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
…in truth Thou art…{Day 24}
Category: Favorite Authors
Reading stack today…📚📚📚{Day 16}
If you could chuck your to-do list out the window today, what would you do? 😅😂 I’d 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. ☺️😉
Here’s what’s on my stack that I’m currently interested in or really enjoying!
I love keeping house…it’s really a lovely phrase, isn’t it? Keeping it…holding it fast against the world…against all the forces trying to tear it open.
Mistress Pat ♥️🌿
Monday Ponderings {Day 13}
And now, in my old age, don’t set me aside,
Don’t abandon me when my strength is failing.
…Now that I am old and gray,
do not abandon me, O God.
Let me proclaim your power to this new generation,
your mighty miracles to all who come after me.
~Psalm 71: 9 and 18, NLT
New week! King David uttered my exact feelings and prayers in the Psalms! ♥️🌿🙏🏻
Sunday Snippets {Day 12}
“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”
The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”
~Mark 9:23-24, NLT
Walking & Words🚶🏽♀️📜 {Day 10}
“Marilla!” Anne sat down on Marilla’s gingham lap, took Marilla’s lined face between her hands, and looked gravely and tenderly into Marilla’s eyes. “I’m not a bit changed-not really. I’m only just pruned down and branched out. The real me-back here-is just the same. It won’t make a bit of difference where I go or how much I change outwardly; at heart I shall always be your little Anne, who will love you and Matthew and dear Green Gables more and better every day of her life.”
~ Anne of Green Gables
😭😭😭 thinking about my Anne getting MARRIED. 😭😭😭 My oldest son is doing a lot and making decisions, too!! Change and them growing up is in my heart. Hard, but beautiful. ♥️🙏🏻
If I can stop one Heart from breaking
I shall not live in vain
If I can ease one Life the Aching
Or cool one Pain
Or help one fainting Robin
Into his Nest again
I shall not live in Vain.
~ Emily Dickinson
We are enjoying Dickinson again in our co op currently! She is one of my most favorite poets and I think this above poem IS my favorite by her. 🥲♥️ The prayer over my life. Here is a beautiful print of it for your home.
When Marilla had eaten her lunch Anne persuaded her to go to bed. Then Anne went herself to the east gable and sat down by her window in the darkness alone with her tears and her heaviness of heart. How sadly things had changed since she sat there the night after coming home! Then she had been full of hope and joy and the future had looked rosy with promise. Anne felt as if she had lived years since then, but before she went to bed there was a smile on her lips and peace in her heart. She looked her duty courageously in the face and found it a friend-as duty ever is when we meet it frankly.”
~Anne of Green Gables, emphasis mine
I’m nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there’s a pair of us-don’t tell!
They’d banish us, you know.
How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!
~Emily Dickinson
Anne went to the little Avonlea graveyard the next evening to put fresh flowers on Matthew’s grave and water the Scotch rosebush. She lingered there until dusk, liking the peace and calm of the little place, with its poplars whose rustle was like a low, friendly speech, and its whispering grasses growing at will among the graves. When she finally left it and walked down the long hill that sloped to the Lake of Shining Waters it was past sunset and all Avonlea lay before her in a dreamlike afterlight-“a haunt of ancient peace.” There was a freshness in the air as if a wind that had blown over honey-sweet fields of clover. Home lights twinkled out here and there among the homestead trees. Beyond lay the sea, misty and purple, with its haunting, unceasing murmur. The west was a glory of soft, mingled hues, and the pond reflected them all in still softer shadings. The beauty of it thrilled Anne’s heart, and she gratefully opened the gates of her soul to it.
~Anne of Green Gables
Wednesday Wonders ♥️🌲{Day 8}
Good morning! ☀️ Resurrecting my Wednesday Wonders series…I recently answered these questions here, but they are always changing, so indulge me again?! 😄♥️🌷
•listening to•♥️🌲~ I’m finally getting to the sequel in L.M. Montgomery’s Silver Bush duology, using this audiobook recording of it that is fantastic! I’m LOVING Mistress Pat even more than the first. Patricia is growing up and feeling the growing pains of possibly having to leave Silver Bush and everything changing! I identify with change being hard! 🥲I also want to listen more to this Josh Garrels release!
•reading•♥️🌲~ My mood shifted yesterday 😅 and I started rooting around for things to read. 😂📚 I think I’m leaning towards cozy classics, charming characters, and delicious nature descriptions. Of course, I first picked up, my gal, Maud Montgomery! Hence, Mistress Pat! A memory I have is rereading the whole Anne Series when I was pregnant with my first. Her name is Ann-E 🥹♥️😅 and she getting married later this year! Maybe I’ll reread the series this year in honor!? 😭😍
•watching•♥️🌲~ I’m slowly rereading all the greats with my younger set. The Wind in the Willows is one of the current ones. It’s such a great book for spring! I was craving the claymation? film version and so enjoyed watching it. The peaceful atmosphere (except Toad 🐸😂) was just as I remembered it.
