Max Miller: Tasting History

 

I love history, and all things that get me closer to lost times. Max Miller puts us right there by recreating the food from other times and places. His channel goes deep into recipes from almost any era you can imagine. He is pleasant to listen to as he provides background for the food and the history. He then makes the food, often simplifying it for average cooks. He rounds out the video with a tasting and brief wrap-up.

If you like history at all you will like this. I can see it also being a handy reference for school history projects. Max has also written a Tasting History cookbook that is on my list of books to acquire. He’s just all around educational and entertaining.

Pot of Cheer

 Our neighbors gifted us an Amaryllis for Christmas. I’d never had one before, but it proved to be as simple as setting it in the dirt, plopping it in the sun and watering it when it was dry. The resulting bloom is delicate yet flashy. I’m rather enamored with it.

TBR Three Ways

 This year I went through my book stash and filtered out the ones that weren’t likely to be read soon, then I went to Barnes and Noble with my Christmas money and seriously increased my stash. I piled most of the books I want to get to in a pile on my dresser, so I can see it’s bulk. I’m hoping seeing it shrink will motivate me to keep going.

I also make a TBR in my bullet journal by printing out mini versions of the book covers. Whenever I finish a book I mark it with a gold star. I posted all the titles randomly hoping that getting Bingos will make extra pressure to read everything.

My wildest TBR is my goodreads list. Any book I come across or is recommended to me goes in the goodreads app for later. It is a long list. I’ll probably have to cull it periodically in order to keep it functional.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/152266324?shelf=to-read&sort=date_added&order=d

That would never happen now…

 

Modern women often feel complacent about horror stories from the past. They reassure themselves that that would never happen now, and they leave it to others to fight for women’s rights. For the sake of not disrupting their communities they accept bad rhetoric and degrading teaching. They don’t speak up, because they think it could never happen now.

I love Margaret Atwood’s book The Handmaid’s Tale for a lot of reasons. She has a great sense of humor for one, and she creates a palpably real world where we get a glimpse of what it might be like if it happened now and how it might happen. It is a difficult book to read and walk away saying “It would never happen now.” 

We can’t sit down when we are halfway there and feel assured that our daughters’ future is safe. Many groups harbor old-fashioned ways that could set us all back if the women in those communities don’t speak up. They are enjoying the fruits of others’ labor while doing none of the work themselves.

Homesteading with the Zimmermans: The Rhythm of Life

 I’ve never been super drawn to the homesteading life. I like to read too much, but the grand mothering life is one of my fondest ambitions. I had terrific grandparents who knew how to dial it down to my rhythm. They were my favorite people in the world.

When I am so blessed as to have grandchildren, I want to remember the special patience and loving attention so I can live that with my little ones. Homesteading with the Zimmermans lives in that gentle patience. I can be a little frenetic, and Ruth Ann’s pacing is a steadying gauge. She teaches old time skills, sometimes directly to the viewer, sometimes to her children. Her home and farm are beautiful in a completely non-fussy way. I need to remember children are curious and they break things. 

Homesteading with the Zimmermans is a reset for busy lives. There are good things to learn, beautiful things to see and a quiet reminder that God is good. 

I Am Asking in the Name of God

 Pope Francis isn’t messing around with his new book. A call to prayer he focuses on the real issues destroying the world today. He asks…

1. In the name of God, I ask that the culture of abuse be eradicated from the Church.

2. In the name of God, I ask that we protect our Common Home.

3. In the name of God, I ask for the media to fight fake news and avoid hate speech.

4. In the name of God, I ask for Politics that work for the common good

5. In the name of God, I ask that we stop the madness of war.

6. In the name of God, I ask that doors be opened to immigrants and refugees.

7. In the name of God, I ask that greater participation of women in society be promoted and encouraged.

8. In the name of God, I ask that the growth of poor countries be allowed and encouraged.

9. In the name of God, I ask for universal access to health services.

10. In the name of God, I ask that the name of God not be used to incite wars.

I’m asking that too.

Gotta Get Peggotty!

 

I watch a lot of Floss Tube, which concerns itself, mainly, with cross stitch. I do so because I like cross stitch, and I hope to become more proficient and more diligent in its production. I have discovered that I am not a fan of confetti, meaning when there are six colors for a leaf and they are all mixed up with each other. It’s beautiful what designers achieve with confetti, but I prefer sizable chunks of the same color that are easy to count. The Prairie Schooler design shop was the main shop I knew of for this kind of thing, but I like brighter colors

Wandering around the cross stitch world I found Mrs. Peggotty and I loved the lack of confetti, the bright colors and the fact that most all of her designs come from books I have read and enjoyed. I have committed to The Mad Hatter, and I can’t wait to get started. I am surprised that Mrs. Peggotty’s designs are not being stitched by Floss Tubers. I’d love to be stitching along with an expert. I’d also like to buy three or four more patterns, but my stash is as large as I can cope with now.

Browsing at Mrs. Peggotty’s Etsy shop is like leafing through a library. Jules Verne, Edgar Allen Poe, Louisa May Alcott, Lewis Carrol and Agatha Christie to name a few. The pieces are full-coverage, but of a manageable size with all those easy to stitch puddles of color. Do as you will I just feel a talented designer is being overlooked. 

https://www.etsy.com/search?q=mrs%20peggotty%20arts&ref=auto-1&as_prefix=mrs%20pegg

In Ad

 Ept

Connie Clark: Faffing About

 

Normally I prefer my furniture to be finished with a wood stain rather than painted. There are some exceptions, but not often. That said, watching Connie smear, slather, smoosh and swoosh paint on furniture is fascinating. I’d like to see what she would do on a proper canvas, but I’ll keep watching her work on furniture. There is a cheerfulness about Connie as she works, a gleeful journey of discovery, that stretches my limits on what makes a good furniture flip.

She is a representative for Dixie Belle paint products. She really seems to know her stuff about getting the best from their products. The colors she pulls usually have me drooling. I don’t think I’d care about Dixie Belle if it weren’t for Connie.

This is a creative adventure channel. It inspires dreams of transforming furniture with wild abandon, nothing held back. There is no prescribed ending only more and more and more. This is maximalism in paint.

Bossy Boots

I was having some trouble with blanking out, enough to go looking for solutions. Someone, somewhere on You Tube suggested listening to my body. It was a simple, doable solution, unlikely to cause harm, so I tried it. Surprisingly it has been very effective, so effective I wondered how I’d stopped listening in the first place. Upon reflection it seems it was a seemingly small decision based on the idea that my goals were spiritual and intellectual, therefore I didn’t need to listen to my body. 

What I am discovering in this new era of attentiveness is that the body has a lot to say and can be rather bossy. How I managed to hold her under all these years I do not know. Water, restrooms, movement, they are more important now. I still fight habits of “Can’t it wait a little longer?” I’m used to trampling over my bodily needs, but the rewards of giving in and focusing now are breaking those entrenched patterns. My body is riding in to save the day, at last.

Mushroom

 

A leper needs no armor

To keep the world at bay

When Francis kissed the narcissist 

He blew his sins away

The taint of Love lay patrimony bare

The contagion of the good, the right and the fair