Last week was a pretty slow week around here. We homeschooled, I shopped online for Christmas gifts, and that is about it. Today we are going for a wintery hike and I am looking forward to getting outside and stretching my legs.
Read Last Week:
If you read here pretty regularly, you know that I love anything with foxes! This book didn’t disappoint either, I loved it! It was the perfect book for a slow and cozy week. Review this week.
Reading This Week:
I’m so excited to start both of these! Although, I bought Dark Salt Clear and am super bummed that I somehow got this version with this cover lol – I like the other cover better! I think I might order the other one after Christmas. Anyone else ever done that?
Sherlock, although we only have two episodes left!! Nooo! Death in Paradise, Agatha Raisin, The Queen’s Gambit, and season 2 of Virgin River. We don’t usually watch this many shows at once – we generally pick two but we have been hopping around. And we are about to start watching Christmas movies of course! I can’t wait to watch Emmett Otter and Muppet Christmas Carol again this year as a family – those are two family favorites. Wyatt has been watching Wild Kratts and Sesame Street mostly these days. I have to admit I love the Wild Kratts too.
And that is really it from my little corner of Michigan – stay safe and well everyone, and enjoy the season.
So, I just realized that I never posted about our second Heritage study, Scotland! We did our first, Hawaii, back in the summer and then Scotland right around Thanksgiving. I didn’t do much in the way of Thanksgiving content, I chose to focus on the immigrant aspect of the holiday, which led me to our own immigrant roots.
I have always loved stories about different countries and places – something that has never waned even as I have grown older. I often choose to read books based on setting, and will read and read until I decide I have gleaned everything I can about a place from books. I guess I cure some of my wanderlust through these words. Anyway, I have always loved learning about different places and cultures and I want my son (and niece) to have this love of place as well. I realize that geography is not the most exciting thing for kids, especially five year olds to learn, so when I was planning this study, I wanted to stick to more fun, kid friendly topics, like the wildlife and animals, and some of the folklore, music, food as well.
That being said, we spent the first week on some of the wildlife and farm animals of Scotland – Shetland ponies, sheep, highland cattle (a particular favorite of mine, check out the hashtag #coosday on Instagram if you love them as well, you’ll thank me), and puffins, which were Wyatt’s favorite. He loved that little puppet! I wanted to spend some time on those wild Scottish cats but I just ran out of time for it all! We also talked about kilts, of course, as every resource I found has people wearing them.
The next week we went a little crazy – it was a holiday week after all, so I just let us have some fun, and we studied unicorns and dragons and the Loch Ness Monster. Because, why not? Lol. They are little, lots of time to grow up and learn other things.
Wyatt even had a guest reader! My mom read him Nessie – and I love how my mom and Wyatt are sitting in the same pose. We read Zog by Julia Donaldson (our inspiration for dragons… I love all of her books so much), watched the movie Zog on Amazon, read books, made art. It was just a fun week, and we loved it.
Another month here and gone, and now we are in December! These dark nights stretch out so long, so early, and we are drawing in, enjoying heartier meals and lots of family time inside for the moment. We put up our tree and love the comfort and joy that it gives us. I am linking up with Anne In Residence for her Currently December post today – let me know what you are currently up to!
Baking: Bread. I am also going to be baking my uncle’s coconut tarts, and my grandma’s Empire biscuits. My friends and I are in the process of planning a Great Digital “Bake Off”. We are picking a date, then in our own homes with our families, making sugar cookies and a Yule Log, and meeting online after each bake to show off our creations. I think it will be fun!
Decorating: The tree and putting up Christmas inside – and outside making Christmas for the neighborhood wildlife. We plan on making bird feeder ornaments and hanging surprises for the birds on our apple tree, cranberry garlands, setting out hazelnuts and peanuts for the squirrels.
Gifting: I have bought quite a few items from my gift idea guides already! This little fox, these wooden puzzles, this bread making accessory kit – and I am thinking of adding a chess board as well, since we have become addicted to chess again after watching The Queen’s Gambit.. (Find my idea lists here –The Stay-at-home Edition Gift Guide, Handmade Holiday Gift Ideas for Kids) We are also making a few things as well, cranberry infused gin, cranberry apple jam, and a few other goodies and surprises!
