Where Do I Start?!

When this many weeks (and very full weeks, at that) have slipped by without a blog post, I struggle to know where to start. 

So how about a few key photos starting back in mid-May:

Elsa's Bakery (the 2010 addition to our house) got heavy use from the beginning of May until we started moving back into the real kitchen and main living space on June 24th.

In the meantime, our attics were vacuumed out (a dusty job leaving a hot house).

Trees bloomed and bees hummed.

I had a lakeside birthday celebration with family.

The nature journal came out again.

We lived outside (both for work and rest) much of the time.

Tea harvest began.

Dad planted the vegetables.

We hired a neighbor to take off the biggest layer of toxic basement cement dust throughout our house (here showing what settled into the holes of a hardanger table runner) since cleaning kept setting us back too far.

Joseph came to inspect the tractors and visit us after months away during greenhouse season!

Evangeline showed her determination to be a "bookworm" like her mom!

Gardens were toured and asparagus picked.
See videos on my YouTube channel: Purely.HannahMary

Weeds were dug by the gallons from gardens and lawns.

Fresh kale, spinach, lettuce and radish began cutting down our grocery bills.

...And I really must save the rest for another post!

His Eye is On the Sparrow

I am slowly pulling out of yet another physical setback...days of deep weakness and survival mode. And in them, God is with me. How do I know?! One way is through the songs He places in my heart. Like one morning last week...

...How glad I am that even before I woke to the fact that today was a hard-to-breathe, hard-to-move, legs-giving-out sort of day...

Even before this I woke to a song in my heart:

"Why should I feel discouraged,
Why should the shadows come?...

"I sing because I'm happy
I sing because I'm free;
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me."*

That song is obviously a perfectly timed gift from my loving Father today.

• Matthew 10:29 — Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

• Luke 12:7 — Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Even though I am working my way back toward my "normal" strength this week, Elsa is facing a more prolonged setback due to the toxins spread through our house during days of cement chipping and grinding in our basement. Would you pray that her near-blacking-out through large portions of each day will clear up more quickly than the first time mycotoxins put her body in this state for much of a year?

P.S. - Pics are of last week's Jasmine-Green tea with the spontaneous addition of dandelion fluff. Tea outdoors is the best! Especially in my favorite mug by The Evergreen Studio.

*Civilla D. Martin (1905)

What to Read: Part III, Books for Her

Don't we all wish at times that we could be writing our own life-story to “fix” all the things that seem to have gone wrong?

I love how this cosy book addresses that:

"’Wouldn't you like to be writing that book with us all in it, Mother, and make Daddy come home soon?’

“Peter's Mother put her arm round him suddenly, and hugged him in silence for a minute. Then she said:— ‘Don't you think it's rather nice to think that we're in a book that God's writing? If I were writing the book, I might make mistakes. But God knows how to make the story end just right— in the way that's best for us.’

"’Do you really believe that, Mother?’ Peter asked quietly.

"’Yes,’ she said, ‘I do believe it— almost always— except when I'm so sad that I can't believe anything. But even when I can't believe it, I know it's true— and I try to believe. You don't know how I try, Peter.’”

• The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit 

Hans Christian Andersen put it this way: “Every person’s life is a fairy tale written by God’s fingers.”

Stories have a way of illuminating truths that would just go over our heads in a sermon. That is why I found it such a joy to voice the oldest girl, Roberta, in the LibriVox full-cast recording of The Railway Children.

I mention this to bring up the fact that there are many ways to enjoy books these days. While still a big fan of holding a hard copy in my hands and turning paper pages, I am grateful for all the digital versions currently available for free.

[“Currently” – meaning there has been legislation considered which would threatened free access to public domain audiobooks such as those recorded by volunteers on LibriVox.org. But for now we can still download as many as we choose – as well as a wealth of free e-books from sites such as Gutenberg.org and Archive.org.]

Just as in the Books for Him book list, I hope these Books for Her will provide more than mere entertainment, enjoyment, or even increased knowledge. In addition, you will find beautiful role models, true faith, and sanctified imagination.

Before wrapping up, I want to acknowledge that there is much overlap between my book lists for Him and Her. After all, I have read both lists during my life as a girl and woman! 

Not having grown up with any brothers, I had to prepare the masculine list based off what I have seen my boy-students, cousins, and friends reading, as well as what my sister used with her tutoring students. But I also included books I knew from my own reading to have at least half or more of the focus on boy-characters. Not every guy will be into some of those books, just as not every girl will be into all the books on today’s list. And that’s fine!

But for the readers who just can’t get enough books, I am including a master-list of both book-lists combined, called WHAT TO READ. There are even a few bonuses in this list – including several daily devotionals at the end!

Click below for your free, downloadable book lists. And please share this post with others who may be blessed by it!

Books for Her  PDF link

What to Read  PDF link

Happy reading!

~ Hannah

What to Read: Part II, Books for Him

As stated in the Elizabeth Yates quote I shared in my previous post, “A man must have a care to what he puts in his mind, for when he’s alone on a hillside and draws it out, he’ll want treasures to be his company, not regrets.”

Do you have trouble finding books worth “putting into” your mind or those of your children? I hope today's book-list will help!

When gathering books for boys (and men), I looked for more than just adventure, mystery, or daring deeds. Those are included! But I also wanted to provide good role models, true faith, and sanctified imagination.

For example, Amos Fortune: free man by Elizabeth Yates is one of those books that is meaningful and inspiring no matter what age you read it. I first met Amos Fortune this winter of 2022. Even though he died in 1801, I say "met," because he was a man whom everyone would want for a friend.

Despite all the pain he came through - including being captured by another African tribe and sold into slavery in his teens, spending decades earning money to buy the freedom of more than just himself, losing loved ones, and being mistreated - Amos had a soft and grateful heart. It wasn't easy, but he lived out his faith in a very practical way and learned the value of following Jesus' direction to “turn the other cheek.”

"Amos watched the fire climb slowly at first, starting from a dozen different places; then like a wall of destruction it moved up the steep sides until the flames met and linked in a vast pyramid of fire at the summit, consuming everything that could be consumed and leaving the mountain bare and smoldering.

"Hate could do that to a man, Amos thought, consume him and leave him smoldering. But he was a free man, and free at a great cost, and he would not put himself in bondage again."

On my Books for Him list, you will also find older titles you most likely have not heard of, including several featuring boys by Johanna Spyri – Swiss author of the famous Heidi.

As C.W. Stork wrote in the forward to Vinzi, "Madame Spyri's panacea for the ills of life is an old one, but it is doubtful whether anything better can be found than her combination, which is: Faith in God, active helpfulness toward all around, love of beauty, fresh mountain air, and good food."

From the lively animal-characters of Beatrix Potter or Thornton Burgess, to the riveting lives of Brother Andrew and George Muller, readers of any age should find some “treasures” to store away and pull out in the years to come.

Click below for your free, downloadable book list. And please share this post with others who may be blessed by it!

Books for Him  PDF link

~ Hannah