Hello everyone!! We have had the most chill week ever, and it has been so nice! We are deeply wintering over here, I guess. It has just been so cold, and Michigan is one big virus out there, and we are content and happy and aren’t feeling the need to go anywhere, so… we didn’t. Billy has been off work for almost two weeks and it has been so good to just be together, having all of this family time.
Books:
I have been working on three different reads over break! I am slow reading Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge, which is a book from 1953, and is a collection of letters between the two authors about their rural lives. I love it and pretty soon it will be my main read.
I am also halfway through Moon of the Crusted Snow, a book I have wanted to read forever, and that I received from Dini from Dinipandareads. It was so sweet of her to send it to me, and I am finding it a fast, compelling, scary read! I am enjoying it very much.
I also listened to Dinner for Vampires, which ended up being my first book finished in the new year, and since it is a memoir, I get to check that off my challenge list. Lenz, known for her One Tree Hill fame, lived for almost a decade under the control of a cult called the Big House Family. The audiobook is read by Lenz, and it made the book feel so much more real, to hear her story in her own voice. I am glad that she has since been able to find happiness and independence.
Screens:
I told you we have been watching a lot of movies! The Paddington series of movies was adorable; I am pretty sure they are a family favorite for all three of us. I think we might actually make orange marmalade today even.
Wonka was the perfect Christmas break movie! Over the top, beautiful, musical, heartwarming – I absolutely adored it.
Hot Fuzz and The Big Year are old favorites. The Big Year is a movie that we watch every year, since maybe 2012? It just kicks off our year. And Hot Fuzz is our favorite of the Simon Pegg/Nick Frost movies.
We couldn’t believe how many actors we kept seeing pop up in the different movies. It became a game, like let’s see, is Olivia Colman in this one too? Hugh Grant? Just so many. We were definitely in a groove.
In-Betweens:
In between all of this, we have been organizing and cleaning, and working on our own little projects. I have been fun creating embroidery pieces that are personalized to my friends and myself. I have only made 2.5 so far, I am still working on mine, but I love this new phase of my embroidery.
The first two have very long stories behind them. Also, rest assured that none of us think ferals are trashy. I can’t do them freehand yet, and I am still working on my lettering skills, but I am really enjoying this. The rabbit with the Watership Down quote is for me. And ignore the shoddy print job, my printer doesn’t like the transfer paper.
Hello everyone!! I hope that the past week has been good to you! It’s been a whirlwind of course around here, but a very fun whirlwind filled with family.
Books:
I found that I couldn’t read before Christmas. I think there was just too much happening, and I couldn’t relax. However, the day after Christmas I picked up a book and immediately just had that comforting feeling that you get when you sink into a good book. I am loving this one so far!
I also started listening to an audiobook as well. I was scrolling through Libby for a nonfiction book to listen to when I wanted to listen to something quiet, and ran into Dinner for Vampires written and read by Bethany Joy Lenz. I just saw her in A Biltmore Christmas, which is fresh in my mind, so I ended up starting that one last night. It is interesting so far. When we were younger, Billy and I really liked One Tree Hill for a season or two, so I remember this show as well.
Screens:
We spent some time over the past week watching Christmas movies, our old favorites, with the grand finale favorite of A Muppet Christmas Carol. That movie never fails to make me smile. We haven’t watched much post-Christmas Eve, but I am hoping to watch a movie tonight.
Wyatt and I finished up YouTuber Morgan Long’s Vlogmas series, which was a nice little bit of Christmas Cheer as well.
The in-betweens today are all holiday related! I will probably do another Christmas post, one last Comfy Cozy Christmas post, but mainly last week I did a lot of baking and wrapping, like a lot of people I am sure. Wyatt and I also spent some time on Friday just sitting at the table, working on our own projects. He was painting and playing with stickers while I worked on my planner. I got a new planner this year, a Hemlock and Oak planner, and I am loving it.
I feel like I have so much to tell you guys, way too much for this post. Plans for next year, projects, everything we have done. I feel like I am bubbling over with stuff to talk about but I try to keep this post less chatty! I will be posting soon, I can tell.
Hosting:
Just a reminder, Lisa at Boondock Ramblings and I co-host a few linkups and a Zoom Crafternoon together!
