This July has been one of the stormiest months I can remember. Our days seemed to oscillate between over-100 degree heat indexes or storms. I took this picture of the sky right after a storm early in the month.

I didn’t quite capture the beauty I wanted to. But I love the light at the edge of the cloud, which shows more brightly on my phone than it does here. I thought it was a poignant symbolic reminder that storms may seem to come between us and God, but He is always there.

In-between the heat and storms, we had fun celebrating the birthday of our country plus the birthday of my middle son a couple of weeks later.

I mentioned this a few times already this month, but in case you missed it, I had an interview with Kurt and Kate Mornings on Moody Radio Florida to talk about my blog post on regret. Here’s a link to the interview. I started out with some technical glitches, but thankfully everything worked out.

I mentioned on my last Friday’s Fave Five that my husband had discovered this weird but fascinating creature on our patio. It looked like a cross between a bee, a hummingbird, and a moth. My son looked it up, and it’s a hummingbird moth, also sometimes called a hawk moth. Jim took a video, but I can’t upload videos directly unless I invest in the next tier of paid WordPress blogs. But I did manage to capture this photo from the video.

Timothyisms

My daughter-in-law texted me that she asked my grandson, Timothy, where he got his cuteness. He answered, “Mommy.” She said, “Annnd?” meaning, I think, and Daddy. But Timothy said, “And Grandma.” I’m honored to be considered a contributor to his cuteness. 🙂

One night we were playing Uno at our house. Timothy noted that our Uno cards looked different from his. I explained that ours were an older set. Someone else said, “These are classic Uno cards.” Timothy said, “That’s what classic means”–older. 🙂

Creating

This card was for a couple in our church celebrating their 55th wedding anniversary:

The birds, branches, and leaves were made with the Cricut.

This was for Jason’s birthday:

I had an interesting time with this one. I try to incorporate something of the recipient’s interests when I can instead of just making a generic card. All I could think of for Jason is that he liked his family, the Mandalorian, and electric cars (and coffee, but I’ve used that motif in cards several times before). I looked up electric cars in the Cricut image data base, but they didn’t have much of a selection. This one was originally part of a design that had several tiny pieces that I was growing frustrated trying to piece together, then gave up. I tried a couple of other ideas that were ok, but I wasn’t thrilled with. I picked up a scrap that had this part cut out–this was the paper left after I took out the designed part–and I decided I liked it as it was. So I cut it out again and placed it in a better and then cut out the bolt after seeing that incorporated in another design.

This is for a great nephew’s wedding coming up this weekend. I meshed together a couple of ideas I had seen on Pinterest.

The embossing was done with the Cuttlebug. I printed out the “Mr. and Mrs.” on the computer and colored the edges by tapping a foam brush on a silver ink pad and brushing it against the edge of the cardstock.

Watching

I’ve thought about eliminating this category, but I enjoy when others share what they have watched. If you have any good, clean movie or series recommendations, let me know!

Jim likes WWII movies, so we’ve watched a few. One movie we really enjoyed was The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler, based on the true story of a Polish social worker who worked with the Polish Underground Resistance and smuggled over 2,000 Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto and placed them with other families until the war was over.

We also watched a few old ones. I remember seeing The Great Escape when I was a kid, and it was interesting to watch it with adult eyes now. The Bridge on the River Kwai was good until its very frustrating ending. The Eagle Has Landed was a bit of a disappointment. If I had known it was fictional, based on a novel about German paratroopers trying to kidnap Churchill, I probably would not have watched it. It also had a bit of language, which is not usually a problem with older films. With all of these, it was kind of fun to see actors in their younger days that I had only seen when they were older.

Reading

I’ve enjoyed several good books this month. Since last time I have finished (linked to my reviews):

• Be Compassionate (Luke 1-13): Let the World Know Jesus Cares by Warren Wiersbe
• Be Courageous (Luke 14-24): Let the World Know Jesus Cares by Warren Wiersbe
• Victorian Short Stories of Successful Marriages by Elizabeth Gaskell, Thomas Hardy, and others.
• Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott (audiobook), fictionalized account of her short time as a nurse during the Civil War.
• The Paris Dressmaker by Kristy Cambron (audiobook), excellent, about two women who secretly work for the Resistance in Paris in WWII.
• Shadows in the Mind’s Eye by Janyre Tromp. A couple in the American south adjust to each other after the trauma they’ve both undergone in WWII.
• Aging With Grace: Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture by Sharon Betters and Susan Hunt. Excellent, very encouraging.
• Something Good by Vanessa Miller, not reviewed yet. The tag line says, “Three Women. Two Mistakes. One Pivotal Friendship.”
• The London House by Katherine Reay (audiobook), not reviewed yet. A woman is contacted by an old college friend writing an article that exposes her aunt as a Nazi spy. She goes on a search to find the truth.

