Author: Erin @ Cracker Crumb Life

I try to create a culture of celebration in our home. For life, for the little things, for wonder and for whimsy. I try to find the beauty around us and teach my son Wyatt to find it, and appreciate it and love it as well. We are a homeschool family, and we love it. We love the freedom it gives us to explore a topic or idea more deeply, and I like that I can adjust our schedule around Wyatt’s other needs. Wyatt has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, and his week often has therapy, doctor’s appointments, naps peppered throughout which would make a traditional school schedule difficult. He is also an asynchronous learner, and I love that I can tailor learning to where Wyatt is at that moment. We have a house full of animals and will probably add more because we like a zoo. We have one cat, Miso, who is a rescue. She is 14 years old and my little floofy girl. We also have one leopard gecko, Luna, a pictus gecko named Harlow, a pacman frog named Freddy, and two crested geckos, Applejack and Oliver. We love all of our little friends! My husband Billy, Wyatt, and I are all curious, creative, stubborn humans which makes for some fun times around here. We love the outdoors, except we are not made for high temps so we retreat inside when the temps start to soar. We are nature lovers through and through. We are trying to downsize our lives too, to live more simply, to buy things that last and eat real food from small local farmers. (and of course Goldfish crackers) We live seasonally and are always up for adventure. We love books and reading, and can be found at the library at least once a week!

Comfy Cozy Cinema: Rear Window

On October 17, 2024October 17, 2024 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized21 Comments

Hello everyone!! Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are back to watching and sharing about comfy cozy (and sometimes, chilling) movies for the fall season. Feel free to join in with us!! Our link will be live for a whole week after we post about a movie. You can find Lisa’s post here.

Also -we have a winner for our Comfy Cozy Care Package! I will be posting the winner as well as an important update about next week’s movie at the end of this post.

This week’s movie is Rear Window starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly.

The summary: When professional photographer J.B. “Jeff” Jeffries (James Stewart) is confined to a wheelchair with a broken leg, he becomes obsessed with watching the private dramas of his neighbors play out across the courtyard. When he suspects a salesman may have murdered his nagging wife, Jeffries enlists the help of his glamorous socialite girlfriend (Grace Kelly) to investigate the highly suspicious chain of events… Events that ultimately lead to one of the most memorable and gripping endings in all of film history. (from Amazon)

Billy and I absolutely loved this movie! We were glued to the screen the entire time, except for the moments I had to cover my eyes because I was nervous (and one time because I was sad).

I think had I been Jeff in this situation, I would have totally been doing the same thing, watching the neighbors. I mean, it was pretty fascinating. A bit creepy I guess, but at the same time, there was so much to see out there. It was like a tiny little bit of life, played out large, with so many personalities. I loved how it was like snippets of all these lives, and the stories and imaginings they had about the inhabitants. And then the ending! Not just with Jeff and Lisa, but it was really cool to see how the stories ended for all the people he had been watching. It was just so many mini-stories laid out, and I loved it.

The main story itself, where Jeff begins to have suspicions plays out perfectly. As events transpire, I think it unfolds exactly as it should. There was nothing too crazy, and it reminded me on some level of Only Murders in the Building, which seems like it may have been a little inspired by Rear Window in some ways.

Hitchcock was seriously a master at his craft. The scenes he sets up, the feelings they invoke, the tension, the fear that can be created by the sound of a door clanging.. some scenes were so simple yet could send shivers down your spine.

I loved all the main characters in this movie, especially James Stewart and Grace Kelly. They both played their characters so believably that I began to just imagine that is how they really are. I totally could buy Grace Kelly as high society but with a twist- in fact I thought her character was so charming. And Stewart, while older, didn’t seem too old, even though there are twenty-one years between their ages. Sometimes in older movies it can be a bit ick but I didn’t get that too much in this one.

This year was also the 70th anniversary of this film so happy anniversary Rear Window!

Overall, I loved this movie. It is an old classic that I should have watched much sooner in my life than this!

If you have watched along with us, and want to share your link, please feel free. We would love it!

