everything was normally handmade and home grown. If you didn't save for it, you wouldn't get it. 

~Miles Birkett Foster 1899 ~

I've started a home management book and am writing down everything we spend money on and also planning out our weekly menu (like I used to do when we were first married). I know many people already do things like this, but I now feel it's something I want to get a lot more serious about.

Taking action: I've unsubscribed from a lot of sites that were emailing me updates on their latest sales or bargains. I really don't need anything anyway and I felt like all it is really doing is tempting me. As a matter of fact our home feels stuffed full. We probably have enough bath towels, hand towels, tea towels, linens, shoes and clothing to last several years. I know my kitchen has so many bowls, pots, serving dishes, bake ware etc that theirs hardly room enough for it all. So I felt like STOP !!!  why don't we try just not buying more stuff..for a while..a year perhaps?. Unless we absolutely need it and it can't be repaired.

OTHER THINGS

Home Orchard:

Our fruit trees have been very abundant this year (thank you Lord). I've bottled Peaches & Apricots and soon it will be plums...as they are falling as I type. I've made Strawberry Jam, Strawberry Rhubarb Jam and Apricot Jam so far. It's a blessing to always have something fresh and organic to share with others too. 

~My little preserves cupboard ~

Normally we net the fruit trees quite early, but this year we let the birds tell us when everything was ready. They only start pecking the fruit when they're ripe. So once that happens, we pick almost the whole lot (leaving a few for the birds) and bring it inside to let it slowly continue to ripen. This has worked great. As the fruit ripens I process it into jam, or bottled or frozen.

~ I made some more Courgette relish )~

(I hate when we run out of pickles and I have to buy it from the supermarket

~This year our blackcurrants cropped well :) I picked and froze about 1.5 kilo's.

These will be used for jam later in the year. Freezing actually improves the

texture for blackcurrants. ~

Our Diet:

We've  decided to go a little bit 'Plant Based' with our eating. Yes I know it's hyper trendy right now, but for us it's simply going back to something we did many many years before. I was fully Vegetarian for about three years, around 10 years ago...and then suddenly stopped for a variety of reasons (which I won't bore you with here). 

We don't intend to cut out meat all together, as we will still eat some fish and chicken, but mostly it will be vegetable/grain/pulses/nut based meals. Having said this, my son in law is a hunter and likes to bless us with meat occasionally. We will gratefully say 'thank you' for his offerings. It will all help with the frugal living. I'm also not here as an advocate for any particular style of eating, we are simply having a wee change and trying something new or rather going back to something old :)

Our oldest son who is a vegetarian came to stay with his family for a few nights and I cooked these meals: and made some Hummus.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

~ Homemade Cannelloni with handmade wholewheat pasta ~

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

~Vegetable Curry with paneer ~

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I picked up a used copy of each of Mollie Katzens early cookbooks online recently: The 'Moosewood Cookbook' and 'The Enchanted Broccoli Forest'. Both of these books are absolute treasures. They are beautifully illustrated by hand and don't contain any photos. Pretty much any vegetarian meal you would ever want to make are contained in these books and also a huge variety of sauces, dressing, salad recipes etc. I used to check them out of the library regularly way back in the 1980's and feel very blessed to now own them both :).  I also have many recipes saved from my earlier vegetarian years, so I don't think it will be so hard for us to find something to cook. And did you know Lentils are super cheap !! nutritious and so versatile. You can pretty much do everything with a Lentil that you would with ground beef, plus it has no fat and is full of fiber. :)

What else ?:
Well I missed you all and I've missed writing :) as this long post shows !!!

Other Things: Going back and moving forward (Part 1):
I used to always (for many many years, most of my adult life), have my quiet time with the Lord in my bedroom. I would get up early, make my husband some breakfast, and his lunch for work, then I would set a tray with whatever I was having for breakfast (lately its a smoothie) and go back to the bedroom. About midway through last year I injured my back and was unable to sit up in bed, it was just too painful and uncomfortable, so I set myself up in the lounge and found the couch worked fine. My husband was having his prayer time up at the table.

