A Joyful Keeper

A few months ago, I ordered the Nice People Nice Things pattern from Helen at Hugs and Kisses. I ordered it one day, and it turned up in the mailbox the next! I was so impressed!

I hunted for some pretty fabric and then stitched the first two:

I’ve been doing more, but that will have to wait until I get my camera out.

I am really enjoying the stitcheries. They are quick and easy, and so cute. Next time I’ll have some links to some freebies for you. You might get hooked too!

Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
Old Mother Nature’s recipes
That brings the bare necessities of life

As I sit in my chair forcing myself to rest (it’s hard when you “have to”, isn’t it?!), I’ve been thinking about what the bare necessities of keeping a home are. What is the minimum that needs doing in a home while the mother is sick or unable to do much?

I have a tendency to write loooong lists, but this isn’t about a long one. It is about a short one, the shortest possible to “survive”. This is what I have come up with:

- meals need to be cooked

- dishes need to be washed & dried & put away

- clothes need to be washed & dried & put away

Hmmm… that is pretty short. There must be more that needs to be done, surely! Well, the animals outside need feeding daily…. and the kids need to do school…. and the floors need to be vacuumed if they get really “bad”…!

Last night I didn’t get to sleep thinking of all the things I should be doing when I get better. Honestly! You’d think I could just relax and enjoy this enforced time of rest! But no, even when I should be sleeping I am making out long lists of things that need to be done! I’m sure Baloo would not agree with them being the bare necessities of life.

What do you do when you can only manage in survival mode? What are your “basics”? What are your “bare necessities” in the home?

I got home late Thursday morning, minus one gallbladder. I’ve been pretty sore and tired since then and have been doing lots of resting and thinking! Sometimes I wish I wouldn’t think so much! Oh well…. I keep looking around and thinking I need to get up and do things, but I am forcing myself to rest.

The operation went well and the surgeon said my gallbladder was very diseased, so it was a good thing it came out. Thank you so much for your prayers, comments and emails. I felt at peace the whole time, and knew that He held me in His hands.

The kids have been wonderful since I got back. They are making me cups of tea, getting glasses of water, making meals, etc. Last night Elizabeth cooked dinner and then went on to load the dishwasher and tidy the kitchen until it was spotless! I was so impressed. This is when you see the fruit of your training paying off. She will be a good keeper of her own home one day, I know. My dh was also encouraged and excited to see that she saw the value of being in the kitchen and serving us. It really is a joy to see my daughter growing up.

So, those of you who are training your daughters to be future keepers of the home - take heart! I know that often I feel like I can get a job done quicker instead of showing Elizabeth how to do it. It takes patience and perseverance to train our children, but it pays off in the end. What a blessing children are!

The children have also been very good at doing their ACE work on their own this week. I set their goals for them, and they have just been working at their own pace. I’m thankful that we have this curriculum as this time. It seems to be working well so far.

I’ve managed to do a bit of handsewing and am looking forward to being able to sit up behind the machine later next week and make some clothes for Elizabeth. I found some simple summer dress patterns that I want to try.

Oh, one sad thing while I was in hospital… our last remaining cat got run over. It is just unbelievable how in the past months our puppy was run over and both our cats. The kids have been asking if we will get any more, and we have said “no”. For now we don’t see the sense in getting another cat or dog just to have a high chance of it getting run over. We have had cats for years now, and it is strange to come inside and not see one curled up on the couch or on a bed….

Well, on that note, I shall end this blog post! I can see the sunset from where I am sitting in the lounge room, with my feet up, relaxing… It has been a lovely sunny spring day.  I’d better make the most of just gazing outside without having to pull out all those weeds that are popping up everywhere! LOL!

Yep, not for the kids, not for hubby and I, but just for me…. I get a night out on my own tomorrow night… well, kind of…

I haven’t been on the internet a lot lately. I’ve been busy keeping my home, and getting settled into ACE (which is going well, btw) and going to doctor’s appointments. I’ve had a few health issues, one of which is gallstones. To cut a long story short, tomorrow night I get to have a sleepover at the local hospital after they remove my gallbladder! Of course I’d much prefer a night out somewhere nice with my dh, but anyway, these things need to be done!