Ok – so let’s talk about next week’s movie. We were originally going to watch a movie I chose, Murder by Death. I chose it because I read that it was funny and because it has Maggie Smith in it but I didn’t do much research on it other than that. However, after doing some reading it looks like it could be considered problematic so we are going to scrap that one and trade it for Dial M for Murder instead. It is probably not a bad movie, but a movie that didn’t meet the goal of what was trying to be achieved – it was actually trying to shine a light on racism and homophobia, and no one mentions the ableism but I think I read that is in there too, that was prevalent in Hollywood and the world, but instead just looks like it is in fact all of those things itself. Anyway, we decided to watch Dial M for Murder for Comfy Cozy Cinema, since we are trying to be cozy and snug with this fun movie watching challenge. I think both of us plan on watching Murder by Death at some point though, whether it is together or just on our own.

For the week of Halloween, we are leaving it as a wild card, although Lisa and I are watching Practical Magic. Should I have a midnight margarita?

And now, our winner of the Comfy Cozy Care Package is Yvonne! Thank you to everyone who entered!

You can read Lisa’s post here.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Was Assigned to Read in School

On October 15, 2024October 15, 2024 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized45 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

This week’s prompt is: Books I Was Assigned to Read in School

This is a fun look back at high school and college!

The Jungle and Animal Farm were both assigned in high school and they both were pretty mind-blowing to my 16 year old self. The Jungle actually turned me into a vegetarian, from like 18 until recently. So it is safe to say it made a huge impact on me!

Frankenstein was a college read, and probably one of my favorites. I absolutely loved it, and found it so very sad as well, the loneliness of the monster.

The Great Gatsby took me to wild parties, the glitz and glam of the roaring twenties, dancing, and what looks like freedom and happiness. But the reader begins to see through this to the classism and lack of compassion and caring. It is still a favorite classic of mine. I am going to stop saying this because I feel like I will just keep repeating myself.

Their Eyes Were Watching God is an amazing book where we watch the main character learn to find herself and her voice. And the book that made me terrified of rabies. Plus there is a character named Tea Cake which I loved when I first read it in college. His character was not the greatest but his name was.

Beloved is a story that haunts you, and I am not trying to make a joke. I think this book and story is one that stays with you, the trauma and fear of the characters in a world of slavery that drives people to do things they would not do under normal circumstances.

Annie on My Mind is a book I read way back when in college, in my children’s lit class. It stands out as the very first LGTBQ book I have ever read, and also because it introduced the Cloisters to me.

The Metamorphosis by Kafka is one I feel like I read in high school and in college, and I liked it both times. It was so crazy but it is possibly the only existential book I really understood in school.

In high school I was introduced to The Canterbury Tales, and I just loved them. I loved discovering all the characters stories. Another one I should go back and reread.

I had to take sooo many Shakespeare classes in school, and of all the plays that I read, Hamlet was my favorite.

And that wraps it up for me today! What were you assigned in school that stood out to you?

My Sunday-Monday Post

On October 13, 2024October 13, 2024 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized39 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hello everyone!! Last week we spent time with Billy’s aunt who is in from out of town. She lives in NC and the last time that she saw Wyatt he was a teeny tiny baby! It was really good to see her and we need to make sure it is not another ten years before we see her again.

Read Last Week:

Last week, I read Berries & Bones by James Stephans and Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina; I also finished listening to The Pumpkin Spice Cafe.

I absolutely loved Sisters of the Lost Nation and could not put it down. I was sucked in immediately, and Billy stopped me once from flipping to the back to read the ending. It was excellent. It was part horror, but horror based upon Indigenous lore, and also mystery/thriller. It also highlights the crisis surrounding missing and murdered Indigenous people.

Berries & Bones was …different? I both loved it and thought it was weird. Old Bear and his cozy den was described so perfectly and I wanted to move in with him and drink his tea and eat his pies. However he goes on a mushroom hunt one late fall afternoon and all sorts of things befall him, and the story starts to feel like a fairy tale quest, complete with otherworldly creatures. And, it ends on a cliffhanger!

I finally finished listening to The Pumpkin Spice Cafe. I enjoyed it, it was very cute and fluffy and had big time fall vibes, but I also felt like the MMC’s (male main characters) issues that were the wedge that could potentially keep the two apart sort of dragged out too long. I was rolling my eyes at him near the end of the book, like come on dude get over it. As far as spice, there was definitely some spice, not closed door. It is hard for me to rank romance since I don’t read too much of it, but I would say I enjoyed Haunted Ever After more.

