A Budding Bibliophile

Exploring the stack at Mimi and Pa's house


“[B]ooks in the study, books in the drawing room, books in the cloakroom, books (two deep) in the great bookcase on the landing, books in the bedroom, books piled high as [a child’s] shoulder in the cistern attic, books of all kinds…, books readable and unreadable, books suitable for a child and books most emphatically not.”~C.S. Lewis, describing his childhood home

Thanksgiving

I hope you had a blessed day yesterday. May we all truly have hearts filled with thanksgiving to the Lord--"that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection".
(Quote from George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation)

Enjoying leftovers together:

Below are two pieces of fitting reading for this holiday. Our heritage. Would that we also maintained such an appropriate view of the Lord's hand in our lives!

George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

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Abraham Lincoln's Proclamation of Thanksgiving

Afternoon Sunlight

...on a jar of Earl Grey teabags
and cuttings to root

Early evening cup of hot tea

PG Tips. Always the perfect thing.

The temperature was down to five degrees (F) Thursday night. Today has been more pleasant, hovering around freezing, and we woke up to some snow. It was dark already at five. I wasn’t paying attention to when the sun actually went down. It’s earlier every evening, making for long cozy evenings.

I started reading just the perfect sort of book for an evening like this. Big Mutt is a book that Daddy read aloud to us on winter evenings when I was little. We loved it. He read many chapter books to us about animals in the winter, but this was a special favorite. I haven’t read it for about ten years, and am thoroughly enjoying the rereading of it. North Dakota. In the winter. Sheep herders and wild dogs. A boy who loves the wild things.

“Water from countless tearing floods had cut this deep gully. The whole area was a network of gullies, making it worthless for grazing. Here, numerous families of coyotes had made their dens. It was the scent of one of these that came sharply to the big mutt’s nostrils.
It was a lucky find for him, because the old male that was head of this family of five coyotes had hidden their den skillfully. The coyotes heard the big mutt crashing through the deep snow, and scurried out into the storm, rather than fight him. They had worn a little winding path up the steep wall. They fled in single file, snarling silently, the old he-coyote in the lead.
The dog let them go and crawled into their warm cave, which they had padded with grass and the roots of grass. A badger had first built this home, and the coyotes had driven him out and enlarged it to suit their needs. It was low down in the side of the gully, well hidden, protected from the wind, yet high enough so that not even the deepest spring floodwaters would enter.
The dog lay down contentedly in his warm bed. He groaned and scratched and stretched, and his New York license tag tinkled against the small brass plate on his collar…
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All night the blizzard howled, and when he awakened in the morning it was still raging. The onslaught of snow blotted out roads, covered fences, filled ditches, and piled in mountainous drifts that snapped telephone poles and trees. Farmers were cut off from towns, and towns from each other. Highway traffic ceased, and the trains stopped running as the big rotary snowplows stalled.”*

My dear siblings know what brings me joy to have in my home and gift me with copies of treasures from the shelves of Mama and Papa’s house. This was one such present on my birthday from my brother. Said brother is spending his days in a deer stand this weekend. Brrr.

*(pp. 18-19, Big Mutt by John Reese, 1952)

Rambles to self

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I am unpacking my diaper bag this morning in order to ready it for church tomorrow. It's amazing how many things a person can fit in there. I had it packed quite full on Thursday morning to spend the day at Mama and Papa's house; too bad I didn't take a picture because it was a decidedly happy jumble.

teething tablets (a wonderful thing!)

knitting project #1 ~Greta's scarf

her dollie

a change of clothes for the girlie (of course), including her pink fuzzy hoodie

my wallet

pink sippy cup

diapers, cloths, spray, water, grocery bags

camera

battery charger

knitting project #2 ~Greta's legwarmies

ziploc with jars of baby food (carrots and plum applesauce) and Greta's silver spoon

a bib

a box of brown rice cereal in a purse from Antigua

my cellphone

and last, but certainly not least, my hunting knife (in its sheath--no worries)
("Why my hunting knife?" I ask myself. I suppose if something happened to the car on the drive and Greta and I were to meet, on our trek to the nearest farm, an angry coyote, I would want it ...or something. Actually, I think I just like to have it.)

Hhmm. So now I have record of this exceedingly trivial bit of information. For posterity.

* * * * *

My buddy

Greta's two front teeth are coming in this week. They cut through yesterday a bit, but she is still in some discomfort. Naptime hasn't been working very well, but she doesn't always feel well enough to just play with her toys either, so she's spent a good deal of time in her favorite place of all: on Mommie's back. She plays with my hair and the straps, and then lays her little head down and snoozes. She gets so excited when I get out the Ergo. :-) Sweet girl.

I've always wanted one of these wire basket thingies. Mama, you used to have one, right? At Taylor Street maybe? They've always delighted me--I'm not sure why. :)

Winterish pileup

A certain little girl can now pull herself up on the furniture and so has full access to the top of the coffee table. The things that used to go there are now a happy winter jumble on the bookshelf. Unceremonious, I know, but cozy.

Legwarmies

Pink legwarmies in progress from a pattern I found at Never Not Knitting from a link at SouleMama's blog.

Snowy Afternoon

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after-naptime face of sweetness...big yawn!

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looking out the window at the snow falling...and playing in the curtain again
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three strings of lights and only the middle one works :-); paper snowflakes; Plymouth on my desktop

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Ironing

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Christina, my reply is in the comments section! :)

A meal shared with dear family

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A meal that just happens to be my favorite one ever: Chicken Jal-Freezy [sic].

My man's grandpa was a pastor and ministered some years ago in a small town not too far from here with his wife and children. He passed away from cancer long before my man was born, but his son (Caleb's dad) now ministers the Word in our little town.

Back when Grandpa S. was shepherding his little flock, he made a board thingumy to go in his church building. I don't know what you call it. They're fairly common in older churches, and there were slots that you could slide cards into with information on such things as hymn numbers, church attendance and this Sunday's offering.

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Now it is in my home. It hangs on the wall in my main room next to the doorway to the kitchen. I would love it for just its own sake, but the fact that it is a piece of family history and a reminder of the heritage that is my man's and my Greta's of grandpas faithfully serving the Lord makes it all the more a treasure.

It will serve as a perfect place to post memory verses and seasonal beauties. This year my advent candles are made from satin ribbon, and their little tin foil flames will shine from Grandpa Cecil's hymn-number-board.

Mechanic in Training

I walked out to the garage last evening, and this is what I found. She's going to be such a good helper, I think. :)

Under all these masks...
a post from Holy Experience
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Jesus

we need you


"Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

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I love getting back into the weekday routine!

~ playtime on the quilt in jammies
~ a colorful collection of natural baby food

~ onions in my new-to-me hanging basket

~ wood stacked to the door

~ morning coffee and thyme with sunshine

~ habaneros ripening on my bathroom counter

(pictures from Monday morning)

So thankful...

...for blocks to trip over on my way to bed. I decided to leave them there because they made me smile so.

Lake Trail

Yesterday was such a beautiful day that my man's mama suggested a walk around the lake on the new path. It was a wonderful idea. We went in the late afternoon and got to watch the sun set. The air was so warm that it was hard to believe that it was the first weekend in November.
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Greta loves riding on her Daddy's shoulders :) (especially because she can grab and eat his hair)
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::'~ Berry brambles and the beautiful sunset: