“A thunder-shower came up while the girls were at Carmody; it did not last long, however, and the drive home, through lanes where the raindrops sparkled on the boughs and little leafy valleys where the drenched ferns gave out spicy odors, was delightful.” - Anne of Green Gables
The rain has been coming down, daily, sometimes followed by high winds and roaring thunder, and at other times a slow almost invisible sheet of rain that you only become aware of when it hits your skin like a mist.
Everything is green, bright, beautiful, soft looking. As much as I enjoy a sunny Spring day, my favorites will always be the dark, dreary, cloudy and rainy ones. It brings everything to a halt, it slows time down and it gives me a renewed spirit. For some reason, these days are the ones that I find myself giving it all in my homemaking, going about pottering, touching this and that, taking extra care of the tasks at hand.
It also makes for the best reading days, and reading is something that I not only love, but have recently gotten back into with a vengeance. I can't seem to get enough of books and have been flying through my bookshelf. As you can see above, I recently finished the Out from Egypt Series by Connilyn Cossette and I can say, confidently, that she has become my favorite author right along with Francine Rivers.
While indoors everything looks dark, and magical with candles lit here and there and fairy lights hanging ever so precariously from bookshelves......outside the world is bright and alive with the joy of the daily rains.
My flowers are thriving, standing tall, showing off their bright colors and happiness at the extra love God is showering on them.
My vegetables are equally loving all the water and are growing fast, already blooming, already giving off their fruit. I love this time of Spring where the vegetable gardens come alive.
While the rain falls outside, I have been baking,
trying my continued effort at mastering sourdough, which I will say, I
don't think I ever will and that is ok. I am pretty happy with the
talents God has given me in many areas, and if sourdough is one that I
don't do particularly well in, that is okay with me.
There have been chocolate banana bread bars, sourdough loaves, a lemon pie, and delicious meals like saucy greek meatballs in a rich tomato sauce, grilled Hawaiian chicken thighs with the most delicious macaroni salad, kimchi which we are trying to eat a bit of every day because it is so good for you, along with some kombucha.
I went through a stage where I wasn't getting much joy out of cooking either. That's when I knew something was not right, I wasn't homemaking with the usual joy I have, I wasn't enjoying cooking, I wasn't crocheting or taking photographs, or blogging or doing anything much of anything. My doctor did assure me that this is normal as I get ever so close to menopause, and since I am turning 52 this year.
It's part of life. I wasn't happy to hear that but I changed my attitude, gave it all to God and decided to go back to doing what I love. Starting again when you've stopped doing something for a while, is not easy, but when you push through the initial barrier, and get back to what you love, it makes a world of difference.
“The garden was a pool of late golden sunshine, with butterflies hovering and bees booming” - Anne of Green Gables
Pottering around in the garden is something I also stopped doing. But this past weekend we got out there, got all the grass mowed and fixed some of the flower beds, got some plants in the beds and got prepared for some more beds.
I will start on those today. I need to get potatoes in the ground, as well as make room for some more vegetables that I want to grow. I will be sure to take pictures as I go to show you all.
Homemaking with a joyful heart changes everything. Doesn't it?
We often taken our lives for granted, choosing to be annoyed or irritated by some of the tasks that are before us. Mundane, repeated, constant, never ending, so go our homes, and yes it can be a bit tiresome at times to look at the same pile of dishes in the sink, or the overflowing laundry basket that you just emptied the day before.
Truth be told, we all have days where we want to run for the hills *so to speak*.
Grocery shopping is one of those for me. I don't mind the actual shopping, but putting it all away takes no less than an hour for me, and that is pushing it. Usually, two hours I'll be working on putting things away, throwing things out, cleaning cupboards before putting something newly bought in.
But I am so thankful to God that we are blessed with money to buy the groceries, to feed our families. And so I do it all with a smile on my face, something forced (not going to lie), while inside I may be frustrated but I find that if I force a smile it becomes natural after a few minutes and it washes away the spirit of annoyance that threatens to ruin the moment. After all, we do it all for the glory of God right?
Before I leave you this morning, I wanted to share this gorgeous painting with you, well, 3 paintings in one. My husband chose it and I was just in love when he showed me. We still need to put it up on the wall, but for the moment it sits above the fireplace.
I love looking at it during the day.
We have a little reprieve on the rain today, so I am going to use that opportunity to get out back and get the beds put together or at least in place where I want them to go, and maybe get the soil in them too if I have time for it.
This weekend we will be finishing off another chicken coop and run and moving two of our chickens, well a rooster and a hen into it. Then next weekend, hopefully get the last one up and sorted for the other rooster and hen.
Today however, along with the gardening plans I have, I still need to get in my minimum of 10 thousands steps, a 30 minute workout, I am doing this one below this week....
I also need to finish the large petals on my crochet blanket so that I can move on to the framing round. Oh my word, I am not enjoying these first few parts of this new blanket, I don't like fiddling around with smaller parts to then join to the blanket. I would much rather it be a continuous blanket. I think this is why it's taken me so long to get past this first part, I would have already been onto the next, but I am forcing myself to do it and I know I will be happy when it's done.
I need to pay bills, get the budget sorted as in written down in my budget book as I pay etc.
Then I hope to get some more reading. I just started a new book by Sarah M. Eden the same writer from Seeking Persephone which is quite popular at the moment.
The book is called Ashes on the Moor and so far I am already enjoying it. I think Sarah Eden may be one of my favorite secular book writers.
And that my friends is basically what I'll be doing, as well as hopefully baking my daughters birthday cake for tomorrow. Can you believe that my Jasmine is turning 27? What?
Yes this little one is turning 27 ♥
If that doesn't make me feel old, I don't know what does. Considering, Nicholas just turned 23 on the 11th of April.
Right, now I need to get going with my day. I hope you have the most wonderful Friday and weekend ahead. I will see you all back here soon, promise.
