Old favorites…{Day 35}

Sunrise and Honeysuckle

Do you find yourself returning to old favorites and habits in times of stress and upheaval? Sometimes, for me, this isn’t a good thing, because I have to work very hard to make good choices in a few areas where I’m prone to excess. However, books, music, and nature or domestic detail photography all have their place in a kind of “on-the-spot therapy” for me. I am definitely a rereader especially if a book encapsulates a certain ‘feeling’ I’m after or setting I love.

Poetry that I return to again and again!

Wild, windy days and whipping yellow

I recently pulled off my shelf a favorite reread series that’s so interesting that I got immediately sucked in all over again. I was reminded how much I love rereading, because so much more can be caught and different things highlighted. The Mirror Visitor Series isn’t perfect, but it has so many interesting characters and so many ideas to think on, I just love it. I was again reminded that it’s not always good for me to rush reading or be trying to keep up with all the new stuff. One big downside to Bookstagram and Booktube. Poetry, too, is something I absolutely have favorites of, I’m so rewarded and surprised as I cracked open the pages and take a deep drink all over again.

I don’t own a PB copy of the last book, The Storm of Echoes yet, can’t wait to collect it for the gorgeous cover alone. My favorites are the first two, by far, but they are all so immersive.
Josh Garrels oldie, but goodie

I’m very eclectic in my reading, listening, and watching tastes. I like quirky, kind of off-the-beaten-track things with a side of classic. I’ve noticed a shift lately back to my old Josh Garrels listening, instrumental BTS (my one and ever only K-pop fandom), a craving for films like Sound of Music, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Babette’s Feast. I watched a few episodes of Over the Garden Wall with my kids the other day. It’s a bit toooo creepy for us, but some of it is interesting and has such a gorgeous atmosphere. How about you? What do you gravitate towards when life is feeling weighty?

Two reread favorites 🥹♥️

Tree gazing and listening to…what are they whispering?

Hello light, my old friend.

How ‘bout you? What are some healthy ways you refresh yourself? Do you need something new and different? Or do you return to your comfortable, hole-y sweater of inspiration? It goes without saying, that the Holy Bible is super comforting to me because it shows that there is nothing new under the sun. We are all so flawed. I need deep gulps of Jesus.♥️ I definitely occasionally need a ‘Tookish’ adventure to get me out of a funk, but generally, returning to my old Baggins favorites and home comforts blesses me immensely. What richness we’ve been given! ☺️♥️🕸️🕷️🌿🍂🍁🍄🌾

~I remember the days of old;

I mediate on all you have done;

I reflect on the work of your hands.

I spread out my hands to you;

I am like parched land before you.

Selah

Psalm 143: 5-6 CSB

…joy in the morning… {Day 33}

Hello 👋 ~ it’s been awhile! Life got a bit life-y and I had to step away. I’m back, though, and excited by all the bits of loveliness and joy around me, if I really take the time to see.

Gratitude list..

~reading about the prophet Elijah the Tishbite, in 1 & 2 Kings~

~Irish Spring soap 🧼 smell, packaging saved for bookmarks~

~Elizabeth Foss book lists~

~ October loveliness over at Elizabeth’s Inkberry Hill Cottage ~

~fat, jolly pumpkins and gourds~

~twinkle lights, flick & flare of my alpine forest candle lit first thing~

~older kids watercolor class~

~ reading Sam Campbell’s nature memoir together, a new-to-us author that we are loving~

~ nature ramblings with local friends~

~ library hauls, especially picture books~

~cardigan, sweatshirt weather, hooded little people, stocking-capped big kids~

~ 5 yo’s new habit of putting hands in pockets, so cute~

~ trying to resurrect a writing practice, lost my way in media jungle, Neil Gaimen’s Instructions intrigues me and is inspiring~

~using my older son’s Bluetooth speaker~

~my Kindle, trying A Portrait of the Malefactress as a Young Women by Karilyn M. Van Brugge, currently~

~ Victorian literature, especially Sylvia’s Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell, just so cozy and rich in character~

~photography eyes, peeking around corners~

~shaking pumpkin spice into my ground coffee before brewing~

~kids and I journaling to Vivaldi, a child told me it helps them concentrate 🥹♥️~

~Christmas gift secrets beginning around the house~

~long talks with 17 yo on commute to church~

~watching a Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes episode on YouTube with that same son~

~dipping into Susan Branch’s Autumn 🍂 book~

~ ‘try a 100 pages’ rule working well to weed out reads that aren’t for me~

~1/2 hour of reading/quiet while waiting for violin lesson to finish~

~first frost on pumpkins~

~Tombow Fudenosuke pens, swoon~

~podcast episode with my favorite musician~

~bringing all my geraniums indoors~

~feeling of pizza dough as I knead it~

~YouTube/Instagram breaks~

~Michael Hague deep dive with younger kids~

How about you? What is reaching out to you? 🍁♥️

Wednesday Wonders {Day 32} 🍂🎃🖤

Listening…

We’ve been enjoying Josh Garrels ‘Rise’ and Andrew Peterson’s ‘Sowers Song’ together as a family. Our homeschool hymn and folk song are current favorites, too!