Hoping: The other month our prompt was wishing, and honestly, it’s the same wish… I am sure what everyone else is hoping as well.
Sending: Lot of letters and cards this year, including a letter to Santa, in lieu of visiting Santa. I think I am going to have kiddo send out cards as well, to all his little friends and cousins.
And that is it from me! Stay safe and well everyone.
So another month gone, one month left of 2020. This month was sort of the beginning of our hibernation again, trying to lock ourselves down as much as we could. We hadn’t been doing much but even with those small distanced visits gone, I feel the loss. November was a rough one for us for many reasons, but we did have some good moments.
I celebrated my birthday, and also our twentieth wedding anniversary this month. And apparently took a small series of photos of me holding objects. The Brown Betty was a gift from Billy for our anniversary, because I have wanted one forever and every time we watch a British mystery and I see one, I mention it.. so now I no longer need to do that! Then for my birthday Billy and Wyatt bought me something I have wanted that is sort of weird but because I am me, I was in love with it. Have you heard of Juniper Fox? Well, I follow her Instagram, and am also a patron on their Patreon. I love foxes, I’m sure I have mentioned that a time or two. Anyway, I wanted a fox footprint painting done by my favorite of the skulk, Elmwood. He is such a stinker but so cute! I felt like 2020 was the year to indulge in this unconventional gift, and I absolutely love it. I look at it and smile. And I included that photo of me and the moss, because my husband just gets me with giving me that bouquet.
We studied owls, and had our own owl prowl with our friends. I participated in Nonfiction November which was so enlightening and I found so many books. I read The Salt Path which is probably one of my favorites for the year, and we read all of our “fun” mail on Thanksgiving and I felt super Little House on the Prairie doing that. We also had a two week Heritage study in our homeschool about Scotland which was a great time. I tried to make it more fun for the kids since geography at five is not the most interesting and I want them to have a love of place like I do. (I plan on posting about this later this week)
We had our cider tasting with my brother, which was a blast, and began and ended the month with hikes in the woods, our favorite place to be. And look, at the beginning of the month we were in t-shirts; at the end we were in hats and coats. Crazy that we had a warm enough day for t-shirts!
The times this month were not all great, in fact some were pretty heartbreaking but we did have some good times. My uncle Art would have been proud, as he is, as described by one of his nephews, the Ambassador of Laughter. Here he is last Thanksgiving, making my son laugh and giggle. Wyatt loved my Uncle Art, always, right from the very start.
I took some time off from blogging and social media in general last week to just have a “week off”. We homeschooled, but didn’t do as much as we normally would, and we also prepared for our little Thanksgiving. It was just me, Billy, and Wyatt, so I picked our favorite sides, cheesy potatoes and green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and then we made cranberry rosemary chicken and called it done. It was a good meal with my guys, but didn’t feel like Thanksgiving. I also had a terrible time baking! I dropped my pumpkin pie, my shortbread didn’t turn out, and Billy had to run to to the store early in the morning Thursday to grab a pumpkin pie so we had dessert. Lol. We did have two great family video chats with our families though so that was a bright spot in our day. Billy had to work Friday, so we put up our tree on Saturday and decorated for Christmas. Wyatt loves the tree every year so it is a happy occasion, always.
Read Last Week:
So this book was amazing and fully deserves all the love it receives. I ended up buying it and don’t regret it; it was fantastic and I can’t wait to read Winn’s next book. It was beautifully written, it made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me read parts out loud to Billy – definitely on my top ten of the year.
Reading This Week:
I love anything with a fox. And this looks perfect for my mood right now!
Watching:
Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch version), GBBS, Agatha Raisin (again), and the Queen’s Gambit, which is amazing. When Billy and I were younger and frequented coffee houses all the time, there was sort of a chess thing happening at the time as well, and everyone was playing. We entered a tournament and I remember I beat one of the top guys and his friends were all you got beat by a girl! I am of course nowhere even close to Beth’s skill level in The Queen’s Gambit, but so weird that being beaten “by a girl” was a weird thing even when I was playing.
