A Poem for Mother's Day

I had hoped to have a new post up by now but I have been so busy with life - home, hospitality, church and establishing our new business. I have upcoming markets and a bridal expo to prepare for - very excited about that! I didn't want to let Mother's Day pass by without a mention so I dug into my archives to repost a poem I first shared in 2009 and wrote for Mother's Day a number of years ago. I chose my new favourite photo of the smiler - my youngest son who is such a delight! I often tell him that he has a ministry of smiles, he doesn't understand what that is yet but we see the effect he has on people that come into our home - they simply fall in love with him. Every time I take hold of this boy's hand when we walk down the street I feel so special, so honoured to be his mother. A time will come when he will not need to take my hand so I just savour that moment and walk a little more slowly, it's these times I don't want to be over.

But there are days that are trying. Little boys (and girls!) are not always cooperative, they don't always want to hold your hand, they are not always willing to smile for the camera. This poem was written for a mum in her 'Hour of Need'. She's fictional but the situations are based on real life experiences - my real life experiences as a new mother. I pray these words minister to someone somewhere and that we all do our part to support others in their hour of need.

Enjoy!

Her Hour of Need

The toddler 's just walked mud on the floor
The Jehovah's Witnesses are at the door
The baby is crying, he wants his feed
This is a mum in her hour of need!

She hoped today, would simply run smooth
Because she's trying so hard to prove
That she's good at this job, her vocation, her life
A wonderful mother and loving wife

But dad just left an hour ago
In a bad mood, I'll have you know
The milk had run out, tea was black, Weetbix was dry
He didn't mean to make her cry
Drying her tears she thought
'I won't stress'
But then looked around and saw all the mess
Beds still to make, dishes to do
Jobs added up as she ran to the loo

But before she got there
A RAT A TAT TAT
'Oh no' she thought ' Who is that?'
'Good morning' they said
'I'm John, this is Fay'
'What do you think of the world's state today'
The mother smiled back at them
Her response could not wait
'Couldn't be better, marvelous, just great!'
Dejected, rejected they put Watchtowers away
And the mother returned to her stressful day

She picked up the baby and gave him his feed
Called over the toddler and started to read
All about Tigger and Winnie the Pooh
Piglet and Eeyore, Rabbit and Roo

The toddler enthralled, shouted
'Please mummy more!'
Then she remembered the mud on the floor!
Winnie the Pooh won this time around
And very soon there wasn't a sound
Two sleeping children were on her knee!

'Yipee!' the mum almost roared
Instead she whispered 'Thank you Lord'
And took some time out from her day
To talk with her God and quietly pray
For these two precious lives
Gifts from above
Hers to nurture, cherish and love
She prayed for strength, courage
These sort of things
To face the demands that motherhood brings
That God would lead her in His way
And fill her home with His peace that day

And God spoke to her spirit these words of life
You are a blessed mother and capable wife
Worth far above rubies which are precious and rare
My daughter I love you and deeply care
I sent you my Son to give you new life
And it is He who bears your pain and your strife
All your anxiety, the woes of each day
I can in this instant take away
Just cast them on Him
For He Cares for you
And right at this moment, start anew

The mother lifted her head, her heart filled with joy
Then she tenderly kissed each little boy
Tucked safe in their beds, she mopped up the floor
Till it was clean and sparkling once more
She finished her housework with time still to spare
So the evening meal she began to prepare

And into the garden, the Lord led her feet
To pick lovely freesias, their fragrance so sweet
Beauty and order had returned to her day
Because she had taken time to pray

So let's honour mothers
They are the hope for our nation
To raise a Godly generation
Encourage, support them, show that you care
Especially if you know, dad isn't there
Practically help a mum, do a kind deed
It may well be her hour of need

Dedicated to all mothers everywhere especially those celebrating today, down under!

The Hidden Art of Homemaking at Easter

'There is no specific kind of house you must live in to be 'spiritual' - only the house the Lord has chosen for you, and the house with you in it. But whether it be a palace or a tree house, beauty is important, and this very simple form of producing beauty is really one of the most universally possible expressions of 'Hidden Art.' - from the ' The Hidden Art of Homemaking' by Edith Schaeffer 1914-2013 RIP

This Easter one of my favourite authors and homemaking mentor Edith Schaeffer went to be with the Lord. Her book 'The Hidden Art of Homemaking' forever changed my outlook on what I used to consider just everyday and even mundane domestic duties like cleaning, cooking and setting the table. She helped me realize that homemaking is indeed a hidden art and that you don't need to be affluent or a professional artist/designer/flower arranger to bring beauty into your home and life. I have entitled this post the Hidden Art of Homemaking at Easter as a tribute to Edith Schaeffer and to show you how I chose to express 'hidden art' by setting a beautiful table for our family's Easter Sunday dinner as we celebrated Jesus - alive, risen from the dead. Hallelujah!