Reading…

I’m deep into my Victorian selections which I’ve been talking about a lot, 🤣 but I have plenty of light things to try/reread in between my tomes! Have you read any of this stack? 🤓🤓🤓

Watching…

I’m so enjoying Chantel’s beautiful lifestyle vlogs, especially her reflections on life and nature footage. I’m also so excited to continue watching this channel and I got via Kindle her debut novel!

Noticing…

I absolutely love driving down the road with leaves falling on my van and then glancing into the rear view mirror for the swirl up and around of the leaves as we drive through them. Sigh. 😌 🍁🍂🍃 We have gone on a few nature rambles and plan on a couple of more soon with friends.

How about you? What are you listening to, reading, watching, and noticing? 🖤🍂🍁🍃💀👀♥️🍄🌕

Michael Hague {Day 31}

My 5 yo and I have been so enjoying the illustrations of Michael Hague. He is an intriguing artist as his drawings are so charming yet have an element of mystery and creepy deliciousness to them. We are slowly collecting books illustrated by him. Does your family have a favorite illustrator? We have SO many, but I’m diving deep into a few this year with my younger two children. It’s such a delight! ♥️Happy October, Friends!

Victober Eve ~ 2024 Pile of Possibilities Bookish Chat {Day 30} 🖤🐦‍⬛🪶🍂🕷️🍁🐈‍⬛🕸️🧡

The Marble Faun is American, but the right time period. It was a recommendation from Jennifer Brooks, a favorite Booktuber that unexpectedly passed away this year. 😞 I’m reading a Christina Rossetti poem each day and buddy reading on Voxer Sylvia’s Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell. I found a Librivox audio version which has different readers for each chapter (not my favorite), but there is difficult colloquial language that the readers are better at than me. Deerbrook is being put on hold so I can buddy read it with an online friend later this year. I have so many Trollope books to choose from, but I’d love to pick up Barchester Towers sooner than later.
This is the group read and I have it on my kindle…I didn’t love-love Lady Audley’s Secret, but I liked it enough to give another Braddon a try.
Nicholas Nickleby by Mr. Dickens I started in September and I’m listening while following along. It’s hilarious in the midst of Dickensian misery. 😂 I’m really enjoying it!
Creepy tales from Mrs. Gaskell that I’ve wanted to try! I have these in my Kindle.
Chantry House by Charlotte Mary Yonge I started in September and I’m really enjoying it. I read Dynevor Terrace by Yonge this summer and didn’t love some of the characters portrayal, BUT overall, liked it.

A Victorian play is one of the prompts for Victober and I found an audio version of ‘Mrs. Warren’s Profession’ and his famous ‘Pygmalion’. I’m going to give them a try!
I just recently heard of The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade. I’ve never heard of this Victorian author.
The Coral Island sounds like a fun adventure story.
My son’s Sherlock mug! ☕️ ♥️

Just a ‘few’ of the Victorian items I’m trying or considering reading…it’s part of Victober fun to way overestimate how much one can get to during October! 😂😂😂 I’m planning on continuing during November and December, too! The “BER” months are perfect for classics. 😁🖤🐦‍⬛ I have piles of lighter, easier reads for inbetween the dense reads. Here are a few more Victorian things I’m considering…

  1. ‘Pygmalion’ by George Bernard Shaw
  2. Woman in White by Wilkie Collins audiobook
  3. Orley Farm by Anthony Trollope
  4. My Lady Ludlow by Elizabeth Gaskell
  5. A Dark Night’s Work by Elizabeth Gaskell
  6. Children of the New Forest by Frederick Merryat
  7. Treasure Island by RLS (reread, possibly listen with my children?)
  8. Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (my children and I are listening to this currently)
  9. Victorian Fairy Tales edited by Michael Newton ( I read a few of these last year! I may read ‘The King of the Golden River” and “The Golden Key” with my children.
  10. One of the prompts is a Sherlock Holmes story, but I’m just planning on watching a Jeremy Brett episode with my 17 yo son. Brett is a fantastic Sherlock!

What sounds good here? What should I prioritize? This is SO fun! 🤩😂 Let me know what you are reading that feels fallish! 🧡🖤🧡

{book cover images/interior illustrations are from Google}

Happy Birthday, Mrs. Gaskell 🖤 {Day 29}

Elizabeth Gaskell is (so far) hands down my favorite 🤩 Victorian author! I know I have her book Ruth somewhere, too. Have you read her books? Who is your favorite Victorian writer? There’s A LOT to explore.😄♥️

A Mom’s Commonplace {Day 28}

Is there anything more cozy then journaling and journals? 😄♥️ It’s no secret that I’m a journal fanatic! We are trying something different this year in our home learning of combining our multiple journals into one. I’ve had the opportunity to journal alongside my children and it has been such an enriching experience. I don’t often share my children’s work, as that’s their own, but don’t mind sharing what I’ve been recording myself. 😆 So much richness! 😍I’m learning every day right along with my children. I have music lyrics, quotes, drawings, etc in here already! I treasure it. Do you journal?

