The first week of January proved to be a full and satisfying few days, interspersed with heavy rain, scorching sun, and barometric migraines (which I am managing better this summer).
As the new year plans I had made for a deep refresh, declutter, and rearrangement of our home are not something to rush through, I had a one-day-on and one-day-off strategy to maintain energy, manage the migraines, and also to visit Blossom and the children one day and shop with them for school supplies another day.
Those days off between deep cleaning still required the steady rhythm of normal routines to continue, but I enjoyed hourly breaks to read, do some hand embroidery, watch an episode of Father Brown or The Larkins on Britbox, and enjoy cups of tea with a sweet treat.
We still have ample sheets and towels, fabric, kitchen items etc, but now we have only what we use, with some to spare of course, and a short list of things we'd like to acquire this year, such as a vacuum sealer for storing dehydrated foods, flour and grains. I lost 15kg (about 32 pounds) of flour this past week as it was all infested with Brown Flour Mites - and this is something we face living in the hot, humid, wet tropics. I freeze all my wheat grains and rice for days after purchase, and thank the Lord they are fine, but the flour was a completely different matter. So after disposing of the infested flours, vacuuming and scrubbing the pantry and the containers, then disposing of the vacuum cleaner bag immediately after, I researched for helps with preserving flour in our climate.
Next day I bought more flours, and after taping bay leaves inside the lids, refilled the clean containers. Apparently these bugs hate bay leaves and this method of prevention really works, but extra protection is to wipe around your pantry shelving using a cloth which has some essential oils on it (pine, eucalyptus or tea tree are recommended) so I'm doing that as well. Perhaps you can understand why we've decided to save for a good vacuum sealer?
Re-organising the lounge/dining room to suit summer, and also adding the leather chair which used to sit in our bedroom unused. We need a new rug, something to save for, as the dog destroyed the last one.
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There's no rhyme nor reasoning to decor anymore, we're simply using what we have...definitely eclectic.
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I sit here each morning with my first cuppa to read the Bible and a chapter of my current book, until hubby wakes and we go for our pre-breakfast swim in the pool.
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My computer desk has had a good scrub and refresh as well, and a new calendar also brightens this corner of the living room.
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The little runner beneath my keyboard (above) was a free pattern I shared in one of my 2021 Homemakers Heart digital magazines and is still available to you as a free download HERE
The bedroom has had a deep clean, but I still need to wash the curtains. In fact all the curtains in the house will be washed and hung out to dry next week as long as we get a few days break from the tropical wet season.
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The kitchen will get a thorough scrubbing next week as well, and I have my three favourite aprons ready on the old white cupboard.
In November I hosted an Apron Swap here on the blog, and despite being so close to Christmas the response was wonderful. All together there were 32 swappers from across the globe, and my partner was fellow Australian, Bev Ashmore. This is the *gorgeous* apron she made me. Such pretty fabric, and look at those ruffles!
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The apron I made for Bev was another of the 1929 style I tend to favour, and it definitely was not as fancy as she made me...
...but I made my own bias binding and hand stitched it around the edges, and bless her heart, Bev loved that handmade detail. She's a very kind lady, sews beautifully, and is a sister-in-Christ as well. I felt incredibly blessed when her parcel arrived, and look forward to hosting more swaps with all of you through 2023.
Many of you have emailed to ask about our lovely old cat, Princess Sophie, and how she's recovering after being attacked by a feral black cat in October. If you've been reading here for years you will know that Sophie and I have had our disagreements, due to her desire to usurp me in Mr E's heart, but beneath it all we love each other. Since the attack, Sophie, whom the vet described as the healthiest 12yo cat she's ever seen, recovered physically in record time, but the shock has obviously taken a toll on her mentally.
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Never one to enjoy being inside, she now seeks me out for company and cuddles (quite unlike her) and takes a long sleep each day in her bed behind Mr E's recliner. Apparently, getting a puppy just before the attack has not helped things as older cats don't take to change or new pets easily, and it can even cause them to withdraw...and this on top of the attack really has changed her.
Harry the pup, now 5 months old, is a true hound and spends all day and night digging, chasing, jumping, destroying the garden (hear my sob?), catching creatures and generally being a whirlwind of endless energy. He's also obsessed with Sophie and will not leave her alone, which she hates, and that's probably another reason she seeks solitude and safety inside.
It has been decided that Harry is Mr E's buddy, and Sophie is now mine. She's losing her sense of smell and hearing, though this is only just becoming noticeable, and like our old Bob-the-dog a few years before he passed away at age 15, she is becoming a bit vague at times. The vet tells us this is natural aging but accelerated by the shock of the attack and the arrival of the puppy all within two weeks of each other.
In the front garden our single pumpkin plants has gone bonkers from all the wet season rain, and pretty soon will cover the entire area. It's already growing up the jasmine and ixora bushes.
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There's quite a few Kent pumpkins on the vine (also known as Jap pumpkins), which I have mostly hand-pollinated due to the lack of bees in our front yard. The back yard is overrun with them due to the elder tree so we may plant one out front in March/April for next season.
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And in the back yard, the elder tree has already produced loads of berries which I've made into syrup or frozen. Currently it is sporting many more flower heads and berries so I'll be busy with elderberries for many months yet. Last year the tree stopped flowering in May, just before our relatively mild winter arrived.
The rest of the garden is mostly flowers and a few herbs as the vegetable bugs are incredibly destructive here from mid spring to mid autumn, but no matter the season, zinnias flourish and re-seed everywhere all year round. I love their bright bursts of colour!
It's easy to watch others who live in different climates, with normal growing seasons, and become envious of their abundance...but we've finally moved past that, and over the next year will be planning out a different garden layout, building higher raised beds, and planting only that which yields a crop we can eat and enjoy (along side plenty of flowers for bees, and the trees for shade). Sadly my husband does not like pumpkin but it grows well here all year round, and he does like the fact that it adds good ground cover out front through the long scorching summer. Blossom, myself and our neighbours, love pumpkin, so it will be a blessing for us to cook with and share around.
I'm sure this is as much as you want to read of my rambling today, so I better close off and go bake a fresh loaf of bread to have with dinner tonight. I also need to finish making notes on chapter five of our Emilie Barnes book study so I can share that next week with this year's free tea towel pattern, and I'm still working on the rearranging and sorting of my sewing room/office.
God bless you dear ones, and may the days ahead offer you times of solitude to pray and ponder the year ahead, so you can clearly see which path to follow, and be strong enough to cast off all the unnecessary burdens which to now have weighed you down. Simplify your life, guard your heart, be gentle with yourself, pursue productive paths which add purpose to each day, and lean on Jesus in all things for His yoke is easy and His burden is light. xxx
hugs