An artist begins with a blank canvas. My canvas was a trestle table (I used 2) - those fold up plastic ones you buy at hardware stores. They are pretty ugly but are transformed with a covering. I used two cream crocheted vintage tablecloths that I purchased from an elderly lady. I appreciate the fact that someone spent hours at home creating these, that they would have been used for family dinners back in the 1950's/60's and are being used again.

The vintage china I used is from a dinner set I purchased recently. I knew it would be perfect for our Easter table. The silver cutlery was another recent find - at a market stall. I paid just $20 for a 12 piece setting that even came with a soup ladle and serving fork and spoon!

The crystal wine glasses were a garage sale find - just $2 each. I'm always buying up bud vases at garage sales. They are usually only a couple of dollars and are perfect for popping flowers into. No flower arranging skills needed. Just snip the stalks and pop into the vessel - you could use small jam jars or bottles if you don't have bud vases. I wanted to use purple flowers on my table after being inspired by some pictures from a post from mammka my newest follower, all the way from Hungary! Purple is the colour of Easter - thank you Mammka for reminding me of this! My younger children loved helping to pick the sprigs of purple salvia from the kitchen garden.

See how lovely they look going down the table!

 

I used another garage sale vase to hold camellias. It is the wrong season here for daffodils and tulips that are the usual centrepieces on Easter tables. These camellias are scented and grow near to my kitchen door. The shrub is covered in blooms at the moment.

My husband had to remind me not to become distracted by 'prettying the table' and forget about the food! The Easter lamb nearly didn't happen. Our oven has been out of action for weeks after the multi-function switch malfunctioned. Thankfully, we were able to borrow a tabletop turbo oven from a friend and it cooked our lamb to perfection! We used our pizza oven to cook the potato and kumara and our guests brought the colourful platters of salad. I set one platter out on one of my upturned vintage crates. Gotta love pinterest! Old crates that would have been firewood just a few years ago are transforming homes and tables! And I discovered tea towels fit them perfectly. I found my 'Faith' tea towel in a newsagents shop!

I also bought the one monogrammed with something that is dear to my heart and used it as a tray cloth. These tea towels were very inexpensive. I used vintage milk jugs to hold bunches of mint picked fresh from the garden. Lamb and mint are the perfect partners. Every garden/home needs a pot of mint.

 

And what would a Easter party be without a dessert table and chocolate! We don't make the Easter bunny the focus of our Easter but as rabbits are one of God's creatures and generally regarded a symbol of new life alongside eggs, I'm not concerned about using one here and there to decorate my table. And if someone was to ask my children if the Easter bunny had visited their house I'm sure they would have responded in the same way my daughter did one year with childlike amazement to someone who asked if santa was coming to see her. 'Don't you know? Christmas is all about Jesus! And even in the presence of chocolate, rabbits and eggs, Easter for my children is all about Jesus too!

 

Another market stall find - vintage scales in mint green hold a plate of gingerbread.

One of my cake stand creations hold sweet teatime treats - all purchased, as without my oven I could not bake in advance. My daughter and her friend managed to cook a chocolate mocha pudding for dessert in the pizza oven. We served it in vintage sundae dishes topped with vanilla ice cream and tiny, pastel chocolate eggs. For dessert we had to retreat inside as the showers became heavier but even the rain did not dampen spirits on this most spiritual of days.

 

 We attended an Easter production at church on Good Friday, an outreach picnic lunch on Saturday and on Sunday we came together as a family and gathered around the table that you see in these photos. We talked, we laughed, we enjoyed good food and good company at home in the beautiful setting that God has given us where we make our home and live meaningful lives. Was this any less spiritual than attending a church service? It was more than just a family dinner - you see the Lord was present and we had gathered in His name to remember His sacrifice at Calvary and to celebrate His resurrection. It was a celebration I felt deserved a beautiful table and I took delight in decorating it.

 

 My girls wanted to dress in special dresses and wear flowers in their hair. I'm sure Edith Schaeffer would have approved of our efforts to bring beauty and creativity into our Easter family gathering and it is with her words in regard to family gatherings around meal tables that I close.

'The 'conservation' of family life does not consist of sticking a rose in the middle of a table; it is a deeper thing than that. .... And in this need to get back to 'gracious living', to real communication among people living together, it seems to me one place to start could be the meal-time moments, and the careful preparation of the background for conversations at that time.'

                                                                                                  Edith Schaeffer 1914-2013 RIP.

Homemaking - What I don't do.

I was trying to think of a topic for a new blog post and it occurred to me that when it comes to homemaking that we tend to use our blogs to tell others what we do - the food we bake, the rooms we decorate, the gardens we plant. If you have followed my blog you would be aware that I bake my own bread, grow some of our own food, teach my children at home, love to decorate my home at Christmas and have recently set up a family business. I have been asked by others how I do it all and the answer to that question is 'I don't.' There are many things I don't do - oh I would love to do many of these things but I have come to realize that I will never master every homemaking art, that I will fail miserably at some and that there are only 24 hours in a day and I must determine which of the home arts and household activities I choose to pursue and those I will let go.... so here is a list of some of the tasks I don't do. You might be surprised but I have my reasons. That is not to say I will never do them.  There are seasons in a woman's life and who knows, maybe I'll dust that sewing machine off one day in the future. All I ask is that you don't judge me if I never get round to doing some of the following things...

I DON'T

1.Make my own laundry powder/liquid. I know many of you do. I made up a batch once and was disappointed with the results. It was also another activity to add to my ever growing 'to do' list that needed some serious editing and this was one task that I chose to take off and I don't feel guilty about it. I buy an Australian made phosphate free/septic tank safe laundry powder in bulk from the automotive parts shop - actually my husband usually buys it. As he is in the automotive trade he can buy it at a reduced rate.... after all mechanics do have dirty overalls that need washing! It's very reasonably priced and lasts us for ages.

2. Knit my own dishcloths I never learned to knit though I do know how to cast on and can do a few rows of garter stitch but that's the extent of my mastery of this home art. I was inundated with booties/jumpers/hats from the knitters among my family and friends when I had babies so had no need to pick up the needles and knitting never became a skill I needed to master. Am I upset about this? No, it's not something I am very drawn to but I can understand why many find it therapeutic. I'm happy to admire their creations and occasionally even buy a knitted item and in doing so support a local, handmade business and I'm grateful to those who buy the handcrafted cake stands and soy candles in teacups I make.


3. Make my own soap/beauty products I've certainly considered it. I have books with recipes for all manner of homemade beauty products. I know with some time invested I could master it - would have to be in the evenings when my young children are not around as caustic ingredients are involved in the process but it's another activity to add to the list. There are lots of soap makers in my region. I have friends who make soap. So for now I'm purchasing local handmade goats milk soap - the one I buy is long lasting and doesn't turn to a gloopy mess on the vanity. I'm very happy with it.

My twins in matching outfts.

Skirts and bows are handmade but not by me!

4. Sew my children's clothes - very often. I can sew, I own a sewing machine, I can transfer a pattern, I know what tailor's tacks are and what a seam allowance should be. I sigh when I see the beautiful hand sewn dresses that some mothers make for their girls. If I am honest, machine sewing frustrates me -when fabric puckers or a seam is not straight. My back is turned when at the sewing machine and I need to concentrate as I am very much a novice. I cannot give my attention to younger children as I can when I bake. My house falls into disarray if I sit for too long at the machine. I sometimes find hand sewn dresses  for my girls at garage sales for just a few dollars and take delight in that but I buy most of our family's clothing online from a company that sells many designer garments at drastically reduced prices. Most of the time I am paying less than the cost of fabric and patterns. Recently, I needed a liner for a vintage picnic basket. I had found some gorgeous vintage fabric covered in roses. I considered making the liner myself but decided to ask a friend who is a skilled sewer and pay her for her time. She did a beautiful job. I did not feel guilty!

 5. Have an immaculate home. If you were to call over now you would find skateboards/scooters on the patio that could really do with a good sweep - when you live surrounded by trees, leaves on the patio are a constant.. Only needs a breeze. Gumboots piled at the door. All good intentions of organized shoe storage after adding numerous pins on my 'beautiful storage' board on pinterest have not been realized. If you come to my house and see the boots in a neat row please realize I did that frantically 5 minutes before you arrived! There are signs of children everywhere - legos, blanket cubby houses/dens and a trail of peach foam bullets down the hallway. Signs of mum everywhere - stacks of plates and china on the buffet unit and a huge drill press on the dining room table. Signs of dad and ongoing renovations - power tools and piles of Bunnings receipts. Signs of life in this home. People live here and do stuff!

 

6. Make every meal from scratch. I love to use fresh ingredients and most of our meals are cooked at home but I do make use of some pre-prepared ingredients. I always have jars of Aldi's organic pasta sauce in the pantry to make a speedy spag bol on days when we are running late. You will find snap frozen vegetables in my freezer and a jar of preservative free curry paste in the fridge together with a tub of Greek yoghurt and Aldi's feta cheese. I don't make my own pasta and I don't feel guilty about that but I would feel guilty about using pesto from a jar right now to stir through pasta as I have a huge crop of basil in the garden. It's quick and easy to make so the pesto is homemade but the pasta is not. I'm okay with that.

