

Happy Monday! โฅ๏ธ๐ฒ๐


Happy Monday! โฅ๏ธ๐ฒ๐

We seek the place where Thou art, for there would we also be, for in truth Thou art the end of all the searchings of heart which perplex us.
~ from Scale Howe Meditations

My friends! They are here. They made it around the exact same time as the last two or three years. Couldnโt get a photo, but check out this beautiful art of one of the most beautiful birds that captures my heart. โฅ๏ธ so grateful!
~

Happy Thursday! I โtriedโ to group these by main genre topic. โฅ๏ธ Iโm hoping to add more for reference! A few of these donโt regularly update, but there is a TREASURE TROVE of back posts!
Writing/General Memoir/Nature:
Poetry (among other gems):
Essays/Articles:
Home/Domestic/Family:
Reading/Homeschool:
Booktube Absolute Favorites:
Happy reading/watching! This would be a perfect place to dive into on your next rainy day! So thankful for creativity and words! ๐ฒโฅ๏ธ๐

โขlisteningโข โฅ๏ธ๐ฒ~
The sound of water trickling (we call the above stream the Withywindle), birds, wind, and Iโm getting more audiobook time from walking and driving an hour away for a monthly book club. I have Mistress Pat by L. M. Montgomery and The Raphael Affair by Iain Pears going. The Pears book is an art mystery thriller, itโs a bit info-dumpy, but I love the art fraud case and Rome setting. Two police are helping an art historian unravel the mystery. Itโs a series so if I end up liking this one enough, I can go on!

โขwatchingโข โฅ๏ธ๐ฒ ~ Iโm so enjoying checking my daffodils and the tree buds etc for any growth and changes. I did really enjoy this LOVELY journaling YouTube video recently. I was inspired to create my May reading pages. They look ๐ nothing like ๐ some of these gals I watch, but I had fun all the same. I used some kitty washi I had and a Pusheen stamp set we had laying around. I also found some more fun cute reading bingo boards on Pinterest. I find it so satisfying to fill them in here and there.



โขreadingโข โฅ๏ธ๐ฒ~
I mentioned the two audiobooks Iโm enjoying ๐, but currently, I have SO many books on the stack. I think Iโm most enjoying spy/thriller/mystery archaeology type adventure stories ๐๐ with a healthy dose of classic, comfort reads. Very strange combo, I know, but Iโm definitely eclectic! Below are a few ones Iโm throughly enjoying.





โขnoticingโข โฅ๏ธ๐ฒ~ We have a lot of Bloodroot blooming along the field and road edges. The Robins, Killdeers, and Red-winged Blackbirds have been vocal! Iโve had two Eastern Bluebird sightings which of course fills me with happiness. ๐๐๐งก๐ค We saw the male American Goldfinches donning their yellow jackets! ๐๐ฅฐ We are testing our observations on the Barn Swallows. They usually are back around my daughterโs birthday and itโs this weekend (17!) so it will be fascinating if we see them! Iโll let you know! I loved seeing my youngest get to ride a horse this past week for the first time. He wasnโt sure but then really enjoyed it. ๐ด



What have you been listening to, reading, watching, noticing? Iโd really love to hear! โฅ๏ธ๐ฒ๐ฅฐ



Wowsers. ๐๐ฎโ๐จ Nothing like packing up parts of your home for a much needed renovation project to see how terrible of a cleaner/organizer I am! ๐ง๐ซจ๐
We are, Lord-willing, finally getting our walls properly insulated and a new floor! ๐ Among other things, hopefully! BUT that means taking down my shelves that my FIL built 10 (!) years ago. So LOTS of books have to be packed up!
Itโs a great opportunity for me to purge and organize. So many memories with all my children and these wonderful books we thrifted, hunted down, and treasured over the years. ๐ฅฒ๐๐ฅฐ
Thank God for motherhood and the opportunity to home educate. ๐๐ฅฒโฅ๏ธ
Any projects on your horizon? I hope to update about this and my gardening soon! ๐ค๐ปโฅ๏ธ