I’m currently reading:

• Where I End: A Story of Tragedy, Truth, and Rebellious Hope by Katherine Elizabeth Clark
• The Stranger by Melanie Dobson
• O Love That Will Not Let Me Go: Facing Death with Courageous Confidence in God compiled by Nancy Guthrie (not that any of us is facing imminent death, as far as we know. But I saw several quotes from this in Aging With Grace and loved Nancy’s other compilations).
• Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by the Countess of Carnarvon

Blogging

Besides the regular Friday Fave Fives, Saturday Laudable Linkage, and book reviews, I’ve posted these since last time:

• Spiritual Freedom. What we’re saved from and to spiritually when we believe on Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
• Objectionable Elements in Books and Films. Some principles drawn from Scripture.
• God Uses Flawed People. Which is good, since we’re all flawed. But we should extend the same grace He has shown to us in our dealings with others.
• Stricter Standards Do Not Always Equal Legalism, nor do freer standards always equal spiritual maturity.

We have a lot to look forward to in August, which my oldest son’s birthday and visit and my birthday.

How was your July?

We began this month with an end-of-school party for Timothy. We enjoyed celebrating Father’s Day 2/3 of the way through the month. And now we’re gearing up for the Fourth of July.

It’s been too hot out to do much else, but Jim did get the patio spiffed up for summer. We need to get new patio chairs but haven’t looked yet. We’ve had a couple of cookouts already. One evening,Timothy brought over sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and “pop-its”–those things you throw on the concrete where the make a loud pop. The weather was nice that evening, and it felt like a summery thing to do.

My middle son, Jason, had to leave his employer when the employer couldn’t pay his salary for a few weeks. He’s been making deliveries for a few different companies and has been able to make just about his regular salary. He likes the flexibility, and he says it’s kind of like playing Santa Claus–you get to deliver stuff to people and make them happy. I don’t know how long he’ll do this kind of thing, but it’s a nice change from the pressure he was under.

Timothyisms

When we play Jackbox games together as a family, we have to sign in with our names. Timothy usually calls me Grandma, but one night I just put “Gram” in for my name. Then he started calling me Gram Cracker, and more recently, Gramster. 🙂

But what really cracked me up was when Jason texted that Timothy had said, “Oh, man! I need to pay my bills! I haven’t paid any in 8 years!” Thankfully, he won’t have to worry about that for a few years yet.

Creating

The first card I made this month was for Timothy’s end-of-second-grade party:

I made the words on the computer and the sign on the Cricut.

This was for my step-father for Father’s Day:

Once again, the words were done on the computer and the mustache on the Cricut.

This was for my husband for Father’s Day:

I had gotten the idea for these two on Pinterest and adapted them. The tape measure was done on the Cricut.

And this one was for Jason for Father’s Day:

The silhouettes were cut on the Cricut, but the moon and stars and squiggles were drawn by the Cricut with markers my oldest son just got for me either for Christmas or Mother’s Day. It was fun to experiment with those. I loved how much this design looked like Jason and Timothy.

This was for a friend’s birthday:

The bird and butterflies are multi-layer stickers. I did the words on the computer and then used two different-sized scalloped hole punches.

Watching

There’s not a lot on this time of year. We enjoy America’s Got Talent (though you have to have the remote at the ready sometimes) and reruns of America’s Funniest Home Videos (usually I’ve forgotten enough of them that it is like seeing a new program. 🙂 ).

We streamed a really good movie titled In Harm’s Way about an American pilot who heads a bombing raid on Japan just after Pearl Harbor was bombed. He crashes in China, and a young widow helps nurse him back to health and hides him from the authorities. I don’t know if the movie is based on a particular true story, but the end screen said many Chinese helped Americans in such ways, and, sadly, the Japanese killed many Chinese because of it. Even though much of the film was in subtitles, it was easy to follow and get caught up in the story. It was one of the best movies I have seen in a while. Here’s the trailer:

I had watched The Boy in the Striped Pajamas a few years ago after reading the book, but Jim had never seen it. So we watched it together one night. It’s about a boy whose father is put in charge of a work camp in Germany. The boy thinks the camp is a farm and the people where funny striped pajamas. One day while exploring, he sees a boy on the other side of a fence, and they start talking. Eventually they become friends. The ending is very sad. But maybe because I knew what was coming, I noticed other things this time, like the various attitudes of different people and the boy’s wrestling with whether or not his father is a good man.

Reading

Since last time, I finished (titles link to my reviews):

• Shadowed by Grace: A Story of Monuments Men by Cara Putman, historical fiction. A female photojournalist works in Italy while also trying to find the father she never knew. She’s assigned to a lieutenant who is in charge of finding and recovering missing art.
• Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan (historical fiction, audiobook). A college student in 1950s London seeks C. S. Lewis to ask questions about Narnia for her dying brother.
• Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin (audiobook), classic Russian tale about a man who doesn’t appreciate what he has til it’s gone.
• The Confessions of St. Augustine (nonfiction, audiobook). This and the previous one probably would have been better to read than to listen to. This may be the oldest book I’ve read (except the Bible).
• Be Distinct (2 Kings and 2 Chronicles): Standing Firmly Against the World’s Tides by Warren Wiesrbe
• The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis (nonfiction).