7.Always shop at farmers markets. I used to have an idealistic picture of the shopper I would be. It featured me in a flowing dress, wicker basket in hand perusing organic produce at the farmer's markets and selecting cheeses to pop into my basket along with a bouquet of flowers at the trendy deli store. The reality is a 30 minute dash around Aldi. I shop there because it saves me money and time, they have a good organic range and Australian olive oil at an affordable price. I don't shop at the deli for cheeses, pickles and oils because I can't afford their prices. There is rarely a bouquet popping out of my basket - it would cut my grocery budget and I can fill up jars with herbal bouquets from my garden for free. I shop less at the farmer's market after the last stall that had all organic produce at reasonable prices (and my main reason for visiting the markets) had to pull out of the market - I was informed by the stallholder, a result of losing funding for the supported employment project that ran the market garden and stall. I'm still bewildered about that.

8 Fret anymore over the things I never achieved or have mastered. I have mentioned this before - I am a failure at making macarons. Two attempts resulted in pastel pancakes. Still tempted to give it one more go because I know how good they look on my cake stands. I don't really care if they are a flop again. I'll be happy to stick to fair dinkum Aussie afternoon tea fare - slices, thick and chunky and rolled in coconut or dusted with icing sugar which will still be served and enjoyed at afternoon tea for years to come! Cake decorating is another skill that has eluded me so no Lightening McQueen cakes for my boy's birthday. I  have no plans to join classes. As long as the cake has candles my children are happy!

These are more things I do not do but don't have time to list them all. I don't have guests every weekend even though hospitality is a passion of mine. I've kept this list to homemaking but there are other activities I don't do. I don't play the piano and we are not a musical family unless you count singing in the shower or worship time at church. I don't go to the gym, cycle, run or power walk. I don't have elaborate skin and make up routines. I don't write ebooks, speak at conferences or attend committee meetings. I don't run a ladies Bible study or lead any ministry programme at church. (We are involved as a family in a ministry to international students.) I don't keep this blog updated as much as I would like to.

What are some of the things around the home that you don't do? What do you not make from scratch? What are your homemaking/cooking shortcuts? What did you try but never master? Do you ever feel the pressure to accomplish all those homemaking projects you see pinned on pinterest or blogged about on blogs? To be good at lots of things and have 'pinworthy' pictures to prove it?

 

 A cake stand awaits macarons but I'm sure the family will not mind if they never eventuate!

Maybe next time I will share about my third attempt at macarons when my oven gets fixed. Still waiting on the part it needs and for the electrician to come back and fix it so all baking is on hold at the moment. Will it work or will I only have pastel crazy paving spread across my baking tray? Might be a fun post. If enough people dare me to try it I might give it a go, take pictures along the way and post them whatever the outcome.

May your Easter be most blessed as we celebrate life and remember the One who died and rose again that we might live and enjoy His presence forever.

Pull-apart Breads and Garden Harvests

Sweet or Savoury? It's up to you with this simple recipe for a sweet or savoury 'pull apart' that uses the pizza dough cycle of a bread machine and is later baked in the oven after a short rising time. You could make it by hand of course but I usually opt for the convenience of the 45 minute pizza/French bread dough cycle of my Panasonic bread machine - purchased for $5 at a garage sale a few years ago. I have since found a friend another Panasonic to replace her old one, had to pay $15 but still worth it she says - they are the best bread machines!

For savoury scrolls all you do is leave out the sugar and rather than sprinkling sugar and cinnamon over the melted butter before rolling up you choose a savoury filling - cheese, herbs and garlic perhaps or my favourite - sun dried tomatoes, spinach (I have a year round supply in my garden!) and feta cheese. I make this bread at least 3 times a week because it is so easy. I favour the savoury version because I often make a sweet sourdough bread by hand with apricots and almonds. I will put the dough on at morning tea time and it is ready to bake to come hot and fresh out of the oven at lunchtime. You will find savoury pull apart breads at Brumby's and Baker's Delight but they cost a lot more than a conventional loaf. Why buy when they are so easy to make at home? And I must add the shop versions seem very stingy as they are rather 'flat'  - we would need two if not three to feed our family at one meal. That's at least a $12 purchase.

Into the bread machine pan add the following
4 cups plain flour
1 tsp salt
21/2 tsps dried yeast
1/2 cup sugar (omit if you want savoury)
1/3 cup approx soft butter
1 egg
1 cup of warm milk

Start up your dough cycle and for me just 45 minutes later (as I get on with other things) the dough is ready to be rolled out. I roll mine out on some baking paper into a rectangular shape.
Brush lightly with melted butter and sprinkle over your filling of choice. You could use dried fruit with brown sugar or rapadura for a sweet filling. I always try to have green and red in my savoury filling ingredients as they peek through the scrolls when baked and look very appetizing! Roll up lengthwise into a sausage shape and cut into slices. I usually mange to get a dozen out of one roll. Place close together on a baking paper lined round tray or cake tin  in a circle for a circular pull apart. Leave a gap in the centre if you want a ring/wreath. I usually use a spring form rectangular tin. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for about an hour in a warm place. Bake for about 20- 25 minutes until risen and golden in a hot oven. I use the fan bake setting at 180/190 c. The rolls usually rise up and fill the tin as shown in my picture.


