No talent is wholly wasted unless its owner chooses to hide it in a napkin. In 1868, Louisa May Alcott published her most famous novel, Little Women, featuring four sisters and their varied experiences of growing into womanhood. The next year she published another beautiful story of the same ilk. An Old Fashioned Girl seemed…
Month: October 2016
The Princess Bride
In 1973 William Goldman penned a quirky but endearing story about a beautiful princess, a mysterious pirate, a lovable giant, a Spanish swordsman, a cunning Sicilian, a six-fingered villain, a duplicitous prince, and an out-of-work miracle man. Perhaps a little bit like A.A. Milne’s Once On A Time, The Princess Bride is tough to categorize…
Brideshead Revisited
The podcast version of this review can be found here. “Read and re-read. Re-reading we always find a new book.” ~C.S. Lewis, Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories, “On Stories” (1947) I have always been a big fan of re-reading. While most good books can support many readings, certain excellent books almost seem to require…
The Princess and the Goblin
“I propose to speak about fairy-stories, though I am aware that this is a rash adventure. Faërie is a perilous land, and in it are pitfalls for the unwary and dungeons for the overbold.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, On Fairy-stories In The Princess and the Goblin, George MacDonald treats us to a rich imaginative adventure. Like…
Apple Recipes
In this article, I wrote about why we can apples. I have had some friends ask me which recipes we use and how we do it. I am a self-taught canner. I am not an expert. I am just a modern mom who is trying to connect with old-fashioned good sense. That said, I will…
Applesauce Needs Sugar
Several years ago, I heard about an obscure and out-of-print old treasure: Applesauce Needs Sugar. Sadly, the book is old enough and obscure enough that it took months for me to get an interlibrary loan copy. When it did arrive, I had no time to read it and had to return it. For nearly two…
Tiny Jars of Apples
It is apple season here in Wisconsin. We live in a place with very harsh winters, late springs, and cold falls. In our city, the “snow/cold day” school cancellation policy doesn’t activate until -35F° (with windchill). My respect for the pioneers and settlers who tamed this bitterly cold wilderness is boundless. My admiration for their…
Little Britches #5: Fields of Home
In my review of the fourth book in Ralph Moody’s Little Britches series, Mary Emma and Company, I said goodbye to young Ralph. That book closed the chapter on Ralph’s childhood. Fields of Home chronicles Ralph’s debut into young manhood. No longer a child but not yet a man, this chapter of Ralph’s life extends…
Sabbath Schedule
A few months ago I wrote an article about our obedience to the spiritual principle of Sabbath-keeping. Since then, I have received a number of requests for an explanation of what a normal Sabbath looks like for us. Because I appreciate being able to peek into the lives of others, I am happy to share…
Hospitality Recharge
In this article I wrote about Sally Clarkson’s A Life Giving Home and a beautiful weekend of hospitality when we were hosting our Gourmet group. In that article I explained that we anticipated the weekend with a gentle approach to our preparations and a sharing of the work. No matter how wonderful our call to hospitality is,…