I’m currently reading:

• Shadows in the Mind’s Eye by Janyre Tromp
• Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott
• Victorian Short Stories of Successful Marriages by Elizabeth Gaskell and others.
• Be Compassionate (Luke 1-13): Let the World Know Jesus Cares by Warren Wiersbe
• Aging With Grace: Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture by Sharon Betters and Susan Hunt InstaEncouragements is hosting a study of this book on Tuesdays through July.

Blogging

Besides book reviews, Friday Fave Fives, and Saturday Laudable Linkage, I’ve posted these since last time:

• A Visit to Jan Karon’s Mitford Museum. I mentioned this in my May reflections, but the write-up and pictures came later. My friend, Melanie, and my husband and I took a day trip to Hudson, NC to see the Mitford Museum, full of memorabilia of author Jan Karon’s life and inspirations for her beloved Mitford books.
• What Can We Learn About Depression from Elijah? At Elijah’s lowest point, God tenderly cared for him.
• When You’re Afraid to Take Communion. Scripture’s solemn warnings about partaking in an unworthy manner can frighten sensitive consciences. But, while God wants us to take communion seriously, He does want us to partake.
• Walking Through the Flames. A good memory about a good song.
• My God, My Father. Though our human fathers plant ideas good or bad ideas about God in our minds, Biblical truth leads us to know our perfect heavenly Father.
• What to Do With Regret. Regret can linger long after we’re forgiven. But God can use it to help make us more watchful and sensitive.

Around the corner

We’ll probably have a cookout on the 4th. Jason’s birthday is this month. Otherwise, I am not sure what’s on the horizon yet.

How was your June? Anything you’re looking forward to in July?

It’s nice when my end-of-month post lines up with the actual last day of the month!

Once again, the month has flown by. May is not the busy month it was when we had kids in school with all the end-of-year programs, recitals, etc. It’s odd how I am mostly glad not to have those activities any more, yet I still miss them sometimes.

Also, with all my mother-figures no longer living, I don’t have to do anything for that day except make a card for my daughter-in-law. While I miss my mom and other “moms” in my life, I enjoy the fact that the rest of the family makes plans for that day. They do a wonderful job making me feel special. My husband used to take me out to dinner that day. But the restaurants were so busy and waits were so long, he began making Mother’s Day dinner at home and employing the kids to take care of different faces of it. Nowadays he usually grills something. The last two years, Jason had made Chocolate Pretzel Pie, one of my favorite desserts (probably second to Texas Sheet Cake, which Mittu usually makes for my birthday).

The other big event this month was a road trip with my husband and my friend, Melanie, to Jan Karon’s Mitford Museum in Hudson, NC. Jan Karon authored a slew of best-selling books set in the fictional Mitford, based on the town she grew up in. I posted about the trip with lots of pictures here. It was something we’ve been planning and looking forward to since last fall, and it was so nice to finally go.

I also had a colonoscopy this month–not fun, but I was glad to get it over with and to have clear results. We’re still trying to figure out my stomach issues, but I am glad the procedure ruled out some major concerns.

We got wills and living wills and such made us and notarized, something that’s been on our need-to-do list for ages.

So I guess May was still busy in a different way!

It also seemed like this month turned from spring to summer quickly. Even though it’s not officially summer until later in June, we usually count summer as starting from the Memorial Day weekend. This year, however, it has started to feel like summer the last couple of weeks.

Timothyisms

My daughter-in-law sent me a couple of exchanges with my grandson, Timothy.

One day they were talking about roadkill. Timothy asked, “Do people eat bear?”

Jason said, “I don’t think that’s allowed in America.”

Timothy responded, “Maybe in Texas?”

🙂

Another time, Timothy asked his mom if it was fun in the 90s. She said yes and asked what he thought they did in the 90s. “Probably watched TV and wore cool clothes.”

Creating

I only made one card this month, for my daughter-in-law for Mother’s Day.

She likes sunflowers, as you might guess. The arrangement in the center is a multi-layered sticker. I was very pleased with myself for learning how to arch text on the computer without having to ask one of my sons! I did find a YouTube video that helped.

Watching

I watched Spiderman 3: No Way Home and loved it (except for a bit of language). I won’t spoil it if you haven’t seen it (and have missed spoilers everywhere), but it had a lot of neat parts.

As a family, we watched the first live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie and Clifford movie. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy the Sonic one, but I did. Clifford was a disappointment in that they changed just about everything from the books except the dog’s and girl’s names.