For lunch we usually slice our savoury rolls and fill with salad and cheese or tuna. They are also great to serve with soup. I serve mine on a bread board for people to share and pull apart at the table.

Enjoy! Thought you would like to know what our garden is producing at the moment

Bananas! The recent storms brought down some of our banana trees but thankfully the bunches were ready. They ripened quickly and it's been banana bread heaven around here the past few weeks. Secret ingredient aside from very ripe bananas for the best banana bread - sour cream or Greek yoghurt. Result is delicious, moist banana bread!

Lebanese cress. I have sung its praises before. We have a never-ending supply. We grow one batch in a large pot but you want to see how it grows in or near water - prolific. When the lettuces wilt or go to seed we always have this amazing salad micro green/herb to fall back on.

Cherry guavas and passion fruit. Have abundant crops of these fruits this year. I have made one batch of guava jelly but need to make some more. My house smells of passion fruit at the moment! The vine that covers the chicken house is loaded. The children have been eating passion fruit for weeks now - they love them and bring up basket loads each day. I will have to declare today a jam making day. Or do I make lime cordial? The Tahitian lime gave a very good crop this year. We also picked our first kaffir lime yesterday and the rosella plants we only put in a few months ago produced - rosella chutney is amazing. We had just enough to make a couple of jars - already consumed. I also have it on good advice that there are Davidson plums on one of the trees we planted in the orchard. Not quite ready yet which is good - I haven't ventured down there recently because of my aversion (and allergic reactions) to leeches which are just everywhere after all the recent rain. I even have leeches outside the door and have found them in the house - yikes, pass the salt!

Time to plant again soon - autumn has arrived and in some ways it is even better than spring. The soils have been watered with the late summer rains and the raised beds are ready. The sun came out yesterday for the first time in weeks and was a cause for much rejoicing. Children were climbing trees, a son managed to have a tennis lesson and I actually folded some dry towels. Proud to say I never used the dryer once - it really ought to be retired completely as it has not been used for years, not since we put up our ladders inside and added a line under the veranda.

Time to go and make some bread and jam and hope you don't mind me blogging about such humble things!

A Dresser Dream Fulfilled

It's been a long held dream of mine - to be the owner of a kitchen dresser. When we were newlyweds living in a tiny one bedroom flat in London with an even tinier kitchen I would flip through pages of Ideal Home magazine which featured beautiful and expansive farmhouse kitchens in the English countryside. When we were packing up tea chests of wedding gifts to send across the world to New Zealand I had to cull my stack of Ideal Homes so I pulled out the pages to create a scrapbook of the homes that appealed to me the most. Almost every kitchen picture featured a timber dresser stacked with china. I still have some of those original pictures and even though the magazines are from 1989 those farmhouse kitchens have a timeless quality with their AGA stoves, butler's sinks and timber dressers with open shelves.


The dream of a living in the country was realized and for the last 23 years we have been blessed to live in a beautiful part of the world in country towns and rural locations. Our first kitchen had orange bench tops and dark veneer cupboards and my husband built me a new kitchen with cabinets using recycled rimu, a New Zealand native timber - it was beautiful but it didn't have a dresser. We moved onto a 300 acre dairy farm with a stone farmhouse. It had a small kitchen with timber units but no dresser. We crossed the Tasman and the country living dream continued when we found our eight acres of eden. The redeeming feature of the interior of the owner built house constructed with a hodge podge of recycled materials was the fact that it had a new country style kitchen with solid cabinets constructed from brushbox timber. It even had a buffet unit - almost but not quite a kitchen dresser.

The buffet unit which used to live in the kitchen has moved into the dining room.

 It houses a growing collection of vintage glassware!

The dream of a dresser lived on but it was still very much a want and not a need until this year when my husband agreed that we needed a practical storage solution for the the vintage china we have collected over the last year which is going to be hired out for events and hopefully earn us some extra income as we set out to see another long held dream realized and establish a family business.

And so the search for a dresser began. One that would fit into our home which has limited wall space - one of the drawbacks of having so many French doors! I looked in secondhand shops and saw some very nice dressers and units but all were beyond our present budget. The dresser would remain a dream. We spotted a beautiful walnut sideboard in a vintage store. We both liked it. It had once been a dresser. It could be turned back into a dresser with added shelves but its price tag was already more than we wanted to pay. We debated and in the end I made the decision to walk away saying to my husband 'We'll kick ourselves if we walk into a garage sale and find a dresser.' As if that was going to happen.

