See, God has come to save me,
I will trust in him and not be afraid,
The LORD GOD is my strength and my song;
he has given me victory.
~Isaiah 12:2, NLT
Monday Ponderings 💕 {Day 93} •cozy corners, Scripture, fuzzy beastie•
Category: Create
The Simple Woman’s Daybook {Day 89} ☕️
FOR TODAY~
Outside my window…golden and pink sunrise with a haze, promises to be very hot today! Yesterday it was near 100 degrees! 🥵
I am thinking…about last night’s local homeschooling mom’s meeting and how good it was to see the ladies! Need to figure out which book won the vote for our Autumn read!
I am thankful for…my cat Sophie 😂♥️She’s so comforting!
From the kitchen…we’ve been making our chicken or tuna salad a lot! Usually shredded carrots, chopped celery, sometimes chopped apples, s&p, canned chicken or tuna drained and dill weed! Yum! We eat it on lettuce, bread, or with crackers. Sometimes I shred any available veggie like cucumber 🥒 I have to use things up!
I am creating…I just finished my collage and little article for the letter/zine I write for! I really want to write a penpal letter and I’m trying to blog daily here. This autumn I’d love to pick quilting back up and learn to make granny squares!
I am going…possibly to the lake today so the kiddos can cool off swimming and I’ll sit in shade with my water and book!📖
I am wearing…a green tshirt and probably a flowy green, cream, and orange skirt! My pearl earrings and new brown slide sandals.
I am reading…I may take Moby Dick to lake as I love reading it by water! 😍😅 I’m also loving Captain Blood and Jane Austen’s Bookshelf. Among many more. 😉 Here is a wonderful Booktube about some lovely summer reading options!
I am hoping…that my daughter’s bridal shower is ok and not too hot or stormy! It’s outdoors! 😨
I am hearing…ac humming and my 12 yo’s voice (he’s recovering from summer flu 😭). I’m absolutely loving this album! So worshipful and comforting!
Around the house…we’ve have remodeling and wedding messes! 😩🤪🤣 I really need to climb into a storage space to find my daughter’s Christmas ornaments because I’m giving them to her with a new one for her and her soon-to-be husband’s first Christmas! 😭😭😭 I need to check all my boxed books and make sure they aren’t getting damp. 😖 I also need to find our graduation party box to use the platters and twinkle lights for the bridal shower. I also need to make some treats for the bridal shower.
One of my favorite things…early morning with the light pouring through my new sliding glass doors.
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week…a birthday party/book club with local friends and THE.BRIDAL.SHOWER. 😂😱☠️
Here is a picture thought I am sharing for you…
This Old World of Ours {Day 86} 🌿♥️
The Holy Spirit has descended on this old world of ours, and there’s a Psalm 29 powwow in Elmo (Montana) every day of the year: a grace-revealing gesture, a fresh snowfall, a friend’s forgiveness, the first migrating yellow warbler, a miracle conversion, a truth-telling poem, a pasqueflower in bloom, the good death of a parent, resurrection – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-all the endless permutations of life. The beauty of holiness. And we have ringside seats. Henry James once said that a writer is a person on whom nothing is ever lost. That sounds like a focused Christian identity to me: the men and women on whom nothing, at least nothing that has to do with life-and virtually everything does-is lost. “Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”
Amen.
~Eugene H. Peterson, As Kingfishers Catch Fire , note mine in parenthesis
Friday Haiku ✨{Day 77}✨
flicker of birch leaf
flap of heron wings
they are going – gone.
A.M.Pine 🌲♥️
Monday Haiku {Day 73}
slivers of the sea
slant of shimmering sunlight
soul green gleaming.
~ A.M.Pine ♥️🌿
Happy Summer! 🌞✨ {Day 66)
Happiest First Day of Summer and Father’s Day! I’m over here at Hearth Ridge enjoying family, sunshine, flowers, and an Anne of Avonlea reread. Church and feasting, too! God is good! ✨
~
Six in Six 🌸📚☕️ {Day 54}
I’ve enjoyed Jessica’s blog for awhile now and I saw she was joining in a bookish blog hop about our 2026 reading! I used to blog hop a lot and really enjoyed linking up with others over a common topic. 😍 I’m joining her at Words & Peace for this reading meme reflecting about your first six months of reading.
Instructions from Emma at Words & Peace:
In 2021, Jo at The Book Jotter started hosting the meme Six in Six.
She stopped blogging in 2025, so I have decided to host it myself.What is 6 in 6?
The idea is to look back at the books you have read so far in the six months of this year.
Now, I love plays with numbers, so I’m extending this meme:
you can post any time in July, or as early as 6/6, June 6th.What do you post?
Choose 6 books in 6 categories.
