Finding joy in the everyday

Art Friday: Sydney Bella Sparrow Born: USA Realistic still-life I love these pieces, I love the colours, I love the skill, the  detail, the discipline needed to create these works. Every different to last weeks soft water colours.  Enjoy. *****

How true. Our aim is to create a place that feels like home and not one that looks like it is from Vogue magazine.  Just remember is it not competition to see who can create the most "cosy" home. Nor is it based on the number of hours one spends at home.  I have a lovely cosy home (just ask my family) and I am not home all day and I bet you also have a cosy home and you may spend all day at home.   Create and enjoy and forget about how many hours others spend creating their cosy home. Don't forget . . .  We are ALL homemakers in our own particular way. Might not be your way, but if the end results are the same, then it doesn't matter how we get there. LOVE, ENCOURAGE AND SUPPORT  our Christian sisters and remember - we all do things differently but do all things through Christ who strengthens me and you. ******

Many Sunday evenings my father would cook dinner. He cooked one of our favourite dishes - Potato Latkes which we all loved and dad was the best at cooking them. Dad now lives alone, he cooks all his own meals and he is very good at it. Whilst they are often simple meals, they are very healthy and he often likes to try out new recipes.  Not only does he cook for himself, he is very capable cooking for a small group of people too.  Dad was also very good at cooking tomato sauce and jam and it was my dad would taught me to make jam.  My brothers all cook, one cooks every night for his wife and he is a great cook (has even booked for parties and weddings). Both my sons cook and one cooks every night for his wife. I taught both my sons to cook and my mother taught all three of my brothers to cook. It wasn't some feminist ideal, it was simply so they could help out in the kitchen. It turned out that my brothers and my sons were very good at cooking an...

~ Afternoon tea ~ There is nothing more lovely than sitting down for afternoon tea with friends or family. There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea (Henry James) Why not invite some ladies over and enjoy a lovely afternoon together with the best china, delicious scones with jam and cream, sweet little sandwiches and warm chatter. Perhaps wear hats like they use to long ago. You don't need lots of fancy china, be creative with what you already own or visit your local charity store and see what you can find for a few dollars. I have picked up some pretty plates for $1 to $2 each and I have even found pretty china teacups. *****

Room by Room: The kitchen After receiving such interest in my " Making our homes comfortable " and " Do you need help " blog posts, I thought I would expand on this by going from room to room over the next few months. I thought I would focus on making our homes comfortable, ways to become more organised, home decorating, ideas for storage and just general information that might be useful. I am no expert on home decorating, my home is designed for comfort first and foremost because it if isn't comfortable, then what is the point of all our hard work.  Secondly I am a very practical/organised girl and in each room I share you will see this coming through, I don't have time for lots of frills and personally I am not into that sort of decorating. Working full time does limit me, however what we have works for us, its easy to manage, easy to keep clean and we are very comfortable in our little home.  I thought I would start with the most important...

Artist: Christian Graniou Water colourist Some gentle watercolours today :) Enjoy. *****

So very true.  Just enjoy living and stop looking over your shoulder to see how everyone is living their lives. Its your story and not theirs.  You might do things differently, you might have different family arrangements, you might see different things on your journey through life, you might experience more pain, more loss, you might have to work out side the home or care for an ageing parent.  As a result . . .  your memories will certainly be very different to everyone else.  Live life the best you can.  And smile and be content with whatever God gives you.  xxxx And if you ever want a smile or encouragement drop by my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/joyintheeveryday *****