Of course you know the end of the story. The very next day we walked into a garage sale. The owners were moving house and there it was against the garage wall, a timber dresser at an amazing price. We didn't hesitate, gave the lady a deposit and my husband raced off to the ATM and returned later to pick it up with the ute. When he returned the lady told him that she could have sold it ten times over. He was also treated to coffee and cake and the lady seemed very pleased to know that her dresser would continue to be loved by its new owner. It was quite a day for garage sales that day. I also found china and a beautiful floral quilt which now graces my bed!

Our road to nowhere during the floods of this weekend which kept us at home.

We used a beautiful vintage oil lamp in the evenings when we were without power.

Our home is on a hillside and does not flood, though during the high winds a large gum tree fell onto our  farm shed causing thousands of dollars of damage. I will be calling the insurance company today.

You see the reason I have been away from the blog is nothing to do with having just been flooded in for days without power. No, I have been spending lots of time in my kitchen standing and staring at my dream dresser as I bake at my kitchen island. Yes, it is in the kitchen after the dining room wall where it was supposed to go proved too small thanks to an internal power box. The kitchen buffet unit was moved onto that wall and the dresser fitted perfectly on the kitchen wall. As it was narrower it created more space in the kitchen - much needed when twins and a three year old boy drag over chairs to help mix cakes around the island!

I now know why people love dressers. They hold so much china! The cupboards hold over 70 trios, dinner plates and bowls. The shelves display a Royal Albert dinner service and a total of 10 teapots and a whole row of bone china milk jugs. Favourite books are stacked at the end. A jug of herbs and a set of 12 modern vintage style teacups are set out always at hand for when a friend calls in for a cup of tea. The drawers hold vintage napkins, cake servers and cutlery sets. When I needed to pull out china to photograph for our website there was no reaching into the back of a deep and dark cupboard. I could see at a glance exactly which china I needed. Oh I could sing the praises of my dresser all day long! It was worth waiting 23 years for!

I resisted the temptation to take to it with the antique white paint. When you live in a house with white tiles throughout, a white kitchen would be far too clinical and there is something about the warmth and homeliness of natural timber that tugs at my heart and prompts me to not even entertain thoughts of white or faux painted finishes.

There is one more kitchen dream to be fulfilled. I have a wood stove, a cooks shelf, a dresser and all that is needed now is the walk in pantry. One that is large enough to hide away the big stainless steel fridge freezer and have enough shelves for all the jars of preserves, if our guavas and passion fruit continue to keep producing as they have this year. I made mango chutney over the weekend and thanks to having a gas stove top I was able to keep on cooking when the power was out. Time to go and make some bread now I can bake again. Any excuse to be near to my dresser!

Editing My Life - blogging.

 

I recently spent some time taking an inventory which involved a pleasant process - counting teacups! I needed to know how many I owned for I have a vintage china hire website under construction. It is an extension of the little cake stand business I began last year. It started as a mother/daughter business but with lots of hard work and determination we can see the potential for it to become a true family business and I have the full support of my husband who encourages me to keep adding to the china collection so we can cater for larger functions! We have been spurred on by the successful outcome of our first wedding hire and can see so many possibilities. It really is the business of bliss seeing a beautiful table being set to celebrate the most special of days in the life of another person.

Once upon a time I didn't think I would need any more teacups. I had a few pretty ones, enough for a tea party with friends but now I need more and I'm having to try and find room in my home for them but my cupboards are full and overflowing with china. A large dresser is needed and somewhere to house it. Another piece of furniture may have to be sacrificed, it is likely I will have to do some rearranging.

I already have a busy life - a family to raise, children to teach, a home and property to look after. Am I crazy adding in another activity - a business? Can I do it? In my own strength I cannot - only with God's help, guidance and direction. As I try to find room in my home for all the china I also need to find room in my life for the business and all its commitments. And one of the ideas that popped into my mind as I counted up those teacups was to take an inventory of my life and then begin to edit. Editing is something I really needed to do and one of the big areas for me was blogging and that is the first area I felt the Lord prompt me to edit which is why you do not hear from me as often as you used to. I am not giving up blogging but only doing it when I am able and only writing posts which will either contribute to the record of the life and adventures of this family or truly benefit another person.

I'm still working out how to fit in the writing of my blog so to make time for that I seriously needed to come up with a new approach to reading blogs. I hope that the method I have chosen may be useful to someone like me who used to be enthralled by blogs and did so much blog hopping it's a wonder I didn't grow webbed feet and start croaking!




So that's where I started - I stopped hopping. It was so tempting to look down a list knowing there would be like-minded people out there or more likely an interesting post would catch my eye. The 5 minutes I intended to spend catching up with a friend could soon become half an hour or more. I decided to stop looking at blogrolls and not open or stay around posts which advertised blog hops.

I have not stopped visiting my friends - those sweet and lovely gals I have met from different places in Australia, the US, Canada, Scotland and New Zealand. I'm just not always on the doorstep. So if a friend is reviewing a novel which does not interest me I don't visit that day but if she is sharing a recipe which sounds like one my family would enjoy I'll pop over and pin it. And if she has some family news to share I'll take the time to say congratulations or let her know I am praying for her. If she has just made something for her home which I think is just gorgeous I'll most definitely leave a compliment or a word of encouragement.