Wyatt is watching a lot of Molly of Denali, Wild Kratts, and Scout and Daisy these days. I have to admit, I love all of those cartoons too…
And that is about it from my corner of Michigan right now! Stay safe everyone.
The big post, the one where we list all of the great reads we have found! I am still making my way around everyone’s posts, so I will probably be adding to this, but this is my list as it stands now.
And then finally, the books recommended to me on my Ask the Experts post!
Daphne du Maurier by Margaret Forster – Stargazer
Blue Mind by Wallace Nichols – Monika at Lovely Bookshelf
Atlantic by Simon Winchester – Words and Peace
Hell Ship by Michael Veitch – Shelleyrae at Book’d Out
Nathaniel Philbrik’s Heart of the Sea – Brona
The Folk Keeper by Billingsley – LexLingua
The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett – Array
In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides – Array
Under the Sea Wind and The Sea Around Us, by Rachel Carson – Rennie at What’s Nonfiction
Last week got away from me! My husband had to work a million zillion hours and it was me and the five year old ALL WEEK and WEEKEND… so not much mommy alone time, and when I did get it, I was zonked. I hope to catch up on reading everyone’s posts this week. I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s nonfiction loves this month, and can’t wait for next year!
It’s been a few weeks since I linked up here. A lot has happened, including the loss of my uncle – and when I am upset I usually can’t read, so I haven’t had much to say for a what are you reading link up.
I still haven’t read anything but I do plan on starting a book today, fingers crossed. I have been participating in Nonfiction November though, and have been really enjoying it! I have added so many books to my TBR.
Reading This Week:
I have heard so many good things about this book, and I am looking forward to starting it.
Sherlock (I’m obsessed!), Dawson’s Creek reruns on Netflix, The Great British Baking Show, Death in Paradise (although now my favorite ever Detective is gone! and I swore I wasn’t going to watch it but I did and it made me sad) Wyatt is watching Wild Kratts and Molly of Denali a lot lately – and I find myself watching right along!
And that is it from around here! Stay safe everyone.
I was so excited to start Owl Week! Our whole little family loves owls so this was fun for all of us. We actually did this last week, but I am behind on posting – this week we worked on one of our Heritage Studies, Scotland! I will share about that next week though. (We always do a special unit study in addition to our regular curriculum)
Many of our activities were based around reading, which is my kind of activity. I love book and activity tie in, and there are so many great owl picture books out there! I used some old favorites, and found a few new ones!
First we started with Owl Babies, one of the cutest little books out there. We read the book, and worked on the flip books I downloaded, which were super informative and fun. Then we created some Owl Babies inspired art! (always always Wyatt’s favorite part)
The next day we read Owl Moon, which if you haven’t read it is one of my favorite books ever, about a father and child on a cold silent winter night, looking for owls. We completed some work pages I found online, then created an owl moon artwork. I cut out the silhouette and he did the moon, face and glued it all together.
We spent the rest of the week reading, looking at different types of owls that live all over the world, having a poetry and book teatime with my mom and niece, crafting, and watching owl videos. We finished up our week with our very own owl prowl at the park! We met up with my cousin and his girls, my brother, SIL, and niece, and my friends and their two girls. We think we may have heard an owl straight away but other than that, nothing. It didn’t matter though, it was a beautiful night for a hike through the woods with with friends. And sadly, it was our last for a while as we all agreed to not hang out for a while, even masked and distanced outside, due to our surging COVID numbers. But, for the night we had fun and felt free under the dark canopy of trees, the kids playing, Wyatt hooting trying to call owls, and everyone seemed happy. So not a bad night to end social events on at all.
This year my friends and family have really leaned in to staying at home and finding ways to use this time – through creative projects and hobbies, to learning useful skills, and filling our spaces with life and things that make us happy and smile. These newfound passions are making their way onto holiday gifts lists in my circle, and I wanted to share with you a few of these ideas! (Amazon links are affiliate links, and marked with an *.)
A little bit of peace and happy
Crescent Moon Soap Making Set: This year I learned to make soap and I am loving it! I love the creative aspects, as well as the functional and resourcefulness of it. I love just going to my little stash that I have made and picking out the next bar that we are going to use. Brambleberry has a ton of kits and project suggestions for every interest. I love this crescent moon though..
