Spring Clean, Injuries and Felt Toys!

This coming week one of my best Friends, who is not from Cape Town, will have her 6th baby, by caesarian - YES, her 6th caesarian, isn’t that amazing - and they will stay with us for the week.  So during the past week, we spring cleaned and reorganized our home.  

While busy organizing the home, I sorted through clothes; I steam cleaned the carpets; 

and we deep cleaned the kitchen and room our friends would stay in.  

Then while in the final step of our spring cleaning, I seriously injured my head against the corner of a cupboard and our spring clean came to an abrupt stop!  The razor sharp corner of the cupboard, split open the skin on my forehead just into my hair line.  CJ and Heidi-Mari immediately knew how to stop the bleeding with Yarrow - so much blood with a head injury! They supported me through the immense shock and Josua and Danika took over caring for the little ones, while Christo, who arrived minutes later, attended to my wound.  With CJ and Heidi-Mari’s help Christo "stitched up” the wound with corn starch without taking me for stitches - not without cutting off some hair (LOL!). They ordered me to bed rest and I gladly gave in.  The rest of the day CJ, Heidi-Mari and Josua, cleaned up the room, prepared dinner and looked after their younger siblings.

On Friday I felt like someone that had brain damage!  I couldn’t think straight or do things at the same pace and fervency I’m used to, and decided to take the day off, as well as the weekend.  But I do have to stay busy, so I worked on my latest hobby - making felt food for Danika and the girls who will stay with us during the week! 

Here is my first finished project!

  

I enjoyed every minute making this Strawberry Cake and can’t wait to see the girls playing with it. 

One of Heidi-Mari’s best friends, Kelly-Anne started a Sewing Challenge a few months ago, and this month’s theme is Children’s Toys!  I like to enter this project into her challenge.  

The pattern for the Strawberry Cake and Plate I got here. The felt I bought over the years for different craft projects, at a local craft shop, the yarn I had from previous sewing projects and the buckram to strengthen the plate was left over from a ballet costume. 

I only had to buy the patterns, foam and filling. I got a cut off piece of foam at a local foam shop in Durbanville for next to nothing, and the filling at a local Craft shop!

I’m so thankful for Kelly-Anne starting this Sewing Challenge.  Since she’s running the Sewing Challenge, Heidi-Mari became interested in sewing and enjoys it more and more.  She already made a Duplo bag for the little one’s Duplo;

and a Princess crown for Danika who is always ‘dressing up’ as a Princess.

Wait till you see Heidi-Mari and Danika’s children toy projects…

Why don’t you give yourself some creative off time and enter Kelly-Anne’s Children Toys Sewing Challenge.

With love

Linnie

A Mother and Daughter Tea!

Years ago when I was still only dreaming of having a little girl, it was partly because I wanted to share girly things with her!  

A Girl to dress in pink, a girl to play dolls with, a girl with whom I could have tea and cake afternoons, a girl to plan a wedding for one day, a girl who would become my best friend.  

The part of dressing in pink, 

and play dolls with, already came true!  

A girl who would become my best friend, too.  

And this past weekend another part of my dream came true:

A girl with whom I could have tea and cake afternoons.

On Monday, Heidi-Mari turned 14.  In celebration of her birthday, we had a Mom and Daughter Tea, on Saturday.  For months we planned, prepared and decorated the venue (we preferred it in our own home), Heidi-Mari’s dress (we wanted it to be a real lady’s tea), the invitations, the refreshments, types of tea and the table setting.

The venue was my biggest heart ache.  Since we wanted to paint our dining room for ages, we decided there is no better time than now.  

One weekend Christo, CJ and Josua took on the job and finished it. 

They did a great job and David believed he is now living in a new house!

We also bought 6 meters of light pink and cerise pink organza and Christo made it hang from the roof to the floor, to create a special effect at the entrance.  

We tied it back with pink ribbon.

It gave the room a soft, warm and rich atmosphere. 

In the mean time Heidi-Mari was busy making the most beautiful invitation cards to invite her friends. 

I started making her skirt. Making the skirt was a challenge on its own!  

We chose different textures. In the process we chose a stretch type of fabric with normal fabric and only afterwards realized that is a no-go!  So I had to improvise.  The Lord miraculously (and thankfully) send me a young woman who just came back from working for six months with a well known designer in Johannesburg and she gave me some tips on working with chiffon. 

Using wax wrap to put the seams together.

By laying chiffon between unprinted newspaper before placing the pattern on top, ease the cutting!  

At the end some satin ribbon and beautiful white lace saved the day.

Heidi-Mari had a skirt for her Birthday Tea!