And then the are the blogs that offer so much advice and inspiration for your life - for Christian living, homemaking, homeschooling, gardening, reading cooking. If you are interested in it you can bet your bottom dollar there is a blog or multiple blogs for it. Many are hugely popular with large numbers of followers. Here is where I had to do lots of editing. I decided I would choose one or occasionally two blogs for each of the areas I was interested in. Inspiration for Christian living - that was easy. I stuck with a well known blog I have followed from the start which has always inspired me to be a wise woman and build my home. Can you guess which blog that is? Clue - button is on my sidebar!

Homesteading was a little harder - so many to choose from but there could only be one. That button is also on my sidebar but it's not my intention to send people blog hopping! I read one other Australian blog which focuses on simple living and homemaking for it's local content and gardening advice for my climate. I limited the recipe blogs to just two - I read Annabel Langbein's as I'm such a big fan of her recipes and fresh, simple approach to food and the other is a blog where I once guest posted and the author not only has great recipes but a beautiful heart for hospitality. Good food and hospitality go hand in hand!

And finally there are blogs which I treat more like a magazine. Some refer to them as the beautiful blogs. They usually have more pictures than words and those shots are usually styled. Lots of visual inspiration. I  can think of one which belongs to a most gracious lady and grandmother. I don't know her and have never commented at her blog ( she already has a tonne of admirers) but her gorgeous tea tables have given me lots of inspiration for my business and I'm very grateful that she takes the time to do this - do take note I mentioned she is a grandmother. Her children have left home. There are seasons for blogging and what you can offer the world.


And this is all I can offer now. I hope you understand. I'm still editing my life. I've made adaptations and there are so many goals I have set and projects I would like to try but I have said two important words to lots of those activities. 'NOT NOW'!! Some things I have let go of all together and if I never make a quilt this side of heaven well that's fine. I can only keep stitching together the pieces of this life that lie in my lap right now. If I don't stitch those parts well and attempt to add in more pieces it's likely that the quilt (my life) will start to come apart at the seams. Maybe sometime I will tell you more about what I don't do and why.... it's quite a list!

The new school term starts next week. My adult daughter is in Thailand working at an orphanage, it is her second missions trip. I can't believe I just called her that - my adult daughter. She grew up so quickly! I have lots of preparations for next week. Need to get my house back in order and my girls are begging me to start their lessons now. They don't want to wait until next week! I am needed so I'm signing off.

I'll be back - just not sure when!
Enjoy the rest of your week.

A Simply Beautiful Christmas

Christmas 2012 was simple and beautiful. Simple because I chose to keep it simple - no new decorations or updated colour schemes as much as I loved the woodland themes that kept popping up on blogs and pinterest that would have been perfect for our home in its forest setting. So once again my tree was decked out in traditional red, green and gold. It was meant to be because someone bought my twins outfits that matched the tree!

My Christmas had to be simple because I have been so busy this past year and especially in the weeks prior to Christmas having set up a business making handcrafted cake stands and soy candles in vintage teacups that took me to markets all over the region. I did not have time or the inclination to spend hours in busy malls so I was glad that we had decided to keep gifts simple. I had bought a few gifts throughout the year for the children - puzzles, books and games. On one of the few occasions that I did venture into Target I found new swimmers and rash vests for the girls discounted by forty percent. This was something they needed and over summer they are spending lots of time in the pool. Even the most humble of gifts brought delight to the faces of children on Christmas morning!

Our beautiful boy celebrated his third birthday just before Christmas. He was thrilled with the big, beautiful quality Tonka fire engine with its moving ladder, bells and whistles. I don't think he minds at all that I found it at a garage sale for just ten dollars - in perfect, as new condition!

 

He didn't mind at all that his birthday cake was not elaborately decorated and looked nothing like the racing car and 'Lightning McQueen' cakes his sister had shown him on pinterest! He was more impressed with the sparklers I think!

Christmas Dinner was simple and beautiful. Simple because I chose to use what I already owned to set the table which was from the collection of vintage china I have gathered over the past year. All the plates, silver cutlery and table linen were found in garage sales! The cake stands are ones I have made for hiring out. The only new addition to the table was a set of pastel wine goblets and pale blue tumblers - the pale blue tumblers were found at Big W - 12 for $10 and the beautiful goblets were my Christmas gift from my children and were purchased online, days before Christmas. I was so thrilled when they they arrived at the Post Office on Christmas Eve. They made my table look extra special and setting a beautiful table is something I just delight in! And once again, I made the crackers from kits and recycled trims from previous years - mine were assembled on Christmas Eve as I had already made one set for a friend and almost ran out of time to make my own!