Reading

Since last time, I finished:

• “Don’t Call Me Spry”: Creative Possibilities for Later Life by Win Couchman. Excellent book about perspectives on aging.
• The Winnie the Pooh books by A. A. Milne. All four reviewed together. Loved these.
• Ten Time Management Choices that Can Change Your Life by Sandra Felton and Marsha Sims
• Be Responsible (1 Kings): Being Good Stewards of God’s Gifts by Warren Wiersbe.
• The Girl in the Painting by Tea Cooper, fiction. Set in the late 1800-early 1900 Australia, a businesswoman and philanthropist suddenly breaks down at the sight of a painting. Her ward tries to find out why.
• Mourning Dove by Claire Fullerton, fiction. Growing up in Memphis elite in a dysfunctional family in the 70s and 80s.
• Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell, fiction, audiobook. Part helping rich and poor understand each other, part coming-of-age, part unraveling a crime.
• Eugene Onegin by Pushkin, audiobook, not reviewed yet.
• IBS for Dummies by Carolyn Dean and L. Christine Wheeler. I didn’t review it per se but said a bit about it on Goodreads. I gleaned some ideas and information but was also greatly frustrated by the format and the New Age influences.

I’m currently reading:

• Be Distinct (2 Kings): Standing Against the World’s Foes by Warren Wiersbe
• The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis
• The Confessions of St. Augustine, audiobook
• Shadows of Grace by Cara Putnam
• Shadows in the Mind’s Eye by Janyre Tromp

Blogging

Besides book reviews, Friday Fave Fives, and Saturday Laudable Linkage, I’ve posted these since last time:

• Content . . . with Thorns? A look at why God allows weaknesses and needs in our lives and how Paul could say he was content with his.
• Ministry in the Mundane. We want to get past the everyday necessary tasks in order to do something meaningful and important—yet our ministry most often is in the everyday mundane details of life.
• Our Responsibility to Discern False Teaching. False teachers are accountable for leading others astray and misrepresenting God’s truth. But God also gives us plenty of warnings about them. We need to know His Word well enough to spot false teaching.
• Assorted Stray Thoughts. A collection of random things I wonder about.
• Encouragement in the Fight Against Temptation. I get discouraged that I am tempted by things I should have victory over. But I can use those temptations as a call to arms and defeat Satan at his own game.
• Are You a Big Z or an Ordinary N? We can’t make words in Scrabble with just the high-scoring letters. We need the ordinary ones. People, too, don’t function alone. The stars and executives have a whole support staff. Even if we’re just an ordinary “N,” God has essential things for us to do.

And that just about wraps up May. I hope yours was good as well!

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

I don’t know what happened to April. It seemed to zoom by more quickly than usual.

We’re still in up-and-down weather, but we’re gradually having more warm days than cool ones. We’re getting plenty of “April showers,” so hopefully that will make up for the dry spell and fire warnings we were experiencing and prepare us for an abundance of “May flowers.” I’m relishing these warm days before the heat of summer sets in.

We celebrated my grandson’s birthday and Easter this month. I don’t think we had any major outings.

Timothyisms

Last week I included in my “Laudable Linkage” this video of a new baby who seems unimpressed with the outside world.

When I showed it to Timothy, he said to the baby, “You’ll get used to it.”

Creating

I only made one card this month, for Timothy’s birthday. For years he has loved “balloon men,” or, as we discovered they were called, air dancers. I had seen a couple of cards with them on Pinterest, but I didn’t want to copy them exactly (especially since they were both items the makers were selling.) But Cricut didn’t have any images of them, and I couldn’t find a template of them. I’ve mentioned before that I am not at all good with freehand drawing. But I printed out a couple of samples and got out my ruler and pencil, and came up with a reasonable air dancer.

I cut out the eyes from white cardstock with a hole punch and then used a Sharpie marker to color in all but the little white dot. I thought about using tissue paper for the “hair,” but in the end decided to make it simple by just cutting slits in the top and then fanning them out a bit.

Watching

Jim and I saw a few movies, but the only one I thought really good was The 12th Man. It’s based on a true story. Twelve Norwegian men disguised as fishermen sabotaged several German facilities in Norway during WWII. But then they could not find a man they were supposed to meet, running into another man by the same name instead. That man, fearing he was being tested by the Nazis, reported the group. The Nazis found and killed all but one of the Norwegian men. The head of this Nazi group followed the escapee, Jan Baalsrud, with Javert-like persistence. Jan headed toward neutral Sweden, but the brutally cold weather, lack of supplies, injury, and other factors hindered his progress. Jan became something of a national hero, symbolizing hope to his fellow countrymen.Those who helped him were taking their lives in their hands. The majority of the film is in other languages with English subtitles, but after a while we got caught up in the story and didn’t mind watching that way. There is an annual event in Norway following Jan’s pathway. (Warning–a few bad words).

Reading

I felt a little bad that the first couple of weeks, I only finished reading and reviewing one book each week. Then the last couple of weeks, I finished and crowded in several. I’d like the book reviews to be spread out a little more evenly, but that doesn’t always work out.

Since last time I finished (titles link to my reviews):

• Be Restored (2 Samuel & 1 Chronicles): Trusting God to See Us Through by Warren W. Wiersbe.
• Be Encouraged (2 Corinthians): God Can Turn Your Trials Into Triumphs by Warren W. Wiersbe
• Another Gospel: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity by Alisa Childers. This will be one of my top ten books of the year.
• I Must Decrease: Biblical Inspiration and Encouragement for Dieters by Janice Thompson
• The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope, the final book in his Chronicles of Barsetshire series.
• To Sir, With Love, an autobiographical novel by E. R. Braithwaite.
• The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
• When We Were Very Young and Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne (I’ll review these along with the other Pooh books when I finish them.)