Reading This Week:

I am in love with the cover of A Dark and Secret Magic. It just looks so fall! Like perfectly fall.

Listening:

Wyatt is learning about dinosaurs in science right now, and it has been a big reminder that I have not actually thought too much about them beyond the Jurassic Park movies since I was in 3rd/4th grade. I thought this book sounded really interesting and I am looking forward to starting my listen.

Posted:

Weekend Getaway Part 1 – Bookstores and Bakeries

Weekend Getaway Part 2 – All Aboard and An Art Museum

Comfy Cozy Cinema – Blithe Spirit

September Reading Wrap Up

Watching:

Billy and I are watching the television show What We Do in the Shadows which is hysterical. We are also watching The Pottery Throw Down most nights, which is also amazing in a much different way.

As for movies, we are halfwayish through our Comfy Cozy Cinema lineup that we buddy watch with Lisa from Boondock Ramblings. Our movie last week was Blithe Spirit, which elicited some interesting responses. Our movie this week is Rear Window, and I am super excited to watch it tonight. It is supposed to be a rainy day and night and I think it will be the perfect movie to watch. Deb from Readerbuzz and Cat from Catwire are watching along with us some weeks and it has been a lot of fun! If you want, watch and post along with us! Or just watch along and comment with us on our posts. We are considering a watch party in November for Chocolat, where we will all tune in at home at the same time and chat during the movie on Discord.

Speaking of Comfy Cozy Cinema, there are only a few days left to enter our Comfy Cozy Care Package giveaway! We are giving away a package that contains tea, chocolate, a cute fall mug, stickers, a soft cozy blanket, a signed copy of Lisa’s 1st Gladwynn Grant book, a copy of a fall poetry anthology that I put together, two journals, as well as a few little surprises! You can enter here!

And that is it for me this rainy morning! Stay safe everyone, and try to do something that makes you smile today!

September Reading Wrap Up

On October 11, 2024October 9, 2024 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn autumn, book review13 Comments

In September I managed to read quite a few books!

About a month ago, I posted my overly ambitious fall tbr. I knew then that I would not be following my own plan, and I am curious to compare and see how I did.

So according to my post I was going to read five books in September and I ended up reading seven books – a few of which were pretty short, but still, seven! Now, how many were on my list for September? Just one. The Full Moon Coffee Shop. I did read two from my October list though- Haunted Ever After and The Girl in White. I ended up dropping a few because I wasn’t in the mood, and then I didn’t end up reading The Starling House because I was reading Alice in Wonderland with Wyatt, and they just had some similar vibes and I couldn’t do them both at the same time. So I did do some bouncing around, and then also added in a few that I hadn’t listed.

Of the seven, my favorite reads of September were The Twilight Garden and Haunted Ever After. The Twilight Garden was just one of those books that is just heartwarming and sad and happy and all the things. About people and community and found family. It was a beautiful story. Haunted Ever After was just a fun read! I am looking forward to the next in the series, whenever that will be.

Did you read any of these?

Comfy Cozy Cinema: Blithe Spirit (1945)

On October 10, 2024October 10, 2024 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized12 Comments

This week’s feature: Blithe Spirit, starring Rex Harrison, Kay Hammond, Constance Cummings, and Margaret Rutherford. Blithe Spirit is based on the play written by Noel Coward.

As the name suggests, this movie does not take itself seriously. It is silly and frivolous and cavalier, with some interesting characters. Apparently, Coward had been wanting to write a comedy with ghosts for a while, but since it was wartime he wanted to make sure that the characters were unsympathetic, as that would be too sad.

The plot: “To get background for a new book, author Charles Condomine (Sir Rex Harrison) and his second wife Ruth (Constance Cummings) light-heartedly arrange for local mystic Madame Arcati (Dame Margaret Rutherford) to give a séance. The unfortunate result is that Charles’ first wife Elvira (Kay Hammond) returns from beyond the grave to make his life something of a misery. Ruth too gets increasingly irritated with her supernatural rival, but Madame Arcati is at her wit’s end as to how to sort things out.”