•noticing•♥️🌲~ Our Black Willow trees sustained a lot of damage in a recent ice storm, but I salvaged a few branches with buds for the table. The robins have been so cheery even though it’s been rainy and cold. I’m waiting not so patiently for warmth and usually by the end of April, the Barn Swallows are back! 😍♥️
What about you? ♥️🌲 What are you listening to, reading, watching, and noticing TODAY?! ☀️🌷💜🌿🍃
Favorite First Quarter Reads: 📚2026📚 {Day 7}
🍃Just remembering here my favorite reads of January, February, and March. I love looking back and also sharing in hopes you might find one you love!🍃
•The Road Past Altamont by Gabrielle Roy, translated by Joyce Marshall ~ Canadian writer connects four stories loosely on mother and daughter relationships, growing older, time, and deep longing all cloaked in gorgeous, sparse writing.
•The Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw ~ a wonderful quest fantasy story surrounding Aedan and his friends. This has amazing friendship, leadership, and character growth.
•This is Happiness by Niall Williams ~ A small Irish village on the cusp of change. You grow to love and care for the characters and see yourself in them. This is such a human story and the author understands small village life! This was so beautiful at times it makes you ache.
•The Will of Many by James Islington ~ I absolutely loved the main character, Vis, and how much he values the memory and lessons of his father. The battle between doing what’s right and surviving in a system built on greed and corruption. So many wonderful characters and ideas to consider in this epic fantasy.
•Through Rushing Water by Catherine Richmond ~ Gorgeous historical fiction about an ex-Russian nobility immigrant who gets sent to the American West as a school teacher to a Native tribe. This will pull at your heart strings. Richmond did a fantastic job of not sugar coating this time period.
•The Star That Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson ~ This had a slow start, but a wonderful blended family story set in Michigan on the cusp of WWII. I loved the literature threads, the conversation about Indigenous mixed-race tensions, and the gentle faith themes woven throughout. Solid middle grade read!
•Followed by Frost by Charlie N. Holmberg ~ This feels a bit Disney-Frozen-ish , but don’t let that stop you from this quiet, deceptively deeper story. Slow start and very creepy villain, but what a wonderful story of selflessness and how servanthood ultimately defeats loneliness.
•The Secret of Honeycake by Kimberly Newton Fusco ~ This is such a heartfelt story around two sisters dealing with death and chronic illness. This is a slow-as-molasses middle grade story, but I ate up every delicious word. So beautifully written with friendships, growth, domestic details, and LIFE.
•Persuasion by Jane Austen ~ I’ve read this so many times but have to mention it here because I was so delighted all over again. The humanity and magnifying glass that Austen does is so perfect. I especially loved Mrs. Smith of Westgate Buildings 😅 this time through.
•The Robe by LloydC. Douglas ~ A wonderful historical fiction set around the time of Christ. I posted a bit more about it here! Highly recommend!
•The Hotel Balzaar by Kate DiCamillo ~ This was so sweet and lovely! It follows little Marta around the hotel where her mother works as a maid after the disappearance of her father. This is full of the lovely noticing, longing, thoughts on life, memories, parents, and meaning from a child’s perspective. The illustrations made this absolutely shine!
📚🌷How about you? Any stand out reads at the beginning of the year? I’d love to hear! 🌷📚
Monday Ponderings {Day 6}
“The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace. “
~ Mother Teresa
Thinking and praying on this as a week of homeschooling, wedding planning, cooking, and extras stretches before me. 🪴🌷🌿🍃🌲What’s on your heart? 💜
“I am waylaid by Beauty.” {Day 2}
Assault
I had forgotten how the frogs must sound
After a year of silence, else I think
I should not so have ventured forth alone
At dusk upon this unfrequented road.
I am waylaid by Beauty. Who will walk
Between me and the crying of the frogs?
Oh, savage Beauty, suffer me to pass,
That am a timid woman, on her way
From one house to another!
~ Edna St. Vincent Millay~
Millay’s poetry has been recently touching me deeply. Do you have a current favorite poet? Mine is constantly changing. I’m a lover of words and Beauty of poetry often waylays me! The other morning I stopped with great delight over my steaming coffee and knew that I was hearing the spring peepers on our little pond. It brought me so much joy. I received a Barnes & Noble gift card for Christmas last year and I’m sooo glad I picked this giant tome of her work. ♥️♥️♥️
What beauty touched you recently?
Consider: Second Chances 🌿
If the old earth could wash herself and begin again so often and so humbly, why could not a man do the same?
- A City of Bells, Elizabeth Goudge
What are motherhood, art, our very life but second chances, beginning again, over and over? ‘Second-chance’ is a term that the book industry labels romances that have the same couple making another attempt at a relationship. This is a very narrow definition. We take second-go-arounds at multiple things DAILY. Our faith walk, being kind, loving on those tough to love, and asking forgiveness over and over again. There are so many wonderful stories and art that when you dig deep, focus on a chance to begin again. I want to focus my attention on a few of these with an expectant heart for what truth the Lord wants to show me. I’m not sure how this will play out as I have so much swirling in my heart. A couple of stories that really jump out to me are Marilla, Matthew, and Anne’s from Anne of Green Gables, Valency from The Blue Castle, Jocelyn from A City of Bells, and Mary from The Scent of Water. All these people have been given a chance to start again or at least begin to truly live. I actually made a huge list of stories from books and films that mean a do-over and fresh mercies to me. I was so surprised by how many of my favorites fall into that category!