We set the tables up outside on the patio under the veranda. Three extra guests joined us - my son's girlfriend, my friend's son from Germany who is staying with us over Christmas and New Year and we managed to persuade a work colleague of my husband to come along who would have spent Christmas Day on his own. Initially, he was reluctant, he didn't want to impose but on Christmas morning we sent him this message - 1PM, Menu : Roast Turkey with pear cider gravy, lemon duck, maple roasted vegetables, spinach and paw paw salad. Dessert - pavlova. He sent a text back immediately 'I'll be there, what can I bring?'

The only menu item that did not eventuate was the spinach and paw paw salad because the spinach wilted in the intense heat of Christmas Day but the turkey which had sat in a brine overnight and then cooked in pear cider was just amazing. The most tender, moist and delicious turkey you could imagine thanks to the brine and the second consecutive year we have enjoyed this on Christmas Day - thanks to Annabel Langbein's fantastic recipes and tips which have made me a better cook.

 Pavlova was a must have dessert with having an overseas guest but I confess I did not make my own pavlova base but didn't want to buy one that had preservative in its ingredients. Most supermarket pavlova bases do but Aldi's to my surprise didn't and it was actually very good if not better than the ones I have made in the past. It saved me lots of time this year and all that was needed was to whip up some cream and pile on fresh fruit - simple and beautiful because of the fruit which is in season at Christmas time in Australia - peaches, blueberries, strawberries and mango!

Our Christmas was also beautiful because it was spent in a beautiful place. How blessed I felt as we sat down to dinner at home and looked out over the trees - the green of the forest seemed even more intense on a day filled with radiant sunshine. The cicadas were deafening but this is the sound of summer in Australia!

On Boxing Day we took our guest from Germany out for the day and showed him the World Heritage rainforest that is not too far from where we live. We debated over which waterfall to walk to as we had several we could choose from. We opted for the one which you are able to walk behind! After our walk we had a picnic lunch and met other people we knew who were also showing their family and friends from the city the beautiful corner of the world that we live in!

 It has been a simply beautiful Christmas and New Year. We have enjoyed picnics, dinners, movies, church services and outreaches, firework displays, hot days at the beach and cool days at the ice rink. We stayed away from the shopping malls except to buy groceries and essentials. The children and young adults have been bushwalking, surfing, swimming, ice skating and fishing. We have visited our new neighbours on two occasions - just popping in to say hello and spending two to three hours talking with them each time is a good sign that we are going to get along isn't it!

2012 was somewhat of an unexpected journey for me and yes, that is a direct reference to the Hobbit for I tend to identify with Bilbo Baggins for there is nothing I would rather do than stay in my hobbit hole with my  pantry, my garden, my china and my doilies. Oh how I loved and laughed out loud at that part of the script in the movie and thought of the ever growing doily mountain in my home which is inevitable if you love vintage tables! And I could just blog about that and be happy but God knocked on my door this year and prompted me to go on a bit of an adventure. I have met a lot of people through starting up a little home based business which took me into the marketplace and the very heart of our community. We have started attending a bigger church which we love and feel very much a part of. The Lord has expanded our horizons, opened many doors and shown us the people around us who need to see and experience this life in Christ that we live as a family where every member loves Jesus and seeks to honour Him in everything that they do. What a joy it has been to welcome so many people into our home over the past few weeks. What a privilege to serve the Lord in this beautiful place where we endeavour with God's help to raise our beautiful children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.



And as for 2013 and this blog. I have been seeking the Lord. It takes so much time to blog when your internet connection runs at snails pace. This post took a ridiculous amount of time today because of photos taking forever to upload. I'm still working out how to fit it all in and really appreciated the post  by Amy at Homestead Revival on her priorities for 2013. She is so on my page! So like her I will blog when I am able. I will not write guest posts or accept guest posts. Giveaways will be few and far between. Adverts will be unlikely to appear here unless it is my own endorsement for someone or something that I believe will truly be of benefit to others. As Amy stated 'I must be diligent about living it first' and I believe she is right, otherwise our message is empty and hypocritical. The theme of my blog will always be 'Raising beautiful Children in a Beautiful Place' for that is what God has called me to do. I cannot do that from the confines of an office from behind a computer even though my family are just metres away and home during the day - I am drawn away from them into another world when I am online.  My blog was always intended to be a family journal but one that would encourage others to cherish and sow into the life of their family and the people around them, so I must return to sowing in order to be able to share with you the harvest to encourage you to be a sower that you may also reap. That is my heartfelt prayer. I invite you to join me on this journey again in 2013 and when I am not here know that I am at work in my eight acres of eden.

May your 2013 be a year when you sow and reap. Your family will grow up before your eyes and if they are still living at home it may only be for a season. It is a year for getting our priorities in order fellow bloggers.
May God bless you and all your beautiful families.