I think that he succeeded in creating a comedic play centering around ghosts without a sympathetic character in the bunch. Charles is the very definition of blithe, cheerfully indifferent to the goings on around him. He takes it all in stride, and yes, at times is very callous. When the ghost of Elvira comes back to haunt Charles and Ruth, he is nonplussed, even after Ruth goes through many different stages of annoyance and irritation and even worry. At first she thinks he is just being a jerk and making it all up, and even insulting her when he is talking to Elvira, which he believes she should understand even though she can’t see Elvira, then she moves on to concern that something is wrong with him, and then once Elvira proves her ghostliness to Ruth, she is at first shocked then annoyed that Elvira is hanging around, disrupting her marriage, which Charles could care less about.

Spoiler alert: Ruth also dies, and becomes a ghost. At first, Charles is just “blithely” going about his evening, getting his drink, sinking into his snug little chair by the fire. I am guessing he believes that things will be peaceful now that he is just home with his ghost wife – until his second ghost wife blows through the door.

Madame Arcati is the spiritual medium, and a bit crackers, and she tries to help Charles return the two women back “home”. After what feels like forever, to Charles and the viewer as well, Madame Arcati hits on the reason why she can’t get the spirits to leave.

Madam Arcati – let’s talk about this character for a second because for me she kind of stole the show with her crazy performance. I think she really went for it, embracing this sort or crazy, zany medium. I think she fully embraced the quirkiness of this role, and probably had a lot of fun with it. She was a kook, but she did have some cozy scenes, with shots showing her in her snug home, sitting in the window studying her books while the weather went wild around her outside.

This role has been played by three Dames, all heavy hitters – Rutherford, Angela Landsbury, and most recently, Judi Dench. Billy and I have actually seen the 2020 version starring Dan Stevens and Dame Judi, and while we thought that version was ok, the 1945 version was better.

Billy and I were impressed by the quality of the 1945 special effects. They were obviously not anything like ours, but we thought for the time they were really well done. What was especially neat was Elvira. According to a comment on IMDB, “Writer and director Sir David Lean and cinematographer Ronald Neame decided not to use double exposure to create Elvira’s ghostly appearances. Instead, Lean created an enormous set that allowed Kay Hammond to move freely in each shot. Hammond wore fluorescent green clothes, make-up, and a wig, with bright red lipstick and fingernail polish. Each time she moved, a special light would be directed on her, allowing her figure to glow even in dimly-lit scenes and giving her an otherworldly appearance.” I think it worked pretty well, as she did stand out t in the scenes she was in, and sometimes did appear very ethereal, and it would have looked fantastic in black and white.

Overall, this movie was a bit of a silly ghost movie, not sad, not spooky, just silly.

You can find this movie on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Hulu to watch streaming for a fee. You might also be able to find it at the library.

You can find Lisa’s post here, and Deb’s here!

If you have watched along with us, and want to share your link, please feel free. We would love it!

Our next movie is Rear Window, starring James Stewart. I picked both Blithe Spirit and Rear Window, and I had no idea when I picked Rear Window that this year is the 70th anniversary of the movie. So that is a neat little extra!

Also, don’t forget to enter our Comfy Cozy Care Package Giveaway! You can enter here!

Weekend Getaway-Pt. 2 – All Aboard and an Art Museum

On October 9, 2024October 10, 2024 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn family, family friendly16 Comments

Yesterday I shared a little bit about our crazy day getting to our destination, and about an amazing bookstore. Today is all about the train! Buckle up, this is going to be a long, photo heavy post. Maybe refill your coffee..

Our Airbnb was 40 minutes from the station, so we got up early to drive to Akron. I was super nervous. The train itself is not wheelchair accessible, however it does have an ADA car that wheelchair users can ride on. The area we sat in, the skydome car, is not at all, so our plan was to leave the wheelchair in the car and Billy would carry Wyatt up to our seats. I have no idea why I was nervous about this, but I was. I didn’t need to worry however, because boarding went perfectly.

We felt pretty fancy, heading up the small staircase in the train to our seats. There were about 8 tables that sat four people in our area, and windows above us, forming the dome. The car we rode on is called the Silver Lariat, and was part of the California Zephyr back in the day. Now it transports tourists up and down the tracks, alongside the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Wyatt absolutely loved every second of the ride. And so did Billy and I!! The ride was beautiful, and we saw a beaver marsh, lakes, trees, and a woman working on the most amazing cut flower garden in her yard. There are stops along the way throughout the park, but since we didn’t have Wyatt’s wheelchair we just rode the train as a roundtrip ride, a total of two hours.