A week before the party we started baking. Since we had to work around little ones who need us almost every moment of the day, we chose items which could be baked days before and put in the freezer, until needed on the day of the tea.  We baked in the morning just after breakfast, a time the little ones are used to play outside with Josua or Danika and in the afternoons while they took their naps.

  

Most of the time, little Michael was in the Ergo on my back, asleep or helping along!

  

It was such a special time for Heidi-Mari and me together, baking, chatting, laughing and sharing.  I often wonder when the actual highlight of an event occurs? At the event itself, or in preparing for the event?  For me surely the highlight was working with Heidi-Mari, planning and baking, with this special girl of mine. 

We baked lemon squares, rum balls, caramel slices, cream puffs and 

mini cheese cakes. 

We also made little round cheese biscuits with apricot jam and tiny meat balls, served with cherry tomatoes and pieces of cheese. 

For the table we got a beautiful rose bouquet and we laid the table with my Royal Albert tea set.  

I bought this tea set 18 years ago with the insurance money I got as payback money, while I couldn’t work due to tick flea fever, which also was the reason I had my first miscarriage. So many memories in that tea set of mine!  

By Friday evening all the refreshments was ready and done.  On Saturday we only had to wash the floors, lay the table and help the men leave the house.  Christo planned to take the boys to the Aquarium in the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront.  It was so special to see every one do their part, on Saturday morning.  Josua vacuumed the floors, CJ washed, while Christo took care of our four little boys, Heidi-Mari and Danika laid the table and I printed questions to pass around the table.  

Each guest would answer a question, and so our guests could get to know each other better and conversations would go smoothly.   I also printed the letters of the alphabet, at the end each guest draw a letter and blessed Heidi-Mari with a word starting with the letter.  Heidi-Mari was blessed with words like, Wisdom, Time-management, Virtue, Love of God and Listening Heart, Wonderful, Fun, Happy and Awesome Year.

Like always we started to run late and CJ jumped in to decorate the meat balls, with Danika's help. 

He even arranged the savory plate!  

By 14h30 our guests arrived and we had such a blessed afternoon!  We had different kinds of teas, but the Forest Berry Tea was the ultimate favorite and I couldn’t boil the kettle fast enough to keep the teapots filled.  

I think the girls each drank 4-5 cups of Berry Tea!

What a beautiful group of Godly girls!  I thank the Lord for these friends He has sent to accompany my daughter through this season of her life!  They are all homeschool girls, with the same interest.  Heidi-Mari don’t see them on a regular basis, but they read each others’ blogs, meet at ballet and get together every now and then for a crafting afternoon and they live a simple, pure life!  

Thank you Lord, You are Faithful.  There is a new generation of Godly young Women in the making!

With love

Linnie

"She girdeth her loins with strength, 

and strengtheneth her arms."

Prov 31:17

Above Rubies, Ballet Costumes and Croissants

Yes, this is what keeps me busy and away from the blogworld!

For almost three weeks 15 boxes of Above Rubies stood in my living room, shouting at me to be put into envelopes and sent to our 600 Above Rubies subscribers in South Africa. 

I was desperately trying to finish Heidi’s birthday dress for her 13th birthday and then we celebrated her 13th birthday!  The little ones didn’t mind having the boxes in their way all the time and were playing house-house underneath the table between all the boxes! 

This past two weekends my wonderful husband and four older children jumped in on the job and managed to put the Above Rubies in envelopes, ready to be posted!

So to all my South African Blog Friends who are subscribed to Above Rubies, you are in for a huge treat and are just going to love this issue!  

You can boil the water so long, get out your favourite tea cup or coffee mug and look forward to curl up in your most comfortable chair with Above Rubies #78! 

And while every one in the house is packing Above Rubies, I’m busy with a huge challenge - making three ballet costumes! 

A ‘Star’, a ‘Pearl’ and a ‘Lost Boy’ for Danika and Heidi-Mari’s Peter Pan ballet concert in September! 

I just love making ballet costumes, but they are quite a challenge, since the costumes create the atmosphere for the concert - and that is what it is all about! 

Again my older children are making it possible for me to sit for hours in front of the sewing machine, 

while they entertain the little ones, meet their needs and even take care of dinners! 

In an attempt to say thank you to my family, I baked them croissants over the weekend!  Heidi-Mari is learning baking skills this year and use an excellent Baking book which teach the technique and skill in such a simple way.  

While studying pastries, we tried our hand at croissants.  In the past I once tried to baked croissants, but it wasn’t very successful. But since we used the Baking book, baking is so satisfying!  

With the illustrated pictures and detailed instructions every recipe is a masterpiece. 

And the croissants was no exception!  My family now wants croissants at least once a week and I enjoy preparing it so much, I may just agree...

With love

Linnie