We have our Comfy Cozy Christmas for all things December and holidays (not just Christmas) that will be closing soon.
In case you missed Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3: So, on November 22, 2024 I started a little book book, as I call it, but it is a journal of the books I have read with a few jotted thoughts, quotes I like, and stickers. I am an archivist and chronicler at heart, and I have been having so much fun journaling my reading experience this way. I thought it would be neat to share my favorite quotes from all the books I have read – in different parts of course.
“But mermaids- mermaids relish pain. Mermaids embrace pain. Mermaids accept the pain of discipline if far less than the pain of regret.”
“Pat loved the sound of a day to spend. It sounded so gloriously lavish to “spend” a whole day, letting its moments slip one by one through your fingers liked beads of gold.”
“It was the kind of cafe you went to for lattes on a first date, or to meet up with old friends over a pot of chai, or to read a book by the fire while sipping on a mug of hot chocolate with extra mini marshmallows.”
“Those were the sounds of his favorite people. As long as he could hear them, he was safe.”
“It was like some houses stopped breathing the moment their owners died.”
“The fire danced and twirled and then, unbelievably, it somehow grew two little flame hands , which it planted on its two little flame hips, and it waggled at me.”
“He’d whistled in the dark more than once in his life. And an imminent hurricane seemed very, very dark.”
“The world will drive a woman insane, then point and laugh at them.”
“It felt like they had been tricked into attending some Tupperware-candle-lingerie-medieval warfare – party where you technically didn’t to buy anything, but actually you kind of did.”
“But that’s life. It’s unpredictable and anything can happen at any time. Which is why you should live doing what makes you happy, what lights you up inside, what keeps that flame burning.”
” She was not the girl who admitted defeat, and she certainly never let go. She had never let go of anything.”
“Here’s the thing: Witches might eat you, but other than that, they generally respected your boundaries.”
“When I am perturbed, I like to walk. I feel slow and stupid when I sit, but walking seems to wake something up in my brain.”
And we have now made it to the end of October in my reading journey! The last and final post will be up before the New Year!
Hello everyone!! I hope that you are all having a great December so far! Ours has been good but has looked a little different than what I had planned, since we all came down with a cold. However, although we haven’t been able to do the big ticket items on our list this year so far, we have been enjoying Christmas at home with movies, shopping, and wrapping. I am hoping to be able to get to the Detroit Zoo for the holiday lights in the next few days though. I am feeling ok, it is just that cough and laryngitis that linger.
However, I wanted to tell you about all the Hallmark Christmas movies we have been watching! We spent all last weekend watching them, bless my husband’s heart. We watched three: Christmas at the Catnip Cafe, Tis the Season to be Irish, and The Christmas Cottage.
We started with Christmas at the Catnip Cafe, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Olivia has a career as a marketer in California, and thinks she has finally found her dream home, a slick and shiny condo. Unfortunately, the down payment is more than she can afford. She thinks her dreams are answered when she learns that she has inherited her aunt’s cat cafe. Olivia heads across the country, planning on a quick sale and then getting back to California and her new condo. However, Ben , her aunt’s partner at the cafe and a local overworked overwhelmed vet who often does vet work for cookies rather than money, does not want to sell. So they make a deal: Olivia does all the planning and helps during the three week Christmas season at the Catnip Cafe which has multitudes of activities, and Ben will sell. And of course, as this is a Hallmark movie, we do get our HEA. I loved this one because of all the cats, of course. And because of Ben’s villainous eyebrows.
You all know I am such an interiors and set person, and this one did not disappoint. It was full of warmth and texture and color, a mix of old and new. And Olivia’s aunt’s house had the most beautiful stained glass window. Sigh.
The movie did have some parts that just didn’t make sense and gave Billy and I a little laugh , but Billy and I rarely watch a movie with a critical eye. The very reason some people don’t like these movies is exactly why I like them! And I am of an age now where I am not ashamed to admit I like things, even if they are unpopular. I like what I like and I am good with that.
You can see some of the cats here, on the Hallmark website. There was even one that reminded me of my own Miso!
You can watch this one on Hallmark via a free trial through Amazon Prime, Roku, and YouTube.