2nd ~
my hundredth and one
second chance,
leaves curl into bud
faithfully once again
A.M.Pine 🌲♥️
~Happiest New Year!~ {Day 59}
We must choose singleheartedness ~ where we desire Jesus above everything else – above all our other “lovers”, our false Edens, our passing comforts.
~ John Eldredge, Resilient
Advent Diaries ~::🎄❄️♥️Page 8♥️❄️🎄::~ POETRY ~ {Day 54}
What is your jam or ‘poetry of life’ currently? A little something bringing you joy and a pause during this can-be-hectic time of year?
~Magazine dates with myself. I take a little cash and go buy a magazine and usually sit by a nature spot (in my car currently 🥶, of course! ) to peruse it. I love the quiet, the pause, and the new freshness of something to look forward to. It’s a wonderful time of contemplation and prayer! 🙏🏻
~Scriptures/poetry/prayer/journaling…my morning routine is such a lovely time to contemplate and set myself on Jesus for the day. A few words of poetry or devotionals plus Scripture under a cozy blanket, mug of coffee, and fairy lights are crucial as I love on/survive 😅the relationships in my life. I journal my way through it all. My favorite poetry currently is Ted Hughes’ Seasons Songs and my friend, Kim’s poetry, not to mention her photography is pure poetry, too. ❣️I have a few new collections I want for Christmas.
~ Reading is always my jam! 💗 Here is a list of some of my autumn reading favorites (September-October-November) with a little snippet to snap review. These are all perfect for curling up with this winter. Something for everyone. I wasn’t able to film a YouTube recap, so I’m wrapping it up here!
- Witches by Roald Dahl (sweet, grotesquely funny story of little boy and grandmother who battle evil together!)
- Apple Bough by Noel Streatfield (delightful story of the oldest daughter in an extremely artistic family who is finding her place. This was beautiful and deep!)
- Kiki’s Delivery Service by Eiko Kandano (sweet, comforting, cozy coming of age fantasy story.)
- The Language of Spells by Garrit Weyr (deep story following a family and a dragon through both World Wars – so lovely and thoughtful.)
- Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright (gorgeous farm family story with beautiful writing!)
- The Grey Woman by Elizabeth Gaskell (short, atmospheric story. Ending was a bit rushed, but accessible Victorian literature at its best.)
- The Chantry House by Charlotte Mary Yonge (longer Victorian literature with a side of ghost. I really enjoyed this one!)
- The Lost Heiress by Roseann’s M. White (lovely, clean historical romance that had a mysterious twist to it. I really enjoyed this one!)
- An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson (amazingly written, gorgeous atmospheric fantasy story with deep themes of the emptiness of immortality and more. Romance wasn’t for me, but overall, I loved this.)
- Honey for a Women’s Heart by Gladys M. Hunt (a favorite nonfiction reread that was just what I needed to inspire my reading and my home educating!)
- Sylvia’s Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell (gloriously written, heartfelt, heart wrenching story set in an English coastal, whaling village. I’ll read anything Gaskell wrote! She’s my favorite Victorian writer.)
- The Mirror Visitor Series by Christelle Dabos (translated from French – fantasy reread that I love for its beautiful, intriguing setting and main character, Ophelia’s revelations about how we see ourselves. The first two books are my favorites.)
- Conscious Creativity by Philippe Stanton (a gorgeous photographer’s art philosophy, prompts, inspiration, and ramblings. So inspiring!)
- Amish Quilt Shop Series by Isabella Alan (simple and cozy mysteries. When I’m exhausted and need of something light, I enjoy a few cozy, clean mystery authors.)
- Full Disclosure by Dee Henderson (Police Detective fiction. This was unique in that Ann, the main investigator was very introverted. A little unrealistic, but I really identified with a lot of her internal processing.)
- Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery (I’ve read this multiple times, but this reread was with my four younger children and we all had such a lovely time together. Even my 5 yo listened pretty well!)
- Maisie Dobbs Series by Jacqueline Winspear (#4 & #5 in this long series of a female private English investigator in the interwar period. I disliked #3 , so was so glad to enjoy these two! Highly recommend the series!)
- Chalice by Robin McKinley (lovely, elemental magic fantasy that enchanted me. Can’t really explain why. A bit darker fantasy, fyi.)
- Deerbrook by Harriet Martineau (this was an online buddy read and had some convoluted parts and unloveable characters. However, the philosophical parts were intriguing and the nature writing was amazing. The conversations with my friends made it an interesting read!)
~ Walking and nature drives are so wonderful when I take the time. It’s a bit cold for me, but I’m always so rewarded. My hubby is very willing to take back roads and I’m so grateful we live in a beautiful area.
How about you? What makes you ‘sing’
currently? ❣️✨💟💜🌲📚☕️🪶🌝❄️🎄❣️
A.M. Pine - Hearth Ridge Reflections 