I’m currently reading:

• Ten Time Management Choices That Can Change Your Life by Sandra Felton and Marsha Sims
• “Don’t Call Me Spry”: Creative Possibilities for Later Life by Win Counchman
• The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis
• The House on Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne
• IBS for Dummies by Carolyn Dean and L. Christine Wheeler

Usually I read much more fiction than nonfiction. But somehow, I’ve been dipping into more nonfiction lately.

Blogging

Besides book reviews, Friday Fave Fives, and Saturday Laudable Linkage, I’ve posted these since last time:

• Dormant Souls. “Believers have their winters too,” says John Newton. Yet dormant is not dead. With the light of God, the nourishment of His Word, and “springs of living waters,” He can bring us out of dormancy and into vitality and growth and fruitfulness.
• What We’re to Be Before We Teach. Most teaching from Titus 2 centers on the content older women are to teach younger. But first, Scripture talks about the character of older women.
• Lamb of God, who died to take away our sins when we believe on Him.
• Why Is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ Important? I really enjoyed this study. It gave me new appreciation for all the resurrection means and accomplishes.
• “At Least I’m Still Good for Something.” Sometimes we’re so caught up in taking care of loved ones’ needs, especially elders’ needs for safety, that we forget to let them know they still matter.

As we change the calendar over to May this weekend, I look forward to a short road trip with a friend (more on that later), Mother’s Day, and filling our planters. Jim takes care of the yard work and what landscaping we have, but I enjoy arranging two big planters in front of the house and one on the patio. Somehow these plants survive my lack of green thumb more than houseplants do. I want to try planting peonies somewhere in the yard. I may start a sewing project. I’ve mended and made curtains and pillows, but I have not sewn clothes in ages. I’m not looking forward to a scheduled colonoscopy except for getting it over with.

How was your April? Looking forward to anything in May?

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

March has been springy one day and wintery the next. But I am glad spring is officially here, and soon the weather will settle in to consistently warmer days. We’re enjoying the blooms and buds appearing in the yard and around the neighborhood. Both the warmth and new life are welcome after the cold, drab palette of winter.

We celebrated my husband’s birthday this moth as well as “Pi Day” on 3.14 (really an excuse to eat pie). We didn’t do anything for St. Patrick’s Day this year. In the past I’ve made corned beef and cabbage or at the very least played some of my Irish Tenors CDs.

Otherwise, it’s been a fairly quiet month. Except for car situations. Jason had one tire blow, then had to place an order for new tires, then found the place he orders from had been hacked and closed down. It took a while, but he finally got his tires. Then Jeremy’s car was sideswiped by a hit-and-run driver, thankfully not while he was in it. His car is in the shop now. Then when Jim got out his lawn mowers, both the riding and push lawn mowers didn’t work. After ordering some parts, changing spark plug, etc., he got both of them going.

Timothyisms

While energetically pretending that a cardboard box was a boat in a storm, Timothy said, “My abs are popping out.”

Creating

I just made one card this month for Jim’s birthday. He has taken Timothy fishing once and would like to again soon. So I decided to base his card on fishing.

This Cricut silhouette reminded me of this photo from the former fishing venture:

Watching and Listening

We had some hits and misses in the viewing department. One of the not-so-good ones was The Angel of Auschwitz. The premise was good and based on a true story: Stanislawa Leszczynka was a Polish Catholic midwife who was sent to Auschwitz after being arrested for helping Jews. There she delivered over 3,000 babies. Unfortunately, one of the nurses (?) in the camp was tasked by Mengele with drowning newborns. I didn’t remember until after the film that Mengele was called the “angel of death,” and then realized this film meant to contrast his activities with Leszczynka’s. But I think the film’s makers tried to be too artsy about it. There were a lot of scenes where we didn’t know what was going on, like the agonizingly slow opening.

One that would have made a good candidate for Mystery Science Theater mocking was Flight World War II about a modern-day overseas flight that passes through a weather anomaly and ends up over Europe during WWII. Even suspending disbelief over the premise, there were so many improbable situations and plot holes, we ended up laughing through the last half, even though it wasn’t meant to be a comedy (warning: 3 or 4 bad words).

The only one I recall that we did like was Casablanca. Somehow, even though I was familiar with some of the iconic lines and scenes, I had never seen the whole film. I enjoyed it.

Jim also watched This Beautiful Fantastic with me–not his usual style, but I wanted to see it again, and he tolerated it. 🙂

One night while Jim was away, I watched Finding You, which I had seen recommended by a few people. The film is based on a book by Jenny B. Jones (which I haven’t read), who usually writes Christian YA novels. There is no Christian content in the film except a verse on a tombstone and a vague mention about prayer and not being alone. But the film was sweet and cute. A violinist, failing to get into the conservatory she wanted, takes a course in Ireland. There she meets a teen heartthrob actor doing his latest film with his supposedly girlfriend/costar. The violinist immediately doesn’t like or trust the actor, but circumstances throw them together. She finds there is another side to him–but which is the real man?