Next, we headed overseas to Ireland, with Tis the Season to be Irish.
Rose is a free spirited wanderer, who loves being on the move, being in new cities and countries and towns, and not being tied down to one spot too long. She is a house flipper and has set her sights on a cottage in Ireland, that looks absolutely adorable online. Bonus, it is located in a town that her mother (now deceased) had once visited and loved. However, when she arrives it is in complete shambles and the realtor, Sean, is also anti-house flipper and a historic preservationist. The two have a bumpy road as Rose must work with Sean in her plans to flip the cottage, keeping it in standards he approves of as the cottage is historic. Sean is also the most homebody homebody too. When the two start to have feelings for each other, they question just how such a relationship will work out. One thing I liked about this one is that both Rose and Sean are older, in their forties, and I thought that was a cool change.
I enjoyed this one, but more than the romance aspect, I loved the friendships that Rose there. She made friends with another woman who was renovating a cottage, except she wanted hers to live in, not flip, and a woman who had lost her husband and was visiting the town because it was where he was from. I loved the interactions of these women as they began their friendships together.
And there was a cute animal in this one too! Lambchop, the sheep who was devoted to Rose. When Billy and I were guessing at the reason that would suddenly shine the light on Rose that she needed to stay, I suggested that she would discover that the sheep was an ancestor of a sheep that her mother knew during her stay. Lol. I was pretty bummed too, that despite being in Ireland the interiors of these houses and buildings were a bummer. The views of the landscape however, were gorgeous.
You can watch this one on Hallmark via a free trial through Amazon Prime, Roku, and YouTube.
Ok, moving on. The Christmas Cottage.
This is the tale of Lacey and Ean. I mean, we all know they are together in the end, it’s a Hallmark movie so no spoiler there. Lacey is an interior designer, who is at the top of her game. She doesn’t design lovely living spaces though, full of warmth and whimsy, she designs work-home spaces, that are all white and designed to be perfect for, I guess, never leaving work behind? Which makes sense because Lacey is in a relationship with her design firm partner Roger, and their relationship definitely seems more business than pleasure. They have a genuine friendship I believe, and the same goals for their business, but as for a romantic relationship? That doesn’t look like something they have (and is confirmed by the end of the movie).
Lacey is the maid of honor in her best friend Ava’s wedding, which sounds magical. A Christmas wedding, followed by a night in Ava’s family cottage, which has a charming legend surrounding it. Legend says that whoever stays a Christmas night in the cottage will have a happy and lasting marriage. Ava’s brother, and Lacey’s ex, Ean, is the best man, so the two are thrown together quite a bit with their duties, and these duties include decorating the cottage for Christmas. They are there reminiscing about their past together, when they are snowed in for the night. And maybe there just is some truth to that legend, as Lacey’s outlook on what she wants begins to change. Or maybe it wasn’t the cottage that changed her mind, maybe it was just Ean.
This was a cute one! The set was so rustic lodge at Christmas and I was so there for that. I loved Ava and her bubbly personality and her love of everything, and I loved the nostalgia of this movie. After the Catnip Cafe, this was my favorite. Sorry, Tis the Season to be Irish. I enjoyed you but of the three you came in third. Still good though.
You can watch this one on Hallmark via a free trial through Amazon Prime, Roku, and YouTube.
And now I am off to find more to have Billy watch with me this weekend!
In case you missed Part 1 and Part 2: So, on November 22, 2024 I started a little book book, as I call it, but it is a journal of the books I have read with a few jotted thoughts, quotes I like, and stickers. I am an archivist and chronicler at heart, and I have been having so much fun journaling my reading experience this way. I thought it would be neat to share my favorite quotes from all the books I have read – in different parts of course.
We have made it into May!
“Life, I know is written on our faces. I lifted my right hand and involuntarily stroked my own cheek, wondering what stories life would have written there when I reached the end of my days.”
“One belief does not negate the other. They can exist at the same time.”
‘Every time someone wants to throw away a book, a little bit of my soul dies.’
“The girl knows, though, that remembering can be difficult. She always has so much inside her head: songs, stories, things she has to learn, things she wants to forget but that keep coming back. When she needs to remember something, she often forgets it, but she always remembers whatever she wants to forget.”