Embroidery Kits: Ok so..there are three here. My favorites honestly, and the ones I added to my list for Billy to choose from. I hope to learn to embroider this year and these just seem so pretty. Wild and Free || Web || Moons
A Nature Poem for Every Day of the Year: I have a book that is a poem for every night of the year, and we enjoy reading our poem every night. I think this would be a lovely way to start the day! *
Soapstone Carving Kit: My brother is a whittler, my stepdad was a whittler and woodworker; is there any more peaceful sounding endeavor? This soapstone kit looks like a great place to start.
Freshly made? Yes please
Handmade Sourdough Crock: The men I know have embraced cooking and food production this year, and this sourdough crock is gorgeous. King Arthur Flour has a few different versions, some that even include sourdough starter as well!
Bread Accessory Kit: I love this kit, it contains so many items for such a great price! A lame, a whisk, a bread bag..all for less than $25.00! *
Mead Making Kit: This is totally a Billy item. He wants to learn how to make mead and this kit makes it look easy! *
Things are growing
Wooden Propagation Station: Anyone else plant obsessed these days? My friends and I have started buying plants and sharing cuttings with each other. I am patiently waiting for my new cuttings to get here and I need one of these stations myself!
Marimo Moss Ball: Something else I am currently in love with. These marimo balls are so cute and can live for years and years, and are said to be lucky. Check out the website, it is worth reading and exploring!
Mushroom Kit: Grow your own mushrooms! We eat so many mushroom recipes over the fall and winter, that it would be handy to have some just ready and available in my own kitchen. (For a fantastic dinner, try the Mushroom Polenta from Rabbits and Wolves..) *
The Basics of Cozy
Men’s Pendleton Slippers: Billy hates having cold feet (well, I guess everyone does) and I love these slippers. They look perfect to slip into on those cold mornings and out of as well in the evening at bedtime.
Sackcloth and Ashes Blanket: I have one of these blankets (Camp Lake) and I love it. It is so soft and warm and bonus – the company donates blankets to homeless shelters!
Le Creuset Tea Mug: Also something I own and it is hands down my favorite to use, even with its little chip. It just has the perfect shape for holding, you know what I mean? It’s just a little thing that makes me happy everyday. *
Tom’s Plaid Slippers for Women: Because plaid is perfect in the winter. I like to wear slippers that are more fitted, probably because I am sort of klutzy and need my footwear to not give me anymore reason to trip. I like how trim and neat these look!
There are always subscription gifts as well! Cratejoy has a ton of ideas, and you can always buy a patreon for a year subscription if there is a maker they like to support! Also, gift cards for restaurants are a great idea for this year. We aren’t dining in but we are supporting our local eateries by ordering takeout!
I realize some of these suggestions are a little unusual, but so is 2020. I wanted to throw some of our loves and ideas out there, even to just get the ball rolling if anyone was looking for ideas! Even if these are not the items you are looking for, you may find the perfect thing on one of these websites!
I am a nonfiction newbie. I really only started to read nonfiction in the last few years, and then this year my reading has been a little wonky and off. So, I am turning to you all as experts this week!
There are some books calling my name lately.. books set in areas near the cold coast of the Atlantic Ocean. I am not sure what this is about really. Maybe I have spent too much time reading woodland books, and I want to explore the deep. Maybe it is because I am a water sign, born in November, just a few days after the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior. My ancestors were shipbuilders in England before coming to America, and they continued to be shipbuilders here in Detroit; my great-uncle worked on the Edmund Fitzgerald, and my mom even attended the launch. So, maybe there is a bit of sea in my soul somewhere. (I did have a palm reader in New Orleans tell me I had been a ship’s captain who went down with his ship in a past life..) Anyway, I am making a list of books that fit this sort of profile and I have three on my list so far, and I would love any other suggestions before I dive in to this topic. (pun intended)
These are the books I have lined up so far.
Any other suggestions out there? I will take nonfiction, and fiction too! And on both sides of the Atlantic, not just the UK side. Anyone read these and have thoughts on them? I know The Salt Path is a big favorite, and I plan to read it very soon.
Thanks! I look forward to your comments and visiting your posts!
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 