I also enjoyed watching Letters to Juliet one night when Jim was away. The premise is based on a place called Juliet’s Balcony in Verona where people leave letters asking advice about their love lives, and “Juliet’s secretaries” answer them. In the movie, an American girl, Sophie, flies with her boyfriend to Verona. He’s a chef and busy looking for supplies, touring vineyards, etc. She goes by herself to Juliet’s balcony, meets the secretaries, and joins them for a while. She finds a 50-year-old letter in a crevice and answers it, leading to the recipient traveling to Italy to search for her long lost love, and she asks Sophie to accompany her. My favorite part is that Vanessa Redgrave plays the older woman, and her long lost love is played by Franco Nero, her real-life husband. They were Guinevere and Lancelot in Camelot in 1967.

Also while Jim was away, I watched the new remake of West Side Story (some great parts and music, but a little vulgar in places) and the 2016 Anne of Green Gables (with Martin Sheen as Matthew). I don’t think any version of AoGG will ever beat the 1985 Megan Follows series. This one was ok in the first half, but changed the “puffed sleeve dress” scenario and the way that Matthew and Marilla decided to keep Anne, plus added in some scenes not original to the book.

Reading

Since last time I finished (titles link back to my reviews):

• 100 Best Bible Verses to Overcome Worry and Anxiety, a devotional book by various authors. Good.
• Be Successful (1 Samuel): Attaining Wealth That Money Can’t Buy by Warren W. Wiersbe
• The Enchanted Places: A Childhood Memoir and The Path Through the Trees, both by Christopher Milne, A. A. Milne’s real-life son, reviewed together here. The first book tells of Christopher’s childhood; the second tells of his adult life. He enjoyed the fame of being “Christopher Robin” at first, but resented it later on.
• Just 18 Summers by Michelle Cox and Rene Gutteridge, a novel about several families in different stages of child-rearing, realizing the time is short to have an influence on their kids.
• The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope (audiobook), the fifth in his Barsetshire Chronicles, had numerous threads, but the main plot focuses on a widow and her two daughters who live in a small house on the property of her brother-in-law, who owns the manor house and never liked his sister-in-law.

I’m Currently Reading:

• IBS for Dummies by Carolyn Dean and L. Christine Wheeler. Just picking this one up here and there. I need to get done with it.
• Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity by Alisa Childers. Excellent so far.
• Be Restored (2 Samuel & 1 Chronicles): Trusting God to See Us Through by Warren W. Wiersbe
• I Must Decrease: Biblical Inspiration and Encouragement for Dieters by Janice Thompson
• Ten Time Management Choices That Can Change Your Life by Sandra Felton and Marsha Sims
• The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope (audiobook)

Blogging:

Besides book reviews, Friday Fave Fives, and Saturday Laudable Linkage, I’ve posted these since last time:

• How Well Do We Know Him? We like to be known for who we truly are. But do we know God as He truly is, or our preferred version of Him?
• We Don’t Know What to Do. When we don’t know how to pray, we can borrow Jehoshaphat’s prayer: “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
• The Dangers of Success. “There are scores of books, articles, blog posts, podcasts, and sermons about dealing with trials and suffering. And that’s good, because we need them. But I don’t know that I have ever seen any material about the dangers of success. What danger can there be in success? Especially success that we’ve prayed and trusted God for?”
• How Do We Adorn the Doctrine of God? I explored this question after coming across the phrase “adorn the doctrine of God our Savior” in Titus.
• Comforted by the Ways God Uses Us. I felt out of my element much of my time caring for my mother-in-law. God taught me much through my weakness and inability, but recently I saw ways He used the skill set and personality He gave me.
• From a Weight of Care to a Weight of Glory. When Paul says “this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18), he’s not minimizing our affliction. He’s saying the glory will be that much greater.

Writing

I actually have gotten back into the book I am working on! I’m wrestling with the hardest chapter: it has so much information, I am trying to figure out the best way to present it without having readers’ eyes glaze over (or worse yet, causing them to skip the chapter).

As April comes to a close, we look forward next month to more warmth and growth as well as Easter and Timothy’s birthday.

How was your March?

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

The end of the month is still a few days away. But I have other posts in mind between now and then, so I thought I’d do my end-of-month wrap-up now.

January is usual a rest month after the beloved busyness of December. It hasn’t quite worked out that way this year. But we’ve had a bit of down time in-between appointments and appliance repairs.

Covid hit my daughter-in-law and grandson, and we didn’t see them for three weeks–a record (and a hard one!) I’m thankful for FaceTime when we can’t see them in person. But they are finally doing better, and we got together for a couple of times the last few days.

Covid numbers are up again here, as they are in others places. Our church is meeting in person, but thankfully they keep the Zoom option open.