This was such a fun way to start the day, and we loved it so much that we want to go back, maybe during the winter. I totally want to see snow out the window and pretend I am in the movie White Christmas. It was well worth the drive to go on this ride, and well worth the relatively inexpensive tickets for the skydome seats.

After the train ride, we went to the Visitors Center at Boston Mills in the park. We had some ice cream, and Wyatt completed his Junior Ranger Badge.

When we finished up at the National Park, we weren’t ready to pack it in quite yet. So we found a nearby nature center, the Brecksville Nature Center. The building was really cool, with carvings decorating the beams. It also had a nice sized trail that we could take Wyatt on in his wheelchair. We even saw a couple getting married in a small intimate maybe 5 or 6 person wedding ceremony. We tried to keep a respectful distance and maintained quiet while we passed them.

After tooling around the nature center, we were ready to head back to our house. We were a little wiped out! So we got some takeout, took it back, and relaxed in front of the television. We were packing up the next day to head home but we had one more adventure before we did.

We weren’t sure in the morning where we wanted to go; there are so many options! The Art Museum, the Natural History Museum, the zoo, the aquarium – we just didn’t have enough time left to hit them all. Thank goodness we are just around the lake and can go back easily enough!

We ended up choosing the art museum. I wanted to make sure that we had more than enough time to spend in the Natural History Museum, so we are definitely going back for that soon. And while Wyatt may not have had as much fun as he did on the train, he did have fun. Billy and I however really enjoyed our visit. There are so many famous artists on display here! Picasso, Van Gogh, Rousseau, Rodin, Warhol, and Monet. Sigh. Monet. I love Monet. And I got to stand in front of one of his Water Lilies paintings and it was incredible.

We also saw a dining room rug that once was in Louis the XIV’s palace. It was immense and absolutely gorgeous.

I also may have accidentally set off an invisible alarm system….ok, I did. But I didn’t mean to, and I wasn’t really breaking a rule. There were these chairs, you see, tapestry chairs with wolves in the center, and going into full homeschool mom mode, I was standing next to it, gesturing and pointing to the wolf in the middle and explaining to Wyatt how they were based off fables and blah blah blah – and my hand went over the invisible alarm in my wild gesturing apparently. The alarm was not silent. Wyatt’s eyes went wide and I was like what is happening. A security guard did come over and she told me I set off the alarm, and told me so many people do that – and said that some people even sit in the chairs!

Billy and I also went nuts in the Asian arts area, over all the pottery. We felt so knowledgeable after watching The Great Pottery Throw Down. We were throwing out terms like we were experts.

Wyatt was super bored in this area. He perked up when we went to the armor room though. Both Billy and Wyatt really loved that room.

I met them over there though, because I wanted to spend time fawning over the Faberge…

And I need to wrap this up!! We of course all had favorites. Wyatt loved the armor room the best.

In addition to the armor room, Billy really liked these two pieces, but particularly the Bats and Peaches dish.

My favorite pieces were the Faberge, a Monet called The Red Kerchief, which depicts Monet’s wife Camille, which is said to have been kept with Monet his entire life, as he loved it dearly. I also absolutely loved this painting of Nathaniel Olds, painted by Jeptha Homer Wade.

I love it so much. This is what it says about it on the website. (and on the placard under the painting)

The green-tinted spectacles worn by Olds were designed to protect the eyes from the intensity of Argand lamps, a type of indoor light used during the early 1800s. These lamps burned whale oil, and many people worried that its bright flames might damage eyesight.The painter of this portrait founded the Western Union Telegraph Company in 1854 and soon became one of Cleveland’s wealthiest industrialists. His grandson, Jeptha Wade II, was a founder of the Cleveland Museum of Art and donated the land upon which it stands as a Christmas gift to the city in 1892.

It also apparently has inspired Halloween costumes in the Cleveland area. I can see why, it is such a cool painting!

And like I said, I need to wrap this up. After exploring for a few hours, it was time to hit the road. Thankfully our ride home was uneventful, and we were all happy to see our pets when we tumbled into the house two and half hours later.

