St. Patrick's Day~Thankful for

A quiet tea time~


a cucumber sandwich on Irish Soda Bread


still warm from the oven
~
a pot of hot tea


curtains dancing in the cool breeze

Irish eyes are smiling.

Serious boys, too.

Our Morning

Watch This

Can I just say that I love this movie? We bought it in January when everyone was on the mend. I've already lost count as to how many times I've seen it! I've never seen it before, but I think it's wonderful. Of course, one must truly love slow period pieces. This is not an action movie. Jane-ites will adore it and wonder why it took me so long to see it!

Now, for a decent Mansfield Park...

Side note: We recently watched Jane Eyre again and were pleased to see Captain Wentworth as Mr. Rochester. A bit gruff, but an enjoyable rendition nonetheless.
Also, if you haven't seen North & South, by Elizabeth Gaskell, DO! It's truly delightful. The music is hauntingly beautiful. I haven't been able to track down the soundtrack, but I love it. This has nothing to do with the Civil War, and is in fact set in England. I personally think Richard Armitage would make a wonderful Mr. Darcy if they rerereremake Pride & Prejudice. He broods wonderfully!
Do yourself a favor and just buy this:


The Elizabeth Gaskell collection (which we own) contains Wives & Daughters, Cranford and North & South. All three are wonderful stories wonderfully done.
All my guys enjoy them with me. :)

Post-Op

Sweetheart is back at work today, the initial recovery from surgery complete. He's still looking at a six week period of healing. His pain is minimal at this time, but his concern is long-term. The surgery is one that only has a 50% chance of complete and total recovery. We are praying for that 50%. The alternatives are very unpleasant, painful and can continue to affect the rest of his life.

Will you continue to pray with us? These next few weeks are crucial. If scar tissue build up where the surgery was done he will be right back in the same miserable place he's been. We're praying that he will heal without scarring.

I've not said what the surgery was for as Sweetheart greatly values privacy. But one can still pray without all the details. Thank you.

Much love to you all!
~Kimberly

Prayers

I'm taking Sweetheart in for surgery in a little while. We'd appreciate your prayers that all will go well and that this will cure the problem forever!!!! Thank you.

March

I love March. I do. It's a special month to me, a bit of brightness as winter heads to spring. That it contains my birthday, I'm sure had nothing to do with it!

I love to change the decor around with the changing months and seasons. Am I the only one? Maybe it's the former schoolteacher in me. How I loved to change the classroom bulletin boards, decor and calendars! It always freshens things up to me. Now that I'm at home, I am able to do these little things with all sorts of treasures we have.

After the Christmas decorations are packed away, bits and pieces of pink and red add bright spots to our home for Valentines. With the passing of that, I find little bits of green adding touches of spring here and there. A bit of ivy, a shamrock coffeepot, vintage postcards all find their ways to new places to shine. It cheers up cleaning as well as I take an extra moment to find the perfect home for a little treasure.

Side Note: An early Birthday gift from Sweetheart. A 1915 edition of Little Women illustrated by Jessie Wilcox Smith, on of my favorite artists.

This makes my heart sing!

I just finished reading a copy from the library last week and this arrived yesterday.

Here's a peek inside at some of the illustrations.

I rarely buy things for specific holidays, preferring to just use what we have. Though I do find an occasionally new spool of ribbon can really add a lot in a simple way. Bits of fluff and fancy move all around the house all year long. I love finding natural treasures, too. Squash from the gardens, flowers, seed pods, nests, pine cones, and what-all are used in abundance.

Things move around even within a season as squash are used for dinner, seed pods are played with to the point of destruction, and sometimes just because I decide I don't like how I put something out the first time. I took a few picture a couple of days ago, and have since switched teapots around and added some bits of ribbon other places. This to me is one of the joys of homemaking.

Of course, so is finding gorgeous plates for five dollars while out with my Sweetheart! So lovely.

Here's closeup of the copy I bought of Pilgrim's Progress for Sweetheart a few years ago. As it was such a huge part of Little Women, I decided I should be reading it a bit each morning as the girls did throughout the story. I'd better get back to reading it!

What do you like to do to brighten your home?