The only other times I’ve had “sleepovers” in hospital were when the children were born and I got to bring home a gorgeous baby each time. This time I might be bringing home gallstones, who knows! I am planning to bring some embroidery, a good book to read, and…. some hand quilting. I wonder if I could bring my laptop and blog from there…?! No, I’ll leave it home and update when I get back.

So till later in the week…

It is! It’s really Spring! Not just a figment of my imagination or a state of confusion! Spring has sprung…. so take a walk with me on our little homestead.

Apache, helping to keep the grass down.

Bianca, gone clucky and sitting on seven eggs.

One of many daffodils popping up all over the place.

Chicks, not so little any more.

The orchard starting to blossom.

Hoping for lots of plums!

Chick in plum tree….?!

Er, cat in plum tree!?!

And a fat little lamb….!

A Prayer in Spring

Robert Frost

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day; And give us not to think so far away As the uncertain harvest; keep us here All simply in the springing of the year. Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white, Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night; And make us happy in the happy bees, The swarm dilating round the perfect trees. And make us happy in the darting bird That suddenly above the bees is heard, The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill, And off a blossom in mid air stands still. For this is love and nothing else is love, The which it is reserved for God above To sanctify to what far ends He will, But which it only needs that we fulfil.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to start a craft shop with a friend. It all came about quite quickly, and started with a conversation with my husband. He commented that the children were now old enough for me to be able to do some sort of business - ie, they could be working out in a back room, while I tended to a shop at the front (or something like that!). I told him I would love to teach women to sew and quilt, and if I did a business I would want it to be based around that. I then mentioned it to my weekly craft group ladies, and quickly the idea gained momentum! One friend was so excited and said she knew the perfect shop that was up for lease! Within the next few days she had talked to the previous tenant who offered 6 months free rent to see if our business would work before we committed! Both my husband and I were in a tizzy. “I didn’t expect it to happen so fast!” was dh’s comment! Me either!

To cut a long story short, the offer of free rent was conditional of taking on the entire lease of 2 years, which we were not willing to do. And so as quickly as the opportunity arose, it also disappeared.

In today’s day and age, those of us who are keepers at home are often faced with situations like the above one. Opportunity knocks. A job is offered. The money would be most useful in these tight times. And so we pray, and think, and discuss whether it is the right thing for us to do.

I’ve also noticed in recent years there has been a whole movement on the internet within the Christian stay-at-home-homeschool circles encouraging home businesses. There are ebooks to buy on this topic, virtual seminars to attend, and lots of encourgement.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:23, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; All things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.”

I firmly believe in seasons in our lives. I do not doubt that one day I will be teaching other women to sew and quilt. This opportunity given wasn’t in the right timing, and as I look back, it was a case of a good thing (lawful) but not “helpful” at this time. Helpful in a financial sense, yes, just as a home business would be helpful for us right now. But not helpful in completing my priorites as a keeper of the home.

My main priorites as a keeper are:

• maintaining a close relationship with God
• being a helpmeet to my husband
• raising my children to be godly men and women

In practice it means having Quiet Times, Bible Studies,  keeping a clean and tidy house, homeschooling, cooking meals, doing the washing, etc, etc, etc! If I am certain I am doing the above things, I can add another… and it may be a homebusiness, or it may be sewing classes, or whatever the Lord is putting on my heart to do.

I am thankful for the opportunities that God brings my way, and for the need to make choices. I know that He guides us, His children, and teaches us through situations like this. I need to constantly remind myself of my priorites as a keeper of my home, because this is the first thing God has called me to do. He also knows how much I can handle at a certain time. There is peace in that…. His plans are perfect, not mine!

And so, as Spring comes to the Southern Hemisphere, I thank Him for the priorites He has given me, and the guidelines. Soon my job as a keeper will expand into the great outdoors - planting a veggie garden and later on preserving the fruits of my labour. No, this time of the year would not be a good time to start a business…. Thank goodness He knows best!