You can come up with your own category, or choose among the following examples (copied from Jo’s blog):
- Six new authors to me
- Six authors I have read before
- Six authors I am looking forward to reading more of
- Six books I have enjoyed the most
- Six books I was disappointed with
- Six series of books read or started
- Six authors I read last year – but not so far this year
- Six books that took me on extraordinary journeys
- Six books that took me by the hand and led me into the past
- Six books from the past that drew me back there
- Six books from authors I know will never let me down
- Six books I must mention that don’t fit nicely into any category
- Six books I started in the first six months of the year and was still caught up with in July
- Six trips to Europe
- Six blogging events I enjoyed
- Six bookish things I’m looking forward to
- Six Espionage or Historical Novels I enjoyed
- Six Cool Classics
- Six Non-US/Non-British Authors
- Six From the Non-Fiction Shelf
- Six books that didn’t live up to expectations
- Six books that I had one or two problems with but am still glad I tried
- Six books that are related to The Great War or Second World War
- Six bookshops I have visited
- Six books I’ve read in an English translation
- Six books which are better than the film
- Six books which are worse than the film
- Six books that have sport as their major theme
- Six favourite places to read
- Six books read on kindle and then went and bought an actual copy
- Six books I abandoned
- Six classics I have read
- Six books I have read on my Kindle
- Six physical books I have read
- Six book covers I love
- Six book covers that bear no resemblance to the story contained within
- Six books to read to avoid politics
- Six books I have read but not reviewed
- Six books I have read in lockdown
- Six classic mysteries
- Six books about Royalty
- Six pretty book covers
- Six books set in a country other than my own
- Six books that feature a Pandemic
- Six books that are great when self-isolating
- Six books recently added to my wish list
- Six mysteries, thrillers or crime novels NOT by Agatha Christie
- Six books with titles connected to rivers, seas and storms
- Six nature related books
- Six books about Librarians and Libraries
- Six books I really want to buy in the next six months
- Six books that feature a building in the title
My categories I’ve chosen to share about are:
- Six favorite genres so far
- Six favorite reads so far in 2026
- Six favorite Booktube Readathons
- Six New-to-Me Authors
- Six Mysteries I loved
- Six Books I Read from My Shelf
My Six Favorite Genres: (many are a mixture of these below! I’m such an eclectic reader!)
- Fairytale/Classic Retellings
- Fantasy
- Historical Fiction
- Mystery
- Young Adult
- Middle Grade
My Six Favorite Reads so far 2026 (so hard to choose!)
- The Secret of Honeycake by Kimberly Newton Fusco (beautiful, heartwarming Middle Grade)
- The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas (gorgeous, Biblical Historical Fiction)
- The Will of Many by James Islington (wonderful epic Historical Fantasy)
- Through Rushing Waters by Catherine Richmond (Heartbreaking Historical Fiction)
- Mistress Pat by L.M. Montgomery (beautifully written classic)
- Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw (classic fantasy story of an underdog!)
My Six Favorite Booktube Readathons So Far this Year: (You can still join these! I don’t follow the monthly prompts, I just fill them in as I go!)
- Jurassic Reading Challenge
- Read Your Bookshelf Challenge
- Journey Through Time Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
- Passport to Summer Reading
- Summertime Bingo
- Summer Book Bingo
Six New-to-Me Authors
- Carrie Cotten, Christian Fantasy, The Huntress
- Derin R. Hicks, Middle Grade, Shakespeare Mystery Duo-logy
- Kate Stradling, Cozy Fantasy, Deathmark
- Sheri Cobb South, Regency Romance, The Weaver Takes a Wife
- Lloyd C. Douglas, Biblical Historical Fiction, The Robe
- Michael Perry, Memoir, Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time
Six Mysteries I have enjoyed :
- Death in a Strange Country (and Quietly In Their Sleep) by Donna Leon (Commisario Brunetti Series)
- For Whom the Book Tolls by Laura Gail Black (cozy mystery)
- Breach of Trust by DiAnn Mills (Romantic Suspense Mystery Thriller)
- Alex Rider: Scorpio (and Snakehead) by Anthony Horowitz (mystery/spy thriller series)
- Dead in the Water by Denise Swanson (small town mystery)
- Secrets of Shakespeare’s Grave (and sequel Tower of Five Orders) by Deron R. Hicks (Middle Grade)
Six Books I actually Read from My Own Shelf (Physical/Kindle Shelf):
- Caddie Woodlawn (reread) by Carol Ryrie Brink (Middle Grade Historical Fiction)
- Fatal Fudge Swirl by Meri Allen (Cozy Mystery)
- This is Happiness by Niall Williams (hauntingly beautiful Historical Fiction)
- The Road Past Altamont by Gabrielle Roy (beautiful book in translation about Mother/Daughter relationships)
- Followed by Frost by Charlie N. Holmberg (charming reimagining of Disney’s Frozen, YA Fantasy)
- Persuasion (reread) by Jane Austen (Regency)
How has your reading year been so far? 📚📖
Monday Ponderings ~ Happy June~ 🌲🌿🌱🍃 {Day 49}
Starting a bit of a June challenge for myself! June is my birthday month so I want to gift myself health, beauty, relationships, and simple routines. I’m putting this here for additional accountability and encouragement! It’s never too late to start again.
♥️🌲🌿🌱🍃♥️
Deck Delights {Day 46} 🌼🌸🌺
Idlewild season {the name of my deck garden😅} is officially started! I read my Bible with my coffee out there this morning. 😍 Bliss! Have some seeds planted in those big tubs, too! ❣️ We also have four tomato plants and a fern.
I was hoping to plant a huge patch of sunflowers, zinnias, and cosmos, but it may not happen with wedding planning and remodeling. It’s so lovely to have this bit of cheer to enjoy. Grateful. ☺️
Are you planting or growing anything? 😍🌻
Paper Pile Peek {Day 43} 📜📝📓🔖
✨•what are you working on?•✨ Eeek, books and journals, pens and stickers, lists and scribbles, total bliss! ✨😁🥰
Just around the corner…{Day 41} 🩷💜🤍🧚
I had so much fun 🤩 setting up my June reading pages and I’m looking forward to filling the pages with mini reviews and book covers from my reading. It was nice to sit and just rest in a teeny bit of creativity!
How are you!? Have you been creating anything or reading/watching anything great? 💜
Monday Ponderings {Day 39} 🌿
And so it begins…😅♥️🧙♂️👊🏼✨My poor library! 🥲😂
How’s your Monday? ♥️
A.M. Pine - Hearth Ridge Reflections 