If you get a chance, check out the train and the Art Museum. They are definitely worth the trip!

Weekend Getaway: Pt. 1 Books and Baked Goods

On October 8, 2024October 8, 2024 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn books and reading, travel16 Comments

Hello everyone!! We had the most fun on our little trip. It wasn’t anything big or fancy, none of our trips are, but we had a very good time. We had a bit of a crazy start though to our journey!

I planned this trip because I was looking for a train ride that wasn’t too short or too long. Wyatt loves trains and it seemed our options were the train at Greenfield Village, which is like 15 minutes of train ride, or taking a train to Chicago, which seemed much too long of a ride for Wyatt to stay seated the whole time. Like most travel and wheelchairs, once you are in your seat, that is it. No getting up! (as an aside, did you know that airplane bathrooms are not even wheelchair accessible?) So when I found the train that runs through Cuyahoga National Park, which is a two hour round trip journey, I knew it was perfect. The Akron area is about two and a half hours from our home, so not even a bad drive. I booked an Airbnb in Parma, which was a nice distance between both Akron and Cleveland, giving us plenty of options for other things to do as well.

Thursday morning we loaded up the car, and I plugged the directions into my phone – for Columbus. Not Cleveland. Our first stop was supposed to be the Cleveland Museum of Natural History – unfortunately, I set our GPS to the Columbus Museum of Natural History. We had driven about an hour and some change before we realized the mistake, and reset the directions, which put us an hour behind schedule! We weren’t in a hurry but it was still a bummer.

Then at a stop at the gas station for a fuel up and provisions, Wyatt gagged on a gummi bear and you guessed it, threw up. Yay. I happened to be in the back with him and was totally freaking out as I do, but everything was fine really. But, we had to get him cleaned up and changed, putting us more behind. Although, I was infinitely more grateful that Wyatt was ok. Obviously.

We hit the road again, this time in the right direction, with a freshly changed kiddo who was forbidden anymore gummi bears and made it to our Airbnb, about two hours behind when we had anticipated arriving. We decided it was too late to try to hit a museum so we settled into the house for about half an hour or so, and then got back in the car, although none of us wanted to, so that we could find somewhere to eat and something to do. Wyatt was all about shopping and wanted to get a book, so I googled bookstores nearby and found one about twenty minutes away.

First though, we stopped in at this little old Polish bakery and take out restaurant called Rudy’s Strudel Shop, and sort of went bonkers since we were hungry wolves, as Wyatt says.

We did try to show a little restraint. We managed to get out of there with only an apple strudel for our breakfast the next few days, a loaf of butter crust bread, a small bag of sprinkle cookies for Wyatt, and a chocolate dipped peanut butter cookie for the three of us to share. (it was huge)

We drove through steelyards and neighborhoods and found our way to the very magical bookstore called Loganberry Books, in the Larchmere neighborhood of Shaker Heights, Ohio. From the front, it seemed like a small, quirky bookstore.

However, once you enter it is like it magically becomes much much larger. Like a Tardis. Or one of those tents from Harry Potter. It just keeps going and going, with room after room of books. They sell both new and used books, and had so many cool looking vintage books and beautiful architectural details!

Wyatt and I might have picked up a few books.

We walked up and down the streets of the little neighborhood, poking our heads into different stores and then strolling around the Fiddlehead Gallery. The two (I am assuming) owners were the nicest people! They gave us so much good information about the Cleveland area, and it was nice to chat with them. We purchased two mugs, because we might have a mug addiction, and left knowing a bit more about the area, which was nice. When we finally piled back into the car, we were all running out of steam a bit. So we nixed our plans to go out to eat and to go grocery shopping and picked up burgers on the way back to house. And that was the end of our adventure for the night! It was good we had an early night anyway, because the next day was our train ride and we had to be up early!

And I will post about that tomorrow! I just have too many photos of the next few days to put it all in one post.

My Sunday-Monday Post

On October 6, 2024 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Comfy Cozy Cinema32 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hello everyone! Last week was so fun! We took a little mini-trip to Cleveland/Cuyahoga Valley National Park and we had a blast! I can’t wait to tell you about it all this week! As I suspected, I didn’t read – like at all. Except for maybe 10 pages before breakfast yesterday. I plan on making up for it this week though!