What you learning or diving deep into? Isn’t life grand? 😄♥️🙌🌿🍄🌻

Wednesday Wonders {Day 27}

ListeningGreat Pumpkin and Harry Potter Ambient Music. I’m also enjoying Nicholas Nickleby audiobook while I follow along in the book.

Reading…I’ve begun a lot of my Victorian TBR, Dickens, Gaskell, and Yonge. but I’ve been enjoying light, cozy stories inbetween. Kiki’s Delivery Service, Thimble Summer, and The Language of Spells.

Watching…I’m back to watching YouTube/or going on Instagram only on Saturdays. It really helps my focus and sanity during the week. A new favorite YouTuber that I can’t wait to watch more of is CleoPatrick.

Noticing…the main thing I’ve noticed lately is that our Barn Swallows are gone. 🥲♥️ We’ve been seeing a few butterflies still and our temperatures are fluctuating a lot. My son saw a “V” of geese on Sunday. We’ve been trying to get outdoors more because we know the cold, snowy is coming.

How about you? What have you been reading, listening to, watching, or noticing? 🍁♥️

Cozy Week…🍁🎃🌲🖤🧡💛💚🤎✨🌾🍄🌞🌻🍂 {Day 25}

Book Mail 📬💌

Happy Autumn, 🍂 my dear Friends!

I’m hoping this week to hunker down into a bit of coziness. Nothing like the end of September, early October, easing into gratitude November, to foster a sense of richness and comfort. These are truly some of my favorite months. My family and I had a wonderful time with our annual apple 🍎 orchard visit, as well as our first bonfire 🔥 🪵🍄‍🟫🍂🍁. Sigh. 😌 So much to be grateful for! So curl up with a hot cup of tea 🫖 or coffee ☕️ and come chat with me.

We were looking 👀 for the Great Pumpkin 🎃 together! 🌞🍂🍁🐿️😁♥️
Pumpkins are SO delightful, comfy, and cheerful to me! 🎃🎃🎃
Chili with cheese 🧀 ♥️🦔🐾🪶
Let Victober reading commence! Victorian literature + October = Victober. Lots of info about this event on Booktube or Instagram. I just informally follow prompts etc. 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

“I am a child of the Earth and heavens. I find myself at once skipping like a schoolgirl full of wonder, and hushed in awe, something like the monks whose vespers follow the unfolding of the holy hours, and the turning of the globe, away from, then toward the sun.

I am humbled by this call to take in the autumnal majesty. To sit beneath the wind-blown boughs, to listen to the acorns plonking on the roof above my head.”

~ Barbara Mahany, from Slowing Time, p.152

I hope you’ll join me in your homes, journals, or own online places enjoying the season’s gifts! 🖤🍂🐿️🍄‍🟫🍁🖤

What’s bringing me joy lately… {Day 24}

Sunlight through Pampus Grass ✨
My moccasin shoes and crunchy acorns 🍂🍁
Late summer sunrises 🌅
Photography, seeking the light ✨♥️
New copies of old favorites 🌿
Gorgeous new stamps!!! I have a few penpals to catch up on! 😍✨♥️💌📬🖋️💕
Healthy, easy meals 🙌♥️
Always the stacks patiently waiting 😍♥️📚
Just the lovely, jolly, friendly pumpkins 🎃, so many seasonal ‘friends’ appearing
Unexpected delightful moments alone – HP #1 book and movie are my favorite of the whole lot. 🪄🧙‍♂️
Homeschooling 🥰💕♥️ aka lakeschooling – I’m so grateful for spending time with my kids
Oak leaves, the smell, shape, colors, crunchiness…♥️

I could go on! God’s gifts are never-ending. How about you? Anything bringing you joy recently?

🍂♥️📬🎃📚🌿💌🌅💕🍁🕸️🕷️

Monday Ponderings {Day 23}

Save me, God,

for the water has risen to my neck.

I have sunk in deep mud, and there is no footing;

I have come into deep water,

and a flood sweeps over me.

But as for me, LORD,

my prayer to you is for a time of favor.

In your abundant, faithful love, God,

answer me with your sure salvation.

~Psalm 69:1-2, 13 CSB

“Ease your whiskers, rest your paws,

Pies and puddings fill the stores.

Sweetly dream the night away,

Till sunshine brings another day.”

~ Jill Barklem

♥️📚🌿☕️✨🍂🍁🍄🌝🦉🕷️🕸️🎃