“…’ the guy wears a tweed coat, Edwards! Willingly! That’s super shady in my book. And he says he’s an archaeologist but I don’t think that’s even a real job. It’s a job that people have in movies, like pumpkin farmer or professional Christmas tree stylist.”
“How many times in her life has she said yes to a boy or a man just because it was the easiest thing to do? How many times has she let a man take what he wanted, instead of taking something for herself?”
“I’m not good at staying mad at people.”
I read this right after Wyatt’s surgery and I wasn’t working on my book book. I will tell you that I wrote down in my two lines of notes that my favorite part was Fifi.
Same as above. I wrote that my favorite part was the descriptions of fall in the Daniel Boone National Forest.
Same. Lol. My favorite parts were the reunion she had with someone special and the cozy snowy vibes.
Same, and last of the survival reading mode. I also decided after this one I wasn’t reading anymore in this series. I didn’t really enjoy it.
“Outside it was the coldest of winters. Cold stars shone over the icy bay and the cold hit you as you turned the corners. Then it was delicious to settle down in a warm kitchen. Pelle beamed and filled the stove with wood; this was all just as it should be, with everyone sitting together, warm and cosy, singing and talking.”
And that is it for today! Have you read any of these?
Today’s Prompt is all about that Winter TBR. I have not quite finalized mine yet, but these are the titles that are in contention. I am feeling like I need a bit of middle grade, a little historical fictions, some nonfiction, some peaceful reads this winter. And maybe one horror. Also, one of these is a book I told my husband I would read. I bet you can guess which one!
I also think I want to reread Winter Cottage by Carol Ryrie Brink. I simply loved this heartwarming book. I am also hoping to read Ghosts of Greenglass House, as I really loved Greenglass House when I read it. And then for of course for some more lightheartedness, Secret Nights and Northern Lights. I am obsessed with the aurora borealis and traveling to Iceland (a top five on my bucket list!) so I am looking forward to this one.
And you may have guessed it. Dungeon Crawler Carl is the book I am reading for my husband. Who knows, I may love it!
And I have heard the best things about The Frozen River. I don’t read too much historical fiction anymore, but this one sounds like I need to at least try it!
Moon of the Crusted Snow is one I have had on my TBR for YEARS. Maybe this will be the year I actually read the whole thing.
I want to say, I know next week is wish list week, and I know a lot people feel weird about posting their lists. I am not here to change anyone’s mind, but I am really excited about buying a gift for a blogger or two that posts. I am just going to throw everyone in a hat and have Wyatt pick two. I feel like this is such a great community, the TTT crew, and I want to just spread some Christmas cheer.
And, I can’t wait to see what you all are planning! Who knows, my list might change after I see what is on your plate!
I have a little cold that I have been nursing my way through and spent the weekend being cozy and warm and watching movies. I fully intended to write my Soup and Story Saturday post last night, but I ate my soup, took a shower, crawled under the covers, and that was it. Game over. All productivity was lost after that.
So I am just combining it today, sort of, with this post.
First off, what I am reading. I didn’t do much reading last week, unfortunately. Before I got the ick from Billy and Wyatt, Wyatt and I finished up his book, The Celery Stalks at Midnight. I didn’t get a chance to grab my library book at all, and in fact, Billy ended up picking up my holds Friday night, with all the books I wanted to read in that stack. So I finally got to start the book I had been waiting for.
It is literally everything I need right now. I am reading slowly but I am really enjoying it. This series is such a light fluffy series and that is precisely why I like it.
I spent a lot of time curled up watching shows with Wyatt, YouTube, movies. This is not usually me but I will say I am feeling pretty rested. Wyatt and I watched lots of Frog and Toad. He will watch them over and over, and we both really enjoyed the Christmas Eve episode a lot.
As for movies, we have watched Emmet Otter’s Jug- Band Christmas, Christmas at the Catnip Cafe (which was soo cheesy but I 100% loved it), Bramble House Christmas, and Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas. Tonight, we are going to watch another Hallmark Christmas movie. I am excited!
