And if we obey God, we must disobey ourselves; and it is in this disobeying ourselves, wherein the hardness of obeying God consists.
Herman Melville, Moby Dick ~
Monday Ponderings ✨ {Day 67}
Category: Nature
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! ✨
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Saturday Snaps 📸✨♥️{Day 65}
✨Gratitude for the great and small…✨
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Wandering ♥️🌿 {Day 64}
Lovely bits from web…
Kourtney’s lovely writing retreat plan…
Make Room 🏡 {Day 63}
Better is a dry crust eaten in peace than a house filled with feasting-and conflict.
Proverbs 17:1~
Simplicity makes room for relationship. ♥️🌿 Relationships with God, others, and everything real around us. It’s ok to love home, slow routines, and regular boring rhythms. I’ve been thinking about how on an extended social media break I start to slow down, revel in my mundane tasks, realize I don’t have to keep up with anything other than getting meals on the table and washing laundry occasionally. I can have long times with my coffee steaming into the early morn, Bible flipped open, hummingbirds approaching. I can listen and chat and make Rice Krispies treats with my little boys. I can read or not read, wear my favorite comfy flannel from a thrift store with no need for more. I can walk with my music and the wind. It’s so refreshing. It doesn’t need to become more than it is, some-holier-than-thou move, but lets me step out of the stream of a vague unease of missing out, the guilt and fear of not keeping up. ‘They’ want you to feel that way. So that you need them or whatever it is they’re selling. It’s unbelievably freeing to step back and let it swirl by. It makes me want to pray more about how I use social media and maybe stepping away from forms of it that aren’t bringing me joy and enhancing this quieter, contemplative pace.
~ 🌿♥️
Hello, Luna + Quote for reflection 💚 {Day 60}
Is it possible to live forgiven and not carry great loads of guilt, to participate in the salvation of the world? Is it possible to love and grow into a relationship with another person in which we are enriched and enhanced and built up? Is it possible to bless and be blessed? To give others the best that is in us and not the worst? To receive from others their best and not their worst? Yes. It is. As everyday realities, these births are wonders, whether as a new baby in the world or as a new creature in Christ. We are launched by acts of love and promise into ways of seeing and being. Our first birth thrusts us kicking and squalling into the light of day. Our second birth places us laughing and worshiping in the light of God. Like Issac. Laughter. Amen.
Eugene H. Peterson, As Kingfishers Catch Fire, p. 27 ~
These are a few of my favorite things currently…✨ {Day 57}
- A few early birthday gifts have trickled my way 😍♥️✨
- My new 5 year journal- still establishing writing a list of things I’m thankful for right before bed!
- My Kindle, my eyes and hands thank your adjustable font size and your lightness, Kind Sir ♥️✨
- Stacks of books in my room, thanks to the public library and a few of my own rescued from the great pack up for remodeling
- Journals, pens, markers, stickers, they bring me so much joy!
- Daisies, shining out and waving from roadsides
- My morning yogurt bowl
- New devotional read by Eugene Peterson
- New view from living room, slowly but surely
- BTS Oreos from kids
- Deck garden, everything shooting up!
- Read alouds with kids
- Sky, green, clouds
So many good little gifts…thank you, Lord 🌿♥️~
Monday Ponderings: Daisies 💛🤍💛🤍 {Day 56}
I love daisies.
You told me.
They’re so friendly. Don’t you think daisies are the friendliest flower?
~ “You’ve Got Mail”, Joe and Kathleen
I went on a daisy walk…
Maybe this will become a June birthday month tradition…
It was SO hot, but I absolutely loved it. My body doesn’t love cold anymore, and the sky, clouds, fragrance of the air was sublime.
Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
~Matthew 6:26-34, NLT
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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? 📚📖
Wonderful words from web for wandering through … {Day 53}
Wednesday Wonders 🌸🌺🌼 {Day 51}
listening to ♥️🌿 ~
I’m taking a Booktube watching break/Instagram break and a few days in, it’s already been nice. I’ve mostly been listening to the birds on my deck early in the morning. Starlings are loud and strange sounding birds. 🤣 Recently, I got to hear two owls (Barred?) chattering because I went out there at 4:00 am. I did get in the Agatha Christie audiobook of Dumb Witness, Poirot and Hastings make me laugh! 😂 I also got the audiobook Ruby Holler in, but we’ll see if I get to it. I decided to soft quit Calculated, my last audiobook, because I have to be in the right mood for revenge stories. I do like the main female character, though, and setting, so I will probably finish it.
Watching ♥️🌿~ my hubby, three younger kids, and I traveled to see the biggest steam train recently. It was used during WWII to haul big loads over Utah mountains?! We had a fun Tookish adventure together! 😅♥️ I read almost a whole book there and back! 😂 Otherwise, I haven’t been watching much? I hope to watch the movie ‘Summer of Monkeys’ with my kids as we are almost finished with the book. 🥰♥️
Reading ♥️🌿~ I talk nonstop here 😂😏 about my reading, but I’m currently most enjoying The Mysterious Magic of Lighthouse Lane, What you are looking for is in the library, and The Bride of Fallen Stars is intriguing me on my Kindle.
Noticing ♥️🌿~ I’m mostly noticing flowers, trees, and seedlings. 🌱 🥰 It’s a wonderful time of year!
What are you listening to, watching, reading, noticing? ♥️🌿~
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.
♥️🌲🌿🌱🍃♥️