Read Last Week:

This book was lovely. It is so full of life, the good and the bad, the sad and the happy, and I really felt like I was living in this little community, sharing in their lives.

Reading This Week:

So, my post looks the same as last week. I did start Berries and Bones, and wow is it heavy on the cozy right away. This old bear has a pretty good setup! I am looking forward to reading more of it today.

Listening:

Last week, I wasn’t sure I liked this story. This week, I am here to tell you that I am really enjoying it! I am glad that I stuck with it. It is so cute and very fall vibes.

Posted Last Week:

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Read or Avoided Because of the Hype

Hello October – and a Comfy Cozy Giveaway!

Comfy Cozy Cinema: Kiki’s Delivery Service

Watching:

We are still watching The Pottery Throw Down. I admit, I am addicted. I am learning so much though from it! We went to the Cleveland Art Museum yesterday and as we wandered through, reading about some of the items that were ceramic or china or what have you, I understood the process that went into making them. It was amazing to see pots made in the 700s, and realize that the same processes (more or less) created them. The same shapes still exist. Billy and I were marveling at all the pieces with our newfound knowledge.

We of course are watching our Comfy Cozy Cinema movies that we are watching with Lisa at Boondock Ramblings, and Deb from Readerbuzz is also participating with us! Yay! Last week we watched and posted about Kiki’s Delivery Service; this week we are watching the 1945 version of Blithe Spirit and will post about it Thursday! We are also having a giveaway – you can enter here if you are interested!

And that is about it from here! I hope you are all doing well!

Comfy Cozy Cinema: Kiki’s Delivery Service

On October 3, 2024October 3, 2024 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized8 Comments

This week’s movie is Kiki’s Delivery Service, which is a Studio Ghibli production. It is not my favorite one (that is Arietty, then When Marnie was Here) but it is pretty cute. And I love little Jiji, her cat.

We picked a great night to watch. The day was rainy, the evening was rainy. We had ramen bowls full of chicken and noodles and miso broth and veggies, and it was delicious. Then we settled in to watch Kiki, all super snug.

Kiki is a little witch in training. The movie begins with Kiki leaving home on her own, to find a city for her and Jiji to live in while she goes through her year of training. The viewer knows immediately that Kiki is maybe not the most smooth of witches, as she bumbles into trees and ricochets all over as she shoots off into the air on her broom, with Jiji hanging on for dear life.

One thing I love about this movie is such a small little detail – Kiki’s radio. She has it with her and plays it so often, whether she is at home or on her broom, and for some reason, I just really like that. She lays in bed listening to it, it is next to her while she is cleaning, it hangs from her broom, it is just a cute detail.

Kiki is from what looks like a rural village, and she moves to the much larger city of Koriko, which is modeled after a combination of major cities around the world – Stockholm, Milan, San Francisco, Lisbon, Paris, etc. It has all the energy of an actual city, with bustling busy streets, heavy traffic, but still manages to maintain a level of beauty and coziness, with cobbles and flowers and quaint little shops, like the bakery where Kiki finds herself living and working.

Kiki slowly begins to make a little life for herself. She makes friends with Osono, the bakery owner and her husband, and lives with Jiji in their spare attic bedroom. She also becomes friends with Tombo, an idealistic young man with a passion for aviation, an older woman I think they call Madame, and Ursula, an artist who lives in a cabin in the forest, and is friends with crows (that look like magpies to me).

On the surface, this little sweet cartoon is just that. Kiki’s journey, making friends and a community for herself, starting her little delivery service, becoming who she is meant to be. But it also has a message of not giving up, to not quit when we fail, because failure is part of life. We try, sometimes we fail, and then we pick ourselves back up and try again. Kiki’s friend Tombo wants to fly so badly that he invents a crazy flying machine powered by bicycle and willpower. It crashes and fails its first time out, but at the end, we see him flying out over the sea with Kiki on her broom next to him. He did not quit.

Kiki finds herself in a similar situation, feeling down and not quite herself and perhaps, even losing her magic. She is burned out after working so hard, because Kiki is a very hard worker. She is polite and kind and goes out of her way to help others sometimes, on top of her responsible work ethic. Ursula sees how Kiki is struggling when she makes a surprise visit to town, and invites Kiki to come back to the cabin with her to spend the night. The two have a few heart to hearts, and Ursula tells her that it is ok to have these moments, and that every artist, every person needs to find their own inspiration.