Around November last year I had an awful feeling that some of the intimacy I had always known with the Lord had diminished. There seemed to be a distance. I put this down to busyness and being distracted by tasks (which I am still trying to curb). Then I felt the Lord impress upon my heart that I was no longer sitting in my prayer closet. Well... I was surprised !! It was true, I wasn't. My prayers are more intimate when I'm alone...often their may be tears. But prayer changed for me when I moved to the living room..and how strange that such a thing would have an effect...and how simple to rectify this. So now I am back in my prayer closet, which is just my bedroom and things are starting to improve (slowly).

The Vegetable Garden - going backwards and moving forward (Part two):
This Spring/Summer our vegetable garden was not good. I was tearing around like a mad thing with the soap business and gave the vegetable garden very little attention. I actually sowed bean and carrot seeds and some vegetable seedlings one day in about 30 minutes. I didn't dig in any new compost, just a little manure for some of the plants and that was about it. I walked away and didn't think much of it. So the seasons rolled on doing what they do, sending rain, sun, wind etc. The carrots slowly emerged. Those that came through were sparse. Out of all the beans I sowed only about four plants grew. The lettuces and silver beet were straggly and lacked vibrancy :(  I was devastated.

There again the Holy Spirit laid it on my heart during my quiet time, that I wasn't really spending any 'real' time in the garden. I was rushing through tasks, such as planting, without much care and very little attention. The garden was a mess. :( So since then, I've made more effort. I am tending the plants with love and care and preparing the soil as it's meant to be. So far I've resurrected one of the raised beds and am pleased with it. We do have a huge problem with oxalis, which is very discouraging, but with some care each morning, weather permitting, I get out there and do a little weeding. The plants in this picture below are about three times the size now and before long we will have enough greens to pick for a salad.

I guess the whole intent of this piece of writing is just to share how easy it is to get away from the things that are most important to us, whether that be people, gardens, time with the Lord or other things. There are so many distractions in each day, so many things that are time wasters...and so many ways to waste money. We are called as Christians to be good stewards and when I get super busy, my head is in a whirl and so is my wallet :(

Each year over the last couple of years I feel I've been trying/striving to simplify my life, and whether or not I am getting any closer to that goal remains to be seen, but there are little glimpses because of the changes I've made which show that things are slowly improving. Our home is in many ways less cluttered (as I donated a whole load of glassware etc to the thrift store) nd is easier to clean because of that. Parts of the garden have improved and we have a plan to tackle the more unmanageable areas. 

Every year brings changes, and as my health is often not the best (asthma) brought on by weather conditions/pollen etc, I never know from week to week how I will be. Often I can't get into the garden at all. Because of this we need to be practical and come up with alternative plans to manage this large property we have. Some people might think, why don't you just move? and we have considered this, but then we also love this home and garden and would rather just make necessary changes for now. Besides property/houses are hugely expensive where we live and we couldn't get a similar property with the privacy we have in our small town.

Other Life News:

My sweet mum is having hip surgery this week. My parents are ageing and require more care and attention. My Dad continues to improve after having his heart operation - defibrillator put in (2 months ago). He still gets very tired and was told it could take up to a year for his energy to be fully restored !!!. Mum and Dad are always on my heart, but sometimes my own health/home business & family commitments prevent me from doing what I would like to and visiting them as often as I probably need to.  I have to be careful not to let this weigh me down or make me feel guilty. That just starts a spiral of negative self-talk which never achieves anything good in me at all. We all have to be content with what we can do and trust that when we do it with love, God will carry that love and do something wonderful with it :).

Well dear friends I have rambled on and on..but these were all things on my heart and I wanted to share them. I pray you are all well and keeping close to the Lord. If you don't know the Lord, He knows and loves You :) and all you need to do is seek Him in prayer. Call out to Him and He will draw near to you and be the best friend you could ever wish for. I truly don't know how I would get through this life without Him.

Blessings to you all ~ Linda