Soup and Story:
I won’t make this post super long with a story, but I was so grateful for this ramen last night. I absolutely love it. The restaurant is at the back of a gaming center, where people go to play tabletop games like DnD and Warhammer. It is pretty smart for them, because people will sit and play all day and they are probably just making so much money off the gamers which good for them. This food is amazing too. I could eat it everyday.
Around the Interwebs:
So I cohost a few different things with Lisa at Boondock Ramblings, although I have been doing poorly the past 10 days or so. I am just going to quote her here:
Lisa at Boondock Ramblings and I host a monthly bookish link party called A Good Book and A Cup of Tea. This link-up is for book and reading posts or anything related to books and reading (even movies based on books!). Each link party will be open for a month. You can find that link up for this month here.
We are also hosting Comfy Cozy Christmas! Anything holiday related – any December holiday – at all that strikes your fancy and you write about, please think about sharing on our linky. You can find the link for that at the top of my page in the menu or here.
We also will be starting Crafternoons back up in January and we hope to post the dates soon!
And that is it from me today! Stay safe and take care of yourselves my friends!
Hello everyone!! I hope that you are all doing well! As for me, well I caught the cold that Billy and Wyatt had. Yay. Thanks for sharing guys. I’ve been laying low the past few days, trying to get that rest in. We canceled our Blackbirds Troop meeting last night and it hurt me to do it, but I didn’t feel well, Billy and I both have laryngitis, and we don’t want to share our germs with our friends for the holidays most importantly.
The Monday after Thanksgiving, Wyatt and I took a little road trip to my dad’s. We had a secret mission to get Billy’s Christmas present, and there is a store there that sells them – bonsai! I am telling Billy not to read this post too, I obviously don’t want to spoil the surprise. He has wanted one forever, and we found a great nursery called Green Witch Gardens. My dad and stepmom went with us, and my stepmom is babysitting the bonsai until I get it closer to Christmas. It is the coolest store, with a tortoise and cats and a ton of bonsai. However, they only had teeny ones or huge ones, and the huge ones were very pricey. So, Billy is getting a tiny baby bonsai. He will be happy though. Then I realized I needed to come home from our shopping trip with Shellie, that I told Billy we were doing, with something at least. So I picked up a teeny little baby cactus.
Two days later though, Wyatt was congested. No runny nose, just all in his head, I could hear it in his voice. Then a few days later, had a cough at night and that was it. Then Billy caught it, and he had the same. Now, my turn. Blah. I have drainage and laryngitis and it is no fun at all. I have way too much to do but I want to get this out of my system before Sunday so I am resting. Lol. Billy and Wyatt were doing much better after like four days so I am hoping I will too. And enough about this, blah!
Before all the sickness, or in between, we masked up and went to a local event at the River Raisin National Battlefield. It was so cool! It was called Echoes of a French Noel, and I thought there would be more Christmas stuff (there was none lol) but we still had a lot of fun. There were re-enactors, interactive displays, and a huge longhouse to walk through. They had a candle making station, which Wyatt really loved and it cracked me up that he was so excited over it but he is my child so it tracks, a cannon that we could load (obviously not a working one), madeline cookies which we love, and it was just really neat inside. We found an opportunity for our Blackbirds to try archery there, which I need to follow up on.
I of course had to look around the gift shop – they always have unique items and Christmas is coming! However, I was excited that they had a section of used books, and I bought two, and paid a total of $5.00 for them!
We then popped over to the Conservatory, one of my favorite shops in SE Michigan. I am usually successful at finding a plant as a gift for my MIL there, but this time they were low in stock. I will check back closer to the holiday to see if they restocked. It was super pretty though, decorated for the holidays. Wyatt kept telling me he was happy too, so that made me happy. We didn’t find anything for my MIL but we did buy another cactus. I am going to just blame homeschool for this new interest. Wyatt is learning about deserts and desert life, the things that live and grow there, and we did a whole section just on the Saguaro.
I mentioned that Wyatt is studying deserts and one thing that I thought make it more fun this December is filling out the paperwork to get another junior ranger badge online. We are doing the steps for the Sonoran Desert National Park junior range badge, and I was just going to skip over the nature center scavenger hunt, when I realized we had a lot of the items on the list here in our house.