Merrily Gareth askโd
โHave I not earnโd my cake in baking of it?
Let be my name until I make my name!
My deeds will speak: it is but for a day.โ
So with a kindly hand on Garethโs arm
Smiled the great King, and half-unwillingly
Loving his lusty youthhood yielded to him.
Gareth and Lynette, Idylls of the King, Tennyson


โDamsel,โ Sir Gareth answerโd gently, โsay
Whateโer ye will, but whatsoeโer ye say,
I leave not till I finish this fair quest,
Or die therefore.โ
Gareth and Lynette
Iโm slowly getting into my buddy read of Idyllโs of the King and I was struck remembering this lovely picture book version of this part of the poem. The Kitchen Knight retold by Margaret Hodges is lovely, largely due to the illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman!
Happy Monday, friends! Our weekly quest has begun! Go forth boldly and without fear! ๐๐ปโฅ๏ธ๐

He took David from tending the ewes and lambs and made him the shepherd of Jacobโs descendants-Godโs own people, Israel.
He cared for them with a true heart and led them with skillful hands.
Psalm 78:71-72, NLT, emphasis mine
My prayer for today! That I may care for the people around me with a true heart and lead them with skillful hands. ๐ฅฒ๐๐๐ปโฅ๏ธ

Inspiration:
โSix feet down in the sand
There’s creatures that made a hole
Do speak, I’m begging you, please
There’s beauty outside control (Outside)โ
~RM๐
My friend, Samโs devotional about the Mundanity of God โฅ๏ธ
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
โPrayers of a Foolโ
Cathedral carvings hidden
Full-time home hearth lovinโ forbidden
Fool, donโt do that again
Takes long, second gone, down drain, amen.
Wash, rinse, sunrise driven
Plant, weed, kiss that bruised knee
Blood, sweat, things that donโt make sense.
Paint, scribble, lock it in a drawer, forgotten.
Cathedral songs stir, long-dead-dusty, silent
Heart strings strum violent
Prayer painting skies violet.
Fool, donโt do that again.
It donโt make sense.
A.M.P. ๐ฒโฅ๏ธ




If you could chuck your to-do list out the window today, what would you do? ๐ ๐ Iโd find a lovely spot by water, under a tree, or in my cute local coffee shop, grab a latte , and read. I know, surprise, surprise. โบ๏ธ๐
Hereโs whatโs on my stack that Iโm currently interested in or really enjoying!




I love keeping houseโฆitโs really a lovely phrase, isnโt it? Keeping itโฆholding it fast against the worldโฆagainst all the forces trying to tear it open.
Mistress Pat โฅ๏ธ๐ฟ




โขlistening to and reading โขโฅ๏ธ๐ฟ~ we are really enjoying our read aloud of Journey to the River Sea. Weโve kind of poked our head into South America, this year while studying Early American history, explorers, etc. We have some Ancient reading going on and early European too. Itโs seems to be opening up ideas and interesting discussions and narrations. ๐


โขwatching and noticingโขโฅ๏ธ๐ฟ
One child mentioned within my hearing how The Divine Comedy ๐ญ and the podcast The 100 Days of Dante were coming together with other things. My heart cheered inside. ๐ โฅ๏ธ Iโve noticed that Marvel and the Percy Jackson Series have been being connected to Greek/Norse myths we are always enjoying in our Literature. My older kids enjoy some of the Marvel movies and ALL of my kids have appreciated Percy Jacksonโs adventure stories.



Tornado ๐ช๏ธ/ thunderstorm weather in our area! ๐ฑ๐ฌ
What have you been listening to, reading, watching, and noticing? Iโve been so interested and pleased with our history adventures this year! Thank You, Lord! โฅ๏ธ๐๐๐ฅฐ







What are you creating/enjoying? ๐ฅฐ๐โฅ๏ธ๐ฟ