I mentioned in last week’s Friday’s Fave Five that my husband had been working on our leaking dishwasher. The parts he ordered didn’t fix the problem. After two weekends working on it, he posted this on Facebook:

There is one more thing he’ll try when the part comes in. If that doesn’t work—it’s dishwasher shopping time.

I was just telling a friend today that something about January makes me want to sort and organize. I don’t usually do a whole closet or cabinet at a time, but sometimes it will suddenly hit me that this item would work better there and this would be a better way to sort that. I had three areas (or more accurately four–two are in the kitchen, but they are separate spaces) that I was chafing to get to before Christmas. That didn’t happen, but I want to tackle them this month. I’ve done one—three to go.

A question about Feedly

Do any of you use Feedly as a blog aggregator? I like to put the blogs I read in there, and I can see when they have new posts instead of having to visit them individually. Feedly has been working fine for years, but lately it hasn’t been showing all of a site’s blog posts. There’s one that won’t update at all. Another only updates twice a week though they post five times a week. Another has posts on an irregular basis, but Feedly won’t show any posts from them for a while and then will show three all on the same day (not the way they were posted). Other blog posts show up like they are supposed to—at least, as far as I know.

I’ve tried to Google the problem but haven’t found a solution. When I click on Feedly’s support button, it takes me to a page that shows their paid plans—so I guess you get no support if you use the free plan?

It may be time to try a different service. Do you use something other than Feedly? I don’t need something with all kinds of features—I just want a blog aggregator.

I know I could subscribe to blogs via email, and some bloggers prefer that you follow them that way. But I really don’t want blog posts coming to my email. I like keeping blogs separate to read when I can get them. If they came through the mail, I’d either feel pressured to read them as soon as they come in, or they’d get buried and I’d miss them.

Creating

No cards this month–nice since December and February are big card-making months here.

I have another project in mind for the guest room, but I’ll share more about that when I get it started.

Watching and Listening

I mentioned earlier this week listening to a series on aging from Elisabeth Elliot’s old Gateway to Joy programs. BBN Radio is playing them this week, but they are also available on the EE web site.

I had not watched The Amazing Race for the last few years. But this year the Holderness Family is on it-–my son and d-i-l have shared with us several of their videos. I love that they treat each other with respect . . . unlike some other contestants. That’s one reason I stopped watching the show before—all the drama with people fighting. But I am looking forward to this year’s race.

We’ve been watching Around the World in 80 Days and All Creatures Great and Small on PBS Masterpiece Theatre. This is the second season of All Creatures, and even though it’s not entirely true to the books, the feel of the show and the characters are so cozy. 80 Days, however, is the kind of remake that riles me. It’s been a while since I read/listened to the book, but from what I can tell, only the characters’ names and the bare overview of the story are the same. It’s not just that they turned Detective Fix (who in the book mistook Fogg for a bank robber and was after him for much of the book) into a young female journalist. But they’ve changed nearly every scene, making it more fan fiction than a remake. And they are trying to infuse 21st century sentiments into a 19th century work. Argh! But . . . if I can just take it as it is and not compare it to the book, it’s enjoyable to watch.

We also watched Darkest Hour, about Winston Churchill’s appointment and early days as Prime Minister during WWII. It has been out for a while, but we had never heard of it. It was quite good, though some scenes and details are fictional. (Warning–one or two bad words.)

Reading

Since last time I have finished:

• Treasures of Encouragement: Women Helping Women by Sharon W. Betters. Excellent book about the Bible’s call to encourage others, God’s enabling, and practical ways to be an encourager.
• Be Wise (1 Corinthians): Discern the Difference Between Man’s Knowledge and God’s Wisdom by Warren W. Wiersbe
• The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow. The events of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and beyond from the viewpoint of Mary, the quiet, bookish middle sister. Excellent.
• The Writer’s Desk by Jill Krementz shows over 50 writers in their work space and shares some of their work habits, inspiration, etc.

I’m currently reading:

• 100 Best Bible Verses to Overcome Worry and Anxiety
• Be Successful (1 Samuel): Attaining Wealth That Money Can’t Buy by Warren W. Wiersbe
• The Middle Matters: Why That (Extra)Ordinary Life Looks Really Good on You by Lisa-Jo Baker
• IBS for Dummies by Carolyn Dean and L. Christine Wheeler
• Framley Parsonage (fiction) by Anthony Trollope (audiobook)
• Half-Finished (fiction) by Lauraine Snelling

Blogging

Besides book reviews, Friday Fave Fives, and Laudable Linkage, I had these posts on the blog this month:

• When God Changes Your Plans. “God’s highest blessing may not be having my plans and dreams turn out like I want.”
• Books Shape Our Thinking. “We observed over the course of years a definite shift in thinking and beliefs in each of these cases. The speaker or writer didn’t come to their new views from their Bible reading, but from the books they read. Those books then colored their view of Scripture.”
• Blameless? “Sometimes the word ‘blameless’ caused me the same kind of frustration as a white shirt. My flesh fails daily. How can I ever be blameless?”
• God Is Not Going to Slap the Cookie From Your Hand. “Our standing before God and His love for us are totally dependent on His grace, not our actions. My ups and downs, stumblings, faults, and failures don’t threaten His love for me or my salvation. But Jesus did say, ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments’ (John 14:15).”
• An Old Poem for a New Year. Part of a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier about his birthday seemed applicable to the start of a new year.