I’ve come up with a different way of getting the kids to do some basic routines. I used to have a checklists up on their doors. This worked fine, except when they lost the dry erase markers! My new latest method is easy, easy, easy…. and utilizes all of our fingers.

In the morning, I ask the kids to do their “first five”. And we count on one hand….

1. Get up (easy, eh?!)

2. Have breakfast

3. Brush teeth

4. Get Dressed

5. Make up bed

and it is not all in the above order, but something more or less logical!

Once they have done all of these five, they come and report to me. Then they start on their next five:

1. Quiet Time

2. ACE school work

3. Piano practice

4. Reading

5. Free time!

This set of “fives” have to be done in order, except for the piano practice - that can be done inbetween school work if they like. But the rest needs to be in order, especially the last one!

The reason I started doing this was because often we were just doing things in all sorts of order and not getting half of it done. This is a simple system that keeps us on track.

I know I heard about the “First Five” system of chores or routines from one of the many homemaking/organizing books I’ve read. I can’t remember anymore where it was from. If anyone knows, please do let me know so I can give credit where it is due. I never really applied it to my own life because there were always more than five things I needed to do in the mornings when I got up! But for my children, it fits right in, without being overwhelming (hence one of the things to do is to get up and another is to have free time!).

So, now when I see a child wandering around aimlessly in the morning, I just wiggle five fingers at him/her and they get the message right away! If they quickly say, “I’ve done them!”, then I’ll wiggle all ten fingers! And as a bonus, it makes us smile!

My computer is up and running again, at least, somewhat. For a while there, it was running on Linux…. and I played a lot of Mahjong… I chalked that down to learning about China during the Olympics. Linux and I didn’t really get along. Most of my favorite programs wouldn’t work, so my dear hubby put Windows back on for me. No more Mahjong, which is good, because every time I closed my eyes I saw dozens of tiles……

Now I can check my mail and go on the web, but am still missing a few programs. Hopefully dh will have time to install them this weekend. He has been pretty busy at work.

So, what’s been happening the past weeks? We spent a lot of time watching the Olympics and working on our Olympic lapbooks. We just have a few more things to glue in and then they are done! I’m really pleased at how they turned out. I can’t take photos, I’m afraid, because my camera program is not installed yet… One day!

Last week we lost Little Red Rooster, and Feathers, one of our white hens. Indeed there were feathers everywhere…. A Bull Mastiff cross decided to pay us a visit. It was a sad state of affairs, and the dog himself was quite friendly when he wasn’t chewing on chickens. He wasn’t the least bit phased when I tried to chase him off our property with a bird house (well, it was the only thing handy…). So I caught him and tied him up  instead. He managed to break the chain just two minutes before the Ranger arrived, but didn’t have the sense to go home. He headed straight back to the orchard to have another go at Little Red. We were very thankful that he didn’t get any of the chicks. Elizabeth would have been devastated if she’d lost them. They are now so tame that they come up to the front door whenever we go out to see if we have a snack for them.

Before the dog attack, we spent some hours outside working in the garden. The boys took the wheelbarrow out into the paddock and collected two loads of pony poo for me. Elizabeth and I hoed the garden and planted some lettuce and silverbeet seedlings. We also put in some seeds - carrots and chives. My asparagus is popping up! It is so exciting! I spent quite some time weeding that bed. With Spring here now, the weeds are coming up quickly.

After a long wait, our first order of Paces came this week. We sat down together and looked at what processes we needed to follow with setting goals and scoring. Today the kids had their first real day of ACE work, and they seemed to be quite happy. We’ll see how we go next week!

My dh brought an extra table into the kitchen for me so that I can keep my sewing machine up all the time. I want to start on some summer clothes for the children, and I still have some household projects that I want to do. I am hoping that if I don’t have to constantly put the machine and sewing stuff away, I can slowly get some things done.

Our chooks and ducks have been laying really well! We are getting between 4 and 6 eggs a day. They are so yummy and fresh! What a blessing!

And that is a little peek at what’s been happening around our homestead….. It’s good to be back!