Ursula: Trusting your spirit! Yes, yes! That’s exactly what I’m talking about. That same spirit is what makes me paint and makes your friend bake. But we each need to find our own inspiration, Kiki. Sometimes it’s not easy.

The scenes at the cabin are so cozy and perfect to me, and have such an attention to detail. The way Ursula looks down at her drink, swirls it around a bit as she considers what she is saying, that gesture is just so real. I also love this sort of hint at the healing powers found in simplicity and in nature.

Ok, I can’t talk about this movie without talking about Jiji the cat! I just love this little character. He has his own distinct personality and I simply adore him.

This movie is just so cozy and sweet and full of goodness. Friendship and found family and art and creativity – I just love it. There are actually a few different versions out there, including two different English language versions, a 1998 version and a 2010 version. I watched the 1998. There is also of course the Japanese language version that is the original.

You can find this movie on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Hulu to watch streaming for a fee. You might also be able to find it at the library.

If you have watched along with us, and want to share your link, please feel free. We would love it!

Up next is the 1945 version of Blithe Spirit!

Also, don’t forget to enter our Comfy Cozy Care Package Giveaway! You can enter here!

Hello October – plus a Comfy Cozy Giveaway!!

On October 2, 2024October 2, 2024 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn autumn, Comfy Cozy Cinema15 Comments

Hello everyone!! It’s FINALLY October. My favorite month of all. And it feels like fall here, y’know? I stepped out on the deck this morning, barefoot as always, and the wood under my feet was cold and the air was chilly. I checked the temperature, and was glad that I had coffee with me – it was a mere 49 degrees.

I see all these people talking about how they feel so much more alive in the fall, and I can relate. That is exactly how I feel, like I am fueled by cooler weather. Rusty colored leaves tumble through my soul, chill winds raise my spirits, and I thrive in this weather. The heat and humidity of the summer weigh me down, but in the fall I come alive again.

Away go my shorts and sandals, and out come my jeans and sweaters and boots, ready to walk down trails filled with trees blazing their colors before they go to sleep for the winter. Soups and stews and warming meals are making their way on to my meal plans, and I have told Billy it is time for him to wake his sourdough up, to begin baking our bread for the week. It is a time of transition and change, as we begin to settle down into a different rhythm. School has started and our days are spent reading and learning and creating, and before we eat every evening I clear the table of our day’s work, pencils and papers and books. Weekends are full of plans for pumpkins and apples and chestnuts; they are also full of plans for bonfires with family, cider, Halloween fun and this week, a vacation.

I also see so many autumn bucket lists online, and yes, there are things I want to do this fall too. But this year I am also trying to be mindful to not cram our every moment full of plans; I want us to enjoy the season, time with our family being together, because sometimes when you are spinning from one thing to the next, you forget to really enjoy what you are doing, to pay attention to that moment, truly pay attention to it. I have a list of things to do, but I am also trying to have an anti-bucket list as well.

Sunday, we declared the day to be a nothing day. We called a halt to running and doing and spent the day hanging out with each other, just slowly letting the day spin out while we read or painted or played, in the case of Wyatt. It was a rainy day, perfect do-nothing day. We ordered ramen from a local noodle house, which was delicious, and we finished up our ghost portraits. We finished up the night by watching Kiki’s Delivery service, which is part of Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and my Comfy Cozy Cinema. And it was a wonderful day. I want to make sure I save space for these type days this fall as well.

My favorite book has a quote about winter, that humans say they like winter but what they really like is being proof against it. And maybe there is some truth to that. I love fall and the weather and being out in it, but it is also so nice to be snug inside with my tea and a blanket and a book. And also, cookies and chocolate.

With that, I want to talk about our giveaway! Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are cohosting a small little comfy cozy care package giveaway, to go along with our favorite season (fall!), and our Comfy Cozy Cinema! We have some fun little goodies to be sent off to one winner, with more surprises to be added as well! We want to celebrate the season and this is just one way we would like to do that this year.

You can enter anytime between today and October 15th, and the winner will be announced on our blogs Thursday, October 17th. Please enter via Rafflecopter and it is only open to those 18 or older living in the US.