Looking Ahead

On the plus side, we make much about Valentine’s Day, plus my daughter-in-law’s birthday is this month. A friend and I are trying to get together for lunch one day, an event that has been postponed due to the holidays and illnesses. On the downside, I have a medical test I am not looking forward to. But getting it over with will be a plus.

And each day is one day closer to spring, warmer days, more sunlight, and growing things!

How was your January? What are you looking forward to in February?

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

It seems like we had a very short autumn. It wasn’t just that time appears to be flying by ever faster. But our moderate fall temperatures gave way to winter-like ones seemingly sooner than usual. I enjoyed the fall color and crisp air while we had it.

Family news

We’ve all taken turns being sick, and we missed out on pumpkin decorating with my son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. They sent pictures, though. I went very super simple with mine and my husband’s.

We did get together for early Christmas cookie baking and Thanksgiving feasting and Christmas decorating. Another round of colds started up before the last two, so we’re hoping they don’t spread through all of us.

I’m so thankful that everyone except our out-of-state son pitches in to decorate here for Christmas even though they have their own places to decorate. All together, we get it done in a few hours. If I had to do it myself, it would probably take me several days. It’s fun to go through all the familiar things and stories.

Creating

I made this card for our pastor’s wife’s baby shower.

I knew she was using blue, tan, and brown with a Noah’s ark theme in the baby’s room. So I wanted to do something with those colors and baby animals. These animals are just stickers, but I loved their expressions and the way they’re drawn and colored. I couldn’t find anything else I liked nearly so well in the Cricut images. With the ark theme, I should have put a rainbow in as well, but didn’t think about it.

I also made a card for a friend, but since she hasn’t received it yet, I’ll have to wait to show it til next time. 🙂

Reading

Since last time I finished:

• The Devil in Pew Number Seven by Rebecca Nichols Alonzo, a true story about a disgruntled man terrorizing a pastor’s family and their struggle to love and forgive him as well as protect themselves from him.
• Hidden Among the Stars by Melanie Dobson, Christian time slip novel about a timid bookstore owner whose research of a name inscribed in one of her books leads to surprising connections to her adopted mom.The historical time line takes place in Austria as WWII is closing in. One young man hides his Jewish friends’ treasures, helped by the caretaker’s daughter. She’s in love with him, but he’s in love with a beautiful Jewish violinist. Excellent–will probably be one of my top ten of the year.
• Be Right (Romans): How to Be Right with God, Yourself, and Others by Warren W. Wiersbe.
• The Nature of a Lady by Roseanna M. White. Just finished this one over the weekend and will review it later this week.

I’m currently reading:

• Treasures of Encouragement: Women Helping Women by Sharon W. Betters
• 100 Best Bible Verses to Overcome Worry and Anxiety
• Be Available (Judges): Accepting the Challenge to Confront the Enemy by Warren W. Wiersbe
• Christian Reflections by C. S. Lewis. I always enjoy Lewis, but this one is particularly challenging. I may set it aside for now.
• Chapel Springs Revival by Ane Mulligan, first in a series of novels about friends in a small town in GA.
• A Quilt for Christmas by Sandra Dallas (audiobook)
• IBS for Dummies by Carolyn Dean and L. Christine Wheeler

I’m looking forward to some Christmas reading in the days ahead.

Blogging

Besides book reviews, Friday Fave Fives, and Laudable Linkage, I had these posts on the blog this month:

• Is This the Right Way? Sometimes the Christian life doesn’t look like we thought it would, and we wonder if we missed a turn somewhere.
• What Kind of Roots Are You Growing? Good roots are nourishing and supportive. But bitterness can take over like a stubborn ivy and crowd out healthy growth.
• Don’t Reject God Because of His People. Those “deconstructing” their belief system often point to the failures of other professing Christians as part of the reasons for walking away. But we’re responsible for the truth we heard from others, even if they don’t live up to it themselves.
• A Perfectly Ordinary Thanksgiving. In trying to come up with a new angle with which to write about Thanksgiving, I realized Thanksgiving doesn’t need an angle. And we can give thanks even if we don’t feel thankful.
• Your Soul Needs Food Even If It Doesn’t Want It. When our appetites are off, we don’t want to eat much. Bur our bodies need food to function and heal. The very food we don’t have an appetite for will not only help, but will create an appetite. The same is true spiritually with God’s Word.

Writing

Once again, not much has been done on the book project, though I did have one really good session where I think I got my opening chapter nailed down. I have three different sections to it, and I think I’ve had each one at the beginning at some point. With all that’s involved over the next month, I’ll probably have to wait until January to get back to the book. But then I need to make revising and finishing this book a higher priority!

As we transition into the Christmas season, may we not leave the spirit of thankfulness behind. May we remember to spend time with the One who went to such great effort to be with us.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)