Sunday morning I got up early and drove my friends and I through a winter weather advisory to the Annual Potter’s Market that we have been going to every year. I wore my mask and I am glad that I did, since my family is sick and I was maybe coming down with it. We all poked around, putting stuff in our baskets, taking it out, adding new things. I just love it, and we saw such cool items! I bought more tiny things. I am obsessed for some reason (I’m a goblin, that is why). I did buy a small turtle for Wyatt’s stocking, and I think he will like it.
I had a great time with Chrissy and Kelly. It is hard to carve out these moments but they are always special when we do.
Later that night, we watched Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas, and I wanted to make it seem happy and magical, so I rearranged things and changed the lighting and added some treats.
Then we had the rest of the week. Mainly all of us trying to not feel yucky, resting, and that sort of thing. I did make scones before I went down, and they are fantastic! I have been adding different family recipes or recipes that I have found and that turn out well to a journal and using it as a cookbook. This scone recipe is my stepmom’s and they are so good. Wyatt doesn’t usually eat baked goods, except cookies, and he loves these!
And that was the last interesting thing that I did this week. I am super bummed can you tell? I had so much fun planned! Now I just need to wait this out a bit but it is hard! Send me all your good healing vibes friends!
I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!
In case you missed Part 1: So, on November 22, 2024 I started a little book book, as I call it, but it is a journal of the books I have read with a few jotted thoughts, quotes I like, and stickers. I am an archivist and chronicler at heart, and I have been having so much fun journaling my reading experience this way. I thought it would be neat to share my favorite quotes from all the books I have read – in different parts of course.
“What any woman wants is not for you to decide. You would do well to remember that.”
This is actually a quote from the translator’s note.
“This book catalogs the many pleasures of reading: the joy of discovering a new author; the hedonism of staying up too late to finish a book; the surreptitious thrill of getting to know someone by reading their favorite book; and the freedom of walking into a bookstore and scanning the titles, waiting for something to catch your eye..”
“Emily had inherited certain things from her fine old ancestors – the power to fight – to suffer – to pity – to love very deeply – to rejoice – to endure.”
“Daisy had begun to feel like a seed taking root. She was insect-nibbled and wind-ruffled and elbow-skinned. Her hair was full of twigs, her fingernails were filthy – and every part of her felt hungry and alive.”
“There was something so special about a notebook without a single note in it. It felt like touching pure potential.”
“Tea doesn’t wake me up like coffee does. It doesn’t hug me and tell me everything is going to be ok if I just drink it.”
“He was all dreams and wild ideas, and she was more….sciency.”
“I looked at Francis and began to wonder why I had ever thought I had lived in a world without dragons.”
“You are amusingly soft-hearted for a villainous swamp creature.”
“Being a good neighbor is all about making sure that the people you share land and air and water with don’t need anything either.”
Phew. Part two done, and we have made it to May in my journal. I did skip over Watership Down, which I read in-between Greenteeth and A Prayer for the Crown Shy.
I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!
Greenglass House is one of my favorite MG reads. I just love everything about it.
The Enchanted Greenhouse may sound like it should be a spring or summer book, but it really takes place in the snowy winter. One of my favorite things during snowy season is to visit greenhouses and conservatories, and be reminded of heat and green growing things, so I think that contributed to my love of this book.
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden is all about the winter and snow. I read it during a snowstorm and it was perfect.
Fox Crossing is just a cute little read – I loved this whole series!
A Blizzard of Polar Bears was not my favorite honestly. I wanted to love this series and I will probably give it another chance now that I have reminded myself of it, but there is no denying that this book that takes place in the Canadian Arctic is a snowy book. It wasn’t bad, from the scientific pov but the character herself is a bit too..action hero sometimes.
The Frozen River is actually on my TBR. I never got to it when everyone else was reading it! Maybe this winter.
The Shining. Seriously, there is no way I could have made this list without this book.
I was obsessed by Goolrick’s writing years ago, and A Reliable Wife is phenomenal in my opinion.
While the Earth Holds Its Breath. This book sounds absolutely lovely, and I have it on my TBR for winter. So I guess you guys got a tiny preview of my next week’s post this week! Lol.
I am excited to see everyone’s choices today!
I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 