For the last couple of weeks I have been 'lying low'. Spending lots of time at home with my beautiful family starting and finishing a lot of projects around our home. It has been blissful. MR S has had time off work for two weeks due to an injury the first week, and flooding of the work shed the second (he may possibly have to be home all this coming week too due to local flooding and road closures - our children will be home from school too in that case!).
So here's some photos of what we've been up too (besides drinking coffee, chatting together and resting said injuries!) There are a lot of photos in this post, so enjoy!
We made some delicious hummus with the help of a very excited Mr R! This is the second batch I've made (the first batch was over-dosed with garlic and very inedible!)
Here's the recipe I used for the hummus. This one turned out much better, although still a little dry. I would add a tad bit more water next time. Feel free to let me know how yours turned out!
Ingredients:
1 pckt dry chick peas (soaked in water overnight, rinsed
and drained well with 'yucky' peas picked out)
2 tblspns crushed garlic
1 tspn paprika
2 tblspns tahini (sesame seed paste sold in health
food section of supermarket)
1/2 tspn cumin power (optional)
4 tblspns extra virgin olive oil
1 tblspn lemon juice
3/4 -1 cup water
pepper to taste
Method:
- soak chick peas overnight
- boil chickpeas in a large saucepan until very soft and then fully drain
- puree the chick peas in a food processor
- add oil, garlic, paprika, cumin (optional), lemon juice, and tahini and blend together
- slowly add water until smooth creamy consistency that is to your liking
- add pepper to taste
- spoon hummus into sterilised jars with air-tight lids.
The little jar that is in front of the hummus in the photo is some natural home deodoriser that I made. I've been wanting to try it for a while, and I figured a rainy day was the perfect day to give it a go!
It's just two older oranges sliced into circles, some cinnamon powder (or you could use a cinnamon stick), and two star anise (love the subtle aniseed scent). Place it all in a saucepan with some water and let it simmer over low heat and smell the incredible aroma that fills your home! It was worth the wait, and worth the ingredients as I have jarred it so it can be re-used!
We have also done heaps of gardening during slight breaks in the rain (helps stop cabin fever setting in!). We've been making new garden beds, weeding, mulching, fertilising, mowing, transplanting, pruning, planting the veggie patch and some grape vines ... all hard work, but so enjoyable and rewarding as the gardens and yard looks absolutely lovely. We are so blessed by our amazing God!
We've planted
sugar loaf cabbage
lettuce
tomatoes
onions
broccoli
cucumber
snow peas
grape vines
and
cape gooseberry vines
(there are a couple more gardens that I didn't take photos of)
The three trees above are some of our citrus (one is a self-pollinating apple tree) we have planted to hopefully get a great crop and save some cash at the supermarket! Can't wait!
This is the beautiful new addition that MR S added to our garden near the front door. Total cost = $0.00! He scored the door from a person going to throw it out and the rose was already planted and just needing a frame to climb on! I think it looks gorgeous and gives a great lift to the front of the house!
We've made the most of the rainy time inside too; organising a heap of cupboards and sorting, freshening up and re-arranging rooms! (No pics for that sorry!)
I'm getting back into my writing course on becoming a children's author ... just got an assignment done ready to send, and the printer decides to throw a little tanti! *sigh* oh well ... these things happen, it'll all work out! It's been good to get my creative writing juices flowing again.
There has been a great balance of productivity, fantastic conversations, and relaxation in this home the last two weeks. There's been books read, a lovely visit from my mum, beautiful times watching our children playing together with the animals and climbing trees, some art and decorating, lots of sweet times of fellowship with the Lord (many lessons learnt of late) some thrift store shopping, some soaks in a hot bubble bath and cups of tea! I am greatly blessed.
Wherever you are, in whatever season you're in, you are blessed ... because you are His. Can I encourage you to see the moments, the small day-to-day moments that make up all of life's most beautiful blessings. Don't miss them. I hope you are blessed and encouraged by this post.
I'll leave you with a couple of photos of our children playing with little Miss J's duckling 'Sparkles', and our new little puppy 'Prince Caspian' (our small little white ball of fluff!)
